Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

This plight of Bosnian women went up to the International Court of Justice. Who has argued?  It was argued by Francis Boyle, who knows the international law.  This particular gentleman has argued and got the relief.  This particular gentleman, on a comment over the HRW Report, says, “This widespread and systematic rape by Government of Sri Lanka – he says Government of Sri Lanka – against Tamils violates article 2b of 1948 Genocide Convention to which Sri Lanka is a party.”  What is article 2b of International Convention on Genocide? It says, “Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of this group.”  I think the hon. External Affairs Minister could understand.    Not necessarily a particular person or a particular group of people could be killed, but even mental agony, even mental stress after these incidents could both show that is genocide.   Sri Lankan Tamils were subjected to various heinous forms of genocide.

The Darusman Committee Report says 40,000 people have been killed. These were civilian killings.  It is one form of genocide.  The next one is systematic rape and sexual abuse as stated in the HRW Report is the second form of genocide.  Now, I give you the evidence on the third form of genocide which is being committed even today by the Sri Lankan Army and Sri Lankan Government. It is nothing but cultural genocide wherein the language, the identity, the tradition and culture of Tamils are almost wiped out.

While this Accord has not been implemented there, Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka are being killed on the ethnic issue. A UN report says that more than 40,000 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were killed by Sinhala Army in the 2009 war apart from LTTE cadres. This is a lower figure. If you go into actual figures, about three lakh Sri Lankan Tamil people in Sri Lanka have been killed. It is genocide. India cannot shirk its responsibility. India is a country that stands for democracy. India is a country that stands for human rights. Those being the governing principles of our country, India should have taken serious action when our brothers in Sri Lanka suffered this kind of humiliation and stopped this kind of genocide. As Hon. Member Yashwant Sinha also said, even though India got many clues about the 2009 war, the genocide war, at that time our Government failed to take necessary action. That is what I want to say.

…( व्यवधान)

PROF. SAUGATA ROY : Sir, I finish in just two minutes. What happened was that there was a case of genocide. This genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka can be compared with genocide of Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the genocide in Rwanda in the sides between Hutus and Tutsis and even the genocide of Bengalis in Bangladesh by the Pakistani army. I agree that over one lakh Tamil people had died.

MR. DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Please conclude.

प्रो. सौगत राय : सर, दो मिनट में खत्म कर रहा हूं।