Today the Tamil people
can realise the extent of the popularity of the
Liberation Tigers in foreign countries by the very fact
that the Sri Lankan Government uses all its potential
communications media in thwarting this popularity of
the Tigers in the outside world. It is therefore
possible to understand that the growth in the
popularity of the Tigers has greatly impacted the
Government. In this propaganda war, the Sri Lankan
Government has a great advantage: the availability of
immense Government funds; the service of specialists;
the control of all internal communications media as
well as advice and guidance from local and
international military experts which give it an
undeniable advantage over the Tigers in the war front.
But the strength of the Liberation Tigers lies in the
justness of their cause and the determination of the
Tamil people, which undermines all the false propaganda
of the Sri Lankan Government.
As far as the Sri Lankan Government is concerned, its
propaganda reaches every nook and cranny in the island
through its Television network, Rupavahini and the Lake
House group of newspapers which it controls, while its
access to the latest technology in the communications
revolution, the Internet enables the Government to
reach a sizable audience all over the world,
irrespective of the truth or credibility of its
propaganda. Not only do the newspapers published in
Colombo come under Government censorship, they are also
greatly influenced by its opinion so that the
newspapers are obliged and sometimes even threatened to
publish the Government's point of view.
Even foreign corespondents living in Colombo come under
the direct influence of the Government's news
conferences and press releases. They have no free
access to the war-torn Tamil areas to determine for
themselves independently the exact situation and the
feelings of the people there. The Government's own
propaganda and dissemination of news (which would
otherwise not be available to them at all), obliges
several foreign correspondents to fall in line with the
Government's intentions and to avoid publishing any
contradictory news. Several of these international
organisations are manned by a large number of Sinhalese
assistants who, because of their racial affinity, are
unable to understand the justness of the Tamil
cause.
Even some of the Sinhalese elite, intelligentsia and
media who are convinced of the problems the Tamils are
faced with, still consider the Liberation Tigers as
terrorists. It is therefore clear that even these
people do not view the war in its true perspective.
The Sri Lankan Government also continues to manipulate
the Colombo-based leaders of the Tamil United
Liberation Front, as well as other insignificant
players who call themselves representatives of the
Tamil people in the north and east. The recent defence
by TULF leaders of certain remarks by President
Chandrika concerning the Tamils bears testimony to
their moral depravity. Even some Tamils living in
Colombo who consider themselves the cream of
intelligentsia have formed themselves into an informal
organisation, called the Jaffna University Teachers for
Human Rights, without even the knowledge of Jaffna
University administration, to smear the image of the
Liberation Tigers for the sake of position and money.
Their services are utilised by the Sri Lankan
Government for its own ulterior motives.
On the top of all these underhand dealings, President
Chandrika makes use of the so-called Tamil, Lakshman
Kadirgamar, who does not know or even understand Tamil,
in her propaganda efforts to destroy the Tamil Eelam
cause. Under Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, the
Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry uses its Embassies and
diplomatic Missions overseas in order to spread its
scandalising propaganda concerning the image of the
Liberation Tigers and the just cause of the Tamil
people and their liberation struggle. The main task of
Sri Lankan Foreign Missions is to make use of Sinhalese
people, mainly Buddhists, living in foreign countries
to organise activity against the Tamils. Instead of
concentrating on their normal diplomatic duty of
maintaining friendly relations with other countries,
these diplomatic missions and their staff are charged
by Lakshman Kadirgamar to be alert for any developments
in favour of the Tamils in those countries and to take
immediate measures to counter such developments.
Whenever there is a sign of sympathy for the Tamil
cause in foreign countries, Lakshman Kadirgamar does
not hesitate to condemn it as a violation of Sri Lankan
internal affairs.
In spite of all its comparative advantage, the Sri
Lankan Government has failed to impress on the outside
world and put a stop to the ever growing popularity of
the Liberation Tigers, for the simple reason that all
its propaganda does not have an iota of truth and does
not reflect the real situation of the war in Sri Lanka.
Faced with this deficiency, it is therefore obliged to
spread unwholesome lies and half-truths and make
improper use of its propaganda machine in order to
counter the upsurge in the popularity of the Liberation
Tigers in the outside world.
1. Are Liberation Tigers an organisation of
terrorists?
The primary motive of the Sri Lankan Government's
international propaganda is to portray the Liberation
Tigers as a terrorist organisation and its war with the
Sri Lankan armed forces as terrorist activities. Its
principal objective is therefore to cause damage to the
image of the Liberation Tigers in the outside world and
thereby belittle the Eelam liberation cause. The
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is the national
liberation movement of the Tamils. It is an
organisation with a long history of the Tamil
liberation struggle for the past 24 years. It is a
national organisation with an infrastructure consisting
of military, political, social, economic and legal
institutions. It. has been forced to resort to armed
struggle after all the democratic and non-violent
struggle of the Tamil people to win their legitimate
rights had ended in failure.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been
recognised by both the Sri Lankan and Indian
Governments at one time or another. And during the
recent cease-fire, the Governments of Norway,
Netherlands and Canada had recognised it as a national
liberation movement and had volunteered their services
as observers.
Under the Chandrika Government, economic embargoes, a
ban on deep sea fishing, denial of freedom of movement,
arrests, disappearances, sex violations, cold blooded
murder and disposal of bodies in secret pits in areas
under army control are premeditated and have become the
order of the day. Aerial bombardment, artillery fire,
attacks from gun-boats, and other destructive measures
undertaken by the Chandrika administration, are
intended to exterminate the entire Tamil people.
Government terrorism has reached its zenith under the
Government of President Chandrika. Floating bodies in
the Polgoda Lake, the inhuman aerial bombardment of the
catholic church at Navaly and a school in Nagarkovil,
the Kumarapuram massacre, bombardment in Nachchikuda,
the excavations in Jaffna which reveal secret killings
and disposal of bodies have all taken place during
Chandrika's regime, which the whole civilised world saw
with shame and horror.
2. Linking the
Liberation Tigers with drug traffic
The policy of the Liberation Tigers is that drugs are
dangerous to humanity and hence all sources of its
traffic should be destroyed. Due to the untiring effort
of the LTTE in the past, there were no sellers or users
of drugs in the regions under its control. Even illicit
arrack (liquour) and prostitution are banned [by the
LTTE civil administration] because they are detrimental
to the well-being of society. In contrast, the use of
drugs and child prostitution are an everyday occurrence
in Colombo and other Sinhalese areas in the south of
the island. The child prostitution is carried out with
the blessings of those with direct links in the higher
echelons of the Sri Lankan Government.
3. Extortion of money under threat
The Liberation Tigers are burdened with the
responsibility of assuring the security of the Tamil
people from wanton attacks by the Sri Lankan forces,
rehabilitating the hundreds of thousands of refugees
who have been forced out of their homelands, countering
the Government's economic embargo in Tamil areas by
undertaking development projects, maintaining social
and economic growth among its people, safeguarding the
cultural heritage, health, language, education and
other human values of the Tamil people from
destruction. They need a large fund to finance all
these projects. The Liberation Tigers therefore levy
taxes from the Tamil Eelam people, from commercial and
industrial undertakings in their territory, and receive
financial assistance from local and foreign
well-wishers and benefactors.
It is important to note that what the Liberation Tigers
receive as funds for maintaining the internal security
of its people are also used for rehabilitation,
development, linguistic, educational, and cultural
purposes. But what the Sri Lankan Government does is
the exact opposite - it diverts economic assistance it
receives for rehabilitation, development, education and
other social, economic and cultural projects either in
its entirety or a good part of it for continuing its
war effort. The whole world is now aware that the
Government uses the development funds destined for the
north and east for its military operations against the
Tamil people. It is for this reason that donor
countries now insist that they oversee the work
undertaken by the aid receiving countries. Thus it can
be concluded that the premeditated false propaganda of
the Sri Lankan Government against the Liberation Tigers
is a cover for its own mishandling of international
aid.
4. Does the LTTE have links with international
terrorist organisations?
The Liberation Tigers, as its name implies is a
liberation organisation concerned with the struggle for
the national self determination of the Tamil people.
They are anxious to establish normal diplomatic
relations with legally constituted countries in the
world and continue their efforts in this direction by
their political and diplomatic encounters.
Hence the LTTE is aware that it will be suicidal to
establish links with international terrorist or
criminal organisations such as the Mafia. The LTTE has
no links whatsoever with such terrorist or criminal
organisations. The Liberation Tigers, on the other
hand, are concerned with maintaining friendly
relations, even with countries that give military
training and other logistic assistance to the Sri
Lankan armed forces who are engaged in a genocidal war
against the Tamil people; and to convince these
countries the extent to which their assistance to Sri
Lanka is causing misery for the Tamil people. The LTTE
gives due consideration to cooperate with non
governmental and volunteer organisations and to give
them all their assistance to carry out their missions.
The Liberation Tigers have clearly understood that it
is the Sri Lankan Government and its governmental
machinery who are the enemies of the liberation
struggle.
In their 24 year history of leading the liberation
struggle, the Liberation Tigers have never indulged in
any kidnapping of foreigners, holding them as ransom,
threatening them or even causing damage to their
property.But the Sri Lankan Government has threatened
the Secretary General of the United Nations for his
condemnation of the Sri Lankan Government for the
massive displacement of the Tamil people by its
military operations, threatened the M.S.F. for its
condemnation of the Nagarkovil aerial bombing, and
boycotted the conference in Colombo of non governmental
organisations.
Thus the Sri Lankan Government has not hesitated to
take punitive measures against those countries and
organisations which did not agree with the Government's
genocidal policy against the Tamil people. The
Government has enlisted the services of experts from
the United States, United Kingdom and Israel for
training its troops, and even used them in military
operations. Unable to stand the growing influence of
the Liberation Tigers in the international sphere and
financial assistance given to them by Tamils living
abroad, the Sri Lankan government has made established
contacts with international terrorist organisations to
hunt out and exterminate LTTE activists in foreign
countries.
This is evidenced by the recent cold-blooded murder of
Nathan and Kajan in France. Former President
J.R.Jayawardena once said that he would even seek the
assistance of the devil to defeat the Tamil Liberation
struggle. Today Chandrika is fulfilling that wish.
These heinous actions of the Sri Lankan Government are
a direct threat to the balance of power in South East
Asia, disrupt regional peace in the Indian Ocean and
help in organising a stage for a World Power
confrontation.
5. Passport frauds and illicit immigration
Unable to withstand the death and destruction caused by
the Sri Lankan Government's uncontrolled war in Tamil
regions, people are forced to leave their homelands and
seek refuge elsewhere. Some of them are helped to leave
the country by hundreds of travel agencies in Colombo
and in other countries whose main motive is to make
money. Some of these flourishing agencies and their
agents are functioning in accordance with the law,
while there are several others who engage in deception
and fraud. Most of them function with the blessings of
top level Government officers and institutions. It is
clear that instead of controlling and overseeing the
activities of these Agencies and Agents and maintaining
law and order, the Sri Lankan Government accuses the
Liberation Tigers to distract world attention on its
incapacity.
6. Violation of human rights
Human rights are considered inviolable in the world
order today. The Tamil people are one of the world's
oldest. They spread their civilisation to other parts
of the world. Human friendship, human understanding,
human rights, human civilisation and human culture were
brought to the forefront by the Tamils. It is therefore
unnecessary that the Tamils be given a lesson on human
rights. The Liberation Tigers who belong to this
heritage do not hesitate to punish those who work
against the liberation cause and engage in its
betrayal. They also carry out raids against armed
Sinhalese thugs who have been settled in Tamil areas by
the Sri Lankan Government. Several thousand innocent
Tamils have been killed or maimed by these traitors and
thugs. Many more have lost their property and been
driven out of their hereditary homeland. Hence the
Liberation Tigers do not show mercy to those who
inflict such losses on the Tamil community.
But at the same time,
the Leader of the Liberation Tigers has released - on
humanitarian grounds and without any conditions -
several soldiers and policemen who had been taken
captive during combat operations. The Tamils have no
enmity whatsoever against the Sinhalese community. On
the contrary, they only sympathise with those who have
become victims of deception by the racist Sinhalese
Government leaders. While these leaders live in
air-conditioned houses and send their children to study
in foreign countries or in famous schools in Colombo,
enabling them to play cricket and tennis, go to
discotheques and casinos and waste large sums of money,
the children of ordinary rural Sinhalese folk are
dispatched to the battle front in the north and east to
die or be maimed for life. This has always evoked the
sympathy and understanding of the Tamil people.
7. International activities of the Liberation Tigers
The Liberation Tigers are arguably, the most organised
and well controlled liberation movement in the world.
The Liberation Tigers are a tightly knit organisation
whose members do not indulge in alcohol, tobacco,
unlawful sex, theft of private property or any other
vices. They have established courts of justice, police
and other legal institutions within the areas under
their control which help maintain law and order, while
at the same time they are also involved in the social
and economic development of the Tamils. The civil
population is free to participate in all these
activities. Even international activists of the LTTE
have similar controls.
The Tamil Eelam
national leader V.Pirabaharan insists that all the
international offices of the LTTE should function in
accordance with the law of the individual country in
which they find themselves. However, it has been
unfortunate that representatives of the LTTE had been
arrested in countries like Canada and Switzerland. Even
though these actions are the direct result of the
vicious propaganda of the Sri Lankan Government, the
LTTE has taken all legal measures in this regard. It is
on the basis of this legal action that the LTTE's Swiss
representative was recently released. It is hoped that
the Canadian representative will also be released in
the near future.
The International Office of the Liberation Tigers is
based in London. There are several branch offices and
coordination centres in other countries of the world.
There are more LTTE offices than Sri Lankan Embassies
in different countries and cities for the dissemination
of information. Tamil youths and intelligentsia who are
devoted to the Tamil liberation cause and victims of
Sinhalese racism form the backbone of this information
network. They are devoid of self interest and sometimes
even sacrifice family responsibilities. The LTTE
volunteers are a set of devoted activists who disregard
the cold and the heat, face the wrath of disease and
fatigue, as well as all types of pressure and
opposition, but continue on their inexorable path of
dedicated and selfless service.
The Sri Lankan Government which had left no stone
unturned to disrupt the popularity of the Liberation
Tigers all over the world by its false propaganda and
legal procedures has finally unleashed its tentacles of
international terrorism.
State terrorism against the Tamils was hitherto
confined to the national limits of Sri Lanka. But now
it has been exported to foreign shores. There is no
more security for the thousands of refugees who have
been obliged to flee their country due to the war and
seek refuge in foreign countries. Madam Chandrika who
had received her higher education in Politics and
Science, in France had resorted to international
terrorism which even her diehard predecessors
J.R.Jayawardena and R. Premadsa had never ventured to
do. The Sri Lankan Tamils living in foreign countries
are therefore faced with the situation of protecting
themselves from this international Sinhala
terrorism.
The whole world is now aware that preparations are
under way for a major military operation and
extermination of the Tamils from Sri Lankan soil, and
that all talk about peace is an eye-wash to deceive and
influence international public opinion. At the same
time, the world has been awakened to the threat of
international terrorism exported from Sri Lankan
shores. Hence it will not be long before the
international community recognises the inalienable
rights of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka, and that
the only solution for a permanent solution to the Tamil
question and the establishment of peace lies in the
granting of the right of self determination to the
Tamils and the establishment of a separate state of
Tamil Eelam comprising the northern and eastern
provinces of the island of Sri Lanka.
