Justice still eludes the victims of 2009 Sri Lankan War when tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed, said Ramu Manivannan, author of the book ‘Sri Lanka: Hiding the Elephant’.
Speaking at a programme organised by the Forum Against War Crimes and Genocide to launch the book here on Sunday, he said the work highlights the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils in their own land and the crimes committed by their government.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has passed a resolution against Sri Lanka sponsored by five countries led by the US. Though the resolution requests UNHRC and the High Commissioner’s Office to investigate the allegations of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, it is yet to call for an independent international investigation mechanism to probe allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide of Tamils by Sri Lanka, said Manivannan, who also heads the Department of Studies in Politics and Public Administration, Madras University.
“Persecution is an understatement. It is a genocide politically motivated since 1948 and executed militarily since 2008,” he said.
‘Stop Violence Against Tamils’
P Venkatesan of the Forum against War Crimes and Genocide, Karnataka observed that Sri Lankan citizens are still being persecuted though the country is independent.
“The native Tamils cannot cultivate nor carry out fishing activity, and the worst is that even for simple functions like a naming ceremony they have to obtain permission from the military. In a few places, Tamil businessmen are killed. This should be stopped,” Venkatesan said.
The book was earlier released in Tamil Nadu and Delhi and will be released soon in Hyderabad and other cities. Through this book, the forum aims to bring out the truth to the people so that they can raise their voice for the voiceless, the forum’s office-bearers said.