Of course the LTTE never was about Justice, and so on. That was all just words without intention, and they were, in essence, a brutal dictatorship. As I said, my one trip into Tigerland amply illustrated this to me. A (Colombo) Tamil member of the group even said “THIS is Tamil Eelam? No thanks!”

Our government, however, says it is a democracy with democratic principals. That puts us to a higher standard than a megalomaniac generalissimo or his remaining overseas minions. Or are we no better than the LTTE, all words but no substance? I don’t believe this: we are better than they were.

Just because people like Matinthiran have co-opted these concepts for their own use doesn’t mean the concepts are now invalid. Nor does it mean that those of us who believe in them are secret Tiger agents.

My feelings, ideas, whatever you want to call them, come from an extremely patriotic view of Sri Lanka. I believe deeply in the people and country of Sri Lanka. This doesn’t change because I think that right now our government is headed in the wrong direction. Nor does this mean I have to accept what I’m told on blind faith.

Look, a lot of the issues we’re talking about on Groundviews are the same types of issues that were used by the LTTE to justify the war. My worry is that if we repeat the same actions as the past we will end up with another war. It seems like a no-brainer; we need to do things differently this time around. Then, perhaps, we’ll get different results.

There is no guarantee of success; there are no guarantees in life for anything except birth, death, and taxes. However, isn’t the vision of a prosperous, free, harmonious Sri Lanka worth the gamble?

In my opinion, just because someone else is a hypocrite is not justification for us to be hypocritical. We are better than that.

Generally speaking, countries with strongman leaders who control the security forces end up as dictatorships, and if things continue the way they seem to be, such things as Justice etc. will FOR SURE go down the toilet, as you put it. Strongman dictatorships do not preserve these ideals; they destroy them.

This is our window of opportunity, as a country, to live up to the high ideals written down in our constitution and laws. Let’s embrace these ideals. Let’s cast aside fear and go for it.

Perhaps it’s a matter of perspective. I just don’t understand how, for example, equality is a threat to the nation. Please explain. I’m being serious not sarcastic; I don’t understand your perspective, and maybe if I did then we might even find agreement on some things.

Damn, I’m late for work. Gotta go. Thanks for reading this, Ossie. I hope we can have a useful dialog.

“Strong” is an imprecisely defined condition. What SL desperately needs is a *different* kind of leadership. A leadership that does not utilize force and intimidation to achieve its own ends. In which case, there is no longer any need for an “efficient Army.” SL is beginning to resemble Burma; a military junta imposing martial law over a poverty-stricken rural population.

I was able to get into Tigerland once. I can guarantee that these concepts were NOT part of the way the LTTE did things; frequently is was the opposite.

So please do not call me sinister or tricky or even smelly because I want peace, justice, prosperity, etc. for Sri Lankans – ALL Sri Lankans.

It is over a fortnight since I posted the following two responses to your article.

Hope you will spare your valuable time to oblige with a response soon in order to bring out the multifaceted nature of the problem.

An overly simplistic view would not do justice to such a complex issue.

Sincerely
Off the Cuff

September 28, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
http://www.groundviews.org/2009/09/28/doing-the-right-thing-freedom-for-vanni-idps/#comment-9399

October 1, 2009 @ 1:09 am
http://www.groundviews.org/2009/09/28/doing-the-right-thing-freedom-for-vanni-idps/#comment-9468

The only way to reverse the degradation of our economy and polity is to acknowledge that the war is over and take the appropriate measures: release all the Vanni IDPs immediately, slash military spending, dismantle the paramilitaries, redeploy demobilised soldiers to civilian reconstruction tasks, replace military and ex-military administrators with civilian ones, dismantle the HSZs, resettle all displaced civilians including those displaced by HSZs, repeal the PTA and Emergency Regulations, restore democratic rights, especially to freedom of expression, and release J.S. Tissainayagam and others incarcerated for exercising this right. The best way to ensure that Sri Lanka retains its EU GSP+ facility is to do the right thing, failing which, the government must take full responsibility for the lost jobs and revenue. Unquote.

I would say DAM SMART Tiger tails are showing.

Sri Lanka was a homeland for all peace and harmony loving people until a small percentage of the Tamils began to terrorise the whole country with their Eelam terror fantasy during the past 30 odd years. The track record they left behind is well known.
The war is over does not mean that those Tamil Terrorists have given up the idea of using Sri Lanka as their Urinal. They continue to pose a serious threat to the national security and interest of the country. What they now try to do is to creep back into the civil society under some disguise and start all over again to make a Tamil Urinal out of Sri Lanka.
We shall never allow that to happen again.
The Security forces are the Backbone of Sri Lanka and everything will be done to keep them exactly where they are as long as we need them. The solution for Sri Lanka is a strong leadership with strong and disciplined security forces. If these leaders and security forces were good enough to crush down the terrorists and liberate the country from becoming a Tamil Urinal, they will be good enough to rule the country for the next 100 years. Those who made a mockery out of Parliamentary democracy will not fool us again.
Prabhakaran imported thousands of Tamils from TN and settled them in the North and North East to fill in the space left by the Singhalese and Tamil families that were killed or chased out. Those who are in IDP camps cannot be released until they are screened. The IDPs are no business of any outsiders.