Comments on: Brotherhood Bloodshed Again?

By: JustMal

JustMal — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 02:51:30 +0000

I don’t see much difference between UNP government attitude towards LTTE activities in 2002/3 and how this government is now treating the Karuna faction and TMVP. These people who are now accusing the government of turning a blind eye to Karuna’s crimes were up in arms to defend UNP when they were silent about forcible conscription, terror attacks, assassinations etc by the LTTE during the peace talks. In fact, they called Chandrika a party pooper and a sore loser when she tried to bring attention to the child soldier issue.

What do they expect the government to do, go and start another war against Karuna? How could the same people who say there’s “no military solution to the conflict” expect the government to take military action against its ally but not the enemy. The government cannot afford to fight two wars, and they would be stupid to fight a group that helps its war campaign against the LTTE.

The government gives police protection and state assistance to the legitimate political activities of both Karuna’s TMVP and LTTE’s TNA. They don’t go and abduct children for Karuna. What they do is not try to get into confrontations with Karuna’s cadres. The government needs Karuna to defeat the LTTE and he’s an ally to the government the same way Northern Alliance and Kurds helped the Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq. It does not mean that the government helps or condones Karuna’s illegal activities. Why would they want to give away the East to Karuna when they’ve spent so much money and lives trying to free it from Prabhakaran.

By: sittingnut

sittingnut — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:25:46 +0000

why this fear of ordinary ppl expressing their opinion through elections (or through any other means for that matter)?
tvmp may not have impeccable democratic credentials ( how they will act and their capability to act in an election is still mere speculation after all) and democratically elected government may not be perfect, but there is no doubt whatsoever about what happens to ppl and elections when they are/were under ltte with or without peace.
advocation of political solutions which institutionalize such oppression and undemocratic stances like sole representative status, without reference to ppl’s opinion is why some ppl get defeated, sidelined, and above all ignored, in politics. as they deserve imo

By: foobar

foobar — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:15:35 +0000

And with the impeccable democratic credentials of the TMVP supported by those of the State, I’m sure they would fully support, and we will witness, free and fair elections. I’m sure the children in particular look forward to these elections, and a bright future with a TMVP in charge of their future.

By: sittingnut

sittingnut — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:41:26 +0000

it is not the claims that are important but the ability when it comes to use of violent action. sole representative status is necessarily enforceed through projection of violence. so the question to ask is, can they?

difference between tmvp and ltte in 2004 /2005 nov is that ltte could enforce its pretension through violence bc large areas were abandoned to their overt and covert control by former governments without resistance. now government will resist any such effort and alternative politicians will have relatively more security.

while tmvp may try ( which is uncertain since their stand is not clear in spite of what the poster says ) it probably doesn’t have the ability to suppress opposition in government controlled areas for the most part.

in fact even ltte may not be able to enforce its writ through intimidation in government controlled areas in the north including jaffna itself as they used to. if a election is held there and ltte decides on a boycott it would be hard put to achieve the same success as in 2005 nov. main evidence for this is the behavior of the residents there who have repeatedly disobeyed ltte commands ( intended to create refugee flows and civil disturbances inside jaffna during military and ltte offensives ), and the relatively low level of attacks against military there ( compared with period dec 2005 to about middle of 2006). militray has been able to more or less secure jaffna using fairly successful counter insurgency methods. this is one of the least commented but most important ( imo one of the most welcome) of recent military successes .
–
elections should be held ( at least for local councils) as soon as possible in the area under government control in east. ppl who fear elections have no place in democracy.

By: foobar

foobar — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:29:59 +0000

Incidentally, the TMVP website – http://www.tmvp.org – is closed for maintenance.

By: foobar

foobar — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:14:36 +0000

“Most part of eastern province is now under government forces. In this situation, we have much strength in the eastern part as representatives of eastern Tamil people. So we have to confirm our representation through an elections.”

I find this language particularly ominous. Liberation yes, but at cost I wonder.