Tamil meet asks Centre to move UN against Lanka

The DMK-Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) sponsored International Meet on Sunday called upon the Indian government ''to bring forth a resolution in the United Nations (UN) for bestowing full rights to the Tamils in Sri Lanka to decide a political solution themselves.''

A far-reaching resolution adopted at the Eelam Tamils Rights Protection Conference (ETRPC) here late Sunday evening, that covers the entire gamut of issues affecting the Sri Lankan Tamils including human rights violations in the post-Eelam War-IV scenario, declared that “India has the duty, right and responsibility to undertake measures for ensuring peace and equality in neighbouring Sri Lanka.” It also called for a series of initiatives by India and UN. 

Pointing out that there “is no protection for the Tamil nationality, religion and language” in Sri Lanka, the ETRPC presided by DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and attended by scores of delegates from Indian political parties and from abroad, it demanded of the Indian government to “take all necessary steps to ensure a total change of environment in Sri Lanka.” 

That should help redeem the Sri Lankan Tamils’, “political, economic and cultural rights”, the conference stressed without referring to creation of any independent Tamil Eelam state.

Another resolution directly called for holding a referendum among the Sri Lankan Tamils through the UN, to help end the violation of their basic rights. It should be “highlighted as a South-Asian Human Rights Issue”.

Referring to the historic resolution passed at the recent UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, the Conference in another resolution urged the UN to appoint a supervisory committee to see whether the Sri Lankan government complied with that resolution in taking action against human rights violations. 

The meet urged India to grant “Indian citizenship right or permanent resident status” to all the Tamil refugees who have come from Sri Lanka.