Sri Lanka

A religious preacher and a financial wizard reportedly helped the LTTE prosper - The Pioneer

Two events over the last fortnight: the deportation by India of the Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, Fr SJ Emmanuel, to Dubai, when he arrived at Chennai; and the sentencing of Sri Lankan hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam to 11 years imprisonment for insider trading on Wall Street, by the US Federal district court, have uncovered the role of the Catholic Church in fostering Tamil separatism in Sri Lanka, states The Pioneer. The website further says, Fr Emmanuel is the president of the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF), a leading LTTE front and umbrella organization for the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora groups. The Sunday Observer from Canada reported that Emmanuel had recently visited Canada and Europe to raise funds and mobilize pro-LTTE groups to stoke anti-Colombo propaganda in the West. But now, moderate sections of the Diaspora are questioning Fr Emmanuel’s role in radicalizing Tamil youth while not utilizing the millions of dollars collected through donations to help resettle and rehabilitate former LTTE cadres.

Rajaratnam was investigated for his links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. According to an ex-Tamil Tiger turned FBI informant, codenamed ‘Rudra’, Rajaratnam and his father set up the Rajaratnam Family Foundation for charity which also became a front to channel funds to the Tamil Tigers, the website adds.

The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation, was active in 17 countries before the US Treasury froze its assets in November 2007. Rajaratnam played a key role in transferring money from the TRO to the LTTE. An April 2007 affidavit by an FBI special agent regarding Rajarathnam’s banking records showed that he wrote three checks totalling USD 1,000,000 between July and September 2000, which made its way to a TRO account in London. Most of the money was later withdrawn in cash, The Pioneer says.

It also adds that the TRO received maximum donations from America, where the Rajarathnam family was the largest private donor. The US Treasury said the TRO had “facilitated LTTE procurement operations, including purchase of munitions, equipment, communication devices, and other technology.” Through 2003, Raj gave USD 5.05 million to his family foundation, which passed on USD 5 million to the TRO. In June 2004, he gave USD 1 million directly to the TRO. After the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, Rajaratnam set up Tsunami Relief, Inc, which was administered by staff at the Galleon Group headquarters in New York. It collected over USD 7 million and gave nearly half the money to the TRO in America and in Sri Lanka.

These huge monies have prompted victims of LTTE violence to file for damages in New Jersey, for crimes financed by Rajaratnam. His lawyers assert that there is “no connection” between Rajaratnam’s donations to the TRO and the harm suffered by the claimants, as there is no evidence that he ever sponsored acts of violence.

As India debates clemency for the murderers of Rajiv Gandhi, the New Jersey verdict will be interesting, The Pioneer says.