The LTTE – A Spent Force?
A side issue arising from Professor Michael Roberts’s Dilemmas at War’s End: Clarifications & Counter-Offensive
According to Professor Roberts, dissident SL Tamils are of the view that the LTTE has passed its use-by date and a new leadership is needed to fight for their rights. He thinks these dissident Tamils have a far better understanding of the immediate priorities of the Tamil people. Is he referring to the ones now in positions of power because they claim they have accepted the democratic process? If so, has their record to date in upholding these democratic norms stood up to scrutiny? Or, is the hope a thousand flowers will bloom as soon as the LTTE leader Pirapaharan is dead? Or, could there be other reasons?
The argument that the LTTE has reached its use-by date is also debatable. The numbers do not seem to add up. If all the civilians trapped in Vanni are LTTErs, if a significant number of Tamils living in the non-Vanni areas are LTTErs, if the majority of the Tamil diaspora (as evident from recent mobilizations) are LTTE supporters, it will be simplistic to assume that the LTTE is a spent force, much as one would hate to admit it. The LTTE “has had considerable popular support both within and outside its terrain”, even Professor Roberts himself admits.
Apparently, some Tamils who opposed the LTTE during the days of the cease-fire agreement are now grudgingly recognising the role played by the LTTE in bringing attention to the Tamil ‘grievances’. By Professor Roberts’ own admission, “even those who are hostile to the LTTE have responded emotionally to this situation”. I believe that no one would be able to deny that the LTTE, with or without its current leader, will remain as one of the major representatives of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. However, one factor that led to the LTTE’s disaster was its claim of being the sole representative of all Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Those who support the LTTE today cannot be said to be doing so under compulsion, simply because the LTTE is at its weakest point since its inception. They support the LTTE under trying circumstances when all the international forces from India to the United States, from Russia to China, from Pakistan to Venezuela are supporting the GOSL while opposing any pro-LTTE activities by the Tamil diaspora.
“I am no admirer of the LTTE or of its ideological and military tactics, but I do not hesitate to recognise that it does represent a sizeable proportion of Tamil political spectrum and aspiration. So it is politically untruthful to claim that any true rapprochement can be conducted or achieved without their participation. This will be the reality. Those politicians and bureaucrats who claim a settlement can be gained without the LTTE seem to be deluding themselves.”
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Whether a force is spent or not depends not so much on the numerical or social support it can mobilize, but the prospects for its project, i.e. its strategic-historic prospects. The Tigers cannot win the war: even before this war which it is losing, it could not and did not win any previous one. It cannot win an election or engage in other forms of agitation because it is proscribed in sri Lanka and the kinds of slogans it will raise are also proscribed. Finally, it will not be acceptable to the international or regional state system. Therefore Michael Roberts is right and Bopage is wrong. The Tigers can remain as a terrorist outfit and a propaganda phenomenon in the Diaspora. But it has no future on the ground as a dominant or decisive force.
Dayan's comment for this article, doesn't make sense at all! Seems like he is talking Rubbish.
I feel Mr Bopage makes much more sense than Michael Roberts reasoning or our GOSL propaganda Machine Dayan. Mr Bopage's comment "So it is politically untruthful to claim that any true rapprochement can be conducted or achieved without their participation." is 100% true and this has been always the reasoning given by our politician to really do anything about this issue for last 20 years. It's because of half hearten solutions and fake commitment to peace and well being of all citizens of SL what got us here. Brained washed by both Sinhalese and Tamil extremists, many poor SL citizen, Sinhalese and Tamil, perished under these lies.
Like Budu Hamuduruwo said…"Hate is not overcome by hate; Only by loving kindness is hate dissolved"
I will end it with this… "Whoever tries to seek happiness through hurting others, cannot find happiness." – The Dhammapada
Sl government would not have the ability to accept VP in any form. so the issue is he has to go, with all top leaders, therefore, it makes sense what DJ says … majority will demand that that the terror leader pays for his sins…. once the dipora accepts this, it will be easier to have a dialog.. as DJ says tamils will have to sacrifce their sun god as a sales pitch…
The very moment LTTE lays down it's letah weapons and accepts a political discussion they can become a very strong player for most of the tamil grivences.So long as the LTTE remain terrorists I will agree with what Prof Roberts has stated. It is not possible to terrorise for demcrasy.
LTTE a spent force or not should change thier ideology and accept a pluraristic society and democracy and get over thier hatered and revenge tactics. How can any one accept them as a polotical force when they persue violence to meet thier selfish ambitions.
They have persued a self destructive struggle than a liberation struggle. Therefore isolated all moderate tamils from achieving a peaseful settlement. only pro -LTTE tamil voices are heard, others were silenced or self censored.
Mr Bopage is going hard with responses. Shouldn't these be comments anyway for Dr. Roberts original article? The number of responses clearly indicate the quality of the original article. Kudos to Dr. Roberts for discussing issues that are for some staunch, unbalanced mind sets, difficult to comprehend. Nonetheless, amidst all this drum beating, rational minds agree that the LTTE and its past/present crimes make them an absolute evil that needs to be eradicated at all costs.
End of the day, almost all administrations around the world now agree that letting LTTE even survive to see another day is reinforcing that violence can achieve goals. It will send an unimaginable resonance encouraging all force out there utilising brutal terror tactics to achieve their goals such as Al Qaeda. It will make insurgency fighting that much harder globally and create a landmark presedence.
This is what is at stake and good people now understand that.
If you're still hedging all your bets with LTTE, then it is time to re-evaluate your long term strategy. This time there is no one to rescue them.
There is a huge intellectual mistake being committed in this discussion, which is the confusion and conflation of issue with agency. The Tamil ethno national issue has to be addressed for sure, but there does not have to be a rapprochement or dialogue with the LTTE, which is the biggest obstacle to the acceptance and implementation of a viable solution (the evidence being the Indo-Lanka accord).
Dayan Jayathileka
Your presumption that the LTTE cannot win the war depends on whose war of attrition is going to be more successfull. The international diaspora wil keep exposing the acts of your army. As a so called democracy your governemnt will be held to a higher standard. Your government has been responsible for more civialn deaths than the
LTTE in this final war. The recent statements by your formere friend Lundstead, to the US senate comitte will prove my point. So you cant fall back on killing civillians and calling them terrorists. The number of maimed elderly and children will expose your lies. The APRC is still trying it s smoke and mirrors tactic. The international community may be gullible but we the tamils are not going to fall for those tricks. So even if the LTTE dont win we can try to prevent you from winning either. Only time will tell. The fact that your army is still taking massive caualties at the hands of the LTTE will prove my point.
Dream on Venthan. Every single international source and media outlet including those very critical of the Government, confirm that the LTTE has pretty much lost the war. The concerns are what happens afterwards, i.e, postwar. Lunstead does not call for talks with the Tigers, or a ceasefire or even federalism. He calls for cleaning up our human rights act and genuinely devolving power. The same goes for Bob Casey.
venthan,
It is more a question of how the Tamil diaspora can continue their struggle to prolong the processing of their refugee visas in developed countries and to make a commission out of the funds they (supposedly) collect for the LTTE in those countries. The war in Sri Lanka will end sooner than later and realistically, the diaspora will have to find more creative ways to prolong the conflict. Funding a Minotaur to shove deadly weapons into the hands of pre-pubescent teens and send them to certain death, to strap explosives to the bodies of youth, to kill intellectials and moderate leaders and crying "genocide" when the idiot fails – i am sure you'd agree is a misserable strategy that has failed many times over.
why don't the Tamil diaspora who want to continue the struggle just get college degrees and apply for "skilled migration" and get skilled jobs for a higher and bloodless pay… that's a win-win situation for all don you think?
Your government could have saved a few billion dollars if they had done what casey and Lundstead want, and we would have been satisfied as well. Want to bet on the prospects of this happening in the near future from your side.? Till the above happens we will not give up.So I will dream on. hopefully it will be the othersides nightmare.
Your Tigers could have saved their and Tamil peoples lives, education, and their own territory if they did not keep on going back to war, none of which they won. they could neither win a war nor negotiate peace. We on the other hand can afford the lives and the dollars, because we are a legitimate state, have the numbers and the bounty of nature. what lunstead and casey want the Tamils can get once they are full strength in parliament , elected according to proportional representation. they just have to unite among themselves and then with the major party that is going to win.
Even if the LTTE were to lose the war in numbers, the ideology of Tamil freedom will still be prevelant. You can't just win a war by slaughtering numerous Lankans, yes even civilians under the illusion they are LTTE, you have to go further than that an ensure safety and equal rights to Tamils, Muslims and all minorities. 'Losing' a war isn't about falling in numbers, its about giving up on your hope.
Now what I'm really interested in finding out is, with the LTTE numbers as low as is, how will the Tamil people bring attention to their grievances, and what will the GoSL/ Int'l community ensure these expectations are considerably met?
Even if the LTTE were to lose the war in numbers, the ideology of Tamil freedom will still be prevelant. You can't just win a war by slaughtering numerous Lankans, yes even civilians under the illusion they are LTTE, you have to go further than that an ensure safety and equal rights to Tamils, Muslims and all minorities. 'Losing' a war isn't about falling in numbers, its about giving up on your hope.
The ideology of Tamil freedom can have the same postwar, post-defeat existence as the ideologies of Chechen freedom and Punjabi( Khalistani) freedom and the JVP's socialist Sri Lanka. Once the Sri lankan armed forces have finished their job, then those with separatist -terrorist ideology can debate them, post provincial council and general elections, with Douglas Devananda and Karuna. Good luck, Heretic_Politix .
One thing that must remain clear is that part of the Tamil diaspora despite the majority of it still being blind to the atrocities committed by the LTTE has become increasingly vocal in expressing their disgust with the LTTE as well as their frustration against this majority within them that continues to USE the suffering of the civilians trapped in the war zone in the Vanni as a last shot at saving the LTTE.
*Apparently, some Tamils who opposed the LTTE during the days of the cease-fire agreement are now grudgingly recognising the role played by the LTTE in bringing attention to the Tamil ‘grievances’* – This statement by the author is implausible! On the contrary those who have been ardent followers of the LTTE are more and more expressing their disgust towards the LTTE and its ability to kill its own people while shouting 'genocide' against the government.
Sri Lankan state and the Sinhalese are facing the deadliest onslaught against them from the international community for their gross HR violations and calculated genocide of Tamils.
Up until now GOSL was propagating falsehood successfully but now the cat is out of the bag. In that sense the GOSL has lost the war.
Now, there are accusations of war crimes against the military. Soon action will commence. What the UN should do is, get all the soldiers now in the North East to a UN sponsored genocide tribunal on SL.
Such action is legal. When that happens the answer would be obvious as to who won the war !!
None of has stopped a single bullet or bomb reaching the Sri Lankan armed forces. As for your corny ideas, you've first got to get past a Russian and Chinese veto in the UN Security Council, pal.
It is not about who wins the war, but the climate that arises after the war; will it be feasible to solve the problems of the Tamils or will it not?. The LTTE after all these years has failed to provide a proper solution to the problems faced by the Tamils. By winning the war this situation will not change. It will only usurp another opportunity for the Tamils to seek a sustainable political solution to their problems. Haven't we lost enough opportunities already?
surely surely the climate that arises after the war depends on who wins the war? so it about who wins the war, but NOT ONLY about who wins the war…by winning the war the obstacle that was the LTTE will be emoved. If the LTTE had not gone to war against the IPKF, the Indo-lanka accord would have been implemented and the Tamil grievances solved to the extent feasible.
there are a few fallacies that you keep repeating infinitum and ultimately you get caught in the spin. The majority of diaspora tamils are hard working and contributing to the coutries that have accepted them when the were forced to leave from their coutries. You can console your self with all this rot about refugees and so on, but that does not go well with your idea of what this war is all about. The other is that the majority of tamils are living happily with the sinhalese. If you call the constant threat of white vans and armed gun men kidnapping you the height of happiness , you need to wake up. I can go on but we the tamils will not give up no matter what.
Venthan, the problem is that you guys are often oblivious to what's going on in Sri Lanka. You can't relate to those lower-caste folk in the Wanni or Batticaloa because they're not from your demographic- and that is why you were shocked when karuna rebelled in 04.
The Tamils in SL simply don't want to fight. You are only speaking for yourself and other bloodthirsty fellows in western countries. As long as you stay there and don't come to SL, there won't be further war.
It is disingenuous on Mr.Jeyatilleka’s part to blame the non-implementation of the Indo-Lanka accord on the LTTE. There was an administration that was in place that even he was part of. Why did the chief minister declare UDI (the 1st one ever) and left in frustration? Why is Pillayan keep complaining about no powers for the eastern province?
When was the last time any Srilankan government negotiated and IMPLEMENTED a solution to the Tamil problem WITHOUT external pressure?
Before LTTE, it was TULF that was the problem. Before TULF, it was the Federal party. Before the Federal party, it was G.G Ponampalam who was the problem. So after LTTE, who is going to be bestowed with that honor? I bet the argument would go something like this. “Only if those Tamils would disappear from the face of the earth, we can certainly negotiate with the few hundred Tamil now left in Wellawatta”.
We agree, either way, you win.
Milthi, who went to war against the IPKF and a few years later , murdered the architect and co-author of the Accord? The "Sinhala" army was kept in barracks and the Indian peacekeepers were there to enforce the accord. the Tigers were given an interim administration and seven out of twelve posts including the chairmanship, in september 1987. The Tigers refused. Now they have nothing.
Mr.Jayatilleka,
I was looking for an answer on what specifically prevented the srilankan government from going ahead with the implementation of the accord. The fighting was between the LTTE and the Indian army. Regardless of what the LTTE was doing, there was an administration in place and it supported the accord. Why did that administration declare UDI and why does Mr.Perumal, even to this day, moan about no support from the government. If that accord indeed was the key to a solution, why is the current government working hard to dismantle every piece of it?
In the srilankan context, just because someone did not violently oppose also did not mean they whole heartedly supported it. As I was saying earlier, successive srilankan governments have always found a convenient scapegoat to say why they are prevented from offering a solution. After 50 years of trouble, why isn’t there a solution initiated outside of north and east that everyone can converge on?
Milthi, I think you got your history confused. The LTTE declared war on the IPKF a year before the NE Provincial Council was elected. In Sept 87, the Indian government was considering letting the LTTE dominate the interim administration, and there was nothing JR could do about it.
What happened in 1988-90 is a testament to the dangers of devolution. Mr. Perumal was nothing more than an Indian fixture, and that is why he and the NEPC had to go. This is at the same time that Karunanidhi in TN allowed wounded LTTE fighters to get medical treatment in Trichy and bombs constructed at Coimbatore, while Indian jawans were dying in SL.
wijayapala,
When you talk about the danger of devolution, you are proving my point. If you did not find Perumal acceptable, you may one day understand why you are stuck with LTTE. And in the process of “eliminating” LTTE with out a credible solution, you have now made all the Diaspora tamils come together: A feat the LTTE couldn’t achieve even when they were stronger. And eventually, you may also find out that Diaspora activism is going to be far more effective in exposing the lack of will of Srilankan goverments than the LTTE military might ever was. Still stuck in the outdated notion of unitary state and with the mounting debt, Russia’s and China’s support alone won’t be enough to bail out the Srilankan state
Milthi, if we had kept Perumal then today N-E Sri Lanka would be a Union Territory of India. The diaspora is coming together because of the current humanitarian situation. When the LTTE is eliminated then we can begin reconstruction and the crisis will pass. What will happen to your diaspora unity then? And what can diaspora activism do that LTTE military might could not????
To all the Hela urumaya types, If you are so confident that the tamil people of the island love your sadistic methods of preserving the unitary state, why dont you have a referendum in the tamil areas and see what happens?. It will have to be a referendum monitored by neutral observers, not one of your sri lankan style elections. Then you will see what the tamil people want. However you would prefer to do what the turks did to the armeninans in 1915. The setting up of your " internment camps" is the first step in that direction. However we have the ability to expose your doings. Repeating parrot fasion that the LTTE are committing attrocities will not wash as your guys are capable of worse. Ask the women of Haiti.
Venthan, if anyone is a parrot it is you. Is the LTTE shooting civilians who are trying to escape or not??? Answer the simple question- yes or no!
Are the SLA bombing hospitals, killing civillans and hospitals or not? The main concern that we the tamils have is not who killed more. If they shhot civillians that was wrong. Equally wrong is your army bombing and killing civillians in the so called security zones.All these acts are crimes against humanity irrespective of who does them.
After reading HE Dr Dayan Jayatilleka and Wiyapala, I wonder what they can say about this:
Sri Lankan commandos sexually abuse 14-year-old Tamil girl in Batticaloa
Monday, 02 March 2009, 13:53 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos in Vellaave'li police division in Batticaloa are alleged to have sexually abused a 14-year-old Tamil girl in front of her mother during a cordon and search conducted Sunday early morning in Vallaave’li, sources in Batticaloa said. The medical officer who examined the girl admitted to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital confirmed that she had been sexually abused. The STF commandos, having ordered all the men in the area to go to a temple, interrogated the women who were left alone in the houses collecting particulars about members of the family besides sexually abusing them.
The neigbhours had heard women screaming and when they had tried to go for their help STF commandos had obstructed them, the sources further said.
Meanwhile, Batticaloa police interrogated the sexually abused girl in the hospital for many hours Sunday.
The residents of Vellaave’li are gripped in terror following the above incidents.
***
Can this be cast as mere propaganda? I DO NOT THINK SO. What will the state do about this issue (and other similar issues)? If this shows that impunity is the hallmark of Sri Lanka's heroic and exclusively Sinhala military forces, how can Sri Lankan Tamils accept sharing power with a government who commands such a military force…?
We the people of Tamil Nadu are watching and waiting. Despite violent demos by a voluble section publicly, there is not much sympathy towards the LTTE, not after the fights with the IPKF and the killing of Rajiv. But there is a ground swell of sympathy towards the Lankan Tamils. Hopefully once the war is over the SL govt will pave a way for the Tamil people to live honourably and with equal rights.
We sincerely hope a win will not lead to a crescendo of chauvinism and the "Winner takes all, loser goes to the wall" mentality. Because if that happens, the situation will be back to square one again and at THAT point of time, the ground swell here will become a tidal wave of support, both moral as well as material, and nothing will stop it, not even the Indian Government.
Adding to the the earlier post by singhala buddhist
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 March 2009, 11:04 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos who had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old Tamil girl Sunday in Vellaave’li police division, again went to the girl’s house Monday between 8:00 p.m and 9:00 p.m where they assaulted her father first and then severely tortured her mother before killing and dumping her body in the well as punishment for complaining against the STF with Batticaloa police for raping her daughter. The father was held bound while the commandos beat the mother to death, the neighbors said.
Gansan, You obviously dont know the mentality of the sinhala mahavamsa mindset. They beleive that only they have the right to the whole of the island. We the eelam tamils know this from bitter experience. Like the kauravar vs the pandavar we stand alone at this time in our battle for political freedom. If we loose they will intern our people in the camps they have prepared and then kill them slowly. If you go to tamilsydney.com there is a video showing the state of health care in the vanni.
Arul, our heartfelt sympathies are with the Eelam Tamils. I use the term Eelam as a synonym for Sri Lanka as used in Tamil Literature of olden times, not as a separate country for Tamils. The average Indian of Tamil Nadu state is not for a separate country called Eelam, any more than he is for an independent Tamil Nadu. We are happy to be part of the Indian union where everyone enjoys equal status, though there are thorny issues between states from time to time.
Similarly we do feel the SL government is now prepared to give autonomy and equal rights to the Tamils within the frame work of Sri Lanka, irrespective of what the Mahavamsa mindset wants. I may be wrong, but we must first believe what a sovereign government says and give them a chance. But if that turns out to be an empty promise and the nightmares you mention become reality, what I said in my previous post will become true. The flood gates will be opened and NOTHING can close them thereafter. The Indian Government will be forced to intervene militarily. When the entire state of Tamil Nadu speaks as one man, the central government will have to stop and listen. Failing which there will be thousands of volunteers for the Eelam freedom movement even from Tamil Nadu. As for monetary / political support, the sky will be the limit.
But that single united voice is not being raised now, mainly because of the ways of the LTTE. People here are totally disenchanted with them, and believe the SL government is sincere this time. Be optimistic, think of the millions of Tamils here who will come to your support if your worst nightmares turn to become reality. Whom do the other side have?
Gansan,
Your sudden optimism about Srilankan government’s generosity is puzzling. The callous disregard to Tamil civilian lives over the last few months is any indication of what is in store, it is not all that difficult to predict. We all understand why people have an axe to grind with LTTE but for anyone to just stand idle and watch innocents die is immoral. A government to say a certain section of its citizens is an acceptable collateral damage in its fight against LTTE, says lot more about the attitude of the government and the people who support it.
Somehow you have found hope that the Tamils haven’t been able to find in this mess. You may help the ignorant Tamils by answering the questions below? .
When was the last time any Srilankan government negotiated and IMPLEMENTED a solution to the Tamil problem WITHOUT external pressure?
After 50 years of trouble, why isn’t there a solution initiated outside of north and east that everyone can converge on?
Milthi,
I am sorry, I don't have a ready answer to your questions nor a ready solution to the problem. We don't have any sudden optimism about the government, except that we feel they too are tired of the war and want to move on. We don't just have an axe to grind with the LTTE, we simply don't want to have any truck with them. The spontaneous public support here does not reach pre 1992 levels only because of their past actions. They have killed far too many Lankan Tamil leaders and some of the killings took place here in Chennai. Killing of Rajiv was the last straw. Sorry, they have burnt all their bridges with India.
I am not well versed about the past implementations by the SL govt, and believe your views about that. My heart bleeds and the blood boils in my veins when I see the attacks on civilians, and their living conditions. I agree with you it is immoral not to do something. But the LTTE is making the matter " fait accompli" by not allowing the civilians to leave. What do you expect us to do? Invade Sri Lanka and liberate Eelam? That will not happen now, unless peace is first given a chance and India is convinced it is of no use.
The external pressure you talk of for implementation will come from India. We Tamils who are observing extreme restraint now will DEMAND the Indian Government to guarantee implementation of a package acceptable to Tamils. If that does not happen and the killings continue, THEN Tamil Nadu will boil over and force the Central Government to act. Failing which people here will openly start extending political/logistical/monetary support to the freedom movement, whether it is the LTTE or someone else spearheading it at the time. For I am sure the movement will not die down if the legitimate aspirations are not met.
That is my take as an average guy on the street, on the view prevailing in Tamil Nadu and India right now. I know it sounds lame to a Lankan Tamil, but that is the ground situation here at present.
Gansan,
I get your take on LTTE. As an Indian, you are entitled to be upset with the LTTE if you are convinced LTTE was responsible for Rajeev’s death. But your belief that somehow there will be peace if the Tamils just simply comply with the military agenda of the state is not justifiable.
Srilankan state is giving an ultimatum to a section of its population essentially saying if you stay where you are now, we won’t hesitate to kill you and If you come over to our side, we will put you in prison. If you are to argue, prison is better than death it might be so only for some. Many stuck in those areas, know that once they are in prison, they will be tortured, and many would be killed.
So it is not a simple question of going over to the other side. No one should be forced to make that choice under any circumstances by their own government. This is their homeland. No democratic government has the right to forcefully uproot a whole population.
Government is been saying there are only 600 of the LTTEers left. Does it make sense to kill 3000 people over the last few months and to put 250000 people’s lives in clear danger and also block medical and humanitarian aid over those 600 people you want to get to? What does it say about that government?
Your statement that the LTTE is preventing the people from leaving is also a convenient excuse.
600 LTTEers surrounded by 60000 armed troops holding 250,000 people who know they are about to die against their will. Does this add up?
No one knows what the people want to do because government does not allow anyone to go in and find out. Why not demand for a UN team to go in there and find out?
You say the same “ Tamils (in TN) who are observing extreme restraint now” when their brothers and sister are being killed in a mass scale, will “demand” and even “boil over” in the future if a solution is not implemented. I think you will get my sarcasm above.
Milthi,
I very much get your sarcasm. It stings,but you are entitled to your anger and your point of view. I agree with your point about UN / neutral observers in the "Safe Zones' and the world public opinion is getting around to that. All political parties here are calling for such an action. Unfortunately these kind of build ups take some time to fructify.
I don't believe there are only 600 fighters left. Such a small number can not hold back 250000 people by force. Nor will it take the army so long to clear the last 50 Square KM or so if that is the case. What the army is saying and the ground situation just do not seem to add up. Either the people are staying back willingly with a 600 strong rebel force, or the rebels' number is closer to 15000 – 20000 as believed by some analysts here, and they prevent the civilians from leaving, using them as a shield. We believe it is the latter case.
I don't know where you live, but if you have access to Tamil Magazines, read the analysis published in the Ananda Vikatan dated 4th March. As you may know, this is not a rag belonging to some fringe groups, but a highly reputed, popular publication.
Venthan,
Thanks a lot for following up on my note.
Now, the world can see what the Sri Lankan military is like. These are the 'special tasks' that they, sons of rural Sinhala Buddhist people, are capable of doing. Wonder if they have mothers, sisters, partners, wives and daughters. Just like Krishanti, 10 year-old Thenuka and Tharshini, this will also go unnoticed. I am a Sinhala Buddhist from a well-educated and very patriotic background, and I see the Sri Lankan military, its divisions such as the Mahasona Segment and the sex-crazed STF are the worst nightmare for a peaceful Sri Lanka. Those who blame the LTTE forget that the LTTE is way better than these elements of the State military.
Those diplomats and high-level officials who sing eulogies for the Rakapakse government and use their intelligence to justify anything and everything that government does, ought to pause a second to think what this little girl's life would be hereafter.
1. She was gang-raped. An extremely violent act that will leave a physical and psychological scar forever
2. They assassinated her mother. She lost her mother when a child, irrespective of his/her sex, NEEDS a mother more than at any other stage in life. Who will fill that space for her?
3. Think of her father. First, his daughter was gang-raped, second, he saw his wife being murdered by a gang of unimaginably violent human animals of the STF
How can a 14 year-old cope with all this? The other day, an article on transcurrents.com reported that when an aid worker tried to talk to a mantally handicapped girl in a hospital in the Vanni, that girl was removed from the hospital by the military. Must surely have been a case like this 14 year-old….it is no wonder if she goes mad…
Now this means that segments of the Sri Lankan military, the official armed force of a sovereign state, commits acts of violent crime on its citizens: they gang rape underage girls, beat their fathers, kill their mothers, – all this because those who suffer tend to be poor, often low-caste and most importantly TAMIL.
If the poorer segments of the Tamil community are being treated in this way (this is much more than 'bad' treatment, this is CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, SIMILAR TO HITLER'S PERSECUTION OF JEWS), why should Tamils from deprived backgrounds keep their mouths shut and remain oppressed?
According to the religion I practice (Theravada Buddhism) that is NOT RIGHT.
Before trying to punish the LTTE, the Rajapakse government ought to open an international war tribunal, and punish the sez-crazed members of the state military.
It’s refreshing to see a tamil like Gansan,that there are still Tamils left capable of independent and rational thinking.Not swayed by the utter nonsense of the LTTE and their equally blood thirsty Diaspora,the whole “genocide” tag…
Facts,
1.GOSL in the past has been guilty of being disengenous about devolution
2.LTTE have been equally callous and cynical about joining mainstream politics and giving up arms/dream of a mono ethnic ,therefore decidedly racist tamil Utopia..
3.the whole population both Sinhala/Tamil are sick of LTTE brutality/coersion/intolerance of other moderate TAMIL LEADERSHIP Dr.. Neelan Thiruchelvan ….etc…
4.SLA conduct during current campaign has been exemplary…not without blemish but to a great degree
5.LTTE is holding Tamil civilians hostage as human shield…as observed by the UN…based on multiple,coroborated witness accounts
6.End of LTTE will lead to emergence of long suppressed moderate Tamil leadership to guide Tamils in sri lanka towards ganing their rights
7.India and the International community should act as guardians to ensure that the GOSL will not renege on their promises for post war reconstructions/power sharing and intervene via sanctions etc..if they GOSL fail to live upto their commitments
8.The criminal Tamil diaspora who have blood in their hands for decades long material support to an brutal/fascist criminal enterprise that is LTTE, should be brought to justice…