Sunday Observer
Sunday 21, April 1996
SECTIONS OF Canada's large Sri Lankan Tamil community are at last rebelling against the domination of their community by the Libration Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its overseas `front' organisations, according to reports reaching Colombo.
Some Tamil groups in Canada are calling for official action against the powerful Tamil Eelam Society (TES) long known for its fund-raising for the LTTE.
Tamil community groups are levelling accusations of corruption and misuse of funds against officials of the Tamil Eelam Society which was set up by some Tamil refugees who came to Canada in mid 1983, according to a monthly Tamil publication - Pothikai published in Toronto.
The critical groups say that the same board appointed then are still holding office. They call for an immediate inquiry by the Canadian authorities into the workings of TES who they claim are supporting the pro-LTTE World Tamil Movement (WTM).
In December last year, a TES spokesman interviewed by the BBC admitted that their movement was funding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
TES was originally set up to help Tamil refugees pouring into Canada. As there were no Tamil speaking Canadian officials at the time, the Canadian officials depended solely on TES advice to give landed Immigrant status to Lankan Tamils.
The WTM also controls the Federation of Associations of Ceylon Tamils (FACT), World Tamil Women's Organisation (WTWO) and Tamil Arts and Technology.
The Tamil community who are now divided in Canada say that all these mushroom organisations are set up to collect money to aid the on-going war in Jaffna. They claim they are promoting the betterment of the Tamil language, Tamil religion, Tamil culture in Canada but in actual fact are not doing so, the newspaper reported.
It said questions are asked how a community that depends very much on welfare and family benefits is able to support the Tigers with large sums of money?
The `Pothikai' also reports that confrontations had occurred between these movements and the Toronto Metro Provincial Police (MPP) when such an opportunity should have been used to seek solutions to certain serious problems that involve Tamil youth.
``TES has betrayed the Tamil people in Canada,'' a Pothikai news article says.
``Therefore, in the best interest of the Tamil community living in Canada it would be beneficial if the Federal and Provincial Government of Canada hold an immediate inquiry into the fund raising and working of TES'', Pothikai says.
Mr. Arul Chalven of Pothikai calls for an immediate audit of their accounts,
saying they should reveal to the public payments made for services to various
individuals and cross-check whether such payments were reflected in their
respective tax returns.