«While Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka are organizing non-violent activities risking their lives, we in the diaspora will stand by them and internationalize the struggle. It will be a joint struggle. They will not be alone.» Rudrakumaran.
June 11, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — «While Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka are organizing non-violent activities risking their lives, we in the diaspora will stand by them and internationalize the struggle. It will be a joint struggle. They will not be alone.» Rudrakumaran.
New York:
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) today announced that it will organize parallel events around the world to support non-violent activities taking place inside the island of Sri Lanka against Sri Lankan government’s actions against Tamil people.
As a first step, TGTE is organizing prayer meetings in different countries to show solidarity with the recent prayer meeting by thousands to protest threats by senior Sri Lankan government Cabinet Ministers against Bishop of Mannar Rev. Dr. Joseph Rayappu.
These prayer meetings will take place in Mosques on next Friday (June, 15) and in Churches and Hindu Temples on next Sunday (June 17).
«Since our battle ground is not confined to North-Eastern part of the island of Sri Lanka, but in any part of the globe wherever Tamils live, Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam is organizing prayer meetings in places of worship including Churches, Mosques and Hindu Temples throughout the world.» said Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE).
«These initiatives are taking place in Sri Lanka, despite serious threats and intimidation. Political space is extremely limited inside Sri Lanka, at- least four Tamil parliamentarians were assassinated by the Sri Lankan forces and numerous other civil society leaders were either killed or disappeared. It is in this climate of fear and terror that Tamils are organizing non-violent struggles to protest these atrocities inside the island.» said Rudrakumaran.
«While Tamils in Sri Lanka are organizing activities risking their lives, we in the diaspora will stand by them and internationalize the struggle. It will be a joint struggle. They will not be alone.» continued Rudrakumaran.
Some examples of the abuses Tamils face in the island of Sri Lanka are:
1) Abductions, executions, disappearances, sexual assaults including rape, torture, etc.
2) There are several thousand Tamil political prisoners imprisoned without charge or trial in secret detention facilities. These are concern that some of the women prisoners are being used as sex slaves by the Sri Lankan government officials and security forces.
3) Several Christian, Muslim and Hindu places of worships were attacked by groups led by senior Buddhist monks. On April 20th, a violent a mob of about 2,000, led by high ranking Buddhist monks, stormed and vandalized a 60 year old mosque during the Friday prayer. Buddhist Monks are very powerful in Sri Lanka. A Buddhist Monk shot and killed a Prime Minister in 1958 for having dialogue with Tamils.
4) Sri Lankan security forces have assassinated several Catholic priests. Several priests were also abducted and disappeared. There are concerns that some of the priests may still be alive and the government is holding them in secret detentions.
5) There are tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Security forces stationed in Tamil areas and are building permanent settlements, despite the fact that the war has ended three years ago.
6) There are government assisted settlements of Sinhalese in Tamil areas to make Tamils numerical minorities in their homeland.
For information contact: Mr. Murugiah Suginthan, Member of the TGTE Parliament & TGTE Secretariat (Geneva): + (41)76-541-63-26 or secretariat@tgte.org
*Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a democratically elected government of Tamil Diaspora from the island of Sri Lanka. Its actions are strictly non-violent, democratic and diplomatic. It held internationally supervised elections in twelve countries to elect Members of Parliament (MPs). These MPs drafted and ratified a Constitution and elected a Prime Minister, a 10 member Cabinet and a Speaker. Web: www.tgte-us.org , www.govthamileelam.org or www.en.naathamnews.com