DMK President and TESO Chairman Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi urged India and nations of the world and the UNO to immediately intervene to retrieve lands belonging to Eelam Tamils from the encroachment and occupation of Sinhala army and take action to get the armed forces out of these areas where they had lived to enable them to live there forever.
In his epistle to DMK cadre on April 27, Kalaignar recalled his demand on April 23 that Government of India should take action to help 19 Eelam Tamils stranded in Dubai out of 45 who escaped from Lankan armed forces and tried to cross over to Australia but were caught and disembarked there and directed by the UNHCR to deport them back to Lanka as no other country came forward to give them asylum.
On reading his request Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram had sent him the message that the Centre considered it and the 19 Eelam Tamils would not be repatriated back to Lanka. He had received similar information from those in Dubai, Kalaignar said and thanked the Centre and Finance Minister. However, he said he was duty bound to point out that the GoI was still passive in removing the difficulties of Eelam Tamils.
While replying to question in the Lok Sabha on April 22 regarding Tamil Nadu fishermen frequently attacked by Lankan naval forces, Union Defence Minister A.K.Antony had said that India had advised Lanka to direct their armed forces not to attack fishermen coming near international maritime boundary line and should be treated with humanitarianism and that India would continue to take steps to protect the interests of Indian fishermen.
The Defence Minister had further said that according to an agreement reached between both countries in October 2008, Lankan naval forces should not open fire on Indian fishing boats, and to prevent illegal activities in Indian waters and attacks on Indian fishermen fishing in our sea waters, ships of Indian Navy and Coast Guard had been deployed in Palk straits.
However, the incidents of attacks even after 2008 only proved that the Sinhala regime was not honouring this agreement also as it was accustomed to, Kalaignar said.
Only in view of all these that we had been telling that Commonwealth meets should not be held in Lanka. Even in the statement issued by me on 23rd last, I had referred to the demand of 27 Chief Justices of Commonwealth nations meeting at Cape Town in South Africa that the proposed CHOGM in Lanka should be reconsidered and decide on removing Lanka from Commonwealth organisation due to continuing violations of human rights. Following this DMK MPs were meeting envoys of Commonwealth nations and request them accordingly.
As if to add strength to our demand, Brad Adams, Asian director of Human Rights Watch had urged the meeting of Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to be held in London to decide against holding Commonwealth conference in Lanka, which had not been respecting human rights by removing the Chief Justice from office, suppressing media, and denying basic liberty. If the CHOGM was conducted in such a nation it would amount to approval of human rights violations by Lankan regime. Commonwealth nations should register that its conference could not be held in a country which did not honour human rights.
As yet another instance for human rights violations by Lankan regime crossing limits, 6,381 acres of land belonging to Tamils had been illegally encroached by Sinhala armed forces. Right from 1990 when ‘Valigamam’ in Jaffna came under the control of Sinhala army this encroachment was taking place. After the end of war, when it was expected that these lands would be handed over back to Tamils now the Sinhala government had passed orders for the Sinhala army to own these lands.
It was not only in Jaffna area that such encroachment activities were carried out but also in the districts of Kilinochi, Mullaitheevu, Vavunia, Mannar, Tricaonamalee, Mattakalappu and Ambarai, Kalaignar said.
Moreover, the Lankan regime has planned to construct army headquarters for Jaffna zone in these land areas belonging to Tamils. It was reported that 2,500 temples and 400 churches where Tamils were worshipping were demolished and Sinhala places of worship were constructed, condemning which Tamils there were conducting peaceful protests.
Kalaignar recalled the resolutions already adopted at the conference of TESO in Chennai on 12.8.2012 which stated,
“Today in Sri Lanka the presence and power of the Army are more predominant than democratic system of Government. The Army has taken over a very large number of houses of the Tamils for their activities. The Army has brought vacant houses under its control and has been refusing to vacate. No social function could be held in the houses of Tamils in the North and East without the permission of the Army.
Only the Army men are appointed as District Administrators and Government functionaries there. Tamil Eezham today looks like an Army-Camp. There is no way out for the Tamils to air their grievances, talk or peacefully agitate in the absence of democratically-elected local bodies. They are under constant panic.
This Conference, therefore, pleads with the U.N.O. and Nations of the World, to bring pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to withdraw the Army from the Tamil Areas immediately. This Conference further requests the U.N.O., to constitute an International Committee to directly supervise withdrawal of the Army” and
“Sinhala-fishermen are being settled in the areas traditionally under occupation by the Tamil-fishermen in the coastal areas of the North and East. This has affected the livelihood of Tamil fishermen.
Sinhalese forcibly settled in Tamil areas should be sent back and Tamils should again be declared as the rightful owners of the natural resources, trade and commerce. This conference appeals that the U.N.O. should urge the Sri Lankan Government to take steps immediately to restore normalcy in the life of the Tamils.”
It was to defeat these designs of the Sinhala armed forces to encroach and occupy land areas belonging to Tamils that he had now urged the nations of the world including India and the UNO to intervene immediately and take actions, Kalaignar said.
In his epistle to DMK cadre on April 27, Kalaignar recalled his demand on April 23 that Government of India should take action to help 19 Eelam Tamils stranded in Dubai out of 45 who escaped from Lankan armed forces and tried to cross over to Australia but were caught and disembarked there and directed by the UNHCR to deport them back to Lanka as no other country came forward to give them asylum.
On reading his request Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram had sent him the message that the Centre considered it and the 19 Eelam Tamils would not be repatriated back to Lanka. He had received similar information from those in Dubai, Kalaignar said and thanked the Centre and Finance Minister. However, he said he was duty bound to point out that the GoI was still passive in removing the difficulties of Eelam Tamils.
While replying to question in the Lok Sabha on April 22 regarding Tamil Nadu fishermen frequently attacked by Lankan naval forces, Union Defence Minister A.K.Antony had said that India had advised Lanka to direct their armed forces not to attack fishermen coming near international maritime boundary line and should be treated with humanitarianism and that India would continue to take steps to protect the interests of Indian fishermen.
The Defence Minister had further said that according to an agreement reached between both countries in October 2008, Lankan naval forces should not open fire on Indian fishing boats, and to prevent illegal activities in Indian waters and attacks on Indian fishermen fishing in our sea waters, ships of Indian Navy and Coast Guard had been deployed in Palk straits.
However, the incidents of attacks even after 2008 only proved that the Sinhala regime was not honouring this agreement also as it was accustomed to, Kalaignar said.
Only in view of all these that we had been telling that Commonwealth meets should not be held in Lanka. Even in the statement issued by me on 23rd last, I had referred to the demand of 27 Chief Justices of Commonwealth nations meeting at Cape Town in South Africa that the proposed CHOGM in Lanka should be reconsidered and decide on removing Lanka from Commonwealth organisation due to continuing violations of human rights. Following this DMK MPs were meeting envoys of Commonwealth nations and request them accordingly.
As if to add strength to our demand, Brad Adams, Asian director of Human Rights Watch had urged the meeting of Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to be held in London to decide against holding Commonwealth conference in Lanka, which had not been respecting human rights by removing the Chief Justice from office, suppressing media, and denying basic liberty. If the CHOGM was conducted in such a nation it would amount to approval of human rights violations by Lankan regime. Commonwealth nations should register that its conference could not be held in a country which did not honour human rights.
As yet another instance for human rights violations by Lankan regime crossing limits, 6,381 acres of land belonging to Tamils had been illegally encroached by Sinhala armed forces. Right from 1990 when ‘Valigamam’ in Jaffna came under the control of Sinhala army this encroachment was taking place. After the end of war, when it was expected that these lands would be handed over back to Tamils now the Sinhala government had passed orders for the Sinhala army to own these lands.
It was not only in Jaffna area that such encroachment activities were carried out but also in the districts of Kilinochi, Mullaitheevu, Vavunia, Mannar, Tricaonamalee, Mattakalappu and Ambarai, Kalaignar said.
Moreover, the Lankan regime has planned to construct army headquarters for Jaffna zone in these land areas belonging to Tamils. It was reported that 2,500 temples and 400 churches where Tamils were worshipping were demolished and Sinhala places of worship were constructed, condemning which Tamils there were conducting peaceful protests.
Kalaignar recalled the resolutions already adopted at the conference of TESO in Chennai on 12.8.2012 which stated,
“Today in Sri Lanka the presence and power of the Army are more predominant than democratic system of Government. The Army has taken over a very large number of houses of the Tamils for their activities. The Army has brought vacant houses under its control and has been refusing to vacate. No social function could be held in the houses of Tamils in the North and East without the permission of the Army.
Only the Army men are appointed as District Administrators and Government functionaries there. Tamil Eezham today looks like an Army-Camp. There is no way out for the Tamils to air their grievances, talk or peacefully agitate in the absence of democratically-elected local bodies. They are under constant panic.
This Conference, therefore, pleads with the U.N.O. and Nations of the World, to bring pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to withdraw the Army from the Tamil Areas immediately. This Conference further requests the U.N.O., to constitute an International Committee to directly supervise withdrawal of the Army” and
“Sinhala-fishermen are being settled in the areas traditionally under occupation by the Tamil-fishermen in the coastal areas of the North and East. This has affected the livelihood of Tamil fishermen.
Sinhalese forcibly settled in Tamil areas should be sent back and Tamils should again be declared as the rightful owners of the natural resources, trade and commerce. This conference appeals that the U.N.O. should urge the Sri Lankan Government to take steps immediately to restore normalcy in the life of the Tamils.”
It was to defeat these designs of the Sinhala armed forces to encroach and occupy land areas belonging to Tamils that he had now urged the nations of the world including India and the UNO to intervene immediately and take actions, Kalaignar said.
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