[By V.Thangavelu, Canada]

Speculative Accusations against LTTE

We wish to congratulate Jim Karygiannis, M.P. (Scarborough-Agincourt) for undertaking a humanitarian mission to Tsumani ravaged Northeast, including areas under the control of the LTTE. We also commend him for meeting the LTTE political wing at Kilinochchi and discuss problems connected with relief and rehabilitation of people devastated by Tsunami.

The criticism publicly levelled at Jim Karygiannis by David Kilgour, M.P. (Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont) that his visit "is an exceedingly unhelpful idea because I'm afraid his visit is going to be used to pour gasoline on the fires when we're trying to put the fires out to fight the tsunami….." is ill-timed, ill-advised and ill-founded.

Now everyone can see for themselves that there has been no earth shaking repercussions because of Jim Karygiannis visit to LTTE controlled areas. What is more he has the tacit approval of the Prime Minister himself! Therefore, it is obvious that it is not Jim Karygiannis but David Kilgore who is indulging in cheap political theatrics by ignoring ground reality.

John McKay, M.P. (Scarborough East) has also made the ridiculous statement that "it is inappropriate for Canada to have direct or indirect relations with that group." He even feels shy to refer to the 'group' by its proper name. Obviously John McKay is living in the apartheid past. His statement is at odds with visits to Vanni by his colleague Jim Karygiannis and our own Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo.

There is also a vicious campaign carried on by UNICEF and Human Rights Watch that LTTE is recruiting children and blocking relief supplies. These speculative assumptions have been promptly picked up by the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, CBC and City Pulse without a second thought. Even Prime Minister Paul Martin has fallen a victim to this game of demonizing the LTTE.

Any suggestion, even remotely, that UNICEF/ HRW are more interested in our children than the LTTE is ridiculous to the extreme. Likewise any accusation that LTTE is blocking relief supplies to the Thamil people flies in the face of cold logic and reality.

It is not the UNICEF/HRW but the LTTE and TRO that are running scores of homes for destitute children in the Northeast. Thamil Canadians are supporting hundreds of them through child sponsorship. The UNICEF/HRW/Canadian government combined have not spent a penny towards their care. Canadian government does not even allow tax credit for the sponsors of these children. So much for the pretended self-pity by UNICEF/HRW/ Prime Minister Paul Martin.

We ask the Canadian print and the electronic media not to pepper their news stories with unfounded allegations of recruitment of children by the LTTE for purpose of sensationalism. Bad news may make good news for the media, but not at the expense of innocent and traumatized children.

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Will Prime Minister Paul Martin given the same boot as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan?

[By V.Thangavelu, Canada]

It came as no surprise that President Chandrika Kumaratunga vetoed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan tour of tsunami-ravaged areas controlled by the LTTE citing security concerns.

The decision of President Kumaratunga can only be described as petty and a tragedy worse than the monstrous Tsunami disaster itself. It showed her real face without any make-up.

Long before Kofi Annan's visit to Sri Lanka, LTTE leadership has extended an official invitation to him through UNDP to visit Vanni. So security was not a concern for Kofi Annan and his entourage. This is the reason for his frustration when he said "I am here on a humanitarian mission. I would like to visit all the areas, but as you know I am here as a guest of the government and they set the itinerary." UN officials told Reuters that they had been striving to convince the government, but to no avail. "It is a relief visit, not a political one. The secretary general wanted to go, but it just didn't happen," said one official on condition of anonymity to Reuters.

At a time when humanitarian needs of the people should receive high priority President Kumaratunga has chosen to play gutter politics in her own inimitable style!

People of goodwill and peace were expressing their hope that the catastrophic disaster that struck Thamils, Sinhalese and Muslims alike will heal old wounds and unify the communities to rebuild and reconstruct. But the opposite has happened thanks to the myopic policies of President Kumaratunga.

Instead of healing past wounds and resurrect the derailed peace process, this single act of her has dashed all such hopes. This will reinforce the perception of the Thamil people that "The Sinhala nation neither assimilates and integrates our people to live in co-existence nor does it allow our people to secede and lead a separate existence." And now co-existence on equal terms is a tall order and a doomed proposition.

The belated and clumsy attempt by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it offered access and air transport facilities to Secretary General's delegation to visit any part of the country, including Mullaitheevu, carries little conviction in the face of President Kumaratunga's own admission that she advised the Secretary General not to visit LTTE held areas for security reasons.

In the backdrop of President Kumaratunga successfully scuttling Kofi Annan's itinerary, we will not be surprised if Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin is given the same boot as well. He is the next high ranking dignitary scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on 17th night.

We surmise that he too will be prevented from visiting Tsunami ravaged areas controlled by the LTTE on some flimsy grounds. Already President Kumaratunga has breached her assurance that Canadian relief aid will be distributed equitably among those hit by Tsunami. No aid is flowing to the Northeast as it should be.

We ask Thamil Canadians to express their concerns in writing to Prime Minister Paul Martin, Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament. At least then we can say he was forewarned.

To Address:

The Right Honourable Paul Martin, PC., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca 
Fax: 613-941-6900

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Tsunami Relief : Response to "Globe and Mail", Canada

[By V.Thangavelu, Canada]

Toronto, Canada

The News editor
Globe and Mail
Toronto.

Dear news editor

I refer to your news stories ("Fued (wrong spelling should read Feud) stalls Sri Lanka aid " and "Aid must not be hijacked, Carroll to tell UN officials -Political manipulation of relief in Sri Lanka of grave concern to Canada, minister says" ) that appeared in the Globe and Mail on the 4th and 5th of January, 2005 respectively.

It looks though for some reasons you are massaging the news to portray the LTTE in bad light. For example you insinuate under the guise of disseminating news that "Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam are intercepting relief in Sri Lanka." is complete falsehood and does not stand to reason. It is like saying the mother of an infant child ate all the food and milk herself!

There is no necessity for the LTTE to hijack food meant for refugees. It is not the government but the LTTE that has released Rs.300 million for humanitarian assistance to victims of Tsumani disaster. An organization that gives out this amount of monetary assistance will not rob relief supplies meant for the very same people. It flies in the face of cold logic.

On the other hand reports are abound that Sinhalese armed forces are intercepting and robbing relief conveys sent by TRO. At Thirukovil, Amparai two tractors carrying TRO relief products and vegetables were seized by the local STF. It happened yesterday, and the STF soldiers then proceeded to distribute the goods themselves, after they had removed the TRO labels.

Right from day one it is the TRO that is looking after the people under areas controlled by the LTTE. LTTE cadres assisted in evacuating the people to safety and burying the dead. Thamil medical personnel both within and outside Northeast have been pressed for service to assist the sick and the injured.That includes a team of Thamil doctors that went from Toronto.

Any relief is welcome in LTTE controlled areas. It does not matter who brings it. Outside relief agencies have the choice of distributing the relief supplies directly or through the TRO. The LTTE is much more compassionate and caring than you care to admit.

As for the accusation that the Tigers torched the refugee camp in the North, you can find the truth by interviewing the person in charge of the camp who is currently warded in the hospital. He was severely assaulted by the Sinhalese soldiers before they set fire to the camp.

Perhaps you should read the testimony of another western reporter to know the truth. ARTHUR MAX, of the ASSOCIATED PRESS writing under the heading "Thamil rebels bring discipline to disaster" on January 02, 2005 gives an account of what he saw at Mullaitheevu, a coastal town in the North as follows:

"Veterans of a long guerrilla war, the Thamil rebels who control northern Sri Lanka moved with military precision to help victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
The speed and efficiency of the massive humanitarian operation showed an administrative capability that underscored the rebels' demand for Thamil independence from the Sinhalese-dominated southern part of Sri Lanka.
Within minutes of the disaster, soldiers of the Liberation Tigers for Thamil Eelam, or LTTE, were evacuating survivors and pulling bodies from the still-roiling water, villagers and aid workers said.

In a well-practiced drill, squads set up roadblocks to control panic and prevent looting. Others requisitioned civilian vehicles to move the injured to hospitals. Many donated blood.

Teams with digital cameras and laptops moved into disaster zones to photograph the faces of the dead for later identification, then swiftly cremated or buried the corpses".

You may read the full story at URL -
http://www.newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/1964892p-9977499c.html

Instead of concocting imaginative stories laced with insinuation and innuendoes, I request that you visit Sri Lanka and the Northeast to find the truth for yourself like your colleague Arthur Max of AP. I hope I am not asking too much of your time or resources.

Yours truly,
V.Thangavelu
President
Contact: Tel. (416) 281 1165 (416) 447 6314 (905) 949 0824
Fax (416) 261 6745
E-mail: athangav@sympatico.ca 

cc. Honorable Prime Minister Paul Martin, P.C., M.P.
Honorable Defence Minister Bill Graham, P.C.M.P. QC
Honorable Aileen Carroll, Minister of International Cooperation,
Cabinet of Ministers; MPs.

07 January 2005

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Tsunami Relief : Letter to the American Red Cross

[By Donald Gnanakone, Director, Tamils of Southern California, USA

President, American Red Cross
Washington, DC, USA.

Dear Mr. President,

Re: Red Cross aid not reaching NorthEast Sri Lanka

Due to the frustration and seriousness of the problem that is being faced by the Red Cross branches in NorthEastern Sri Lanka, I am forced to bring such problems to the attention of the President and Vice President of the American section for further action and the equitable distribution of funds collected worldwide to those in need.

May I thank the Red Cross for all the assistance that has been rendered in past years.

Now we need to account for all the millions of dollars being collected from the US public on behalf of the tsunami victims. This aid is not reaching NorthEastern Sri Lanka, where two thirds of the victims in Sri Lanka originate.

Since time is of the essence, I would appreciate your urgent attention to this matter and I enclose the correspondence received from the Trincomalee Red Cross in Sri Lanka.

When the American Red Cross and other charities collect resources on behalf of the victims, they need to realize they are holding such resources in trust for the people of those countries. Due to the civil war in Sri Lanka and related problems, the aid which is going to Sri Lanka does not reach the NorthEast region where the Tamils live.

The problem we are facing is that organizations like the Red Cross are not sending funds to the local Red Cross branches operating in the NorthEast. My cousin, Dr. Gunalan, is the highest ranking medical officer in the district of Trincomalee and his wife is the head of the general hospital. As chairman of the Red Cross of Trincomallee, I am in daily touch with Dr. Gunalan via email and phone and he says that both the hospital and the Red Cross of Trincomalee are short of medicine and material. He is in touch with other Red Cross branches in the northern areas of Sri Lanka and has heard the same complaints.

There is no need for those Red Cross branches such as Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya and Rincomalee to be short of medicine and essential materials which are urgently need by the victims of the tsunami 10 days after the occurence, when millions in both private and government funds are available.

On behalf of the Tamils and the victims of the tsunami in Sri Lanka, I respectfully and in all humility request you to ensure that funds are sent to the Colombo Red Cross immediately with strict instructions that they be dispersed so that medicines can be purchased and released to the much-deprived Red Cross branches in the Tamil province.

Sending funds to the Ministry of Health of the GOSL is an exercise in futility, as the medicines and materials will not reach the NorthEast in a timely fashion, or, indeed, ever. We have complained about this problem many occasions in the past.

This problem is related to the stalled peace talks. The 500O million dollars pledged by the donor countries in aid in 2003 cannot be utilized. The GOSL wanted all the funds handled by their Finance Ministry, while the LTTE disagreed and wanted a separate fund-accepting authority managed by the World Bank. To date no agreement has been reached on how to disperse aid funds into the Tamil areas and there seems no hope for the future either. Aid must be sent directly into the NorthEast without the interference of the GOSL.

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