The World condemns LTTE terrorism

The recent LTTE bombing in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which killed over 90 people and injured over 1,400 (of which close to 90 people are permanently blind as a result of the blast), was condemned by the USA, UK, Japan and most European countries. It is another in the series of criminal activities carried out by the LTTE terrorist movement of Sri Lanka over the last 15 years.

Under the pretext of fighting for the rights of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka, the LTTE has become an international criminal enterprise which is posing a threat to many countries, including the USA.

* "The LTTE set up a global crime network to fund the war. The LTTE and related Tamil insurgents are engaged in organized criminal activities which began in Sri Lanka and spread to Western Europe, North America and Australia - wherever Tamil refugees have landed. Many of them have paid the insurgents to bring them to a new country, only to have extortion resume at an even more costly level." -Mackenzie Institute, P.O. Box 338, Adelaide Station, Toronto, Ontario MSC 2J4, Canada, December 1995.

* The US State Department’s Handbook on Terrorism, the Mackenzie Institute of Canada, the India Today magazine and numerous other publications by research institutes have detailed these criminal activities undermining society in North America, Western Europe and Australia, viz.

* Narcotics smuggling via Pakistan and Thailand.

* Sale of forged passports, visas and papers to support claims for refugee status, enabling large-scale migration of Sri Lankans.

* Trafficking in illicit immigrants for large fees.

* Arms sales to terrorist groups in North India and Africa.

* Extortion of funds from Tamils resident abroad using the threat of physical harm to relatives still in Sri Lanka.

* The LTTE has used mass murder and the killing of national leaders in Sri Lanka and India as their main tactic in negotiating with the governments of these countries to obtain concessions, viz.

* Assassination of Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

* Assassinations of President Premadasa of Sri Lanka, several senior cabinet ministers, the leader of the parliamentary opposition and the former leader of the parliamentary opposition.

* Killing of over 10,000 civilian non-combatants in Sri Lanka and South India by indiscriminate bombings and shootings in public places.

* The LTTE took over the northern and eastern sectors of Sri Lanka and carried out a mass ethnic cleansing to remove all non-Tamils from these regions, killing many Sinhalese and Tamils and giving others 24 hours to leave their homes and businesses.

* The one million Tamils living in the north and east of Sri Lanka have been held hostage in a terrorist state for over 8 years. Hundreds of dissenters have been executed. People pay taxes to the LTTE but depend on the Sri Lanka government for food and public services. The government of Sri Lanka spends Rs. one billion annually on free food for these people. People are denied movement. Those wanting to travel out have to pay high fees and offer relatives as hostages.

* Leaders of the Tamil community who were elected to parliament in Sri Lanka have been hunted down and killed by the LTTE.

* The LTTE conscripts children in the age group 12-16 on a large scale for its army. This has been detailed by the International Red Cross which handles government food distribution in LTTE controlled areas of Sri Lanka.

* The LTTE negotiated cease fire agreements with the Sri Lanka Government on two occasions. After building their strength over a period of time, they unleashed savage surprise attacks against the civilian police and army. In the first incident, 600 unsuspecting policemen were persuaded to lay down arms and then taken away and executed in cold blood.

* The government of Sri Lanka has repeatedly offered self-rule within Sri Lanka to Tamils in the north and east, even though 40% of the Tamils live in the south where they enjoy equal rights with others. The LTTE has rejected these offers as they are not willing to free face elections in the areas now controlled by them. Elected representatives of the Tamils in the Sri Lanka parliament have endorsed these government proposals.

It is time for the rest of the world to take positive action against this kind of terror. Innocent Tamils living in Sri Lanka and abroad have been coerced by intimidation and can offer little opposition to this group that claims to represent them. But it is in the interests of governments in North America, Western Europe and Australia to curb LTTE activities before the cancer infects these societies.