British Tamils Forum or BTF, is a largest organisation representing the Tamil Community in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The BTF intends to be the voice of the Tamil Community in the UK by raising the issues on Tamils in UK and to bring awareness to the issues affecting Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka and around the world. The BTF's work is focused on addressing the root cause to the conflict through an international justice mechanism to bring truth and justice to all victims of war and to bring end to the entrenched culture of impunity in Sri Lanka. The BTF's vision for a lasting peace and security through a negotiated political settlement to the Tamil national question by recognising the Tamil people’s right in the North-East of the island of Sri Lanka and hope to bridge the voice between the British Tamil Community and the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka. The

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the isl ...

banned the organization as a front for the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

. However the lack of evidence to link the BTF and with the LTTE and terror activities resulted in the ban eventually getting lifted in 2015 as a bid to achieve reconciliation. BTF was banned again in 2021 by the

. The ban was again lifted in 2022.

History

The British Tamils Forum was established as an advocacy group in 2006, with the support of

Sri Lankan Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern P ...

to undertake high level diplomacy, engaging with the members of parliament, government representatives, policy makers, civil society organisations and to mobilise the Tamil Community in the UK to on Sri Lankan Tamil issues. In 2010, BTF evolved as a nonpartisan, grassroots community organisation and representing a collective voice of the Tamil Community in the UK, by bringing together individuals, and Tamil organisations in a bottom-up structure, governed along the principles of participatory democracy.

Activities

Boycott call

In January 2008, the Forum called for a boycott of Sri Lankan Airlines as well as other trade and travel sanctions, in protest at the Government of Sri Lanka's withdrawal from a ceasefire with the rebel

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

, after both sides had violated the agreement numerous times after LTTE instigation. Ivan Pedropillai of the forum stated that "£12m in foreign currency earned annually by the airline was being used to reinforce the government's war chest." The Forum organised a meeting chaired by MP

Keith Vaz Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz (born 26 November 1956) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East for 32 years, from 1987 to 2019. He was the British Parliament's longest-serving Br ...

who compared the Tamil plight to the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

, Darfur killings and Bosnian ethnic cleansing. BTF spokesman Suren Surendiran surmised that the international community had continually pursued a double standard in its approach to

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...

in Sri Lanka compared to in states such as

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, stating that the Sri Lankan government was "abusing the Tamils' fundamental human rights and killing innocent Tamil civilians with the aid and assistance from the international community."

2008 photo exhibition in UK Parliament

On 16 July 2008, the BTF displayed a photo exhibition, sponsored by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), which was held in the British

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

premises on the anniversary of the

Black July Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirapa ...

pogrom, and marked 50 years since the 1958 riots on the island. Photos depicted political figures according to BTF responsible for structural and physical violence in the

North-East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

since

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

's independence from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

as well as victims of the Sri Lankan civil war. The event was attended by MPs of all parties, Members of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

, Former Cabinet Ministers, Mayors, Councillors, University students, and representatives of international & UK organisations. Attendees included three MPs of the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lank ...

- Ms Padmini Sithamparanathan MP, Jayananthamoorthi MP and Gagendran MP, a representative of the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London, Labour Party MPs Joan Ryan MP, Virendra Sharma MP, Keith Vaz MP, Andy Love MP and Lord Waddington QC of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. It was hailed by Neil Gerrard MP as "making a clear case for

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It sta ...

" and as a final note, Barry Gardiner MP wrote of the exhibition "We Build a Nation."

Ken Livingstone meeting

Whilst campaigning for a renewed term as

London Mayor The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

, Ken Livingstone MP sought the backing of the BTF in Harrow during a meeting. According to a column by Andrew Gilligan, Livingstone was accused by the Sri Lankan High Commission and Gilligan as speaking to "a front of the terror group LTTE." The BTF rejected the allegation. Gilligan has been noted by Livingstone to have led a sustained partisan campaign against the former mayor during his time in office. At the meeting, co-organised with councillor Thaya Iddaikadar and local Harrow Tamilians, Livingstone stated of the claim "the Metropolitan Police came under eand where there was a legitimate request for a legitimate event his office would always be supportive." Livingstone also gave the forum his "personal commitment" that he would support its

candlelit vigil A candlelight vigil or candlelit vigil is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to show support for a specific cause. Such events are typically held either to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of ...

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

in July 2008 to mark the 25th anniversary of "

Rallies

Annual political rallies are organised by the BTF and in June, July, September and October 2008, the forum organised and participated in several public demonstrations in London. It worked in union with the NSSP, the TYO (Tamil Youth Organisation), S4P (Solidarity for Peace),

Socialist Resistance Socialist Resistance (SR) is a Trotskyist organisation in Britain. In 2009, the International Socialist Group (ISG) merged into it, making it the British Section of the Fourth International. Origins It was launched in 2002 by two organisations ...

, the Socialist Party,

International Socialist Group The International Socialist Group (ISG) was a Trotskyist organisation in Britain. It was the British section of the Fourth International (FI) until 2009 when it dissolved into Socialist Resistance. Origin The ISG was the result of the 1 ...

and South Asia Solidarity Group in condemning Mahinda Rajapakse's visit to London, and supported the right to self determination of the Tamil people in "

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora ...

." All Party debates in

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

have highlighted gatherings organised by the BTF and the issues the forum has raised.

statements

In the wake of a return to full-scale hostilities in 2008 on the island, with Tamil civilians moving further into rebel areas amid army offensives and increasing international concern on the plight of civilians caught in Sri Lanka's conflict, the BTF released a statement, responding to an assertion by Lord Malloch Brown that "the LTTE should allow free movement of civilians", accusing the Sri Lankan Government of deliberately "''restricting free movement of civilians within and out of Jaffna Peninsula, where the Sinhala army is an occupying force.''" Its statement went on to note how "''degrading restrictions laid on the Tamil community living in and around Colombo, restrictions placed on journalists to travel around Sri Lanka to report on current security situations and human rights violations and the inhuman treatment of IDPs by restricting their mobility, by placing them in 'detention centres' (e.g. in Mannar) asin contravention of humanitarian practices, human rights laws, U.N. Charters and Geneva Conventions.''" The forum has criticized British authorities for not condemning the Sri Lankan Government's human rights violations.

2009 London Protest

On 31 January 2009, up to 100,000 people marched through London on a BTF co-organised demonstration, protesting the deaths of hundreds of Tamils in Sri Lankan army attacks and demanding a permanent ceasefire. Protesters carried large flags of red and yellow – the Tamil

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have '' de facto'' national colours that have become we ...

– and banners condemning the genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lankan state, expressing their support for an independent Tamil Eelam. Passing peacefully for one of its size, with three MPs, Keith Vaz MP, Simon Hughes MP and Andrew Pelling MP joining the protest, Vaz stated that in his 21-year career in politics, he had never seen a protest as large as it in London. Addressing the crowd, he challenged the Indian High Commission to pressure Colombo to give peace a chance in the spirit of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Land Grab Conference 2014

A two-day international conference on the Sri Lankan state’s Land Grab of Tamil land], a number of speakers calling for an international mechanism to halt land-grabs. Various international delegates participated, including political and civil society representatives from the North and East of the Island of Sri Lanka, expressed serious concern about land garb issues. 31 January 2014 - Day one in the houses of Parliament committee room 14 1 February 2014 - Day two in the Kennedy Theatre, University College London

Awards and recognition

The BTF received the "Asian Voice Award" for the "Best Campaigning organisation of the Year" in 2008. Introduced by

MP, forum representative Nathan Kumar received the award from John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, John Reid MP at the event.

References

External links

British Tamils Forum Official Website
{{Sri Lankan Tamil people Human rights organisations based in the United Kingdom Diaspora organisations in the United Kingdom Charities based in the United Kingdom Overseas Tamil organizations Sri Lankan Tamil politics Tamil British Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism Tamil Eelam Organizations established in 2006