Editorial in the special issue of Tamil Voice International
to mark the commencement of the
First International Conference
organised by the World Federation of Tamils, April/May 1988
There come a time in the life of a people, there comes a stage in their history,
when they become increasingly aware of the links that link them together and the bonds
that bind them together. And today the Tamil people,
living in many lands and across
distant seas, are becoming increasingly aware of their togetherness.
It is a togetherness which is rooted in a
shared heritage, a
common language and a
common culture. But it is a togetherness which is not a function of the past alone. It is
a togetherness which is being pressed into shape by a
continuing discrimination which
seeks to treat separately and which thereby inevitably nurtures that which is separately
treated.
And it is a togetherness which is given purpose and direction by a growing resolve and
a growing determination amongst the Tamil people, that they will build a future where
they, and their children, and their children's children may live with self respect and
with dignity. It is a growing togetherness which is
slowly but surely maturing and which seeks to cry out openly and aloud, in pain and in
joy: 'Yes, we live in many lands and across distant seas, but
we, too, are a people'.
The International Tamil Conference which is scheduled to commence its deliberations in
London this week represents an open manifestation of the growing togetherness of the Tamil
people, living in many lands and across distant seas. Delegates from more than 100 Tamil
Associations and more than 15 countries will meet to explore the central issues of the
national struggle of the Tamils of Sri Lanka and to examine the extent to which the Indo
Sri Lankan Peace Accord of July 1987 satisfies their aspirations, and in particular their
claim to the right of self determination.
The Conference has been convened at a time when the so called
Indo Sri Lankan Peace Accord has brought neither
peace nor justice to the Tamil people and at a time when attempts are being made to
silence the voice of the Tamil people in their own homelands. There is an imperative need
to strengthen the capacity of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to give coherence and
direction to the Tamil national struggle and there is an imperative need to lend support
to the efforts of Velupillai Prabakharan who has emerged as the true leader of the Tamil
national struggle.
The time is opportune, therefore, for the voice of the international Tamil community to
be heard in London, in support of those rights which spring from the inherent dignity of
man, because the Tamil people seek to live with dignity amongst their fellowmen. And
foremost amongst these human rights, and from which all other rights flow is the
right of self determination of a people - a right
enshrined appropriately enough, in Article 1 of the International Covenant of Civil and
Political Rights.
We applaud the intention of the Conference to 'focus on the
interface between politics and human rights' because we too
believe that 'human rights separated from politics often becomes the platitudinous
expression of utopian ideals: whilst politics which is unconcerned with human rights
becomes a cynical pursuit of power for its own sake.'
As long ago as 1984 Professor Leo Kruper warned in the Minority Rights Group Report on
International Action Against Genocide, that 'the communal massacres in Sri Lanka, in a
context of societal conflict' threatened a
genocidal situation.
He pointed out that claims for greater autonomy often led to genocidal responses and he
urged that there was 'a great need for delegations of member States (of the United
Nations) with a strong commitment to human rights, and for non governmental organisations
with consultative status, to continue their efforts to recall the United Nations to its
responsibilities for international protection against genocide and other gross and
consistent violations of human rights' and further that 'these efforts should include
attempts to develop norms for the exercise of the right of self determination in a
decolonised world'.
Professor Leo Kruper's words have today assumed an urgency that can no longer be
denied. There is a clear and urgent need 'to give the thick edge of action' to the Reports
of Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, the Lawasia Human
Rights Standing Committee, the United Kingdom Parliamentary Human Rights Group,
International Alert, the World Council of Churches, Australian Parliamentary Group of
Amnesty International, the Emergency Committee on Sri Lanka, the Working Group on Enforced
or Involuntary Disappearances, and several other non governmental agencies and independent
observers on the gross and consistent violations of human
rights in Sri Lanka - gross and consistent violations which have led to a 'threatened'
genocidal situation.
If the Conference can persuade the international community to address itself to the
root cause of these violations - namely, the failure to develop norms for the exercise of
the right of self determination by the Tamils in
the island of Sri Lanka, then it would have performed an important and useful task.
There is an urgent need to persuade
member states of the
United Nations and non governmental organisations, that a reluctance on their part to
espouse the division of the sovereign state of Sri Lanka should not lead them to deny that
there are in Sri Lanka today two nations - the Tamil nation and the Sinhala nation and
that a political settlement of the conflict in Sri Lanka can be achieved only on the basis
of recognising this political reality.
We wish this historic International Tamil Conference in London, every success in its
efforts to secure justice for the Tamils of Sri Lanka - because, apart from anything else,
without justice, peace will not come to the Indian region. And there can be no justice
without effective implementation of those basic and fundamental rights which spring from
the inherent dignity of man. We repeat, the Tamil people seek to live in dignity and with
self respect, with their fellowmen and women - in Tamil we say: thanmaanam
