London Mayor urged to ban Tiger rally
LONDON: Protests have poured into the office of Ken Livingstone, the
Mayor of London, urging him to ban today’s Trafalgar Square rally
organised by the LTTE. A global protest campaign has deplored any
attempts to open the Trafalgar Square to a banned terrorist organisation.
Livingstone has given permission with restrictions to conduct a
meeting organised by Harrow Councilor Daya Idaikadar.
Idaikadar was asked to submit details of the agenda of the proposed
rally in writing, following the protest letters and memoranda received
by the Mayor’s office.
It is also learnt that the organisers have been told not try to
propagate the programmes of the LTTE, a banned organisation in the UK,
and not to publicise the LTTE leader in the form of placards depicting
his images.
Despite these restrictions Idaikadar had not said whether he will
conform to it or not. Most of the protest have come from Sri Lankan
Tamils resident in UK. Nesan Shankar Raji of EROS - a Tamil party
opposed to the LTTE - wrote to the Mayor pointing out that this
demonstration is opposed by the Sri Lankan Tamil community living in UK.
He added: “Only recently Councillor Elizabeth Packiya Devi Mann of
the London Borough of Southwark’s colleague G. Lambert of the LTTE’s UK
front organisation (TYO - Tamil Youth Organisation) was arrested under
the Terrorism Act for organising the LTTE’s demonstration at Hyde Park.”
Another group of Tamils wrote to the Mayor saying: “The LTTE
continues to kidnap and forcibly conscript children as young six or
seven as child soldiers, carry out suicide bombings of civilians, hold
members of democratic Tamil organisations in medieval dungeons as
prisoners, extort money from people in Sri Lanka, UK and Europe and are
engaged in various large-scale criminal enterprises such as drug
trafficking and credit card fraud.
A number of leading LTTE operatives in the UK had been arrested
recently and have been charged with a number of serious criminal
offences.”
“It may be useful for you to know that the LTTE cut off a hand of a
man who dared to vote in the last presidential elections because he
disobeyed their dictates. The LTTE have been involved in widespread
assassinations of political leaders such as Rajiv Ghandi, Amirthalingam,
Neelan Thiruchelvam, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Ketesh Loganathan, Rajani
Thiranagama and thousands of others.
“Therefore we wish to alert members of the British Parliament and
public not to be deceived by the LTTE front men who seek to masquerade
as defenders of human rights,” they said.
Naradha Gangadara writing from Los Angeles has told the Mayor not to
adopt double standards and to be aware of the Tigers who have a tendency
to bite the hand that feeds them.
Ranjith Soysa, the spokesperson for the Society for Peace Unity and
Human Rights, an Australia-based NGO, told the Asian Tribune that the
Mayor has a duty to protect a great city like London and he should not
treat the planned demonstration of the Tigers as another passing show
that will add some more noise to the city.
“London has to be protected from all terrorist groups and opening
opportunities for the internationally banned Tigers will not be good
publicity for London as zone of peace, free from terrorists. If he gives
into the Tiger terrorists now he may regret it later.
He is sending the wrong signal to terrorists who have used London as
a base for propagating their brutal violence.”
- Asian Tribune |
