SPUR tells Australian authorities :
Proscribe Tigers
The Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) has
urged Australian authorities to proscribe the LTTE and its front
organisations in Australia under the Criminal Code Act of 1995 to
prevent them from disrupting ethnic harmony and presenting a threat to
the national interest of Australia.
In a memorandum addressed to the Attorney General of Australia Robert
Mc Clelland, MP, SPUR said the LTTE facing imminent defeat militarily
and politically in Sri Lanka has launched a frenzied and desperate
campaign to create tension within the expatriate communities in
Australia to tarnish the international image of Sri Lanka.
The memorandum signed by SPUR spokesperson Ranjith Soysa and copied
to Australian Foreign Minister and Home Affairs and Shadow Minister of
Foreign Affairs and the Shadow Attorney General said Tiger supporters
travelling in motor vehicles carrying pro Tiger banners and shouting
anti-Sri Lanka slogans attacked Sri Lankan Australians attending a
peaceful demonstration held on the steps of the Victoria Parliament
demanding the release of civilians held by the LTTE.
One of the vehicles confronted the dispersing Sri Lankan community
after the rally leading to an ugly scuffle which was reported in the
Australian media. Videos of the incident was soon published through the
LTTE propaganda network immediately which suggested that it was set up
by the LTTE and its allies to discredit the Sri Lankan community.
Some Sri Lankans who were returning home after the demonstration were
physically attacked by LTTE goons within the Melbourne CDB in broad
daylight.
One of them bashed with a wheel brace was hospitalised with head
injuries. The same night several business establishments in suburban
Melbourne operated by Australians of Sri Lankan origin were also
vandalised.
There is evidence that LTTE lobbyists are actively promoting the
recent downgrading of the Victorian Supreme Court Case on terrorism
charges against several Tiger supporters giving an open licence for the
LTTE to expand its clandestine operations to the public domain. LTTE
activities have risen to a level not previously seen disrupting ethnic
harmony and causing a threat to the national interest of Australia.
The memorandum has also urged extreme vigilance by Australian
authorities to ensure that Australian Tamil children and youth are not
recruited by LTTE operatives by use of emotive propaganda as done in
Canada, Britain and US. Permitting LTTE activities would encourage
Australian supporters of other international terror groups as well and
lead to ethnic divisions in the country. |