Tamil Elamists Plot to Get UN Recognition Either as a UN Non-Member State or as a UN Observer
Posted on May 4th, 2010
Kumar Moses
All these moves pose a mortal danger to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Since nothing tangible happens in relation to Sri Lanka, many tend to discount the relevance if these moves. However, when coupled with other sinister LTTE moves, this can create heaps of trouble for Sri Lanka.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Having the TGTE recognized as a non-member-state of the UN is still difficult although they are likely to make a push for that. In doing so, they will tap into legal concepts accepted by the UN including the right of a group of people to self determination. Once becoming a non-member-state recognized in the UN, it is up to the TGTE to proceed to become a full fledged member.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The minimum they could achieve is a UN Observer status. As a UN Observer, TGTE will have the right to maintain an office at the UN Head Quarters in New York. TGTE representatives will be able to follow UN activities closely and take necessary action to advance the Tamil Elam cause. It will also equip them more to proceed with their bogus war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ State of Palestine is a good case study to understand how TGTE might move to become a UN Observer. Attention is drawn to certain key similarities that may lead to a similar outcome. The foregoing has been quoted from Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine#cite_note-Zartmanp43-3
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The State of Palestine was declared unilaterally in 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization. This declaration was not made in Palestine. It was made in Algiers in Algeria, a separate country altogether. This is why there is no need for a Perumal 1990 type of a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) within Sri Lanka. TGTE can declare this anywhere in the world.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-At the time of the declaration, the PLO did not exercise any control over the territory in question.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (Berchovitch and Zartman, 2008). Their declaration designated Jerusalem as the capital city even though it was under the complete control of Israel.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is akin to the total lack of control TGTE has over North and East of Sri Lanka today.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ More than 100 UN member states recognized the State of Palestine as a UN Observer.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t end there. All this happened in 1988. Five years later in 1993 the Oslo Accords were singed. These were secretly developed in Oslo, Norway before they were publicly signed by Israeli and Palestinian representatives flaked by the US President and Russian Foreign Minister. Oslo accords are also known as Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements! DonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t these sound too familiar to Sri Lankans? Interim Self-Government Arrangement (ISGA) was exactly what the LTTE came up with in 2003 following Norwegian advice and help. They didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t even bother to change the terminology.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Only difference is in the case of Sri Lanka, Norway took a proactive step in getting a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-de factoƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ state declared in Sri Lanka backed by a survival plan for the LTTE in 2002. With GodƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s grace and intelligence, Sri Lankans managed to avoid this death trap and kicked out the Norwegian interferes in 2008 tearing into pieces the sham ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Cease Fire AgreementƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. However, a change of government, disregard of national interest, corruption can all lead to a similar set-up as in 2002. It is crystal clear Sri Lanka hasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t seen the end of Norwegian interference.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Interestingly both the Vadukodai Referendum and TGTE elections started from Norway!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If anyone needs additional convincing where the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-peace processƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ has taken the Middle East, he/she should watch world news. It is such a horrendous mess with no end in sight. There is absolutely no commonality between Israel and Palestine and Sri Lanka. Therefore this attempt must be defeated for the sake of law and order and peace in the island nation.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ However, there is little Sri Lanka can do to stop Tamil Elamists abroad. They are very rich, resourceful and resolute. After the war defeat, they follow a non-military confrontational approach which is very difficult to tackle. Future threats coming from these moves should be pre-empted by building multiethnic settlements in the north. When the north is very diverse, it will be impossible even to think of Tamil Elam. This way the Tamil Elam project can be frustrated. Until such time, Tamil Elamists will find new ways to destabilise Sri Lanka and whenever possible, divide it.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ – Kumar Moses
May 4th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Your words are very true. Sri Lanka must proactively go out to spread the population throughout the sparsely populated North and East. Development of infrastructure closely followed by population movement is the answer. Once there are roads, communication facilities, and other basic needs, people will move to establish agriculture, business etc. Integration is the solution to all ethnic related problems.
May 4th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Thank you Moshe for writing eye opening reality. Ethnic integration is the ONLY solution.
May 4th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Kumar (Moshey) your words are very prophetic. Clearly, this is the latest tactic of the rabidly racist, communal minded Tamileelamists – i.e. to take another stab at breaking up Sri Lanka along racial lines and try to achieve diplomatically what they could not achieve by waging a program of horrific, unbridled TERRORISM in SL for over 30 years. I sincerely hope Colombo is not sleeping this time around – such as how it was when it deemed the early “Tamil militants” were only into bank robberies in the ’80s. Then the misguided notion within the nation’s security establishment (if there ever was one!) of the day was such bank robberies were non-political and hence they deserved no more attention than the garden-variety police measures! What a calamity that was! This gross underestimation of this vile enemy’s designs were to cost us dearly for the next 30 years! Therefore, I sincerely hope today’s “security establishment” (and we know for sure there is one today!) will not underestimate the implications of what is happening abroad. Agree with Kumar that the sure-shot counter-measure is to TAKE BACK SRI LANKA FOR SRI LANKANS and commence on a mass-scale ethnic integration by distributing vacant crown land to the nation’s inhabitants based on a pro-rated population-composition formula. After all, the vile racist Tamileelamists had no qualms when they colonized vast areas of Colombo (such as Wellawatte) and presuming it was all done by them in the interest of “ethnic harmony,” I see no problem in the GOSL doing the same today with the vast vacant lands of the N & E.
May 4th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Kumar Moses thank you for enlighting us. I knew there should be something more to it than a few jokers looking for Elam in Canada and Europe.
May 5th, 2010 at 2:23 am
PLO is not the same as LTTE. LTTE is backed by the WEST and the Catholic Church to carve out an area. If the current government keep silence on the activities of the Catholic Church which is a FOREIGN SPY organization, they will create more trouble in the future.
Vatican has an agenda of making Sri lanka and India as Catholic countries before the end of the century. How can the BUDDHIST champions save Buddhism in Sri lanka?
I feel Mahinda administration must replace the current UN representative with Dr.Dayan Jayathilake!
Colonization of NE with Sinhalese never help but give “strength” to the claims of the LTTE.
May 5th, 2010 at 2:49 am
Thanks, Kumar Moses, for opening the SL eyes to the Tamil game-plan behind the creation of the Trans-National Government of Tamil Elam (TNGTE) with some help from Norway!! All concerned please note – S de Silva – London
May 5th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Good man Kumar – you are ten steps ahead than the moda sinhalayas who simply do not understand the future threat
May 6th, 2010 at 3:33 am
This is a timely article reminding us – if indeed we needed reminding – of a real and continuing danger.
It would have been foolish of anyone to have imagined when the LTTE was defeated militarily, that the campaign for a separate state was simultaneously snuffed out. That campaign was bound to continue and, as the writer of the article says, the Diaspora Tamils especially will attempt such things as securing a ‘presence’ at the United Nations much in the manner that the Palestinians successfully did – and it is well to remember the Diaspora Tamils are even better placed than the Palestinians were, in respect of the influence they can bring to bear at the highest levels. The campaign for a separate state has been going on for many, many years and will not simply go away. Those who continue to pursue that goal will regard the military defeat of the LTTE as no more than a temporary setback, and they will feel that after all the Tamil lives that have been lost in the campaign so far, the fight ought to continue. Many Tamils, rightly or wrongly, still harbour a great deal of bitterness and have many grievances against the Sri Lankan state. These are powerful motivating factors to keep the ‘fight’ alive.
The Diaspora Tamils are well placed in western countries to pursue their claims and Sri Lanka should also not underestimate the sympathy that the Tamil ‘cause’ enjoys in the west. Nor should Sri Lanka be blind to the fact that its own stocks in the west – rightly or wrongly- are not at the highest.
We saw the attitude of the likes of the British and French Foreign Ministers, David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner Milliband and Robert Blake from the US, during the last days of the war. And only a few days ago, Lord Patton, the former Governor of Hong Kong and now Chancellor of Oxford University, had observed that the UN should have, invoking the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), intervened to save the civilians trapped during the fighting with the LTTE.
Sri Lanka should also not lose sight of some disconcerting things that are happening where India is concerned, for instance, the planned opening of a consular office in Jaffna and a conference that is being convened in India for ‘interested parties’ to discuss the situation in the island. Then there are the regular pilgrimages to India for consultations, by Pilayan the EP Chief Minister and various Tamil MPs. And of course there is always the Tamil Nadu factor, with the busybody Tamil politicians from that state.
Whilst the government needs to be vigilant about these and other dangers, one thing it should guard against is resorting to any sort of crude measures to counter them. The most effective answer to the demand for separatism is to make the Tamils feel that they can achieve their just demands without recourse to separatism. An urgent task is to start trying to gain the trust and confidence of the Tamils, to strengthen those things that promote amity and demonstrate in deed as well as in word that the government is serious about ensuring all citizens are treated equally.
There is also the need to strengthen international ties, to keep friendships in good order and to mend fences where necessary. Sri Lanka should do everything possible to win over countries that are not too well disposed towards it and convert lukewarm attitudes to warm dispositions.
May 7th, 2010 at 4:25 am
Kumar,
It is time that Sri Lanka takes necessary steps to counter the acts of this LTTE supporting Tamil disapora. They flock and go to Sri Lanka on holidays using their foreign passports to spy and carry out acts detrimental to Sri Lanka. The photograps of these Eezam merchants should be prominently displayed as ‘criminals wanted for treason’ at the immigration lounge of the Katunayake airporty and they must be refused entry irrespective of the passports they hold.
As Cassandra says ‘the planned opening of a consular office in Jaffna and a conference that is being convened in India for ‘interested parties’ to discuss the situation in the island’, is someting the GoSL has to be vigilant. The SL armed forces would not have been able to do their operations as all the LTTE terrorists would have sought sanctuary in the Indian consulate! Can you trust Nirupama Rao, the younger sister of Indira Ghandhi who foisted the LTTE murderers on Sri Lanka!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 14th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Let us face the hard these facts. The ONLY long term solution to separatism rearing up again is to populate the North with Sinhalese families. Those adopted most for this all important venture are the armed forces and their families. For thirty long years the military of Sri Lanka shed their blood in the North to free this country from the scourge of separatism.. Now, in addition to all other arguments, by the argument of blood shed on Northern soil, the North has become the homeland of the Sinhalese as well. Make Sinhalese settlements in the North. This is the solution. In fact this is the ONLY solution for there is NO OTHER, and NOW is the time as well, for once again there is NO OTHER.