Comments on: A short note from the Vanni

By: commenter

commenter — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:04:30 +0000

india cannot make sri lanka give an eelam. surely they won’t risk chineese military bases in sri lanka. giving out a terrorist state is blasphemy to most nations now. international community cannot and will not allow that as it sends a wrong message to other terrorists. that is why the tide changed for sri lanka. ltte is that bratty child who grew up and realised he was nobody among men.

By: Ajith

Ajith — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:35:48 +0000

aadhavan where is the “earned” sovereignty of red indian americans of US, aborigines of Australia, IRAQIS? Now I’m talking about people who are indigenous who should not have to earn this right! Not late migrants. These are just terms (like RTP) used to squeeze less powerful countries for larger geo political benefit by the present world powers – dare I say the corporate nations that hold the politicians of these “powers” – “private military assets” as puppets for reckless wealth building.
You are probably one of them that studies politics but don’t quite get it – in reality.
There I spared the Googling for Wikipedia entries for false meanings of a worthless term for the other folk here. Again us general folk shouldn’t be messing around with such a sophisticated topic beyond the grasp of our intellect anyway. Let’s leave it to a select few of self proclaimed experts who are wise enough to advise on what we should refrain from. Cheers!
Spare me the international law – why Tamils turn to countries (which i leave u to figure out) that blatantly undermines these laws instead of boycotting them? UN supposedly stands for these laws but significant veto power is held by those nations that renegade against these laws at WILL making them to be the guardians of international law??
Study it anyway, we need another generation of UNers to prevent a 3rd world war and push paper work on how to share the oil among the big guns.

By: aadhavan

aadhavan — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:53:04 +0000

My apologies for thinking the debate was about inter alia secession, sovereignty, UDI’s and referenda. My bad.

By: David Blacker

David Blacker — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:38:17 +0000

That wasn’t the debate, Aadhavan, as usual. Law rarely is a debate in any of this forums, however much you wish it to be.

By: aadhavan

aadhavan — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:49:49 +0000

The debate here on the question of secession is just painful to read. A referendum affirming the desire of a people group to secede is not in itself sufficient to ground a right to secession. i.e- Quebec. On the other hand, you don’t need to be a federal unit or have a history of being a separate sovereign unit to claim a right to secession. Ultimately, the Montevideo conditions apply, with international recognition now emerging as all important feature. You see it in Kosovo, in the Balkans and to an extent in S. Osettia and potentially in Abkhazia. Those interested might want to google up the emerging theory on earned sovereignty. The North East can never secede as long as India is opposed to a secession. Conversely, if India wants to see a separate state in the North East, the Sri Lankan state will be powerless to stop it. That’s cold reality. But please, guys, don’t engage in a debate on public international law without at the very least having a superficial grasp of the first principles.

By: David Blacker

David Blacker — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:44:28 +0000

“It is better for a person to keep quiet than talking to exhibit his total ignorance !!!”

Perhaps you should practice what you preach. Upto now, Justin, you and these other LTTE apologists are the only ignorant ones here.

“The president of Serbia said this week that he is willing to recognise the independence of Kosovo. ”

Still repeating the mantra, Justin, without knowing the contents? You don’t get from A to Z by skipping the rest of the alphabet. When a nation gets from A to Z, you don’t assume it went in a straight line. Many or most of the former Jugoslavia were recognized nations in recent history. Tamil sovereignty within SL is still debatable with no real decisive evidence. Even if there was such evidence, it doesn’t guarantee automatic independence — it just brings it one step closer.

By: CHINTHANA MAHINDA

CHINTHANA MAHINDA — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:43:52 +0000

[Chintana Mahinda – This comment is heavily edited. Please refrain from personal insults and jibes. Not only do you then encourage a similar response from the person to whom they are intended, you just lower the quality of debate on this site. Please read submission guidelines before you post.]

What about Eritrea?

the Eritreans rebeled and fought against the ethiopians for 31 straight years and finally on may 24th 1991 the gained their freedom. This is just one example where armed struggle succeeded.

There is nothing permanent except change. Nothing endures but change.
All is flux, nothing stays still.
– Heraclitus of Ephesus-

500 years ago If someone said that someday people would land on the moon, people would have thought he was crazy!

A Tamil Eelaam is a more likely prospect though! If not in our lifetime…may be in children’s or grand children’s lifetime.

Devolve maximum power to the minorities….or a ‘Separate State’ is inevitable!

By: Sarvan

Sarvan — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:58:19 +0000

When I read the following comments it was very clear to me that the arson and destruction caused to the houses is a savage act of genocide.;

“As I approached Murikandy I observed that everything was burnt and smashed. While I was passing this place last week, it was full of people and the place looked very busy, but now it has become a no man’s land. The people have vacated from there due to bombing and shelling and the shops were also destroyed.”

Such genocidal acts were witnessed in Sarajevo for which the army commander Ratco Mladic is being tried in the Hague. Hope it will be the same for Sarth Fonseka.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:32:51 +0000

David Blacker,

The president of Serbia said this week that he is willing to recognise the independence of Kosovo. Don’t you worry, this watr will make the Sinhalese to be in the waste bin of the world and Tamil Eelam will become independent soon and the South will recognise Tamil Eelam like how Serbia is doing.

David, you seem to have a black out on Tamil matters. The North East were sovereign when the British colonised the island. The people of North East never ever opted to be in the republic of Sri Lanka. They have a right to secede like the countries you have mentioned in your letter.

It is better for a person to keep quiet than talking to exhibit his total ignorance !!!

By: David Blacker

David Blacker — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:55:21 +0000

“They are worthless to the accuser (you) because it doesn’t prove it was the LTTE”

Sorry, that should read “…doesn’t prove it was the Army.”