Council Of Eelam Tamils Calls For A Boycott Of Tamil Leaders’ Conference In Delhi
June 4, 2013
The International Council of Eelam Tamils is calling for a boycott of the Sri Lankan Tamil Leaders’ Conference in New Delhi scheduled for this month. Convened by Congress Parliamentarian Sudarsana Natchiappan, the conference seeks to establish a permanent solution to the ongoing conflict by implementing the 13th amendment.
Krisna Saravanamuttu
“The 13th amendment and its parent the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 fails to deal with any core issues critical to the Tamil National Question. The Tamil Independence struggle received its democratic mandate from the Vaddukkodai declaration of 1976, and was reaffirmed in the Diaspora through global referenda in 2010.” says the ICET.
“The Tamil National Question cannot be resolved through the fundamentally flawed 13th amendment. Based on the democratic will of the Eelam Tamil Nation, we are calling for a boycott of the meeting because it does nothing to address the Tamil Nation’s core grievances,” said Krisna Saravanamuttu, spokesperson of the International Council of Eelam Tamils (ICET). “While condemning any proposal for a solution within the already limited 13th amendment, we call for a boycott of the meeting in New Delhi because it undermines the Tamil struggle for self-determination and sovereignty established through the Vaddukkodai referendums”
“In 2010 Tamils from around the world voted in referenda to either support or reject the principles of the Vaddukkodai declaration first established in 1976. Tamil Diaspora members supported the original mandate of the Vaddukkodai declaration and democratically re-established their national aspirations for independence.
“Tamils continue to be oppressed. This is a genocide-in-process, moving slowly but relentlessly, and with the steady support of major international powers. Until Tamils can freely articulate their national aspirations through a UN facilitated referendum, we will continue to uncompromisingly defend their right to self-determination and sovereignty. Our struggle for Tamil liberation is rooted in the democratic will of Eelam Tamils around the globe.
Even though the New Delhi conference seeks to lock Tamil leaders from the island, Tamil Nadu and the Diaspora into a unitary solution, the Diaspora voice is crucial in supporting the Tamil Liberation struggle in the face of military occupation, ethnic cleansing, and stolen lands. The ICET advocates for a permanent political settlement that establishes a sovereign Tamil Eelam through a UN referendum.“The insistence on the 13th amendment completely ignores the historic evidence of an explicit strategy to destroy the national existence of the Tamil nation in their homeland. We argue that justice and peace can best be established when the sovereign Tamil nation can exercise their right to self-determination. Any strategy to achieve this must recognize that the 13th amendment maintains the problematic unitary Sri Lankan state structure.” says the ITEC.
