Jan’s personal message
Dear friends and fellow travellers,
Firstly my enormous gratitude for the way in which you took joint ownership of our “European election project” and for the zest and energy with which it was executed. It is difficult to distinguish between “voters” and “campaigners” because in this campaign, the voters were also the campaign activists. In one of our very first campaign emails we asked for every home to be a campaign office – and we can see from the results that there were thousands of “campaign offices”.
The dust has still to settle on the outcome and our analysis of the results is still not complete. However there are many lessons that I would like to share.
Firstly, that we live in a connected world. This means that events that happen far away can and will have an impact on our lives. This is due not just to the reach of global technology, such as the Internet but also because of the movements of people internationally and the increasing presence of “Diaspora”.
While it was always clear that the Tamil community in Britain would be immediately touched by the genocide of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, what became apparent in this election campaign is that many other communities – whether they were ethnic groups or issues oriented campaign groups or online music communities - noted and were touched by that genocide.
Consequently the fabric of British politics will also be changed as a result of the Tamil genocide: and rightly so. That is exactly how a connected world should be.
Most historic genocides have been committed by UN member states. Many groups have experienced acts of genocide. This is not an experience one forgets readily and today, communities across the world who have resisted or opposed genocide find it hard to speak out because of the criminalizing, “catch-all” effect of vague anti-terror legislation.
I am extremely grateful for the energy that the Tamil community brought to the issue of exposing genocide and I know that many other communities appreciate our efforts.
While genocide is by definition an issue of the destruction of an ethnic, national or racial group, the means and methods of genocide can be applied to any dissenting community.
Genocide is an extreme form of discrimination. Its intent is to destroy the target group. Just because one opposes it abroad does not mean that one should ignore lesser forms of discrimination at home.
Equally the suppression of dissent via broad legislation is a source of frustration to many people who are passionate about their beliefs. One of the longest conversations I had on the campaign trail was with a pensioner who has been involved for many years in Animal rights.
Diverse issues have connecting factors. Intolerance towards minorities of any type may increase in times of economic downturn as groups compete for resources.
Financial transparency and anti-racism were both key issues in this European election and will remain key issues for the next few years.
Financial transparency takes many forms. While we may complain about MP’s excessive expense claims at home, we may not have been told that international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, are also misusing taxpayers money, to the extent of indirectly financing and/or helping to cover up mass murder and genocide, thereby abusing the trust of the citizen who finances them through taxes.
As an activist group, we need to recognise the connected nature of the world and its inter-related issues. Going forward, we will need to continue to build alliances and to educate our friends, neighbours and colleagues about the issues of concern to us, explaining why they should be of concern to them too.
While this campaign grew spontaneously and organically, we need to assess what we can learn from the way established parties “get out” their vote. We have, for example learnt the critical importance of voter registration among under-represented ethnic communities, especially the Tamil community, and among young people.
It is not necessary to participate as a candidate in an election in order to influence its outcome. The group of people that came together behind this campaign this last month will certainly influence politics in the years to come. The extent of how we leverage what we have learnt this month and hence the extent of our influence is in your hands.
Lets look forward to the change we can make.
Jan
Comments (9)
Maiden Voyage,
Jan you, the Diaspora, the 50k voters and your campaign team have done very well under 25 days campaigning compared to all other major parties with long campaign history, political experience, money and media backing.
One week into your campaign Tamil Diaspora were in mourning the genocide of their fellow 20,000 + Tamils by the Sri Lankan brutal government.
In the midst of this you and your dedicated voters have achieved the highest votes ever as an independent candidate within Europe.
Best wishes for the future,
Gnanam
Apart from the election results, this is something a historical milestone for the Tamil Diaspora through your entry to the EU election. Within a short period of campaign you were able to secure a significant number of votes as an independent candidate without any political party support.
We should realise and admit the fact there were still many tamil voters who should have turned up to the poll stations on the election day or by any other means to accomplish their duty.
However, you need to take this as an opportunity to further reinforce your stand on taking forward to the IC about the legitimate demands of tamils to set-up a self-governed political structure at their home land. So your career has just started towards a long term goal of ensuring self-determination power for your community.
A well-organised politcal establishment with a pro-active polical leadership is the need of the hour for the diaspora tamils especially for the younger generation to co-ordinate and guide their waves of energy.
Through a proper institutionalisation of political aspirations and zest of tamils , you can achieve a lot; Yes , you can
Janani,
Thank you for courageously contesting the EU elections representing the voiceless people all over the world.
I think getting 50,000 votes is in itself a success.
If everyone of us had brought in 5 non tamil votes, you would have won. It shows our need to interact with other communities. Your candidacy has created the opportunity and has initiated that process.
Thank you for your eloquent interviews enlightening those who are willing to listen, on what is happening to us - genocide. Many people still don’t believe this. They think that a community should be wiped out before it can be called a genocide.
Again, thank you.
Best wishes,
Siva.
50 thousand votes for an independent candidate is a superb performance. Jan and her supporters should be proud of this achievement. Next step is to sign up to a major political party for a winnable seat in the next British general elections. Jan needs to keep her grassroots support intact if she wants to have another shot at representative politics. The recent elections ought to be considered as mere warm up for a long career in politics for Jan. Migrant communities in UK and Europe won’t find a finer representative than this bright, brave lady.
Congraulayionand keep up your good work.
Congraulation and keep up your good work.
First of all I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the MEP election achievement. This is a great achievement for you as well as the Tamil community. This is the first step towards a united community who can achieve their goals through a number of ways. Let’s forget the past and the differences among us and start the future with a clean sheet. I urge all the Tamils in Britain to rally behind you and your campaigners in forming a party that can contest in the up coming British general elections. This will help us to send community representatives to House of Parliament who can act as the prime voice for our community. I would also like to call upon all the experienced Tamil community leaders and contributors to come forward to work collaboratively and united to drive a strategy that will guide all of us (elderly to the young generation) towards achieving Tamils aspirations and goals. Let’s not delay in embarking on this journey as well as to act calmly. Let Tamils take the pride of showing the world what is the meaning of “Peace”. May god bless all in achieving the success fast as possible.
I supported a mainstream party in Kingston , it may well have done better if votes had not transferred to Jan.
However, none of us are complaining, because the support for Jan (2150 votes) soundly beat the BNP into 7th place with only 1450 votes.
At least here, it victory for the democratic process over intolerance. Well done.
Vanakkam Jannai,
Congratulations for your courage to stand for an independent candidate for MEP. This is another proof for my strong belief that the Tamil community is the most solid and united community in the world when compared with other communities. We have so many high caliber and resources people in our community and they are all around the world. Recently you were identified as one of them.
Tamil struggle is genuine and legitimate for a Right to Self Determination. We have to look into democratically effective ways to achieve our goals. We have to use all our resources to pressurise the Srilanka government to find a peaceful and acceptable solution for the Tamils.
Currently we need to work with the IC for immediate relieve for those in the internment camps, secondly resettlement thirdly find a political solution with the assistance of a foreign nation such as UK.
I wish you all the best for your future and for all your future effort for the Tamil cause.
Thank you.