Mon, 4 July, 2011 3:50:13

 

Britain to Fire the First Warning Shot asIndia Gives the Green Light

 

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) will be hosting a Parliamentary Reception in conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) at the Attlee Suite of Portcullis House in Westminster, on Tuesday 5th July 2011.

Confirmed speakers include Alistair Burt MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Douglas Alexander MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary, and Ed Davey MP, Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs. An array of Ministers, MPs and Members of the House of

Lords from all three main parties, over 30 of them, as well as representatives from overseas delegations in London, international human rights groups, journalists and academics are expected to attend the event and engage with Tamil Community representatives. It is understood that the British Foreign Minister will re-instate that ‘All Options’ will be at the disposal of the international community if Government of Sri Lanka fails to establish a credible independent investigation by end of November 2011. The Americans have repeatedly said the same and as recently as last week they conveyed the same message to Sri Lanka’s Opposition Leader Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe who is visiting the US at present.

Ranil was refused an audience by the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and the Assistant Secretary of State Robert O’Blake Jr. although Ranil had been telling even the President of Sri Lanka before his departure that he will be meeting the Secretary of State during his stay in the States. According to many from the diplomatic community in Colombo this is a clear snub to the Opposition Leader as he is now seen as a ‘Rajapakshe Agent’. This was made clear by the Indian Trio when they visited Sri Lanka a few weeks ago. They met all the relevant political groups and leaders except for the Opposition Leader. Ranil’s explanation was that they didn’t want to disturb him during the bereavement in his family. His Mother passed away a few days before the Indians came to town.

It has been reported that Ranil will be meeting the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Wednesday, 6 July 2011. It is understood that Mr Ban will also reiterate the importance of a credible and independent process that need to be established before the end of the year. Mr Ban will also say that political stability and justice have to go hand in hand. One without the other cannot be sustainable.

The GTF/APPG-T reception at the UK Parliament has attracted particular interest following the screening of the Channel 4 documentary "Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields" and subsequent questions raised by Chair of the APPG-T Lee Scott MP during Prime Minister’s Question Time and Vice-Chair Siobhain McDonagh MP calling an Emergency debate in Parliament to halt the deportation of Tamils back to Sri Lanka last month. The UK Prime Minister has repeatedly called for an independent credible investigation as a must and he has further stated at the Parliament that the UN must be involved in any such mechanisms (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NM58qzbVxs).

The powerful documentary is being aired by ABC1 in Australia on Monday 4th July at 8:30pm during their premier current affairs program "Four Corners".

As reported in the Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times (http://sundaytimes.lk/110703/Columns/political.html) today a leading Delhi-based television news channel has also obtained broadcast rights to screen Channel 4′s "Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields" video. The article also reports that the GTF played a significant role in brokering the arrangement between Channel 4 and the Indian broadcasters.

A reliable source connected to the GTF has informed us that is a key part of their strategy and a priority to ensure that the Tamils in Tamil Nadu State, the entire Indian population as well as the Indian Establishment see authenticated footage and substantiating evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity that took place against the innocent Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.

Headlines Today and Aaj Tak TV (India Today Group) are to telecast "Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields" on Thursday 7th July at 10pm, Friday 8th July at 11pm and Saturday 9th July at 10pm. The leading broadcaster has invested a significant budget to promote the airing of the film on all their channels, in newspapers in Tamil Nadu, bill boards in Chennai and also on radio and TV stations across India. Plans are also afoot to record an interview incorporating reactions from Tamil Nadu’s new Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jeyaram, who only recently met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during which she handed a Memorandum highlighting the issues relating to Sri Lanka Tamils and the urgent need for action against the allegations of War Crimes and claimed its genocide that took place in Sri Lanka against the Tamils.

India has been pressuring Sri Lanka to address the grievances of the island’s Tamil minority two years after the Government declared end of the war against the LTTE. It is expected that the airing of this documentary will reignite emotions from the large Tamil population in the South and other communities across other Indian States, of the plight of Tamils in the neighbouring island. 

http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2011_07_04_002.html