Eezham exhibition impresses UK parliamentarians

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 2008, 14:28 GMT]
A photo exhibition on '60 years of oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka,' held at the premises of British Parliament on Wednesday brought in 'positive responses' from the Lawmakers cutting across party lines and other dignitaries, according to British Tamils Forum, the organisers of the display.

The exhibition was to mark the 50th year of the first ethnic riots against Tamils in Sri Lanka in 1958 and to mark the Black July of 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom. Many British parliamentarians, including Vernon Coaker, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Office, attended the exhibition, which was opened by Ms. Joan Ryan MP.

'UK government must act for fairness in Sri Lanka', 'very interesting exhibition that demands assertion', 'we must raise an alert to the world', 'your bravery will be rewarded', 'interesting exhibition making the clear case for self determination', 'very thought provoking and interesting comparison to the situation in Kosovo', 'very supportive of your struggle', 'people need to know about this struggle,' and 'we build a nation,' were some of the comments found in the visitor's logbook kept at the exhibition.

'The most important thing is to work towards a peaceful solution that can only be achieved through mutual respect,' a comment said.

Almost all the comments were either supportive or appreciative and sympathetic, except for the one by the chairman of the All Party Sri Lanka Group, which read that the 'propaganda of Tamil Eelam is too dated', according to TamilNet correspondent in UK.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Tamils sponsored the exhibition.

Three Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians from Jaffna and Batticaloa, Padmini Shithamparanathan MP, S. Gajendran MP and S. Jeyanandamoorthy MP, who were on a visit to UK, also visited the exhibition.