‘The UK demonstrates a very lackadaisical approach when it comes to dealing with the LTTE rump and the extreme Tamil diaspora,’ a retired senior Sri Lankan diplomat told
The Sunday Observer was referring to the grand ceremony the LTTE fronts and sympathisers organised in the heart of London to commemorate the dead terrorists recently.
On November 26 the organisers of a so called ‘Heroes Day’ in UK projected LTTE propaganda via laser beam on non-other than the country’s iconic symbol of democracy – the House of Commons.
The photos of the event which are freely available on social media show the terror organisation’s unmistakable insignia being projected on the majestic walls of the British Parliament, with the message ‘We remember’. The LTTE, which fought for a separate state in Sri Lanka, is one of the 76 proscribed terror organisations in the UK and it has remained so since March 2001.
Operatives linked to the group continue to instigate violence and create problems in South India and Malaysia even today contradicting the popular notion that LTTE is a defunct entity and it has long since given up their violent or separatist ideology.
The Sri Lankans living in the UK said it appeared that the organisers of the commemoration on behalf of the terror outfit had beamed the pictures and slogans from a portable projector in a boat on River Thames. It wasn’t immediately known if the Metropolitan Police was going to apprehend the culprits for breaking the law.
‘As a country which itself suffered for decades due to terrorism, the attitude of the UK authorities with regard to the actions of the LTTE rump does not augur well for the British Sri Lankans, particularly the Tamils,’ the senior ex-foreign service officer said.
He said, ‘The LTTE was notorious in the UK for its intimidation, extortion and street warfare in the suburbs of London. They are masters of human smuggling and at present, human smuggling through mainland Europe in small boats via the English Channel is a serious problem for the UK.’
The allegations of extortion and intimidation by LTTE remnants based in the EU is not a mere hearsay, in 2011 a Netherlands court sentenced five persons on charges of terrorism funding, years after the LTTE was militarily defeated by Sri Lankan armed forces. The Court heard how LTTE activists raised 130 million Euros for illegal acts. The prosecution provided evidence on how men visited the houses of ordinary Tamils in the Netherlands and used threats to extort money.
According to Section 13 of the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000, displaying or wearing of clothing or an item to promote a banned organisation or indicate to be a member, is an offence punishable under its law. The penalty involved a six-month prison term or a fine not exceeding level five on the standard scale (Sterling pounds 5000) or both.
“Yet, the symbols of the LTTE are freely displayed in the UK by the LTTE rump and its front organisations,” a Sri Lankan professional living in the UK for many years complained adding that these fronts operate in the guise of political, cultural and youth orgnisations with the Metropolitan Police taking no action against those responsible.
For the commemoration of the heroes day, the LTTE linked groups held a ‘stately’ event in London, apparently at a public venue. The place adorned with terrorist insignia and other memorabilia including the unmistakable tiger flag and the flame lily flower had rows and rows of framed photographs of many dead cadres.
The LTTE declared in 2004 the flame lily as the national flower of Tamil Eelam which is its self proclaimed territory in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
The ceremony saw garlands being placed around the photographs and lamps being lit while the tiger flag was hoisted with the Eelam map in the background.
In parallel the Tamil shops were decorated with huge banners and posters of the slain LTTE leader. A senior government official said there are allegations that the LTTE’s front organisations used to grease the palms of certain UK politicians in the past in return for lending a voice to their cause.
The UK has been levelling unjustified and unfounded charges of war crimes against the Sri Lankan forces which fought to neutralise a deadly terrorist outfit which was a threat not only to Sri Lanka but the whole world. ‘They did not fight someone else’s war in another country,’ the government official said.
He said the UK is echoing the allegations whipped up by the extreme Tamil diaspora while having a Bill called Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill before the Parliament to deal with allegations of war crimes by British Military in the Iraq war. Moreover, he said the UK has offered a place of refuge to Adele Balasingham, who was responsible for recruiting child soldiers to the LTTE.
‘There can be no greater War Crime than this,’ he said.
According to the Rome Statute to which the UK is a State Party, recruitment of children is a war crime. ‘What action has the UK Government taken against Balsingham, before making allegations against the armed forces of a friendly country which bore the brunt of terrorism for three decades?,’ the official said.