Angry in the Great White North

If you recall, Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi got into a mess when he appeared at a Tamil rally.  The rally was clearly a pro-LTTE event.  Also known as the Tamil Tigers, the LTTE has been designated a terrorist organization by the Canadian government.

Of course, there was the obligatory non-apology, in which Gurbax Singh Malhi claimed that he had no clue who was at the rally, who was running the rally, and what all those flags were.

How does Liberal MP Derek Lee fit into all this?  Well, Gurbax Singh Malhi claimed that he just stumbled on the rally by accident, but in fact, Derek Lee had emailed all Liberal MPs encouraging them to attend the rally.

Why would one Liberal MP tell another Liberal MP to attend a pro-LTTE rally?  Well, Derek Lee's email made it clear that it was not supposed to be a pro-LTTE rally:

As an aside the organizers of this rally have, in a large part, been known to Mr. Lee for a number of years. The group's object is to have Tamils come together, not under the alleged auspices of LTTE affiliates. Nor are they aligned with the LTTE and its affiliates. The group have concerns about the LTTE and primarily wish to highlight their identity as Tamil Canadians.

So who organized the rally?  People who are concerned about the LTTE, as Derek Lee claims?  I don't think so:

The crowd chanted slogans, including "Prabhakaran our leader" and "LTTE-Freedom Fighters."

Roygardiner Wignarajah, a spokesman for the International Human Cultural Union, which organized the rally, said the protestors believe the LTTE is "fighting for the Tamils' rights" in the face of "full-scale genocide" by the Sri Lankan government.

Derek Lee knew that the INHCU organized the rally.  The acronym appeared in the email subject.

The International Human Cultural Union.  Sounds important, eh?  Some United Nations thing, I shouldn't wonder.

Except that it isn't.  It's a Tamil-specific group of some sort.  And Roygardiner Wignarajah, or Roy Gardiner Wignarajah, the spokesperson, works for a Tamil business, an  insurance brokerage called Mega Financial Services in Scarborough.  The address for the INHCU is a private residence.

This INHCU is starting to sound like a one-man band.  Even the acronym seems unprofessional, since the "N" doesn't seem to match a word in the full name.

This is definitely the same rally.  At the (pathetically inept) INHCU website, there are photos.  Here is one of some the rally leaders:

The fellow in the toque and his buddy in the white jacket appear standing side by side Gurbax Singh Malhi in the now famous YouTube video:

So on the one hand we have Derek Lee sending out an email encouraging his fellow Liberal MPs to go to the INHCU rally, assuring them that the INHCU has "concerns" about the LTTE, suggesting that a Tamil Tiger presence is not in the cards.

On the other hand, we have the INHCU spokesperson, a week later, stating that the protestors he brought to the rally see the LTTE as fighting for their rights.

If Derek Lee has been familiar with the INHCU "for a number of years", then they must have kept this bit carefully hidden.

Looking through the pictures, I saw this one:

Here is the caption:

Mr.Thanapalan Secretary General of the INHCU, Flanked by Roy (Right) and Vivek (extreme Right) handing the Petition to Ms.Rosana Whissel of the Canadian Foreign Ministry office

"Roy" is probably Roy Gardiner Wignaraja, the INHCU spokesperson.  I haven't figured out who Thanapalan or Vivek are.

But this is the first I've heard of a petition.  The petition ought to end the debate about whether the rally was fundamentally a pro-LTTE event, or if it was not designed to be an LTTE event (as Derek Lee stated in his email to fellow Liberals) but was hijacked by Tamil Tiger supporters.  Here is the text of the INHCU petition:

PETITION TO THE: Government of Canada

We, the undersigned, Citizens and residents of Canada of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage draw the attention of the Government of Canada to the following:

THAT

The Government of Sri Lanka is waging a campaign of hostilities against  the Tamil civilian population, marked by the systematic elimination of  civic infrastructure including hospitals, schools, and homes through  aerial bombardment and random artillery shelling. The killings of Tamil civilians by the government forces of Sri Lanka in the Northern Vanni Region, have reached genocidal proportions. Hundreds of innocent Tamils are killed daily by the aerial bombing and shelling in the so called "safe zones" declared by the government itself.

Sri Lanka is using internationally banned cluster bombs, incendiary bombs and chemical bombs on its citizens. The Sri Lankan armed forces have killed 2,018 Tamil civilians in January and February in Vanni and 700 of the victims were children.  To make matters worse, civilian death is on the rise due to starvation; as the conflict area is completely blocked from any external access. The government of Sri Lankan has evicted all NGOs and humanitarian organizations from the conflict zone, and continue to block the flow of basic supplies, including food, clothing medicine, and baby formula.

THEREFORE,

The INHCU request

The Government of Canada

To  urge the government of Sri Lanka to immediately cease the hostilities and Pressurize the  Government of Sri Lanka to stop denying food, shelter medicine and other basic necessities to the Tamil population caught in the Vanni area and allow unfettered access to INGO'S, NGO's and International humanitarian organizations into the conflict zone.

To take active and concrete measures by providing leadership to convince the international community and agencies to allow the UN to monitor the safe zones.

To ask the Government of Sri Lanka to re-settle the displaced civilians in their respective home towns.

Appoint a special Envoy from Canada to work closely with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Government of Sri Lanka to find a resolution that will guarantee the Tamils of Sri Lanka, their right to self governance, safety, security and peace.

I've highlighted the last paragraph.  It demands the legitimatization of the Tamil Tigers.

Can anyone believe that this rally was not conceived as a pro-LTTE event?

If this organization, with whom Derek Lee has had such close contact with over several years, was truly "concerned" about the Tamil Tigers, why would it organize a pro-Tiger rally backing a petition that demands that the Canadian government legitimize the Tamil Tigers by treating it as a sovereign power?

How is it that Derek Lee, who has known these people for several years, have been so wrong about their nature?  How could he possibly have thought that this rally was going to be free of Tamil Tiger supporters, as he suggested to his fellow Liberal MPs?

Did Derek Lee know about this petition?  Didn't he see it?  How about Gurbax Singh Malhi?

Now that we know the content of the petition, can someone ask Derek Lee whether he thinks the position of the Canadian government ought to be to "work closely with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam"?  I mean, he encouraged the Liberal Party to support the rally built around this petition.

I think there is a lot of questions that need to be answered.