greetings at the dawn of the New Year to Tamils in Tamil Eelam, Tamil Nadu and indeed to all Tamils
around the world.
As we stepped into a new decade last year, a year marked with such great sorrow, we noted thenecessity for this to be the decade of the Tamils. We also recorded our determination to establish the
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE). Not only did we accomplish the task of creating
the TGTE in the past year through a democratic electoral process, but we also convened the Assembly
twice, drafted and ratified a constitution for running its affairs and established a cabinet to spearhead
TGTE’s activities.
What was conceived as a political concept a year ago has started to take shape. Through the efforts of
Eelam Tamils worldwide, we now have a government with ten ministries, a development that continues
to inspire and give hope to the Tamil community at large. It is our fervent hope that the year ahead will
be time for TGTE to expand the range and scope of its activities, as the different ministries move into
the implementation mode with regards to the projects they have formulated. An independent Election
Commission has been established with the mandate to conduct future elections for the TGTE, and to
complete the election process for the remaining positions in the current Assembly of the TGTE. As
recommended in the Advisory Committee’s Report, the selection of delegates for the TGTE from those
countries where holding elections was not feasible will commence in the New Year. Likewise, the work
towards setting up a Senate, as stipulated in the Constitution of the TGTE, will also begin in the New
Year.
We have announced the launching of a Tamil National Card to happen on Thai Pongal Day 2011. These
cards will serve as an expression of the national identity of Eelam Tamils, and symbolize their
commitment to the establishment of an independent state of Tamil Eelam in our homeland.
On this auspicious day, we would also like to reflect on a few thoughts as to how the TGTE will work
with our brethren in the homeland.
We, the people of Tamil Eelam, are a nation with a transnational existence. Despite living in a number
of countries, we are united by our common destiny as a people from the Eelam Tamil nation. Our
political, social and economic life extends well beyond the borders of the island of Sri Lanka, and thus
the distinction between the homeland and the Diaspora has limited meaning conceptually. Having said
that, we are fully aware of the pragmatic differences between the circumstances of the people in the
homeland and those in the Diaspora.
The traditional homeland of our Nation is situated in the northeastern parts of the island of Sri Lanka,
and this is where our State will be established. Today, our homeland is subject to the aggression and
occupation of the Sinhala Buddhist State and its chauvinist apparatus, and the occupiers are determined
to destroy without evidence all aspects that qualify Eelam Tamils as a nation. The intention of the
Sinhala Buddhist State is to thrust their hegemony on the Tamil nation and force the Tamils into a state
of permanent submission.
The oppressive conditions that prevail in our homeland today have denied any remaining political
space that might have existed for Tamils there to speak or act in the furtherance of the establishment of
an independent state of Tamil Eelam. It is in view of this that we, the Eelam Tamil Diaspora who are
not subject to the violent ways of the Sinhala Buddhist regime, have taken the responsibility to
articulate the political aspirations of Eelam Tamils, with the participation of Tamils in Tamil Nadu and
in the world community. We understand clearly also that under the present circumstances, neither the
people living under the clutches of Sinhala aggression nor their political leaders can participate let
alone contribute to the activities we are undertaking towards the establishment of an independent state
of Tamil Eelam.
In the midst of such political repression, the people living in the homeland and their political leaders
have to struggle on an everyday basis simply to ensure the physical survival of the Tamil nation, the
inherent right to their homeland, the betterment of the people’s social and economic welfare and their
basic right to a secure life. These struggles are essential for the very existence and survival of our
nation in the island of Sri Lanka and have to be undertaken in every little space available for expressing
them.
Some may claim such existential struggles as confrontational politics and argue that they are futile.
Such an argument would amount to saying that someone strong was able to kill another gradually in
small steps, but the victim should be allowed to die little by little because the strong killer could never
be confronted. The struggle for our nation’s survival cannot be dismissed as confrontational politics.
Neither should we fall victim to a racist regime so eager to engulf us in the name of collaborative
politics. Ours is a struggle for the Eelam Tamil nation to live with dignity, equality and security in our
own land. The Eelam Tamil nation is not willing to be subsumed by the hegemony of the Sinhala
Buddhist nation in the island of Sri Lanka, and our people in the homeland are demonstrating this
through the opportunities available to them.
It is today’s imperative that the political leadership in our homeland maintains the political struggle to
the extent possible to them and in all spaces available to them standing by the political demands they
put forward to the people including the merger of the North and East and for the security of the Eelam
Tamil Nation. The TGTE stands ready to lend its moral support to any such struggle initiated in our
homeland. We are also willing to initiate political action outside the island of Sri Lanka to complement
the struggles undertaken in the homeland.
The TGTE is strongly committed to the building of a strong social and economic basis for the life of
our people in the homeland. This has to be undertaken without bowing to the Sinhala Buddhist regime.
Even if we are not in a position to approach our people in the homeland directly with our offer of
support, we have considered two avenues to help build the social and economic fabric of their life. One
is to strengthen the socio-economic aspects of the life of our people through supporting initiatives of
individuals and those of various Diaspora organizations being undertaken in the homeland utilizing the
available civil space without becoming entrapped in the conspiracy of the Sinhala state. The other is to
maintain close relationship with international entities and thereby engage the international community
to a greater degree in ensuring that the aid earmarked for our people in the homeland in fact reaches
them.
We call upon the people of Tamil Eelam, those in Tamil Nadu and the world Tamil community to join
hands with the TGTE in its efforts to expedite its range of activities undertaken in the New Year.
The e-mail address to contact us: pmo@tgte.org
Thank you.
Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran
Prime Minister
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