“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” was his philosophy in life”
He criticised the Colombo government & the international community for allowing nothing short of a genocide to be perpetrated against the Tamils by the country’s armed forces with full impunity. ”
— Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, December 28, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ —
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)* deeply mourns the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African anti-apartheid campaigner, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and conscience of the world.
In his long and remarkable life, he tirelessly fought for the rights of victimized peoples all around the world. He not only championed for black South Africans in their effort to dismantle Apartheid, but he was also an ally and friend to persecuted peoples around the world including Eelam Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” was his philosophy in life, a viewpoint he gave meaning to through his courageous actions – starting first as a leading part of the anti-apartheid movement and later as a champion of human rights globally.
Eelam Tamils will never forget how he openly and loudly spoke up on our behalf time and again against the racist regimes in Sri Lanka. He criticised not only the Colombo government but also the international community for allowing nothing short of a genocide to be perpetrated against the Tamils by the country’s armed forces with full impunity.
“The ongoing persecution and disappearances of human rights activists, journalists and government opponents is truly terrifying” he said. Till his last breath, as the leading voice of The Elders, he called for accountability for the mass atrocities crimes committed during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka.
In 2013 Archbishop Tutu was among the first to call for a boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, hosted by the Sri Lankan regime, in order to address war crimes against Eelam Tamils.
“There are enough reasons to suggest that the Sri Lanka government have not been doing things with integrity, I think the world has to apply all the screws that it can,” he said at the time.
And in 2014 he along with 38 human rights activists and organisations from around the world demanded that the UN Human Rights Council set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sri Lanka.
Bishop Tutu was not afraid to talk truth to power. He openly criticized the South African government for caving to China’s pressure in denying the Dalai Lama a visitor’s visa. Despite his global fame and stature, he never patronized the downtrodden. Bishop Tutu empathized with the victims. He danced when they danced. He laughed when they laughed. He cried when they cried.
Not only have the Eelam Tamils lost a powerful ally, but the world has lost a moral compass. Bishop Tutu was the physical embodiment of courage, morality, and justice. The world will feel a little darker without him in it.
Let us be guided by his passion for justice and his solidarity for the poor and for the persecuted.
In Archbishop Tutu’s passing away Eelam Tamils have lost a very dear friend and global champion of their cause. He will remain etched in our memory and hearts forever.
* ABOUT THE TRANSNATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL EELAM (TGTE):
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a democratically elected Government of over a million strong Tamils (from the island of Sri Lanka) living in several countries around the world.
TGTE was formed after the mass killing of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Government in 2009.
TGTE thrice held internationally supervised elections among Tamils around the world to elect 135 Members of Parliament. It has two chambers of Parliament: The House of Representatives and the Senate and also a Cabinet.
TGTE is leading a campaign to realize the political aspirations of Tamils through peaceful, democratic, and diplomatic means and its Constitution mandates that it should realize its political objectives only through peaceful means. It’s based on the principles of nationhood, homeland and self-determination.
TGTE seeks that the international community hold the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Tamil people to account. TGTE calls for a referendum to decide the political future of Tamils.
The Prime Minister of TGTE is Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, a New York based lawyer.
Twitter: @TGTE_PMO
Email: pmo@tgte.org
Web: www.tgte-us.org
BACKGROUND
Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka faced repeated mass killings in 1958, 1977, and 1983 and the mass killings in 2009 prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a Panel of Experts to report on the scale of the killings.
According to UN internal review report on Sri Lanka, over 70 thousand Tamils were killed in six months in early 2009 and Tamil women were sexually assaulted and raped by the Sri Lankan Security forces.
International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) in February 2017 handed over details to UN of Sri Lankan Military run “Rape Camps”, where Tamil women are being held as “sex slaves”. Also, According to UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office report on April 2013, there are over 90 thousand Tamil war widows in Sri Lanka.
Thousands of Tamils disappeared, including babies and children. UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances stated in 2020 that the second highest number of enforced disappearance cases in the world is from Sri Lanka.
According to this UN report, the killings and other abuses that took place amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Independent experts believe that there are elements of these abuses that constitute an act of genocide.
Members of the Sri Lankan security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community and the victims are all from the Tamil community.
Tamils overwhelmingly voted in a Parliamentary election in 1977 to establish an independent and sovereign country called Tamil Eelam. This Parliamentary election was conducted by the Sri Lankan Government.
Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)
+1-614-202-3377
r.thave@tgte.org
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Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)
December 28, 2021, 21:06 GMT
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