GTF launch well attended by British politicians

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague and Liberal Democrats Shadow Foreign Secretary Ed Davey all addressed the Global Tamil Forum’s inaugural meeting in London on Wednesday, 24 February.

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) launch saw delegates from 14 countries gather in the UK House of Commons to be addressed by speakers from across the political spectrum, including parliamentarians, councilors and prospective parliamentary candidates.

The delegates were also able to hold a private meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Organisers described the event as “a momentous show of support for the Tamil Diaspora congregation” and expressed quiet satisfaction at the success of the launch.

The meeting, in the Gladstone Room of the House of Commons, began at 10am and concluded at 4pm, followed by a reception between 4pm and 6pm at the Terrace Cafeteria.

Among the guests were a Buddhist monk and an Islamic theologian, both of whom had travelled from Sri Lanka for the event. An African National Congress parliamentarian from South Africa, Sisa Njikelana, had flown to Britain especially for the event and was in the country for only 6 hours.

Messages had been sent to the organizers from Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister, David Miliband, British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, Leader of the British Conservative Party, William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Robert O. Blake, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

The event started with an introduction by Father S J Emmanuel, the president of GTF, who mentioned that it was appropriate that the launch was being held in the British parliament as the need for the GTF is a result of the decision by the British to give Sri Lanka independence 62 years ago.

The opening address was delivered by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband who hoped that GTF would contribute to a newfound peace that would serve the rights and hopes of the people of Sri Lanka.

The Liberal Democrats Shadow Foreign Secretary Ed Davey stressed that he would be raising the issue of land rights with the Sri Lankan High Commission as it was not appropriate for the state to grab the land of the displaced.

The closing address was delivered by William Hague MP, Conservatives Shadow Foreign Secretary who called for the reconciliation and political process to begin in earnest soon.

Rev Ven. Madampagama Assaji Manayake Thero, a Sinhala Buddhist monk, and Mr Abdul Majeed Mohammed Casim, a Muslim theologian from Sri Lanka also attended the event and addressed the audience.

Among the dignitaries who addressed the event were Keith Vaz MP, Gareth Thomas MP, Simon Hughes MP, Andrew Dismore MP, Andrew Pelling MP, Susan Kramer MP, former MEP Robert Evans, Virendra Sharma MP, Joan Ryan MP, Dawn Butler MP, Siobhain McDonagh MP, David Burrows MP, Lee Scott MP, Stephen Pound MP and Andrew Pelling MP. A number of prospective parliamentary candidates also addressed the delegates.

Mr Andrew Thillainathan introduced the audience to a GTF project sponsoring 1000 children and 450 families in Sri Lanka who were suffering as a result of the war, while Dr Sampavi Parimalanathan spoke of the launch of the Global Tamil Women’s Forum (GTWF).