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22.6.2008
By Walter Jayawardhana
The
European broadcasts of the "Tharisanam" Television
- a major propaganda arm of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) is to be suspended immediately, the service
announced.
It
is believed the Television Service which has been used for
a long period of time as an organ not only for LTTE propaganda
but also as a tool to raise funds for the terrorist organization's
much needed weapons and ammunition, that have been also
used to harm civilians through their suicide bombers and
claymore mines became a major cause for Israeli government
to bring pressure on the Israeli satellite company to suspend
the broadcasts.
Foreign
Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said , "I have spent the
major part of 2007 to educate foreign governments about
the lethal quality of the LTTE and how its broadcasts are
used to raise funds for terrorism against unarmed civilians."
It
is believed that the broadcasting of Tharisanm , which could
be translated easily to "True View", was connected
to companies in France, Israel and Hong Kong.
Tharisanam
did not promise to return the money of its subscribers and
it is generally believed it would use avenues like Tamil
political parties in Tamil Nadu to continue their broadcasts
through some other satellites. Though Tharisanam has been
suspended in Europe and Britain, where part of the money
is raised for the terrorist group, it is believed the broadcasting
would continue in Australia where a different satellite
is being used.
According
to Sri Lankan authorities the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in Colombo has been working on the problem continuously
for the last seven months. It has come to light that the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been using French
and Israeli satellites , named Globecast and Satlink, with
the help of the pro-LTTE political party Pattalai Makkal
Katchi (PMK) in Chennai that is led by Dr. Ramdoss. It is
alleged the LTTE funds PMK activities in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile
the London based Tamil Broadcasting Corporation head, V.
Ramraj leaked the following letter to the press, claiming
that it had been sent to the Israeli satellite Company by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel:
"Following
our conversation, we wish to bring to your attention an
application that has been received by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs from the CEO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Sri-Lanka, referring our attention to broadcasts of the
Tamil underground organization LTTE, by Satlink Communications
Company. According to the information we have received,
the company under your management is broadcasting, via satellite,
a Tamil channel named Tharishanam".
The
content of the broadcast includes propaganda on behalf of
LTTE, to the Tamil community exiling in Europe, including
an effort for money raising for the benefit of the activity
of this organization in Sri Lanka. The government of Sri
Lanka required from the State of Israel to act so that the
Israeli company will cease the broadcast of the Tamil channel.
"For
your knowledge, the Tamil underground LTTE, is battling
for independence in east of Sri Lanka and is making use
of means of terror and violence. Said underground is defined
as a terror organization in the United States, Canada, the
European Union countries and India. It is not yet defined
as a terror organization in Israel. However, any connection
between it and an Israeli body is highly problematic and
even extremely severe in light of Israel's coping against
the terror organizations.
In
light of the high political importance that we see in resolving
the issue, according to the manner required by the government
of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is of the
opinion that it is not appropriate that an Israeli company
shall provide services, directly or indirectly to a body
that is identified with a terror organization such as the
LTTE. "Therefore, we will be thankful for taking our
aforesaid standpoint into consideration in the continuation
of your activity."
Ramraj
claimed he managed to obtain it from certain LTTE activists
in London who are disgruntled with the hierarchy of the
party.
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