18.12.2005
My dear Thamby Arumugan,
YOUR MEETING WITH THE LTTE
What I write here may not be palatable to you but since I had been very closely associated with your Grandfather the late Hon.S.Thondaman both in Parliament and outside, I am obliged to give you some advice on a very vital issue that concerns not only the People whom you represent but the entire country. You may not be unaware that he was one of the joint Presidents of the Tamil United Liberation Front and quit the same at a latter stage saying that the Moolai Resolution caused a lot of embarrassment to him and his people. There is a clue in his decision for you to pickup as a guideline
Your decision to meet Mr.S.P.Thamilselvan is a big surprise to me. It is not my business to question you as to why the Ceylon Workers Congress delegation is wanting to meet him, but as one very much interested in the welfare of the workers of the Up-country I have a duty to advice the Tamil Leaders to be cautious of every step they take. Whatever differences the leaders have should be sorted out by them without taking the dispute to the LTTE, which will ultimately bring the Estate Workers also under their domain. That will be the most treacherous thing the Leaders would do to them. Only by achieving unity among themselves, the leaders of the Up-country Tamils can solve the problems of the workers and not by allying with the LTTE. Irrespective of the consequences that I may have to face, I consider it as my bounden duty to tell you what problems you may have to encounter due to this decision. During the bad old days the workers of the Estates did not have many rights in respect of representations in many bodies. . But today due to the hard struggle of your Grandfather Hon.S.Thondaman and other Leaders, a number of Up-country Tamil leaders have become Ministers. Many of them hold Membership and Ministerial positions in the Provincial Councils and membership in other Local Bodies. Please maintain this position since the problems of the Up-country Tamils are much different from those of the Tamils of the North and the East.
The Up-country Leaders should not forget the fact that the LTTE was a proscribed Organisation for a fair length of time and the proscription was removed only to enable the LTTE to have talks with the Government. It is a banned Organisation in some other countries. The European Union comprised of about 25 countries have imposed a “travel ban” on the LTTE, with a strong possibility of banning it totally.The “travel ban” itself was imposed due to the persistent refusal of the LTTE to stop recruitment of child soldiers and random killing of their Political Opponents. A number of Heads of the Diplomatic Missions paid repeated visits to the LTTE to persuade them to give up at least conscription and killings. But they did not respond. Every day someone is getting killed by the LTTE cadre. Men are killed in the presence of their wives. The father is killed when a child is being taken to school. The husband is killed while taking the wife to school. A Hindu priest was killed right opposite the Deity to whom he performed Pooja daily- disgustingly by two LTTE girls. A Police officer got killed after being asked to meet them without security and arms, by the LTTE. The blame was put on the innocent villagers described as a mob .Hundreds of such incidents had taken place.
I do not believe that you want this to happen to your people. I don’t think that even in your imaginations you will want your Political rivals to be done away with in this manner. Unfortunately for the Tamils and fortunately for the LTTE there is no one to protest against these cruel acts. Our people live under the subjugation of the LTTE and weep in silence, being unable to bear these atrocious crimes. Do you want your people also to suffer the same fate. Are you not aware that even elders had been compelled by the LTTE to undergo arms training. The University students and Teachers too are compelled to take training. Do you want that to happen in your areas also. Children are recruited as child soldiers. Fortunately not children of leaders, but do you want children of poor workers to be recruited as child soldiers? What is attracting you in Vanni? Some time back some Up-country Leaders did the same thing to score over you. I hope you are aware of it.
Apart from what I have enumerated here, there are in areas controlled by the LTTE arbitrary arrests, torture, harassments, abductions, disappearances, extortions, conscriptions, intimidations etc. Will you be happy if your people are subjected to this type of atrocious acts by the LTTE. Further more Political Parties are not allowed to function, free and fair elections are prevented from being held, people and school children are compelled to take part in demonstration too often. They are incited against the Government, Government Forces, and against other communities. In short People have lost all their fundamental and democratic rights. Human rights violations are many. Is this what you want for your people also in the Up-country.
I may not live to see when the Up-country Tamil leaders realize their mistake in soliciting the support of the LTTE. But I will die with the satisfaction that I have done my duty not only for the people of the North and East and Up-country but for the entire country as a whole. I do not expect you to welcome regular cordon and search operations in the Up-country and cause unnecessary hard ships for the poor workers, their young ones and the local people. What else can you expect when you go and ally your self with a group that plants claymore mines and also attempt to shoot down helicopters used for the benefit of the people. It is still not too late to change your decision and save your people. I don’t want to spell out what dangers you will face but will only give you a humble advice. Please don’t be misled by the T.N.A. Members of Parliament and stir the hornets’ nest to the detriment of the innocent people whether they are Tamils, Muslims, or Sinhalese.
My sincere advice to you at this juncture is to unite all the divergent forces among the Up-country Tamils and work hard for their redemption
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
V.Anandasangaree,
President – T.U.L.F
