Rt Hon Jack Straw Secretary of State,
Home Office 50,
Queen Anne's Gate London,
SW1H 9AT
Dear Rt Hon Jack Straw
Our organisation, the Federation of Tamil Associations in New Zealand, represents the three main Tamil organisations in the three main cities of New Zealand: Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.
We write to let you know that we are hoping against hope that your government will not proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Ever since the present President of Sri Lanka came to power in 1994, with the promise of peace in Sri Lanka, real peace has taken several steps backwards. A major contributing factor has been the ingenuity with which the Sri Lankan government has deceived not only the moderate Tamil parties in Sri Lanka but also the international community. We say that they have "deceived" because, the government's much talked about "devolution package" could not have been implemented without the support of the main opposition political party, and yet the government has not approached them with a co-operative attitude.
At present this same government is expending lot of energy to pressurise your government to proscribe the LTTE. We hope you will see the government's motives in the light of its behaviour in the past.
Unfolding events, in relation to the Sri Lankan Tamil national question, has left the Tamil people relying entirely on the LTTE to win back their political, civil and economic rights. Therefore proscribing the LTTE at this juncture is to deny Tamils their rights. It is only by resolving the Tamil national question that the Sinhala people can proceed to build a civil society for themselves. While some among them may not see this in this way, we think this is due to the misinformation that the past and present Sri Lankan governments have propagated among them.
We therefore believe that proscribing the LTTE will not promote peace and civil society in Sri Lanka. On the contrary the tragic situation throughout the country will continue to deteriorate if the Tamil national question is not addressed with due recognition given to the LTTE as the main representatives of the Tamil people.
Yours Sincerely
Ms Malathy Naguleswaran
For Federation of Tamil Associations in New Zealand
