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Chennai, Tamil Nadu Time:
Message to Brother and Sisters of Tamil Nadu
Dear Sir/ Madam,
It is with much urgency and hope that I make this
appeal. As you have surely heard that there is an unprecedented
humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sri Lanka. There are about
300,000 civilians trapped in less than ten square-kilometers of jungle
being pounded with aerial bombs, artillery shells, cluster bombs and
even poison gas by the advancing military. These civilians have very
limited food or medicine and the UN humanitarian chief has recently
warned of a bloodbath with the impending advance of the Sri Lankan
Army.
Since January alone the Government of Sri Lanka,
in the name of fighting the LTTE, has, murdered about 3,000 civilians
living in the in the North East of Sri Lanka and severely injured
another 8,000. The Government of Sri Lanka frequently justifies its
increasing attacks on designated No-Fire-Zones by stating that LTTE is
preventing the civilians from leaving the area.
To make matters worse, the civilians who have
been “liberated” are placed in isolated and heavily militarized
concentration camps where extra-judicial killings have become common.
The Government of India – the only entity that
can meaningfully intervene to ensure an immediate cease-fire,
continues to turn a blind eye. We cannot let the silence continue and
are counting on good council such as yours to prevail on this matter
to stop the genocide. We earnestly ask you to please:
• release an immediate statement to
local or national media,
• organize a rally or an event to call
for immediate political action by India
• call the political leaders in India
to act immediately to save the civilians
Please exert your influence in whatever way
possible to pressure the Government of India by sending email, fax or
releasing press statements to call on Sri Lanka to:
• Halt the killings of civilian in the
war zone.
• Allow humanitarian assistance to the
affected people
• Reciprocate the ceasefire offer by
the LTTE
Humanity in general and Tamils in particular,
will be eternally thankful to you for having taken a decision at a
crucial juncture like this. Please do not dismiss our call as LTTE
propaganda. That will be the greatest error in judgment and can result
in the loss of thousands of more civilian lives. Should you need any
evidence of the aforementioned situation, please visit
www.haltgenocide.org. |
