British MPs praise Tamils and pledge justice at Pongal


British lawmakers praised the immense contribution Tamils have made to the UK, in interviews with the Tamil Guardian at the side lines of the Pongal in Westminster event in London last week.

After joining festivities and celebrating the harvest festival with hundreds of British Tamils, both Labour and Conservative parliamentarians also pledged towards ensuring justice for atrocities committed against the Tamil people.

Uma Kumaran, the MP for Stratford and Bow, who is the first British Eelam Tamil MP to be elected into UK Parliament started off by saying how proud she is to be in office.

“It is a huge honour to be the first MP of Tamil heritage elected,” she said. I’m so proud to make history but I also feel a huge weight of responsibility that I have to pay forward for our community but to be a voice for our community, also.”

She listed notable achievements made by the Tamil community, including England’s first Tamil professional footballer Vimal Yoganathan. Kumaran also acknowledged the significant contribution made by Tamils to the NHS, citing a recent statistic which calculated that approximately 25% of the NHS workforce were of Tamil heritage. 

Speaking on justice for the Tamil genocide, Kumaran stressed the importance of recognising the genocide that took place 15 years ago which means, among other things, pushing for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, who is also the Chair for the APPG for Tamils highlighted the contributions made by Tamils across business and medicine, and also praised the outstanding academic performance of young Tamil men and women in schools across the country.

On the topic of the Tamil genocide, McDonagh also emphasised the crucial “first step” of placing Magnitsky-style sanctions on war criminals. 

Iain Duncan Smith, the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, who is also the Chair of the APPG for Magnitsky Sanctions firstly praised the Tamil community for their “great sense of family, a great sense of work prosperity, hard work” and commended these values as principles that the wider British society should lead their lives by.

He later added the need to see “retribution for the wrongs” that have been set against the Tamil people. As the Chair of the APPG for Magnitsky Sanctions, Duncan Smith pledged to chase the British government on putting sanctions on Sri Lankan war criminals. He went on to say that this would involve asking the government “why they haven’t used their Magnitsky power to sanction those individuals” already.

Nigel Huddleston, the MP for Droitwich and Evesham and Conservative Party chairman congratulated British Tamils for their incredible contributions to both the private and public sector. Drawing comparison with traditional British values, Huddleston recognised Pongal as the celebration of the family and a coming-together. 

With regards to recognising the genocide that took place 15 years and the sanctioning of war criminals, he said:
“We’ve got to recognise, that whilst we’re here to celebrate today, Sri Lanka has been through a very, very difficult time and it’s right that we do reconcile ourselves and make sure that we come together but also those who have done wrong are brought to justice as well.”
 

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