Sri Lankan Government Protests Over Miliband’s Participation in Tamil Forum

The Sri Lankan Government had lodged a strong protest against the participation of British Foreign Minister David Miliband in the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) conference held in London recently. The report added that Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama summoned the acting British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Mark Gooding to the Foreign Ministry to express his utmost dissatisfaction and concern regarding Miliband's conduct.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry had expressed its deepest concern and the government's protest against the association of the British foreign minister in the entire process at the forum. The action of the foreign minister of Sri Lanka was an exercise in diplomatic restraint. One can argue that the participation of British foreign minister in a conference of a Tamil or a Sinhalese organization in London cannot be taken as a violation of rights of another country. No other country has the moral or legal right to oppose such participation.

Battle Against LTTE
However, the Sri Lankan Government's perspective on this incident, in which the British Foreign Minister David Miliband participated in the Global Tamil Forum conference, which was known to have close linked with Tamil rebels, should be viewed in the context of the long drawn out 30-year war in the country in which large numbers of human beings were murdered by the inhuman Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization.

At a time when the Sri Lankan Government was fighting a battle against the LTTE, the British Government did not act in a manner that suggested it was in favor of the military action carried out by Sri Lanka.

Bogollagama's Interpretation
One can imagine that there is a large margin of difference in the British foreign minister participating in a forum of any other nationality or organization with exceptions to his involvement with the Global Tamil Forum. One cannot accept the premise that the British foreign minister was ignorant of the fact that the LTTE outfit which was even declared by the United States as one of the world's cruelest terrorist organizations was a segment of the Global Tamil Forum. Therefore, Rohitha Bogollagama's interpretation that David Miliband's action similar to supporting future terrorist objectives cannot be considered as wrong.

It is no secret that during the war between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, the British Government's indifference in fact was a loud call for the war to be stopped and safeguard the LTTE. Although the UK did not directly enunciate this idea, the end result of the efforts of the British Government to stop the ongoing war would have definitely resulted in protecting the LTTE leadership and their organization.

Objective of LTTE
The main objective of the LTTE was to create an Eelam State, a concept that world Tamil organizations have still not abandoned. No one can deny that they would have deviated from this objective even for a while. This is because at the time of the death of LTTE leader Prabhakaran because of Army assaults, Kumaran Pathmanathan, one of the foremost characters who funded the movement, made a statement which caused concern in many world capitals. The statement attributed to Kumaran Pathmanathan is that "Even if Prabhakaran dies we are there for the organization" This statement of KP shows the indignation of the Tamils.

Therefore, if there is such an LTTE leader living in any part of the world, no onr can deny his relationship with the Global Tamil Forum. It has to be emphasized that the protest registered by the Sri Lankan Government against the British foreign minister's participation in the forum cannot be regarded as one that crosses the borders of diplomatic propriety.