In the last three weeks or more the publicity given in the print and electronic media to the murders and mayhem committed by four or five gangs of Tamil youth living in a few London boroughs has brought shame not only to the Tamil community but to Sri Lankans in general.

The ongoing clashes between Tamil youth gangs even reached the Lords' cricket ground, when police put up notices during the first test match there asking for information that could help them find the killer or killers of a young Tamil named Suresh Kumar Selvarajah who was shot dead when he answered the doorbell of his flat in Wembley, one of the areas where Tamils concentrate and is prone to increasing violence and crime.

No wonder Sri Lankans were hiding their heads in collective shame when police sought to set up station at Lords where the cricketing elite had gathered for the first test and pointed the finger of accusation at the community in general.

Doubtless the police were aware that the murder was the outcome of intra-community warfare and that the best place to seek information was where the Sri Lankan community was likely to gather in large numbers.

But the police made a major mistake. Sri Lankans have been brought up on the myth that Scotland Yard, as the Metropolitan Police is better known, are the best sleuths in the world just as we are constantly told even now that the British commandos are the world's best.

It is true, of course, that there is one activity that cuts across political and ethnic animosities and antagonisms and that is cricket. That has been true since the early years after independence.

My mind goes back to parliament in those days when proceedings used to come to a stop or members absented themselves in droves when the Royal-Thomian match was in progress. Those were the days when many MPs and ministers came from those two schools and the match was then played only over two days - Friday and Saturday. Parliament used to adjourn early on Friday, usually by lunch time without running on till late afternoon.

The police mistake was this. Like the Royal-Thomian attracted those in the upper layers of society or those who attended the two schools, test cricket here attracts the economically better off in society, those who could afford to or would spend £25-30 watching Sri Lankan cricketers play.

But these are not the kind of people who kill and maim their fellow beings, often people from their own community. These are not the people who use machetes, iron bars, chains and swords to batter and hack their enemies.

Those who attend such occasions are the educated, socially comfortable and gainfully employed Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese who came here several years ago and do not generally belong to the refugee class which saw the influx of radicalised youth, many of them militants from one group or another who had been engaged in violence at home or had suffered at the hands of Sri Lankan authorities.

Detectives from a cross-London coordinating group who have been detailed to investigate or deter Tamil gang violence say most of the crimes are carried out by the same young men, most of whom are between their late teens and mid-20s.

Police sources say Harrow College has been the scene of numerous clashes between gangs of warring Sri Lankan youths.

As Inspector Phil Perry of the Wembley police says many Tamils living in the area are often from the same place in Sri Lanka. "They know each other, and as a community they stick together and worship at the same temples. They are intensely loyal because they come from a war situation in Sri Lanka."

Thambirajah Jeyabalan, editor of a monthly Tamil magazine called Thesam that serves an estimated 100,000 strong Tamil community here, was quoted as saying that these gangs were unsophisticated and poorly organised but could be extremely violent.
"Fights are between people of different villages. The main ones involved are from Velvettithurai, Mannar and Ariyalai".

This seems to me to suggest a strong caste basis for the violence that erupts here.
This appears to be reinforced by the observation of Metropolitan Police Commander Richard Bryan who says that the motives for the violence were many and complex but they included rivalry and vendettas stemming from their home villages in Sri Lanka and simple criminality.

Such is the nature and intensity of this animosity that journalist Jeyabalan says there have been occasions when young Tamils from Toronto or Paris were flown to London especially to carry out attacks and then flown back after their dirty work had been done.

The situation has deteriorated so much that the authorities have started high visibility policing at Tamil weddings and religious festivals because of violent attacks that have occurred at them.

Many older Tamils have stopped going for late night films because of clashes that have occurred. Those still going have to go through body searches before they are admitted to the cinemas.

Such is the fear of these gangs that people just refuse to give information even if they are witnesses to crimes, according to Paul Sathianesan, a councillor of the Newham Council.

"Nobody wants to become a witness because the community has a fear. If I ask whether they will come forward they ask will you protect me. So I say no I can't."
That unfortunately is what some callow youth have reduced this proud community to what it is today. Most of the problems have been caused by youth who have come as refugees, most often illegally.

They do not want to go back. They want to make of their time here and for them crime is no shame. But the vast majority of Tamils who are law abiding people and are disgusted of the shame that has befallen their people. They would like nothing more than to see these criminal elements sent back to Sri Lanka - or wherever - in droves and leave them in peace.

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