Forum: “Conflict and Humanitarian Crisis in Sri Lanka – What Next?”

Contributed by Sumitha, Executive Officer

The Bar Council organised this pubic forum on 27th May 2009 at the Bar Council auditorium.

The main speakers were S. Pasupathi, Trustee of the World Tamil Relief Fund and the President of the Educational Welfare and Research Foundation (EWRF), Y.B R Sivarasa, Member of Parliament, Subang, Y.B Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament, Klang and A. Kanesalingam, Trustee of the Tamil’s Relief Fund. Approximately 150 members of the public and lawyers attended the forum.

The 2-hour forum began at 8.15pm after a brief welcome speech by Lim Chee Wee, Hon. Vice President of the Malaysian Bar.

The first speaker A. Kanesalingam provided a historical perspective of the conflict. He described what happened in the northeast of Sri Lanka as a holocaust and called for international intervention to set free hundreds of thousands of Tamils now detained behind barbed wire.

S. Pasupathi then shared his experiences based on several trips that he had made over the years to the conflict zone. He moved the audience with many graphic photographs of the conflict.

Y.B. R. Sivarasa provided a political perspective of the conflict. He said that the failure of the Sri Lankan Government to recognise Tamil minority rights was the major cause of the war. He also said in hindsight it was important to pose the question of whether the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had done enough work on the political front.

Y.B. Charles Santiago, the final speaker questioned the Malaysian Government’s double standards. He said it was odd that the Malaysian Government could support Sri Lanka's resolution calling for UN member nations to not interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka when Malaysia had been in favour of UN intervention when Israel invaded the Gaza Strip several months ago.

During the question and answer session, many participants said that it was unfortunate that many Malaysians seemed unaware or concerned about what was taking place in Sri Lanka.

The day after the forum, the UN Human Rights Council adopted Sri Lanka’s resolution over the EU sponsored resolution. The EU resolution had called for an international investigation into possible war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE during the last few weeks of the war.