LTTE stamps on French democracy

Fund-raising for the LTTE is hardly ever done legally. Just as in Sri Lanka in most other countries where expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils live, much of the funds have been obtained by threats, coercion and extortion. Credit Card scams, human smuggling, trade in illegal arms and a whole range of illegal activities have been closely linked to these pro-LTTE groups among Tamils expatriates in the West.

France would not have been an exception to these tactics of a group that is continuing with a separatist agenda that has been effectively defeated in Sri Lanka, but continues its propaganda abroad, aimed at misleading the public and politicians in their present countries of domicile about Sri Lanka and the condition of Tamils here. The French have been successful in taking legal action against some of the illegal activities of the pro-LTTE groups.

Some of the pro-LTTE stamps

What was exposed last week was the successful abuse by these groups of the democratic freedoms of their host country to defraud the state, and use a state authorized institution to raise funds through the release of postage stamps and also spread the message of the LTTE within France and outside by letters and parcels that will carry those illegal stamps.

Pro-LTTE network

There were six 'stamps' produced by the pro-LTTE network that were circulating in France in small numbers, showing images of former LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE’s symbol of a tiger head with and two guns on a red background, the Eelam map, and what the LTTE has claimed to be the national flower, tree, and bird of Tamil Eelam it sought to establish in Sri Lanka through its campaign of terror. Those behind this scam claimed the 'stamps' had been approved by the French Ministry of Post of France, and that they can be used to send letters and parcels.

Following inquiry by Ambassador Dayan Jayatillake the French postal authority said it had not given clearance to issue such stamps. This followed the embassy’s inquiries from La Poste, the issuing authority for official stamps in France, with regard to these stamps bearing the symbols of an organization which was responsible for many atrocities that are well known by the world community, and when the LTTE remains a listed terrorist organization in the EU since 2006.

The timely exposure of this philatelic scam by some sharp tiger watchers abroad, sections of the local media, and quick action by the Sri Lanka embassy in Paris prompted the French authorities to take quick action to curb the spread of this scam and possibly alerted other European countries to the possibility of such illegal activity being carried out elsewhere too.

The French embassy in Colombo too was quick to announce that these 'stamps' had no official sanction. Yet, the matter was serious enough for the Minister of External Affairs Prof. GL Peiris to call in the ambassador of France to Sri Lanka Christine Robichon to express Sri Lanka's concern over the issue of these stamps by the French mail service depicting images of the banned Tamil Tiger terrorist group. Minister Peiris notified the French Ambassador that although the issue of stamps is not facilitated by the French government, it is the government's responsibility to ensure publication of such images of a banned terrorist group should not have happened and urged the French government to cancel the circulation of the stamps with immediate effect.

Emphasizing that this action by an LTTE front organization would harm the reputation of the French government globally, the minister expressed confidence that the government of France would take immediate action not to give credence to such moves by a terrorist front.

Public opinion

French Ambassador Ms. Robichon has explained that La Poste had failed to detect the violations of the conditions and had printed the stamps by mistake, through what appears to be an abuse of its on-line stamp ordering service for limited needs. However, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed La Poste that LTTE is a terrorist group banned by the EU in 2006, and the mail service has assured the French government that no such stamps will be printed further.

What is most significant in this pro-LTTE scam is what Prof. Peiris pointed out to the French ambassador that when governments, especially in the West, allow the pro-LTTE groups to operate in such a manner, the Sri Lankan public will question those countries’ bona-fides, with the Sri Lankan government having to consider the public opinion here since the pro-LTTE groups overseas are still seeking to achieve their objectives through different means.

Even if one is to hopefully accept that this philatelic scam in France has been nipped in the bud, what this move by the pro-LTTE network in France has shown is the danger that all countries of the West face today, with the existence of such groups that are wedded to a conspiratorial terrorist agenda, and are ready to abuse the very democratic freedoms available in those countries to threaten the prevailing system.

These are not matters of individual criminality, but organized collective crime that is making capital of the freedoms available to undermine those very freedoms. Complacency on the face of such threatening groups in the countries of the West could prove much more dangerous in the coming years, with the economic crises facing Europe, about which a leading US military analyst has said they could lead to widespread civil unrest in Europe. The operating of groups nurtured under terrorism and with the least respect for democracy in such countries could be a grave danger to the societies that face major challenges that can divert their attention from conspiracies within. The French 'stamps' are therefore a much needed alarm call to all countries in the West, and their politicians, who continue to molly-coddle the pro-LTTE groups, in a mistaken zeal for accountability and an 'independent international' inquiry on Sri Lanka. To view some of the stamps visit:

http://www.info.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201201/20120103ltte_postage_stamps_france.htm>http://www.info.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201201/20120103ltte_postage_stamps_france.htm

AI bonds with Canadian Tamils

Adding to the danger exposed in France, was a further manifestation of the duplicity of human rights organizations in their links with the so-called Tamil Diaspora. This was seen very well in how Amnesty International was gleeful about obtaining funds from the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), an organization that insists it is anything but a front organization for the LTTE, but acts very much in sync with all other expatriate Tamil organizations that are open in their alignment with the LTTE in strategy and practice.

Amnesty International, which does have a commendable record in many situations, has been exposed for its anti-Sri Lankan or pro-LTTE bias from the time it began making unfounded allegations against the Sri Lankan authorities and Security Forces in the prosecution of the military operations to defeat the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world - the LTTE. It accused the Sri Lankan troops of using cluster bombs when the country never had any, it campaigned to 'Force open the gates' of the 'IDP camps' in the North of Sri Lanka, where nearly 300,000 Tamils who were used as human shields by the LTTE were being given shelter till resettlement by the government, and has been among the lead singers in the international chorus that has condemned the LLRC even before its report was released, having refused to accept its invitation to give evidence before it.

The representative of AI present at the CTC fund raising walkathon in Canada did not forget to mention the need for an 'independent international' inquiry on Sri Lanka. The CTC may genuinely not like to be named an LTTE front organization, but Amnesty International is certainly enjoying the company and funds of those who think very much alike those dangerous fronts of terrorism.

See the CTC fund raising campaign on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3nZVpRwygv4