Full story – http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101218/ap_on_re_as/as_sri_lanka_un

“I don’t have any inability in giving info on LTTE atrocities.”

Likewise, we don’t have any inability in giving info on atrocities by the various govts. The information is out there.

“I’m not obsessed about the LTTE, clinging to them and their antics like children to a lollipop. No doubt talking about the LTTE endlessly gives you comfort, takes away the need to face yourselves and your own responsiibilities.”

I agree. You seem to be obsessed about the Rajapaksas, clinging to them and their antics like children to a lollipop. No doubt talking about the Rajapakshas endlessly gives you comfort, takes away the need to face yourselves and your own responsiibilities.

“So, are you saying that if he hadn’t dropped out of school, he could have aspired to success in the civil service too, like his father?”

No. I disproved your argument that lack of opportunities directly led to Tamil militancy, and you failed to defend your argument (stay focused, Belle!). Unless you can state that your VVT scholar friends joined the LTTE in its early pre-1983 years instead of migrating abroad to study.

“How come there were so many ” delinquents” around?”

But there weren’t “so many” delinquents. The LTTE barely had 10 members in the 1970s and 30 at most when Black July took place. It was only after Black July that Tamil youth entered the war en masse.

My point was to show that it was primarily anti-Tamil violence, and not mere discrimination, that led to the beginning of the war.

“Could you kindly show us one example where the GOSL successfully sued an international news outlet?”
Why should I do that? I’m saying that the international press didn’t run stories about army misbehaviour and atrocities through the 1980s and 1990s because they never could get solid evidence. So why should they be sued?

You seem to have problems keeping track of your own stories. Earlier you said:

Some governments are quick on the draw with threats to sue (like GOSL, and Singapore too). And you can’t wiin these suits because government supporters will crawl out of the woodwork to deny, deny, and deny. International press are wary of being sued unless they have unshakeable proof.

Thus for your claim that the govt was ready and eager to sue, you have to provide evidence. As it stands, your claim is unsubstantiated.

“Maybe the more pertinent question is why GOSL has not sued Channel 4 for a recent report showing photos apparently belonging to a senior SLA commander and interviews with unidentified soldiers.”

Thank you for debunking your own argument.

“Do you realise the implications of what you’re claiming? This means that the Sinhalese voted a known genocidal political party into power in 1989! Do you really want to slander your community like this?”

Unlike you, I don’t have compunctions about criticizing my own community, and frankly I find it quite idiotic for you to first accuse us of not speaking up, and then accuse us when we do speak up!

In this particular case, most of the deaths occurred after Premadasa was elected President. Specifically, most of them occurred after the JVP began to target the families of the security forces, which then unleashed its full fury against the JVP and its perceived supporters.

Premadasa was elected on the platform of getting the Indians out of Sri Lanka, as it was the IPKF that was the primary driver of the 2nd JVP insurrection. Premadasa could only move against the JVP after the electorate was convinced that he would not tolerate Indian soldiers in the island.

“They can even hide mass massacres! Everyone knew. And yet, nobody knew. Not enough anyway to find the evidence to make it to the press.”

As it turned out, there were some erstwhile defenders of human rights in that period who exposed the UNP regime’s misdeeds:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2007/04/070404_humanrights.shtml

How can I have verbal diarrhoea about the Rajapakshas and the Sinhalese considering that nobody knows what happened? Isn’t that why a war crimes investigation is necessary? To find out?

I don’t have any inability in giving info on LTTE atrocities. It’s well documented. But unlike you guys, I’m not obsessed about the LTTE, clinging to them and their antics like children to a lollipop. No doubt talking about the LTTE endlessly gives you comfort, takes away the need to face yourselves and your own responsiibilities.

“mm.. Prabakaran’s father did not lose his job and even continued to receive his government pension when he was living in India during the war. Mr. Velupillai apparently was a district land officer in Jaffna, a very senior position. Prabakaran himself was a class 8 dropout, and reading DBSJ’s bio”

So, are you saying that if he hadn’t dropped out of school, he could have aspired to success in the civil service too, like his father? I personally know two of his classmates from Valvettithurai. They did excellently at school. Why did they migrate?

“The rest of the pre-83 Tigers were mostly juvenile delinquents from broken homes. They were NOT the cream of SL Tamil society. For example, the famous Charles Anthony joined after running away from his alcoholic father in Trincomalee. Even after 1983, the L— took in mostly the poor and uneducated, with a particularly strong aversion to intellectuals.”

How come there were so many ” delinquents” around? Did it not have to do with poverty and lack of opportunities to thrive? Of course, they took in the poor and uneducated, the better off ones fled the country. What exactly is your point here?

“Could you kindly show us one example where the GOSL successfully sued an international news outlet?”

Why should I do that? I’m saying that the international press didn’t run stories about army misbehaviour and atrocities through the 1980s and 1990s because they never could get solid evidence. So why should they be sued? For not running stories?

Recently of course, one gets more such news because evidence is available. Maybe the more pertinent question is why GOSL has not sued Channel 4 for a recent report showing photos apparently belonging to a senior SLA commander and interviews with unidentified soldiers. Shouldn’t we presume guilt? Here’s the relevant report:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JMB_ltEjV0

“’When did you all find out about the 10s of thousands of youth killed in the late 1980s?’
During the late 1980s.”

Do you realise the implications of what you’re claiming? This means that the Sinhalese voted a known genocidal political party into power in 1989! Do you really want to slander your community like this? Isn’t it true rather that the first Commissions of Inquiry into Disappearances of Persons were set up in 1994, when there was a regime change, and it was then they started finding mass graves? As MC Iqbal says, “The mass graves at Hokandara, Essella, Wavulkelle, Walpita Farm and Ankumbura had also been disinterred on a judicial order. It was in evidence that the people of the area knew the existence of these graves even though they are not known nationally. Yet they had not been acknowledged by the authorities.”

My point in asking the question about when you knew about the state terror exacted on Sinhalese youth in the late 1980s was to refer you to the incredible hold your governments have on information. They can even hide mass massacres! Everyone knew. And yet, nobody knew. Not enough anyway to find the evidence to make it to the press. The exact same thing happened with the Tamils. That’s why the international media was full of info on what the LTTE was doing, but never had info on what the government forces were doing until the CFA period.

“Thank you for proving my point that it was the Sinhalese side of the story that prevailed in the international pressure. Your verbal diarrhoea about the LTTE and the Tamil diaspora compared to your total inability to give info on the State’s handling of the terrorist threat and its treatment of Tamil civilians demonstrates that the Tamil side of the story was silenced.”

Going by your style of reasoning, can we conclude that the Tamil side of the story prevailed, given YOUR “verbal diarrhea” about the Rajapakshas and the Sinhalese compared to your total inability to give info on the LTTE’s handling of the “liberation struggle” and its treatment of Tamil civilians?

“As for the question of why the LTTE started in 1976. It’s a 20 year difference between 1956 and 1976, no? Time for Tamil kids to grow up resenting their fathers’ losing their jobs in the civil service, among other factors, and resenting the fact that they could never have what their fathers before them once had.”

Umm.. Prabakaran’s father did not lose his job and even continued to receive his government pension when he was living in India during the war. Mr. Velupillai apparently was a district land officer in Jaffna, a very senior position. Prabakaran himself was a class 8 dropout, and reading DBSJ’s bio of the father it is difficult to imagine that Prabakaran aspired to be like him.

The rest of the pre-83 Tigers were mostly juvenile delinquents from broken homes. They were NOT the cream of SL Tamil society. For example, the famous Charles Anthony joined after running away from his alcoholic father in Trincomalee. Even after 1983, the L— took in mostly the poor and uneducated, with a particularly strong aversion to intellectuals.

Most educated youth (from the right families) did not become militants after the 1972 standardisation policy but rather opted to move and study abroad, although some members of this “2nd wave diaspora” chose to return and engage in militancy, like EROS or the LTTE’s Vaithilingam Sornalingam aka Shankar.

“Some governments are quick on the draw with threats to sue (like GOSL, and Singapore too). And you can’t wiin these suits because government supporters will crawl out of the woodwork to deny, deny, and deny. International press are wary of being sued unless they have unshakeable proof.”

Could you kindly show us one example where the GOSL successfully sued an international news outlet?

“When did you all find out about the 10s of thousands of youth killed in the late 1980s?”

During the late 1980s.

It is plumb ignorance to talk about the propaganda arm of a terrorist group as being stronger than a State’s machinery. Not to mention that being considered a terrorist group already cripples one’s credibility.

As for the question of why the LTTE started in 1976. It’s a 20 year difference between 1956 and 1976, no? Time for Tamil kids to grow up resenting their fathers’ losing their jobs in the civil service, among other factors, and resenting the fact that they could never have what their fathers before them once had.

The other question about journalists needing clearance from government. It all depends on the government concerned. Some governments are quick on the draw with threats to sue (like GOSL, and Singapore too). And you can’t wiin these suits because government supporters will crawl out of the woodwork to deny, deny, and deny. International press are wary of being sued unless they have unshakeable proof. Where would they get that since their movements were restricted, in a country that blithely killls or disappears journalists?

When did you all find out about the 10s of thousands of youth killed in the late 1980s? I see lots of details of JVP behaviour. But when did you know about government massacres of youth during this period? Do you still have what can pass as proof, after all these years? And yet, the normal daily folk saw it with their own eyes, no? So how come the silence about the state terror?

Observer,
“belle, see you’re being deceptive again! I very clearly stated that the LTTE hijacked the Tamil cause period! No where I said that the LTTE represented the Tamil cause. Which is not true and most here would agree with me. I challenge you to quote my words where I may have indicated such a statement. So you can kindly take back your “metonym” lecture and use it as a door stop.”

I asked about what happened to Tamils during the conflict years. You come out with details of LTTE. What am I supposed to think? That one stands for the other, no? It is only in your second follow-up response that you mention the Tamil civilians.

“It is a shame because many within the Tamil community (Northern) in SL opted for peaceful measures but they were either bullied, silenced, killed or coerced into the LTTE path.”

So what are you doing to help this peace-loving people? I see no concern about this. How can we start to talk about the peace-loving Tamils without getting the discussion hijacked by stuff on the evils of the LTTE? See, it’s not just the LTTE and GOSL that hijacked their voice—you folks are doing it too.

“If I keep reading this stuff I’m going to get a brain hemorrhage soon.”

Shhh, let’s keep this a secret between us—I think you’ve already haemorrhaged.

“It’s fun exposing them nonetheless, so I will keep risking my health… lol”

See—there’s the evidence that the bleeding has already started. You’re willing to risk your health for an argument. More evidence of brain haemorrhage? You’re making up stuff about what’s in the Geneva Conventions.

ditto, I am sometime baffled who do they take us for? They expect to erase a good 80% of our knowledge and the experience we have lived through and expect to subscribe to a careful narrative they have constructed from ancient history to this day. They must think people who live in Sri Lanka are absolute idiots who have no idea what’s going in our country and the world! If I keep reading this stuff I’m going to get a brain hemorrhage soon. It’s fun exposing them nonetheless, so I will keep risking my health… lol

Overall, nice attempt at avoiding the crux of my argument

so walking out of peace talks were reacting? so why do YOU THINK THE LTTE REACTIVELY KILLED INDIA’S HEAD RAJIV GANDHI –

revenge of sonia gandhi was sweet as it was served cold !!!!!!!!!

“And now with these latest attempts of trying to screw SL under war crimes allegations, I feel is also doing more damage and going further backwards in reconciling differences and moving on. We’ll see what happens.”

Can you please elaborate on how war crimes investigation would set the reconciliation movement backwards? What are the elements of “reconciliation” to which you refer? If there have been war crimes, wouldn’t “moving on” involve bringing these criminal elements along with you into Sri Lanka’s future and inviting further trouble down the road?

“But know this, there is an equally or greater formidable force on the opposing side who will take things to the very bitter end. Just think the recent battle that culminated in Nandikadal lagoon as an example of this. May we have the wisdom not to burn down the whole house.”

Exactly, and it’s people like you (who I hope aren’t dumb enough to belong with the opposing side that will take things to the bitter end) who should do something to pre-empt them from burning down the whole house, don’t you think? Rather than use them as a threat to frighten off those who want Tamil issues to be addressed? Because the next “Nandikadal lagoon” episode will happen in the south. It can’t happen in the north due to the militarization of that area and because the IC and Tamil diaspora are just waiting for something like that to happen to add more fire to their cause. You will be playing right into their hands.

You guys think that as long as you keep stoking the fire of making the LTTE, the Tamil diaspora and the so-called Western conspiracy the enemies of Sri Lanka, that you can ward off intra-Sinhalese conflict. Except that the trouble could come from the outside, be it a natural disaster, a global recession, IC sanctions, anything at all. By climbing into bed with certain countries, you’ve ensured that the West CANNOT leave you alone.

“Usually, I assume that the people I dialogue with are just as keen as I am in learning,”

See that’s the thing- up until now I didn’t have any indication that you were interested in learning more or less listening to anyone who disagreed with you. Hence my genuine surprise that you admitted your mistakes. I even admitted that *I* had erred about you!

The advice about avoiding mixing self-righteousness with ignorance was intended to encourage you to loosen up a little with the self-righteousness, not to make fun of your ignorance in isolation. Nobody here has absolute knowledge of anything after all.

“Far worse atrocities took place in the 1980s than the current suspicion that 10s of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in the last phase of the war? Please do tell.”

Far worse atrocities took place that did not involve the L— (I know how upset you get when you hear that word).

“Journalists would still have to go back to GOSL to confirm what they’d found out, and GOSL would have screamed at them (I’ve been at the wrong end of such screamings in the past) and demanded they provided evidence.”

Since when do journalists have to get their stories cleared by the govt??

“There are strategies to quantify bias through examination of language, frequency of reports, norms of address, etc. It’s not a matter of perception.”

Good point. So you believe that the media was biased against the Sinhalese?

“That’s an unfair deal.”

Kindly explain how it’s unfair.

“The LTTE did not spontaneously instigate this conflict. They were provoked.”

What provoked the creation of the LTTE in 1976?

In the cases you have mentioned, the Nazis, Japanese, the Rebel Alliance are the ones who instigated the conflict spontaneously. They were not provoked. They had imperialistic ambitions. So then of course, not talking about their misdeeds would entirely misconstrue the story of how the other parties defended themselves. The LTTE did not spontaneously instigate this conflict. They were provoked. They reacted, rather than acted. That they became very good at reacting doesn’t however make them the instigators of the conflict. They did not want an empire—they wanted their own state.

So then, if anyone wants to tell the story of the SL ethnic conflict, they need to spend some time at least talking about the provocation. To ignore that would be to refuse to talk about a most salient aspect of the conflict.

Another problem with your metaphors–unlike those cases that you mentioned, in SL, the ones who provoked the conflict won.

This is not the case of Allieds vs Nazis. It’s about two sets of Nazis at war with each other. So, shouldn’t we give equal time and space to them in telling the ‘true’ story of the conflict instead of just focusing on one? Does that not show YOUR bias?

At any rate, I am not saying that one should not talk about the LTTE in telling the story of the ethnic conflict. I was merely saying that I would like to talk about the war victims in this case. They would be equivalent to the Jews in the Allied/Nazi case. Are they not too part of the story of the ethnic conflict?

You are quite hopeless with your metaphors, I must say. So I am the Jedi? Does that make you the Dark Side?

I’ve been wondering how you’ve fashioned this narrative of yours about the Sri Lankan conflict. Now you’ve revealed the formulation. Elegantly simple. You just don’t want to talk about the LTTE.

What if a German didn’t want to talk about the Nazis in World War 2? Here’s what his/her take might be:

“The Allies repressed and humiliated the German nation for decades. Then they declared war on Germany, and went on to firebomb German cities and slaughter thousands of innocent German civilians. When Germany finally surrendered, they imposed war crimes trials on what remained of the German leadership without any corresponding investigation of their own atrocities.”

Or how about a similar Japanese narrative, where we simply take Tojo and his kamikaze forces out of the equation:

“The US imposed a crippling embargo on Japan for years. Then they attempted to invade the Japanese homeland. Faced with fierce resistance, the US began to mercilessly target Japanese cities for wholesale destruction, culminating in the nuclear annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the Japanese surrender, the US began a long military occupaton of the country, with US forces still stationed there despite popular opposition.”

Or, just for fun, how about Star Wars minus Darth Vader and his stormtroopers:

“The Rebel Alliance, a family-run cult of religious zealots, unleashed a campaign of terror throughout the galaxy, resulting in the wanton destruction of state property, the deaths of countless humanoids and other sentient creatures, the cold-blooded murder of the Emporer, and the collapse of interstellar order.”

Naturally our war would also look completely different if We Just Don’t Want To Talk About The LTTE. And you articulate this alternative universe view quite superbly on this forum. In that sense, you’re not too different to some other folks here who Just Don’t Want To Talk About 1983, etc, etc.

You would all do well to remember that no matter how convinced you may be of your own narrative, and how eloquently you express it, that old Jedi mind trick doesn’t work on everyone.

Well, that will teach me to admit to mistakes in exchanges with you! Usually, I assume that the people I dialogue with are just as keen as I am in learning, i.e. that the exchange is an honest one, and that everyone has holes in their information. But I see that with you, this is about power. You can’t resist a little dance of triumph, can you, your own pathetic little version of victory parades of naked bodies, desecrating on graves of the vanquished, etc?

“Then how come nobody pressed for war crimes in the 1980s when the war began and far far worse atrocities took place?”

Far worse atrocities took place in the 1980s than the current suspicion that 10s of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in the last phase of the war? Please do tell.

“Sheesh, since you put it that way I suppose we should be grateful to Mahinda for flushing that CFA down the toilet!”

Nope, the ‘damage’ had already been done. You can’t make people unsee things they’d already seen.

“I was under the false impression that the CFA proved that Sinhalese were not bloodthirsty Tamil-haters as you would like us to be.”

Even though I’ve learned not to admit mistakes to you, I will confess that at the time I thought that was true. But seeing how your folks behave now post-war, I can see in retrospect the CFA only showed that you guys were tired of being victims of violence, and ready to negotiate.

“It’s too bad the West didn’t pay attention to UTHR-J all those years. They didn’t seem to be too constrained by the alleged closure of press in the 1990s.”

The UTHR (J) had to shift operations to the south. As such, press could hardly use it as an authoritative source on what was happening in the north. Journalists would still have to go back to GOSL to confirm what they’d found out, and GOSL would have screamed at them (I’ve been at the wrong end of such screamings in the past) and demanded they provided evidence. And how were they going to do that?

“And they won’t pursue scoops that their audience will ignore. Anti-Islamic press is an excellent seller in the West.”

But this a story about terrorist violence–that always sells in the West and elsewhere.

“But dear, isn’t that a perception? Most Sinhalese would argue that their side has been ignored. That’s a perception too!”

Don’t know anything about the study of media representations, do you? There are strategies to quantify bias through examination of language, frequency of reports, norms of address, etc. It’s not a matter of perception.

“But we don’t want to talk about Mahinda’s grinning and be put in a position of defending it! I’ll make you a deal- I won’t talk about LTTE, and you won’t bring up war crimes. Can we shake on that?”

That’s an unfair deal. I’ll agree not to mention Mahinda’s grinning if you won’t talk about the LTTE. The war crimes is another matter.

You see, until you do this, all your post confirms is my claim—that the international media ran the Sinhalese view of the conflict, how THEY were victimized by the Tamils, the LTTE, what a bad lot the Tamils are, see what they’ve done, etc.

“The answer to your question is, Tamil side got ample coverage! But it was always about violence and suicide bombings killing innocent civilians because that’s the message LTTE sent to the world. “We will kill indiscriminately until you give us a state!”. So deal with the message you aided in giving to the world.”

Do you know what a “metonym” is? It’s a figure of speech where the part is made to stand for the whole. For eg, the “crown” stands for the monarchy, a “sail” stands for an entire ship. It is a rhetorical device that is often used for dishonesty in discourse by making false equations between people. You make the LTTE a metonym of the Tamil people. But the Tamil people are far more complex than that—a very small minority, the LTTE, were abominably violent, but the vast majority of them are displaced peoples, refugees, hapless victims of violence from both sides of the conflict. Who has heard their side of the story?

“Even now look at MIA. Most people are disillusioned with her activism and her honesty. Just listen to the buzz on the web.”

“Most people”? Could you give me an idea of the numbers? For all we know, all the buzz on the web could be written by a handful of people (perhaps even employed by GOSL).

“It’s shameful and frankly a war crime that diaspora supported this.”

More rhetoric. Please point to the parts in the Geneva Conventions that say that fund raising for a declared terrorist group is a war crime.

“It is the LTTE that stopped the free flow of information. LTTE setherd and filtered/monitored all communications into and out of their controlled areas
1. for security reasons.
2. for taxing purposes.”

Are you saying that the LTTE actually suppressed information on government action taken against Tamil civilians, on state massacres of Tamils, state-executed disappearances of youth in the 1980s? You must be joking.

Overall, a nice attempt at distracting and creating a fog around what I’m saying. But my eyes are still on the ball.

“I didn’t know that! What a surprise!
Yes,that was a mistake.”

It’s good to see that you are capable of learning. I was expecting you to make more of a fool of yourself but you proved me wrong.

In the future though, try to avoid mixing self-righteousness with ignorance. Bad combination!

“Yes, if GOSL continues to restrict the international media and the INGOs, that is exactly what will happen— the human rights outcry will die down in time in the media. It will only remain if the Western governments and UN decide to continue pressing for war crimes.”

Then how come nobody pressed for war crimes in the 1980s when the war began and far far worse atrocities took place?

“No, the West began to take notice of atrocities against Tamils with the CFA,”

Sheesh, since you put it that way I suppose we should be grateful to Mahinda for flushing that CFA down the toilet! I was under the false impression that the CFA proved that Sinhalese were not bloodthirsty Tamil-haters as you would like us to be.

It’s too bad the West didn’t pay attention to UTHR-J all those years. They didn’t seem to be too constrained by the alleged closure of press in the 1990s.

“Journalists couldn’t care less what your religion is, as long as they get their bylines and scoops.”

And they won’t pursue scoops that their audience will ignore. Anti-Islamic press is an excellent seller in the West.

“Look at Tim, for eg. Look at how he tries to discredit me with false accusations and cries of racism simply because I suggested that Sinhalese forummers here should go up to the North and find out what has been happening all this while.”

Hey but didn’t I mention my own experiences in the N-E during the CFA?

“My issue here is about how the Sinhalese side of the conflict was given more attention in the world press rather than the Tamil side. To me, that is an important issue to explore because free flow of information is integral to reconciliation and peace.”

But dear, isn’t that a perception? Most Sinhalese would argue that their side has been ignored. That’s a perception too!

“I DONT WANT to talk about the LTTE. I don’t want to be put in a position of defending them.”

But we don’t want to talk about Mahinda’s grinning and be put in a position of defending it! I’ll make you a deal- I won’t talk about LTTE, and you won’t bring up war crimes. Can we shake on that?

belle, I feel that you construct a careful narrative all the time and I feel that I should make a few comments regarding some of what you claim.

Well you of all people know that the Tamil grievances were hijacked by the LTTE with the aid of the diaspora. LTTE only existed for so long because of the bitter and sometimes hateful feelings of the diaspora and their bank rolling.

It is the LTTE that stopped the free flow of information. LTTE setherd and filtered/monitored all communications into and out of their controlled areas
1. for security reasons.
2. for taxing purposes.

Then they sent out a carefully constructed message from their side. They withheld all the real suffering under their regime and simply blamed government for not providing enough aid. All the while LTTE was mis managing the aid going into their controlled areas. By charging taxes on top and using the aid for war activities first, then for humanitarian needs.

LTTE had satellite phones, radio and TV links with the world. They were regularly in touch with their constituencies around the world feeding propaganda. It is because of this one way feed of propaganda that the world media was hesitant in carrying it. So don’t give us this BS of Tamil side not being heard. The whole world could hear Parabakaran’s Mahaveera speech live.

You may claim publicly here how agnostic you are about the LTTE and how you’re past that but you certainly seem to be very apologetic or wilfully downplay their role in all your gripes. You just can’t do that and seem unbiased because they were a good portion of the blame. You need to somehow acknowledge that, come to terms with it, the same way I acknowledge the grave mistakes and injustices of July riots by Sinhalese thugs and other unfortunate events in history. Even when you’d refer to these events, you’d straight away attribute it to the whole Sinhalese community when it was really a select group of racist mobs that did the carnage, while other many good Sinhalese tried to help the victims even risking their own well being. So you need to understand why lot of people don’t find your sentiments or certain claims very genuine so to speak!

Since the Tamil cause was completely hijacked by the LTTE, the world press and community solely focused on the LTTE and quickly realised what a ruthless, bloody, inhuman bunch they were. So they progressively banned them and toned down against immense lobbying pressure from the diaspora. It took them long enough and even after banning, they still turned a blind eye towards fund raising since Tamils had a significant constituency.

The answer to your question is, Tamil side got ample coverage! But it was always about violence and suicide bombings killing innocent civilians because that’s the message LTTE sent to the world. “We will kill indiscriminately until you give us a state!”. So deal with the message you aided in giving to the world.

It’s shameful and frankly a war crime that diaspora supported this. Lately there has been few round ups of certain charities and individuals because the SL intelligence has gathered more information and has been supplying intelligence to these nations’ authorities. Not enough is being done yet. UN takes no initiative in prosecuting these war criminals. Shameful!

On another point, instead of discussing the true nature and realities of the conflict, the Tamil diaspora machinery always went for the maximum propaganda effect and this seriously hurt their credibility. Use of terms like genocide etc only made rational analysts suspicious of the Tamil side’s motives. The diaspora did a stellar job undermining their own cause than Sinhalese propaganda could ever achieve. Even now look at MIA. Most people are disillusioned with her activism and her honesty. Just listen to the buzz on the web.

I have also been following the sentiments of some of the Western countries and especially in places like Canada and Australia with large Tamil populations, the public is actually highly unhappy by the conduct of the Tamil diaspora.

They really feel like they have been taken for a ride. The very people who were given refuge, blatantly lied back to them to get favours done for the LTTE. In both countries various charities have been busted for lying to the general public and collecting funds for the LTTE under charitable fronts. Not only that at the height of the war, they had the kahonas to hijack streets, public places, disrupting daily life all the while waving a flag that depicts a banned organisation in their country. Grossly undermining the law of the land not only in terms of that but resorting to disruptive protests that cost the tax payer huge amounts of money. I will not even go into gang activities, people smuggling operations, etc.

So I can keep writing about this, but I have given you here an introduction into the misguided ways of the Tamil’s (some) message to the world and how they have managed to do more harm than good for their cause. And now with these latest attempts of trying to screw SL under war crimes allegations, I feel is also doing more damage and going further backwards in reconciling differences and moving on. We’ll see what happens. But know this, there is an equally or greater formidable force on the opposing side who will take things to the very bitter end. Just think the recent battle that culminated in Nandikadal lagoon as an example of this. May we have the wisdom not to burn down the whole house.

Well, what can I say? The whole ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka makes no sense whatsoever given how you guys are blessed with a country that’s full of natural resources and one with a glorious cultural heritage too. Instead of making the most of that, you folks preferred to focus on denying minorities their rights. I mean, really, what is with that? Why don’t you guys focus on the ridiculousness of that situation?

“You can’t hide prejudice and one-sided thinking under a veil of indignation Belle, people see right through it. This is what I was getting at in my earlier post.”

You are right about the indignation. Except it had nothing to do with race issues. I was frustrated that every time I write, people sidestep the larger issues I raise and focus instead on quarreling with me about minor details. My issue here is about how the Sinhalese side of the conflict was given more attention in the world press rather than the Tamil side. To me, that is an important issue to explore because free flow of information is integral to reconciliation and peace. But quickly, my discussion gets deflected into LTTE atrocities. I DONT WANT to talk about the LTTE. I don’t want to be put in a position of defending them. I want to talk about Tamil rights and how much people know about Tamil suffering through these decades.

And I really can’t believe that people here refuse to even consider that their governments have had very tight control of information. Even during the tsunami crisis, no less than the UN Sec Gen of that time was refused entry to the Tamil areas. So how do they think journalists are going to get stories about the Tamils and SLA behaviour in the north? We know journalists get ‘disappeared,’ shot at, abducted, killed, but no, GOSL doesn’t control information! Instead, it’s more convenient to believe that Western journalists didn’t get the Tamil side of the story because they were too lazy, or didn’t care.

Instead of wasting your time seeing through me, why don’t you spend your time seeing through the motivations of these other forummers here? Why don’t you address their prejudices? For eg, is my prejudice more evident than Akram who says “if the muslims were in the north , ltte would have being dead long ago”? And what about Tim’s comment–is that even a rational interpretation of my argument? What about his indigation? Can you see through that?

Why don’t you address your own prejudice and one-sidedness?

RE: “Later, they were able to take over Jaffna. I suppose they just needed the right motivation. Muslims in trouble weren’t a good enough reason for them.”

I’m sorry, but this statement makes no sense whatsoever. Just think about this for more than a few seconds, and it’ll be blindingly obvious as to why. You can’t hide prejudice and one-sided thinking under a veil of indignation Belle, people see right through it. This is what I was getting at in my earlier post.

Anyway, I owe you a lengthy reply for it and will do so soon. Just haven’t been able to find sufficient time.

Look at Tim, for eg. Look at how he tries to discredit me with false accusations and cries of racism simply because I suggested that Sinhalese forummers here should go up to the North and find out what has been happening all this while. Why does he feel so threatened by a simple urge to people to find out the truth? I’m not trying to impose my views on him–I’m saying go and find out.

The truth is these people don’t want to know–because it serves their interests not to know. Then they can carry on oppressing the minorities without any qualms. Even if there was a war crimes investigation, such people will continue to deny the information. Remember there are still Germans out there today denying the Holocaust ever happened.

And it’s just amazing to me that a majority community that has worked so hard for decades to stop minorities from getting equal rights sees no irony in calling other people racists!