Canada: More furore over personalised stamps bearing Tamil Tiger symbols

NEWS: The Sri Lanka United National Association of Canada has written a letter to Rona Ambrose Canada’s Minister of Public Works and Government services calling on

her to ban personalised stamps bearing symbols of the LTTE (Tamil Tigers). The letter alleges the Tamil Youth Organisation has misused the Canada Post service.

Below are excerpts of the letter sent to the Minister.

By E-mail December 2, 2011

Hon. Rona Ambrose, PC, MP

Minister of Public Works and Government Services

House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Honourable Minister,

 Misuse of Canada Post Service by Tamil Youth Organization – Canada which is a Front Organization of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

We are writing to bring to your attention the production of a personalized stamp by Canada Post Corporation on a design originated by the Tamil Youth Organization – Canada (TYO), depicting a map of the land mass of the sovereign territory of Sri Lanka which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sought to establish a mono-ethnic racist state called “Eelam” for the exclusive residence of the Sri Lankan Tamils by force of arms including suicide terrorism. On the face of the stamp, the words ‘I REMEMBER TAMIL GENOCIDE’ has been printed from the top to the bottom on the left hand side.

This is a clear case of misuse of a service offered by the Canada Post Corporation, where the intention is to celebrate a personal event and not make a political statement based of false premises. In the circumstances, we request that you instruct Canada Post to confiscate all letters bearing the offensive stamp, and also proceed to take punitive action against the offending parties. We are giving below related correspondence issued by the TYO and a picture of the offending stamp which came into our possession recently in attachment:

Copy of related correspondence from TYO:

“The Tamil Youth Organization-Canada is releasing a personalized stamp, ‘I Remember Tamil Genocide’, to remember and commemorate our beloved people and freedom fighters that had lost their lives in the struggle for justice, peace and liberty. It has been two years since Mullivaikal [May 2009], and the lives lost during the peak of the Tamil genocide will always remain in our hearts as we continue our efforts to bring justice and lasting peace for our people. The time has come for the Tamil Diaspora to shoulder the fight for Tamileelam. The time has come for the Tamil Diaspora to unite and strengthen our voices for those who are voiceless. May this commemorative stamp release act as catalyst to serve that vision………..”

You are no doubt aware that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been designated an international terrorist movement per UN Security Council Resolution Number 1373 of September 2001, and banned by 32 countries including Canada. The LTTE’s front organization named the World Tamil Movement (WTM) has also been banned by Canada, whilst the Canada Revenue Agency revoked the charity status granted to the Canadian Foundation of Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation for misdirection of supposedly charitable funds.

The organization associated with the release of the offensive stamp is the Tamil Youth Organization – Canada, whose members earlier travelled to the USA to procure missiles, AK 47 guns, etc. for use of the Tamil Tigers, and were nabbed in a sting operation by the FBI and since incarcerated after a court case. The party that is said to have provided the funds to cover the cost of having the stamp printed is the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT). Although, these two organizations have so far not been designated as front organizations of the LTTE, the Canadian intelligence services will be able reveal the nature of their activities as support groups of the banned Tamil Tigers.

We shall appreciate hearing of the steps being taken by you to remove this offensive postage stamp from circulation and other measures against the offending parties, and also safeguards if any to prevent misuse of this facility offered by Canada Post Corporation.

Yours sincerely,

Mahinda Gunasekera

Honorary President

Encl.

SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA

4 Arkona Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 1X3

Website: www.sluna.org E-mail: sluna@idirect.com

 

 

 

 

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