Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America

The Federation of Tamil Sangams in North America (FeTNA, established 1987) is an umbrella organization of many (but not all) local North American Tamil diaspora organizations. In April 2006, it stated that it represented 42 local organizations, with a combined constituency of about 20,000 Tamil families, mostly Indian American (from Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lankan American. However most of the 42 organizations do not acknowledge any relationship with FeTNA on their web-sites. According to US Congressman Davis, FeTNA is associated with the Tamil Tigers. In August 2006, a former director was arrested for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to illegally assist the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; as of September 2006, the case was still in court.

Activities

Convention

FeTNA organizes an annual North American Tamil convention. Established in 1988, the conventions are held during the 4th of July weekend, in a different city every year. Conventions can attract over two thousand attendees from all over North America.

Invited guests typically include Tamil writers, actors, musicians, and politicians from a variety of political parties in India and Sri Lanka.

The annual conventions were held jointly with the Indian-American Tamil Nadu Foundation until 2002; the two groups have held separate conventions starting in 2003.

Support for Tamil studies

FeTNA sponsors visits from two Tamil scholars to the United States each year; as of 2006, it had sponsored a total of 24 scholars. It has also been involved in the sponsorship of a Tamil Chair at the University of California, Berkeley and the Tamil Studies program at the University of Toronto.

Fundraising for disaster relief work

FeTNA plays an active role in fundraising for disaster relief work in response to crises like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2004 Kumbakonam school fire. In June 2005, the group reported that it had raised $37,965.79 for tsunami relief (disbursed through the Tamil Relief Organization, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and Exnora International) and $16,020.43 for victims of the Kumbakonam school fire (disbursed through the Kumbakonam Lions Club).

Baltimore Sun reports about Tamil Relief Organization (TRO) that:

"Peter Chalk, a senior analyst at the Rand Corp., said that in some cases, members of TRO branches dupe Sri Lankans into thinking they're contributing to a charity. "It's very difficult to trace where all the money goes, but there's a lot of indications that the TRO is essentially a front organization for the LTTE," said Chalk".

Organization

The Federation was founded in 1987 by five American Tamil sangams: Ilankai Tamil Sangam, Tamil Association of Delaware Valley, Tamil Sangam of Washington & Baltimore, New York Tamil Sangam and Harrisburg Tamil Sangam.

Ilankai Tamil Sangam, [1] the oldest of the original five member groups, was formed in 1977, its members represent Tamils from Sri Lanka. Ilankai is the Tamil term for Sri Lanka (see Tamil Eelam).

As of July 2006, FeTNA's website links to the websites of the following member organizations. (As of August 2006, the websites of most of the groups do not link back to the FeTNA website, or acknowledge any asociation with FETNA.)

Austin Tamil Sangam, Bay Area Tamil Sangam, Bharathi Kalai Mandram, Boston Tamil Association, California Tamil Sangam, Chicago Tamil Sangam, Columbus Tamil Sangam, Connecticut Tamil Sangam, Greater Atlanta Tamil Sangam, Harrisburg Tamil Sangam, Ilankai Tamil Sangam, Metroplex Tamil Sangam, Michigan Tamil Sangam, Minnesota Tamil Association, Missouri Tamil Sangam, National Tamil Youth Organization, New England Tamilsangam, New York Tamil Sangam, New Jersey Tamil Sangam, Seattle Tamil Sangam, South Florida Tamilsangam, Tamil Sangam of Carolina, Tamil Association Colorado, Tamil Association of Greater Delaware Valley, Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington, Tampa Tamil Association, and the Tennessee Tamil Sangam.

According to the FeTNA website, the cost of membership varies based on the size of constituent sangams. Each sangam appoints delegates to the governing board, with votes proportional to membership. Beside the governing board, the group has a President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Communications Director.

Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka

Public stances

The Federation publicly sides with the cause of ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has issued a number of statements calling for an end to Sri Lankan government violence against Tamils, the ability of Tamils to engage in meaningful negotiations with the government, and a peaceful political resolution to the conflict.

• 1995: Passed a resolution at annual convention, asking the US government not to sell arms to Sri Lanka, and calling for the US to pressure the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to find a political resolution to the civil war
• 2005: Held the Sri Lankan government accountable for the death of Sri Lankan Tamil journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram.
• 2005: Strongly condemned the murder of Joseph Pararajasingham, a Sri Lankan Tamil Member of Parliament
• 2006: Called for an end to extra-judicial killings by Sri Lankan government forces and paramilitaries.
• 2006: Supported a call for Sri Lanka-LTTE peace meetings, urged world leaders to pressure all parties to stop attacks on civilians, called for Sri Lankan military to withdraw from civilian homes and buildings, and called for sanctions to be initiated unless the Sri Lankan government disarmed paramilitaries
• 2006: Participated at a protest at the United Nations, condemning Sri Lankan state violence against Tamil civilians, asking for an investigation by the International Criminal Court, and calling for good faith negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and Sri Lankan Tamils

Alleged involvement with conspiracy to assist LTTE

On August 21, 2006, Indian-American engineer Nachimuthu Socrates was arrested for conspiring to bribe public officials and conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the primary Sri Lankan Tamil military and political secessionist organization, and a designated foreign terrorist organization in the United States. Socrates was a recipient of a 2003 FeTNA Annual Award, and according to the Chicago Tribune, was listed as a "director" of FeTNA (it's not clear if the Tribune is referring to the position of Communications Director). At the 2005 FeTNA convention, Mr. Nachimuthu Socrates was specially recognized. The "Thiruvasagam CD" produced by Rev. Fr. Jegath of Tamilnadu Bishops Council was officially released in the USA by presenting the first copy to Mr. Nachimuthu Socrates.

According to The Hartford Courant 's description of the 35-page US government complaint, "From 2004 to earlier this year, Socrates met with undercover agents to discuss financial terms of the bribe and the purchase of purportedly classified documents from the United States, according to federal authorities. They allege he gave a $500 check at one point, and later $5,000 in cash to remove the group's name from the list. The group later scrapped the bribery plan. In December, Socrates allegedly met with undercover agents about the purchase of classified documents, gave them money and viewed documents, taking notes." According to The Hartford Courant's description of the 35-page US government complaint, "From 2004 to earlier this year, Socrates met with undercover agents to discuss financial terms of the bribe and the purchase of purportedly classified documents from the United States, according to federal authorities. They allege he gave a $500 check at one point, and later $5,000 in cash to remove the group's name from the list. The group later scrapped the bribery plan. In December, Socrates allegedly met with undercover agents about the purchase of classified documents, gave them money and viewed documents, taking notes."

Socrates' arrest also drew attention to a 7-day trip to Tamil areas of Sri Lanka taken in 2005 by Chicago, Illinois Congressman Danny K. Davis and an aide. Davis' Congressional disclosure forms indicated that the trip was sponsored by FeTNA, but the US government charged that Murugesu Vinayagamoorthy, also arrested August 21, allegedly laundered $13,150 in LTTE funds to pay for the travel of "two individuals" to Tamil areas of Sri Lanka. According to the Chicago Tribune, Congressman Davis said he "knew that they were associated with the Tamil Tigers, yes," referring to FeTNA; he subsequently told the Associated Press that as far as he knew, his trip had been paid for by FeTNA.

US civil rights lawsuits

The Federation's stated interest in doing cultural work in the "Tamil Eelam" region of Sri Lanka involved it with high-profile legal challenges against the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) and the USA PATRIOT Act.

In 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright designated the LTTE as a "foreign terrorist organization" under the terms of the AEDPA, which, according to TamilNet, "criminalizes the provision of material support or resources to the lawful and non-violent activities of any foreign organization designated as 'terrorist' by the Secretary of State." In 1998, FeTNA and seven other organizations joined the Center for Constitutional Rights in challenging the constitutionality of the AEDPA, which would make illegal FeTNA's attempts to do service around Tamil language, arts, and cultural institutions in the LTTE-occupied "Tamil Eelam" region of Sri Lanka. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against the plaintiffs.

The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Humanitarian Law Project took up a similar case challenging the AEDPA and the USA PATRIOT Act in 2003. In March 2004, Judge Audrey Collins enjoined the US Government from enforcing applicable sections of the USA Patriot Act against the plaintiffs; however, FeTNA was not covered by the ruling, because they did not provide the court with adequate details to prove that their proposed actions—doing cultural work in LTTE-occupied parts of Sri Lanka—would actually be in violation of the law.

Criticism

Some critics of the LTTE, consider FeTNA overly sympathetic toward or supportive of the group. FeTNA's public statements are primarily critical of human rights abuses attributed to the government of Sri Lanka, rather than those attributed to the LTTE.

A July 2003 Times of India article based on a prior article in Sri Lankan paper The Island called FeTNA "one of LTTE's front organisations," and referred to the annual FeTNA convention as an LTTE fundraiser. (The Island is editorially critical of the LTTE, and some of its Tamil critics point to a 1999 Asian Human Rights Commission statement that called it "a Sri Lankan newspaper well known for its racist propaganda.") The accusation appears not to have been repeated in subsequent media coverage, and mainstream Indian political figures (e.g. Indian President Abdul Kalam) have continued to participate in FeTNA events.

Other political stances

California Hindu textbook controversy

FeTNA was actively involved in the Californian Hindu textbook controversy, in which it joined a number of other groups in successfully petitioning California's Curriculum Commission to reject allegedly revisionist edits to California's textbook curriculum on Hinduism and India, as suggested by the Hindu Education Foundation and the Vedic Foundation. FeTNA raised several specific objections about the proposed textbook revisions, which they felt sidelined the role of South Indian and Dravidian culture (history, language, and religious traditions), and allegedly "whitewashed" caste and gender discrimination in India. (See main article Californian Hindu textbook controversy for details.)

Upon rejection by the Board of major proposed edits, a jubilant Thillai Kumaran, then President of FeTNA, dismissed the pending lawsuit by the Hindu organizations. “Threats of legal action are a clear sign of desperation on the part of the Sangh organizations; these organizations are perhaps not aware that the Board deals with dozens of lawsuits at any given time and cannot be cowed by such threats.” [2]. Thillai Kumaran, a concerned parent, mentioned his lower-caste origins during his testimony [3], mentioned that his son, who attend Middle School in Califoria, did not feel insulted by the textbook's contents on Hinduism.

Support for caste-based reservations in India

In a statement FeTNA has supported caste-based reservation in India to 49.5% of the available seats in institutes of higher education and jobs [4]. It has been critical of the demonstration again the proposed increased in reserved seats. Some states are likely to reserve even a larger fraction of seats for specific castes, Tamilnadu already reserves 69% for specific castes. India's leading pioneering industrialists N. R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys [5] and Azim Premji of Wipro have opposed caste-based Job reservation which [6] will compromise India's ability to compete globally.

External links

• Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America
• 2006 FeTNA 19th Annual Tamil Convention, 2006