If the physical assault on our people in the North and East is not enough, we now have to put up with the support given to the brutal regime in Colombo from the Head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury.

He just 'dropped in' or, to use his words 'making a passing visit". Speaking with the Press, and describing what the GOSL is doing, this is what he said,

"It is undoubtedly inevitable that what you might call surgical military action against terrorism should take place".

Did he actually say this? I had several emails to say that he did not, and that what he did say was twisted by the Media. These emails included one from a senior Tamil, yes Tamil, Anglican clergyman. What these and other apologists were not aware of was that I actually heard the Archbishop. How do I know it was him? Well, I have attended a Service in Westminster Abbey and have heard him speak. I know his voice and his accent. There is no place for doubt nor a place to mount a cover-up operation.

I decided to let my blood pressure settle and also give the Archbishop time to apologise to the Tamil and Muslim people in the North and East.

It is now 10 days. With no apology coming from the Archbishop, I decided to write him a letter. I felt that a Sinhalese, and an Anglican Christian, had to do this. I knew full well that a Hindu was unlikely to do so, and for a Tamil to do so would have been less effective.

The Archbishop says he 'dropped in' to see how the Church is coping. Well, he will not find his Church in the Dalada Maligawa which is where the Mahanayake of Asgiriya lives, or at Temple Trees which is where the President lives. He will not find his Church in amiable conversation with the likes of Douglas Devanada. He will find his battered Church, or what is left of it, in Kayts, Mannar and Jaffna, which he carefully avoided. This is hypocrisy. If it from the Head of the Anglican Church it makes no difference. It still is hypocrisy

My letter to the Archbishop has been sent to sangam, tamilcanadian and tamilnation, for publication. My wife asked me whether the Archbishop would read it. I don't give a damn whether he reads it or not. It is meant more for the international community, than for his ill-informed self. So, whether he reads it or not is not a big deal.

What I am urging you to do is to write to the Archbishop and tell him what you think of his irresponsible, inflammatory and thoroughly unacceptable statement. My letter to him has his address which, in any case, you can get from the net.

There are one million expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils scattered all over the world. Even if 20% of them are Christians, it is still an awful lot of people. If a couple of thousand letters arrive on the Archbishop's table, it will, or might, may a difference. This is what Amnesty International has taught us i.e that when thousands of letters arrive on even a tin-pot dictator's desk, it can make him sit up and think. A couple of thousand protests arriving on the table of a person holding high office, but is completely ignorant, has no idea what he is talking about, and is giving tacit support to one of the most brutal regimes to rule Sri Lanka, might make a difference.

The Archbishop says that he has been called "The comic vicar of the nation". I have no problem with that. If Britain wants a 'comic vicar', it is not my problem. However, to export him to make inflammatory statements which a brutal regime might use, indeed WILL use, to pursue its murderous assault on its people, is completely unacceptable.

I have just had an email from a shocked Tamil clergyman in Jaffna that a statement is expected from the Archbishop's office in London and that once it comes out, Duleep de Chickera, the Colombo Bishop, will issue a statement. I don't think these guys realise the damage done. A 'Statement' is not what is needed. What is needed is an unqualified apology to the Tamil and Muslim people in the North and East, and a clear denunciation of what the President and his Army are doing to our people.

The indisputable impression is that where the Tamil struggle for justice is concerned, whether one wears a yellow robe or a white robe is of little importance. The sentiments expressed by the wearer are the same.

Will those who know what is happening to our people in the North and East, please take the trouble to send this person a letter of protest? It is the least that we can do for our people who live in this devastated area, facing indescribable problems. There is no reason why the writer must be a Christian. He/she can be Hindus, Islamist, Buddhist or half-Buddhists such as myself, or those who believe in nothing. It is a protest about a thoroughly irresponsible and inflammatory 'call to war' by someone who does not know what the heck he is talking about and, despite his claims to the contrary, cares even less.

In my letter to him I have enclosed my letter to his Prime Minister which I wrote last year, my letter to him in June 2006, and the outstanding analysis of Brad Adams, the Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, which he sent the Pope when he heard that Rajapakse was going to Rome. I am not enclosing these here but will be glad to send them to anyone if they have problems in getting them. I will also be glad to send you the recording from the BBC broadcast if it disappears from the net.

A number of people have asked me to send the Archbishop my recent DVD on the suffering of the Tamil people. I have sent not one but all four! Will they be watched? Probably not. He is too busy praying or doing what Archbishops do. That was what I was told last year when I flew to London to apprise him of the serious human rights violations that were occurring. When I was told that he as too busy, I suggested that they appoint two Archbishops, one to pray, and the other to listen to the problems facing his flock.

There is one more thing the expat Tamils, especially the Church-going ones can do. This is to get my letter to their local Church and say, "This is what our Archbishop has done, and this is the response of a Sinhalese Christian. What are you going to do? If nothing, may I know why?"

We have no power to prevent the Archbishop from making irresponsible statements which puts the lives of thousands of innocent people on the line, but we have the power to protest. Protest we must, and will. I urge you to join me.

Source: Tamil Writers Guild - Dr Brian Senewiratne, Brisbane, Australia
Date: 22 May 2007