Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam
Encyclopedia
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is formed by unification of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora
which aims to create Tamil Eelam
, a state which TGTE aspire to create in the north and east provinces of Sri Lanka
. The TGTE and Tamil Eelam have no official status or recognition by any state or authority. The TGTE has been called a "ploy to perpetuate terrorism
" by the Government of Sri Lanka, which is itself under international pressure for alleged war crime probes. For its part, the TGTE has maintained that it is a democratic organization, and intends to use soft power and not military power to its end. The exact words found in TGTE constitution are : "Whereas the TGTE has guided us towards a democratic system of government, in order to establish an independent state of Tamil Eelam based on the principles of peace, non-violence, tolerance, pluralism, transparency and accountability".
Formed following the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
and the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War
, the TGTE is based internationally, including in the USA, Canada
, Norway
and the UK. Its chairman is Visvanathan Rudrakumaran
. Global elections were amongst Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora communities in May 2010 to elect members to the first Transnational Constituent Assembly of Tamil Eelam, the first step towards the formation of the PTGTE.
government of Sri Lanka following independence from Britain
in 1948 resulted in the growth of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism
, along with an appeal for Tamil autonomy. Political parties were formed to petition for these goals, with Tamil United Liberation Front
(TULF), the main political party representing the Tamils, calling for "an independent sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam" in its 1977 election manifesto. This was endorsed the Tamil people who voted overwhelmingly for the TULF. However, the failure of the Tamil political parties to achieve autonomy resulted in some Tamils forming militant groups
such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(Tamil Tigers). By 1983, full scale civil war
had broken out between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government. Over the next three decades the Sri Lankan civil war became increasingly violent. The civil war came to an end in May 2009 when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers.
After the end of the war the UN urged the Sri Lankan government to address "the legitimate concerns and aspirations of the Tamil people". This was echoed by the EU, USA, India
and other countries. In March 2010 the Tamil National Alliance
(TNA), the successor to the TULF, dropped its demands for an independent Tamil Eelam but continues to demand greater autonomy through federalism
.
had been killed by the Sri Lankan Army
, who proposed that a government in exile be established.
The advisory committee consisted of many experts from different countries.
The advisory committee published its final report in March 2010.
The distribution of the 115 elected representatives is: Australia 10; Benelux 3; Canada 25; Denmark 3; Finland 1; France 10; Germany 10; Ireland 1; Italy 3; New Zealand 2; Norway 3; South Africa 3; Sweden 1; Switzerland 10; UK 20; and USA 10.
The distribution of the 20 appointed delegates is: Caribbean & South America 1; India 5; Malaysia 3; Mauritius 1; Middle East 2; Oceania 1; Rest of Africa 1; Rest of Asia 1; Rest of Europe 1; Singapore 2; and South Africa 2.
Working groups were established in countries with significant diaspora communities to organise elections. Elections were held in May 2010 and the following were elected:
The inaugural assembly met between 17 May 2010 and 19 May 2010 at the National Constitution Center
in Philadelphia, USA.
Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora
The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora refers to the global diaspora of the people of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan as well as Tamil diaspora....
which aims to create Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam , is the name given by certain Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to the independent state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamil Eelam has no official status or recognition by any other state or authority...
, a state which TGTE aspire to create in the north and east provinces of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The TGTE and Tamil Eelam have no official status or recognition by any state or authority. The TGTE has been called a "ploy to perpetuate terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
" by the Government of Sri Lanka, which is itself under international pressure for alleged war crime probes. For its part, the TGTE has maintained that it is a democratic organization, and intends to use soft power and not military power to its end. The exact words found in TGTE constitution are : "Whereas the TGTE has guided us towards a democratic system of government, in order to establish an independent state of Tamil Eelam based on the principles of peace, non-violence, tolerance, pluralism, transparency and accountability".
Formed following the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
and the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
, the TGTE is based internationally, including in the USA, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and the UK. Its chairman is Visvanathan Rudrakumaran
Visvanathan Rudrakumaran
Visvanathan Rudrakumaran is the chairman of Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam which wants to create a separate homeland called Tamil Eelam. By profession he is a lawyer in the United States. He is currently a US citizen and lives in New York....
. Global elections were amongst Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora communities in May 2010 to elect members to the first Transnational Constituent Assembly of Tamil Eelam, the first step towards the formation of the PTGTE.
Background
Policies adopted by the majority SinhaleseSinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
government of Sri Lanka following independence from Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1948 resulted in the growth of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism
Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism
Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism is the conviction of the Sri Lankan Tamil people, a minority ethnic group in the South Asian island country of Sri Lanka , that they have the right to constitute an independent or autonomous political community. This idea has not always existed...
, along with an appeal for Tamil autonomy. Political parties were formed to petition for these goals, with Tamil United Liberation Front
Tamil United Liberation Front
The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...
(TULF), the main political party representing the Tamils, calling for "an independent sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam" in its 1977 election manifesto. This was endorsed the Tamil people who voted overwhelmingly for the TULF. However, the failure of the Tamil political parties to achieve autonomy resulted in some Tamils forming militant groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception amongst minority Sri Lankan Tamils that the state was preferring the majority Sinhalese...
such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
(Tamil Tigers). By 1983, full scale civil war
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
had broken out between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government. Over the next three decades the Sri Lankan civil war became increasingly violent. The civil war came to an end in May 2009 when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers.
After the end of the war the UN urged the Sri Lankan government to address "the legitimate concerns and aspirations of the Tamil people". This was echoed by the EU, USA, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and other countries. In March 2010 the Tamil National Alliance
Tamil National Alliance
The Tamil National Alliance is a powerful minority Sri Lankan Tamil political alliance in Sri Lanka. It was formed as an amalgamation of moderate Tamil parties as well as number of former rebel groups...
(TNA), the successor to the TULF, dropped its demands for an independent Tamil Eelam but continues to demand greater autonomy through federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
.
TGTE
After the end of the civil war the concept of a Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam was proposed as a non-violent political mechanism to fulfil the aspirations of many Tamils living abroad and in Sri Lanka. Initially it was Selvarasa Pathmanathan, who had become leader of the Tamil Tigers after Velupillai PrabhakaranVelupillai Prabhakaran
Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran was the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka...
had been killed by the Sri Lankan Army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
, who proposed that a government in exile be established.
Advisory Committee
In June 2009 an Advisory Committee on the Formation of a Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam was established "to explore the modalities for the establishment of a Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, and to recommend the objectives that should be achieved by such a Transnational Government".The advisory committee consisted of many experts from different countries.
- Muthucumaraswamy SornarajahMuthucumaraswamy SornarajahMuthucumaraswamy Sornarajah, is a legal academic. He is the C. J. Koh Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore,...
, Ph.D./LL.D. (University of London, UK) - Francis BoyleFrancis BoyleFrancis Anthony Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Boyle received a A.B. in Political Science from the University of Chicago, then a J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, and A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science from...
, Ph.D./J.D. (Harvard University, USA), Professor of International Law, USA - Prof.P.Ramasamy, (Malaysia)
- Prof. A.J.C Chandrakanthan, (Canada)
- Nadarajah Sriskandarajah, Ph.D. (University of Sydney, Australia), Professor of Environmental Communication, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
- Murugar Gunasingham, Ph.D.
- Dr.Sivanendran Seevanayagam (AUS)
- A.L. Vasanthakumar Ph.D. (UK)
- Karen Parker, Ph.D. Humanitarian Lawyer (USA)
- Nagalingam Jeyalingam, M.D. (USA)
- Selva Sivarajah
- Paul Williams
- Peter Schalk, Ph.D. Lund University (Religion)/University Gothenburg (Indology), Professor of History of Religion, Uppsala University, Sweden
The advisory committee published its final report in March 2010.
Transnational Constituent Assembly of Tamil Eelam
One of the main recommendations of the advisory committee was that a Transnational Constituent Assembly of Tamil Eelam be formed consisting of 135 members. Of these, 115 would be elected and the remaining 20 shall consist of delegates selected by the elected assembly to represent regions where elections aren't feasible.The distribution of the 115 elected representatives is: Australia 10; Benelux 3; Canada 25; Denmark 3; Finland 1; France 10; Germany 10; Ireland 1; Italy 3; New Zealand 2; Norway 3; South Africa 3; Sweden 1; Switzerland 10; UK 20; and USA 10.
The distribution of the 20 appointed delegates is: Caribbean & South America 1; India 5; Malaysia 3; Mauritius 1; Middle East 2; Oceania 1; Rest of Africa 1; Rest of Asia 1; Rest of Europe 1; Singapore 2; and South Africa 2.
Working groups were established in countries with significant diaspora communities to organise elections. Elections were held in May 2010 and the following were elected:
- Australia - Janani Balachandran; Dominic Savio Santhiapillai; Eliyathamby Selvanathan; Thuraisingam Shanmugananthakumar;Kanagenthiram Manickavasagar and Apiramy Visuvanathan.
- Canada - Joe Antony; Pon Balarajan; M. K. EelaventhanM. K. EelaventhanM.K. Eelaventhan is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former Member of Parliament.His birth name was Kanakendran but he changed it to Eelaventhan which means "King of Eelam" in Tamil....
; Sivasothy Jeyamathy; Nagendra Katpana; Suren Mahendran; Mokanasingham Markandu; Bhuvan-Endra Nadarajah; Niruthan Nagalingam; Maharajah Nanthakumar; Tharani Prapaharan; Muthukumarasamy Ratna; Sam Sangarasivam; Iyampillai Shanmuganathan; Ram Sivalingam; Luxan Sivapragasapillai; Sothinathan Sumughan; Kanthiah Theiventhiran; Waran Vaithilingam. - Denmark -
- France - Subashini Kuruparanathan; Balachandran Nagalingam; Sasikumar Saravanamuththu; and Krishanth Tharmendran.
- Germany - Rajaratnam Jeyachandran; Nadarajah Rajendrâ; Anather Poopathy Balavadivetkaren.
- New Zealand - K. S. Naguleswaran and Theva Rajan.
- Norway -
- Switzerland - Thayananth Alvaipillai; Baskaralingam Mahalingam; Suginthan Murugiah; Suganya Puthirasigamani; Mahenthirampillai Sellathurai; Jeyam Selvarajah; Rajinithevi Sinnathamby; Balan Sivapatham; Srisajeetha Sivarajah; and Suntharalingam Virakathi.
- United Kingdom - Arththy Arumugam;Shanmuganathan Kaviraj; Nicholas Manoranjan; Deluxon Morris; Balambihai Murugadas; Dr Karan Murugavel; Janarthanan Pulenthiran; and Selvarajah Sellathurai.
- United States of America - Alex Doss; Gerard Francis; Jeyaprakash Jeyalingam; Prabharan Ponnuthurai; Visvanathan RudrakumaranVisvanathan RudrakumaranVisvanathan Rudrakumaran is the chairman of Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam which wants to create a separate homeland called Tamil Eelam. By profession he is a lawyer in the United States. He is currently a US citizen and lives in New York....
; Siva Sangary; Ranjan Selva; Shan Sundaram; Suba Suntharalingam; and Thave Thavendrarajah.
The inaugural assembly met between 17 May 2010 and 19 May 2010 at the National Constitution Center
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center is an organization that seeks to expand awareness and understanding of the United States Constitution and operates a museum to advance those purposes....
in Philadelphia, USA.
See also
- Tamil Eelam independence referendums, 2009-2010
- Tamil EelamTamil EelamTamil Eelam , is the name given by certain Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to the independent state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamil Eelam has no official status or recognition by any other state or authority...
- Liberation Tigers of Tamil EelamLiberation Tigers of Tamil EelamThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...