It is with deep sorrow that we bring to your notice the death of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, the distinguished chairman of the Minority Rights Group, the international human rights organisation based in London and a member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.

He was killed when a suicide bomber of LTTE rode up to him in a motor cycle and fell on his car last Thursday (29 July 1999). This makes Dr. Tiruchelvam the eighteenth parliamentarian to be killed by the LTTE-- an organisation banned by the US, India and Malaysia as a deadly terrorist outfit. Recently, it gunned down in Jaffna, Mrs. Sarojini Yogeswaram, 65-year-old widow, who was nominated by Dr. Tiruchelvam's party, TULF, to be the Mayoress of the elected Municipal Council of Jaffna. The TULF then nominated another lawyer to succeed Mrs. Yogeswaram. He too was gunned down in broad daylight.

These killings are directed by Mr. Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE. He has been branded by the New York Times (May 28, 1995) as the successor to Pol Pot. The question is: why is he committing these crimes against humanity?

Answer:

• He has eliminated any potential Tamil rival challenging his claim to be "the sole representative of the Tamils". Dr. Tiruchelvam was his latest rival.

• He has sabotaged all peace proposals by assassinating the peace-makers. His first victim was the Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Second was President Ranasinghe Premadasa who negotiated with him for 14 months after which he unilaterally declared war on the Sri Lankan government. Now, it is Dr. Tiruchelvam.

• He is against any peace package that will receive international backing and, consequently, undermine his goal of establishing a separate state.

• He can survive only in a violent environment because peace threatens not only his grip on his cadres but his life as well. In times of peace he will have to come out of hiding and be exposed to his enemies in Jaffna who are after him. He is also wanted by India for assassinating Rajiv Gandhi.

• The failure of the international community to back the Sri Lankan government more positively in combating Tamil Tiger terrorism.

We are thankful to the Australian government for refusing to talk to the agents of the Tamil Tiger terrorists -- namely, the Australian Federation of Tamil Associations. But we wish to suggest that the Australian government should take a more aggressive stand as it has stake in the stability of the Indian Ocean region. First, it must take a more vigorous stance and ban the LTTE. (USA, India, and Malaysia has done it already). Second, it must initiate a programme of monitoring the activities of the agents of Tamil Tiger terrorists who take full advantage of the democratic rights to make Australia a base for their violent politics. Third, there is need to investigate various stratagems used by the agents of Tamil Tiger terrorists -- eg. money laundering, social security frauds, illegal immigrant rackets, drug peddling etc. Fourth, there is a need to develop an overall policy response to deal with separatism and its impact on Australia in the Indian Ocean region.

We have urged that these measures be given serious consideration on previous occasions. We hope that the latest tragedy will spur Australia to be more vigilant and protect the safety of its citizens from terrorist acts --particularly with the coming of the Sydney Olympics.

Finally, we suggest that a Parliamentary Committee, with full immunity to witnesses, be appointed to investigate the issues mentioned above.