LTTE has become an easy scapegoat for all war crimes, the double genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Tamil Elamists. True, LTTE did commit most crimes but it was not the LTTE alone. Tamil Elamists actively participated in all these war crimes. Ideological, physical and propaganda support for these war crimes came from non-LTTE sections of Tamil Elamists. It is essential to investigate these crimes to stop their recurrence, punish the culprits, put the nation in order and deter the malicious false campaign launched by Tamil Elamists abroad to divert attention from real war crimes.
One striking fact about peaceful Tamil Elamists’ contribution to war crimes comes from the ideological front. LTTE was not a bunch of bandits. They were driven by a political ideology based on Tamil communal aspirations. Where did they get this ideology? LTTE was never an ideology factory. LTTE was merely made up of school dropouts, common criminals, under-aged fighters, suicide bombers and other similar elements. There was no one capable of providing it with it’s ideology within the outfit. Besides, the LTTE didn’t tolerate anyone telling it what to do. It had a strong conviction of what is to be done. Who injected this headstrong ideological conviction to the LTTE that led to mass murder, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, communalism and other similar violence?
Who Are Tamil Elamists?
Tamil and Sinhala communal feelings in politics emerged during the British rule of the country. However, the Sinhalese soon discontinued it in favour of national consensus. But Tamils, influenced by similar communal politics in Tamil Nadu, India, didn’t give up. In 1931 Tamil leaders demanded 50% representation in the legislature for 25% Tamil speaking people. That means only 50% representation for 75% Sinhalas. In other words Tamil leaders in 1931 sought three times more power for Tamil individuals than Sinhala individuals. Although the demand was cut down by British rulers with contempt, this insatiable greed for power defined Tamil politics. In 1944 All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) was registered as the premier political party of Northern and Eastern Tamils. At the 1947 election, it won the majority vote of Tamils in the North and the East. “Tamil” was its political ideology. This was the first time racism entered party politics officially. In 1949 Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), which interprets to Lanka Tamil Kingdom Party, was formed. Once again it was all about Tamil racism in politics. Therefore, the demand for a Tamil kingdom in Sri Lanka arose independent of the ‘Sinhala-only’ issue of 1956. It was merely an excuse to continue with the Tamil kingdom project. In 1976 this was renewed with the Vadukoddai Resolution. As a result, another racism based political party by the name Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was formed. Highly educated and senior politicians were behind all these moves and they are the ideologists behind the Tamil Elam project. LTTE merely followed the ideology created by them.
However, LTTE is not the only group to follow their ideology.
A Brief Comparison of Tamil Elam and Nazi Campaigns
The Tamil Elam campaign is identical to the Nazi campaign. Both aimed to create racially-pure nations for specific races; both vowed to follow national-socialism as the dominant political/economic ideology within, both campaigns showed incredible intolerance to persons of other communities, both followed a genocidal approach towards other communities, both campaigns glorified horrendous crimes previously unknown to mankind. The Vaddukoddai Resolution, like the Nazi ideology, resolved to create the Free Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of Tamil Eelam. (http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/document/papers/vaddukoddai_resolution.htm) Just like in the case of the Nazis, the word, “secular” meant the opposite. Nazi “secularism” meant a “multiethnic” society as long as it had only the German race! In exact words, Tamil Elam “secularism” also means “plurality” as long as the entire society is comprised of Tamils of different religions!
The Vaddukoddai Resolution was an exact replication of Nuremberg Laws of 1935 to classify people of an established nation based on race and create a new state on this classification. Why was Nuremberg and Vaddukoddai chosen? Nuremberg had a sympathetic view of the ideology propagated by the Nazis for a long time and hence was a safe place to have the event just as SJV Chelvanayakam’s own Vaddukoddai electorate. Just as its Nazi predecessor, the Vadukoddai Resolution defined who can be a citizen of the Tamil nation and who cannot be a citizen. This classification was the guiding light of both the military under the Nazi leadership and the LTTE.
The ideological father of Tamil Elamism, SJV Chelvanayagam came to be known as “thanthai” Chelva. The word “thanthai” has the exact same meaning as Fuhrer in German! Hitler was called Fuhrer by the Nazis just the same way Chelvanayakam is called thanthai. Both refer to a fatherly figure leading a communal campaign.
Illankai Arasu Kachchi leaders vowed to “chase away” the Sinhalas from what they called “Tamil-only homelands”. They succeeded eventually. One big difference between the Nazi campaign and the Tamil Elam campaign is the separation of ideological leaders from those who carried forward their agenda. Nazis had unison of ideological and military leadership whereas Tamil Elamists had separate ideological and military leaders. Although Parkinson’s disease struck both Hitler and Chelvanayagam, it affected the latter very badly and didn’t live to see the fruit of his ideology. As a result Chelvanayagam didn’t get involved in the military campaign of Tamil Elamists whereas Hitler’s life was cut short by his involvement in violence.
Nazi campaign succeeded in chasing away or killing almost all the Jews in Germany. This has only one parallel in the whole world. That is the complete chase away and killing of Sinhalas from the North by Tamil Elamists.
Sinhalas are a small group of people numbering around the same as the Jews. They have their own language, religion, culture, traditions and history just like the Jews have their own. Sinhalas are the majority in Sri Lanka but are a regional minority in the South Indian region. Tamils on the other hand are the regional majority but a minority in Sri Lanka. Today Tamils live in each and every district (numbering 25) of Sri Lanka but Sinhalas, despite being the majority of Sri Lanka, are confined to only 20 districts.
According to the 1971 census, there were 20,402 Sinhalas in Jaffna. After the Vaddukoddai Resolution and resultant campaign of genocide against them, the number of Sinhalas fell to zero. Today the number of Sinhalas in the entire Jaffna district is zero. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_District). The same fate fell on Sinhalas in Batticaloa, Mulaitivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi districts as well. In other words, Sinhalas were entirely wiped out from five districts of the eight (8) districts of the North and the East that is claimed by Tamil Elamists to be the nation of Tamils and only Tamils. Apart from the Nazi genocide of Jews, nothing is comparable to this silent act of genocide by Tamil Elamists. However, Tamil Elamists didn’t stop at that. They went on to genocide Muslims too from the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mulaitivu and Mannar at a later stage. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_District)
This phased approach of Tamil Elamists coins with the Nazi campaign as described in vivid detail by Pastor Martin Niemöller. “They came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
First, Tamil Elamists went after political parties with secular ideologies and destroyed them in the North and Tamil areas of the East. UNP, SLFP and communist parties that formed ruling coalitions were rooted out in Tamil majority areas in the North and the East by Tamil Elamist communal parties including the ACTC, ITAK, TULF and Tamil National Alliance. Sadly, these Tamil communalist parties still dominate these areas. When peaceful and forceful means failed, violence was used. In 1975 Alfred Duriappa, who was a Tamil himself but rejected Tamil Elamism was killed in Jaffna.
Then Tamil Elamists went after the police, the public service and trade unions in the North and Tamil majority areas of the East. All anti-Tamil Elamists were forced to leave these services and got the positions filled by supporters. Scores were killed.
Then they targeted the Sinhalese, ethnically cleansing them out totally from five districts. Then they went after the Muslims, wiping them out totally from four districts. Then their attention fell on Christian clergy and there was no one to defend them. Then the unthinkable happened. A large number of Tamil Christian clergy supported the Tamil Elam movement.
These wide ranging ideological matters and direction were installed in the LTTE by Tamil Elam racist political leaders who dominated the Tamil polity in areas they referred to as ‘Tamil Homelands’. Sri Lanka must initiate war crimes investigations not into the LTTE which has been decimated, but against other Tamil Elamists, especially the ideological leaders who instigated, planned and prepared the infrastructure to commit war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Having survived the war, these criminals are working to revive violence, racism, subversion and non-co-operation. They are older than the LTTE to influence it, yet young enough to outlive the LTTE.
This is only a brief comparison of two identical ethno-nationalist projects that used extreme violence to achieve their goals. There are many more similarities between them.
One striking fact about peaceful Tamil Elamists’ contribution to war crimes comes from the ideological front. LTTE was not a bunch of bandits. They were driven by a political ideology based on Tamil communal aspirations. Where did they get this ideology? LTTE was never an ideology factory. LTTE was merely made up of school dropouts, common criminals, under-aged fighters, suicide bombers and other similar elements. There was no one capable of providing it with it’s ideology within the outfit. Besides, the LTTE didn’t tolerate anyone telling it what to do. It had a strong conviction of what is to be done. Who injected this headstrong ideological conviction to the LTTE that led to mass murder, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, communalism and other similar violence?
Who Are Tamil Elamists?
Tamil and Sinhala communal feelings in politics emerged during the British rule of the country. However, the Sinhalese soon discontinued it in favour of national consensus. But Tamils, influenced by similar communal politics in Tamil Nadu, India, didn’t give up. In 1931 Tamil leaders demanded 50% representation in the legislature for 25% Tamil speaking people. That means only 50% representation for 75% Sinhalas. In other words Tamil leaders in 1931 sought three times more power for Tamil individuals than Sinhala individuals. Although the demand was cut down by British rulers with contempt, this insatiable greed for power defined Tamil politics. In 1944 All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) was registered as the premier political party of Northern and Eastern Tamils. At the 1947 election, it won the majority vote of Tamils in the North and the East. “Tamil” was its political ideology. This was the first time racism entered party politics officially. In 1949 Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), which interprets to Lanka Tamil Kingdom Party, was formed. Once again it was all about Tamil racism in politics. Therefore, the demand for a Tamil kingdom in Sri Lanka arose independent of the ‘Sinhala-only’ issue of 1956. It was merely an excuse to continue with the Tamil kingdom project. In 1976 this was renewed with the Vadukoddai Resolution. As a result, another racism based political party by the name Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was formed. Highly educated and senior politicians were behind all these moves and they are the ideologists behind the Tamil Elam project. LTTE merely followed the ideology created by them.
However, LTTE is not the only group to follow their ideology.
A Brief Comparison of Tamil Elam and Nazi Campaigns
The Tamil Elam campaign is identical to the Nazi campaign. Both aimed to create racially-pure nations for specific races; both vowed to follow national-socialism as the dominant political/economic ideology within, both campaigns showed incredible intolerance to persons of other communities, both followed a genocidal approach towards other communities, both campaigns glorified horrendous crimes previously unknown to mankind. The Vaddukoddai Resolution, like the Nazi ideology, resolved to create the Free Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of Tamil Eelam. (http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/document/papers/vaddukoddai_resolution.htm) Just like in the case of the Nazis, the word, “secular” meant the opposite. Nazi “secularism” meant a “multiethnic” society as long as it had only the German race! In exact words, Tamil Elam “secularism” also means “plurality” as long as the entire society is comprised of Tamils of different religions!
The Vaddukoddai Resolution was an exact replication of Nuremberg Laws of 1935 to classify people of an established nation based on race and create a new state on this classification. Why was Nuremberg and Vaddukoddai chosen? Nuremberg had a sympathetic view of the ideology propagated by the Nazis for a long time and hence was a safe place to have the event just as SJV Chelvanayakam’s own Vaddukoddai electorate. Just as its Nazi predecessor, the Vadukoddai Resolution defined who can be a citizen of the Tamil nation and who cannot be a citizen. This classification was the guiding light of both the military under the Nazi leadership and the LTTE.
The ideological father of Tamil Elamism, SJV Chelvanayagam came to be known as “thanthai” Chelva. The word “thanthai” has the exact same meaning as Fuhrer in German! Hitler was called Fuhrer by the Nazis just the same way Chelvanayakam is called thanthai. Both refer to a fatherly figure leading a communal campaign.
Illankai Arasu Kachchi leaders vowed to “chase away” the Sinhalas from what they called “Tamil-only homelands”. They succeeded eventually. One big difference between the Nazi campaign and the Tamil Elam campaign is the separation of ideological leaders from those who carried forward their agenda. Nazis had unison of ideological and military leadership whereas Tamil Elamists had separate ideological and military leaders. Although Parkinson’s disease struck both Hitler and Chelvanayagam, it affected the latter very badly and didn’t live to see the fruit of his ideology. As a result Chelvanayagam didn’t get involved in the military campaign of Tamil Elamists whereas Hitler’s life was cut short by his involvement in violence.
Nazi campaign succeeded in chasing away or killing almost all the Jews in Germany. This has only one parallel in the whole world. That is the complete chase away and killing of Sinhalas from the North by Tamil Elamists.
Sinhalas are a small group of people numbering around the same as the Jews. They have their own language, religion, culture, traditions and history just like the Jews have their own. Sinhalas are the majority in Sri Lanka but are a regional minority in the South Indian region. Tamils on the other hand are the regional majority but a minority in Sri Lanka. Today Tamils live in each and every district (numbering 25) of Sri Lanka but Sinhalas, despite being the majority of Sri Lanka, are confined to only 20 districts.
According to the 1971 census, there were 20,402 Sinhalas in Jaffna. After the Vaddukoddai Resolution and resultant campaign of genocide against them, the number of Sinhalas fell to zero. Today the number of Sinhalas in the entire Jaffna district is zero. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_District). The same fate fell on Sinhalas in Batticaloa, Mulaitivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi districts as well. In other words, Sinhalas were entirely wiped out from five districts of the eight (8) districts of the North and the East that is claimed by Tamil Elamists to be the nation of Tamils and only Tamils. Apart from the Nazi genocide of Jews, nothing is comparable to this silent act of genocide by Tamil Elamists. However, Tamil Elamists didn’t stop at that. They went on to genocide Muslims too from the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mulaitivu and Mannar at a later stage. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_District)
This phased approach of Tamil Elamists coins with the Nazi campaign as described in vivid detail by Pastor Martin Niemöller. “They came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
First, Tamil Elamists went after political parties with secular ideologies and destroyed them in the North and Tamil areas of the East. UNP, SLFP and communist parties that formed ruling coalitions were rooted out in Tamil majority areas in the North and the East by Tamil Elamist communal parties including the ACTC, ITAK, TULF and Tamil National Alliance. Sadly, these Tamil communalist parties still dominate these areas. When peaceful and forceful means failed, violence was used. In 1975 Alfred Duriappa, who was a Tamil himself but rejected Tamil Elamism was killed in Jaffna.
Then Tamil Elamists went after the police, the public service and trade unions in the North and Tamil majority areas of the East. All anti-Tamil Elamists were forced to leave these services and got the positions filled by supporters. Scores were killed.
Then they targeted the Sinhalese, ethnically cleansing them out totally from five districts. Then they went after the Muslims, wiping them out totally from four districts. Then their attention fell on Christian clergy and there was no one to defend them. Then the unthinkable happened. A large number of Tamil Christian clergy supported the Tamil Elam movement.
These wide ranging ideological matters and direction were installed in the LTTE by Tamil Elam racist political leaders who dominated the Tamil polity in areas they referred to as ‘Tamil Homelands’. Sri Lanka must initiate war crimes investigations not into the LTTE which has been decimated, but against other Tamil Elamists, especially the ideological leaders who instigated, planned and prepared the infrastructure to commit war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Having survived the war, these criminals are working to revive violence, racism, subversion and non-co-operation. They are older than the LTTE to influence it, yet young enough to outlive the LTTE.
This is only a brief comparison of two identical ethno-nationalist projects that used extreme violence to achieve their goals. There are many more similarities between them.
174 comments:
Well done Moshe. Pretty good analytical overview of the tamil elaam concept and the unsung culprits behind the ideology.
Enjoyed reading it, thanks.
It is a very timely article. These Eeelamist war criminals are still roaming freely in the west. Most of these Eelamist criminals are hiding behind the names like WTF, TAG etc. Raising the public awareness about the Eelamist war criminals and their crimes against the people of Sri Lanka is essential in bringing justice to the victims.
Was away for a while. BTW did you see this fantastic news?
These MFs were planning to revive the tiger in the university.
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අන්තරේ කැඳවුම්කරු ඇතුළු සිසු පිරිසකට
යාපනේ සරසවි සිසුහු පහර දී පළවා හරිති
යාපනේ සරසවි සිසුන්ට දේශපාලනය අවශ්ය නෑ - මවිපිය පිරිසක්
සිරිමෙවන් කස්තුරිආරච්චි
යාපනය විශ්වවිද්යාලයේ සිසුන් සිය දේශපාලන කටයුතු වලට සම්බන්ධ කර ගැනීමට ගිය අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්යාලයීය මහා ශිෂ්ය සංගමයේ කැඳවුම්කරු ඇතුළු දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් පිරිසකට යාපනය සරසවියේ සිසුන් විසින් ගල්මුල් වලින් පහර දී පන්නා දමා ඇත.
අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්යාලයීය ශිෂ්ය බල මණ්ඩලයේ කැඳවුම්කරු උදුල ප්රේමරත්න ඇතුළු දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් 70 ක පමණ පිරිසකට පෙරේදා (12 වැනිදා) සවස මෙම ප්රහාරය එල්ල වී ඇත. අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්යාලයීය මහා ශිෂ්ය සංගමයේ නියෝජිත සරසවි සිසුන් අතර භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා 06 නමක් සහ සරසවි සිසුවියන් කීපදෙනකු සිට ඇත.
මෙම පිරිස යාපනය සරසවි සිසුන් වෙත ගොස් ඔවුන් තම සංගමයට බඳවා ගැනීමට උත්සාහ දරමින් සිටියදී ඊට විරෝධය පෑ යාපනයේ සරසවි සිසුන් පිරිසක් මෙසේ ගල්මුල් වලින් පහර දී දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් පිරිස පළවා හැර ඇත.
ඉන් අනතුරුව ඊයේ (13 දා) උදේ දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් වෙත ගිය යාපනය සරසවි සිසුන්ගේ දෙමවුපියන් සහ ශිෂ්යයන් පිරිසක් යාපනයේ සරසවියේ කටයුතු සඳහා දේශපාලන ශිෂ්ය සංගම්වල සහයෝගයක් හෝ මැදිහත්වීමක් අවශ්ය නැති බව පවසා වහාම යාපනයෙන් පිටවී යන ලෙසට තර්ජනය කර ඇත.
තමන්ට රජය සහ හමුදාව සහාය ලබාදෙන බැවින් ඒ කෙරෙහි පූර්ණ විශ්වාසය තබා ඇති බවත්, වසර ගණනාවක් එල්. ටී. ටී. ඊ. ත්රස්තවාදයෙන් පීඩාවට පත්වී අඩපණව තිබූ අධ්යාපන කටයුතු දැන් සාර්ථකව සිදුකරගෙන යන අවස්ථාවේදී පටු දේශපාලනය ඊට රිංගවා තම දරුවන්ගේ අධ්යාපනය නැවත අඩාල කිරීමට ඉඩ නොතබන බවත් දෙමවුපියෝ වැඩිදුරටත් පවසා ඇත.
Well done!
Can't the parents of university students in the South also do the same?
Sujeewa,
It is good that the anthara-nannaththara is not welcome in Jaffna. These disruptive elements should not be allowed to steal the students' right to peacefully complete the studies. If they want to do politics, then they can join the party of choice to compete in whatever the election without destroying the future of innocent students.
Harvesting season in India.
-------------------
කොටි හිතවාදීහු චෙන්නායිහි දුම්රිය මාර්ගයක් පුපුරවති
තමිල්නාඩුවේ කොටි හිතවාදීහු කණ්ඩායමක් ඊයේ අලුයම 2.10 ට පමණ චෙන්නායි විල්ලුපුරම් හි දුම්රිය මාර්ගයක් පුපුරුවා හැර ඇත. තිරුචිරාපල්ලි - චෙන්නායි දුම්රිය මේ මාර්ගයේ ගමන් කිරීමට නියමිතව තිබූ අතර බලධාරීන් වහාම ක්රියාත්මක වී දුම්රිය රියෑදුරාට මේ ගැන දැන්වූ නිසා මහා විනාශයක් වැළකී ඇත. පුපුරා ගිය දුම්රිය මාර්ගය අසල තිබී ජනපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ඉන්දීය සංචාරයට විරුද්ධව ලියවුණු පත්රිකාවක්ද හමුව ඇතැයි ඉන්දීය මාධ්ය කීය.
Sam;
These are the same idiots whom debate with us about tamil wounds and tamil hurts in diff forums. They do not have an idea of it. They only repeat KTTe message. I'm glad that the real tamils in SL chased them.
Politicing should be banned in our universities...
Going back to the topic...
The West (UK & USA) always applied double standards when dealing with little brown/black/yellow/red people.
For example, when the US used excessive force (with the blessing of UK) by dropping atom bombs over Japan and annihilated millions of little yellow people, mostly civilians mind you, no one shouted genocide. In fact, it was hailed as a "righteous" or "triumphant" act. And it sure did bring WWII to an end. It wasn't even considered a war crimes though the devastation was completely and utterly out of proportion. It not only affected that generation on the ground but future generations as well, due to radiation contamination. Moreover, it was really an experiment the US wanted to perform. The context of "war" gave the US the self-justified opportunity to test the bombs on human guinea pigs. Today no power would consider such an out of proportion show of force even against global terrorism.
They can "talk" about pakka land in their houses till cows come home for all I care. GOSL did what they had to do to wrest the problem at hand with the resources available to them using reasonable and proportionate force.
The so called credibility of Western super-powers is no longer valid nor accepted; their influence is no longer welcome because they have proven time and time again that they only talk the talk but don't walk the walk when it matters. GOSL should not bend to pressure from these hypocrites.
I don't like the subject here. Pls comment to the article
It is not just NOW. For all the time they rode to peace, carrying SL safely in their arms.
Media freedom of para suddha:
Journalist facing jail for leaking embarrassing off-air video clip of Nicolas Sarkozy TV interview
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1286452/Journalist-facing-jail-leaking-embarrassing-air-video-clip-Nicolas-Sarkozy-TV-interview.html#ixzz0qpmNzbtE
Truth about para suddha's Afghan war:
The $1trillion jackpot: U.S. discovers vast natural desposits of gold, iron, copper and lithium in Afghanistan
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1286464/US-discovers-natural-desposits-gold-iron-copper-lithium-Afghanistan.html#ixzz0qpmb9s4y
Moshe, old boy, the case you have stated here against Eelamist devils is watertight. We need to forward these articles to Truth and Reconciliation commission so they will think of fully investigating these war criminals and recommend charges against them.
Cheers!
thanks mates.
this appears in lankaweb too. please add a comment there so that it will reach a wider readership.
KB,
i thought the same!!! in fact i plan to send this series of articles to them.
we, all of us here, should add to this series making a good case against GRADFATHERS of terror.
SL should make it a condition for reconciliation that peaceful tamil elamists denounce separatism, racism, etc. and say sorry for INSTIGATING VIOLENCE.
no reconciliation until such time.
Moshe,
Excellent summary of the war crimes and genocide against non-Eelamist people perpetrated in the name of "Tamil Nationalism" and the "Tamil Homeland" concept, even as they sought to defame the "Sinhala majority" in the eyes of the world.
Well Done, Indeed!
REPOST:
Sri Lankans have to become ACCUSTOMED to High Defence Expenditures to MAINTAIN BATTLE READY National Defence Forces.
The END of the EELAM WAR DOES NOT mean Sri Lanka has no enemies and SHOULD NOT RESULT in dismantling the SLDF!
It was PRECISELY that kind of NAIVE thinking that left the nation DEFENCELESS with a force geared only to CEREMONIAL duties, and open to exploitation by its enemies .. both external and internal.
DEFENCE SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE and ABILITY cannot be switched on when needed .. but has to be carefully nurtured and maintained on a CONTINUOUS basis.
This is the LESSON TO BE LEARNED from the PAIN & SUFFERING of Sri Lanka over the last 30 YEARS. We were UNPREPARED and UNWILLING TO BEAR THE COST of a STRONG DEFENCE FORCE .. and WE PAID A HIGH PRICE for that UNREADINESS! Let us not FALL IN THE SAME HOLE DURING THE DAY that we FELL INTO DURING THe NIGHT!
In the words of an ANCIENT Roman .. If You Desire PEACE, prepare for WAR .. meaning that in a dangerous world the lack of military strength to defend one's own country only INVITES AGGRESSION by its enemies.
A STRONG DETERRENCE is the KEY to DEFENCE! A DEFENCE FORCE that DOES NOT HAVE TO FIGHT because its enemies FEAR TO CONFRONT IT is the BEST & CHEAPEST Defence.
A STRONG DEFENCE is ultimately MUCH CHEAPER than the PRICE that will otherwise be paid in LIVES, in TREASURE, in LOST OPPORTUNITIES, in LOST INDEPENDENCE, and perhaps a DIVIDED BALKANIZED COUNTRY.
Let us NOT SAY the INCREASE IN Defence BUDGET is for REHABILITATION.
Let us SAY that we INTEND to FURTHER STRENGTHEN the SLDF to give PAUSE to its FUTURE ENEMIES. Let us EDUCATE our PEOPLE of the NEED TO DO THAT, and get them WEANED OFF the OLD FOOLISH ATTITUDE that a STRONG SLDF is needed only when there is an ONGOING WAR.
If we SOW the SEEDS of MILITARY WEAKNESS in the BLOWING WIND, we will INEVITABLY REAP the WINDS OF WAR!
The ONLY DISEASE WITHOUT ANY CURE is STUPIDITY!
...............
Sri Lanka says increased defence expenditure in the budget is for post war rehabilitation
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jun 13, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has attributed the increase in the budgetary allocation to the defence sector to the maintenance of institutions affiliated to the defence establishment and the post-war rehabilitation work in the country.
The Appropriation Bill presented to the parliament last Tuesday (8) indicated that the highest budgetary allocation for the year 2010 is to the defence sector.
The opposition parties last week questioned the government for the reason to increase defence allocations in the 2010 budget.
The amount allocated to the defence sector for 2010 stands at Rs. 201 billion, which is an increase of Rs. 24 billion from the 2009 budgetary allocations to the sector. The government allocated Rs. 177 billion for the defence sector in 2009.
Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena has been quoted in the local media saying that the increase in the defence allocations for 2010 is due to the maintenance of the armed forces, the police and other institutions affiliated to the defence establishment.
He has said that the defence establishment has additional expenditure after the war as it needs to set up new police stations and other posts in the North and East.
They also need to pay the salaries of the cadre attached to defence. There is also a lot of post-war rehabilitation work to be carried out, he has said.
However, the Minister has ruled out that the possibility of the funds being used for any procurement.
DIRECT Disbursement of aid by India in Sri Lanka is an UNWARRANTED INFRINGEMENT of SL Govt Authority.
CEASE & DESIST, India!
DO UNTO OTHERS as You Would Have them DO UNTO YOU!
EARN our Friendship, not our ENMITY!
...............
Indian aid to be 'directly disbursed'
By TN Gopalan
BBC Tamil service, Chennai
Minister P Chidambaram
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said India was considering directly disbursing the financial aid it has proposed to give to the war-displaced people in Wanni for their housing project.
India has already announced an aid package of Indian Rs 1,000 crores (About US $215 million ) to build about 50,000 homes for the people who have lost their homes in the final stages of the war in Northern province.
Talking to the media in Chennai on Sunday, the Home Minister said both Indian and Sri Lankan governments were now considering “ ways and means” of directly disbursing the money to the heads of families through banks, instead of routing the money through the Government of Sri Lanka.
He said the Sri Lankan government had agreed to this idea. This will be done with the “cooperation” of Sri Lanka government, he said.
An amount of Indian Rs 200,000 each would be given to about 50,000 heads of families under the Indian project, he said.
Mr.Chidambaram said the Sri Lankan government had promised that these families would be resettled in the next three to six months.
Earlier, the Home Minister briefed the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on the meetings the Indian leaders had with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakshe in Delhi a few days ago.
Asked whether the Indian Government was not aware of the fact the Sri Lankan minister Douglas Devananda was declared as a “ proclaimed offender” in Indian courts, Mr.Chidambaram merely said there was “ no official information” to the government of India in this regard.
ONLY KNOWN TRAITORS support DIRECT INDIAN INTERFERENCE in Sri Lanka's Internal Affairs!
...............
Ravi K sabotaging Tamils’ peace hopes - Mano Ganesan
UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake by opposing the mere thought of India talking to Tamil-Muslim parties, is unethically sabotaging the peace hopes of the Tamil speaking people in this country, Democratic People’s Front (DPF) Leader Mano Ganeshan said.
Mano Ganeshan
“As an inevitable partner in the Sri Lankan process, India is not only talking to the minority parties but also talking to the Government and UNP. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe travels to India to meet Indian leaders more frequently than the Government leaders. Karunanayake cannot be unaware of this fact. We can understand his rush towards the UNP leadership.
But he should not flare up such sensitive issues in this post war era for his private agenda.
Is it the official stand of UNP approved by Ranil Wickremesinghe?” asked Ganesan in a media release issued by the DPF media office today.
The release added: “India is neither Sinhala nor Tamil or Muslim. It is not a country full of Mahatmas either.
Like Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims too have their own problems with India. It is because India naturally performs at its interests.
The Indian interest which is against the fragmentation of Sri Lanka has protected Sri Lanka from splitting up. The Government of the day understood and used it intelligently. This is the underlining fact that Karunanayake cannot afford to ignore.
If the thought of India talking to Tamil and Muslim parties is the problem for Karunanayake, he should only blame the parties those ruled the country including his party today. Karunanayake had been member of past UNP and PA Governments. Before blaming India for the alleged arms training to the Tamil groups, Karunanayake should take few lessons from the history.
Policies of the so called national parties and the successive governmental treatments meted out to the linguistic and religious minorities in this country, forced the minority leaderships to seek external assistances. It also paved way for the formation of ethnic parties in this country. Post war era has not offered any hopes for the Tamil speaking people yet.”
Does Blake's advice on "Reconciliation" apply to Iraq's Baath Party, Afghanistan's Taliban, North Korea's Communist Party, Iran's Government and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez?
Or, does his advice apply ONLY to democratic Sri Lanka?
LoL!
...............
The United States and India have similar views of Sri Lanka- Assistant Secretary Blake
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jun 14, Colombo: The United States and India have similar views of Sri Lanka situation and the steps that need to be taken, according to a high ranking US official.
In an interview with India's Rediff website, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake has said that the US and India are in agreement with their foreign policy toward Sri Lanka, especially on the resettlement of the remaining 40,000 plus internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The former US Ambassador to Colombo said that the US worked closely with India for the last several years on Sri Lanka's situation.
"We have worked very closely throughout the last several years on the situation in Sri Lanka, and again we have a real convergence of view on how that situation has evolved," Rediff quoted Assistant Secretary Blake.
Blake has noted that the United States has been the largest donor of food aid to the IDPs and said now they are focusing on other programs to help restore the livelihoods of the resettled by encouraging new business development in the war-torn northern region.
The US would coordinate closely with India to resettle the remaining IDPs and to ensure devolution of power in the north and greater respect for the rights of all Sri Lankans, Blake has told Rediff.
Noting that the recent meeting between Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was "very successful" Blake has said that the US had welcomed the steps taken by the Sri Lankan government including the forming of a Reconciliation Commission.
According to Blake, US has asked Sri Lanka to also work with the UN since the UN had a "great deal of experience in these matters."
Blake has said that the US was pleased to learn from Minister Peiris that the Reconciliation Commission Sri Lanka has established will meet the criteria that US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice laid out.
The Assistant Secretary has dismissed the criticism by certain human rights groups that the Commission is a sham saying that although it's a government appointed commission, it has independent experts on the commission.
"�Not everybody on the Commission is a government employee. In fact, very few of them are," Blake has said.
The US official stressed that a home-based inquiry is the best for the country.
"We always believe that it's best to have domestic answers to these very serious problems that exist because those in the long run -- if they are credible and independent and really get to the bottom of whatever the issue is -- will be much more acceptable domestically and that's particularly true in a country like Sri Lanka, where there is still some polarisation," Blake was quoted.
The Assistant Secretary has stressed that the Commission must "produce concrete, serious results" to be credible and to ward off the criticism by groups like International Crisis Group and Human Rights Watch.
In response to the interviewer's question on Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's recent comment to the BBC on hanging former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka for betraying the country by his remarks, Blake has replied cautiously saying that the US has expressed its interest in ensuring that General Fonseka is treated fairly and in accordance with Sri Lankan law.
"Blake has replied cautiously saying that the US has expressed its interest in ensuring that General Fonseka is treated fairly and in accordance with Sri Lankan law."
and the SL law, like US law and UK law, specifies EXECUTION as the apt punishment for treason!!
Blake snake crying for his pet, no surprise.
When bloody Gonseka was arrested he was the first of the para-suddha gang open his mouth.
Interestingly it was India's opposition (BJP or whatever) that "condemned" SL i believe (or did the Injun Government do so?).
Arresting him was the Government being to kind. They should have shot him (or car-crash, as Moshe would re-call we discussed such options over other scum) but not killed him, just mortally wound him, blame JVP for it (otherwise if it is LTTE it looks bad) arrest some of those bastards + some NGOs for assisting in it (as also discussed/elaborated earlier the propaganda points would be huge, and such movements would look like the Government is "genuine" in hunting down those responsible) they play the "international pressure" card as to why those arrested had to be released.
Have him mortally wounded, then kill him after eliciting a confession (recorded etc) of Blakes role in SL plus his lies (of both Fonnys and Blakes).
pol,
i wish gonzeka hangs himself frustrated of his criminal life. in his last letter he apologises for the crimes he comitted. and wishes that all SLs will enjoy peace he won for them. he blames GR for politicising the army and denying him his credit and for war crimes. (otherwise it doesn't sound genuine gonzeka crap!!!).
he ends his letter with a sri wickrama rajasinghe poem.
then ppl will blame the govt for mistreating him but would not blame for relieving him from suffering.
Maybe he will go nuts if he is stripped of his title. No longer being "El Janaral" will surely make him go over the edge. I am sure we don't need a him physically in a Military court to strip him of his title.
Good one from MD. A side no one talks about.
But there is some thing missing.
1. How these tamil peelamists known in rest of the world? Di-ass-pora.
2. Where they live? In west.
3. How these di-ass-pora funded LTTE to kill 1000s of civilians in SL? Gave money to LTTE.
4. What action taken against them by western HR champions? NONE.
I haven't seen any other human being lower than this di-ass-pora. They gave money to LTTE to kill 1000s of tamil, muslim, sinhala civilians, women and kids and after that they demand war crime bs investigations to punish GSL.
@ Gonzeka
As I see this case may drag almost 5 years. Military court will probably find the scum guilty and will put down in title - general to probably a major general, and give at most 5 years jail term and then Gonzeka will go to appeal court. Even if appeal court accept military courts decision president will probably give pardon. After that government change will probably happen (90% certain). After that is the scary time. Gonzeka will go after GR/MR. What many of us talking about Gonseka now (hanging himself, shot himself, car accident, etc) will likely to become reality for GR/MR...
ninja,
yes. the simple answer is that's part 3!!!
there are various aspects to the TE war crimes project.
1. ideologists
2. actual non-LTTE criminals
3. die-arse-pora/NGO/some foreign govts.
(SL is unhappy about their investgations!!!)
4. propogandists
5. those who stood by doing nothing/complecancy of politicians/the church, etc.
6. extortionists (tamil grievances/aspirations)
7. RAW, etc.
8. remaining LTTE
each of these groups has committed war crimes against SLs.
we want all that THOUROUGHLY INVESTIGATED by competent SL officers.
that is our condition for reconciliation.
The Commission on Reconciliation or whatever is a great way for Sri Lanka to bust the West and expose it (supporting die-ass-pora, funding LTTE through die-ass-pora, creating human shield to save LTTE as done by Blake etc).
To make sure this works the part blasting the West, its media and its NGOs must be released first, then the next week the part "attacking" SL, but in the same breath clearing SL of all wrong -tossing the blame back to the West.
And everything should be covered including role of the Church and functioning through "humanitarian NGOs" to do conversions + using the war for conversions (this will be explosive enough to get India to swallow and back the report) it will also nullify statements given by Christian priests (used in ICG and Times).
Starting from 2001 was a good idea.
I see lots of potential in destroying all the propaganda against us coupled with exposing the nature and activites of both Tamilia and para suddha West.
Timing its release is also important. Done around the cricket World Cup years –2011 & 2012, both involving SL as co hosts & hosts - has positives. If the report is essentially pro-SL (and does the above of exposing all the liars and scoundrels who tried to keep our country constantly at war under the guise of human rights) as SL will then look like a victim of para suddha and garner major world support boosted by cricket world cup and the media coverage that comes from that.
Or has negatives if report is basically some NGO type crap, regardless of when it is released. Who are the people heading it? Are they NGO type kalu-suddhas?
Moshe,
This looks like Ela... I do not have time right now to read it...so I have printed it to read in the train... Good work mate...
ONE WAY of offsetting the decline in forest cover in Sri Lanka is to introduce a NATIONAL POLICY to make urban areas GREENER.
Let us REQUIRE every homeowner to plant a minimum number of trees, let the Govt provide the plants, and let us prohibit cutting down large trees on private and public land without local govt inspection and approval.
Let us ALLOCATE public land in cities and towns, every few blocks apart, for WOODED MINI-PARKS with water fountains, ponds and benches.
Let public spirited organizations, businesses, and individuals adopt streets and mini-parks and commit themselves to making Sri Lanka a CLEANER and GREENER place to live!
...................
Sri Lanka's forest cover has dropped to 14% - Touchwood Consultant
Daily Mirror
June 15, 2010
Forests cover in Lanka started to decline with the introduction of typical commercial crops and clearing of forests for agricultural and residential purposes further contributed in reducing the natural forest cover, said Touchwood Investments PLC Agro Forestry Consultant Dammika G. Mahipala.
Speaking during a field study trip organised by Touchwood Investments on World Environment Day on 5 June, he noted that in the early 19th century, it was likely that Sri Lanka's forest cover was probably as high as 90%. "Today it has been declined to approximately 14%," he pointed out.
Established in 1999, Touchwood Investments celebrates its 11th year anniversary this June, marking marks a decade and more of nurturing and propagating a truly sustainable business model. Engaged in agro-forestation and the sale and maintenance of cultivated areas to investors in the local and overseas market, Touchwood is a business with a difference.
"Driven by the triple bottom line of people welfare, profit growth and concern for the planet, the company is an embodiment of how businesses can generate profits and leave behind a sustainable legacy for future generations," Mahipala asserted.
Touchwood Investments has built up a formidable portfolio of investors in the country, while planting and managing approximately 2,500 acres of vanilla, sandalwood and mahogany trees in 35 plantations covering the four Districts of Kalutara, Ratnapura, Matale and Badulla.
The company has spread its branches to Thailand and Hong Kong as well and has an impressive track record, operating to Global Reporting Initiative standards and is ISO 9001 and 14001 accredited. It is approved by the Boards of Investment of both Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Touchwood Investment PLC's Prageeth Herath said: "The Touchwood Group takes is environmental responsibilities seriously and committed to pursuing industry best practice in environmental performance. Touchwood succeeds in uplifting rural areas by employing the local populace in the plantations and by using organic methods of farming and improving land productivity, greater benefits are unleashed in the rural community."
"Managed forestry perfectly satisfies the concept of people-planet-profit, providing benefits for all. The world is looking for answers to the problems of climate change, threats to old growth forests and biodiversity, land degradation, sources of forest products, third world poverty and people's financial security, our quality of life and that of our children. The answer is to grow more trees with the help of Touchwood," he added.
Touchwood has launched the 'Sandun Arana' National Project in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, planting 100,000 sandalwood trees in 200 places of worship in Sri Lanka.
Touchwood also works closely with school children in an effort to educate them about conserving the environment and other ecological issues.
Perhaps the US State Dept has not yet heard of it, but the Sri Lanka Govt successfully concluded a MAJOR ZERO TOLERANCE EFFORT to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and PUNISHED THE OFFENDERS WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE, on May 18th, 2009 on the banks of the Nanthikadal Lagoon in Sri Lanka!
ALL Sri Lanka received from these BLEEDING HEARTS was MORE UNRELENTING CRITICISM and OPPOSITION!
They had NO SOLUTIONS to offer and NO HELP to give, other than TO BELIEVE the Lies & EMPOWER the Offenders THEN, and to CRITICIZE the Liberators NOW!
WAKE UP, US State Dept! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!
....................
Sri Lanka needs to do more to eliminate human trafficking, a US report says
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jun 15, Colombo: Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking despite making significant efforts to do so, a United States Department of State report released Monday claimed.
The US State Department yesterday released the 10th annual 'Trafficking in Persons Report for 2010' (TIP Report) outlining the challenges faced by the world to curb human trafficking.
The report for the first time ranks the countries according to the standards set by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) which was enacted by the US in 2000 and adopted by the United Nations to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish (3 Ps) Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
The report ranks 177 countries in 3 main tiers where countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act�s (TVPA) minimum standards were placed in Tier 1.
The 2010 TIP report places Sri Lanka in Tier 2 Watch List along with the neighbours India, Bangladesh, and Maldives. Pakistan and Nepal have been give Tier 2 rankings.
Governments of countries in Tier 2 do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. However, the countries will be placed in the Watch List if the trafficking is increasing and they fail to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking.
Placing Sri Lanka in Tier 2 WL for the fourth consecutive year, the report says during the year, the government enacted a law that facilitates the prosecution of recruitment agencies engaged in fraudulent recruitment and although little, made progress in identifying trafficking victims and provided some training on identification.
However, Sri Lanka despite these overall efforts, including rehabilitating child soldiers and reintegrating them into their communities and families failed to show evidence of progress in convicting and punishing trafficking offenders and identifying and protecting trafficking offenders, the report said.
The report recommended Sri Lankan government to vigorously investigate and prosecute suspected trafficking offenses and convict and punish trafficking offenders, particularly those responsible for recruiting victims with fraudulent offers of employment and excessive commission fees.
It further suggested the Sri Lankan government to develop and implement formal victim referral procedures and ensure that victims of trafficking found within the country are not detained or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked, such as visa violations.
The 2010 TIP report urged the Sri Lankan government to "continue anti-trafficking campaigns aimed at the public and law enforcement; continue to implement the "zero tolerance" policy regarding the recruitment and use of child soldiers; ensure that former child soldiers are reintegrated into society through comprehensive rehabilitation programs; establish a system to prevent vulnerable children from being recruited or re-recruited as soldiers; and strengthen the national anti-trafficking task force."
Incidentally, there are a few Indian Politicians who need to be extradited to Sri Lanka to answer charges too.
Among them: Vaiko, Ramadoss, Thirmavalavan, and Nedumaran.
...............
Madras HC issues notice to Center and Tamil Nadu government on petition against Sri Lankan Minister
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jun 14, Chennai: The Madras High Court, the highest Court in the State of Tamil Nadu, today ordered the Indian central and Tamil Nadu governments to respond to a petition filed against a Sri Lankan minister.
The petition, filed by advocate P. Pugalenthi calls for the arrest of Sri Lanka's Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Douglas Devananda, a proclaimed offender under Indian law, on charges stemming from a 1986 murder case in Chennai.
Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam ordered notice to be sent to the central and Tamil Nadu governments giving one week's time to submit their replies, Indian news agency IANS reported.
Pugalenthi, Secretary of Tamil Nadu Peoples Rights Forum and the counsel of Nalini Sriharan, the convicted assassin of Rajiv Gandhi, says the 6th Additional Sessions Judge in June 1994 had issued a proclamation warrant against Douglas Devananda, treating him as an 'absconding accused' in the case relating to the killing of a city resident in 1986.
Devananda, who accompanied the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on a state visit to India last week, earlier said that he is not aware of being declared as a proclaimed offender but ready to face any legal proceedings if brought against him.
"According to the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement, they have given pardon to all leaders, all political leaders. If there is anything legal, I am prepared to face that," he has said.
GOOD MOVE! It is about time that NGO activities were treated as a NATIONAL SECURITY issue.
................
NGO Secretariat under Defence Ministry now
By Dianne Silva
DailyMirror.lk
June 15, 2010
The NGO Secretariat which was previously operated under the Social Services Ministry and thereafter the Internal Affairs Ministry now comes under the purview of the Defence Ministry, following the new Parliament taking office.
“The NGO Secretariat is now under the Ministry of Defence, and the Defence Ministry will be working with them,” Media Centre for National Security Director Laxman Hullugalle told the Daily Mirror. He reiterated that this was by no means a measure taken to monitor NGOs but a simple change in administration.
Earlier the Passport office, the Immigration and Emigration Department and the NGO Secretariat were under the purview of the Ministry of Internal Affairs headed by the then Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka.
"Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking"
so what????
there is no child/women traficing in SL.
main culprits are TEs running away from SL which should be ENCOURAGED!!
SL stands to gain when they leave and loses when they are in SL.
US may be at the receiving end. that's not SL's problem.
hiranthe,
cheers. any critiques appreciated.
Ninja (and others),
It is frustrating how terror supporters get away scot-free.
During the peak of IRA violence there was a lot of support for the terrorists from the Irish communities in the US. They considered it their duty to support the IRA and did it with pride. Very similar to what the Tamil Diaspora did (and continue to do). There host countries will not see them as terrorist supporters although in fact they are.
The only action SL could take against them have to be covert and/or on Sri Lankan soil. Gather intelligence about individual terra supporters and take necessary action if/when they are on Sri Lankan soil...if you know what I mean ;)
Just happen to watch the last part of Hardtalk with Hugo Chavez.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8732857.stm
No wonder west hate this man!
Hardtalk presenter once again meets a proper match after Gota!!
http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=8537
So, what is MALAYSIA going to do about it?
WRING your hands in IMPOTENCE and DEFEND their "Human Rights" like the hypocrites of the west, or HUNT THEM DOWN and ERADICATE them?
Which is it?
................
LTTE setting up base in Malaysia - report
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jun 15, Colombo: A Malaysian government minister has disclosed that foreign terrorists including remnants of Sri Lanka's LTTE Tamil Tigers are using Malaysia as their operational base and to recruit new activists.
Malaysian police had detected the presence of several senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were reportedly using Malaysia for shelter and logistic base, Malaysian National News Agency Bernama reported.
Home minister Hishammuddin Hussein has told reporters today in Kuala Lumpur that both Islamic and non-Islamic militant groups were using Malaysia as their operational base to step up their activities.
Malaysian National News Agency Bernama quoting Musa Hassan, the Inspector-General of Police said the terrorist groups are using the country for their financial transactions and exchange of information, in addition to targeting higher education institutes to recruit more members.
The Home Minister said his ministry was working closely with local enforcement and international intelligence agencies to share data on foreign nationals entering Malaysia and their movements, to curb activities that could threaten national and regional security.
I stand by Alston for once
As I stated before SL has no shit right question Israel. It shud be standing for proper maritime regulations and clear definition on unfair access to the territory of a nation.
I feel for ppl in Gaza, but the approach of the flotilla is unacceptable.
A War criminal nation says sorry for its victims
Can there be an obvious crime than this? What a hell of delayed report and waste of public money on "investigation". And UN agencies and so many govts were asleep for 38 years.
And when found guilty as shud have been ages ago, they say "sorry". What a big deal after all.
It is as funny as any other English affair.
India's harvest for seeds they planted 30yrs ago.
-----------------------
තමිල්නාඩු දුම්රිය මාර්ගයක් පිපිරවූ
කොටි 8 දෙනෙක් අත්අඩංගුවේ
කීර්ති වර්ණකුලසූරිය
ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ඉන්දීය සංචාරයට විරෝධය පෑමක් වශයෙන් තමිල්නාඩුවේ විල්ලුපුරම් දුම්රිය මාර්ගය පුපුරුවා හැර මගීන් සහිත සීග්රගාමී දුම්රියක් විනාශ කිරීමට තැත් කළ කොටි ත්රස්තයන් අටදෙනා තමිල්නාඩු පොලිසිය විසින් ඊයේ අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇත.
බාබු, ඉලංගෝ, ගනේසන්, ඊයමලෙයි, ජයරාම, කුමාර්, තමිල්චෙන්නයි සහ ජෝතිරුසමන් නමැති මෙම කොටි කණ්ඩායම මෙරටින් තමිල්නාඩුවට පැනගොස් සිටි අය බව හෙළිවී තිබේ.
තමිල්නාඩුවේ චෙන්නායි වෙත එමින් සිටි රොක්සෝට් එක්ස්ප්රස් නමැති සීග්රගාමී දුම්රියේ රියෑදුරා පිපිරී ගිය දුම්රිය මගට අඩි 200 ක් තිබියදී දුම්රිය නතර කර මගීන්ගේ දිවි ගලවාගෙන ඇත.
Cleaning up the underworld.
මාළිගාවත්තේ පාතාල නායකයන්
දෙදෙනකු පැහැරගෙන ගිහින්
Have you guys seen this F/B group "Repopulate the Singhalese in North-East Sri Lanka". Good platform for us.
Found this aT article by the creator of teh group
Sam;
Cleaning a selected subset of underworld is risky. And it gives unlimited power to the remaining sections.
I am not very happy about this aspect of underworld cleaning.
But it is a welcome news to hear the cleaning of Jihad and LTTE suportive groups. Appreciate taht aspect.
Down the line there will be a day that one group will unnecessarily gain control of underworld and become a public nuisance. MR shud be able to see it but seem to ignore.
SK,
that is fabulous.
we have to get BOTH into our forum or we should talk to them in F/B.
re: israel
agree with SK.
SL landed in trouble for double standards. strangely this was our weapon. now we are stuffed eventhough we pull through a pro-israel outcome of it.
Regardless of SLs stance on Israel, Alston is just a vindictive racist piece of shit. No surprise the Daily Mirror allows him space to make his anti-SL rant. Don't these people (DailyMirror) give a damn for Sri Lanka or our soldiers?
pol,
the problem is WE are setting a disadvantageous PRECEDENCE that affects us.
My point is about Alston being the vile racist he is, suddha can be and is extremely racist and vile you know.
Now why are they not pursuing Israel with the same zeal for war crimes as they are for SL? All we see is empty talk and media white washing. First blast Palestinians/anti-Israel forces then begin the massive white wash and countering immediately after. The media & NGO activity is always unbiased –if not out right in favour of Israel with the pattern of first some loud bogus “out rage” at Israel then giving the Israeli side of events and huge justifications.
pol,
israel acted in defence of its territory and national security.
yes, USA, etc. stand by israel.
but why are WE digging our own grave by setting a stupid precedence????
looks like all the US war crimes jokers are coming to SL.
this is the time to highlight war crims committed by ITAK, TULF, TNA sakkiliyas.
it was they who created the vada-kundi resolution that DEMANDED the genocide of sinhalas.
we MUST investigate this AFTER the IC commences a war crimes investigation. we may not jump the gun.
Yes i agree Moshe SL should stay away from Israel etc.
Big mistake which i do not support.
Personally it is why i think we should not say anything at all whatever happens other than say "regret loss of life" if we have to comment on the issue (like the aid ship etc or some other event which will make headlines).
Anway it does not change the fact of what Alston is.
How about we call for an investigation of the role of the West in Sri Lanka's conflict, from NGOs to funding the LTTE?
Isn't the bitch Obama just dispatched the one who put the "Rape used as a weapon of war" for Hillary's speech?
Interesting to note the composition of who is coming, all are the former Co-Chairs. Many these scum really must be missing that power and sense of domination they had given to them “legally” by Ranil. These parayas really are a vindictive bunch.
The most disgusting part of all this is the role of the Opposition/other Sinhalese who dance to their masters tunes instead of standing to defend their country.
Moshey / Pol
Pol said:
[Yes i agree Moshe SL should stay away from Israel etc.
Big mistake which i do not support.]
Fully agree. SL should stay as neutral as possible. SL should not burn bridges unnecessarily.
However, believe me when I tell you that Israel is NOT going to be annoyed with SL for this utterance...not to say SL should do it with impunity and also repetitively going forward (read next).
My inside sources tell me this is nothing new for Israel...time to time for Israel to see some of her "beneficiaries" criticizing her...Israel quite well understand the power of the "Arab World"...especially when it comes to the "developing world" (ex "third world")...so, let's not get our knickers twisted around our ankles over this episode, but let us say "that was enough and no more."
Amen...Amin...Aamein!
:)) :)) :))
OaO Asithri
Pol
[How about we call for an investigation of the role of the West in Sri Lanka's conflict, from NGOs to funding the LTTE?
Isn't the bitch Obama just dispatched the one who put the "Rape used as a weapon of war" for Hillary's speech?
Interesting to note the composition of who is coming, all are the former Co-Chairs. Many these scum really must be missing that power and sense of domination they had given to them “legally” by Ranil. These parayas really are a vindictive bunch.
The most disgusting part of all this is the role of the Opposition/other Sinhalese who dance to their masters tunes instead of standing to defend their country.]
Wow! Wow indeed!
Pol, brother, I am 100% with you here - no ifs and buts!
I am hoping the Rajapakses are NOT too cocky to have blinker-blinders on and NOT see what the next poison arrows/darts/ the thamileelam MOMMAFUCKERS might be aiming at them, worse still, aiming at the heart of our beloved Motherlanka.
Frankly, in my opinion, that obviously pro-LTTE Para-Sudda Whitey Illegal (thank you Bob Marley!) MommaFucker from BBC's HardTalk had swing over the ropes in Sri Lanka many times - without any fielders from the opposing side!
After watching it I said to myself...FUUUUKKKKK MEEEEE....is this what we have reduced ourselves to? ...is this what we have to now bear up to see after 1000's of our braveheart brothers died to preserve the independence/sovereignty/dignity of our MotherLanka?
FUUUKKKK MEEEEE....I am still puking over what I saw !!!
I am surprised there was no discourse about that in this forum (or did I miss it?)
OaO Asithri
Pol
[suddha can be and is extremely racist and vile you know]
Agree 200% !!!
The trick is to show a benign, smiling, agreeable face at them racist para-sudda MOMMAFUCKERS (like the kind that would ostensibly turn "liberal" and LOVE to LOVE LTTE WHOREBITCHES ABROAD!) and then fuck them up the rectum when they least expect you to do so...believe me that strategy has never failed me...it is a science and I have perfected it to a fine art!
Today in my division of the multinational corp I serve in, the "demographics" strangely tell a story...that I do not have red-necks, kooky right wingers, religious fanatics, etc. etc. Mmmmmmm....now I wonder why it is that way ...
hak hak hak
OaO Asithri
Sorry, have been very busy in my prof life and hence not contributing here as often as I want to....but hey you FINE PATRIOTS are doing a wonderful job in keeping the flame of patriotism alive for our beloved MotherLanka.
I am in a rush...catch you later.
Love to all my brothers/sis here...
OaO Asithri
Asithri,
We all did discuss the BBC retard talk in the last thread topic.
I also just watched the one with Chavez. He totally “owned” them. (Another thing is Chavez knows English, but chooses not to speak it).
I seriously do not understand why whenever speaking to international media, especially para-suddha media, both MR and GR insist on speaking in English when they obviously cannot speak the language fluently, nor understand what is said and have a limited vocabulary to reply. There is nothing wrong in using a translator, it saves some cringing moments.
Secondly why the hell did they allow the BBC into Sri Lanka to carry out a new round of defamation? Do not these people realise the likes of Western media are trying to trap them and are not really interested in their answers and not genuine in all their bs? How long tell SL learns this damn lesson and for once tosses aside this stupid notion of “LTTE pay roll/propaganda/influence”. These SoBs assaulting our country are not children to be “mislead” by a bunch of stateless sakkillyas, they see an avenue to interfere and dominate Sri Lanka (more preciously have our people submit to them) through Tamilia and are milking it to the maxim, on top of their vindictive racist nature.
Thirdly why not do the "trap" which i discussed earlier (having them arrested and jailed for attempted child abuse). The damning headlines against them will be enough to tarnish them for a life time that whatever they say against Sri Lanka would amount to nothing. In fact the media stories which would occur once a “high profile” para suddha (such as the BBC monkey) is caught for paedophilia while trying to lecture SL about HR will write themselves.
Sri Lanka must ask help from China to deal with these para suddha war crimes bs. I am sick of this lie and more being perpetrated unchallenged. MR/GR do not seem to realise the severe nature of what is being said, even after the UNHRC MR dismissed the whole thing as “these things happen”, only to be hit with it again and again. How many damn lessons do you need? (It is like his obsession with Tamil votes). The damage being done is huge and my blood boils with hate for what these bastards are saying and doing, who are these white apes to do this to us? WHO THE HELL ARE THEY to insult our soldiers? Bloody animals, the whole lot. Even if it means “giving more” to China, I am up for it, those men and women who sacrificed so much for our country and died for it are NOT going to be judged or defamed by a bunch of mass murdering savages who 500 years ago crawled out of cave found a gun and slaughtered millions, enslaved millions more and now wear a bloody tie and sit at desk in Geneva or New York and think they can lecture us.
asithri,
you are right about it.
there seems to be some tacit understanding above all these petty issues. both seem to understand each other's need to "play the world game".
such manuevres are only possible among GOOD friends!!
pol,
china will not get involved in it bcos there is nothing for them.
we should dig up TNA, TULF, vada-kundi war crimes. this will be the end of RECONCILIATION US, EU, etc. propose.
that enables us to have our own reconciliation - agree to unitary status, equal rights & responsibilities, shed racist demands or FCUK OFF.
Well that is what i hope this commission thing MR has created does, but it must also address this war crimes bs to counter it and expose suddha role in war crimes (i.e. ordering human shield so as to rescue LTTE leadership), some level of ivolvement is what must be done to get them to back down. Ignoring it hoping it goes away is not good enough.
Also must hunt down JDS and their bs vidoes, do this and the above and that will be enough to lighten this bs against us (unlikely suddha will ever give up).
*ever giveu up/stop entirely
pol,
we have to pick a battle we can win.
or define a problem in such a way, it gives a solution.
we cannot beat "sudda". but we can beat TEs thereby getting rid of opportunities "sudda" has to interfere.
the only way to beat the "sudda" is to take control of a powerful UFO that can vandalise anything on earth. bcos in "sudda's" world MIGHT IS RIGHT.
so keep looking at the sky. or look at the ground reality and frustrate the TEs. "sudda" or "injuns" or "japs" or "russos" or aliens or whatever cannot split SL as long as we reclaim our land and keep it ours.
Good article moshe. More comments later when I have a bit more time.
Someone else here commented, but the SAville report affair is very interesting!
The Brits spent 40 years, £165 million in conducting an inquiry to find that the 13 who died did not have guns and were innocent. Mind you, no prosecutions against the soldiers. The view from the army guys including the former British Army commander Jackson hwo was in town as a junior officer on that day, was 'northern ireland then was a different place and all these findings have to be viewed in context and no to prosecutions'
As always hypocritical Europeans... GSP+ etc.... More ammo for us...
Moshe,
looks like all the US war crimes jokers are coming to SL.
The recent convergence of all the meddling diplomatic apes together with their butt-boy Akashi is very suspicious. There is something else cooking in their minds this time. Perhaps, they will go for another round at UNSC. I hope that we are ready to deal with this nonsense again.
"we cannot beat "sudda".
And this is the flaw in the mentality.
You push toughness against Tamilia but weakness and surrender against suddha, so whats the point in the former if you invoke and insist on the latter.
Just because suddha is "strong" it does not mean we worship them or be fearful of them, as you have advocated in the past (with that knee jerk response to me last month in defence of mighty suddha and excuse trotting).
We need to build up our strength and resolve to fight them, to STOP them doing what they do to us. And that starts with mentality and attitudes first, starting with self respect and placing greater value to our heritage, culture and people which also involves attacking suddha for what those savages did to us and making it known we are fully aware of it, will grab retribution for it when the opportunity presents itself and do not give a damn for their "holy than thou" attitude towards us. This should be the mentality of the people.
Tamilia is NOTHING without suddha. The only reason they are "successful" is because suddha is backing them to punish and control us. Our enemy or enemies are obvious.
When we fight suddha, its not through “traditional” methods, but by our attitudes to them and humiliating them at every turn. There is nothing wrong in holding them responsible for what they have done including the current issue where they are responsible for war in Sri Lanka by funding the LTTE, trying to pro-long the war by engineering a human shield and thus war crimes (along with a plethora of other lies).
Part of the reason they perpetrate these lies and try to dominate us is because they see our people (in terms of mentality) as weak and hence think then can get away with what they say and do.
What they say against us is not based on fact but lies and manipulations, they can be fourght. And their economies are failing, their power is not what it used to be.
Our stupid media should also be fighting this war crimes bs (and human rights bs before it) instead of sitting on the sides playing "neutral" or actually taking part to make it worse. They should be the ones investigating and exposing para suddhas activities assisting the Government in this regard, enabling the Government to quote from them for example.
Sadly our media is filled with arrogant SoBs, selfish greedy self serving individuals, kalu-suddhas and a whole assortment of inept sycophants.
Suddha's tolerance:
"Anger as white U.S. policeman filmed punching black girl, 17, in the face... for not crossing road properly
"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1287067/U-S-police-officer-filmed-punching-girl-17-face--crossing-road-properly.html
See how "race relations" have been working in the US.
The responses are funny. Regardless of what is done to appease minorities they still cry foul, lefties and other nut jobs you always howl racism, and the whites no matter how much they pretend to "not be racist" are, and justify their actions too, most showing deep intolerance an anger to "multi cultural" this or that.
Moshe strikes again.
it just gets better !
good timing and important dots connected. i have met some TN residents who are clearly not happy with their politicians meeting with MR. what they dont realize is that its a different dynamic in sri lanka.
as far as i can see. India is the one worried about this issue more. They have to use their head when dealing with this if not history will repeat.
thanks for bringing these out. I hope this literature spreads to other means of communication outside the blogosphere as well.
Cheers to sri lanka and those in the forefront of dealing with these issues. we all have a duty to say our part.. speak up when occasion arises.
Hooray for Japan!
Japan, the biggest donor to Sri Lanka for many decades, UNDERSTANDS & APPRECIATES what Sri Lanka itself has achieved on a SHOESTRING without reliance on outside powers!
That EMPATHY comes from our common ASIAN experience in world affairs.
THANK YOU, Japan!
.............
Japan urges world not to dictate to post-war Sri Lanka
By Ranga Sirilal
June 16, 2010
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Japan on Wednesday urged the world not to dictate to Sri Lanka amid post-war reconciliation efforts and renewed calls from the West for a probe into possible war crimes.
Sri Lanka last month celebrated the first anniversary of its victory against Tamil Tiger separatists, ending 25 years of civil war, and rights groups used the occasion to push for an international war crimes investigation.
They blame the government for tens of thousands of civilian deaths. The government denies the charges.
Japanese peace envoy Yashushi Akashi, who is on his 20th trip to Sri Lanka, said the international community should not dwell on the past.
"It is up to the Sri Lankan government to define the precise roll," Akashi told reporters in the capital, Colombo. "It is not for other governments or international organizations to dictate to Sri Lanka as to what it should be doing in this highly complicated and sensitive area."
Japan, one of the top aid donors to Sri Lanka, in March signed agreements for 39 billion yen ($426.4 million) in development assistance for the Indian ocean island nation.
Akashi's comments follow the visit by two White House officials and U.N. political chief Lynn Pascoe, who are pushing for accountability for human rights violations.
Samantha Power, special assistant to Obama on multilateral affairs and human rights, and David Pressman, National Security Council director for war crimes and atrocities, met President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday at the start of a four-day trip.
Colombo says the West is applying double standards by insisting on an investigation while the United States and Britain are not being probed despite thousands of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
aqua,
thanks.
sadly no one talks about REAL war crimes.
pol,
it is not MENTALITY but FACTS.
SL cannot take on the "suddas". but what we can do is to bust "sudda's" conduits in SL.
re: japan
has been a good friend and we have to revive their friendship INDEPENDENT of co-chairs crap.
bloody useless norwegian idiots tied our good friend japan into this co-chairs crap and ruined the long friendship.
china-japan relations are good and there won't be any political fall out.
obviously we never had military ties with japan!!!
"Detained former Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka was today named for the first time as a suspect in the HiCorp case and was ordered to be produced in Court next week."
-dm
we knew it for a long time!! why did it take so long???
sam,
this is the first time OBA-MA's close intervention happened in the HR, war crimes BS.
we have to create a situation where they will have to chose either war crimes BS or reconciliation.
defence.lk says the US apes are on a fact finding mission.
"A four-member US delegation on fact-finding mission visited Security Forces Headquarters-Jaffna on Tuesday (15) evening to get a comprehensive idea of ongoing post conflict development activities in Jaffna."
Agreed Moshe, but I still believe we can and must “shut down” this war crimes bs.
Sorry if i am sounding harsh to you personally. I am just furious with this BULLSHIT against our country and our soldiers and the non ending numbers of scum within (UNP etc) and out (suddha) that spit on them, we all know the dedication and sacrifice those men and women have made, many have left children and families behind and they deserve the best there is, including defending their name and honour. I am forever humbled when I meet Ranaviru families and even more so when I experience and see the kindness and simplicity of these families.
Island has updated its site with a comments section. This is good, as it means DailyMirror will loose more of its "number one" slot and readership + apparences as "media centre" for SL.
But it also means those sakkilyas will migrate there as they have started to do Adaderana (after it recently took the slot for number one news website of Sri Lanka, beating DailyMirror and LeN).
"defence.lk says the US apes are on a fact finding mission.
"A four-member US delegation on fact-finding mission visited Security Forces Headquarters-Jaffna on Tuesday (15) evening to get a comprehensive idea of ongoing post conflict development activities in Jaffna."
June 16, 2010 1:57 PM
"
Again? Didn't they do this before back in October with Kerry's report, another piece of bs designed to find a way to strangle this country under their authority?
We should treat these spies with contempt they deserve. Under the guise of HR and war crimes they are carrying out “boots on the ground” intelligence gathering, probably plotting how to eventually re-start war in the country.
We need to set the scene up nicely, when they start probing for information and ask questions and details we should carefully plan what is said, i.e. put plenty of plants –our own MI- pretending to be civilians or priests etc.
[[but I still believe we can and must “shut down” this war crimes bs]]
Pol, we must, but how.
Oneway, is to invade USA. And rest of the gang. But IO hope taht we all know taht we CANNOT do that.
What otherways?
Issuing warnings, reports, banning travel to SL, bringing back our ambassedors etc are possible ways of reacting to this with vigor. But can any such action "shut down this war crimes bs"?
I think any such action would increase it, further approve it and allow them to unilaterally declare it, like they did with Kosovo or Iran.
So what are the ways to shut down this war crimes bs?
That is where media and NGOs take there the role.
We need our own media and pro-SL NGOs to counter this. Sadly neither exists.
From the media angle i have believed we get assistance from pro-SL countries in this regard, but as Moshe has pointed it out the "support" from them will be limited.
Argument and debate is the best way to go about such activity but again it comes down to media + media with "influence", which sadly is Western media, which is racist and vile and is one of the tools by which this bs against us is being pushed. The likes of Mahindapala and others have ridiculed and exposed the ICG report (along with things from HRW and AI in the past) yet they get next to zero media coverage from within SL itself, let alone outside world media.
The long term option is creation of our own world media (and NGOs). World media wise -funding such a venture is expensive however the likes of China maybe interested in giving the cash as they also have an "image problem" and would like to improve that, and may support such a venture "using" SL based/created world media organ.
The easy approach right now is of course for our embassies to get to work putting out propaganda (through third parties, this involves funding them or creating our own third parties involving funding them to) that speaks/informs media and NGOs in countries elsewhere (Africa, South America, Middle East, South East Asia) and through them get other Governments to support Sri Lanka.
Using such media & NGOs to expose the bs that is the war crimes nonsense and have the West indicted for actual war crimes (creating human shield, funding LTTE ect).
Third parties created and funded by our embassies can also go about bribing and funding leaders/politicians in those countries of all political and religious varieties to support SL while portraying SL as a victim of suddha’s hegemony and lies –that line alone will win massive support.
Its pretty cheap to bribe them too, furthermore simple things like a free holiday in SL, a luxury vehicle (lol) is enough to buy them over along with local journalists in those countries.
In fact this is what our embassies should be doing right now, without waiting for shit to hit the fan, they should be the ones acting proactively to counter the bs against SL in the regions i mentioned. So we strike first, instead of being defensive and waiting for the allegations to make headlines first then responding, where as a result the allegations against us making headlines/news first does more damage than any answers we give which may counter the lies.
Our embassies and their staff should be engaging with media, NGOs and leaders in those regions to get their support for SL (so media/ngos are influencing the people in those regions and putting pressure on their Governments too).
When people and media outside the West want information on Sri Lanka they only read what Western media has to say because Western media is the only one which covers “world” events (including their own countries).
The reconciliation commission thing MR has set up is no doubt the best option to counter the war crimes bs. As I described earlier in this thread (June 14, 2010 8:20 PM ) we can use it to cleverly indict the West.
This can then be the basis/launching pad upon which we further inform those mentioned above (journalists, media, NGO in the above regions) through our embassies of who is responsible for what and quote this report as though it is the gospel. If the report is done well Western media itself will also quote it (so long as it gives shocking damning conclusions that will grab attention/make headlines, but has well written facts, evidence and arguments to back them up). What is important is other media (Indian, SEA media, Chinese media) also pick it up and quote from it.
See the difference, how Military commanders and media behave.
Ten of the paratroopers on the streets of Derry on Bloody Sunday have made a series of stinging attacks on the Saville Report, claiming it had made an 'unjust scapegoat' of their commanding officer.
In a damning verdict, Lord Saville said that Colonel Derek Wilford, commander of 1 Para, had disobeyed an order not to enter into the Bogside estate where his men shot dead 13 civilians taking part in a civil rights demonstration against internment on January 30, 1972.
Rejecting the claims, the soldiers said he had been made a 'scapegoat' because the report needed a senior officer to blame.
'If an aircraft goes down then it is easy to blame the pilot - that's what had happened here,' one said. 'Colonel Wilford has taken it for others and that is not right. He has been hung out to dry and that is a disgrace.
'He was one of the best and most professional officers 1 Para has ever had and acted as his experience told him he had to in order to protect life.'
'More than 50 paratroopers died in Northern Ireland in the name of peace and protecting civilians - that seems to have been conveniently airbrushed out in the past 48 hours.'
Two of the paratroopers speaking out are from Support Company, which fired all the fatal shots, and eight from C Company. None of the ten soldiers said they fired a shot on Bloody Sunday. All gave evidence to the inquiry.
Last night Colonel Wilford, 74, and now living abroad, declined to comment until he had been able to see, and consider, the full report and devastating criticisms of him. He has always maintained that his men were fired on first and were only doing their duty.
That view was echoed yesterday by the paratroopers, who insist the failure of the 12-year long Saville Inquiry to hear potentially key evidence by allowing Provisional IRA figures to 'hide behind' a 'code of honour' meant the full picture of what they faced was not given.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1287073/Bloody-Sunday-Inquiry-David-Cameron-admits-finds-painful-sit-Martin-McGuinness-knowing-did.html#ixzz0r3qLgsYr
an interesting read though some parts may be challenged.
"Sri Lanka dependent on India
Exclusive 16 June, by Padraig Colman
Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa visited New Delhi for four days last week for talks with Indian ministers. He returned home with seven bi-lateral agreements with India, and immediately met China’s deputy prime minister in Colombo.
Small nations are bound to have complex relationships with large powerful neighbours. Ireland, for instance, had an ambivalent association with Britain, and the imperial power continued to exert power long after Ireland became independent. Cyprus’s fate will always be intertwined with that of Turkey and Greece. Sri Lanka is a nation about the same size as Ireland with a population of 20 million. Yet just across the Palk Straits there are around 65-70 million Tamils, many of whom were sympathetic to the fight by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) for a separate Tamil state within the territory of Sri Lanka.
India’s support for Sri Lanka in recent years was a vital factor in the defeat of the LTTE in 2009. Radar equipment was supplied and the Indian secret service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), discreetly provided intelligence and training for pilots. Indian naval support prevented the Tiger leaders from escaping by sea to fight again.
The Indian government is today providing aid for de-mining areas formerly controlled by the LTTE and rebuilding the railways in the north. Some Sri Lankans are ambivalent about India’s agenda in promoting reconciliation through devolution, under the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution. India’s help to the LTTE is seared into the national memory – the mines that India is now helping to remove were originally laid with Indian assistance.
Part of the game plan
Governments from the India state of Tamil Nadu had long provided a haven for Tamil separatist militants from Sri Lanka. The central government under Indira Gandhi connived in this, and tolerated the existence of bases and training camps in other parts of India. According to MR Narayan Swamy, the biographer of the LTTE leader Prabakharan, the RAW trained 1,200 Sri Lankan Tamils in the use of weapons and laying mines between 1983 and 1987. Arms deliveries to various groups began in 1984 and went on almost up to the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement in 1987 (1).
Douglas Devananda, once a separatist militant and now a government minister (he accompanied Rajapaksa on his recent trip to India and was threatened with arrest for murders carried out in Tamil Nadu in 1986), says: “We realised that they were only trying to use us in their game plan.” It was widely rumoured that Indira Gandhi intended to use Sri Lankan Tamil rebels as an advance force in a plan to emulate the Turkish action in North Cyprus in 1974 and actually take over part of Sri Lanka. A retired Sri Lankan intelligence officer writing anonymously in the Sunday Leader (2) claims the RAW was responsible for a bomb blast in Colombo’s Pettah market in 1987 and planned to blow up the city’s sewerage system if the Sri Lankan government did not comply with India’s wishes. That same year India, finding the LTTE intractable, sent in the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). The stated intention was to bring a swift end to the conflict by disarming the LTTE, but the Tigers were as ready to fight the Indians as the Sinhalese."
"Sri Lankan Tamils were alienated when frustrated Indian soldiers, out of their depth, committed atrocities, such as a massacre of doctors, nurses and patients at a hospital in Jaffna on 21 October 1987. This followed intensive shelling of the city of Jaffna. According to Narayan Swamy: “The Indian army had been welcomed with garlands and prayers...For the mass of Jaffna people, the IPKF offensive was an unbelievable conflagration, a horror movie come true.” And the Sri Lankan government accused India of violating its sovereignty and international law by sending the Indian air force to drop food supplies on Jaffna.
Ranasinghe Premadasa, prime minister of Sri Lanka from 1978-88, had always been opposed to the accord with India. When he succeeded JR Jayawardene as president in December 1988, tensions between Sri Lanka and India increased. Premadasa saw the removal of the IPKF as essential to restore order to the south after the bloody JVP uprising because the Sinhalese nationalist JVP traded on bitter opposition to Indian interference. Premadasa was later assassinated by the LTTE, on May Day 1993.
Withdrawal was completed in March 1990. More than 1,000 Indian soldiers had been killed and over 2,000 wounded. The financial cost to India of its intervention in Sri Lanka was put at around $1.25bn. But the real cost was far higher. Rajiv Gandhi’s mother Indira was the architect of India’s interventionist policy: Rajiv oversaw its intensification and paid the ultimate price – assassination by the LTTE.
Poisoned chalice?
Before Rajapaksa’s visit to India there were street protests in Colombo by leftist elements and high profile lobbying by professional and business people against the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Part of the anxiety about this trade agreement, which has been growing for over two years, is that the government is withholding details, so people fear Sri Lanka could be dominated by cheaper and skilled Indian services at the expense of domestic industry. The fear is that this version of “free trade” with India will be analogous to the way the US uses Nafta to maintain hegemony over weaker trading partners. In The Island newspaper Douglas Jayasekera has related his experience of previous trade negotiations (3).
Deuteronomy tells us that gifts blind the eyes of the wise. Aid can be a poisoned chalice. Indian “aid” has come in the form of interest-bearing loans and development projects have provided few jobs for Sri Lankans. The big Chinese projects have used only Chinese labour. And the Chinese presence building a port at Hambantota has caused India anxiety and may be the reason for the proposed new Deputy High Commission in that city. Many Sri Lankans wonder at the real reason for an Indian diplomatic presence in Jaffna and Hambantota when there are few Indian nationals in either place. The suspicion is that the Jaffna office, which will undoubtedly have RAW personnel on its staff, is to develop closer relations between the Tamil community in Jaffna and Tamil Nadu.
Some Sri Lankans fear being colonised by India. The anonymous intelligence officer links this in with the promotion of the 13th amendment which India imposed on Sri Lanka as a means of devolving power to the north and east, the territory claimed by the LTTE as a Tamil homeland. He claims: “This is a first step towards setting up a client state in the north and east of our country which would ultimately vote to link itself with Tamil Nadu and India”. But Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s UN ambassador in Geneva during the closing stages of the war, sounds a warning note: “If India stops supporting us, not even the Non Aligned Movement will defend us fully, because they take their cue from respected Third World states such as India” (4)."
pol,
i don't get offended by a good argument. never.
i'm pissed off with this war crimes BS too. but we cannot throw stones like a blind man would.
we have to have a good game plan.
1. identify what these buggers are after (another east timor)
2. see how it benefits SL. (no) if not have a plan to bust it.
3. US wants their form of RECONCILIATION in SL. so our target should be DESTROY it and replace it with our model.
4. there is little USA can do to stop SL do that.
5. how to tie war crimes to reconciliation OUR WAY is the challenge.
you will notice they have done so. we should do SAME, our way.
if we can sort out this riddle, we have a way out.
"India’s support for Sri Lanka in recent years was a vital factor in the defeat of the LTTE in 2009. Radar equipment was supplied and the Indian secret service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), discreetly provided intelligence and training for pilots."
As if the stupid radar equipment won the war? They failed miserably and caused massive embarrassment for SL but we had to go through that to please those bloody Injuns. And what happened to B.Ramans' claim we were using Pakistani pilots? Another RAW moment of success: Indian trainers teaching Pakistani pilots Hikz. Wasn't Raman a RAW fellow anyway? I bet this new claim is his latest imagination.
re: 4 US apes
yes they did one report.
but this time it is different. now they concentrate on IMPROVEMENTS, future. this is welcome change.
we should NOT DISTURB it.
but the problem is they trying to impose THEIR RECONCILIATION MODEL on us. we should let them give a good rating for SL BUT reject their prescription.
Moshe,
You keep your cool way better than me.
pol,
1. india DID help SL win the war.
2. india DID give us FREE radar and operators.
3. india (not RAW) DID train our pilots, overhauled our planes.
these are facts.
don't get bogged down in too minor detail
BRA-MAN is an idiot.
according to him we are germans and are still at STALINGRAD!!!!
Ok fair enough Moshe :))
But would India have "helped" us if it had not been for the China factor?
I feel they would have interviened much sooner with more damage had it not been MR playing this card.
And i believe are future lies in a partnership with China than with India. I just do not know whether MR feels the same entirely, his brother sister crap is annoying. Having an Indian embassey in Hambantota is unacceptable to me.
MR does not have a post-war plan on exactly what do to, compared to the war time, everything then seemed for smoother and well done with a clear goal in mind (eliminating the LTTE) now it feels wishy washy no clear goals.
Pascoe has said a lot of "good things". What are the chances when he goes to the UN or Europe he will pour hate on the country?
Like what monkey moon did. Last year after the war he said "everything great" in front MR/Government then left and says "the most horffic thing i have ever seen" (words to that effect).
Too much of Rambo movies??
-----------------------
බින්ලාඩන් මැරීමට යද්දී ඇමරිකානුවා අත්අඩංගුවේ
මේ ඡායාරූපයෙන් දැක්වෙන්නේ ගැරී බෲක් ෆොක්නර් නම් ඇමරිකානුවාය. මේ පුද්ගලයා උතුරු පකිස්තානය හරහා ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථානයට ඇතුල්වන්න උත්සාහ කරද්දී බලධාරීන් විසින් අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇත.
මොහු ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථානයට යැමට උත්සාහ කර ඇත්තේ ඔසාමා බින්ලාඩන් සොයා ගොස් මරා දැමීමටය. ඒ සැප්තැම්බර් 11 ප්රහාරයේ පලිය ගැනීමටය.
51 හැවිරිදි ගැරී සතුව පිස්තෝලයක් හා අඟල් 40 ක කඩුවක්ද තිබී ඇත. මොහු ගොඩනැගිලි ඉදිකිරීම්වල යෙදෙන කම්කරුවෙකි.
pol,
yes. SL has little to gain from india in future too.
MR was not a dumb ass after all. he, for the first time, refused to sign more than a dozen agreements with india.
but within 2 days ALL six agreements china wanted us to sign were completed.
i think he is almost on the right track. his "last ball sixes" have been pretty impressive.
(ok i agree we should score sixes b4 in the game).
to make matters worse, india is now riding the US model of reconciliation.
puss-core will do same. but his genuine experience in SL will losen his resolve to attack SL.
MOST idiots preach BS about SL without ever visiting. therefore it is MORE likely that they change their views on SL to the better whenever they visit.
take the BS horror stories of SL spread by NGOs, HRW, AI, GTF, TGTE, TOILET, etc. since our diplomatic missions are fast asleep, these are the information reaching foreigners. even our agencies don't provide detailed info on civilian life. they concentrate on strategic issues only.
so the more "suddas" come the better unless they are maniacs of course.
i love how we pushed mk narayanan into a taxi and sent him somewhere in colombo!!!
after that bugger will never set foot in SL.
they came like lions with ships and helicopters but went like maggots.
Embassies are bloody useless, made up of inept cowards who only try and serve themselves and their families.
There was an attempt by some Sinhalese to sue the Times of london (after their concentration camp story) back in February 2009, which could have muzzled them for good (and stopped the other bs they published to damaging levels). They asked for help from the embassy, specifically for money for the law case + access to information from the Government with regards to the camps etc. Plan was to use a top London firm which would have screwed the Times into silence + to retain the firm for long periods and cover the full costs which they alone could not do. London HC responded by treating them as dogs and throwing them out of the embassy (essentially) saying never to come back. This event and the treatment of Sinhalese trying to do some good by the embassy staff was just shocking.
Our foreign embassies everywhere treat our own citizens like dirt, it is unbelievable.
Moshe, this we have to take up to the next level.. This is a great work.... The whole nation will honour it.
There is something to be positive in the British Parliament today in the Debate....
"Debate on Alleged War Crimes in Sri Lanka: Alistair Birt Nips the Plot in the Bud"
Dear Patriots,
This is fun.. Ealamist must have had loose motion diarrhoea.
This is from Asian Tribune... Hot Hot.. I have copied it here but very long... Please do excuse me...
Part I
Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for (Mitcham and Morden) opened the debate on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka in the House of Commons today. She started the debate by congratulating Joan Ryan, the fellow Labour MP for his tireless work to safeguard the rights of Tamil Community in Sri Lanka. She was happy about the way the previous Labour government played its role in blocking the GSP+ preference.
Her enthusiasm for the latest debate, according to her, has stemmed from a report submitted by International Crisis Group on 17 May, titled “War Crimes in Sri Lanka”.
Based on the conclusions of that report, she wanted the present government to press ahead with what the previous government had been doing by various means – to pile pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka to go for an international inquiry.
However, when Alistair Birt, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, made clear the intentions of the present government with regard to the issue, the usual suspects who are hell-bent on embarrassing the government got really disappointed; Keith Vaas and McDonagh could hardly suppress the frustration. In short, Mr Birt talked about constructive engagement with the government, instead of reading the riot act.
Mr Birt paid the attention to the historic ties that exit between the two countries for centuries and the way all major communities suffered due to terrorism for almost three decades. He is of the view Sri Lanka should be given time for reconciliation as, by definition, it is a slow process. Mr Birt may have taken into account the latest report conducted by the BBC about the development phase that takes place in the war-ravaged part of the island.
Mr Birt’s views on the matter clearly resonates with what Mr Akashi, the Japanese envoy expressed about the international meddling with internal issues.
Having failed to get any meaningful resolution against Sri Lanka, the left-leaning MPs will have to got to Tamil Lobbyist empty-handed; They may have to wait until the release of another communiqué by a ‘crisis group’ to raise the issue again in the House of Commons. By that time, the wheels of reconciliation will be in full motion without the lubricants of Left-leaning MPs who pursue a questionable agenda to please and revive the defeated extremists.
Part II
11 am
Siobhain McDonagh: (Mitcham and Morden) (Lab): I am grateful for the chance to highlight again the appalling treatment of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan Government.
Many hon. Members share my interest in the subject, and although the debate is short, I will take as many interventions as I can. I pay tribute to the former hon. Member for Enfield North, my great friend Joan Ryan, who has always been one of the most powerful and passionate supporters of human rights and who continues to care deeply about what has happened to the Tamil community.
Before I begin my speech properly, I want to go over some old ground, as there have been several very good debates about the Sri Lankan Government’s treatment of Tamils in the past 18 months or so. In that time, hon. Members persuaded the previous Government to support a number of measures, including an end to GSP plus—the generalised system of preferences, which is a preferential trading agreement between the European Union and Sri Lanka. GSP plus was stopped because the European Commission conducted a major study of human rights in Sri Lanka and found a variety of abuses, including the lack of a free press, unlawful killings, torture, disappearances and so on. For similar reasons, the Commonwealth decided not to make Sri Lanka the host of the next Commonwealth conference, largely as a result of the British Government’s leadership. I would welcome the opportunity to hear confirmation from the new Government that they support the decisions on GSP plus and the Commonwealth conference. Those decisions have been debated several times in the House of Commons, and many hon. Members have spoken in favour. Can the Minister confirm that the present Government will support them?
The reason why I called for the debate is that since Britain acted against Sri Lanka’s human rights record, even more disturbing questions have emerged about Sri Lanka’s activities. I am referring to evidence of war crimes. I shall quote from the International Crisis Group report of 17 May, which is called, very starkly, “War Crimes in Sri Lanka”, but first I shall mention a report by Desmond Tutu and Lakhdar Brahimi, who are members of The Elders, a group of eminent global leaders brought together in 2007 by former South African President Nelson Mandela, who is a hero to many of us here. Their report states:
“There is a growing body of evidence that there were repeated and intentional violations of international humanitarian law...in the last months of the war.”
They note that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to appoint
“a commission on lessons learnt and reconciliation”
and call that
“a step in the right direction”.
However, they say that it is “not nearly enough.” They go on to say:
“There is no indication, as yet, that the commission intends to hold anyone to account for any violations of domestic or international law.
Without a clear mandate for legal accountability, the commission has little chance of producing either truth or reconciliation. Nor will victims and witnesses feel safe in giving evidence.”
Part III
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab): I congratulate my hon. Friend on all the excellent work that she has done on this issue. In the last Parliament, the then Government appointed a special envoy to try to cut through the difficulties of talking to the Sri Lankan Government. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is perhaps one appointment that the present Government can make to show their determination to try to deal with the horrific consequences of the war?
Siobhain McDonagh:I agree. I thank my right hon. Friend for all his work on behalf of the Tamils and I ask the Minister to address the point that he raises.
Mike Gapes (Ilford South) (Lab/Co-op): Does my hon. Friend share my concern that the United Nations Human Rights Council failed to carry out its duty to investigate war crimes and abuses on both sides in the conflict in Sri Lanka, and that that is an indictment of those members of the UN system that blocked it—specifically, China, India and Russia?
Siobhain McDonagh: I agree. As I have often admitted, I am a novice in international issues. When dealing with these matters, I have been shocked by the behaviour and procedures of the UN.
Desmond Tutu and Lakhdar Brahimi believe that an independent international inquiry is needed. They say:
“In our experience in South Africa and other countries, these kinds of inquiries work best alongside a full and open reconciliation process. This would allow the suffering—and mistakes—of all communities during decades of war to be acknowledged.”
What happened to Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka was disgraceful, but equally disgraceful is the fact that what took place there was so hard to document because of the restrictions on monitoring and reporting and the lack of a free and open press.
Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con): I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing the debate. Does she agree that however an international investigation is conducted, one of the most major things that needs to be dealt with now—indeed, it should have been dealt with a long time ago—is that not one displaced person should still be in a camp, not one person should still be suffering and everyone should be returned to their homes in safety? That should happen immediately.
Siobhain McDonagh: I agree.
Independent analysis was extremely difficult, but the ICG report is the most comprehensive investigation so far into what happened. It concludes:
“The Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam…repeatedly violated international humanitarian law during the last five months of their 30-year civil war...Evidence...suggests that these months saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilian men, women, children and the elderly killed, countless more wounded, and hundreds of thousands deprived of adequate food and medical care, resulting in more deaths.”
Part IV
Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op): I associate myself with my hon. Friend’s words about the former hon. Member for Enfield North, who was indeed a true champion of the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. The evidence that my hon. Friend has presented is overwhelming. In the light of the failure of the United Nations to do anything in relation to human rights in Sri Lanka, is it not now incumbent on the west and particularly the United Kingdom to take a lead in having an independent investigation into these war crimes?
Siobhain McDonagh: I agree, and I hope to deal with that point in my speech.
To be fair, we already knew that these things were happening. However, the ICG goes further than previous studies and convincingly argues that there are
“reasonable grounds to believe the Sri Lankan security forces committed war crimes with top government and military leaders potentially responsible.”
Of course, the report also accuses the LTTE and its leaders of war crimes, but it says that
“most of them were killed and will never face justice.”
It adds:
“While some of the LTTE may go on trial in Sri Lanka, it is virtually impossible that any domestic investigation...would be impartial given the entrenched culture of impunity.”
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con): Does the hon. Lady agree that it is an absolute priority now for the Government of Sri Lanka to release the people who are still in the camps, who have been there for so long; to ensure the freedom of journalists; and to begin constitutional change in earnest to bring about a political settlement?
Siobhain McDonagh: I agree, but we know from experience that expressing pious desires does not work with the Sri Lankan Government; we have to be tough and do something about it.
As a result of the evidence that the ICG has found, it argues:
"An international inquiry into alleged crimes is essential given the absence of political will or capacity for genuine domestic investigations, the need for an accounting to address the grievances that drive conflict in Sri Lanka, and the potential of other governments adopting the Sri Lankan model of counter-insurgency in their own internal conflicts.”
That is serious stuff. The report goes on to say that there is
“credible evidence that is sufficient to warrant an independent…investigation”.
That includes the intentional shelling of civilians, the intentional shelling of hospitals, such as those at Ponnambalam and Putumattalan, and the intentional shelling of humanitarian operations, notably operations from the UN’s PTK—Puthukkudiyiruppu—hub.
The report adds:
“The consequences of the security forces’ shelling were made substantially worse by the government’s obstruction of food and medical treatment for the civilian population, including by knowingly claiming the civilian population was less than one third its actual size and denying adequate supplies.”
Part V
The evidence cited by the group is substantial, including
“numerous eyewitness statements...hundreds of photographs, video, satellite images, electronic communications and documents from multiple credible sources.”
The ICG complains that the Sri Lankan Government “declined to respond to Crisis Group’s request for comment on these allegations.”
The House has already looked into many other allegations. A variety of news outlets and broadcasters have described terrible actions in the last days of the civil war. Few could not have been moved by the terrible pictures on Channel 4 of imprisoned Tamil soldiers being shot in cold blood. The ICG admits that it has looked at only a small number of the alleged violations. It has not looked into, for example,
“the recruitment of children by the LTTE and the execution by the security forces of those who had laid down their arms and were trying to surrender.”
Despite that, the ICG states:
“The gravity of alleged crimes and evidence gathered...is not a case of marginal violations of international humanitarian law...There is evidence...both sides condoned gross and repeated violations that strike at the heart of the laws of war.”
It is therefore hard not to agree that the allegations should be looked at independently by an international inquiry.
I praised the previous British Government for taking action against human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, but the ICG is much more critical of the wider international community. It concludes:
“Much of the international community turned a blind eye to the violations when they were happening. Some issued statements calling for restraint but took no action as the government continually denied any wrongdoing. Many countries had declared the LTTE terrorists and welcomed their defeat. They encouraged the government’s tough response while failing to press for political reforms to address Tamil grievances or for any improvement in human rights.”
The report therefore places the onus on the international community to make up for its past and to conduct a full investigation into the last year of hostilities.
Many of my constituents had family members who were caught up in the hostilities. Some of their friends and families are dead, or spent many months in temporary camps for internally displaced people that were little more than concentration camps. Many Members still get Tamils coming to their surgeries with their stories. I do not believe that any of us can have been unmoved by the testimony of our constituents.
Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab): I agree with the powerful case that my hon. Friend is making. One of my constituents who returned to Sri Lanka was detained on arrival in Colombo, and I have written to the Foreign Secretary this week to ask for the Government’s intervention in the matter. Does my hon. Friend agree that that case illustrates how the Government in Sri Lanka are continuing to persecute Tamils in every way that they can, and that there is no possibility of the diaspora being able to return while such detentions and interrogations continue?
Part VI
Siobhain McDonagh: I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend.
Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op): I associate myself with my hon. Friend’s comments. Will she also ask the Minister to explain the Government’s policy on its relationship with India and China in respect of an independent investigation into the alleged war crimes? If there is to be sufficient international pressure to get such an investigation, they clearly have a key role to play. What will the Minister do to raise the issue with those key neighbours of Sri Lanka?
Siobhain McDonagh: I thank my hon. Friend for all the work that he did while in government, particularly his work with the EU to get suspension GSP plus. I hope that the Minister will take his questions on board.
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op): I give testament to the substantial amount of work that my hon. Friend has done, not only in securing this debate but in her work with the Tamil community in London. I certainly have benefited from it working with the Tamil community in Walthamstow.
Does my hon. Friend agree with the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) about the continuing persecution of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka and use of camps for displaced persons, and that it is vital that we keep up the pressure on the Sri Lankan Government over how they are acting now, as well as seeking an international inquiry, if we are to gain any kind of redress for the Tamil community and ensure that their human rights are protected? Does she also agree that it is vital that the Government commit to continuing not only the suspension of GSP plus but the aid that was being given to help those who were displaced and put into the camps? The previous Government committed to such aid to help people not only to go home but to build lives full of prosperity and peace, which we want for everyone in Sri Lanka.
Dr William McCrea (in the Chair):I draw to Members’ attention that interventions are to be short.
Siobhain McDonagh: Thank you, Dr McCrea, but may I say how absolutely right my hon. Friend’s comments are? I may not get through all my speech, because we do want the Minister to be able to address all of our concerns. There are so many Members here because they are concerned about their Tamil communities and their extended families in Sri Lanka.
Children are being separated from their parents, people in hospitals are being bombed and soldiers are shooting indiscriminately. On previous occasions, Conservative Members argued that it would not be constructive for Britain to threaten to take action against Sri Lanka. They said that economic action would not help. However, in the past few weeks, the Sri Lankan Government have been acting in ever more paranoid ways.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, recently appeared on the BBC threatening to execute Sarath Fonseka, the army commander who delivered victory over the Tamil Tigers, because he had suggested that top Government officials may have ordered war crimes during the final hours of the Tamil war. That is not the approach of a reasonable Government whose priority is peace and reconciliation. That was not the first time that we have seen compelling evidence of atrocious behaviour by the Sri Lankan Government.
Part VII
In October, the European Commission published a report on human rights in Sri Lanka since the war. It stated:
“During the period covered by the investigation, there has been a high rate of unlawful killings in Sri Lanka, including killings carried out by the security forces, persons for whom the State is responsible and the police...extra-judicial killings were widespread and included political killings designed to suppress and deter the exercise of civil and political rights...Unlawful killings perpetrated by soldiers, police and paramilitary groups with ties to the Government, have been a persistent problem.”
In other words, there is enough evidence to conclude that war crimes could have taken place in Sri Lanka, and therefore they should be investigated.
Last year, when the Conservative party was in opposition, its spokesman, the hon. Member for The Cotswolds (Geoffrey Clifton-Brown), criticised Britain for seeking action against Sri Lanka for abuses. He complained that Britain
“voted against the $2.5 billion International Monetary Fund package in July and are now considering ending the EU’s special trade privileges”.
He asked:
“Is that really the most constructive way to persuade the Sri Lankan Government to promote a long-term reconciliation?”—[Official Report, 21 October 2009; Vol. 497, c. 895.]
I am sorry that the Conservative position at that time was that reconciliation required inaction. I hope that that is not the case now.
I believe that a boycott of Sri Lankan goods by British citizens will help Sri Lanka to resolve its past, in the same way that the boycott of South Africa helped that country to bring about peace and reconciliation. In my view, doing nothing will only make matters worse. As the ICG said,
“Now a number of other countries are considering ‘the Sri Lankan option’—unrestrained military action, refusal to negotiate, disregard for humanitarian issues—as a way to deal with insurgencies and other violent groups.”
It argues:
“To recover from this damage, there must be a concerted effort to investigate alleged war crimes by both sides and prosecute those responsible.”
Although Sri Lanka is not a member state of the International Criminal Court and it is therefore unlikely that the UN Security Council would refer the matter to it in the short term, the ICG’s conclusion is that:
“A UN-mandated international inquiry should be the priority, and those countries that have jurisdiction over alleged crimes…should vigorously pursue investigations.”
If countries such as ours do not take that action, disreputable Governments around the world may look at the Sri Lankan option and ask, “What’s to lose?” We must not let that happen.
Part VIII
11.17 am
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt): It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea. I congratulate the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) on securing this debate and on the number of colleagues who have attended it. I appreciate that the issue raises a great deal of concern among Members and our constituents.
I appreciated the brevity of colleagues’ interventions and would be grateful if those who are already on the record listened to the bulk of my remarks before intervening. I am not sure whether I can compete with the hon. Lady’s speed and clarity, but I will do my best. This is the first occasion on which I have spoken on Sri Lanka as Minister, and I know how much interest the debate will generate in the community.
The United Kingdom has long-standing historical connections with Sri Lanka. Our two peoples are united by many ties of family and culture, as well as business, tourism and education. Our primary objective, therefore, is to support the development of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka.
Let me turn immediately to the first of the concerns raised by the hon. Lady: the war crimes. Sri Lanka is now emerging from a prolonged and painful period of bloody internal conflict. We have seen immense suffering across all the communities in Sri Lanka, and the country’s development has been blighted by terrorism. Sri Lanka can now blossom and grow, and we want to work with the Sri Lankan Government and all their people to achieve that.
For any country emerging from conflict, there must be a balance between looking forward to new opportunities and development, and dealing with the past with honesty and compassion. The decades-long conflict in Sri Lanka has seen the country’s Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities riven by mistrust and suspicion.
There are serious allegations of the most atrocious violence and abuses having been committed by all sides over the past 30 years. Most recently, serious allegations have been made of war crimes by both Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the final stages of the conflict in early 2009.
Our view is that the allegations will haunt the country for many years to come and will hinder much-needed reconciliation between the communities unless there is an honest process of accountability for the past.
President Rajapaksa made a commitment to the UN Secretary-General last year that he would take measures to address possible violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. He has now announced the establishment of a lessons learned and reconciliation commission. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has written to the President to encourage him to ensure that the commission produces recommendations that address the past allegations and allow all communities in Sri Lanka to live and work together in peace and security. I have today spoken to Foreign Minister Peiris to emphasise the need for a credible and independent process of accountability.
Part IX
Siobhain McDonagh: We wish the Minister well and want him to make progress with his speech but, for us, the position seems incredible. Do the British Government actually believe that the current Sri Lankan Government have the wherewithal to carry out such a reconciliation inquiry, given that Sri Lanka is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists?
Alistair Burt: We take the view that the Government of Sri Lanka are committed to a process, understanding the extraordinary degree of international concern and recognizing the need for credibility in what happens. The responsibility of an inquiry and an investigation is primarily with the Sri Lanka Government—something that we understand, as did the previous Government, and we are proceeding accordingly.
Barry Gardiner: In taking the matter forward, I ask the Minister to pay heed to the establishment in the diaspora of the transnational Government elections that took place recently? Will he give a commitment that the British Government will work with those who were elected from the diaspora in the United Kingdom to ensure precisely that all the views of the wider Tamil community are taken into account in the Government’s thinking?
Alistair Burt: We shall continue to listen to everyone in such circumstances. It is not for us to dictate how an inquiry should work or what voices it should listen to, but this Government will continue the policy followed by the previous Government and be open to the views of all those in the community.
Keith Vaz: I congratulate the Minister on his appointment; I am sure that his work will be a very valued addition to the Foreign Office. When he next speaks to the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, will he raise with him the newspaper reports that a Chinese firm has been contracted to go into Sri Lanka to remove the evidence of those who have been buried there? It is a very serious matter, and it will obviously affect any investigation that takes place. Will he ask the Foreign Minister whether such reports are true? Has a Chinese firm been instructed to remove the evidence?
Alistair Burt: I shall make sure that an inquiry looks into the issue the right hon. Gentleman has raised.
The establishment of a lessons learned and reconciliation commission is a step in the right direction, but to be credible it needs to show itself to be a strong, independent voice. We urge the Sri Lankan Government to draw on the experience of other countries that have set up successful post-conflict commissions. I said very clearly to the Foreign Minister today that, no matter how painful they are, experiences in South Africa, Rwanda and, indeed, in our country have shown that the only way to deal properly with reconciliation is to be honest and open and to get absolutely to the heart of the matter. There must be proper public consultation, sufficient time to examine evidence and a clear and realistic mandate.
In particular, we hope that the commission can investigate fully the recent allegations of war crimes. We also encourage the Government to address urgently the issue of witness protection in Sri Lanka, mentioned by the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden. That will be essential if the commission is to get to the truth in its investigations. We recognise that it is for the Government of Sri Lanka to take the lead in addressing allegations of war crimes, but we also support the UN Secretary-General’s proposal for a panel of experts to advise on accountability issues. We trust that the Government of Sri Lanka will co-operate fully with the Secretary-General’s panel to help their own domestic process.
Part X
We believe that lasting peace will come about only when Sri Lanka addresses the underlying causes of the conflict and ensures that all communities are treated with fairness and respect. Following elections earlier this year, the President and Government of Sri Lanka have a renewed political mandate. We urge them to use the mandate to take meaningful steps towards long-term, inclusive political action.
We welcome the commitment of the President in his joint declaration with the Indian Prime Minister on 9 June to develop a political settlement that is acceptable to all communities, in which the people of Sri Lanka can
“lead their lives in an atmosphere of peace, justice and dignity, consistent with democracy, pluralism, equal opportunity and respect for human rights.”
The United Kingdom stands ready to support Sri Lanka to make good on those commitments, and to take decisive steps to establish a long-term political solution to the island’s divisions.
I hope that the Sri Lankan diaspora in the UK can also play a role. The diaspora’s support following the humanitarian crisis undoubtedly helped to alleviate the hardship of many individuals and their families, and we thank them for their contribution. I hope the diaspora will find meaningful ways to engage with communities across Sri Lanka in pursuit of a lasting and agreed political solution.
Mr Love:I thank the Minister for his contribution, which is coming across very well. However, all the evidence emerging from Sri Lanka is that those wise words are unlikely to persuade the Government. That therefore leads me to GSP plus. Can he give us an assurance today that the British Government will continue to look critically at GSP plus in the light of what is happening in Sri Lanka?
Alistair Burt: The hon. Gentleman anticipates my next but one paragraph. Let me deal first with the humanitarian situation touched on by my hon. Friends the Members for Ilford North (Mr Scott) and for Harlow (Robert Halfon). A focus of much international attention in the past year has rightly been the humanitarian needs of nearly one third of a million Sri Lankan citizens who are displaced due to the conflict. We continue to support the humanitarian response in Sri Lanka as people strive to re-establish their lives. We have been concerned at the long delay in returning internally displaced persons from the camps to their homes, and the restrictions placed on their freedom of movement. We note the progress the Government of Sri Lanka have made in releasing IDPs from their camps to the home areas, but urge that this progress continue.
United Nations figures from 3 June show that some 60,000 displaced persons remain in the camps, compared with an immediate post-conflict figure of 280,000. However, many humanitarian agencies do not enjoy full humanitarian access to them once they return to their home areas. This limits the effectiveness of the assistance we and other donors are able to provide. Concerns remain about the situation of some 8,000 ex-combatants of the LTTE held in detention. Despite repeated calls by the international community, the International Committee of the Red Cross has not been allowed access to this population. We therefore urge the Government of Sri Lanka to establish clearly the legal status of these people and to allow the ICRC access in line with international norms.
Part XI
As for the GSP scheme, in a meeting with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister recently, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence called upon the Government of Sri Lanka to make progress on human rights and reconciliation. We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. There have been widespread and persistent allegations of human rights abuses by both state and non-state actors. There have been attacks on the media, including the murder and disappearance of prominent journalists. We support the EU statement made at the UN Human Rights Council last week, expressing concern about the situation of journalists and human rights defenders and the lack of adequate investigations of alleged violations of human rights. We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure that human rights for all communities receive full protection.
Strengthening the mechanisms for the protection of human rights in Sri Lanka will be an essential part of building strong and durable peace and stability. We hope to see these translate into evidence on the ground that the Government are following through with those commitments, and building confidence in the rule of law and good governance. The UK supports the EU’s decision of 15 February to remove GSP plus trade preferences from Sri Lanka from August 2010. The European Commission report of 19 October 2009 on Sri Lanka’s failure to implement core human rights conventions, which are a requirement of the scheme, made this a clear decision.
We also support the moving of the Commonwealth conference, which the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden mentioned. We know that the Government of Sri Lanka are taking steps to address the Commission’s concerns. We encourage constructive engagement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Commission, so that the concerns in the Commission report can be properly addressed. The GSP scheme brings significant benefits to all in Sri Lanka; we recognise that it plays a role in the ongoing development of Sri Lanka’s economy and that economic development has a role in the reconstruction process. We sincerely hope that Sri Lanka will therefore take all the necessary steps to ensure GSP plus is retained.
On the point made by the hon. Member for Edmonton (Mr Love), Des Browne did a very good job for us. We have not come to any decision on special envoys yet, but I know him very well and will certainly talk to him. It was disappointing that he was not well received by the Government of Sri Lanka, which might limit his effectiveness. We believe that this is an historic moment for Sri Lanka, but it will only get somewhere if it moves forward. Listening to the concerns expressed by Members and by the international community will be a welcome sign for the reconstruction and reconciliation that we all wish to see among all communities led by the Government in Sri Lanka.
11.30 am
Sitting suspended.
- Asian Tribune -
Sorry guys for the long post... but it is important at this hour... to appreciate it..
One year on, we have seen so many development in providing housing etc for our war heroes...
Are there any spiritual healing taking place in terms of "Seela whaparaya" and Meditation programmes?
Can we suggest all leading Buddhist monks / monastries who teaches meditations to provide free resident meditation programmes for Rana Viruwo's for the next few months?
The SLDF should release them with paid leave. This will eliminate any post war traumas to come...
Dear patriots, Can anyone take the initiative in this line please?...or direct those who are in SL for that matter?
"Sabba dhanan, Dhamma Dhanan Jinathi"
British Parliament? When will they have a "debate" on crimes committed against Sinhalese from 1779-2009?
There is never anything "positive" from those para suddhas, now, in the past or ever. We owe them nothing.
"'World could be plunged into crisis in 2014': Cambridge expert predicts 'a great event' will determine course of the century"
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1287271/World-plunged-crisis-2014-Cambridge-expert-predicts-Doomsday.html#ixzz0r7SjHGRv
The cambridge expert is someone called Professor Nicholas Boyle. Is this the same tard who Tamilia uses?
Pol,
This is a different Boyle. However, they seem to be equally lunatic. He narrowly focuses on a few events happened around the mid point of the second decades in number of centuries to predict a similar scenario. However, what he misses totally is that many other significant events did happen in other decades. For example, the second world war in the last century had more far reaching impacts than the first world war. Even the advent of computer and network age has more significant impacts than the first world war. In summary, this is another lunatic with a baseless theory, somewhat akin to the Eelamist claims.
TGTE Website
Sam:
Extract from
http://www.transnationalgovernmentofeelam.com/structure-of-the-provisional-transnational-government-of-tamil-eelam/01234567895
Vision
The vision of the TransSexual Government is to establish a separate homo-land for Tamil Eelam people.
Is this a joke or the site has been hacked?!!
Moshe:
"
3. india (not RAW) DID train our pilots, overhauled our planes.
these are facts."
I thought it was pakistan who helped the AF not India.
Why RAW != India?
Pol,
It seems that Tamilnet.tv got ahead of the real TGTE donkeys. However it looks very authentic until you read the contents. Please check the qualifications of the members also. Ha ha ha...
TGTE Website:
Sam, any hand in creating the above :-)
රනිල් ඇතුලු එක්සත් පොන්න ජාතික පරබල්ලො රණවිරු සමරුමට නොයන්න හේතු සාදයි. දේශ ද්රොහිකම සහ කුහකකම වහගන්න හදන්නෙ ෆොන්සේකා පිටින්.
SR @ LK,
I would love to get credit for it but the honest truth is that it is some unknown patriot.
SR @ LK,
most types of air craft SL uses are also used by india and india is an approved trained for MiG/MIL.
e.g. MiG-27, kfir (similar), Mi-24/35, An-series
that is why SL pilots were trained in india apart from india overhauling our MiGs and upgrading Mi-24s.
there was a rumour pakistanis were into training J-7 pilots. may be true. if not, they were trained by the chinese themselves!!!
RAW fellaws will never do anything good for SL.
now rajapaksha is again trying to sign the crap CEPA. this time he is serious.
that will be the end of his clan.
re: LTTE support in malaysia
seems it is true. at least support bases.
toiletnet has interviewed a malaysian tamil senior politician. he is ahead of tamil madu and even TNA separatists.
this is very dangerous.
we have missed the chance to colonize and now we have to be at the mercy of things beyond our control.
e.g. hopefully UMNO will continue win malaysian elections.
today is victory day.
strangely it coincides with GR's birthday!!!!
what a fluke or is it?????????
i don't think so.
i pity our CEREMONIAL ARMY.
incapable of colonization. living like ppl on rent in the north, not knowing when the govt will kick them out. not owning an inch of land despite winning 10,000 sq km and 750km coastline.
Rs 201,000,000,000 for their administration from the budget!!
when without any cost their families can be allocated land for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT and to implement the ONLY PROVEN political solution.
this is a joke.
don't you think so?????
if this does not change, we will see many senior army guys leaving in frstration. then that will be justified to say they are leaving bcos there is no war!!
i know some are working hard to set up a civil/political group of retired army personnel. it has nothing to do with gonzeka. but it has BIG ambitions. one such ambition is to secure a change in govt policy on military person's welfare, professionalism/accountability in the army, removing politics from the SLDFs.
bithday boy will not be happy.
sadly, we don't discuss these things until shitt hits the ceiling.
i sense disaster ahead. do you?????
if not rely on my senses!!!
I too wish there would be massive colonisation, but their is no political will, political will seems to be against it under the bs notion of winning "hearts and minds" of Tamilia.
Worst of all is that the land is empty, its not like we're throwing Tamilia out of land they are inhabiting, guess the kallonthis and other sakkiylas from TN will be taking the empty land.
the CURSE of non-colonization hits sri lanka!!
food prices are already bloody high in SL and now this.
carefully look at WHO WILL BE AFFECTED.
it's sinhala nationalist areas that will be mostly affected!!
cocunut disease affects 400,000 trees in SL and those will be cut.
"20,000 trees in Hambantota, 80,000 in Galle and 285,000 trees in Matara"
a VERY LARGE number of sinhalas and good sinhalas will be VERY BADLY affected by this.
i bet these ppl will get NOTHING compared to what tamil elam (TNA) voters are getting.
PRO-SL economy in disaster.
meanwhile the PRO-TAMIL ELAM economy grows!!!
this is the CURSE of non-colonization. this is the curse of SL.
i don't expect the rajapakshas to to ANYTHING.
pol,
sorry to hear cocunuts are affcted by phytoplasma. no pol sambol!!
urgent thingy.
can you repeat the statement made by a TE tard in 1970 which went something like....
"now that we have money, we are rich, we should go to the next level of achievements which is tamil elam"
with reference.
you mentioned this when we discussed, why appeasement won't work.
Minister Rambukwella,
Please show us the CEPA you are going to sign. Make the process as transparent as possible. Otherwise, you will be held accountable for any misfortunes our country has to go through as a result of signing.
Moshe, it was Amirthalingam who said that. I read it a long time ago in a paper article during the 2002 piss talks time and sadly do not have a reference, the quote itself is based on memory (those words stuck)
"now we have schools, hospitals, roads and a good economy, why not Eelam?"
Amirthalingam said it during the 70s around Vaddukkoaddai resolution creation time.
These JVP student thugs must be educated that they their lawless acts will quickly become 1989 style terrorism soon. As citizens, the students shall resolve issues without reverting to acts of illegally detaining people. They shall be told that they are not above law and they will be subjected to the laws of the land. May be it is the time to introduce tasers to SL law enforcement.
Is MR signing the CEPA? Is he mad?
yes. YES!
post war MR is going mad gradually.
It will be his downfall.
His popularity is because of Sinhalese and fulfilling at last Sinhala rights and aspirations that have been denied for so long, espiecally by Colombian rulers who have pampered their masters and Tamilia.
If he is going to sell this out for his own silly ideas and attitudes then his popularity will crash burn. Or has his election success gone to his head?
Guess he has forgotten why people voted him and gave him such power, and that was not to sell the nation and people out.
MIA the tamil racist whorre is spreading her racism the world over.
CBD! D! D!
nice parade.... it is sad, not even a word of Army commander.
SL should use the opertunity now as a world brand for Anti-insurgency warfare. Costomise equipments to militory technologies should sell to other countries, who need it.
MR has made a speech only a statesman can make at the victory day celebrations.
i sincerely hope he will kick 13, CEPA in the same spirit.
here it is in full.
"As I hoist the national flag today, I recall the cry of victory raised by the entire nation waving the national flag throughout the country one year ago. For the first time in the history of our nation the proud roar of being brought under a single national banner was taken to the entire world by our people. Our national flag fluttered on that occasion in the last breath of those heroes who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the land. Each day, as the sun rises I remember these heroes of war who laid down their lives for the country.
We must also remember that presidents, presidential candidates, ministers, members of parliament and political leaders and intellectuals such as Duraiappah, Amirthalingam, Lakshman Kadirgamar and Neelan Thiruchelvam who faced death at the hands of terrorists are interred in our soil. We also must remember that large numbers of people, including thousands of little children, who were killed by terrorist attacks on villages, streets and highways, also lie buried amongst us. Our land today does not comprise only rock, sand and gravel but the flesh and blood of our ancestors, too.
As long as we remember that those who sacrificed their lives now rest in the soil of our land, I declare with pride that our people shall not leave room for anyone to divide this motherland of ours.
Friends, the strategies to divide our motherland were not limited to the battlefield. This had entered not only our parliament but also factories, schools and even our homes. For thirty long years our people faced this threat in the midst of many obstacles. On some occasions our people even had to face international sanctions.
Our people have faced the worst tragedies in the history of the world. Even at a time when the Sri Maha Bodhi, the Sacred Tooth Relic and Bhikkhus were being assassinated, the community of Bhikkhus living in distant villages did not abandon their sacred responsibility of being the guardians of the nation. They gave guidance and strength to people, who clutching their children had to hide in the forest at night, returned to work their fields at day and protected the villages that would have been the borders of our land. Both in the North and East children who were returning from school were forcibly taken by the terrorists for the war. The mothers in the North and East suffered this loss.
In spite of the bombs being exploded in trains and buses, and air raids, not a single person abandoned their places of work. Terrorists who snatched away the lives and property of our people could not deprive them of determination.
The effort of the terrorists to change our hearts through the pursuit of terror for thirty years did not meet with success. Our children were deprived of their right to learn the history of our nation. The name of King Dutugemunu was demeaned even worse than during the reign of King Elara. Many were the efforts made to make us forget that we are a people who in the past had defeated the most powerful invaders.
Terrorists decapitated the villagers in the North and East. Others who earned dividends from separatists struck at the minds of the people. The determination of the heroic youth of Sri Lanka was blunted by those who spread the belief that going to war against terrorism was a dangerous and unwise task. Films were screened all over the world seeking to humiliate heroes who were disabled in the war. As much as our language, our intellectuals too, were totally ignored. Sons of Sri Lanka were been made to be temporary lodgers in their homeland.
contd.....
.....contd.
"We must be proud that our people did not allow the nation to be divided despite all these challenges that lasted thirty years. The mere recruitment of youth in large numbers to the armed forces and strengthening the forces with more arms was not sufficient. It was necessary to consider this land as part of ourselves. It was necessary to instill the confidence that the nation belongs to the people themselves.
Friends, we inscribed in the Mahinda Chintana the path of bringing back to the nation what was forcibly taken away from us and our nation.
A government that sells the national assets of the country to foreign racketeers, that degrades our national history, that pays no heed or respect to our national language, traditions and values, is not capable of winning such a struggle. Heroism cannot be imported from abroad- it lives in our history and tradition.
In a struggle to liberate one's country, knowing the enemies' terrain alone is not important. It is necessary to understand the heartbeats of the people, their views and aspirations and respect them, too.
The people should have complete faith and confidence that the land that was liberated from terrorism through great sacrifice of life will not be handed over to the forces of separatism again.
One cannot succeed in liberating the motherland by keeping your son at home and getting another's son to fight. When we came forward to liberate the motherland, it was not done thinking that the leader, the people and the country were separate from each other, but was a single entity.
Friends, a year has passed since that glorious victory. But there were attempts to tarnish that victory in the recent past. You are aware of the attempts at the biggest betrayal of bringing the armed forces to disrepute took place. It is an insult to the heroic troops who shed their blood and gave their lives for the country in this great humanitarian operation to say that they shot at terrorist leaders who came carrying white flags. Our armed forces comprise those who went to battle carrying a gun in one hand, the Declaration of Human Rights in the other, as well as taking food for the liberated people of the North and full of human kindness in their hearts.
It is only those who have hatred towards the country and nation can betray such heroes. The beneficiaries of such a great betrayal will only be the separatists.
But my dear friends, it is with the same satisfaction that I felt when we won the humanitarian operation that I am pleased to say today that the people of this country have accepted the great challenge of protecting this glorious victory.
I believe the people of this country will stand firm as a solid fortification around the government and the security forces who won the country for them.
Friends, we are aware that some countries being battered by terrorism have taken strength and courage from these victories won by Sri Lanka. It is time for the countries facing the attacks of terrorism to look back and see where they have gone wrong.
It is a grave error of judgment to think that while been opposed to terrorism targeting you, to believe that terrorism that is no threat to you is good.
The world has so far trod on this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. I must state that the countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of the history."
contd...
...contd.
"Friends, what those from abroad who seek to strengthen separatism are really doing is, to once again corral the people of the north into camps.
The world should look into what happened to all the aid that was given as relief for the Tamil people of the North. For thirty long years they did not see the development of roads, electricity and schools. It is now seen how all those funds went for the luxury, pleasure and overindulgence of separatists and for them to deprive the people of the North of their freedom.
Friends, the problems of the Tamil people, Muslims and all others who are born and live in this country cannot be a burden to those outside. It is our own responsibility to solve the problems of our people. It did not take us long to restore normalcy to the East that was affected by terrorism. We shall next resolve the problems faced from terrorism by the people in the North, by the end of this year.
Many who went to the North are satisfied with the work done by the government towards the welfare of the displaced people. We have already appointed an Independent Commission to inquire into the causes that led to terrorism, the lessons we can learn from this, and reconciliation. It is our intent to make the people in the North be the most pleased by this victory over terrorism. It is understood by all that we carried out this great humanitarian operation only to eliminate terrorism. We left no room for even one bullet to be fired against ordinary citizens. Therefore, we consider this day as one which unites all our people.
The conditions laid before us holding this country to ransom with the threat of terrorism are not valid anymore. There is a government and people today ready to make any sacrifice to safeguard the freedom of this country.
We are not ready to accept aid under conditions that will betray the freedom of our land and people. We must be ready to end the era of dependence on aid.
Friends, it is not to idly waste our time that we liberated this land. It was not to hand over the country to thieves, crooks, the corrupt and those of the underworld and also not to waste our time in lethargy.
More than 200,000 in our armed forces have given Sri Lanka a victory through their commitment through day and night in good weather and bad. These heroes are our children born in our own villages.
Our public service has six times the manpower of the armed forces. They are also our own children born in our own villages. If our public servants make a commitment for four years similar to that by our heroic forces we will be able make this country the Wonder of Asia.
Friends, you should be well aware of the challenges that lie ahead. We went to battle under the slogan, 'Api Wenuwen Api'. Similarly, in building the nation and country we must line up under the slogan, 'We for the Country'. Many countries in the world have developed through the extra-ordinary endeavors of their people. We, who have astonished the world through success in our humanitarian operation, must do so in development, too. We must surprise the world through the unthinkable.
It is only those of us who are born in this country that have the will to build this country. People of our country have the strength and courage to build this country. What is only needed is the will.
Yes! What is most needed to prevent the shedding of blood and tears for the country is to restore the hearts shattered by violence and ease such pain. I am confident that the Sri Lankan nation has the will to achieve this.
Heroic Troops, we had a past full of valor, heroism and courage. But we have such qualities in which we can take pride, today. In the future when there is a need for the Sri Lankan nation to launch an incomparable battle to protect this land, they will recall with pride and take courage from the heroism displayed by you today. Even if you die you will not lie in a grave but in our hearts that love our land."
"We shall pay you the tribute of our nation for every drop of blood you have shed to free our land by uniting all our peoples, ensuring that terrorism does not raise its head again, and building this nation to its true greatness."
he didn't forget to mention gonzeka for what gonzeka is.
"Friends, a year has passed since that glorious victory. But there were attempts to tarnish that victory in the recent past. You are aware of the attempts at the biggest betrayal of bringing the armed forces to disrepute took place. It is an insult to the heroic troops who shed their blood and gave their lives for the country in this great humanitarian operation to say that they shot at terrorist leaders who came carrying white flags. Our armed forces comprise those who went to battle carrying a gun in one hand, the Declaration of Human Rights in the other, as well as taking food for the liberated people of the North and full of human kindness in their hearts.
It is only those who have hatred towards the country and nation can betray such heroes. The beneficiaries of such a great betrayal will only be the separatists."
indeed. this gonzeka is the same MF who slept with and kissed TNA tigers even b4 vezapillai's cum dried in their arses and mouths.
bloody traitor. hang this traitor in nanthikandal and bury the bugger in the same place vezapillai was burried. worthless piece of shitt.
[it is sad, not even a word of Army commander.]
Sri Lankans have some bad luck too.. After Vezapillei now we have another to worry about for another 2 decades.. The greatest service Gonzeka can do to SL is hang himself together with his JVP scums.
Fonseka was WRONG for his accusation of SL forces and GR on war crimes. If he did that statement he should apologise to the nation.
He was WRONG for using the political platform to accuse GR and MR as they together sheilded the country from the interferance from the IC, as any action by IC (espacially India) would have resulted in a diffrent outcome like in 1987.
For me It was MR, GR and SF trio, their strentghs that won the war. So while TOTALLY diagreeing and condeming any and all comments of SF on the war crimes etc, I will still respect him as the Commander of the SLA who strategised (together with GR) the victory we are celebrating today. LONG LIVE SLDF.
yes. we cannot disregard SF's contribution to war. actually we need another SF (a pre july 2009 SF) now.
but SF is a traitor now. unless he makes the ultimate sacrifice for the nation, he remains so.
the worst part is even some brainwashed LTTEers crossed the fence when our own SF did the other way round.
any problem with GR, he should take it on him WITHOUT dragging SLDFs and the defence secretary.
"A day to pay tribute, not to divide, says Sajith"
i don't like this.
colombians, etc. have demands. if they find the existing lot does't represent them, they will replace them.
best way is to hide one's patriotism and STAY. if sajith crosses over that is a national disaster. he should wait out in the UNP.
I like MRs speech, hope he sticks to what he is saying.
The Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse has sought written representations from the public or individual organizations as the eight member panel prepares to commence sittings.
I am sure that likes of Jay the piss lover must be writing page loads. All those socialist lunatics too.
It amazing to see how those who never supported the country, the Army or the war victory and went around supporting the LTTE, spat on the country and called for sanctions plus intervention to save the LTTE and today are going around still spitting on the country coming out to let their hatred for the nation, the people, the Army and the victory over the LTTE be known by wrapping this hate and venom using Fonseka. Fonseka has become a rallying point for all the vicious anti-national forces who wanted to keep this country at war and in misery. He serves as tool for them to attack the victory, the Military, a tool for them to vent their hatred and frustrations against the nation and people.
SK,
and we should too.
ASS is back with another letter.
he makes an outrageous demand.
"I am not at all satisfied with the way they are looked after. Please leave the re-settlement process of Vanni in my hands and the development projects too. Don’t let anyone to fish in troubled waters. Allow all the NGO’s to operate in Vanni and have strict control over them if you doubt their sincerity of purpose."
lol!!
this racist is a maniac.
[[Many parents claim that although they had several opportunities to escape from Mathalan during the final stages of the battles, they did not do so, hoping that they could leave with their children held by the LTTE as combatants, states TULF leader V. Anandasangaree, writing to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“I have decided not to seek election anymore. I am not at all satisfied with the way they are looked after. Please leave the resettlement process of Vanni in my hands and the development projects too. Don’t let anyone to fish in troubled waters,” adds Mr. Anandasangaree.]]
Why? What misfortune? We will loose a surely pockets deposit for candidature. Sangaree cannot win it even he contests, so his retirement means nothing for SL as a whole.
So there is no reason why anyone shud give him a job. When I retire from my job will Mr Prez give me another? So why Sangaree?
But of course we have some sections that a retired anyti-pussycat leader can look after. They include spying, monitoring pussycat actions, winning ppl and hence getting the underground palns exposed, controlling Jokers in TN etc. MR can take Sangaree for a part in North rehab process, yes.
But again, the bugger seems extremely eccentric and egostic here, as always. Equally obsolete.
As usual it was NDS who was first to pointed out that there are 2 Fonsekas - "e fonseka saha me fonseka". As usual WW made it clear saying "military fonseka was assassinated by political fonseka". Only less than 1% SL population were unable to honestly accept/realize this fact. I don't care building two 'devalas' in NDKL lagoon for both fonseka lovers and thaleivar lovers to worship but decisions must be made to safeguard nations future not to make happy some scum becuz he has good past. If you got cancer you remove it once you detect it - you don't keep it just becuz its in your body which you love.
BBC has put pictures of Victory Day celebrations (which is odd for them).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/10351744.stm
They are pretty nice. Love the first and last one the most. So proud of our Ranavirus.
They symbolise MotherLanka and the history of our people and nation.
I wrote this last month (on my FB to be exact) and sent it to Ananda hoping he'd put it on Sri Lanka Patriots.
Don't know if he has, but i want to share it again:
--------------
Those who died for us take their place in history
One year ago our soldiers achieved what was proclaimed the unachievable defying all difficulties and barriers thrown at them they successfully and brilliantly won the un-winnable war restoring unity, safety and pride to the nation.
Those whose mindset is beyond our borders do not understand and will never understand that for our soldiers this land has no borders.
Since the times of Gamani Abhaya to Vijayabahu to Parakramabahu they have always taken the sword into their hand and answered the call to fight, fight for the land below their feet and the protection of the people who walk it. No matter the difficulty of the challenge, no matter the appearance of impossibility they have always succeeded with unwavering dignity and valour.
Today we remember those who have fallen in this era who now join the countless others from the great armies of our nations past in making the ultimate sacrifice for our country and people as they have always done over the last two millennia.
May18th Victory Day
"Plans to rob patent rights of protein contents in venomous snakes in making anti-bodies was the cause in the delay in making anti-venom serum for snake bites in Sri Lanka."
What kind of joke is this? Some foreign tards put "patents" on what belongs to us and we have to submit to this? We should do what China does and tell them to stuff it when the West in particular has tried to sue China for “copying”. In our case we should do the same espiecally with regards to anything that is indigenous to Sri Lanka.
"Sri Lanka has not fully taken advantage of the US market for exports to earn more foreign revenue to boost its economy. The US provides GSP concessions for around 3400 products imported from various countries and Sri Lanka has barely touched some of these tariff lines and it is strongly advised by the US Embassy in Colombo to do take full use of trade concessions offered by it."
They too seem adamant we "submit" to their GSP+.
Its best we don't.
If we are to survive with a good industrial base we have to learn to do without concessions and buttressing.
US is "pushing" this means they want to make us dependent on it.
Again i say stuff it.
National Council of Canadian Tamils:
NCCT will be a grass-root organisation composed of democratically elected Canadian Tamils focused on strengthening the Tamil community within the Canada
democracy according to elamist
(Watch from 1:22)
We elect - you agree!
The world has so far trod on this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. I must state that the countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of the history.
Chaps, I really like this little snippet from Presidents speech yesterday. Terrorists can smell fear and softness in you. Only people who have resolved to utterly destroy the terrorists without mercy will win the fight.
Cheers!
some racist sakkilyas in the eastern university unable to bear the victory parade have assaulted sinhala students.
these barbarians should be whitevanned.
this is an interesting list of who is who
Moshe,
Excellent Article. Very clear and is to the point. Like what you said about secularism.
Nazi “secularism” meant a “multiethnic” society as long as it had only the German race! In exact words, Tamil Elam “secularism” also means “plurality” as long as the entire society is comprised of Tamils of different religions!
thusitha,
thanks.
i picked it up from nowhere other than toiletnet. it said tamil elam will have tamil hindus, tamil muslims, tamil catholics, tamil buddhists and tamil athists and so it will be secular!!!
just like the na-zi maniacs.
Patriots,
I have posted the President's speech on VOT-day as a new post.
This speech DESERVES to be thus honored by us.
Please switch over to the new post.
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