Pro-LTTE activists in London started to gather in front of the British Parliament since early last week carrying Tiger flags. Men, women and even children gathered in their hundreds and by Tuesday morning, the British police decided to close the Westminster underground station.

One Tamil youth jumped over the Westminster Bridge to the Thames River and the police had to cordon off the bridge with marine units and life-boats on stand-by. Some Tamils who sat on the road in front of the Parliament had to be dragged away as they caused an obstruction.

 A minor scuffle broke out between the police and the pro-LTTE activists and about eight persons were injured. Police also arrested some people for violent disorder and breach of the peace.

 The activists had gathered opposite the Parliament without prior permission from the British police or from the London Mayor’s Office.

 Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London, Nihal Jayasinghe told the Sunday Island that he was dismayed that the British police allowed these people to gather without obtaining permission. He said this was an illegal gathering as the LTTE is a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK.

"I have already sent a letter to Mayor of London Boris Johnson expressing my displeasure", he noted.

 The President of the Sinhala Association in the UK, Douglas Wickremaratne has also sent a letter of protest to the Mayor of London.

The letter said, "We are greatly disturbed to see that hundreds of Tamil Sri Lankans were allowed to demonstrate outside Parliament and also block Westminster Bridge causing chaos and inconvenience to the public. We understand that the demonstration was not authorized by the Police.

"Demonstration, in the guise of raising concerns for the civilians trapped in the Tamil Tiger controlled area, was a brazen attempt to help the Tigers. As you are fully aware, Tamil Tigers (LTTE) are banned in UK as a terrorist group but the demonstrators were allowed to openly display LTTE flags and carry photographs of the terrorist leader. Tamil Tiger supporters showed their arrogant disregard for British laws and openly violated it."

 Pro-LTTE Tamils have also started some protest rallies in other Western countries. In that context, Sri Lankan embassies in these Western countries have a big role to play. Officials in these embassies need to be alert to inform the political leadership in those countries about the current political situation in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan expats in UK pointed out.

 The Sri Lanka High Commissioner in London has started this process by meeting with several politicians from the governing Labour Party and opposition Conservative Party. He also met with Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague recently.

The High Commissioner explained to Hague that there is a great deal of misconception and distortion that the Sri Lankan government is at war with the Tamils. He said that this is not only a false perception but a deliberate attempt by the LTTE and its front organizations to mislead the British public and policy makers. Having stated the above

He explained that there are 2.5 million Tamils living outside the north and east living in perfect harmony with the rest of the ethnic communities. Sri Lanka being a democratic country believes in regular elections and for any political party, this sizable vote bank (consisting of 2.5 million Tamils) is extremely important. No right thinking person, the High Commissioner stressed, would like to alienate the Tamil minority.

Further elaborating the point, he said that more than 56% of the population in the city of Colombo are non-Sinhalese and there is no discrimination and social unrest or inhibition among various ethnic communities in Colombo.

He gave a detailed assessment on the treatment meted out by successive governments towards the Tamil minority since independence. His explanation included details of the distinguished Tamil citizenry in the political, social and economic segments of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the High Commissioner said that the hypothesis that the government of Sri Lanka is persecuting Tamils, has no validity.

Advancing the presentation, he said that as long as the LTTE is functioning no one can establish peace in the north and east.