Thousands died because of war crimes in Mullivaikal, Sri Lanka a year ago. We can do our bit here in Malaysia by attending a Remembrance Event tonight at Brickfields Girls Guide Hall (or at least light a lamp at home) and signing Amnesty International’s petition. Details below.
One year ago, thousands of Tamils lost their lives in the dying days of the Sri Lankan civil war. Despite calls by numerous international agencies, the Sri Lankan government has blocked any independent inquiry into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. For background information, read here.
Today is the 1st anniversary of that tragic event. It will be celebrated in Sri Lanka as a day of victory. It will be mourned in the rest of the world, particularly by members of the worldwide Global Tamil Forum as a day of tragedy.
Amnesty International has launched a global campaign calling for an independent inquiry into this tragedy. They point out:
One year on, the situation for civilian communities caught up in the conflict shows no sign of improving:
- Some 80,000 people remain in camps and funds for their support are running out.
- The rest of the 300,000 displaced civilians who have tried to resettle remain vulnerable and struggle to survive in communities where homes and infrastructure were destroyed.
- Thousands of people detained for suspected links to the LTTE remain in detention without access to the courts.
- The government continues to extend the state of emergency, restricting many basic human rights and freedom of speech.
- No meaningful action has been taken to investigate reports of war crimes
The New York Times also reports that “Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians died in the last, bloody months of Sri Lanka‘s civil war, the International Crisis Group said in an investigative report to be released Monday, most of them as a result of government shelling of areas that were supposed to be safe zones” and ends:
“All but a small portion of these deaths were due to government shelling,” the report said. (International Crisis Group)
Those of us in Malaysia can take action and show our respect for the innocent who died in 3 ways:-
1. Sign Amnesty’s online petition by clicking here.
2. Attend the Remembrance Gathering tonight organised by the Malaysian Tamil Forum at the following venue:
Tuesday , May 18, 7.00 p.m. @ Girl Guide’s Association Hall, Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad, Brickfields
(Near Vivekanda Secondary & Tamil Methodist Church)
Light refreshments will be served
3. As a mark of respect and of remembrance, light a lamp or candle, or fly a white flag, at home tonight.
Related Internet Links:
Sri Lanka: Inside the war zone – The Guardian UK
Sri Lanka under fire for killing thousands – The Sydney Morning Herald
EVERYTHING THE TIGERS DID WAS TO HELP THE TAMILS!
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — a terrorist group outlawed in Canada — have been fighting for a separate state for years, and the Calgary man said that "everything [the Tamil Tigers] had done was to help us, to help Tamils."
"I don’t look at the Tigers as an organization that someone made, I look at the Tigers as my fellow people and citizens…. Women and men from families across Sri Lanka gave themselves up to fight for the protection of their families," he said. “I want Tamil people to have a country where they can live freely, and live like Canadians live here."
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/Tamil+families+desper…
Make no mistake about it, Israel aided and abetted the war against Tamils.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3923309…
"For years Israel has aided our war on terror through the exchange of information and the sale of military technology and equipment," says Perera.
"Our air force fleet includes 17 Kfir warplanes, and we also have Dabur patrol boats. Our pilots were trained in Israel, and we have received billions of dollars in aid over the past few years.
At the height of its power, the organization's guerilla force numbered some 35,000 fighters," according to Perera.
Over the next few years more and more information will come to light showing the duplicity of India. India was not neutral in this war. India was the mastermind in this war. The LTTE lost to India, not to Sri Lanka, as mentioned by Rajapakshe. Let us be clear on who the enemies of the legitimate interests of the Tamils are!
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LG03Df01.html
Swamy elaborates through fresh revelations that the Congress Party-led coalition government in India played a crucial role in the LTTE's rout. The preceding regime in New Delhi under the Bharatiya Janata Party had covertly orchestrated the Norway-sponsored ceasefire agreement between Colombo and the LTTE in 2002. But the Indian establishment under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, a woman widowed by Prabhakaran, progressively tilted towards the Sri Lankan government in the war's endgame.
India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) cracked down hard on LTTE's networks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and kept a gimlet eye on developments in Sri Lanka during the final years of the war. Swamy divulges that the IB was the first to uncover the truth about a mysterious accident off Sri Lanka's coast in 2007, when Soosai, the LTTE's naval chief, barely escaped death.
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi, widely regarded as an LTTE backer, actually did nothing to prevent the Tigers from breathing their last breath. **While serving Karunanidhi's government, the Tamil Nadu police's "Q Branch" crippled LTTE insurgents on Indian soil with seizures and arrests.** Indian interdictions were critical at the finish because "the Tigers' dependence on Tamil Nadu had soared parallel to their mounting difficulties in Western countries". (p 87)
Swamy does not dispute rumors that **India harbored the leader of the breakaway faction of the LTTE, Karuna Amman,** who weakened Prabhakaran's de facto state like none other. Recalling LTTE propagandists' accusations in 2004 that India covertly aided the renegade Karuna, the author mentions that this former bodyguard turned bete noire of Prabhakaran ***"quietly spent time in India when Sri Lanka became too dangerous for him". (p xlii).***
This would be a more accurate analysis of the 70s and 80s, but nevertheless it is apologetic, and completely avoids mention that Indian policies stood in the way of the legitimate aspirations of the Tamils, then and now. Indian policies ended with their abetment of a genocide.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/opinion…
…the Tamil refugees, numbering 250,000 at its peak, feel self-confident and physically secure, for them to return home early on. When political persuasion failed to convince Colombo that it had to do justice by the suffering population, New Delhi’s choice was made. The rest is history, but then various Tamil militant leaders did go on record that India did not give them the kind of weapons that they required to fight the Sri Lankan security forces.
Translated, it meant that India intended giving them self-confidence and a sense of security, once they were back in Sri Lanka. Otherwise, the idea possibly was to ‘encourage’ the Sri Lankan Government of the day to see reason and address the legitimate concerns and aspirations of the Tamils.
In context, ‘Operation Poomalai’ from air was again an attempt in that direction. It was a Sri Lankan decision to stop the war when it discovered that the global community distinguished between fighting terrorism, pre-9/11 and stalling humanitarian aid ?" then as now.
The air-drop followed Sri Lanka stalling aid ships from India as a mark of protecting the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The alternative would have been for India to be ready to accept more Tamil refugees than already ?" many of them having to face the Sri Lankan Navy, en route, unlike on earlier occasions.
Tamil militant groups in Sri Lanka were at it long before India entered the scene. Through much of the Seventies, they were onto bank-robberies and attacks on police stations in the North and the East. Alfred Duraiappah fell to Prabhakaran’s bullets in 1975. The LTTE had ended the controversial career of police officer, Bastian Pillai in cold blood, years before India knew what was happening.
It is also no secret that the Tamil militants had gone to Palestine for arms training and procurement in that period. It owed mostly to the Sri Lankan Government seeking and obtaining military help from Israel. Long before the India-Sri Lanka Accord, the IPKF and the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, the LTTE was not India’s favourite for arms supplies. It became Premadasa’s favourite. The IPKF saga was a case in point. If the LTTE became a superior group, it eliminated rival Tamil militants on Sri Lanka soil.
"The LTTE are still here?" I ask quietly, out of earshot of the now drowsy and dosing off-duty policeman.
"Yes," the tall quiet one with the steely stare says. "We are. This is our home."
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/sri-lanka/tigers-l…
The single-minded commitment of the Sri Lankan military to blasting the LTTE into extinction has paid dividends, but there is another power that shapes thoughts and actions: the power of ideology. In the case of the LTTE, and thousands of Tamils, *the idea of a separate homeland will never die.* A movement that was once based on terrorist activity and violence *has now entered a new phase* through fund-raising, growing political consciousness and commitment to the Tamil cause beyond the shores of Sri Lanka. It is a softer doctrine but one that is capable of gathering momentum over a period of time, chipping away at Sri Lanka's image as a democracy and its policy towards human rights. It could affect the island nation's status in a global context.
http://gulfnews.com/opinions/editorials/rajapakse…
"Some days the hunter gets the tiger. Some days the tiger gets the hunter."
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/sri-lanka/tamil-ti…
Velvettithurai, Sri Lanka It's been 14 months since the Colombo government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ending Sri Lanka's bloody 37-year civil war on the island, but the fight with the Tamil separatists is far from over.
"We are taking the fight for our rightful Tamil homeland to Toronto, London and Australia," said one former LTTE fighter now back working and living in Jaffna.
Speaking from a Toronto-area shop, Somy V. told Gulf News Tamil groups in the Toronto communities of Scarborough and Brampton are actively raising funds for a new phase in the military struggle despite Canadian government attempts to thwart the fundraising.
Security on the Jaffna peninsula is tight with the military allowing few foreigners to travel to the war-scarred region.
Red Cross officials in Jaffna told Gulf News nearly 200,000 Tamils remain in displaced persons camps awaiting resettlement. During a four-day stay in Jaffna, Gulf News was refused access to the camps by military officials.
This village on Jaffna's northern coast was home to Velupillai Prabhakaran, the late leader of the LTTE. And locals said they are still committed to the Tamil cause despite 100,000 being killed during the civil war.
"You will not see the LTTE as it was before," one fisherman said. "Our struggle still continues … but it will not be fought from here. We will carry on the struggle from overseas. That is where the struggle will be fought from."
"Remember this," he told Gulf News. "Some days the hunter gets the tiger. Some days the tiger gets the hunter."
This is your Sri Lankan Judiciary.
Alan Keenan, then a Mellon Post-doctoral Fellow in Peace and Conflict Studies and a visiting assistant professor of political science at Bryn Mawr College, US has this to say in his summer 2005 essay in Boston Review on the conduct of Sri Lanka Supreme Court judges sitting to adjudicate the Bindinuwewa massacre:
"…the principal responsibility for the massacres of course lies with the Sri Lankan state, and here, despite years of studying and living in Sri Lanka, I was in for an unexpected shock. Last August I attended one of the final Bindunuwewa appeals hearings. Held before a five-member bench of the supreme court, the justices—addressed by counsel as “your lordships” and adorned in dark red judicial robes and stiff white collars—had all the markings of decorum. At previous hearings earlier in the summer I had been disturbed by the apparent sympathy of most of the justices for the arguments of the lawyer for the second police officer convicted of murder. (The first had earlier been acquitted when the prosecution admitted that its evidence against him was insufficient.) But the final hearing was truly shocking. As the solicitor general repeatedly referred to the ways the Tamil inmates had been murdered—“beaten, stabbed, and some even roasted alive” he would say with a flourish—one of the justices began to mock his emphasis on the word “roasted.”
This brought much laughter from the other justices and the defense lawyers, and even, most disturbingly, from the government lawyers themselves.
This conduct was only the most grotesque example of the judges’ utter disdain for the crimes under consideration and for the state’s responsibility to determine the truth. The proceedings were filled with bad jokes and undignified behavior, lacked any sense of gravity of the case, and indicated no awareness of the state’s obligation to protect the inmates whatever their political sympathies.
Sitting quietly and scribbling in my notebook, I felt overcome with the desire to PICK UP A GUN AND JOIN THE TIGERS. I could only imagine how Sri Lankan Tamils would feel. But the only Tamil in the hearing room that day was my friend and sometime translator, who had lived virtually her entire life outside of Sri Lanka. Not one justice, not one lawyer, not one courtroom observer—as far as I could tell—was Tamil.
No one can therefore deny the fact that LTTE had not given up its operations.
LTTE remnants still haunting from foreign soil
by Ranil WIJAYAPALA
When Sri Lanka celebrated the first anniversary of its historic victory against the LTTE, with a show of its military might, the defunct Tiger outfit’s organisation abroad are giving indications that they have not abandoned their terror network internationally despite their defeat in Sri Lanka.
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the ceremony to open the Security Forces Headquarters in Mullaitivu on June 22, that although the LTTE has been eliminated in Sri Lanka, its international network is still active. However, they do not have the capability to wage war, he said.
It is the responsibility of Sri Lankan Government and the Security Forces to be on vigil without allowing the LTTE to span its wings to Sri Lanka. The intelligence units of the Security Services have to be kept on alert. “The Navy has a special role to play in protecting the country from rebels returning after receiving military training from other countries”, he said.
*The statement made by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa came just few days after the media highlighted the arrest of three LTTE intelligence wing cadres by the ‘Q’ Branch of India’s Tamil Nadu police, when they attempted to smuggle explosives to Sri Lanka. It was a clear indication that their terror network is still operating in neighbouring India. Although, no further details were disclosed about the LTTE network operating in Tamil Nadu, the arrest of the three LTTE intelligence wing members, itself indicates that they are in the process of reorganising themselves and attempting to link up with their counterparts in Sri Lanka. According to media reports from India the cadres had reportedly procured the explosive materials and stocked them illegally to transport to Sri Lanka. A cache of arms including 4,900 ordinary detonators and 430 electric detonators was seized from them. According to The Hindu, Siva alias Mahindan alias Ilaiya Mahindan (33) and Tamil alias Tamilselvan alias Sathish (38), identified as members of the LTTE intelligence wing and Selvam alias Painter Selvam (40), a LTTE cadre, were arrested when they were assembled for a meeting. They had reportedly planned to smuggle explosives to Sri Lanka with Suri alias Kannan, a Sri Lankan Tamil in Chennai, and a few others. Siva had been staying at Chennai for more than a year while Selvam had been residing at Erode, without registering themselves as required with the police. Tamilselvan had been staying in Tiruchi city. Explosive were abandoned in Tiruchi as the trio could not smuggle them to Sri Lanka due to strict vigil in the coastal areas, the sources said.
*Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne said during the Emergency debate in Parliament there were clear indications that the LTTE is attempting to re-establish itself in the country with the backing of its international network. According to him last May, the Police and the Defence Authorities had arrested 77 die-hard LTTE cadres still moving among civilians. No one can therefore deny the fact that LTTE had not given up its terror operations, despite their humiliating defeat.
*The Indian media reported recently on LTTE elements threatening ‘bomb attacks’ on Tamil Nadu rail tracks and bridges. The Tamil Nadu railway protection force had received messages from LTTE cadres as PRABHAKARAN BROTHERS, LTTE threatening ‘bomb attacks’ on tracks and bridges. The Hindu, quoting highly placed police sources reported, that Inspector Ramasamy had received SMS twice in his mobile phone – one on Sunday and the other, the day before. He had immediately informed his higher-ups and registered a case in this connection. Following the threats, the security has been beefed up in all railway stations and tracks. Patrolling was also intensified in the Salem Railway Division, including Coimbatore where the World Classical Tamil Conference would be held. The police in the districts of Salem, Vellore, Erode, Namakkal, Villupuram, Tirupur and Coimbatore with the Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police had undertaken extensive track patrolling round the clock between Coimbatore and Jolarpet stations since Saturday night, The Hindu reported. A special investigating team was set up and the origin of SMS was later traced to Tirupur. The team had already left for Tirupur to nab the sender, the Q Branch police said.
*In May 2010, in the first case of its kind in Canada under its terrorism laws, a Sri Lankan Tamil pleaded guilty to raising funds for the banned LTTE. Appearing in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, Toronto-based suspect Prapaharan Thambithurai admitted raising money for the LTTE in 2008. Vancouver is a major city in British Columbia with a huge South Asian community. The 46-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil, who came to Canada as a refugee in 1988, was arrested in 2008 for illegally raising funds for the LTTE.
*In April 2010 seven suspected LTTE cadres were arrested in the Netherlands with the support of the information provided by the Sri Lankan Embassy in the Netherlands. According to media reports, the Netherlands National Criminal office had searched 16 residences and business premises and seized computers, paperwork, phones, documents, photos, DVDs and 40,000 Euros. “Among the suspects were the leaders of various Tamil organisations in the Netherlands, who probably play a vital role in the LTTE international network. Leaders of the Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC), the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO), the Tamil Women Organisation (TWO) and the Tamil Arts and Cultural Organisation Netherlands (TKCO), are believed to be among the suspects. The media reported quoting the Justice Ministry sources.
*In March 2010, the German Police arrested six cadres suspected of raising funds for the LTTE. The German federal prosecution agency said that the Police arrested three German nationals and three Sri Lankan nationals aged between 22 and 58 during raids on eight premises including the Tamil Coordination Committee (TCC) in Oberhausen, in Essen.
*The Malaysian Government also expressed its concern about the Tiger activities in Malaysia recently. Malaysia’s Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said that foreign militants, including remnants of the Tamil Tigers, are using Malaysia as their operational base for recruiting new activists. Earlier, Inspector General of Malaysian Police, Musa Hassan was quoted in the media as saying that Malaysian police had detected the presence of several senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were reportedly using Malaysia as a shelter and logistic base.
A few important articles.
Sri Lanka: A View from Afar
http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/06/sri-lanka…
Rising Tide of Tamil Nationalism
http://www.nation.lk/2010/06/27/newsfe3.htm
Eric Solheim
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100627/News/nws_02.html
Folks, I'm afraid you are mixing me up for someone. I am not a woman. I do cross post some from GTF and try to provide some answers as no one else is responding. Most of the time I am away from the country. I just returned from Singapore after meeting with Tamil leaders from London.
Paramesvara, it is not that the war must go on. The fact is, the war is still on, right now taking a breather, a state of cold war for the moment. There has been 4 Eelam wars todate.
I can provide almost any amount of articles to clear the misconceptions and negative propaganda about the Eelam Wars and the LTTE. If you read anything in the media about the LTTE or Eelam – DO NOT believe it.
25,000 chinese convicts are working in Sri Lanka right now on various construction projects, one of which is to exhume bodies of those killed in the genocide and dispose of it, to get rid of any evidence.
sorry for the long absence, just got back from Sri Lanka spending time with my brothers and sisters……..Mr Pathma, did you miss me ?
I have heard the points of the Tamils living in Sri Lanka…….and I have listened to Mr Pathma. My answer is, the Tamils dont deny they have been sidelined. They want a political solution to the problem, they have suffered enough.
They are living in the present and looking forward to the future. Incidently I also went to Canada recently to attend the marriage of a first generation Sri Lankan Tamil boy with a white girl.
All the Tamils who attended the function looked OK to me. All spoke good English and in fact the wedding was conducted in the western tradition. I asked one elderly gentleman " Uncle what do you think of the situation in Sri Lanka ".
He said , " Let them settle their own problems, I tell people who want Eelam here that if they want Eelam they should be in Sri Lanka and not in Canada "
I looked at the youth, they were all in fashionable clothes, speaking in typical European style……..I wondered……… we cried bcos the Sinhalese did not allow us to speak our language and practise our culture. And now here we are, free to do as we please and see what happening !
We are a dying breed, which ever way you look at it……
just like how Indira is India and India is Indira, Pathma is Temenggong and Temenggong is Pathma……….
I'm not sure how to refer to you, whether it should be Temenggong or Pathma, since you are responding to both … anyway, i've been following your comments lately and I must say that your knowledge of history is very deep & far reaching. not many people out there, let alone the Tamils, know as much as you do … fantastc! The time you spend writing all your comments just potrays your passion on the course you are championing. Well done! Keep up the good work & we definitely need more people like you, especially in the present age.
you should organise a talk in KL to enlighten the youth on why this war must go on……….are u up to it Mr Pathma ?
That is what I'm trying to say Paramesvara, that most people do not know the truth and extent of happenings in Sri Lanka/Eelam, having bought the media propaganda.
As you may have heard 3 Tamils in India and one in Killinochi were arrested yesterday for having in their possession 5,300 detonators and hundreds of kilograms of bomb grade material. Think about it. 5,300!! YESTERDAY! In India!! The war is far, far from over, don't you think?
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Three-held-with-det…
Expendable items like materials, men and leaders can be replaced. 250,000 battle and bomb hardened teenagers in the Vanni are waiting to become young adults with a vengeance like never before. they are the future leaders. Our job is to pass on the mantle to them and let them chose the direction of their lives and community. No prizes for guessing.
This site provides a most informative 279 short video clips of Eelam issues, enough to keep one busy for days.
http://www.youtube.com/user/tamilmagan
too much of history gives us all a headache. you should be a history professor pathma. salute you on your knowledge. u should write all this on tamilnet. many tamils dont know this part of what has happened recently.
Something to sort out and wise up the credulous minded. This is an admission by a sinhala newspaper.
India’s gross betrayal of the Tamil people
http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/opinion…
..India’s eagerness to fulfil its ‘shopping list’ desires has outrun its essential concerns, thereby bartering away the interests of the Tamil people and apparently committing a gross betrayal of them.
…in 2002 , India took the Trincomalee Harbour on lease..
..These innocent Tamil people were made weapons for India out of their own blood and sweat. Today, India is using that very weapon made out of the blood and sweat of the innocent Sri Lankan Tamil people to achieve its own economic aims and agendas at those people’s expense.
The cause for the uprising of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka in 1980 was the Sri Lankan government trying to suppress the Tamil people’s issues.
South asia has about 45 to 50 ethnic nationalities, but only 8 sovereign nations are allowed by international convention. When the colonials arrived there were several hundred kingdoms and principalities and that guaranteed survival of each ethnic identity. When they left, they left 8 nations.
Already several languages and cultures are
at the verge of extinction even within Indian states. Due to the force of dilution and assimilation the state language suppresses the minority languages like Tulu and Kodava in Karnataka. (Aishwarya Rai is a Tulu. Her ethnic community which gave rise to Malayalam script faces certain extinction.)
In Europe the Scots, Welsh, Basques, Gaelic and Catalan face the same situation.
Jaffna Tamils face the same situation. If the current status quo continues, ethnic cleansing, demographic dilution and eventual dissolution and extinction would be the outcome. All ethnic identities must strive for territorial cohesion. The current status quo must not be allowed to continue. Failure is ethnic cleansing.
Gemini and Paramesvara,
I'm merely forwarding and posting news reports, something that is already there in the public domain. You need to know what is actually transpiring in the diaspora. The LTTE remains a US$3 billion empire. Grasp that! And, except in sanctimonious and cowardly Malaysia, the diaspora is furiously incensed.
Paramesvara, you need to keep your voice down and be more circumspect in your choice of words. Trust me on this one!
The struggle has made a paradigm shift from jungles to cyberspace and labs. Stay with the struggle, or not be an obstacle.
Loyar, some of my posts in GTF/MTF have been deleted. Please let Mr. Kanes know. So I'll post in here for the record.
Tamil Leadership (see pix)
http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/1450
The TGTE in a sense is a re-branded manifestation of the LTTE overseas structure. The first guiding principle of the TGTE is unambiguously clear about the ultimate goal being the creation of Tamil Eelam. Although it does not explicitly endorse the LTTE the TGTE’s commitment towards the LTTE was demonstrated clearly at the Philadelphia summit where the tiger flag fluttered boldly despite the LTTE being a banned foreign terrorist organization in the USA.
Rudra along with Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP had been the co-architechts of the TGTE proposal. After KP was seized in Malaysia in a dramatic operation and transported to Sri Lanka, the task of taking the TGTE effort forward was shouldered by Rudra alone.
Meanwhile KP had also embarked on a new course of action. He had convened a meeting of 35 Diaspora personalities in Malaysia to discuss the future of Tamil politics. Some of the attendees were not tiger supporters but ardent Tamil nationalists.
As a result of these consultations KP decided to form a strong Transnational Tamil organization elected democratically. He was supported in this by Rudrakumaran based in New York. Thus the concept of a Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam came into being.
Both KP and Rudra were keen to demonstrate that the Tamil Diaspora was not demoralised by the LTTE debacle. Thus an advisory committee to formulate guiding principles and proposals for setting up the TGTE was formed within 30 days of the war’s end.
…attempts were on at another level to set up alternatives to the TGTE. One such Attempt was the Global Tamil Forum(GTF). The other was the Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly (Thamizh Eezha Makkal Peravai).
The tussle within LTTE and pro-LTTE supporters about the course of action to adopt resulted in many internal cleavages. Three broad schools of thought emerged. They were namely the TGTE, GTF and TEPA schools.
Nevertheless the three schools of thought became known as the KP or Rudra faction (TGTE), The GTF or Fr. Emmanuel faction and the Makkal Peravai or Nediyavan faction (Ani).
But the GTF school of thought too is divided between the KP and Nediyavan factions. The British Tamil Forum for instance is pro – Nediyavan while the Canadian Tamil Congress is of the pro-KP faction.
Though Nediyavan is the head of the faction operating under his name Sivaparan is not the brains behind it. A cabal consisting of persons running various media organs amidst the Diaspora retains heavy influence over Nediyavan.
Chief among this coterie is Jeyachandran alias Jeya Annai the Editor of “Tamilnet” website. Jeyachandran like Nediyavan is resident in Norway.
Jeezz, you guys are nuts mannnnn
when the Malaysian Police deports the LTTE leaders hiding in Malaysia, they should not forget to also deport people like Pathma who are planning another uprising clandestinely.
Pathma and his friends should be given a free fare back to Sri Lanka where they can stay in Vanni Jungle and fight the war they believe in so much. After all if you want justice you should be fighting it from there and not here in front of your computer !
Someone should make a police report against people like Pathma. Who knows, there may be some terrorists hiding in his home too.
Pathma, enough is enough! Just give up!!!
For the record.
Tamil Leadership
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LF16Df04….
The president mentioned threats posed by the LTTE operatives in the Jaffna Peninsula, claiming that the area had not been cleared fully and that LTTE cadres could account for as many as 10% of the total population in the district. The president added that LTTE and its agents would do anything to advance their cause.
Moreover, according to the Malaysian National News Agency Bernama Today, Malaysian police had arrested a number of key LTTE leaders, among other foreign nationals, between August 2009 and March 2010.
Although Rudrakumaran is frequently referred to as the new leader of the LTTE in sections of the media, the reality has been somewhat ambiguous. The overseas LTTE structure has been deeply divided since Prabhakaran's death. Political commentator D B S Jeyaraj divided the successor organizations of the LTTE into three factions, the TGTE, Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and Tamil Eelam People's Assembly, also known, respectively, as the KP or Rudra faction, the GTF or Father S J Emmanuel faction and the Makkal Peravai or Nediyavan faction.
Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Resettlement Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, alias Karuna Amman, a former top LTTE commander, has also underscored the fact that the Tamil diaspora was divided and had conflicting views on the so-called TGTE. Muralitharan argues that the Tamil diaspora would fail to make a significant impact internationally because of internal dissensions. He identified three principal diaspora factions – the US-based Rudrakumaran group, the Norway-based Nediyavan faction and the London-based British Tamil Forum.
LTTE setting up base in Malaysia
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_10A/Jun15_1276…
Malaysian police had detected the presence of several senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were reportedly using Malaysia for shelter and logistic base, Malaysian National News Agency Bernama reported.
Malaysian National News Agency Bernama quoting Musa Hassan, the Inspector-General of Police said the terrorist groups are using the country for their financial transactions and exchange of information, in addition to targeting higher education institutes to recruit more members.
Sinhala Symbols, War, Peace and Ethnic Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
[ Saturday, 12 June 2010, 12:58.45 PM |
by Dr. A.R.M. Imtiyaz, The Sunday Leader, May 30, 2010
Hence, when politicians employ symbols and myths, it is often with underlying political agendas, which serve to enable them to cling on to power without addressing other pressing socio-economic questions…
The key nature of symbols in politics is that when they were being used for war against the others, it would not permit any politicians to use the same symbols to build peace. This is the result of politicisation of symbols. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala symbols (such as language, flag, and territory) were being politicised both for politics and war. Hence, politicians would find difficulties to fight the same symbols and to give justice to the ethnic others. This explains the difficulties pertaining to winning peace under the Rajapaksa regime…
The future, however, offers three stark alternatives; (1) kill all Tamils (another form of all out war against the Tamil nation) (2) power-sharing package and (3) partition.
Democracy in deeply divided societies can trigger dissonance and instability if politicians embrace irrationalised-emotional cards such as ethno-nationalism to win a political position
On May 17, 2009 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the major Tamil resistance movement, admitted defeat in the war that was waged without any witnesses and vowed to silence guns against the Sinhala-Buddhist state. On May 18, Sri Lanka security forces announced that the LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed by Sri Lanka’s military in a firefight that signaled the effective end to one of Asia’s longest-running military conflicts. There was and is a strong perception in the south of the country that Sri Lanka would embrace peace because the LTTE has been militarily defeated. This short article attempts to discuss some issues surrounding the use of symbols and also focus on how ethnic symbols are powerful and why they often become barriers to win peace when they are being politicised for war (by political forces).
Analytical Notes
Sri Lanka, which has been practising democracy since 1931 (well before independence), now ranks as one of the poorest states in Asia and is notorious for the Tamil Tigers who were and are claimed to be a revolutionary product of the country’s seven decades old democracy. In other words, the competent political outbidding of Sinhala politicians on Sinhala-Buddhist emotions and symbols against the minorities, particularly the Tamils eventually produced a state-seeking violent Tamil resistance movement, which erased the country’s stunningly beautiful global image as a tropical paradise and made the country one of the most dangerous places on Earth to live in.
Democracy in deeply divided societies can trigger dissonance and instability if politicians embrace irrationalised-emotional cards such as ethno-nationalism to win a political position. On the other hand, these symbols have a profound influence on the masses, who take political and religious sayings literally, particularly among economically and socially disadvantaged groups. Hence, when politicians employ symbols and myths, it is often with underlying political agendas, which serve to enable them to cling on to power without addressing other pressing socio-economic questions.
To induce people to make choices, political actors make use of existing or primordial identities of targeted groups such as language, mother-land, religion, ethnic values, national flag and food. The identity of the groups always matters and is sensitive because it shapes their decisions and existence. Thus, it is likely that groups would respond positively to the needs of political actors when the latter sympathetically plays politics on the formers’ identity. Moreover, these symbols often work well in non-peace situations or to mobilize war against ethnic enemies.
These symbols, on the other hand, would induce the people to make choices and support hostility or war against the others who do not share their symbols. This is the bottom line of symbolic politics theory. The essence of this argument, in S.J Kaufman’s words, is that “people choose by responding to the most emotionally potent symbols evoked.” Therefore, theoretically, we can define symbolic politics as a sort of political game by political elites and politicians on arousing emotions to win and hold a political power rather than educate the masses in a logical way to address the issues.
Peace, War and Symbols in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s Sinhala political establishment used Sinhala symbols in both war and peace with the LTTE. They were used and are being used to consolidate power of the Sinhala political class and to alienate the non-Sinhalese, particularly the Tamils. In fact, the politicization of ethnic differences began in the 1950s. Successive Sinhalese political parties formulated policies such as Sinhala Language Only in 1956. This made Sinhala the only official language in the state and sharply discriminated against the Tamil speaking population. Then an educational standardisation policy in 1972 allowed Sinhalese students to enter Science and Medical schools with lower scores than the Tamil students. The Constitution of 1972 conferred special status to Buddhism both in the state and for the public.
Besides, peace packages of the successive Sinhala ruling class did not provide either genuine political autonomy, in clear political science language power-sharing democracy nor did they have the political guts or need to seek a solution beyond the current unitary state structure, which is one of the major symbols of the Sinhala nation. The regime, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa that came to power in 2005 by employing Sinhala symbols such as war against the LTTE and anti-peace slogans, successfully defeated the LTTE in May 2009 with the anti-Tamil statehood campaign and with the support of the global political, economic and military aid.
The global actors assumed that the regime would deliver peace. But it is a plain fact that the regime in Colombo is not interested in building peace, and in fact, it is difficult for the regime to commence genuine peace when the Sinhala political elites had used the symbols in its war against the Tamils. The political elite may think it can retract its symbolic promises once in power. However, a recent study on Sri Lanka’s political outbidding strategies points that, when they have employed religion and/or ethnicity to maximize their votes or consolidate power, politicians find it next to impossible to backtrack on their divisive promises. And the same problem befalls their successors.
War destroys all possibilities for peace when it is being used by dominant groups against the weaker section of the masses or marginalised groups. The key nature of symbols in politics is that when they were being used for war against the others, it would not permit any politicians to use the same symbols to build peace. This is the result of politicisation of symbols. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala symbols (such as language, flag, and territory) were being politicised both for politics and war. Hence, politicians would find difficulties to fight the same symbols and to give justice to the ethnic others. This explains the difficulties pertaining to winning peace under the Rajapaksa regime.
Evidence does not suggest that the Rajapaksa regime has the political will, or for that matter maturity to challenge symbols and to broker peace with the ethnic Tamil nation and minorities. In actual fact, peace is a more serious business than war, and when divided and conflict-ridden societies represented by power-hunger elites who resort to symbols to cling to power, peace would face severe challenges. The fact is that ethnic reconciliation is a serious political exercise, and given Sri Lanka’s current political climate and inability to seek a political solution beyond the unitary state structure any hope for true reconciliation and evocative democratic practices will effectively wane.
One of the major challenges for ethnic reconciliation directly links with the war crime accusations targeted at the Sinhalese dominated security forces. The way the war had been fought by the Sinhala political and military establishment to defeat the LTTE triggered global concerns. As luck would have it, this ugly war, in the name of a just war, was naively applauded by some political intellectuals who often serve those in power. The war won without witnesses and the Tamil deaths, including children, constituted some acts that can be safely cited to make a case for ethnic genocidal war against the Tamil nation. It is also true, according to the ICG, that the LTTE and its leaders committed some forms of war crimes.
But when the State kills its own people, it loses legitimacy to represent and rule the people.
The recent sources suggest that the security forces got the order from the top (political and military hierarchy) to kill everyone, including Tamil civilians. Moreover, according to the International Crisis Group investigation, many thousands of Tamil people may have been killed in the so-called “No-Fire Zone” due to government fire “than previously estimated and targeted hospitals and humanitarian operations as part of their final onslaught on the rebel Tamil Tigers.”
The findings are very serious, and thus there must be global efforts to push for an impartial international investigation on this grave human slaughter allegedly committed by the security forces of Sri Lanka. On the other hand, State killing and war fades the prospect of ethnic reconciliation and peace between the Tamil-Sinhala nations, because they reveal the State’s nature and its desire to uphold Sinhala symbols and identity. Sri Lanka would not experience any serious ethnic reconciliation as long as (1) there are allegations of war crimes against the Tamil nation and (2) Sinhala elites constantly pursue hostile symbols for electoral and war purposes.
Conclusion: Three Alternatives
The future, however, offers three stark alternatives; (1) kill all Tamils (another form of all out war against the Tamil nation) (2) power-sharing package and (3) partition. Ethnic war will increase into pogroms, ethnic cleansing, emigration, and genocide. Violence leads to retaliation and counter-retaliation, as society rides a downward spiral of distraction.
Chaim Kaufmann pointed out, “war itself destroys the possibilities for ethnic cooperation.” The second alternative is to find a solution that provides guarantees for security, stability and ethnic peace, which can be materialised in ethnically divided societies through restructuring the State system with power sharing (consociational democracy). Such a peaceful resolution cannot be won by force.
This requires genuine efforts to build power-sharing measures with the Tamil nation and minorities. The military defeat of the LTTE provides opportunities to commence serious discussions on power-sharing with the Tamil nationalists. In actual fact, power-sharing could strengthen Sri Lanka’s democracy, its war-ridden economy, and bring about religious and ethnic harmony. But many Tamils both at home and abroad (Tamil Diaspora) are completely convinced that Sinhala political establishment would not offer any meaningful power-sharing democracy or federal system. The behaviour of successive Sri Lankan Sinhala rulers correctly proves the Tamil conviction.
If there is resistance to offer power sharing, the third option is partition. The demand of separation becomes strong when a power-sharing arrangement is not possible. Some may fear that partition may further strengthen the ethnic hostilities between two nations, but even if it provokes a period of violence, it would offer the separated ethnic groups much needed stability and security in the near future. In actual fact, the demand for separation would not be in vain if the separation reduces the ethnic fear and offers social and political security, as well as stability, to the different ethnic groups.
As I discussed in my research on ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, “partition experiences of Pakistan from India, Eritrea from Ethiopia, Bangladesh from West Pakistan, and Greeks from Turks on Cyprus all show that partition can be helpful, even if it is less than completely successful in terminating violence.” Moreover, the experiences of Kosovo and the possible partition (in 2011) for the Christians in South Sudan further validate the case for partition when ethnic nations refuse to live together.
It is not clear to what extent the developments of the past can help resolve the basic issue at stake: whether, federalism ?" as repeatedly asked for by the Tamil nationalists, Sinhala political elites will not go beyond the failed 13th Amendment. Then again, one would have to be a considerable optimist to believe that the global pressure will compel Sinhala ruling hard-line elites to change direction toward the Tamil question.
(Dr. A.R.M. Imtiyaz’ research and teaching are mainly focused on ethnic politics and Islamic transnationalism. He has published widely in peer-reviewed international journals. He currently teaches at the Department of Political Science, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA, and is affiliated as a research fellow to Global Vision, Kandy, Sri Lanka.)
Saturday, 12 June 2010
This is for the wide-eyed pacifists.
"The future, however, offers three stark alternatives; (1) kill all Tamils (another form of all out war against the Tamil nation) (2) power-sharing package and (3) partition."
"Sri Lanka would not experience any serious ethnic reconciliation as long as (1) there are allegations of war crimes against the Tamil nation and (2) Sinhala elites constantly pursue hostile symbols for electoral and war purposes."
"Chaim Kaufmann pointed out, 'war itself destroys the possibilities for ethnic cooperation'.”
"But many Tamils both at home and abroad (Tamil Diaspora) are completely convinced that Sinhala political establishment would not offer any meaningful power-sharing democracy or federal system. The behaviour of successive Sri Lankan Sinhala rulers correctly proves the Tamil conviction."
"Then again, one would have to be a considerable optimist to believe that the global pressure will compel Sinhala ruling hard-line elites to change direction toward the Tamil question."
Posting the entire article below as I do not have the link.
A must read!
For India, Sri Lanka is not indispensable, but for Sri Lanka, India is indispensable
http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/06/for_india_sri…
Editorial:
It is as clear as day light that this intransigence of Rajapaksa of resisting devolution of power to Tamil majority provinces of Sri Lanka (including granting police powers to these provinces) is going to create a situation where emergence of new militant organization (for separate Tamil Elam) is only a matter of time.
http://www.mynews.in/News/Rajapaksa_paving_way_fo…
"India, which had given weapons to Sri Lanka, also sent its troops in the last phase of the war on the Tamils besides helping with satellite technology. Even the arms that had been given to Sri Lanka by other countries had been carefully brought into the war zone with the help of Indian Navy," Dr. Wicremabahu Karunaratne said.
"President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself had said that he had only carried out India’s war on the Tamils which brings to light the fact that India offered full assistance in the genocidal war against the Tamils.."
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…
Now please open your eyes Malayamuda. Open your eyes!
The Tamil civilians were not taken as human shields as the Australian Federation of Tamil Associations confirmed during Feb-May 2009 as THEY WERE IN TOUCH WITH THE CIVILIANS, THEIR OWN FAMILIES AND RELATIONS, VIA HANDPHONE TILL THE VERY LAST DAYS.
This is what the Tamils think of the govt and it's policies:
"The overwhelming majority of Tamils, numbed by the turn of events, and disenchanted with government policies, did not exercise their franchise."
"While at the official level, President Mahinda Rajapakse will get a red carpet welcome in New Delhi, sections of Indian media, opposition parties and human rights organisations are of the view that the Machiavellian President will go back on all promises that he will be making to the Government of India."
"While the Sri Lankan Government also voices it concern for these people, there have always been a disconnect in numbers shown by the international agencies and the Sri Lankan Government. Many Sri Lanka watchers feel that rehabilitation of IDPs was never a top priority for the President. Even those who have been rehabilitated are living in shacks without water, sanitation and employment opportunities."
And to those who think an acceptable solution may be obtained by 'negotiations'.
"Next on the cards will be the issue of political solution. It is clear the 13th Amendment has become defunct and outdated. The merger of the north and the east has been undone by judicial decision, Mahinda Rajapakse has made it clear that police powers will not be devolved to the provinces and what is more saddening, Sinhalese settlement in Tamil areas has started in a big way. The proposal to expand the armed forces and establish cantonments in the Tamil areas will further reduce the Tamil population in their heartland. And, therefore, any verbal assurance on the part of Colombo that the 13th amendment will be the basis of political solution goes against political realities. Then what is the need of the hour? Before his visit to India, the Sri Lankan President invited the Tamil parties for a meeting and assured them that he would work on a political solution. The President has been repeating this mantra several times during recent years. He used the Fourth Eelam War as an excuse to delay a political solution. The war has ended, but the political solution is not in sight. Nobody today speaks of the All Party Recommendation Committee (APRC) that was formed to work out a political solution."
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers39paper3…
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/06/09/news02.asp
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/06/09/sri-l…
LTTE training documents have been recovered from Maoists…
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100609/jsp/nation/…
All along it was India that was a stumbling block to Eelam, as their policy was, 'a separate and independent Eelam is not in India's interests.' Till today this is the policy, and that makes India an eternal enemy of Eelam. And Pakistan is a friend of Eelam. This entity, India, cannot remain as it is, if Eelam is to come about. India has to be 'reconstituted'.
Is is so hard to see that India is already doomed? Is is so hard to see Pakistan supplying nuclear materials to destroy India. All we have to do is wait, for the inevitable to happen. Is is so hard to see a single gallon of toxic substances dropped into the source of the Ganga and annihilate the entire basin, contaminate underground water, of all life including 400 million people, and make it uninhabitable for generations? Is it so hard to blow up an offshore rig and create a catastrophic ecological disaster a la Deepwater Horizon? This is a Pakistani dream come true! And we can make dreams come true.
Thus India will be reconstituted. This is the next step. And replicated in Sri Lanka.
And you thought the LTTE was fearsome. To me this is just the beginning. It was never lost on us that Eelam will take generations to come about.
There is so much unquenchable anger and hatred in the world. We have faith in this anger and hatred. We have faith in people. Sooner or later The Unquenched will find us to deliver their wildest dreams. To them, we are God, now. Allahuakbar!
Meanwhile enjoy your beer and pork ribs. I will post you stuff soon, so it becomes eminently clear that these are NOT 'wild imaginations'.
Those who think that the LTTE is dead, that the Tamils will wearily walk away into the sunset with hat in hand, and Eelam is gone, now those are the wildest of imaginations.
what I meant was 99% of all those who fled, fled during the time the LTTE was "in charge". So during the LTTE era, many Tamils fled too.
i will wait for LTTE forces to stand up from ashes and fight for Eelam. Till then I will presume its just your wild imagination / state of denial.
"When we read what happened over the last 100 years alone it is clear
that today’s victims were yesterday’s aggressors and vice
versa. Is this is a case of poetic justice? Is it what goes around
comes around, and today you suffer what you inflicted on others in the
past: karma? Or is it a case of revenge: in the past you did this to me
so now I am going to do it back to you?
Look at one issue: the Serbian-Bosnian issue. Today, one is seen as the
aggressor and the other the victim. In the past it was the other way
around. Not that long ago they (Serbs) suffered worse as the victim of
ethnic cleansing.
Today, Israel is seen as a violent regime. When the Jews suffered a
genocide, not only at the hands of Germany during the Second World War,
but even hundreds of years before that, who came to their defence?"
Noting history and its recurring themes and reverse plays WHERE THE ROLES CHANGES EVERY HUNDRED YEARS, we take
comfort in knowing that next the Tamils shall be the aggressor and the
Sinhalas and Indians shall be the victims of a most horrific genocides
imaginable.
You too, Gemini, like Malayamuda, have swallowed wholesale the propaganda of the critics. Your sarcastic purile criticisms shows your innate ignorance.
Let me show you one piece of today's news:
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/06/06/sec01.asp
Now this killing and arrests is TRUE, but the rest is DISINFORMATION. There are no factions! And the LTTE is alive and well, and well funded. Do not believe the propaganda and misinformation being put out. Be more discerning.
Now read this:
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers39paper3…
"On the other, India had also been an active part of the Sri Lanka government’s war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through covert political, economic, military (surveillance and intelligence networking, supply of small weapon, radars, select technical and combat training) and diplomatic facilitation of the ways of war in the island nation. It is crucial to know that the Sri Lankan government war against the LTTE was a multilateral exercise of involving at least eight nations at the surface including China, Israel and Pakistan. But we cannot remain oblivious of the fact that India has been the lynchpin of the consensual polygonal strategies. The result is before us to see."
And this:
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/
otes6
ote586….
"The collaboration came with India providing Sri Lanka ALL FACILITIES, short of modern weapons, to improve the capability of its armed forces. It provided real time intelligence to control, curb, and destroy the international logistic and support system of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)."
Do not believe the SLA defeated the LTTE. It was India that defeated the LTTE TEMPORARILY! The SLA 58 and 58 regiments were wiped out in late Dec 2008, but later remanned by Indian soldiers ENTIRELY! An estimated 1,000 Indian soldiers died in 2009 as reported by Makkal TV.
I need to see some sincerity and intelligence here before we discuss further.
"99 % percent of the Tamils fled when the LTTE was well and strong. What have you to say about that?"
Today there are 2.5 million tamils in the north-east, 1.5 million in the south and 1.1 million in the diaspora. So where did you get the 99%?
Of course in any war the civilians flee the battle areas, to avoid the fighting, and in the case of the tamils many fled the north-east because they wanted to escape the conscription. The LTTE rule was contribute one person per family to the cause. Besides, people moved for economic reasons. As if there are employment or business opportunities in the north!
Daily I am in touch with the people via skype in Karainagar, Norway, Canada and Paris. Last week my family returned from a visit to SL. They stayed in the homes of a serving senior police commissioner, and retired LTTE fighters. My friend, a malaysian ceylon-tamil trained 4 Sinhala pilots at the Malacca Flying Academy in the late 90s, all of whom are dead or paralysed now! So please don't ask again whether I know the ground situation or not!
"Everyone" knows that sooner of later there will be racial riots and pogroms against the tamils. What will you say, Malayamuda, when it happens again? And "everyone" knows that following that the tamils will fight again. Everything is only a matter of time. It is the resident tamils who will make the decision, then ask for the support of the diaspora.
If not (if they don't fight), as the bomb maker in the article says, "the Tamil people will slowly disappear.”
In these discussions with you, it is clear that you have swallowed wholesale the disinformation and obfuscation put out by the anti-LTTE and the SL, and that you have no touch at all with the LTTE forces! Do you know the meaning of obfuscation?
Anti-LTTE tamils are the remnants, descendants and supporters of the other militant groups like the PLOTE, TELO, EPRLF, EPDP, etc. These are the people producing the disinformation amoung the tamils in SL and in the diaspora. It is these groups that carried out much of the executions and heaped the blame on the LTTE as there is no way to verify. It is these, including Karuna, who acted as leading scouts for the SLA forces in 2009. It is these who ferreted out the LTTE fighters from the IDP camps.
There have been no conscription of child soldiers since 1996. But there were many orphaned children, children of dead fighters, who simply followed the LTTE as they had nowhere else to go! One such was Charles Antony who was adopted by Prabakaran. Many of the fighters adopted children of dead comrades along the way, and this fueled suspicions of child soldiers. Do you know of any tamil family (the misinformers, obfuscators critics and naysayers) who adopted children of the war? I guess not!
It is clear you don't know anything, and this fuels your sanctimonious pacifism.
it's amazing that temeggong holds in awe someone who is a great nandu curry cook (tho' of course the intellectual side of this person has completely read the Communist Manifesto & Das Capital) … i guess that makes malayamuda & I not so intellectual people after all for not having read these materials. such a pity isn't it? The tamils of SL may have been amongst the first to use the internet, build submarines and runways … which is fantastic…but that was a group of people who used their intellect the right & correct way, unlike the great nandu chef with his PhD in military strategies. don't under estimate the importance of academic achievements. there is a whole generation in SL that has lost out on their academia .. what does the future hold for them? guns, arms, weapons??? is that a future you would want for your own children if u were there?
A member of the LTTE when asked today about the past attrocities will of course deny that the LTTE forcibly held tamil civilians, conscripted child soldiers & silenced tamil dissent and will at the same time be worried about the future of the tamil ppl in SL… well, what do you expect him to say??? proclaim proudly their attrocities? You can't be that gullible to believe the tale that is spun. There is enough actual evidence that shows the horrible acts committed by the LTTE and you still refuse to see it.. you are worried about what will befall the tamils of sri lanka under the sinhalas … well, how much worse can it be?
"In the absence of the LTTE everyone wants to flee because they know what is coming next under the Sinhalas!" .
99 % percent of the Tamils fled when the LTTE was well and strong. What have you to say about that ? Its shows how much of confidence they had that the LTTE would safeguard them and their property.
"ALL of them unanimously say that another genocide is just a matter of time. Abductions continues unabated!"
Unfortunate none of the Tamils I spoke to told me this. However the internet and other propaganda agents keep repeating this. Who would you believe ? The people you spoke to or information in the internet ?
Lastly, if there is another war, the Tamils will be finished for good. After that we will only have to write about the History of the Tamils who lived in Lanka once upon a time.
"The Tamil Tigers appear to have been finished for good. Those who were not killed in the war were rounded up and detained. Only a handful of fighters escaped. One of them, an LTTE bomb-maker now in hiding, denied reports that Tiger cadres forcibly held Tamil civilians in their last redoubt. Despite the evidence, he denied that the Tigers conscripted child soldiers, and silenced Tamil dissent. "You will see, within the next two or three years these very same Tamil people will begin a new armed struggle," he said. "A new war led by a new leadership."
"I am not afraid to die," he said, "but my only worry is that the Tamil people will slowly disappear."
http:/ /http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/06/sri-lanka-sarath-fonseka
Malayamuda, obviously you did not catch the satire. And yes, he completed school – O Levels. thereafter the struggle started and he was on the run.
You are placing importance on academic education when he accomplished far more than that. Did you know he read the Communist Manifesto and Das Capital completely? Have you even read those? I guess not! Did you know they subscribed to Popular Mechanics for decades? And that they were among the first groups to use the internet? How do you think they built submarines and runways? Reading school books?
You asked anyone to answer you and I volunteered. You asked about the tamils and I replied about the tamils. Now you ask about the resident tamils, which answer is obvious – they just emerged from the war, and they will take some time to recover. In the absence of the LTTE everyone wants to flee because they know what is coming next under the Sinhalas! ALL of them unanimously say that another genocide is just a matter of time. Abductions continues unabated!
Temenggong I just saw ur last post ……"those who cannot contribute to the cause, should just step aside and not be an obstacle, and neither should they criticise the earnest efforts of the conscientious ones"
Seeing the LTTE past tactics and how they systematically eliminated Tamil politicians and Tamil people who did not "step aside", do you suggest that people like me be killed also as I dont want to "step aside" and let the destiny of my motherland be determined by militants ?
What the Tamil people thought was a blessing in 1983 is today a curse !
Wow ! Prabhakaran has Diploma in Cooking and a great NanduCurry Cook ! And also a Ph D in military strategies from the University of Vanni ! My Lord thats a damn good achievement dont u think .
We should all send for children to this University for further studies.
You forgot to tell me if he attended school though.
I asked you questions about the Tamils in Sri Lanka and you have given me answers of the success stories of the Diapora Tamils.
Can you please allow someone with better credentials to answer the questions I posed ? If the enemy sees what answers you have posed, they will circulate your answers and make a joke out of the Tamils.
I forgot to add that those who cannot contribute to the cause, should just step aside and not be an obstacle, and neither should they criticise the earnest efforts of the conscientious ones.