UDI A FLOP (99 Apr 28)
The declaration of Eelam scheduled for the twenty fifth of April was a flop. Not only the uni-lateral declaration of independence did not materialise but even a so-called conference that had been organised in London to mark the event has not been successful. Less than two thousand people have attended the meeting in the Alexandra Palace in North London, even though the organisers had claimed that there were more than five thousand people in the gathering.
The conference had been widely advertised in the Tamil controlled press in London and colour leaflets had been distributed via Tamil owned shops in Tamil neighbourhoods around London. About 10 private coaches had been hired to transport the supporters from Tooting and Crawley in South London, where substantial numbers of Tamils are resident, to Alexandra Palace in North London. When the buses finally pulled into Alexandra Palace last Sunday, it is reported that many were only half full.
Among those who addressed the gathering had been Mr. Wasantha Raja the former chairman of the Rupavahini appointed by Ms. Kumaratunga, and Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam had been seen with a "Tiger flag" over his shoulders. We are not interested in the antics of these people, however it has to be mentioned that as usual the "conference" had been full of cons on the history of Sri Lanka. Many of these people who live abroad, having had their education on state account, by now should have realised that the Eelam will be confined to their dreams and that they will have to be satisfied with such conferences.