Mr. Pathmanathan, St. Benedict's College, Colombo

The Consular General
U.S. Embassy, London
24 Grosvenor Square
London, W1A 1AE
United Kingdom


The Consular General,
Britain (United Kingdom of Great)
Canadian High Commission
Macdonald House,
One Grosvenor Square,
London W1X 0AB,
England



We, the undersigned, all former students of St. Benedicts College, Colombo, Sri Lanka, wish to appeal to the Canadian and U.S. consular offices in London, England, to favorably consider the application of Mr. C. Pathmanathan for a temporary visitor visa to travel to the U.S. and Canada during October/November 2004.

Mr. Pathmanathans current visit on a temporary visitor visa to London is being sponsored by a former student, Mr. Chandra V. Kumar of London, England. Since we came to know of his presence in England, we persuaded him to visit North America to meet with us, his former colleagues and students, and our families. Most of us are professionals who have lived in North America for between fifteen and thirty years. Although Mr. Pathmanathan is willing to accept our invitation, he is of the opinion that, as a Sri Lankan citizen, he may be required to obtain Canadian and U.S. visas at their respective consular offices in Sri Lanka. We are appealing to your office to consider the special circumstances described below and enable Mr. Pathmanthan to obtain the required visas from the London offices instead.

We all owe Mr. Pathmanathan a great deal of gratitude for having served our alma mater so well for nearly twenty-five years, and many of us were privileged to have had the guidance, support, and friendship of this exceptional human being and truly rare teacher during our schooldays at St. Benedicts College, which is one of the primary and honored academic institutions in Sri Lanka. The 139 year old school has an enviable record of producing some of the best and one of the largest numbers of professionals in all fieldsacademic, politics, business, sports, and entertainment. A significant number of former students are successful professionals now settled in the United States and Canada. Mr. Pathmanathan is undoubtedly one of the leading motivators for most of our successes, having devoted most of his life to the services of the school and, by extension, the many generations of youth fortunate enough to pass through its hallowed corridors. He was also instrumental in introducing and establishing a very successful Boys Scouts program at St. Benedicts College where he also served as the Head Scout Master. We would cherish an opportunity to meet with him, recognize him, and honor him at a special gathering and also introduce our children and friends to this treasured mentor who we all admire, respect, and love. Mr. Pathmanathan remains an active participant of the Old Boys Union, and even served as the General Secretary of the Association in Sri Lanka for a year.

After retiring from St. Benedicts College Mr. Pathmanathan spent nearly twenty years volunteering for the Ramakrishna Mission in Sri Lanka (and this despite numerous opportunities to use his tremendous skills in potentially lucrative activities). He is now close to seventy years old and is a resident of an elders home in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, where he has also voluntarily undertaken much of the management and care of the facility. This is in keeping with the unrelenting humanitarian outlook that has dominated his entire life. Mr. Kumar was fortunate enough to meet with Mr. Pathmanathan during a recent visit to Sri Lanka, and it was with much reluctance that Mr. Pathmanathan agreed to take some time off from his daily responsibilities to those in his care to visit the United Kingdom. He is due to be back in Sri Lanka by mid-December and is highly unlikely to agree to make another long, overseas tour of this kind.

Should Mr. Pathmanathan be granted the visa to travel to Canada and the U.S. all his expenses related to travel and accommodation during the visit to the U.S. will be met by Dr. Prem Premakumar who will host him at his residence in Media, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA, while Mr. Kail T. Rajah of Toronto will meet all travel to visit Canada and host him at his private residence. The respective addresses are as follows:

Dr. Prem V. Premakumar
20 Media, PA 19063.
United States

Mr. Kail T. Rajah
Unit 1108, 80 Alton Towers
Toronto, M1V5E8
Canada

We sincerely hope the consular offices will take into consideration the special circumstances of this case and enable Mr. Pathmanathan visit Canada and the United States during this tour. We greatly appreciate your consideration in this regard.

Please feel free to contact Prem V. Premakumar (in the U.S.) by phone (610-892-7454 [h]and Mr. Kail T. Rajah in Canada by phone at 416-298-9777 if you have any concerns or questions.

Thank you.