The entire Sinhala nation (SN) is now happy that “rebel of a rebel slave”, Mr Chandirakanthan, has returned back from “running away” from his master, the SN, and that they would benefit.

Are the Sinhalese glad that they can now give the Tamils of North East (NE), their legitimate right to rule themselves? No, not at all. There is still no change on the existing “master-slave” attitude against the Tamils.

Some even speak of “forgiveness by Buddhists”. The opposite of forgiveness is Anger, revenge, grudge taking, vengeance, murder etc;. The Buddhist cult leaders pour out lavishly and support revenge, violence, murder and war against Tamils. How can they ever be forgiving? What we see now is pardoning for “running away”.

There is no step yet by the government to grant the legitimate right of Tamils to rule themselves in the East. We cannot expect a slave to prosper under his master even if he spends many centuries. He must be freed first from slavery before he can think of development and prosperity. The talk of peace and prosperity of Tamils in the East is deceptive rhetoric.

As highlighted by the Human Rights Watch (Reuters, May 9, 2008), ‘Tamil Tiger forces under Karuna’s command were directly involved in some of the worst crimes of Sri Lanka’s ongoing civil war, including torture, summary execution, and use of children as soldiers. Because his armed group fought against the LTTE in recent years, the Sri Lankan government did not prosecute him’. This statement despite of its accuracy in fact, in reality only provides a cursory and one-sided explanation to the real reason as to why the GoSL did not attempt to prosecute Karuna, by providing the necessary support to the United Kingdom. Furthermore, this incident cannot better clarify the fact that the GoSL has more blood on its hands than it is given credit for. As with the case of the Afghan warlord, Faryadi Sarwar Zardad, where the Afghan government supported his prosecution, there was no support from the GoSL in bringing Karuna Amman to justice under British law which has the jurisdiction to prosecute for serious violations of international law especially war crimes committed elsewhere. But how was this potential prosecution thwarted? Was it really the lack of ‘insufficient evidence’ or was it due to the diplomatic manoeuvres of the Rajapakse Government? What does Mahinda’s visit to the UK reveal? How can one believe that there was insufficient evidence when thousands have been subject to human rights violations under the leadership of Karuna, pre and post LTTE? And what about those who have fled the country, wouldn’t these people have come forward, given the fact that there are no witness protection programmes whatsoever to protect victims and their families in Sri Lanka?

The scepticism that permeates these recent developments can only be diminished if the abductions, extortions, recruitment and extra-judicial killings stop. Have we just given the GoSL and the TMVP the mandate to carry out these atrocities in a ‘democratic’ manner? What will the ramifications be if this becomes the reality, in finding a political solution to this conflict?

Sahasamvada