'SL Govt Deflecting Attention After UN Resolution'- ATC

The Australian Tamil Congress, one of the international Tamil organizations which has been banned by the GOSL,  has responded by accusing the Sri Lankan government of trying to deflect attention from itself after the United Nations.

"These allegations that have been brought on us by the Sri Lankan Government are false and they are very serious acts of discrediting the Australian Tamil Congress, which has maintained a very good name and a very good reputation among the mainstream Australian public. We have a very good reputation and good relationship with Australian politicians and the Australian media and Australian policy makers," Dr. Sam Pari, a representative of the ATC told Australian media.

"The Australian Tamil Congress believes that this is knee jerk reaction by the Sri Lankan Government in response to the successfully adopted United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka, which was passed last Thursday the 27th of March," Sam Pari says adding that the Congress is respected internationally.

"The Australian Tamil Congress is a properly constituted public and democratic civil society organisation. We are well respected by Australian politicians, by eminent persons in Australia, not just in Australia, but internationally as well, and so the Australian Tamil Congress has a very good record and a very good opinion in the minds of important policy makers around the world and in Australia."

But Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia, former Navy Commander Thisara Samarasinghe, says there's no difference between the listed groups and the Tamil Tigers, or LTTE.

 "What did the LTTE finally want to achieve? Separatism. Any organisation that acknowledges separatism or do not reject separatism in Sri Lanka is supporting terrorist ideology," he told World News Radio.