Struggle to Rise… Rise to Struggle… Tamils’… BY: Kanthini Rajakanthan Struggle to Rise… Rise to Struggle…

Harper Says… In April of 2006, Stephan Harper added the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE a.k.a. “Tamil Tigers”) to its official Criminal Code’s list of terrorist groups, making membership and participation in its operations illegal. The topic I will be arguing for my thesis paper will be to prove that the Tamil Tigers are NOT a terrorist organization.

Questions that Need to be Addressed! What happened between the Tamil people and the Sinhalese people to create a huge division between the two ethnicities? What is the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) and what is their role in the Tamil society? Should the Tamils’ get their independent state of Eelam (homeland) in the islands’ Northern and Eastern province? After being ignored several times over the past 3 decades, how are the Tamils supposed to let the Sinhalese majority government understand their needs? How has the Sinhalese majority used it’s overwhelming parliamentary strength to make the Tamils second class citizens?

What are the Tamil Tigers? The Tamil Tigers are a “terrorist” organization (according to Harper) that is involved in an ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka in order to establish an independent Tamil State (Eelam). They are the most prominent militant secessionist Tamil group in Sri Lanka who are fighting for the basic fundamental rights that the Tamil People should have. Vellupillai Prabhakaran, is the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

THESIS The Tamil Tigers are not a terrorist organization they are merely Freedom Fighters; fighting for a separate statehood (Eelam); they have been around for more than three decades and they are fighting for their rights that have been violated.

ARGUMENTS

Arguments Argument 1 Argument 2 Argument 3 They are fighting for their homeland (Separate Statehood [Eelam]) Argument 2 They have been around for almost more than 3 decades and only now they are being labeled as a terrorist organization by Harper and his conservative government party Argument 3 They are fighting for their human rights given to them by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10th, 1948

They are fighting for their homeland (Separate Statehood [Eelam]) They want: A reasonable autonomy in running their own administration Security from the fear of being ‘over-run’ and placed in a minority in their ‘own’ areas A fair share of economic and educational opportunity

They have been around for almost more than 3 decades and only now they are being labeled as a terrorist organization by Harper and his conservative government party Paul Martin (previous PM) has attended a Tamil Tiger conference and made donations to the Tamil Tigers Wants Canada to be just like the United States (using any excuse to become closer to the States, following the US’s footprints)

Violates: Article 1 Article 2 Article 10 Article 19 Article 20 They are fighting for their human rights given to them by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10th, 1948 Violates: Article 1 Article 2 Article 10 Article 19 Article 20

Counter Arguments They are a minority in a country why are they fighting if they only make up 20% of the population Are their violent means necessary to get what they want? UNICEF says that the Tigers have recruited thousands of child soldiers The rebels’ ‘Black Tigers’ suicide squad has been blamed for unleashing more than 150 suicide bombers against civilian and government targets alike The Tigers are thought to have been behind an attack that killed the third-highest ranking general in the Sri Lankan army Terrorism - violence or the threat of violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, carried out for political purposes

IF IGNORANCE IS BLISS, THESE PHOTOS MAY OFFEND WARNING: IF IGNORANCE IS BLISS, THESE PHOTOS MAY OFFEND

Realize Even though the Sinhalese people are being hurt, the Tamil population is being hurt as well. Calling the Tigers a terrorist organization isolates them. It makes the Tamil people seem as if they are the terrorists as well committing terrorist acts. People do not understand the reason behind to what the Tigers do. People are always quick to judge just by hearing what is being fed to them.

Sources Zwier, Lawrence J. Sri Lanka: War-Torn Island. Minneapolis, Fathers, Michael . "The Tigers Claw Book." Time Magazine May 29th, 2000: 52. Hookway, James. "In Sri Lanka, Aid to Tamils Deepens Political Tensions." 245(2005): Knox, Paul. In The Garden Of Good and Evil." Globe and Mail [Toronto]February 8th, 2002 Oberst , Robert. "Tigers and the lion." 18 Journal Russell , Malcolm B.. The Middle East and South Asia 2002. 36th. Baltimore, USA: Stryker-Post Publications, 2003. "The war the world is missing." COLOMBO AND TRINCOMALEE 357(2000): p27-32. Zubrzycki, John. "Key Win over rebels leaves Sri Lanka uneasy." 88(1995): p7, 2c. Zwier, Lawrence J. Sri Lanka: War-Torn Island. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: Lerner Publications Company/Minneapolis, 1998.

The End The Tamil Tigers are NOT a terrorist organization, they are merely Freedom Fighters, fighting for what is rightfully theirs.