About Agotic

Aims and Objectives of the
Action Group of Tamils in Colombo.

Preamble
The growing anti-Tamil sentiments in official circles in the Government of Sri Lanka has been particularly strident during the past year, Mindful of the tragic events of July 1983, Tamils in Colombo are more than certain of the need to act and act now to prevent a repetition of the Holocaust.

As a first step, a conference of Tamils in Colombo was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) on 26 March 1994. The meeting was attended by a cross section of Tamils from all walks of life. The participants, who numbered about 150, were representative of professionals, academics, social workers, activists, writers and political analysts.

The conference was held to discuss ways in which Tamils in Colombo could constructively respond to impress upon the Government the urgency of resolving the Tamil problem, taking due account of universally recognized principles of human rights. The conference analyzed the emerging political trends in the country and in particular took issue with the official position that there is no Tamil Problem in Sri Lanka.

The outcome of deliberations at the conference was the creation of an Action Committee. The Committee was entrusted with the general task of putting forward the Tamil point of view on political issues that confront Sri Lanka.

The following eleven persons were selected by consensus to be members of the Action Committee:

Dr K Velauthapillai	- President	Dr S Sathananthan	- Secretary
Dr Selvi Tiruchandran	- Member	Mr N Vijayasingam	- Member
Ms Anna Subramaniam	- Member	Dr P Saravanamuttu	- Member
Ms S Sachithanandam	- Member	Mr Kumar Ponnambalam	- Member
Mr S Saravanamuttu	- Member	Prof B Bastiampillai	- Member
Mr M Underwood	- Member

At its first meeting on 3rd April, the Action Committee agreed by consensus that the Committee will be named the Action Group of Tamils in Colombo (AGOTIC).

Aims and objectives
The aim of AGOTIC is to serve as a voice of Tamils in the District of Colombo in order to put forward a Tamil point of view on political issues that confront Sri Lanka.

With this aim in view, the principle objective of AGOTIC is to carry out a "watch-dog" function. It will expose political skullduggery and invite the attention of Tamils to violations of their individual and collective rights. In general AGOTIC will sensitively intervene in political events and development to defend the interests of Tamils.

Admission and expulsion of members
The present members of AGOTIC are as follows:

Dr K Velauthapillai	- President	Dr S Sathananthan	- Secretary
Mr N Vijayasingam	- Member	Mr Kumar Ponnambalam	- Member
Ms S Sachithanandam	- Member	Mr K Arunachalam	- Member
Mr S Saravanamuttu	-Member

New members will be admitted by invitation only and at the sole discretion of AGOTIC.

The name of a person to be invited as member must be proposed by a current member of AGOTIC who may propose more than one name. If all listed members of AGOTIC agree in writing that the person who has been proposed for membership is eligible for admission, the President may write to that person inviting him/her to join AGOTIC.

If a member of AGOTIC fails to act in accordance with the letter and spirit of the aims and objectives of AGOTIC and if a majority of two-third of the listed members of AGOTIC agree in writing that it is in the best interest of AGOTIC to expel such member, then the President must inform such member in writing that his membership in AGOTIC has been revoked with immediate effect.

Dr K Velauthapillai, President

Dr S Sathananthan, Secretary

2 April 1996