TPPs launch hunger-strike, urge Tamils to address UN double standards

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 September 2018, 20:10 GMT]
A section of Tamil political prisoners languishing in the Anuradhapura prison has launched a hunger strike on Friday demanding immediate action from the larger Tamil society. While the SL President Maithiripala Sirisena is preparing to dignify the three armed forces of the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka, Tamil politicians and the human rights community is mostly silent on the plight of Tamil political prisoners who continue to languish in the prisons of the SL State. The SL State should be condemned for trying to dignify its armed forces accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity while the Tamil political prisoners languishing in the prisons of the SL State are even refused of political prisoner status and are subjected to inhumane conditions, the prisoners at Anuradhapura said.

It should be the duty of the Tamil politicians, the grassroots activists and particularly the Tamil diaspora to address the double standards prevailing at the UN, which have brought misery to Eezham Tamils time and again, they said.

The SL State is even refusing to separate the TPPs from criminal inmates, they said.

The TPPs on hunger-strike blamed the elected politicians of all ilks as ignoring their plight and urged the people and the Tamil diaspora to confront the SL State and particularly its president Maithiripala Sirisena, who is preparing to address the UN General Assembly later this month.

Tamil politicians who travel across Anuradhapura to attend the SL Parliamentary sittings have failed to visit the Tamil prisoners for 18 months, the TPPs said.

The Tamil politicians have also failed to facilitate the financial assistance by the Tamil diaspora to cover the expenses of all Tamil political prisoners proportionally so that all TPPs are benefited from the support, they further said.

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