Resolution
[Proposed by Mr. George Fernandes from the chair]

Whereas there are two nations (Sinhalese and Tamil) in the island of Ceylon which occupy separate contiguous areas, which had separate kingdoms before the advent of western colonial powers and which were administered separately even by them till 1833, when the British brought the two nations under one administration for convenience;

Whereas on independence, power was handed to the Sinhala nation, and the Sinhalese discriminated against and oppressed the Tamils in every sphere of activity including education, language, employment, industrial and infrastructure development, and land usage, as admitted by many Sinhalese including Presidents Jayawardane and Kumaratunga;

Whereas the demography of the Tamil homelands (as defined in the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord) was changed and continues to be changed by the state-aided colonization of those areas by the Sinhalese, and the driving away of Tamils and settling of Sinhalese in their homes;

Whereas the Constitution was changed in 1972 and 1978 without Tamil participation, giving pride of place to Buddhism and specifically stating the form of government shall be unitary;

Whereas parliamentary protest, satyagraha (non-violent demonstrations), and dialogue did not redress Tamil problems, but only produced repeated communal riots against Tamils with thousands killed and billions of rupees of property being destroyed culminating in the pogrom of 1983;

Whereas, since the Satyagraha of 1961, Tamil areas have been constantly under army occupation by the 99% Sinhala army, with currently over 200 camps;

Whereas after requesting a federal type of government and being refused, Tamils finally gave the mandate at the 1977 elections to restore the Tamil state; and when this was refused, and as a last resort, the youth took to arms to carry out the people's mandate;

Whereas all Tamil groups met with the Sri Lankan government under the auspices of the Indian government in Thimpu, Bhutan, and demanded four cardinal principles, namely, the recognition of Tamils as a nation, recognition of Tamil homeland, the right to self-determination for Tamils and citizenship for all Tamils who were made stateless, all of which were turned down;

Whereas since 1990 the government unleashed state terrorism against Tamils;

a) Indiscriminately bombing, shelling and strafing of Tamil areas resulting in the destruction or damage to residences, schools, hospitals, places of worship, businesses and infrastructure, cut off electricity, telephone and water services and enforced an economic embargo on 72 items including food, medicine and other necessities besides those required for earning a living.

b) Indiscriminately arresting, torturing, raping and killing of civilians resulting in over 50,000 Tamil civilian deaths to date, and over 850,000 leaving the island as refugees.

All of which amounts to genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to which the Sri Lankan government is a signatory;

Whereas the government of Sri Lanka is following a scorched earth policy by destroying cultivated crops, damaging cultivable lands and burning large tracts of forest areas;

Whereas, since April 1995, state terrorism has intensified with the army capturing Tamil areas and conducting victory celebrations reminiscent of medieval times, and aggressively rounding up and arresting innocent civilians, making people flee their homes resulting in over 750,000 internal refugees suffering innumerable hardships due to lack of shelter, food and medicines, with many living under trees and dying due to lack of food and medicines - particularly in areas not under control of government forces;

Whereas the government had enforced press censorship, refused entry to local and foreign journalists to Tamil areas, and prevented NGOs from operating in those areas resulting in people outside these areas not being aware of conditions in them;

The convention resolves to appeal to the Government of India, other world governments, and the world community to pro-actively engage and pressurise the Sri Lankan government to:

1. Stop human rights violations such as
   the indiscriminate bombing, shelling and strafing of Tamil areas;
   the arrests, torture, rape and killing of innocent Tamil civilians;
   embargo on food, medicine and other necessities of life to Tamil areas;
   denial of care of refugees who have fled their homes by depriving them of adequate shelter, food and medicines;
2. Desist from interfering with refugees leaving by boat to India;
3. Permit NGOs to work in Tamil areas so that they may provide help to refugees;
4. Allow journalists, both local and foreign, to visit the Tamil areas and report freely on the conditions there;
5. Cease further colonization and settlement of Sinhalese in Tamil areas;
6. Desist from destroying cultivated and cultivable lands and forests;
7. Repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and rescind the Emergency Regulations;
8. Solve the national problem politically rather than pursue a military solution as the government is doing now;
9. Withdraw the army from Tamil areas; and
10. Negotiate with the LTTE (who represent the Tamil people and who are fighting the liberation war on their behalf) under third party mediation.

The convention requests the Indian government to specifically take up this issue at United Nations fora, if other steps fail, to press the Sri Lankan government to withdraw its forces from the occupied Tamil homeland and to initiate peace negotiations to end the conflict.

Eelam Refugees in India
The Eelam Tamils who have sought refuge in India from a genocidal war are treated like unwanted persons. They are not being given the basic minimum needs and facilities due to them under international conventions. They are not even given subsistence allowance, and other facilities on par with refugees from other foreign countries.

The authorities are also trying to prevent the fleeing Eelam Tamils from reaching India's shores by driving them back, confiscating their boats etc with the help of the coast guard, the Tamil Nadu police,etc.

The convention requests the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu to enable the Eelam refugees live their lives in human dignity. It also requests them not to prevent the refugees from coming to India, especially to Tamil Nadu.

Elections in Sri Lanka
[Proposed by Dr. Ashok Sastri (Uttar Predesh)]
The convention resolves to request all Tamil political parties and other organisations in Sri Lanka not to participate in any elections in Tamil areas till normalcy returns to those areas and all registered voters can participate in free and fair elections. The convention believes that this can only happen if all displaced persons living in refugee camps, with friends and relatives and by the roadside and those driven away from their homes by security forces and others return to their homes. In addition, armed forces should withdraw from Tamil areas (or remain within barracks) and international observer missions should supervise such elections.

Sri Lankan Tamils in Indian prisons
[Proposed by Mr. Deepthiman Gosh (West Bengal)]
The convention is concerned at the fate of the Sri Lankan Tamils who are detained in Indian prisons in Vishakhapatnam, Vellore Special Camp, Chingleput Special Camp and elsewhere. It is particularly distressed at the unlawful detention of nine Sri Lankan Tamils in Vishakhapatnam, whose case history is a sad commentary on the state of the rule of law in India. The nine were arrested on the high seas by the Indian navy and detained under TADA. The TADA court released them and passed strictures on the Indian naval authorities and the police for their lawless behaviour. The state appealed against their release to the Supreme Court which also ordered their release and passed more strictures on the state. They were released and again arrested under Foreigners Act and this time the Magistrate ordered their release. They were arrested for the third time under the National Security Act and are continuing to rot in jail for over four years. Those lodged in Vellore Special Camp are mostly invalids.

The convention calls upon the government to forthwith release these prisoners, and provide them with safe asylum in the country till the situation in Sri Lanka becomes conducive for their return.

US involvement in Sri Lanka
[Proposed by Dr. Shambu Saran Srivasta (Bihar)]
The convention takes serious note of the involvement of US military in the ongoing operations by the Sinhala armed forces against the LTTE. The training provided to the Sinhala army by the US "Green Berets" is accompanied by a trade off in which the Sinhala government has made concessions to the US forces that will have adverse bearing on India's security concerns.

The convention calls upon the Government of India to take up this matter with both the Sinhala and US governments, and further take necessary steps to prevent any developments in the region that will impinge on India's security interests.

Jain Commission Report
[Proposed by Mr. Chandra Mehta (Rajastan)]
The convention condemns the aspersions cast by the Jain Commission on the Tamil people by branding them as anti-nationals. It also condemns similar aspersions cast on the Sikh people. Its patently false charge against the Queen of Nepal of conspiring to kill Rajiv Gandhi has contributed to souring India's relations with a friendly and trustworthy neighbour.

The convention calls upon the government to reject the Jain Commission report, wind up the Commission, and assuage the hurt feelings of the Tamil and Sikh people, and the Nepalese by making unqualified public apologies.

National Committee for Solidarity with the Eelam Tamils of Sri Lanka
[Proposed by Mr. V.K. Krishna Rao (Andhra Pradesh)]
The convention resolves to set up a National Committee for Solidarity with the Eelam Tamils of Sri Lanka to continue with the work undertaken by this International convention. It further resolves that the National Committee take steps to organise conventions in all the state capitals to educate the people on the situation confronting the Sri Lankan Tamils, and to exert pressure on the India government to take initiatives to bring about an end to the armed conflict in Sri Lanka and a peaceful settlement through negotiations.

The Committee may also set up an Information Centre in Delhi and publish pamphlets and other publicity material highlighting the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. It may also take other necessary steps in furtherance of its purpose.