arrest in parliament square over tamil eelam t-shirt
rikki | 02.06.2009 13:01 | Anti-militarism | Repression | Social Struggles
continuing the story from 
http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/431149.html, maria was yesterday arrested for wearing a t-shirt bearing the symbol of the tamil eelam. the symbol bears similarities to the tamil tiger LTTE logo, but has significant historical and graphic differences. police have kept flipping on this issue all week
http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/431149.html, maria was yesterday arrested for wearing a t-shirt bearing the symbol of the tamil eelam. the symbol bears similarities to the tamil tiger LTTE logo, but has significant historical and graphic differences. police have kept flipping on this issue all week
last week, i filmed maria (peacestrike.org) being told by armed protection officers outside new scotland yard that the counter terrorism command unit (SO15) confirmed the flag she was waving was NOT that of the proscribed tamil tiger liberation organisation, and so they could not process or arrest her under the terrorism act. (vid at http://london.indymedia.org.uk/videos/1478).
since then, police in the square have come up with various new decisions and interpretations of the law. over the weekend, they decided a flag on a fixed pole was legal but anyone carrying one would be liable for arrest - bizarre.
on monday, the politicians finally returned from their easter holidays (remember easter?!), presumably to count their money again. as predicted, someone went spare about the flags on show in parliament square, and at lunchtime, police ripped them down, breaking one of the poles in doing so.
maria then displayed the symbol on a t-shirt, and stopping short of ripping that off her, the police then arrested her, and held her for six hours, where she was questioned by officers from SO15.
she was then released on police bail until september, with no conditions.
some have suggested that the tamil eelam flag is illegal because it shows guns, but thanks to research by matt from 'bear witness films', we have found two examples of nation states with similar imagery on their flags.
if you go to the mozambique embassy in london, you will see an image of an kalashnikov AK47 proudly displayed on their flags outside the building. similarly the guatamalan embassy displays its flag with guns outside their embassy.
the red tamil eelam flag was established in 1990, and represents the whole of the tamil people. in its imagery, as well as the tiger which represents fearlessness and freedom, the colour yellow was chosen to represent that their freedom must be obtained through humanity and human honesty.
to demand the removal of the flag is to strip the tamil people of their symbol at the very time when they have also been brutally stripped of their de facto state. it adds to our government's complicity in the war crimes of the sri lankan authorities.
the uk licensed £7m worth of military exports to sri lanka in the first quarter of 2007 alone. we also agreed in 2005 to £41m debt relief over the next ten years. police have complained that control of the tamil protests in parliament square have cost a few million pounds. all this would not be necessary if our government stopped being complicit in the genocide through arms sales and aid.
finally, while we're on the subject of flags, the sri lankan national flag shows a golden lion holding a sword. this has been interpreted as the lion being the only beast that can defeat the tiger, and slaying the tiger with its sword.
perhaps a fittingly genocidal symbol for a genocidal regime?
http://london.indymedia.org.uk/videos/1478). since then, police in the square have come up with various new decisions and interpretations of the law. over the weekend, they decided a flag on a fixed pole was legal but anyone carrying one would be liable for arrest - bizarre.
on monday, the politicians finally returned from their easter holidays (remember easter?!), presumably to count their money again. as predicted, someone went spare about the flags on show in parliament square, and at lunchtime, police ripped them down, breaking one of the poles in doing so.
maria then displayed the symbol on a t-shirt, and stopping short of ripping that off her, the police then arrested her, and held her for six hours, where she was questioned by officers from SO15.
she was then released on police bail until september, with no conditions.
some have suggested that the tamil eelam flag is illegal because it shows guns, but thanks to research by matt from 'bear witness films', we have found two examples of nation states with similar imagery on their flags.
if you go to the mozambique embassy in london, you will see an image of an kalashnikov AK47 proudly displayed on their flags outside the building. similarly the guatamalan embassy displays its flag with guns outside their embassy.
the red tamil eelam flag was established in 1990, and represents the whole of the tamil people. in its imagery, as well as the tiger which represents fearlessness and freedom, the colour yellow was chosen to represent that their freedom must be obtained through humanity and human honesty.
to demand the removal of the flag is to strip the tamil people of their symbol at the very time when they have also been brutally stripped of their de facto state. it adds to our government's complicity in the war crimes of the sri lankan authorities.
the uk licensed £7m worth of military exports to sri lanka in the first quarter of 2007 alone. we also agreed in 2005 to £41m debt relief over the next ten years. police have complained that control of the tamil protests in parliament square have cost a few million pounds. all this would not be necessary if our government stopped being complicit in the genocide through arms sales and aid.
finally, while we're on the subject of flags, the sri lankan national flag shows a golden lion holding a sword. this has been interpreted as the lion being the only beast that can defeat the tiger, and slaying the tiger with its sword.
perhaps a fittingly genocidal symbol for a genocidal regime?
rikki
e-mail:
rikkiindymedia[@t]gmail(d0t)com
Homepage:
http://www.socpa-movie.blogspot.com
Comments
Hide the following 5 comments
a picture of the Tamil Eelam flag
02.06.2009 23:24
the Tamil Eelam flag
anon
flags
03.06.2009 10:29
It is a group that have indulged in forced labour (at gunpoint) and forcd consciption, again proud things for a growing proto nation to be noted for.
It dosnt mater if others are/have done this, arnt we all trying to get rid of this sort of thing or are the Tamil leaders just after the same thing, to me they are just anouther group trying to murder their way to power.
The police have gone very softly on the subject of this flag, heres hopeing that C18 dont realise that they can now get away with flying the swastika with impunity, as it's the same thing.
anon
flags update
03.06.2009 14:32
Mozambiquan national flag
As pointed out the flags of Mozambique and Gautemala do have guns on them and as much as Bosnia, Eritrea and East Timor were born in recent times through transitionary de facto states (unlike Abkhazia and South Ossetia which no one questions as per international recognition)
anon
flags update 2
03.06.2009 14:38
Viva La Revolución
anon
flag waving
04.06.2009 12:14
The customer, who was also an island resident, was speaking to the shop's proprietiers about ordering some supplies from the mainland. The general gist was whether to get a large jar of Marmite or if to get several smaller ones instead. They went into great detail with their banter about the pros and cons of get one large jar or if to get several small jars because 'its nice to open a jar isn't it?'
This took over 15minutes to complete before i could get served. All i can remember thinking is:
a) They are stealing a chunk of my lifespan from me that i will never get back
b) Is it important?
c) Even if it is important, does it actually make a difference?
c) Would life be any different if they got the big or the small one?
Reading this article gives me the same feeling.
Are you wasting people's time? (Yes)
Are there more important things to worry about? (Yes)
Is it going to make a "real" difference to anything (No)
Would it make any difference if you could wave or rather than not (No)
What is happening is you are being deflected from you original issue (protesting about XYZ) to actually protesting about a tiny, irrelevent side issue (flag waving). If i were you, I'd forget about the flag waving and get back onto XYZ, thus not letting them distract you from your original aims which they appear to be doing so well at present.
Max