(October 04, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) "My colleagues and I are very conscious of the strong feelings and concerns of Britain’s Tamil community with regard to the conflict in Sri Lanka and the unfolding humanitarian crises in the northern part of the country. The recent escalation of violence in Sri Lanka is deeply concerning. The only way forward in the conflict is a negotiated settlement that satisfies the concerns and legitimate aspirations of all Sri Lankans and preserves democracy in Sri Lanka. I wish the Tamil community in Britain every success."
The above message from the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Rt. Hon William Hague MP was read-out at the ‘Fringe Event’ at the annual conference of the Conservative Party in Birmingham on Monday, 29 September 2008. This ‘Fringe Event’ was organised by Tamil members of the Conservative Party in conjunction with the British Tamils Forum.
Photographs depicting 60 years of oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka were displayed as part of an awareness campaign.Speakers included Lord Sheikh, Ben Rogers – Deputy Chairman of Conservative Human Rights Commission, Tariq Ahmad - Vice Chairman of Conservative Party (Cities), Dr. Raj Chandran – Vice President of Conservative Medical Society & Former Mayor of Gedling, Patrick Ratnarajah – Member of Conservative Party (Central Croydon) and Mark Clarke - Parliamentary Party Candidate for Tooting.
Shadow Transport Secretary Teresa Villiers sent two of her representatives to the event. Also present in the audience was the Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka.
Dr. Raj Chandran chaired the meeting and reminded the audience that there is a sizeable Tamil voting population here in the UK spread over many constituencies. He made pointed reference to the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner present within the audience and said that since independence there has never been any power sharing with the Tamils by the majority Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. He further stated that in 1977 the Tamils in North and East of Sri Lanka for the first time voted overwhelmingly in favour of an independent Tamil State. Dr. Raj Chandran also pointed out that the arms struggle only started after successive Sinhala Governments ignored the legitimate aspirations of the Tamils and particularly since the racial riots that killed over 4,000 Tamils in 1983.
Lord Sheikh spoke very briefly and said that he is not here to take any sides but to highlight the suffering of the people of Sri Lanka. He also affirmed that there should be a political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. He shared the sentiment that the British Government can help in the process from the learnings of conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. He further mentioned that he had previously asked questions at the Lords with regards to human rights violations in Sri Lanka.
Sixty years of suffering – Patrick Ratnaraja
Patrick Ratnarajah spoke with conviction and highlighted the current plight of the 250,000 internally displaced Tamils and over 5,000 Tamils being killed in the last two years alone by the Sri Lankan Government since it came to power in 2006. He spoke under the heading of 60 years of suffering of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Mr. Ratnarajah said only last week, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has expelled all the International Aid Workers from the predominantly Tamil areas where these Agencies were helping the internally displaced people. He said that this was a deliberate attempt by the GoSL to continue with the aggression.
He referred to the killing of the 17 French Aid Workers and the withdrawal of the International Independent Eminent Persons Group (IIEGP) due to the lack of will from the part of the GoSL to prosecute anyone for these killings and others. He said there is continued violence perpetrated against Christians and Church buildings in Sri Lanka according to Christian Solidarity. Mr. Ratnarajah highlighted the harassment that journalists face in Sri Lanka at the hands of the oppressive regime in power. He said that Sri Lanka is not just a failed state but a racist state. He referred to the recent speech of the Army Commander where he stated that Sri Lanka is for Sinhalese only and not for Tamils or any other minorities.
Over 60 years of various failed peace talks and pacts Tamils have decided that only an independent Tamil State is the only way in which we can secure peace in that region. He reminded the audience that the Tamils in Sri Lanka voted overwhelmingly for an independent state in two separate democratically held elections in 1977 and 2004. He said that the current British Labour Government and the Foreign Minister Lord Malloch Brown do not understand the ethnic problem very well at all. Just by making the Tamil language as an official language will not solve the problem as suggested by the current Foreign Minister, he said. Concluding, Mr. Ratnarajah said that he hoped that in government the Conservative Party, under the leadership of Mr. Cameron, will bring lasting peace to the Island of Sri Lanka.
Ben Rogers spoke very eloquently on the subject of human rights. He said that he advises Rt. Hon William Hague on human rights issues around the world and he believed that human rights will be at the heart of the next Conservative government’s foreign policy. He said that he has visited Sri Lanka in various capacities at least 4 times so far and has not had the opportunity to travel to the predominantly Tamil areas of North and East of Sri Lanka. He said that he had come to the meeting not with the intention of taking sides but to listen and learn. He said that this process will help him understand what Conservatives can do to help resolve this issue when they form the next government but indeed help now even as the opposition party. Mr. Rogers also spoke at length about abductions, disappearances and the dire state of human rights in Sri Lanka. He spoke about the indefinite detention of journalist Tissnayagam. He spoke how lower rating that Sri Lanka has got in the press freedom ratings, just above Iraq. He also referred to the killings of the 17 aid workers by the Sri Lankan Forces and that the UN has formally stated that Sri Lanka being one of the most dangerous places for journalists and aid workers. Mr. Rogers also referred to certain human rights violations perpetrated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).He further said that everyone is very concerned about the escalating violence in Sri Lanka, the large scale internal displacement that this is causing and the recent expulsion of International Non Governmental Organisations and Aid workers from the Vanni area which he said has further raised alarm bells within the international community. He made passing reference to the recent policy decisions that the GoSL has made by associating with regimes such as Iran, Pakistan and China who have poor record on human rights. Mr. Rogers concluded his speech by referring to a recent letter that the Bishop of Jaffna had written to the President of Sri Lanka. He read-out some of the contents of the letter which largely requested help from the President in terms of internally displaced people, their safety, essentials that the Aid Agencies can provide and the responsibility that the government should take in protecting these displaced people from being targeted by indiscriminate aerial, land and sea bombardments. - Sri Lanka Guardian
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