Over 700 Melbourne Tamils, intellectuals and community leaders gathered at Holy family Hall, Mt Waverley on Sunday(17/12/06) 5.30pm, to remember the life of the late Dr.Anton Balasingham, theoretician and chief negotiator of the LTTE, who passed away last Thursday. Mrs. Betty Wilby, mother of Mrs. Adele Balasingham, inaugurated the meeting by lighting the candle, and Nithy Kanagaratnam, well known songwriter and singer led the tributes with his newly composed song “Closer walk with thee …” 

Speakers of varying background recalled Mr. Balasingham’s passion for the Tamil Cause and the tribulations he endured for “his people” for over 30 years. They included Adele’s sister Lynley, Dr. Siven Seevanayagam, Rev. Dick Wootton of the Uniting Church, Mr. Lionel Bopage (Former General Secretary of the JVP), Lawyer Sachithanantham, Dr. Brian Senewiratne (Physician and Human Rights Advocate from Brisbane) and Prof. Damien Kingsbury of the Deakin University. The tributes brought fond memories of Bala’s ‘Australian Connection’ from the 80’s, his political and economic vision for the Tamil Homeland, and his untiring diplomatic efforts of recent years for a negotiated settlement to the conflict. 

Of particular importance was the speech made by Prof. Kingsbury, a key negotiator in the Indonesia’s Aceh Conflict. Reflecting on comments made by Norway’s peace facilitator Erik Solheim that Balasingham’s death is a setback to Sri Lanka's peace process, Prof. Kingsbury saw many parallels between the Tamil Struggle and the Aceh Conflict and said that, despite the irreparable loss of Balasingham, “the struggle for justice will continue”. 

Tamil writer and orator Sri Kandarajah and Mr. Nandakumar of ‘Kalai Panpattu Kalaham’ paid their homage with poems, while Sabesan Sanmugam (TCC) recollected his rewarding experience with Bala Annai during the historic media conference held in Kilinochchi with Tamil national leader Pirapaharan in April 2002.





























































































































































































































Also spoke eloquently were two young men from Melbourne’s Tamil community. Speaking on the topics – ‘Balasingham an Inspiration’ and ‘The Balasingham Legacy’ – Pratheepan Balasubramaniam and Prasanna Chandrakumar recounted the contribution made by Bala Annai to end the sufferings of the Tamils ‘back home’. Their understanding of the Tamil Cause gave the audience the impression that the liberation of Tamil Eelam is not too far away. Balasingham – ‘The Voice of the Nation’ has well and truly set it on the right track.

18 December 2006