The British, the Europeans and the great powers played a dubious role. There was a peace process. But, visas were banned and the political status was denied to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. They were branded as a terrorist organisation by the European Union under the prompting of Britain and United States and they deliberately broke the peace process, which had its horrible termination in the killing fields of Rajapaksa. So, there is co-responsibility. This was not just any genocide; this was a genocide planned, including by the international powers, who knew what was going on, said Dr Andrew Higginbottom, the Principal Lecturer in Politics/Human Rights at Kingston University in London, taking part in the Mu’l’livaaykkaal Remembrance event in London on 18 May.
Recalling that Diaspora Tamils did their part by alerting through their massive protests three years ago, the Kingston academic said that the world powers knowingly did nothing: “They have satellites, they have telecommunications, they created the political conditions for this massacre and genocide and they knew operationally what was exactly going on and they did nothing to stop it.”
He continued: “I honour the cause of Tamil Eelam. I am British. But, we are standing here at Trafalgar Square that celebrates the British Empire. Look at the statue over there. It is of General Henry Havelock. It celebrates the massacre of Indian people in 1857 when, the history books would truly reveal, at least 10 million people were massacred by that man.”
“The proud people of Vanni showed resistance to their very end. We have to continue. The struggle continues. Long Live Tamil Eelam,” Dr. Higginbottom said.
Another speaker, John Rees of Stop the War Coalition said the activists of the coalition were horrified by Sri Lankan government’s attack on the Tamil people in 2009.
Horrified too, because the International Community and the major powers failed to intervene, failed to condemn and failed to act when mass murders were being carried out against the Tamil people, John Rees said adding that “But, we were not surprised,” because we had seen what these same governments did in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“We stand with you in demanding now that the very least these governments that proclaim as friends of democracy, freedom and justice, can do is to open an international inquiry so that the whole world can know what the Sri Lankan government did to the Tamil people.”
“Because, if we know that, then we can return, knowing that the right is on our side for the struggle for self-determination and the freedom of Tamils,” John Rees said.
Criminal barrister Hugo Charlton representing Campaign Against Criminalizing Communities in his speech said, what had happened in Vanni is a matter for the UN Security Council to refer to the International Criminal Court for appropriate action.
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