A Conservative Party politician in the United
Kingdom, Dr. Rachel Joyce, apologised Sunday for
the error of Colonial Britain in making a
unitary Ceylon out of two nations, the Tamils
and the Sinhalese. �The Tamil people have lived
on the island currently called Sri Lanka for
millennia - in their own contiguous, distinct,
geographical territory. They lay claim only to
the territory they have historically lived in.
In fact, the 3 million Tamils of the island
constituted a self governing nation until
invaded and occupied by Colonial powers � in
particular Britain, who amalgamated them with
the Sinhala nation purely for convenience. In
retrospect, this cultural naivety was a mistake
that has caused problems since independence,�
she said in a meeting held at Harrow, where
Bruce Fein, a constitutional expert from the
United States was the guest speaker.
Mr.
Bruce Fain who led a lengthy interactive
session, explained the basis of his case filed
against genocide of Tamils.
Liberal politician
and solicitor Christopher Noyse was another
speaker in this first of a series of public
meetings attended by a packed hall of audience
of more than 200.
Full text of the address
of Dr. Rachael follows:
Ladies and
Gentlemen, I would like to thank you very much
for the opportunity to speak at this event,
which is dealing with such important issues.
I
would like to thank Bruce Fein for his �������
speech. [very moving]. I would also like to
thank Gopal who invited me here today.
I would like to extend my sympathies to any of
you have family who have been killed, hurt or
otherwise affected by the conflict. In
particular today I would like to extend my
deepest condolences to the family of
Murukathasan Vanakulasingam, who, as we know,
committed suicide on Friday, February 13, in a
desperate attempt to draw the world's attention
to the plight of his fellow Tamils in Sri Lanka.
I cannot condone the loss of such a young and
promising life, but my heart goes out to his
family. Acts such as this suicide are
committed when people feel desperate, powerless,
and feel they have virtually no avenues left for
their people.
The Tamil people have lived on
the island currently called Sri Lanka for
millennia - in their own contiguous, distinct,
geographical territory. They lay claim only to
the territory they have historically lived in.
In fact, the 3 million Tamils of the island
constituted a self governing nation until
invaded and occupied by Colonial powers � in
particular Britain, who amalgamated them with
the Sinhala nation purely for convenience. In
retrospect, this cultural naivety was a mistake
that has caused problems since independence. I
would like to apologise for the British part in
that error.
At the time of independence in
1948, both 3 million Tamils and 17 million
Sinhalese inherited a reasonably healthy state.
Sri Lanka�s prosperity could have been set, with
a good geographical position for trade, a strong
and productive economy, and a beautiful setting
for a tourist industry as well.
Unfortunately, since then there has been an
increasing catalogue of cultural and human
rights atrocities. The chances for the two
peoples to continue to live side by side, as two
distinct, though not antagonistic cultures, has
continually been threatened. Why did the
government on the island, as one of its first
acts, make 1 million Tamils of Indian origin
stateless? Many of these Tamils were 6th
generation and had no other home. Why also did
they opt for the �Sinhala Only� Language Act in
1956?
And, 25 years later, what could
possibly be the logic of Sinhala police torching
the Jaffna library and its ninety seven thousand
rare historical books and manuscripts in 1981?
These acts of cultural disrespect and vandalism
have been condemned before, but I condemn them
again now.
Since then a raft of atrocities
have been committed. In the 1980s, hundreds of
thousands of Tamils were forced to flee the
island, many coming here to Britain. There are
also hundreds of thousands of internally
displaced people people within the island. Every
aspect of normal life has been affected. The
closing of the A9 highway effectively trapped
nearly half a million Tamil civilians.
A year
ago, the Sri Lankan government unilaterally
withdrew from the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire,
and under the leadership of its hawkish
President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, embarked on this
current campaign. All the evidence suggests that
unless the international community acts very
soon, about a quarter of a million people could
be caught in a bloodbath. The Sri Lankan
government has asked Tamil civilians to come
over to their side for �protection�, but there
is an understandably deep fear of such a move.
The Tamil people have seen so much death and
destruction. They are terrified of Sri Lankan
troops and their "holding camps", with all the
stories of assaults and rape.
On the other
side there are stories suggesting that the LTTE
has, or might, shoot anyone who tries to escape
from the areas that remain under their control.
But none of this is verifiable. The Sri Lankan
government restricts all journalists and
independent observers from entering the conflict
zone. The reports from the few remaining aid or
humanitarian agencies still allowed in the area
are dismissed by the Sri Lankan authorities as
propaganda.
Amnesty International, who is
impartial to any political agenda, and only
campaigns on human rights, has called the recent
alleged sustained bombing of the Vanni hospital
a �despicable act�, in fact stating that such an
attack could constitute a war crime. They also
say the so called �welfare villages� violate the
international prohibition on hostage taking.
Can Amnesty International and United Nations
workers all be lying? Are the horrific pictures
of bombed-out hospitals and lines of dead men,
women and children all be fake?
It is clear
that the majority of the Tamil people do not
trust the Government of Sri Lanka to safeguard
their lives or their futures.
And the British
government could do much more to help. This is
not just diplomatically � in the UN, in the
Commonwealth, and through direct pressure on the
government. In a debate in 2007, it was revealed
that Britain licensed �7 million worth of
weapons and military equipment for export to Sri
Lanka that year alone. What on earth were they
thinking?
Part of the problem here ironically
is the democracy in Sri Lanka. I am a strong
supporter of democracy, but there are different
degrees of democracy. The Economist labels Sri
Lanka a "flawed democracy" in its 2006 rankings.
This is because there is a minority � the Tamils
� who will always be at a significant
disadvantage electorally. If Scotland wanted to
leave the United Kingdom, and voted to do so,
they would not be stopped by the rest of the
British people. Perhaps the very fact that they
could leave if they wished to has meant that
their minority rights have always been protected
in the UK, and is probably the reason that
Scotland do not actually want to leave the
union.
Foreign Policy ranks Sri Lanka 25th
(ie Alert Category) in its Failed States Index
for 2007. Sri Lanka was considered one of the
"world's most politically unstable countries" by
the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in
2004. However, Sri Lanka, according to the US
State Department in 2005, was classified a
"stable democracy" � but only when there was a
ceasefire period, which shows how a peaceful
solution could be so advantageous to both sides.
I know the British Tamils Forum have requested
that the UN and the International Community:
- Call for an immediate ceasefire in Sri
Lanka and initiate peace talks;
- Require that Sri Lanka allow all
necessary humanitarian assistance and access
by international humanitarian organizations
and UN Agencies to the Vanni;
- Put the Sri Lanka issue on the Security
Council�s Agenda; and
- Urge the Government of Sri Lanka to
allow an international human rights
monitoring mission under the auspices of the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
I fully support those points.
Edmund Burke
said �All that is necessary for the triumph of
evil is that good men do nothing�.
This woman will not do nothing. I can give
you my commitment that I will do what I can to
lobby for a peaceful solution to the conflict to
the best of my ability. Any just and lasting
solution MUST be acceptable to the Tamil people.
All options must therefore be on the table for
discussion.
I will raise this issue at the
highest levels within the Conservative Party,
and with the Conservative Party Human Rights
Commission. If elected, I will join the
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils. In the
meantime, I commit to you that I will do what I
can to lobby on behalf of the people of Tamil
Eelam.
