The Meanings Of Wigneswaran

By S Sathananthan -July 31, 2013 |

Dr. S Sathananthan

The Tamil National Alliance has boomed Justice C.V. Wigneswaran as its chief ministerial candidate. There is no gainsaying his impressive legal career and that he is an upright individual akin to the metaphorical Palmyrah tree. The Alliance is promoting him as an able interlocutor who may, as northern Chief Minister (CM), command respect in Colombo, New Delhi, London and Washington. He is expected to tackle onerous tasks, including re-building bridges between Tamils and Muslims and striving for a ‘Marshal Plan, Reparations and an Economic Programme’ for the Northern Province.

Heady stuff by any measure if sullied by the deafening silence on pursuing accountability for crimes against humanity committed in the build up to Mullivaaikkal and post-Mullivaaikkal.

The all-important political track record, however, is conspicuously lacking. Justice Wigneswaran’s formative experience in statecraft is as a government servant schooled in the benign tradition of dissenting, politely of course, within State-sanctioned parameters. He is a political novice with no appreciable history of defending Tamils’ national rights either with the pen or on the streets. In his speech accepting the post of Supreme Court Judge (2001), Justice Wigneswaran had comforted Sinhalese nationalists Tamils don’t threaten their power: ‘The vast majority of the denizens [sic] of the north and east seek the restoration of their rights and not devolution of power’; that, while the LTTE was simultaneously leading the armed resistance. Evidently he naively believes rights could be won and defended without power, unaware of the time-tested truth: those without power cannot defend freedom.

Why, then, has TNA leader R Sampanthan, sporting more than four decades of political experience, nominated Wigneswaran for CM and trotted out his laudable non-political attributes as ludicrous strengths essential to head the Northern Provincial Council (NPC)?

Sampanthan’s monstrously incompetent leadership of the Alliance is under intense criticism in Tamil society and especially among the more radical, younger Tamil politicians grouped within the dissenting Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF), who demand a larger devolution of power not provided for in the decentralisation under the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution (13A). They may well marginalise the Alliance in the forthcoming NPC elections since the TNA, after extended sabre rattling against the Amendment, is edging towards caving in to Sinhalese nationalists. But the Alliance risks political suicide by jettisoning devolution, to which they long paid lip service (satyagrahas, etc), especially when Tamil areas are under the jack-boot and Palestine-style changes to ‘facts on the ground’ are being rammed through.                 Read More    

Wigneswaran seeks mandate for ‘IC-facilitated’ Northern Provincial Council

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 July 2013, 01:12 GMT]
People's participation in the polls to Northern Provincial Council will be significant to the implementation of the 13th Amendment. Since Colombo has agreed to conduct the election merely because of international pressure, people have to be prepared to resist any sabotage. The elected PC will help to end the governor’s rule and interferences in civil administration, said Tamil National Alliance's Chief Minister candidate for Northern Province and retired Justice C.V. Wigneswaran on Monday in Jaffna, after fielding TNA's list of candidates for Northern PC elections. Meanwhile, Colombo President Mahinda Rajapaksa implied ‘understanding’ with the candidature of Wigneswaran, when he said on Tuesday that he would be willing meet Wigneswaran to discuss land and police powers to provinces. 

Wigneswaran seeks mandate for ‘IC-facilitated’ Northern Provincial Council by nelvely

Will Wigneswaran Raise The Issue Of Economic Freedom Under 13A?

By Ayathuray Rajasingam -July 31, 2013 

Ayathuray Rajasingam

A close examination of the 13^th Amendment, would reveal that the Northern Province Provincial Council (NPPC) is powerless to manage the Provincial Fund required for the economic development of the Northern Province, because of the enormous powers vested with the Governor. Actually it denies the economic freedom that would lead to the growth and prosperity of the Northern Province. Economic freedom denotes the ability of the individuals to undertake economic direction and actions. According to Friedrich Hayek Rule of Law is required for economic freedom as evidenced in the Western democratic countries. Equality of law requires that all legal rules apply equally to everyone which are seen as safeguards against restrictions on liberty, because they require that all laws equally apply to those with political and coercive power as well as to those who are governed. However, special privileges and arbitrary application of law in Sri Lanka are seen as exemptions from this principle of generality and equality.

After the defeat of the LTTE, economic challenges has been a major factor for the Northern Province that was ravaged by war. Though the infra-structure development work are being carried out, the denial of economic freedom and an absence of equality of law was characterized by systematic and calculated acts of grabbing lands belonging to the Tamils and colonized with the Sinhalese. The government failed to realize that majority of the Tamils aspired to live peacefully for which it should have provided a platform for economic freedom. On the contrary, the ruling politicians celebrated the victory as though they have won a great battle against another country and began to harass the helpless Tamils, which is not the method of healing the pains of feelings. It appears that the ruling politicians are still driven by narrow considerations that Tamils are not a segment of the Sri Lankan community.

It is time to take adequate steps to create an atmosphere of friendship and brotherhood for the Tamils to feel that Sri Lanka is still their home and to allay their fears of being hunted on suspicion through para-military groups. Now look at Canada. 50% of the Canadian population are immigrants, some of whom have fled through fear of being persecuted in their countries and they are been given their freedom to develop the economy in Canada. A friendly atmosphere is created to feel themselves that the country is their home and the immigrants had shown their sincere in developing the economy of the country and they are also ready to defend Canada. It is time for Sri Lanka politicians to realize that Nations are built on trust. Instead of pursuing a malignant economic policy, it is far better to grant their economic freedom to develop the country rather than borrowing loans from foreign countries, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of housemaids being sent to Middle-East countries where they are subject to endless harassment and torture.             Read More

CHOGM dictates moderation to the Rajapakse Administration

CHOGM dictates moderation to the Rajapakse Administration

Photo courtesy Transcurrents / by Tony Ashby, AFP

Harim Peiris-31 Jul, 2013

Groundviews

The Rajapakse Administration is gearing up to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) later this year, in November. Last weekend’s news papers carried an interesting comment attributed to President Rajapakse that his government must be cautious that it does not face a repeat of history of a previous SLFP government, under Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike, which also very successfully hosted a significant international conference,  the Non Aligned Movements’ (NAM) heads of government summit in 1976 but thereafter comprehensively lost the general elections, shortly thereafter in 1977. From which political wilderness, the SLFP did not come back for seventeen long years, until under former President Chandrika Kumaratunga the SLFP led People’s Alliance, in 1994 defeated the UNP. A state of affairs, which except for a brief and rather unsuccessful co-habitation experience for two years in 2002 and 2003, continues nineteen years hence, of which the past seven years has been under President Rajapakse.

CHOGM Dictates Moderation to the Rajapakse Administration by nelvely

Sri Lanka Indicts Eight Suspects Following Release of ‘Brothers Shaikh’ Film

By Betsy Rothstein on July 30, 2013 3:55 PM

On Monday we brought you the news that Stateless Media, a new film company based in Washington, had created a film about a man murdered in a Sri Lankan coastal town in 2011. Amid the crime, the man’s girlfriend was raped. At the time, the government imprisoned eight suspects, including a Sri Lankan politician, for 11 months and then released them. For a year and a half, the story stilled.

The murdered man, Khuram Shaikh, was from Manchester, England. His family still lives there. To many Brits, it’s outrageous that Britain is sending its prime minister, David Cameron, andPrince Charles to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this year in light of the fact that Sri Lanka is hosting it.

The film was released last week and posted on The New Yorker website. Since then, there has been an apology from Sri Lankan senior officials as well as an indictment of all eight suspects. (Yeah, the Sri Lankan court system is nothing like what exists here so don’t even try to equate it.) What’s important — we guess — is that the suspects are once again being asked to pay for their crimes.

“‘The Brothers Shaikh’ has been getting lots of clicks in Britain, and my suspicion is the British High Commission, in Colombo, told the Sri Lankans it was getting hard to justify sending Cameron and Prince Charles to this big meeting that the Sri Lankans will be hosting,” explained Stateless Media founder Peter Savodnik. “That probably scared the Sri Lankans. Hosting the Brits means a lot to them. It’s like a debutante ball. It means: We’re modern and democratic, and we don’t kill Tamils or Muslims; we’re not Buddhist zealots or fascists, which is what they are becoming, slowly. Still, there are two things to remember: First, the government has only said that it will indict the Tangalle Eight; it hasn’t done that yet. And second, we only made a movie about one man, Khuram Shaikh; there are thousands of Sri Lankans whom we will never make any movies about.”

Stateless Media is now producing films – they call them shortreals – in New York and Berlin. They have shortreals under development in Burma, Cairo and Los Angeles.

Sweeping Thugs Under The Rug

By Kath Noble -July 31, 2013 

Kath Noble

An awful lot of effort is being put into bringing the killers of Khuram Shaikh to trial. The British aid worker died in Tangalle in December 2011, having been set upon by a group of men at a party in the hotel in which he was staying. His girlfriend was raped.

Of course the people who did it should be punished. His brother is doing what is both right and natural in using every opportunity to press the Government to move ahead with the investigation. And his MP, Simon Danczuk, should be congratulated for taking his job as a representative of the British people seriously – in addition to speaking and writing about the case, he has now visited Sri Lanka a number of times, most recently last week as a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation.

It is also virtually guaranteed that they are correct in thinking that without this pressure, very little would happen. The main suspect is the Chairman of the Pradeshiya Sabha – a member of the UPFA.

But what is everybody else doing?

The British government is pretending to think that this incident suggests that Sri Lanka is a dangerous place for foreigners, having incorporated it into their travel advisory in an extremely dubious manner. It says, ‘Organised and armed gangs are known to operate in Sri Lanka and have been responsible for targeted kidnappings and violence. While there is no evidence to suggest that British nationals are at particular risk, gangs have been known to operate in tourist areas. A British national was killed during a violent attack by a gang in a tourist resort in December 2011.’

Read More

British Tamils reiterate call for UK Government to boycott CHOGM in Sri Lanka

Details

 

Created On Wednesday, 31 July 2013 07:43

Category: General

In a recent meeting with Rt. Hon Alistair Burt MP – the Foreign Office Minister responsible for South Asia, British Tamils expressed their disappointment at the Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to visit Sri Lanka in November 2013, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

In the meeting, which was facilitated by the British Tamils Forum, Tamil representatives from a number of Tamil groups based in the UK explained to the minister the reasons why the UK Government should reconsider its decision to attend CHOGM in Sri Lanka. They further reasoned that this Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka would be against the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth charter signed by the Queen on Commonwealth Day this year.

The delegation explained the culture of impunity, lack of accountability and continuing structural genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka - describing both historical and current events and discussing their moral and legal ramifications. They criticised the UK's role in the failure to protect Tamils in 2009 and the failure to bring Sri Lanka to account ever since – a failure that sets the conditions for continued abuses with impunity by the Sri Lankan state. The Minister was sympathetic to the concerns expressed by the Tamil representatives but differed on the suggested course of action to address these concerns.

The delegation also pointed out to the minister the failure of the UK’s strategy: soft diplomatic engagement and influence has still not delivered justice to the victims though the war ended over four years ago.

The Minister, in his response declined the delegation's suggestion for a boycott or venue change for CHOGM 2013 stating that the UK Government has made a decision on attendance which  reflects the importance of the Commonwealth as well as the opportunity for attendees to see the situation on the ground.  The Minister underlined that the  CHOGM meeting and attention it attracts, would shine a spotlight on Sri Lanka and highlight progress or the lack of it.  The UK Government had been clear on its concerns for example supporting the resolution at the March Human Rights Council and would remain so in the run up to CHOGM.

The delegation raised the following questions for the UK Government to consider on behalf of the British Tamils;

·      Is the Prime Minister's decision to attend unconditional, whatever the outcome of UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay’s report in August and Northern Provisional Council Election in September?

·      What are the UK government's plans, post-CHOGM?

·      Why doesn’t the UK include charge of genocide in their discourse?

British Tamils Forum will continue to engage with the UK Government and will seek justice through an International Independent Investigation into war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide in Sri Lanka.

Baird denies sending Sri Lanka Commonwealth summit RSVP

 Jul 30, 2013 

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird's office is denying reports in the Sri Lankan media that he has confirmed his attendance at this fall's Commonwealth Summit. Canada has threatened to boycott the summitt. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird denied reports Tuesday that he has confirmed plans to attend the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.

Two newspapers in Sri Lanka reported Tuesday that Baird had sent his RSVP to be part of the Canadian delegation to this November's summit of the 54 Commonwealth leaders.

"About 85 per cent of the participants from 54 Commonwealth countries including Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird have confirmed their attendance ... We hope the Canadian Premier will also confirm his participation once the other Commonwealth Leaders confirm their participation," a Sri Lankan MP was quoted in one domestic newspaper.

But Baird's spokesman Rick Roth says the minister has yet to decide whether he will attend the meeting.

Roth says the minister remains concerned about the Sri Lankan government's lack of accountability over allegations of war crimes against ethnic Tamils in the aftermath of the country's long civil war that ended in 2009.

"Canada will continue to monitor events in Sri Lanka and do what we can to try to increase pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to make changes," Roth said in an email.

"As the prime minister has stated very clearly, we expect our concerns to be addressed prior to the next Commonwealth meeting. However, given the current circumstances, it would be very difficult for this government to fully participate."

Tough line on human rights

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has threatened to boycott the summit, saying Sri Lanka shouldn't be hosting until it cleans up its act on human rights.

Baird has said it would be up to the prime minister to decide whether anyone goes to represent Canada because the November meeting is for heads of government.

Harper's spokesman Carl Vallee said the prime minister's views on the matter remain unchanged.

A senior government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said "we've seen this sort of misinformation in the past" from the Sri Lankan government.

The Harper government's tough line against the Sri Lankan government has won praise among human rights groups who share the concern over the lack of accountability and transparency by the government.

As Baird emerged from a recent meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers in London earlier this spring, he said he was "appalled" that Sri Lanka would be hosting the summit.

That sparked a backlash in the Sri Lanka media, including a lengthy editorial by one newspaper that used a long string of derogatory terms to describe Baird.

A moonlit walk

A moonlit walk

Devaka Seneviratne-31 Jul, 2013

Groundviews

July 1983 was four years after I was born. Like many in my generation who were not directly affected by the events that took place, memories are hazy and disjointed. Black July is mostly remembered by faint memories such as the closing up of Lanka Medicals in Kandy, a shop that in those early days had a steady stock of Matchbox ‘dinky’ cars. My Uncle’s house in Bandarawela where we would spend holidays, had a neighbor whose car was set on fire. As a Sinhalese it is something that has at the back of my mind, made me ashamed to belong to the same people that were capable of such horrors, horrors that I only recently have fully come to know of and understand. Spending large parts of my childhood on tea estates surrounded by Tamils and going to a school where we had a mix of Tamils and Sinhalese in the same class made it so normal for us to believe that we were all just Sri Lankans and not divided by petty politics and race.

A Moonlit Walk by nelvely

VIOLENT DISRUPTION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME DEMONSTRATES THREAT TO PLURALISM, MULTI-CULTURALISM AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE

MEDIA RELEASE-31.07.13

As part of its post-war peace building initiatives the National Peace Council (NPC) has been conducting an educational programme on the LRRC report in different parts of the country, including Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Colombo, Matara, Galle, Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Puttalam, Ampara, Kurunegala, Batticaloa and Trincomalee. These LLRC workshops have been very popular with community leaders and local level government officials of all ethnicities. On Saturday July 27, 2013 a workshop discussion between community leaders and experts on land law and policy conducted by the National Peace Council in Batticaloa was forcibly disrupted by a Buddhist monk of the area and his supporters.

The workshop that was disrupted was part of NPC’s follow-up activities, done at the request of the participants themselves. Its purpose was to educate these community leaders on the government’s rules and regulations and provide a legal point of view on land issues. There were religious leaders and community leaders from resettlement areas representing different ethnic and religious backgrounds. The disruption of the NPC event is similar to that experienced by other civil society groups who have faced similar obstructions. The pattern of incidents that have taken place in the recent past, and of which NPC has been the latest victim, is an indication of the threat to pluralism, multi-culturalism and religious tolerance in the country.

The function of the Police is to act under the Criminal Procedure Code and the Police Ordinance and uphold the Rule of Law. However, the general ethos in cases such as the one NPC encountered is to let the perpetrators off without legal action leaving space for them to act again with impunity. The right to freedom of association and free speech is guaranteed in the constitution. At this time, when the country is preparing for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, and also for the Commonwealth People’s Summit (in which NPC is playing a supportive role by being a part of the sub-committee), we ask the government to take the necessary steps to protect the space for civil society groups to function freely, without fear and harassment.

Governing Council
The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

Forgetting Black July

Forgetting Black July

Photo courtesy BBC

Groundviews

I was born ten years after Black July. I am a Singhalese. A week or so ago, as the thirty-year anniversary approached, for curiosity’s sake, I did a small experiment. I asked some of my peers a question: “What do you know about Black July?” Of twenty-two Sinhalese, eighteen did not know what it was. I asked eight Tamil friends, all of whom knew, and had family experiences to share. Here are a few of those responses.

Forgetting Black July by nelvely

Black July: Thondaman & Muttetuwegama

By Rajan Hoole -July 31, 2013 

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 7 -

The clearest statements about the violence giving the lie to Jayewardene’s line of a spontaneous Sinhalese uprising came in early August from Mr. S. Thondaman, a cabinet minister and leader of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress representing the Hill-Country Tamils in Parliament, and from Sarath Muttetuwegama, the only Communist Party MP in Parliament.

Thondaman’s statement carried in the Sun of 3rd August and also in the Island, was titled “None but the blind can avoid shedding tears” : “At a time when the community of people of Indian origin has been torn asunder of its roots where it had existed for over 100 years, we are constrained to look at the claim which some make that the recent pogroms are a Sinhalese uprising against us … In our thinking it is the work of well organised groups who had gone on the rampage, rioting, looting and setting on fire … It is more than unfortunate that these elements of disaster, these squads of goondas [thugs] and rabble have been allowed to parade the streets freely causing havoc and inflicting misery of such proportions with impunity…” Thondaman thus directly contradicted Jayewardene’s claim of a Sinhalese uprising.

Sarath Muttetuwegama made his speech in Parliament on 4th August when the 6th Amendment banning separatism was taken up for discussion. By then his party along with two others had been banned. He said: “Everybody knows Sir, the houses and the areas that were attacked, that State CTB (Ceylon Transport Board) buses came with thugs. Surely, I am not telling this to make some point. If you go and ask your friends in those areas you will know. Electricity Board vehicles brought thugs to Agalawatte. I am not saying the Electricity Board Chairman or somebody else or the Minister gave an order. That is not the point. The State apparatus was used…”Read More

Part one - Sri Lanka’s Black July: Borella, 24th Evening

Part two - Sri Lanka’s Black July: What Really Happened At Kanatte?

Part three - Black July: ‘Api Suddha Kara’ – JR’s Failure To Declare Curfew

Part four - Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Cover Up

Part five -  30th July 1983: The Second Naxalite Plot

Part six  - Black July: The Testimony Of Lionel Bopage, Then General Secretary Of The JVP

*From Chapter 9 of  Rajan Hoole‘s “Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power  - Myth, Decadence and Murder”. Thanks to Rajan for giving us permission to republish. To be continued tomorrow ..

Colombo accelerates Sinhala colonisation in Batticaloa: TNA MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 July 2013, 23:54 GMT]
The Colombo government is accelerating the Sinhala colonization in the Batticaloa district. More than one hundred Sinhalese families were brought down from Ampaa'rai district and have been settled down in Kevu'liya-madu village in Paddippazhai DS division, according to Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr. P. Selvarasa. 

Kevu'liya-madu is a traditional Tamil village. 

Tamil farmers were engaged in Cheanai-cultivation (rain fed) in the village since 1970. 

They were uprooted from the village several times and lost their belongings when they fled from the village seeking safety elsewhere. 

Now, only 21 Tamil families have resettled in the village due to their personal efforts though they were not provided with basic facilities by the Sri Lankan authorities. 

Already, 227 Sinhala families are living in the village with voting rights. 

The Tamil National Alliance vehemently opposes the move by the government to colonize the village with more Sinhalese from other parts of the island. 

Attempts made by the Paddippazhai DS division in taking legal action were proved futile. 

The Sinhala settlers ordered by the court to vacate their lands in the village are being provided with houses constructed with bricks. 

The Sinhala families living in the village for years also blame that the latest illegal settlement of Sinhalese as disturbing the prevailing ethnic harmony in the village, Mr Selvarasa, who recently visited the village told media. 

Batticaloa Mangalarama Viharathipathi Ambitiya Suma Ratna Thera was giving support to the illegal Sinhala settlers. 

Colombo government should take immediate steps to evict those Sinhalese families who have encroached lands in the village. The uprooted Tamils and Sinhalese who have been living in the village legally since 1970 should be provided with basic facilities, the TNA parliamentarian said.

Tamils for Obama: Tamil Nadu is the Key to saving Tamils in Sri Lanka

The world reacts only when it cannot continue to ignore a dreadful situation, said Tamils for Obama in a letter to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu. Outsiders reacted to Serbian ethnic cleansing in Kosovo when they could no longer turn their eyes away, and popular opinion in Tamil Nadu will be the key to making the international community notice what is going on with the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

Students of Loyola College during their protest in Chennai, India

We at Tamils for Obama believe that the influence and support of the Tamils in Tamil Nadu and their elected leaders will be decisive in determining the fate of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

New Yrok, New York (PRWEB) July 30, 2013

"To make the world react to an appalling situation," said a spokesman for Tamils for Obama, "you have to make them see it first. We think that Tamil Nadu--its people and its leaders--will be the ones to make the world see what has been going on in Sri Lanka for decades."

The Tamil American organization wrote a letter to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu urging her, and the people of Tamil Nadu, to continue to draw the world's attention to the persecution of their Tamil cousins in Sri Lanka.

The letter began "We at Tamils for Obama believe that the influence and support of the Tamils in Tamil Nadu and their elected leaders will be decisive in determining the fate of the Tamils in Sri Lanka."

The letter then explained that "The Colombo government's persecution of the Sri Lankan Tamils has always had the aim of minimizing the Tamils' numbers, significance, and cultural weight. The violent oppression of the Tamils has had the aim and result of making those Tamils who can afford to flee leave Sri Lanka for other countries and to make the lives of those Tamils who remain dangerous and miserable. This has been a largely successful ethnic cleansing campaign, and we believe that making the world see it as it is may be the only way to keep it from becoming a totally successful ethnic cleansing campaign. We think that the efforts of our cousins in Tamil Nadu and their leaders will be crucial in pointing the world's eyes toward our distress."

Tamils for Obama then stated their reasoning: "We think that when the world is forced to see a ghastly truth, they sometimes react to put an end to it. When Serbian (Yugoslavian) oppression of the Albanians in Kosovo could no longer be ignored by Europeans, NATO intervened to stop the oppression by Serbia. Tamil Nadu is fortunate to be in a democratic state (India) that hears their voice. India is one of the world's most important countries; when Tamil Nadu forces India to see the atrocities going on at their door step, the rest of the world will have to see also."

The letter concluded "We think that this may be the only way to save Tamil culture and lives, and we think that Tamil Nadu and leaders like yourself will be the key in causing this rescue to happen.

"We thank you and all the people of Tamil Nadu for what you have been doing. You are the Tamils' hope and strength. We urge you to carry on."

Tamils for Obama is a politically active group of Tamil Americans. They believe that over 70,000 Tamil civilians were massacred during the last weeks of the Sri Lankan civil war. They have also watched the behavior of the Sri Lankan Singhalese victors after the war, and strongly conclude that Tamils in Sri Lanka will only be safe when this unfortunate island is divided into two states.

To contact the group, call at (516) 308-2645 and speak to, or leave a message for, the Communication Director, Tamils for Obama.

http://www.TamilsForObama.com

Email: info(at)TamilsforObama(dot)com