Yes, we remember 1983 and regret the actions of a few stupid elements. But how many of you out there today really left home purely as a result of that black July? Whatever the reasons may be, you left home for a better and safer life for your family. While most of you have found better life you have not found safety from the greatest threat to us all, the LTTE. They found you wherever you went and exploited you under threat and still continue to do so.

We in Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers & Malays, are at last rid of that menace and live mostly in peace with each other. So come back home and live in peace as one family.

Many commentators here and elsewhere look at the visible destruction of the LTTE(I don’t say it has to be praised) only but fail to understand the whole problem of the last 62 years covering what the government(through its various institutions) does at home, at intergovernmental bodies and at various bilateral(including the work of high commissions) and multilateral(eg EU) meetings/regulations/norms.

I very much regret that the Tamils failed to take some Sinhalese around the Northeast in late 60s/early70s. Then we wouldn’t have reached this point. But even now it is not late. I appeal to NGOs in the South to arrange a section(vertical and horizontal) from the South to go round the whole of the Northeast. We are most likely to bring a very quick end to the conflict.

Where exactly were you living for the past 30 years and which country exactly are we talking about here?

“neither does it have to be confined to the boundaries of Sri Lanka.”

This gem of yours can be construed in two ways. Either you mean the that the next struggle for Tamil separatism will be launched in Malaysia, Tamil Nadu or Scarborough, or could it be that you plan to defy language, logic and common sense by now establishing a (Sri Lankan) Eelam outside the limits of Sri Lanka?

“How would having army camps deter the the external or the internal political threat of separatism?”

If you had thought before typing this in, and really need this explained to you, i’m afraid you require the kind of help that is beyond me.

“So what has the government done from their side? You mean having victory parades and all these economic development hogwash are all examples of reconciliation efforts?”

Come to Jaffna, my friend, instead of talking from afar. Talk to the fishermen who bring in a catch thrice the old amount now. Ask the Ice Cream vendors in Nallur. Watch the rate at which the townspeople are setting up restaurants and guest houses.

And on your way up North, just pause at Omanthai and watch Sri Lankan labourers painstakingly rebuild the last 150 km of the Jaffna Railway line that the LTTE destroyed. The railway was an economic lifeline to Jaffna. We still remember the avocadoes that went North on the roof of Yarl Devi, and the massive Bananas and Mangoes that replaced them on the journey back South.
All through the island Citizens of all castes and creeds are buying tickets to raise funds for the Railway line.

Jaffna has very few citizens remaining with the economic clout to invest in big businesses. Hence external investments not only make sense but are the only way to inject much needed resources. The Government does what it can. It is not God, neither is it a First World economy.

Last week the BBC reported from Sri Lanka that there is currently a shortage of international donor funds to the war-displaced Tamils. They said that the $220 grant offered to returnees is, for now, suspended. Again, the GOSL does what it can, but this goes only a short way.

If you are asking for 30 years of destruction to be reversed in 11 months, perhaps it is time you stopped playing Strategy Games on a PC console and, yes, wake up and smell your own proverbial coffee.

Or perhaps i am mistaken and you are truly a believer in reconciliation. If so, why not engage your fellow diaspora brethren and address any of the issues i have brought up?

Why not invest in small term business ventures in Jaffna and give the people there an occupation?

Why not subscribe to the Jaffna Railway reconstruction fund?

Why not use some of the funds wasted on your Transnational Bollocks to fund some returnee refugees?

Why not get really serious international investors to take over large projects instead of sitting and griping that the Government is acting alone?

For the better part of 3 decades you claimed that the Tamil Tax was funding humanitarian causes, not weapons. Only in the aftermath of the LTTE’s defeat and the recent US/Canadian investigations did the full enormity of this lie become evident. Why not do something different for a change now instead of funding the remnants of the LTTE to protest against women wearing Sri Lankan panties? How irrelevant do you think that looks in the context of what needs to be done up North?

And finally, your perpetual claim to US and Canadian authorities have been that your are political refugees, not economic ones (although you generally bypass 74 countries including India, home to 60 million Tamils, on your way there). So why not prove your point and do your bit?

– – –

Dude, are you trying to act stupid or is this for real?

Gibson needs to wake up and smell the coffee. A separatist struggle does not have to be in a form of insurrection, neither does it have to be confined to the boundaries of Sri Lanka. How would having army camps deter the the external or the internal political threat of separatism?

Yes, reconciliation is a two-way process. So what has the government done from their side? You mean having victory parades and all these economic development hogwash are all examples of reconciliation efforts?

Well said! 2 excellent posts. Hope the crazies on all sides pay attention.

cheers,
/SD

“There are abductions for ransoms, daylight robbery, abuses, etc.”

Things were so much better during the good old forced conscription days when you had to ‘donate’ one rebel per family or 50,000 rupees, werent they?

“I have also heard that the people from the South are being paid by the gov’t to visit Jaffna so as to promote people moving in and setting up businesses there.”

I bet you have also heard of alien invasions and extra-terrestrial impregnations that take place on a regular basis in the Arizona desert , presumably from the same people.

“most of the people whom I have talked to have rather expressed some loss and have felt much better during CFA than now, when there existed some negotiation power and respect to the Tamil people”

Of course. Most Sri Lankans hoped for some sort of negotiated solution, not only the citizens of Jaffna. But thats the price you have to pay when you look to a blind egocentric megalomaniac with no political agenda apart from acts of terrorism to win equality and fair say for the Tamil people. Negotiations are 2-way things. If you wish to count the number of instances the LTTE broke the CFA compared to the SLA, just ask your friendly Norwegians for details.

“I don’t think opening up financial institutions, repairing some roads, building hotels, all in the name of economic development will do anything for reconciliation”

So that should stop right? Doesnt auger well, since that was he very first attempt you made to ‘think’ instead of quote someones opinion.

“As far as Jaffna is considered, what we rather see is building up of resentment and insecurity – the same pre-conditions that led to the ethnic conflict.”

Yes, i suppose what you WOULD ‘rather see’ is the whole thing never resolved until you achieve your impossible dream of separatism.

“If the government fails to address the core issues then it won’t be surprising to find another separatist struggle fully fledged up and I think with the attitude of the Majority, this is the direction people are heading to.”

With veiled threats like that how can you actually have the nerve to question why Army camps still dot the peninsula?

—

When you start with pessimism, resort to scaremongering and false allegations, and end with veiled threats, its pretty clear that you intend to make the GOSL fight every inch of their way into the hearts and minds of the Northern Tamils. I hope the sense of self-righteousness you feel is worth the opportunities you lose with that mindset.

As i mentioned earlier reconciliation is a two way process. Commentators such as you seem to live in a fools paradise that suddenly sees the Tamils of Sri Lanka as victims of everything.

So where is the peace that Rajapakse & Co have claimed of achieving with the defeat of LTTE? I don’t think opening up financial institutions, repairing some roads, building hotels, all in the name of economic development will do anything for reconciliation, peace, and to solve the core issues Tamil people are facing. There is nothing worth mentioning that the Jaffna locals gain from any of these developments, as the Chinese and Indians are competing each other for the contracts along with some Sri Lankan hotel chains and financial institutions. I don’t think Tamil people find anything wrong with having Buddha statues around as Buddhism and Hinduism are related, however, the issue is that Buddha statue in Sri Lanka could be regarded as a political symbol representing Sinhalization, hence should be done with consideration.

As far as Jaffna is considered, what we rather see is building up of resentment and insecurity – the same pre-conditions that led to the ethnic conflict. If the government fails to address the core issues then it won’t be surprising to find another separatist struggle fully fledged up and I think with the attitude of the Majority, this is the direction people are heading to.

Just to show the other side of this story:

1. The LTTE memorial mentioned at Kopay, Jaffna is NOT a cemetary. It does not contain a single human remnant.

The area is a massive 2 acre memorial with mock coffins -mostly of cement commemorating fallen cadres. If further proof is necessary, names of two suicide bombers who died in Colombo are marked on two plots (tiled with ceramic since they attained Maveer status) just to the right of the main entrance. I have been to this memorial twice and on one occasion saw the inside of one mock-coffin. there is nothing underneath but virgin soil, and nothing within the coffin but bricks.

Preserving a monument to suicide bombers that doesnt contain human remains would not advance a case for anyone’s dignity would it.

– – –

2.The Kopay LTTE Memorial is built on land forcefully privateered by the LTTE from the farming community of Kopay in 1988.

The memorial is completely surrounded by fertile banana and tobacco plantations and lies slap-bang in the middle of one of the most arable areas in Kopay. The land was forcefully taken from the village farmers and cleared for construction in 1988 although most of the memorials are of a later date (1990s).

– – –

3. Sri Lankan Army camps exist in perfect harmony with Hindu Temples all through the Jaffna peninsula.

Examples for can be seen at Elephant Pass and Keeramalai and all through town.

However both these regions contain many little churches shelled to smithereens by the LTTE as they attempted to evict the SLA from Elephant Pass and Kankasanturai camps respectively. The Mosques you mention as threatened by new Buddha Statues were empty for the large part of a decade after the LTTE purges Jaffna of Muslims.

– – –

4. The greatest ever wanton destruction of an established structure was perpetrated by the LTTE in the 1990s. They completely devastated the ramparts as well as interior of the massive 300-odd year old Dutch Fort in Jaffna, trying to chase away 200 SLA soldiers. The Jaffna fort was an architectural marvel and used to be the best preserved in South Asia, as those who knew it before the 1990 demolition would recall.

– – –

The point i want to make with these 4 observations is that reconciliation is a two-way process. This is the other side to Ms Isaac’s story.

Therefore lets not mince words – the two populations that now meet in Jaffna are those that supported and sustained two opposing armies for the best part of 3 decades. If one population is held accountable for the doings of the military that it supported and sustained, then the other should also do something concrete about the one they nurtured.

The GOSL and many private donors have done their bit to rectify at least some damage done by the senseless destruction of the Jaffna Public Library. It is also painstakingly rebuilding the Jaffna railway line destroyed by the LTTE (although the one leading to Talaimannar is still to even commence). It is slow work, but things ARE happening.

However when it comes to Sri Lanka, there has always been a very vocal minority who love to pick at the faults of one side, sympathize with the faults the other, and turn out a half-baked hash that sounds like the real thing.

Ms Isaacs belongs to this group of people who seem to be able, within 20 years, to watch a patch of farmland being forcibly taken from their own people and turned into a concrete memorial to suicide bombers that DOESNT CONTAIN ANY REMAINS IN THE FIRST PLACE, and then protest its ‘destruction’ when the govt proposes to plough up the bricks again. And two paragraphs later she wails that a statue of the buddha has come up near a Bo Tree. Oh, the Inhumanity.

So i’m pretty damn sure no one will even think of rebuilding Jaffna Fort. And in 50 years time, someone will say that that was the SL Aarmy’s doing as well.

“Tamils have suffered in the hands of Sinhala hegemony since 1948 and this is not disputed.”-
I have met quite a few Sinhalese people who will dispute this statement.
There are many people in the Sinhala camp who take the view that Tamils have no grievances.
That view has gained more acceptance after the war.

A political solution to Tamil nationalism is highly unlikely under this regime. The best that can be hoped for is the proper impementation of the 13 amendment with respect to land and police powers.