GOSL Proscribed Father S J Emmanuel – A Catholic Priest linked to LTTE Terrorism

LTTE ground force including its leader were defeated in May 2009. LTTE remains banned in 32 countries even 5 years after its defeat. LTTE did not fight with sticks or stones but became a terrorist movement with its own aerial and naval wing with suicide cadres and Eelam bank issuing its own currency/notes, had its own Eelam court including an appeals court, its own police, Eelam ID cards. Prabakaran could not have run the Eelam show on his own. He had the men but the men needed arms and ammunition and together the LTTE needed propaganda. That’s where the overseas Eelam lobby gets connected. That’s why banning LTTE alone is not good enough. Every murder LTTE committed had the collaboration of Tamil Diaspora groups which have now been declared banned by Sri Lanka and the next stage is that given that these entities are operating from overseas, these foreign Governments that continue to ban the LTTE need to now rope in all of the organizations that Sri Lanka has declared as proscribed and as terrorists. The tragedy is how the world and the Vatican can watch a Catholic priest heading a banned terror front continue to praise the LTTE leader and equate him with Jesus Christ.

The GOSL has banned 16 LTTE fronts and named over 400 individuals as supporting terrorism. The ban is gazetted by the GOSL in 2014 includes the leaders of the main LTTE fronts – US citizen Rudrakumaran of the TGTE, Nediyawan in Norway, Headquarters Group led by Vinayagam and the Global Tamil Forum led by FATHER S J Emmanuel. All these organizations/individuals are now banned under United National Security Council Resolution 1373.

What needs to be highlighted about these LTTE fronts banned by the GOSL is that the key players all formed themselves immediately after the defeat of the LTTE and began projecting themselves as charities, human rights advocates, peace doves and whatever other jargon they could incorporate to camouflage their true objectives. This fits well with the proscription as LTTE fronts because none of these organizations issued a single statement against the LTTE for its crimes pre-2009 and does that not look quite awkward in the manner they claim to be collecting money for victims – the victims were Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims.

Name	Father Sleemanpillai Joseph Emmanuel ( S J Emmanuel)
Born	1934
Qualifications	BSc (Physical Science) 1958 / 2 Masters degrees in Philosophy/Theology from Pontifical Urbaniana University Rome
Entered Priesthood	Became a catholic clergy in 1960s. / Served as Vicar General of the Diocese of Jaffna and Rector of St. Francis Xavier Seminary Jaffna / Advisor to Asian Bishops Conference for 8 years / Founder Director of the Centre for Better Society in Jaffna
Head of	LTTE terrorist front organization – Global Tamil Forum
Residence	Germany since 1997, operating from Horneburg,Visited Sri Lanka during peace talks & met with LTTE Leader Prabakaran

The Founding Member Organisations of GTF were:

Three of its constituents the British Tamil Forum (EN/CA/2013/04), Canadian Tamil Congress ‘(EN/CA/2013/06), and the Australian Tamil Congress (EN/CA/2013/07) are designated under the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 as terrorist supporters.

(1) The British Tamil Forum (BTF)
(2) The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC)
(3) The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC)
(4) The House of Eelam Tamils, France (HET)
(5) The European Tamil Union (ETU)
(6) The Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET)
(7) The Swedish Tamil Forum (STF)
(8) The Danish Federation of Tamil Associations (DFTA)
(9) The Tamil Relief Fund (TRF)
(10) New Zealand Tamil Society
(11) Wellington Tamil Society
(12)  United States Tamil Political Action Council

The constituents of GTF are under investigation. 

GTF leader S.J. Emmanuel

GTF Spokesman Suren Surendiran

President of Tamil Forum Malaysia, Dr Iyngkaran, Datuk Seri

Dr S.Samy Vellu

The Global Tamil Forum’s constituent in Malaysia,

Tamil Forum Malaysia (TFM) claimed that it raised 1 million Malaysian Ringgit for ‘humanitarian efforts in northern Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan refugees’ in July 2011. (money was not used for any such purpose)

The GTF’s US partner, USTPAC, is an umbrella organization of 16 Tamil expatriate organizations in the United States.

Allegations against Father Emmanuel : Evidence of Father Emmanuel advocating ‘separatism’ and contributing towards the disunity of Sri Lanka

• A friend of Velupillai Prabakaran and visited him in North Sri Lanka during the peace talks Emmanuel meets prabakaran – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov0VFEwxtYQ
• A friend of Veerakathy Manivannan alias Castro, the head of the Wanni based LTTE international Secretariat

The army on Vanni front recovered hundreds of photographs, including one showing Fr. Emmanuel sitting next to Castro

• He hailed Prabhakaran as “a freedom fighter who has given leadership to a movement committed to setting up the homeland to Tamil Eelam”.
• He compared Prabhakaran to Jesus Christ
• He called the LTTE the ‘soldiers of Christ‘
• He called the suicide bombers as ‘martyrs of the Catholic Church’to whom the Church provided a Catholic burial.
• He called himself ‘Moses’but says he is first a Tamil and then a Christian.
• He has been openly campaigning for the LTTE and claims to write theology only for Tamils (does this not mean that Sinhala Christians are excluded). Is it not the objective of the Christian missionary movement in both India and Sri Lanka to disempower the Hindus and the Buddhists, similar to the success achieved by Christianity in South Korea within one generation? 
• Why would the Church allow a separate congregation for Tamils and non-Tamils inside the Church ” in a religion preaching to all equally and when all are supposed to be God’s children?
• Key trainer for the LTTE indoctrinating youth
• Worked with LTTE activists led by Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar (A C Shanthan) now arrested and in prison from Eelam House in Long Lane, London
• Worked with Castro instructing LTTE cadres at the Colonel Kittu Political College in Wanni.
• 25 Aug 1996 – Emmanuel blessed Eelam House and hoped that it would become the “Official Tamil Eelam Embassy in London in the foreseeable future.”
• 1996 – Addressed an international conference in Canberra Australia he appealed and said ‘let my people go’ but he did not repeat the same words to the LTTE when they kept 300,000 as hostages/human shields.
• July 1998 – Friends for Peace/Australia where Father Emmanuel addressed a gathering of 19 persons.
• He addressed the Anton Balasingham memorial in Germany in 2009 with the LTTE flag decorating the podium
• 26 March 2009, World Tamil Forum conference at Crown Plaza Hotel in London passed a resolution recognizing “that the Tamil people have mandated the establishment of a free, sovereign state of Tamil Eelam (in Sri Lanka) as the only enduring solution.” Furthermore, this conference recognized that the “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the authentic representative of the Tamil people”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Me7bjuwzU
• Global Tamil Forum headed by Father Emmanuel formed 9 months after the defeat of the LTTE – 24 February 2010.
• 2011 – Though granted multiple entry visa to India, his meetings in Tamil Nadu were with pro-LTTE elements resulting in the Indian authorities denying him entry to Tamil Nadu via Meenambakkam Airport in Chennai compelling him to turn back. He has not been to India since.
• TV documentaries released by the National Dooradarshan Television (NDTV) in India in early 2000 describes Father Emmanuel as “a close associate of Prabakaran”
• 31 Dec 2012 – organized a skype conference between the representatives of the GTF members operating in UK, Canada and USAincluding the Bishop of Mannar Rev Rayappu Joseph who gave his support to the LTTE
• played a central role in convincing bishops and other religious dignitaries from Malaysia to Australia and the West to contribute funds
• maintains close contact with several pro LTTE intellectuals
• Father Emmanuel contacted to raise funds were Professor Mallikadevi Sabanayagam, MP in the Canadian Parliament for the New Democratic Party (NDP) representing Scarborough – Rouge River, who engaged in fund raising activities for Amnesty International.
• Father Emmanuel continues to radicalize the younger generation especially those in Tamil schools in Europe particularly in Germany
• 10 Oct 2010 – Father Emmanuel’s links to another proscribed pro-LTTE supporter Nediyawan is shown in using the strategy formulated by Nediyawan by creating another front under GTF known as House of Eelam Tamils Foru in Germany in order to rally LTTE activists and cadres now living around the world. This is a very dangerous scenario and calls for foreign governments to take action.
• January 2014 – GTF led a 7 member delegation under Fr. S J Emmanuel to the centenary celebrations of the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. – See more at: http://www.theweekendleader.com/Causes/1006/mission-eelam.html#sthash.RNFFCYku.dpuf
• 2013 – TGTE was invited to open an office in South Sudan
• Nitin Anant Ghokale’s New Delhi Televisions’ Defense and Strategic Affairs editor in his book LTTE’s Eelam 4 declares that the West wanted to save Prabakaran and other terror leaders as they wanted to use LTTE as a lever against Sri Lanka.
• SURPRISINGLY, the Tamil Tigers’ cult of martyrdom receives sanction from many Anglican and Catholic priests and the Hindu pundits. ….. “But for us, these boys and girls aren’t suicides, they’re martyrs. They are giving up their lives for a higher cause, the way Jesus Christ did.” (Tim McGirk –1995 – article by the British newspaper ‘Independent’ titled ‘Boys and Girls come out to Die’
• Jan 2004 – Father Emmanuel visits Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell to press for international inquiry against Sri Lanka

From the mouth of Father Emmanuel

• “we are not a terrorist group, we are a group fighting for our liberation” 17^th Oct 2000, Geneva at the launch of ‘The Politics of Duplicity’ a book authored by Anton Balasingham the political advisor of the LTTE. The ‘We are not a Terrorist Group’ speech was heard by Michael Roy (‘Le Courier’ a Swiss newspaper), Dr. Charles Graves of Interfaith International, Ms. Verena Graf, Secretary General of International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples a UN registered NGO, Malik Ozden of Centre Europe-Tiers Monde, Ms. Brigette Morgenthal married to a Subramaniam, Anton Ponrajah (LTTE leader in Switzerland – International Federation of Tamils), Prathibaharan (Anton Ponrajah’s Assistant), Suriyakumar (LTTE activist)
• Father Emmanuel describing Prabakaran “a freedom fighter who has given leadership to a movement committed to setting up the homeland to Tamil Eelam so that oppressed Tamil people could be saved from the chauvinist Sinhala regime
• 1996 US Tamil Sangam – “pool your resources at the service of your liberation”.(Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia boycotted the two day conference)
• 25 August 1996 – participated in the opening of Eelam House (LTTE House in UK) and made a speech
• 1997 visited Desmond Tutu in South Africa to convince the ANC that the LTTE is similar to a “liberation movement” of South Africa.
• November 2004 a book “Viduthalaipperoli”was written by the Eelamurusu editorial board in France to commemorate the 50th birthday of Velupillai Prabakaran. Father Emmanuel’s praise of Prabakaran as “Saluting the Leader and Architect of a New Tamil Nation…..“The liberation that he leads and the leadership that he wields are unique in many ways and write new chapters in the history of liberation and leadership in the world: His eyes, ears and heart were wide open to the agonizing cries of his people. He grew with a passion for freedom and a determined will to lead his people: Sinhala Governments have changed and their leaders have adopted varying tactics and offers, but the LTTE leadership has stood firm on its ground for its ideals and commitments: Malicious propaganda never weakened the Tamil Leadership nor lessened their commitment struggle: Prabakaran is not only the present national leader standing up for his people against oppressors and challengers, but also the unforgettable architect of a leadership”.
• July 8, 2009 Appeal to the Tamil Diaspora – “let us not betray the struggle or its goals as evolved, formulated and consolidated by the sacrifice of many thousand combatants and civilians under the leadership of the LTTE” / “let us change the phase in the struggle from the earlier militant cum political phase to a political and international phase. Our leader Prabakaran spoke convincingly of the aspiration, the goal and direction of the Tamil struggle.”

Due to his religious affiliation, Father Emmanuel was able to directly influence Western Christendom against Sri Lanka and in favour of the LTTE cause to which he was closely linked. As such to date the Church, its leaders have not issued anything against Fr. Emmanuel for comparing Prabakaran to Jesus, for calling LTTE cadres as ‘soldiers of Christ’ or referring to suicide bombers as ‘martyrs of the Catholic Church’ or even calling himself Moses!

This silence also prompts us to question whether the Church leaders have been linked to LTTE over the years for the Church has taken no steps to investigate or reprimand Church leaders praising LTTE or its Leader and providing material support to it.

Ties of the Church to the LTTE is another area for investigation

From his experience in the 1980s the former High Commissioner for India J N Dixit wrote a book ‘Assignment Colombo’ and page 228 he states “what was fascinating was that the Tamil Catholic clergy kept arguing in favour of the LTTE throughout my tenure in Sri Lana’.

This was in the 1980s… fast forward to mid 1990s, Tim McGirk’s article ‘Boys and Girls come out to Die’ following an interview with Father Emmanuel, he wrote that ‘surprisingly, the Tamil tigers cult of martyrdom receives sanction from many Anglican and Catholic priests and the Hindu pundits’.

Thus if Dixit was fascinated that the Tamil catholic clergy kept arguing in favour of the LTTE and Britisher Tim McGirk was surprised that Tamil tigers cult of martyrdom received sanction from Anglican and Catholic priests it is essential that with Father Emmanuel himself declared proscribed and his organization the Global Tamil Forum also proscribed as a terrorist supporting entity the UN and countries where GTF and its constituents are functioning openly in view of the UNSC Resolution 1373 ban, Father Emmanuel, GTF, its constituents and all members need to be internationally investigated.

• Bishop of Mannar Rayappu Joseph – opened Eelam House in UK, he allowed LTTE to use Madhu Church, he allowed LTTE to run a radio station from inside the Church
• Bishop of Jaffna Savundranayagam
• Bishop of Batticoloa Kingsley Swamipillai
• Father Gasper Raj Jegath of Radio Veritas – close to DMK leadership in India (LTTE’s Voice of Tigers tied up with Radio Veritas, a Catholic broadcasting station run by the Asian Catholic Bishops Conference based in Philippines. The Tamil service of the Radio Veritas is run by the Tamil Catholics of Tamil Nadu. Voice of Tigers had a ‘coordinating office’ inside St. Sebastians Church in Mallavi, Wanni and this LTTE office was opened by pro-LTTE bishop Father Rayppu Joseph who allowed LTTE to use the Madhu Church)
• Father Chandrakanthan – attached to the Theology Department, Toronto University, Canada
• Singarayer, Diyogupillai, Prof. (Fr.) Joseph Chandrakanthan, from the Department of Theology at the University of Toronto, a former President of the University of Jaffna Teacher’s Association
• Father Jagat Gasper Raj,
• S Jebanesan, Bishop of the Church of South India (CSI), who said he was working on a theology for Tamils, that is, excluding Sinhala Christians!
• Dick Wootton of Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia
• Bishop Kenneth Fernando of the Anglican Church, visited Prabhakaran with Charles Abeysekera and Jayadeva Uyangoda and announced, “Prabhakaran is humane” shocking all
• Rev Sr. Mary Barbara, Dr Anita Nesiah, M. Rajasigham, Joe William and T. Jayasingham of the National Peace Council
• Rajappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, declared open the ‘Embassy of the Tamil Eelam’, the Eelam House in London.
• A senior Christian priest, Rev. Sam T. Jayathilakarajah of the Achchelu Methodist Church and his brother, Dr. Jayakularajah enthusiastically gave shelter and performed surgery on injured LTTE members (including Pulenthiran and Seelan) after they attacked the Chavakachcheri Police station in 1982.
• A second Christian priest, Father Aabaranam Singarayar provided a constant supply of painkillers to these LTTE members as they recuperated from surgery. This is confirmed by Gen. Sarath Munasinghe, the head of the army intelligence unit of Sri Lanka, who arrested interrogated both these priests.
• Christian priest, Father Anton Sinnarasa was also arrested by the Sri Lankan army for sheltering the LTTE members and for his involvement in the LTTE bank van holdup at Neervely, where 81 lakhs of rupees was robbed on March 25th 1981. In September 1983, Father Sinnarasa later escaped from custody during the famous Batticoloa jailbreak. He slipped away to Canada a few years later and continues to lead LTTE-front activities in Tamil-dominated suburbs of Toronto under the name “Anton Philip”.
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ran a detailed report on another Christian priest, Father Francis Xavier who is a leading organizer and fundraiser for the Tamil Tigers in Toronto, Canada.
• All the top people in LTTE’s front charity group, Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), now under FBI scrutiny in the USA, are Christians: TRO works in alliance with the Church of South India in the Tamil areas of Northen and Eastern Sri Lanka.
  ▪ Mr.K.P.Regi, Executive Director of TRO,
  ▪ Mr. Lawrence Thilagar, TRO Project Co-ordinator,
  ▪ Mr. Lawrence Christie, Planning Director of the TRO
  ▪ Mr.E.Robert, Administrative Head of the TRO Accelerated Rehabilitation Project.
  ▪ Mr. Vincent, TRO’s Director of Tsunami Rehabilitation and Construction
  ▪ Mr.P.Mariyanayagam Croos (Cruz), President of the Mannar TRO,
  ▪ Ms. P.Mariina Croos (Cruz) of the Mannar TRO
  ▪ Yude Genoba of the Mannar TRO
• Reverend Father A.Jeyakumar, Reverend Father S.E. Arnold, Reverend Father P. Anukular and Reverend Father J. Thevarudchelvam from Mullaitivu Diocese (Church of South India) and Mr J Rajanayagam from Jaffna Diocese (Church of South India) are the chief guests at TRO functions held to distribute fishing nets, boats and houses to the Tsunami victims.
• Christian evangelization of the Tamil Hindu identity is what is at stake and Tamil Hindus need to realize this important component in a zigsaw that they fail to see and realize their true enemies.

That’s the Christian connection. Look at the high profile connections the banned GTF has and it does make any to wonder who is the terrorist and who is the war against terrorism is really with. It is startling how politicians have deteriorated to bow down to electoral bribing and attend events and make speeches about issues they know little about but also end up totally disturbing diplomacy and decency in governance between nations.

Foreign Leaders associated with LTTE fronts

• Former US Ambassador to SL /Asst Secretary of State for South & Central Asia – Robert Blake
• Officials of international organizations – UN/EU and INGOs obtaining their support
• British Government and Opposition Leaders even a meeting at No.10 on 7 Nov 2013 before CHOGM
• British PM Cameron invited to No.10 representatives of GTF, BTF, British Tamil Conservatives, Tamils for Labor, Tamil Information Centre, Tamils against Genocide, Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (UK Branch)
• Gordon Brown then PM of Britain attended the GTF inaugural GM on 24 February 2010
• Then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband attended the GTF GM. He also called for a ceasefire before the LTTE was defeated.
• Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague also attended
• Alistair Burt MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
• Liberal Democrats Shadow Foreign Secretary Ed Davey were also present.
• Robert Halfon, Conservative MP from Harlow“We must stop the genocide of the Tamils. The world must stop the barbarism of the Sri Lankan regime,” (2002 – BTF art exhibition)
• Also present at the same exhibition  shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, Labour MP for Wolverhampton South-East, Pat McFadden, Lord Quirk and Lord Kennedy, Heidi Alexander, Labour MP Lewisham East ‘“The need for international independent investigation into the crimes and atrocities that have taken place in Sri Lanka is clear from your exhibition and the UK has a responsibility to act to make this happen,”
• Joan Ryan, former member of Labor Party, MP for Enfield North (1997-2010) was elected as the CEO of GTF. She was also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for nationality, citizenship and immigration and was responsible for ID cards/passports, refugee integration etc. In the light of the exposure of Tamil asylum seekers (especially those with LTTE connections) paying to be tortured to secure asylum there is a big question mark as to what role she played during her tenure between 2006-2007 in charge of ID/passports given her role as CEO of GTF- a banned LTTE front. In May 2009 she claimed £4,500 under the Additional Costs Allowance. In February 2010 she was asked to pay £5,121 mortgage interest, the same period news covered 20 attempts to delete from Parliament omputers details of her expense claims and the same period she joins a terrorist front as CEO!
• Stuart Drake also joined Joan Ryan and GTF as its Research and Communication Chief
• US – Jesse Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8z_zOZfNJY

Fr. S J Emmanuel (right) with Canadian Tamil MP, Rathika Sitsabaiesan

– by Shenali D Waduge