Massive Action Plan by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)
On Thai Pongal (January 14) the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) released a booklet outlining the TGTE’s Massive Action plan. The projects described in the Massive Action Plan have been formulated following the work of a group of experts. They are imaginative, ambitious and have nation building as a long term goal.
For Participation, Ideas, and Advice: massiveaction@tgte.org For Online Financial Contribution: www.tgte-us.org For Correspondence: TGTE, 875 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 906, New York, NY 10001, USA
Details of a few selected Projects
1. Publications, Archives, and Documentation Centre:
It is necessary to collect and protect the political, economic, social, cultural, and historical documents and data of the Tamil Nation with due care for the usage of Eelam Tamil People to maintain themselves as a nation and to strengthen the foundations of the homeland and that of self-determination. Such an Archive will also help to strengthen the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam. Efforts are under way for TGTE to set up of an Archive for this purpose and arrangements are being made to create and this Archive in Parity. It is felt that it is necessary to create a publishing house to bring the publications which will express the justifications of the Eelam Tamil Nation and necessary arrangements are being made for the same. Magazines, journals and books will be published in Tamil and English and in other languages through this publishing house. This publishing house will publish not only the official publications of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, but also many general publications will be published. The importance of conceptualizing is understood and the writers of Tamil and all the communities of the world will be identified and the publishing house will act in a way to include all of them. This publishing house is also to be established at Paris City. This archive and the publishing house which will be created with the name of the Homeland will function interlinked to one another. A programme coordinator will coordinate the people associated with the portfolios and the youth who are interested and have involvement.An action team will be formed and this programme will be implemented through this team.
2. ’Yes to Referendum’ Peoples Movement:
The need is strongly felt at present for a movement to campaign amongst the international community that a separate Tamil Eelam is the only permanent solution to the Tamil national issue, and to present the case for a referendum as the means for the Tamil people to exercise their democratic franchise around this question. It is important to take up actions which urge the international community towards implementation of the resolutions passed in the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly and the Assembly of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam calling for a referendum to be held on the Tamil national question arranged by the international community. Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam has formed an action committee for this purpose. This action committee will call itself as Yes to Referendum Peoples Movement. This movement will work on the project of campaigning for support among the international community on the conduct of referendum among the people in the homeland and the Diaspora as the only way to reach a democratic political solution to the Tamil national question. Such a referendum would consider all political options including the creation of a separate state for consideration by the people. This movement will insist that the right to self-determination, the opportunity to determine their own political destiny, should be offered to Eelam Tamils in the same manner as it was given to the people of Québec in Canada and the people of Scotland in Britain. This people’s movement will create action groups in different countries, made up of not only Tamils but also of members of the international community.
3. Land Protection Programme:
This movement is created to take necessary action to halt the systematic appropriation of the areas traditionally belonging to Tamils under the hegemonic rule of the Sri Lankan State. This project is built on the premise that it is only through the protection of traditional areas of land in Tamil Eelam that the identity and the existence of Tamils can be maintained and their nationhood nurtured. It has been decided that a review of all the work already undertaken to prevent the appropriation of land as pre-requisite to devise plans which are feasible and effective. Thisproject focuses on collaboration with relevant organisations and individuals in the struggle against the appropriation of land. The following are recognized as tasks to be undertaken by Tamils outside the homeland: 1. Drawing the attention of the international community by informing the governments and public instituttions in the West of the land grabbing in the Tamil homneland. 2. Highlighting the importance of the appropriation of the living places of a people as a violation of their fundamental human rights and bringing this to the notice of the international human rights community, demanding appropriate action by them. 3. Gathering data regarding the occupation of Tamil lands by the Sri Lankan armed forcesand undertaking of appropriate legal measures to recover those lands. 4. Raising awareness among the Tamil Diaspora about the importance of viewing the land they own in the homeland as part of the overall security and protection of the same homeland. This project will be implemented through the action group which also includes the interested activists in all countries under the coordination of a project coordinator.
4. Tamil Studies Advisory Council:
Tamil language plays a main role in creating our identity as Tamils and also in developing the same. The linguists and historians claim that the Tamil people derive their identity through the language they speak rather than from the geographical area they inhabited. Despite the complex dimensions of the process of identity formation among children in the Tamil Diaspora, their language is still believed to play a significant role in that process. Many differences exist between learning Tamil language in the Homeland and learning the same in the diaspora context. Language education and the development of text books used for this purpose take place in the homeland in a context where Tamils remains as the mother tongue, as the medium of instruction, and as the spoken language as well as for expression of their culture. But in the diaspora, Tamil is presented to the youth only as a language linked to their identity primarily. Tamil children are growing up in a situation where Tamil is neither the medium of instruction nor the primary spoken language in their social interactions. Therefore, the Tamil language education for children of the diaspora could not be a copy of the system of language education practiced in the homeland. New ideas and new approaches are necessary for teaching Tamil language according to the new and dynamic contexts in the diaspora. The Tamil Studies Advisory Council has been imagined to be a platform for research based development of guidelines for the ongoing education of diaspora youth and for drawing in of appropriate expertise in the field.
5. World Tamil University:
It is well known that strong links exist between the education system of a country and its own political system. Universities all over the world take into consideration the need of the wider community they serve and design their programs of education and research accordingly. Even though Eelam Tamils have survived as a nation, their statelessness and their transnational way of existence today implies that their status is different from that of many other nations. The educational programs Tamils receive and the opportunities already available to them through the higher education structures are not prepared with the social and political aspects of the Tamils’ situation taken into account. Besides, no existing university is ever going to dedicate itself to see that the World Tamils emerge as a source of power. Institutions of higher learning that address this need, therefore, have to emerge from among the Tamils themselves. We view that the development of a World Tamil University with a particularly Tamil stand point and with the mandate to address the needs of Tamil society is timely. Such an institution will pave the way for offering higher education in areas seen as relevant to Tamils in general and the conduct of relevant research, but it would evolve as a significant contribution from the Tamils to the rest of the world. In view of the size of this project, a panel of experts is to be nominated to study the feasibility of this project under the leadership of a project coordinator. The recommendations of the expert group will form the basis of the ongoing development. We are looking to hear from those interested in serving in the panel of experts.
6. World Tamil Chambers of Commerce:
The entrepreneurs and business leaders among world Tamils could come together to create the World Tamil Chambers of Commerce, and such a coordinated formation would lead to the development of Tamils as a strong economic force capable of positioning the power of Tamils in the global arena. This is the concept behind the proposed project here. Recognition of those enterprises of interest to Tamils in general and offering of advice to such entrepreneurs, identifying the high achievers in the Tamil business world in order to honour them as well as to hold them up as role models for younger business leaders, sharing the information and contacts about the trade and business opportunities in different countries with the entrepreneurs, creating trustworthy and credible networks to support and strengthen joint ventures are some of the tasks considered to be of value to the diaspora community coming out of this initiative. It is envisaged that such a World Tamils Chambers of Commerce would emerge from ta wider conference being planned to be convened in 2017.
ABOUT TRANSNATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL EELAM (TGTE):
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a democratically elected Government of a million strong Tamils (from the island of Sri Lanka) living in several countries around the world. TGTE was formed after the mass killing of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Government in 2009.
TGTE twice held internationally supervised elections among Tamils around the world to elect 132 Members of Parliament. It has a bicameral legislature and a Cabinet. It held its Parliamentary sittings among other places in the British and French Parliaments.
TGTE is leading a campaign to realize Tamils’ political aspirations through peaceful, democratic and diplomatic means. The Constitution of the TGTE mandates that it should realize its political objective only through peaceful means.
The Prime Minister of TGTE is Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, a New York based lawyer.
Contact: pmo@tgte.org Web: www.tgte-us.org
BACKGROUND:
Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka faced repeated mass killings in 1958, 1977, and 1983 and the mass killings in 2009 prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a Panel of Experts to report on the scale of the killings.
According to UN internal review report on Sri Lanka, over 70,000 Tamils were killed in five months in early 2009 and Tamil women were raped by the Sri Lankan Security forces. There are over 90,000 Tamil war widows and thousands of Tamils disappeared due the conflict.
According to this UN report, the killings and other abuses that took place amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Independent experts believe that there are elements of these abuses that constitute an act of genocide.
Members of the Sri Lankan security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community and the victims are all from the Tamil community.
A Buddhist Monk shot and killed a Sri Lankan Prime Minister 1959 for having talks with Tamil political leaders.
Tamils overwhelmingly voted in a Parliamentary election in 1977 to establish an independent and sovereign country called Tamil Eelam. This Parliamentary election was conducted by the Sri Lankan Government
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