All representatives of donor countries participating in the Sri Lankan Development Forum and also the representatives of donor agencies

You all are well aware that Sri Lanka has been severely affected by a separatist terrorist movement since a long time. Today the Tamil separatist movement has become the masters of terrorism. The socio-economic problems and the disparity of development which is wide spread among all Sri Lankan have been misconstrued by this separatist movement to claim that their community has been given discriminatory treatments.

It is axiomatic now that their main objective is, firstly to dismantle the Sri Lankan state by grabbing one third of its territory with the use of terrorism and to establish a Nazi type of state called "Tamil Elam", and secondly to use the "Tamil Elam" as the base to dismember the State of India by severing its Southern part (South India) from the mainland.

The rulers and the parliamentarians of the neighboring India are well aware of the gravity of these developments. It has been revealed recently in the Report submitted by the Home Ministry of India for the year 2004- 2005 to the Lok Sabha; which is the supreme law making body of India.

The report which is entitled as "Extract from the Annual Report for 2004-2005" says in its section 3.151 as follows.      

"The LTTE continues to be an extremely potent, most lethal and            well-organized terrorist force in Sri Lanka and has strong connections in Tamil Nadu and certain pockets of Southern India. The organization assiduously cultivates the Tamil Chauvinist elements        who are inspired by the Tamil Elam concept of a separate Tamil Nadu, i.e. secession from India. The LTTE by carrying out several successful suicide-killing missions in Sri Lanka and one in India has emerged as one of the deadliest terrorist organizations in the world…"

According to this report it is clear that the LTTE is not only an organization aiming at grabbing one third of the land of the Sri Lankan state, and two thirds of its marine resources but also to dismember India; the most powerful state  in the South-east Asian region by severing its Southernmost part from the mainland for the purpose of establishing a separate state in the South of India.

The previous regime of the United National Front had taken all the initiatives of granting statehood to this terrorist organization due to pressures exerted on them by some of the countries including Norway and international donor agencies.

Accordingly it was officially accepted that there are areas called as "LTTE controlled areas" within the boundaries of the Sri Lankan State and also the "fire power" of the terrorists was given the official military status. The LTTE was also granted the diplomatic privileges to maintain international relations by the former regime lead by Mr. Ranil Wickremasighe. As a result, the LTTE travels overseas quite often to establish international relations with the representatives of the lawfully established governments.  By doing so, the LTTE is making every effort to accomplish their aim of seceding from Sri Lanka State and to establish a separate state.

The LTTE  has no mandate from the people or there is no base for them among the people. The LTTE has not allowed any opponent political parties to survive. None of these opponent Tamil political parties have been able to surpass the skills and power of the LTTE's killing squad. In fact, the Tamil people in the North and East are incarcerated in an open prison camp under the gun point of the LTTE terrorists.

The hatred of the Tamil people towards the LTTE leadership is well manifested through their agitations and other demonstration campaigns which are on the increase after the LTTE's former leader "Karuna Amman" broke away from the LTTE.

The LTTE shamelessly claims by totally eliminating all Tamil opponent political leadership that they are the sole representative of Tamil speaking people.

Today, it is the LTTE that abducts and kills the children of the innocent and unarmed Tamil people. They extort their properties and destroy their means of livelihood systematically. The Sri Lankan Government Forces on the contrary protect these innocent and unarmed civilian people from the totalitarian and terrorist grip of the LTTE. If the so-called Ceasefire Monitors have recorded all those complaints properly it can be verified those facts with their records.

We have heard the demands made by some donor countries and international donor agencies urging the Government to join with this terrorist movement. There are also reports published on the news papers about those pressures exerted by those institutions on the Sri Lankan Government to agree with the LTTE to form a Joint Mechanism (JM) for the purpose of distribution of aids to those people affected by Tsunami in the North and Eastern provinces. They also reported to have stated that unless such Joint Mechanism is formed, Tsunami aids pledged by them would be delayed or perhaps not provided at all to the Sri Lankan Government.

This is an extremely surprising and incomprehensive proposal which does not fall within our limits of understanding and reasoning.

We request your permission hereby to explain our reasoning and view points as to why such a proposal is surprising to us and also ill founded.

1.  If someone suggests to the Sri Lankan Government to establish a lawful Joint Mechanism with internationally proscribed terrorist organization whose objectives are not only to dismember the Sri Lankan State but also India; he or she should suggest similar proposal to the president of the United States of America to have a Joint Mechanism with Al Qualida terrorist leadership. If the president of the USA, Mr. George W. Bush could consider such a proposal to have a Joint Mechanism with the fundamentalist terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden, we too would perhaps consider the feasibility of such a mechanism. 

Who would dare suggest a terrorist organization to be a partner of a legal administrative mechanism to be formed by a government elected by the people?  If any person is making such a suggestion, is he or she doing that with a sound mind?

2.  Could any person or organization suggest such a proposal to have a Joint Mechanism with an internationally proscribed terrorist movement which is responsible for the killing of a number of political leaders in Sri Lanka, the killing of the prime minister of India and also is consistently engaging in its killing spree of annihilating rival political leadership? They attempted to kill the incumbent president of Sri Lanka and also the minister Mr. Douglas Devananda, the sole representative of Jaffna district in the present parliament through a suicide bomber.

Who could suggest conferring legitimate legal status upon such a brutal terrorist rganization by making a partner of a legally established administrative structure?  If any person suggests so, doesn't it imply that he or she supports their brutal terror tactics and their illegal and murderous objectives?

3.   Is there really a genuine need to get the support of the LTTE to reconstruct and rehabilitate the areas affected by Tsunami?

Did the Indian Army want to have a Joint Mechanism to reconstruct the "Arugambe Bridge" that was washed away by Tsunami? Sri Lankan Army, Special Tasks Force and other civil organizations looked after the people in the North and the East who were affected by Tsunami. The Government of Sri Lanka provided the necessary relief aids without any delay. All these were done without a Joint Mechanism with the LTTE. Can the Joint Mechanism perform miracles in relation to the reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the North and East?

Two members of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) of the Baticcoloa and Ampara districts, Sebamale Joyfrank and Fernando Sandyapillai were arrested by the police with Rs. 20 million in their possession while they were traveling in a van stolen from Gampaha area. The vehicle in which they had been traveling was a Toyota Land Cruiser bearing Reg. No. WP-HM 0606 belonging to an NGO called 'Jaika'.  However the Intelligence Unit of the Security says that information has been received that the vehicle had been gifted to TRO by the Norwegian Embassy and it had been registered as an ambulance through Norwegian Embassy.

If someone proposes that the rehabilitation and re-construction works should be entrusted to such a gang of robbers, he or she should be making such a proposal without a sound mind.

4.  What is the fate of the parliamentarians who represent the people of the North and East if a terrorist organization is conferred legal recognition and legal force? Wouldn't it suppress the views of those representatives in the face of the fire power and the terrorist force of Tigers?  Is this position consistent with the so -called democracy which is preached to us by the countries in the west? Doesn't it amount to surrender the sovereignty of people?

It is inevitable that there may be a series of unanswerable question by having a Joint Mechanism with the LTTE for the North and East provinces. If there is any one who suggests such a mechanism, he or she should provide us answers to the above questions.

Some donor countries and foreign donor agencies urge us to establish such a joint mechanism with the LTTE while LTTE is still in the possession of illegal arms, while still holding their objectives of creating a separate state in Sri Lanka, and while engaging in killings, extortions and committing all other illegal activities.

According to India, LTTE is working vigorously to cerate a separate state in India. The LTTE demands to have a Joint Mechanism while engaging in illegal arms smuggling, drugs trafficking and committing all other vices. They also maintain close relationships with the global terrorist organizations. Therefore the establishment of a JM by the Sri Lankan Government with Tigers means the approval of the aforesaid all illegal and terrorist actions of the LTTE. It also confers the legal recognition to those actions of the LTTE.

Is it a right thing to do? Is it reasonable? , Is it justifiable?  Those of you who visit Sri Lanka today as the representatives of donor countries would be kindly requested to rethink your stance and views on JM. We are pleased that you are concerned with helping to us by providing the financial assistance. We respect you even if you have helped us by words to restart the shattered lives of the people who were affected by Tsunami.

However in the midst of these helps, if you propose to grant lawful statehood to the blood thirsty terrorist, we shall vehemently oppose to any such proposals. We believe that you too would decide that our above decision is right on the basis of the facts stated in this letter.

Thanking You,

Yours Faithfully

Patriotic National Movement , Jayaggrahanaya (Kandy) , National Bikku Front, Thero Inter-university Bikku Federation Patriotic Bikku Front , Ruhunurata Bikku Front, Dharmavijya Foundation, Colombo Young Men Buddhist Association ,“Chinthana Parshadaya”,All Ceylon Buddhist Women Association, “Jayaggrahanaya (Colombo)” , National University Alliance, National Integration Committee, Sinhala Lawyers’ Union, Inter-university Student Federation, Janatha Kala Karuvo

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