From Salem-News.com:
For immediate
release
Contact: Tim King 503
302-2861
Sri Lanka War Crimes Against Tamils: Oregon Journalist
Will Give Key Note Address at FeTNA in Baltimore
2,000–3,000 Tamil Americans and Canadians are expected
to attend the 25th year celebration.
(BALTIMORE) - A key note address will be delivered at
the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) conference in
Baltimore, Md. on July 6th and 7th. (www.fetna.org), by Salem-News.com's Executive News
Editor, Tim King.
On behalf of USTPAC (US Tamil Political Action Council),
Tim was invited to speak about his coverage of war crimes in Sri Lanka, by Elias
Jeyarajah, PhD, President of USTPAC, which holds a parallel session during
FeTNA. (www.ustpac.org) Tim has written
nearly 50 articles that explore and reveal the events that culminated in the
ethnic cleansing of Tamils in north Sri Lanka in May 2009. He says part of what
drives him is the large number of missing and murdered journalists who are
believed to have been eliminated for writing about the war crimes against
Tamils.
Elias Jeyarajah with USTAPC explains there are over 2
dozen Tamil Sangams (Associations of Tamil Americans) in North America.
"Once a year they hold an annual get together
coordinated by an organization called FeTNA, or Federation of Tamil Sangams of
North America. This year's convention happens to be FeTNA's 25th yr (Silver
Jubilee) celebration, to be held in Baltimore."
He explains that the Sri Lanka problem is specifically
being addressed at this special event:
"While FeTNA is mainly a cultural organization, the 3-yr
old USTPAC is the major political organization of Tamil Americans and friends of
Tamils in the USA. In addition, we (USTPAC) also put together a one-hour prime
time program at FeTNA for the entire attendees on the issues affecting Tamils in
Sri Lanka."
Bonnie King, Salem-News.com's Publisher, has also been
involved in supporting the news group's mission to expose Sri Lanka's war
crimes. She will attend the event in Baltimore, and both of these U.S. journos
will be exposed to, as Elias says, "plenty of Tamil food, music, classical dance
and more".
When inviting Mr. King to the event, USTPAC's President
said their group is grateful to the efforts of the Kings' Oregon based
Salem-News.com:
"Tim, Tamil Americans are eternally grateful for the
phenomenal support of Salem-News in highlighting the Tamil genocide, and we will
be honored if you can accept our invitation and address us. There will be about
2,500 Tamil Americans and a few Tamil Canadians at the event."
Tim King says being invited to FeTNA as a distinguished
guest to deliver a key note address is an extreme honor and he believes hope for
the Tamil Diaspora is on the horizon.
"We have followed the Tamil tragedy since December,
2010. I had no idea what I was getting into at first, yet I quickly saw that I
was on a one-way road -- and that a large number of human beings were suffering
for justice and overwhelmed with death, to a point that I just could not believe
it; yet I had to, because the evidence was overpowering from the offset. Since
then I've invested a great deal of time researching the real facts of the case
and bringing them forward."
More on FeTNA
FeTNA, Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, is
an umbrella organization of Tamil Sangams (organizations) that represents the
half a million strong Tamil community scattered throughout America. FeTNA is a
registered, non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization in the USA. It is an
organization that fosters Tamil language and culture, and functions to educate
the Americans of Tamil origin to the greatness of Tamil language, literature and
the virtues of 2000 year-old ethical poetry of Thiru-Valluvar. It also serves to
raise its voice whenever and wherever any harm is done to Tamils anywhere in the
world.
FeTNA commemorates its Silver Jubilee from July 5- 8,
2012 at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD, USA. This historic event of 25th
year jubilee convention brings the Tamil community, originally from India and
Sri Lanka, together in Washington D.C. Several artists, poets and academics have
been invited from Tamil Nadu, India for the event. Invitations have also been
extended to several government officials in the US including Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, Assistant Secretary Robert Blake, congresspersons, senators and
Governor for Maryland.
About 2,000 – 3,000 Tamil Americans and a number of
Tamil Canadians are expected to attend the 25th year celebrations. Past programs
of FeTNA can be viewed at the organization’s website: www.fetna.org.
"FeTNA is grateful that Mr. Tim King will attend along
with Mrs. Bonnie King, and address the gathering on July 6th at 4:30 p.m.," said
Elias Jeyarajah.
Tim King of
Salem-News.com humbly accepts the invitation, and we look forward to sharing the
special event with our worldwide readership.