Eelaam Homeland struggle was to hide Tamil Caste difference & unify discontented Tamils

By Shenali Waduge

LankaWeb.com
January 17, 2012

In understanding the nature of Sri Lanka’s conflict it is important to not only understand the nature of the Tamil caste & class system but analyze how intricately absorbed it is into the social, political, economical, religous hierarchy of how Tamils live or rather should live. The “ethnic” tag was introduced simply to sideline the divisions existing between Tamils & showcase a united front locally & internationally. Using “ethnic discrimination” by Sinhalese against Tamils was a perfect theme & perfect reason to start a conflict. The conflict enabled higher caste Tamils to keep a hold on lower caste Tamils by camouflaging the real intention & lower castes had no choice but to accept this homeland utopian vision. This did succeed to a great extent. It is now time for the world to know the truth and falsity of labeling Sri Lanka’s problem as “ethnic”.

It is also time for Tamils to seriously think of their own future vis a vis continuing generations old caste systems or to follow the path of equality amongst the Tamils before accusing the Sinhalese.

 1956 Official Language Act
The 1956 Official Language Act making Sinhala the only official language yet allowing reasonable use of Tamil language is often cited as the grounds for the “Ethnic” problem. Yet apart from a few small protests there were no large demonstrations on record to oppose this. Tamils even started to learn Sinhala. We need to remember that English was the language being used however less than 6% of total Tamils in Sri Lanka were actually fluent in English. By 1956 Tamils constituted 50% of the clerical personnel of the railway, postal and customs services, 60% of all doctors, engineers and lawyers, and 40% of other labor forces.

 How many would agree that the Eelaam struggle began in 1923 with Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam which evolved towards the 1931 demand for 50:50 representation when in reality the Tamil representation in terms of population was 70:30. The denial of this eventually led to the formation of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi in 1949 (Tamil kingdom Party). The ITAK conveniently changed its name to read Federal Party which today is known as Tamil National Alliance.  

It was the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act; not the Official Language Act that Tamils opposed!

Part of SWRD Bandaranaike’s plan was to penetrate into the “low caste” votes of Tamils using division amongst Tamils to garner votes. This similar strategy has been & is still used in present day politics. Thus the Social Diasbilities Act No. 21 was passed in parliament in 1957 giving lower castes the right to attend schools & kovils. Its good for the western world to know that it was a Sinhalese who opened the doors for low caste Tamils to attend schools & kovils – places that were taboo to them by their own Tamil brethren. No sooner the Tamil high castes & high classes realized the dangers of mainstream parties courting the low castes they devised their response. It was to create the best division possible. A rift between the Tamils & Sinhalese which would strike better success than low caste-high caste divisions. Who remembers the satyagrahas, the tarring of Sinhala letters on vehicle registration numbers. All launched by the ITAC & Tamil Congress – both high caste/class political parties. 

 It is important to note that all these happened a year after making Sinhala the official language. Why did the Tamils not cry foul over the Sinhala Only Act in 1956 but oppose the Social Disabilities Act on 1957 with such venom? It is because Tamils wanted to deprive their own. However, the 1956 Act became a ruse which led to the Bandaranaike Chelvanayagam Pact which had nothing about the language issue but referred to devolving regional power which would enable them to continue ruling over low caste Tamils for eternity. In 1971 an amendment was brought to the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act which naturally did not go well with high caste Tamils & led to large scale protests.

 Similarly, when the Government introduced university standardization in 1973 those that opposed were those who were against equitable distribution. Students of all ethnicities from Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy, Galle who had been privy to education opposed opportunities that would be enjoyed by students from Batticaloa, Vanni, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala & other less developed districts. While the composition of the ethnicities did not change entrance, for Tamils it meant not only the Vellalar caste but lower caste Tamils too would gain university entrance. This was why Tamils opposed the 1973 standardization.

 Caste riots amongst Tamils
Why is there no reference to caste riots amongst Tamils – where Vellalars, dhoby’s, barber castes were attacking each other in 1871. How about the Vellalars attacking the Paramba caste in 1923 because according to their caste they had no rights to hire drummers for funerals. In 1931 the Vellalars attacked the Pallar castes also for hiring drummers. The message of the Vellalars was clear – no low castes could hire drummers for funerals! Do Tamils need to be reminded that they did not allow low castes to enter any place that the high castes frequented? Yet when a government directive on “equal seating” emerged violence broke out in 1929 against low caste Tamils sitting on benches as previously they had to sit on the floor! This was how Tamils treated their own!

Continuous petitions were written pleading the Government to cancel the directive. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan went so far as to request the Colonial Office in London to encode caste into legislative enactments.

 Struggle for Tamil Eelaam never began with the LTTE
Those ignorant of these facts would give the 1956 Sinhala Only Act as being the reason for the emergence of the LTTE & to its demand for a separate homeland. How false this claim is. Why was the ITAC formed in 1949 which denotes a separate homeland in its name? Why did the Tamils want 50:50 representation? Why did Tamils gather to put forward the Vadukoddai Resolution calling upon Tamils to take up arms? Why did Tamils allow Tamil police officers to be assassinated while these political leaders watched when all non-Tamils were forced to leave by armed groups in the North? 

 Though the LTTE was a guerilla force it had to abide by the rigid Tamil caste system thus the links to high caste political parties. Prabakaran & his main stooges may have all been low caste & low castes in terms of numbers may be more than the high caste Tamils but the caste system is such that low caste Tamils will hardly revolt – they are born to accept & never challenge the caste they are born into. That caste differences were very much prevalent is clear in the manner low caste Tamils of the East were used for high risk operations including Karuna who was deprived “promotion” for being low caste which resulted in his ultimate defection & which helped liberate the East eventually from the LTTE. Tamils who cry “discrimination” may like to recall how in the refugee camps during 1983 the high castes refused to share common toilet facilities with the low castes & a lot of problems arose inside the very camps housing only Tamils!

 The TNA
Who are they? They are a group of Jaffna centric vellalar caste Tamils who do not represent Tamils. They merely represent their caste & aspire to regain supremacy for their caste. They should in essence be banned for their vision & mission in entirety is to continue a political struggle for a Tamil Homeland. It is a party that needs to be banned in Sri Lanka for political parties are not meant to divide the nation. If the TNA does not represent the Tamil people accept representing the continuous of the Vellalar caste rigid traditions it is time the Government stop playing footsie with such a political party.

 Essentially what we must all know is that the Vellalars will never allow lower castes to challenge their status quo in marriage (even political marriage for convenience is regarded taboo). The Jaffna vellalars think themselves the elite while the Eastern Tamils and upcountry Tamils are looked down upon lower than the low castes Tamils of Jaffna.

 So the decision or rather solution for the future of Tamils lies within themselves. Do they continue the age old caste differences or do they put caste, class & regional differences aside. Can the West explain how devolution is likely to provide an answer to these bitter sentiments that exist where Tamils do not want their own to sit with them at dinner, to drink from a teacup belonging to a low caste or to ever into a marriage all because of the caste factor? Obviously the West does not understand or know the complexity of the caste factor amongst Tamils.

 It may be just 2 years since the elimination of the LTTE. It is too soon for the low caste Tamils to realize they are in a better position now to decide how they should live politically. They will soon realize that they are not bound to galvanize behind political parties like the TNA that pretends to fight for their cause but is only the custodian of the Vellalar traditions. All that the TNA attempts to do politically has nothing to do with the betterment of the Tamil people and all to do with keeping the low castes from straying elsewhere politically especially tying up with southern political parties.

 What is really important to Tamils
In so far as what is important for the Tamils, it is obvious they need to identify how far they are willing to let go of generations old caste & class barriers. For in defending the caste system they are unlikely to protect either the Tamils or the Tamil culture. The dangers of this arises from large numbers of younger Tamils seeking foreign pastures who are enveloping foreign culture not wanting to be tied to age old traditions that prevails & with time they are unlikely to chant separate homeland either. So Tamils are likely to loose the obvious which is the homeland as well as loose out on protecting its culture simply because they paid scant attention to its protection. The present day calls is for learned Tamils to start protecting the Tamil culture rather than going behind separate homeland themes meant only to hide their caste differences.

 Tamils must look back critically at the past 30 years. Did the conflict have adverse effects on the Tamil elite/high class and the high castes? No. Who actually suffered then? It was the low castes who have been suffering all along and the irony is that the paid low caste stooge Prabakaran was a puppet in the hands of the Tamil vellalars who used him to deprive his own. Prabakaran cared not to raise his own caste except to glorify himself. Prabakaran cared not to uplift the lives of the other low castes sharing what he earned from LTTE Inc, then these Tamils are never likely to find a savior any time soon unless they begin to change among themselves.

 The Indian factor
Just as political parties used caste difference to gain political mileage, religious groups used caste to entice low caste Tamils who were poor to follow Christianity/Catholism. Similarly, low caste Tamils became a tool for foreign interferences and India & its intelligence agencies too followed this strategy.

India is no stranger to caste differences. There are 166million untouchables in India. India’s Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense. 20% that is 11m Dalits live in Tamil Nadu & more than 50% live below the poverty line. Neither the AIADMK nor DMK have done anything to change the lives or livelihoods of the Dalits and it is no different in other States of India.

So for India using low castes of Sri Lanka would be nothing new. Part of the plan to economically develop the North with Indian assistance is certainly aimed at uplifting the technical & educational know-how of Tamils in order to incorporate them into India’s larger plan for the region. It is good for Sri Lanka to be more alert about what countries give post-conflict for the giving factor is more often camouflaged by what they plan to take ultimately!

 Hiding behind facades that the Sinhalese are discriminating the Tamils, promoting these lies, distorting facts, paying western media to carry the wrong message is in reality doing damage to one’s own people. People who had been marginalized through the colonial periods, throughout post independence and even while the LTTE prevailed is the real story of the Tamil low castes who had to endure 30 years of suffering. Is this the destiny of the low caste Tamil people? Is it only the vellalars that must thrive in Sri Lanka? This is the question that needs to be answered first by Tamils & next by the West.

Sri Lanka is still under threat - warns Secretary of Defence: LTTE rump groups and Pro-LTTE organizations trying hard to achieve their separatist ideology in the country

By Hon. Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Secretary of Defense
Defence.lk
January 11, 2012

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that there is a possibility that the re-emergence of LTTE in Sri Lanka, as LTTE sympathizers abroad still struggling to achieve the LTTE's separatist ideology in the country.

He made this observation speaking on 'Future Challenges to National Security in Sri Lanka' organized by Sri Lanka Foundation Institute and Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, at the auditorium of the Institute.

The Secretary described extensively on following topics in his public lecture.

* The reorganisation of the LTTE in the international arena
* The possible re-emergence of terrorism within Sri Lanka
* The efforts by some to take Sri Lanka's internal issues in front of international bodies
* The challenges posed by the regional geopolitical situation
* The possibility of creating instability within Sri Lanka through indirect means

Full text of the speech

Public Lecture at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute:

FUTURE CHALLENGES OF NATIONAL SECURITY IN SRI LANKA

I consider it a pleasure and a privilege to have been invited to deliver the first Public Lecture at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on the topic, "Future Challenges of National Security in Sri Lanka".

Although Sri Lanka today is one of the most stable and secure countries in the Asian region, it needs to be understood that national security is still a critical issue for us. It was less than three short years ago that the LTTE was defeated, after having caused enormous suffering for all Sri Lankans for three decades. The LTTE's military defeat in May 2009 was a pivotal event in Sri Lanka's history. It lifted the veil of fear that hung over daily life and impacted each and every Sri Lankan for a generation. It eliminated the primary obstacle to Sri Lanka's future prospects and brought back a long overdue sense of peace and stability to our people. It is vital that we do not take any of this for granted. Sri Lanka still has enemies, and they are still at work to bring back disharmony and conflict to our nation.

There are several threats that will be covered during the course of this lecture. These include:

* The reorganisation of the LTTE in the international arena
* The possible re-emergence of terrorism within Sri Lanka
* The efforts by some to take Sri Lanka's internal issues in front of international bodies
* The challenges posed by the regional geopolitical situation
* The possibility of creating instability within Sri Lanka through indirect means.

The first threat to consider is the on-going activities of LTTE linked organisations outside Sri Lanka. Despite the military defeat of the LTTE and the elimination of its top leadership two and a half years ago, the rump of the LTTE's global establishment is still active. There are ex-LTTE cadres, pro-LTTE activists and LTTE sympathisers still operating in various guises through various groups in many countries around the world.

After the demise of Prabhakaran, the LTTE's former head of procurement Kumaran Pathmanadan, better known as KP, took control over the LTTE's international network. However, a breakaway faction emerged almost immediately, led by Nediyawan, who was a follower of Manivannan (alias Castro), the former head of the LTTE's international network. The key reason for the emergence of a breakaway faction was that while KP's group declared they would continue their struggle for a separate state through democratic means, Nediyawan's group felt that objective could only be achieved by following the violent ideology preached by Prabhakaran.

Following the arrest of KP in August 2009, Rudrakumaran took over the leadership of his organisation and worked towards establishing a "Government in Exile". This group now fashions itself as The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam. Its primary objective is to lobby Foreign Governments for the establishment of a separate state in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The so-called "Transnational Government" has more than twenty so-called "Ministers" and an advisory committee comprising prominent pro LTTE activists. Even at the start of this year, Rudrakumaran not only outlined the group's clear intention to intensify its lobbying of foreign Governments to support a separate state, but also stated its hope to encourage the resumption of direct struggles within Sri Lanka.

Another prominent LTTE-linked group is the British Tamils Forum, which is an umbrella organisation established in the United Kingdom with the aim of mustering support from the immigrant Tamil community and local politicians for

the division of Sri Lanka. One of the primary objectives of this group has been to influence the thinking of the British Government in favour of the LTTE's interests. Evolving from the BTF is the Global Tamils Forum, which emerged in February 2010. The head of the GTF is the so-called Father Emmanuel, a Priest who was once hailed by Prabhakaran as "a freedom fighter who has given leadership to a movement committed to setting up the homeland to Tamil Eelam". Father Emmanuel has been engaged in a propaganda campaign against Sri Lanka for many years, targeting Tamil expatriates, Foreign Governments and International Organisations. Under his guidance, the GTF has successfully won over a number of politicians from various political parties in European countries as well as the United States, Australia, Canada, and India to support the separatist cause. In addition, the GTF and the BTF have courted officials within international organisations such as the United Nations, the European Union and various non-governmental organisations to obtain their support.

In the meanwhile, Nediyawan's group, known as The Tamil Eelam People's Assembly or the Tamil National Council, has been working with other international groups to promote the separatist cause in many parts of the world. Nediyawan's group has control over most of the assets of the LTTE's international organisation. It also presently controls the more than 350 Tamil schools that function in Europe supposedly for the promotion of Tamil language and culture. In reality, these schools aim to inculcate separatist sentiments and hatred towards the Sinhalese amongst 2nd and 3rd generation Tamils living abroad.

The on-going indoctrination of the students in these schools is a matter of grave concern. It affects a significant number of children all over Europe. These LTTE-linked Tamil schools have a student population of approximately 6500 in Germany, 5800 in Switzerland, 5000 in France and nearly 2000 more in the rest of Europe. These are large numbers. A proportion of the school fees charged from these students is directed into the coffers of LTTE-linked organisations. So is the income generated from events organised by these schools. It should also be noted that during the war, these schools functioned as a selection ground for future terrorists. In certain schools, the administration made arrangements for batches of students to undergo military training in the Wanni. Some of these students fought against the Security Forces during the Humanitarian Operation. Others returned to their countries and continue to work towards the separatist objective from outside Sri Lanka.

Some evidence has emerged in recent times that the on-going conflict within the various factions of the rump LTTE organisations has led to some control of the Tamil schools passing to Rudrakumaran's faction. In this struggle, the Rudrakumaran faction was aided by Vinayagam, a senior LTTE intelligence cadre who fled Sri Lanka during the last stages of the Humanitarian Operation. Other LTTE cadres, including Achchudan, Samraj and Shankar who managed to leave Sri Lanka before the LTTE's defeat, continue to work independently in various pro-separatist activities. While also working with the other LTTE-linked groups from time to time, these LTTE cadres are responsible for various criminal activities in the countries they reside in. One of the most high profile of these criminal activities is the trafficking of persons internationally. Charging between 15,000 and 30,000 US dollars per person, they use the remnants of the LTTE's international shipping operation to smuggle people to western countries. The voyages of the "Sun Sea" and "Ocean Lady" vessels from South East Asia to Canada in 2010 are well known examples of this activity. The money raised will be used to further promote the separatist cause, and perhaps even sponsor future terrorist activities in Sri Lanka.

Irrespective of the conflicts that may exist within the various LTTE-linked groups just mentioned, we must understand that all of them are united by a common agenda. Their unwavering intent is the division of Sri Lanka and the establishment of a separate state. There are several strategies through which they will try to achieve their objective. These include:

* The winning of international opinion for the separatist cause
* Increasing international pressure on Sri Lanka in various areas; and very particularly through pushing for international investigations into war crimes and claims of genocide
* Undermining all efforts of the democratically elected Government of Sri Lanka to create a better future for its citizens, and
* Continuing to push for the resumption of conflict within Sri Lanka

It is important to note that many of these LTTE-linked groups claim that they no longer have any interest in terrorism. Most of them say they engage only in political activism and not violence. Almost all of them pretend to have a democratic face. But make no mistake. The Tiger has not changed its stripes. The modus operandi of the LTTE linked organisations remains as unchanged as their agenda. There is no doubt that these groups will continue trying to create an enabling environment for a separate state internationally, while also encouraging the resumption of an armed struggle within Sri Lanka.

To understand why the LTTE linked organisations remain so powerful, we need to understand the electoral politics of western nations. The stances that Governments adopt are a consequence of their internal politics. Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and many parts of Europe have very large immigrant Tamil populations. These populations form notable voting blocs within electoral constituencies in those countries. Although the number of radicalised elements within the overall Tamil population is small, they are politically very active. These radicalised elements and LTTE-linked groups use skilful propaganda to project their anti-Sri Lanka objectives as goals the entire Tamil population is interested in.

A number of local politicians, state officials and even parliamentarians have been elected due to the voting power of such minority blocs in many countries. Quite often in western democracies, voter turnout is very low among traditional populations but high among immigrants. That is why the propaganda of the LTTE-linked groups is taken so seriously: politicians see courting immigrant

Tamil votes as an aid to getting into power. Take the United Kingdom for example. When running for re-election as Mayor of London in 2008, Ken Livingstone sought the active support of the British Tamils Forum during his campaign. A number of Parliamentarians, (Keith Vaz, Simon Hughes and Andrew Pelling), all joined a protest march against the Humanitarian Operation organised by the BTF in London in January 2009. These were all attempts to court an important voting bloc in their constituencies.

The power wielded by the ex-LTTE groups in the domestic politics of foreign nations is not limited to its claim to speak for a significant vote base. The financial strength possessed by the rump of the LTTE's international network is also a formidable factor. Historically, the LTTE was able to raise large amounts of funds from the immigrant Tamil community through various means. These included funds generated through front organisations pretending to be involved in charitable works in Sri Lanka, through fundraising events and institutions including the Tamil schools, and through illegal activities such as extortion, drug smuggling and human trafficking. At the time of its defeat, the global network of the LTTE had a lot of funds at its disposal. While control of these funds was somewhat dispersed after the elimination of the LTTE's top leadership, and the breaking into factions of the remaining organisation, these assets are still out there. Through their current activities, the LTTE-linked groups are still able to generate a lot of income. This income enables them to forge close links with powerful individuals in the international community. For example, after losing her seat in parliament in 2010, British MP Joan Ryan was almost immediately hired by the Global Tamils Forum to be its Chief Executive.

The sympathy afforded to the LTTE-linked organisations by members of certain foreign Governments due to voting pressure and financial motivation is only one dimension of the problem. The LTTE-linked organisations also work tirelessly to canvass powerful individuals and groups within the larger international community to support its cause. This includes influential figures within global bodies such as the United Nations and the Commonwealth,

members of various Rights groups and Non Governmental Organisations, and international media personalities. Financial support is sometimes offered to the organisations themselves. For example, Amnesty International recently accepted more than 50,000 dollars raised by the Canadian Tamil Congress. Through such activism, LTTE-linked groups in various countries systematically persuade individuals and groups in influential positions to accept their propaganda. It is little surprise that Amnesty International was one of the three groups that organised a screening of Channel 4's propaganda programme at the European Parliament a few months ago. The influence the rump of the LTTE has on such international organisations allows it to demonise the Sri Lankan Government and portrays this country in the most negative of lights. As a result, a lot of pressure is built on the Government in the international arena.

This problem is perhaps most acute in the international media. The LTTE has long maintained close links with certain media establishments and individual journalists in order to promote its interests. These links have paid the LTTE great dividends. During the Humanitarian Operation, a number of international media organisations displayed great bias against the Sri Lankan Government. Supposedly respectable media outfits such as the United Kingdom's Channel Four and others have even taken to broadcasting what seems to be little more than LTTE propaganda during the past two years. Although they are promoted as objective reports, these propagandist programmes have cast LTTE combatants in the role of neutral observers and reported baseless allegations and fabrications as pure fact. Because of their supposed objectivity and the general ignorance of foreign nationals about the true picture in Sri Lanka, these programmes can greatly influence foreign opinion against this country. This is a grave threat to our national security, because it contributes to an increasingly enabling environment for the separatist cause on the world stage.

While this problem seems to be mostly international, we must realise there is a possibility, though a remote one at this stage, that terrorists will reorganise within this country. As mentioned before, one of the stated objectives of the

LTTE-linked groups abroad is to encourage and facilitate the resumption of an armed struggle in Sri Lanka. There is ample evidence that members of these groups, as well as LTTE cadres who managed to flee Sri Lanka during the Humanitarian Operation, are consistently trying to contact various people within this country and encourage them to regroup militarily. We must not forget that there are also LTTE cadres who escaped detection and detention during the Humanitarian Operation, and are still at large in our society. Unlike the detainees and surrendered cadres, these individuals have not undergone rehabilitation and their terrorist intentions may remain unchanged. Even among the cadres who were rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, there could still be some individuals who have not entirely given up their belief in militancy.

Although the power of the Government to impede the activities of the LTTE-linked organisations abroad is limited, it has a much greater level of control within Sri Lanka. The Defence establishment is well aware of the potential threat of terrorism that continues to exist within this country. Action is being taken to guard against that potential threat becoming a real one. One of the primary ways to guard against the re-emergence of terrorism is the strengthening of our intelligence network. Intelligence is a critical tool in the fight against terrorism. During the Humanitarian Operation, numerous attempts to set off bombs in civilian areas and attacks on political targets were foiled through the work of our intelligence services. I have confidence that the regrouping of armed cadres and the re-emergence of terrorism can be similarly curtailed through these services. At the same time, it is of critical importance that the Security Forces maintain a strong presence in areas that were traditionally used by the LTTE for terrorist activities.

Unfortunately, there are some parties even within Sri Lanka that question why the Defence establishment continues to be so large and why so much money is allocated in the national budget for the Defence Ministry. These parties seem to have forgotten the lessons of the recent past. We all know how the LTTE sprang up from being a small group of armed militants into one of the world's

largest and deadliest terrorist organisations within a short number of years. At its peak, the LTTE had more than 30,000 cadres, and had an extremely sophisticated land fighting force, a deadly naval wing and a fledgling air wing. During the terrorist war the LTTE waged against this nation, approximately 30,000 military personnel lost their lives, more than 25,000 became disabled and many thousands of civilians perished at its hands.

The LTTE was a deadly threat, and it is only two and a half years since its military arm was defeated. We are very much aware of the efforts being undertaken in the international arena by the LTTE-linked groups to keep the separatist cause alive. The regrouping and reorganising of terrorists within Sri Lanka is still a threat to our national security. It is only logical that the Government takes every precaution it can to guard against it. Maintaining a sizeable Army and establishing camps in strategic locations throughout Sri Lanka is essential. This is particularly true of the jungle areas in which the LTTE established camps, and through which it conducted its terrorist operations against our Security Forces.

Similarly, we are aware that one of the greatest strengths of the LTTE was its ability to smuggle weapons acquired through funds raised abroad into Sri Lanka through the sea. The LTTE was the only terrorist organisation in the world to develop an offensive air capability. It acquired this strength through light aircraft smuggled into Sri Lanka by way of the sea. In addition, it also smuggled in surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, artillery guns, heavy and medium mortar, armoured vehicles and enormous amounts of ammunition and explosives through the sea. To guard against the possibility of such things happening again, as well as to prevent other criminal activities including human trafficking, drug trafficking and also to prevent piracy in this region, it is essential that the capabilities of the Sri Lanka Navy be strengthened to enable it to dominate the sea.

In sum, even though the war ended two and a half years ago, there is still a need for the continued existence of a strong military within Sri Lanka. This is a fact that the vast majority of Sri Lankans are more than happy with. However, it is also a fact that a handful of people and groups with vested interests exploit in the political arena. They use the existence of a large military within Sri Lanka to manufacture claims about the "militarisation" of this country. The thrust of the complaint is that the military has a pervasive influence on day-to-day affairs, particularly in the North and East. This is a wilful distortion of the actual picture.

It is true that the civilian administrative system was not fully functional in the immediate aftermath of the Humanitarian Operation. Therefore, for a short period of time after May 2009, the military stepped in to fill the breach and assist in administrative activities which are carried out by civilians. However, now that the situation has normalised and the civil service is back in place, the military is no longer involved in administration. Even when it comes to the upholding of law and order, the role of the military has been drastically curtailed with the lifting of the emergency regulations. Day to day law and order activities have been completely entrusted to the Police. The claim that the military is involved in every aspect of day-to-day life in the current context is a gross misrepresentation of reality.

It must also be emphasised that, as a sovereign state, Sri Lanka has every right to set up military establishments in any part of its territory. The role of the military is ensuring the safety, security and sovereignty of this country. To do this, it must be ready to face any force that threatens the nation, whether internally or externally. That is why it is essential that military establishments, whether Army, Navy or Air Force, should be positioned in strategic locations. There are military establishments in every part of Sri Lanka. There are camps not just in the North and East, but also in the South, the hill country and in Colombo. The claim that this represents militarisation is pure nonsense.

The real reason for the claim about militarisation is that it is yet another ploy in the campaign to portray what is happening in Sri Lanka in the most negative of lights. It is a ploy aligned with the strategy of the LTTE-linked organisations to portray Sri Lanka as a nation using military might to persecute innocent Tamil people. This is a manufactured claim that is vastly at odds with Sri Lankan reality. However, it is a useful tool for the LTTE-linked organisations and the pro-separatist movement because it helps them construct an alternate reality in the eyes of foreign powers about what is happening in Sri Lanka. It is purely a political tool, and it is being deployed because the agenda of these parties has not changed.

Closely linked to the false, negative picture the LTTE-linked organisations try to project about Sri Lanka's present is their attempt to tarnish the success of the Humanitarian Operation. Bringing Sri Lanka before the Human Rights Council of the United Nations and even to the International Criminal Court in Geneva is one of the goals of the rump of the LTTE. Having been defeated militarily, they seek to generate claims about war crimes and even try to use the term genocide in describing what happened in Sri Lanka. This is part of the strategy they employed throughout the conflict period. During the Humanitarian Operation too, it used the exact same terminology to build international pressure against Sri Lanka. It used all the influence it had cultivated over the years with foreign politicians, international organisations and media groups to try and prevent the defeat of its military organisation and save Prabhakaran and the rest of the LTTE's leadership.

In reality, it was the LTTE that ruthlessly and frequently violated human rights and committed war crimes Aerial footage captured during the Humanitarian Operation showed to the world how LTTE cadres fired at the civilians trying to escape its clutches. Now there is more evidence coming to light about the brutal tactics it used to maintain power within its fast diminishing territory during the final stages. The LTTE tried to forcefully abduct some 600 children from families who had sought shelter in a church. When the church

authorities resisted this attempt, it mercilessly shelled the church that same night. It piled up sick and wounded cadres and civilians onto a group of buses and then exploded them while they lay trapped helplessly within. During the very last days, the LTTE even exploded its ammunition dumps near civilian encampments as it realised that military defeat was inevitable.

There is little doubt that in the months and years to come, the rump of the LTTE organisation will only step up its efforts to damage Sri Lanka's reputation in the international arena and drag this country before international bodies on war crimes charges. It represents nothing less than an effort by those keen to keep terrorism alive to disgrace the reputation of our brave professional servicemen who had the strength and courage to comprehensively eliminate terrorism from this country.

The primary issue being spoken about by the LTTE-linked organisations and their sympathisers is accountability for civilian casualties that took place during the Humanitarian Operation. In this context, there are several issues to note. First, it needs to be understood that in any conflict, a certain number of civilian casualties are bound to occur. This is particularly true in conflicts where civilians are used as a human shield by one of the warring factions, as the LTTE did. While the Government established a very clear zero casualty policy at the start of the Humanitarian Operation, this was mainly to emphasise safeguarding civilian lives as the foremost priority of the military. By maintaining this priority very clearly from the first day of operations to the last, it was possible to keep civilian casualties at a minimal level. Utmost care was always taken to minimise collateral damage during military operations. Nevertheless, as with all conflicts in all parts of the world, some civilian casualties would have taken place. Ascertaining the extent of these casualties has been the Government's intention for some time.

The approach the Government has taken in this regard has been professional. The Department of Census and Statistics, which is the official

Government Department for such matters, was asked to conduct a complete census of the area in question. In the questionnaire that was used, the issue of those who died or went missing during the Humanitarian Operation was directly addressed. With the completion of the census, it should be possible to identify by name all or most of such persons. The census is complete, and the report is being prepared. It will be released in the near future. What can be stated beyond doubt is that the overall number of actual deaths is nowhere near the amount claimed by various parties with various agendas. The number is certainly far too small to give any credence to the absurd accusation of genocide often made by the LTTE-linked organisations.

Second, it is also important to realise that the total number of dead and missing will include people in the several categories:

* Those who died of natural causes
* Those who died of accidents
* Those who left this country through illegal means, particularly by boat to India or to South East Asia, and from there to the West
* Those who died whilst fighting as members of the LTTE
* Those who died as a result of being coerced to fight by the LTTE
* Those who died as a result of resisting the LTTE

It is only for the remaining deaths that the Sri Lankan Military can bear any sort of responsibility. This number is too small to lend credence to the allegation of irresponsible mass military action that is at the heart of the claims about war crimes made by the rump of the LTTE and its sympathisers.

A closely related issue to the number of civilian deaths during the Humanitarian Operation is the allegation of impunity that is levelled against the military. Again, those who level this criticism have very little understanding of the true picture. The Sri Lankan Armed Forces are not some ragtag groups assembled at random and sent to war, but historic institutions with a long and

distinguished track record of professionalism and discipline. The military's officer cadre comprises people of a very high calibre. They have received ample training, including university education, not just in Sri Lanka but in prestigious military academies all over the world. The military has well-established internal mechanisms, including directorates for the upholding Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. It also has a strong military justice system to deal with offenses of any kind. During the course of the Humanitarian Operations, the specific allegations made against military personnel were investigated, and allegations considered credible are being and will be dealt with under both military and civil law.

Of course, it must also be understood that there is a distinct difference between the actions of individuals operating on their own accord outside the bounds of military obligations and any military operations undertaken for the achievement of specific military objectives. A soldier raping someone has nothing to do with military operations. It is a criminal act that can also be dealt with under the general law. However, if somebody is targeted and killed through a military operation for having been involved in terrorist activities, that is a legitimate military objective which takes place for the upholding of national security. Perhaps the best example of such an operation in recent times is the assassination of Osama bin Laden. There is an argument that he could have been captured alive. However, the position of the US Government is that bin Laden was a grave threat to national security and that he was therefore killed in a covert operation by the United States military. The same standard should be applied to situations in smaller, less powerful countries such as Sri Lanka.

Yet another issue brought into international focus by those critical of Sri Lanka is reconciliation. The principle thrust of the criticism is that not enough is being done. Here, again, there is some misunderstanding about the actual situation in Sri Lanka. Reconciliation is certainly important, but what is necessary in Sri Lanka is vastly different from what was needed in other countries about which the term is often used. Sri Lanka is not, for example, a

nation that suffered from a dictatorial undemocratic Government that ruled for many years over a marginalised population. It is instead a fully-fledged democracy. During the period of the conflict, a number of Presidents and Governments from different parties were elected by the people to govern the country. Despite the conflict, all people outside the North and East lived in peace with security and dignity. Communal harmony prevailed. Even the majority population of the commercial capital is no longer Sinhalese. On the contrary, Colombo has been a shining example of multicultural coexistence for many years. Replicating its success throughout Sri Lanka is only a matter of time and economic growth. It is quite evident that the reconciliation necessary in this country is not quite the same thing that those who talk about it, particularly outside Sri Lanka, often imagine it to be.

Nevertheless, the Government took steps not long after the end of the Humanitarian Operation to establish the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. This Commission was mandated to study all matters connected with the conflict, including the breakdown of the ceasefire and the Humanitarian Operation. Its report has been released, and it has made certain comments on existing issues as well as recommendations to overcome them. This is a large, comprehensive report that is presently being studied. Once its contents have been assimilated, the Government will decide on how best to implement the proposals made by the Commission. It is therefore clear that the criticism levelled against the Government with regard to reconciliation is both out of context and grossly premature.

The attempt to internationalise the situation in Sri Lanka, and the harsh criticism being levelled against this country by parties with vested interests is particularly unfortunate in today's context. The Government of Sri Lanka has done an enormous amount of work since the end of the Humanitarian Operation to bring back normalcy to a long-suffering segment of our population. Soon after the defeat of the LTTE, particular attention was paid to the North, where there were several issues that needed to be addressed urgently. The most pressing of

these was resettling the 294,000 Internally Displaced People who had been the LTTE's human shield during the last stages of the war. The areas they were displaced from had been mined heavily by the LTTE as it retreated. Demining these areas quickly was critical to resettlement, and it is pleasing to note that demining was carried out at an unprecedented pace. The Sri Lanka Army did the bulk of the work while several Non Governmental Organisations and foreign agencies provided a lot of assistance. As demining progressed, reconstruction of villages and resettlement of IDPs took place. Most of the demining work is now complete and there are less than 3,000 IDPs remaining in camps today. It has to be emphasised that these people are staying in the camps voluntarily, and that they will be resettled as soon as their villages are fully de-mined and deemed safe for occupation.

Another critical issue the Government faced involved the 11,000 former LTTE cadres who surrendered or were detained during the course of the Humanitarian Operation. Despite the fact that all of them had been engaged in terrorist activities, the Government took the bold decision to rehabilitate and reintegrate the vast majority of them to society without delay. That was a commendable decision that speaks volumes for the Government's commitment to reconciliation, and it should be noted that such generosity has rarely been shown to similar detainees in other parts of the world. Neither in Afghanistan nor Iraq nor in any other recent conflict have combatants been rehabilitated and reintegrated with such speed.

Unfortunately, some sections of the international community are wilfully blind to this fact and continue to criticise the Government on the issue of detentions. But any examination of the facts will show the truth. There were 595 child soldiers among the 11,000 LTTE cadres in Government custody. They were rehabilitated under a programme supported by UNICEF and reunited with their families within one year. All adult cadres also underwent extensive rehabilitation programmes. Psychological care, spiritual therapy and vocational training were provided, and the vast majority of them have now been reintegrated with

society. Only a small number of cadres with known higher-level involvement in LTTE activities have been earmarked for prosecution. Today, there are less than 700 detainees remaining in Government custody.

In addition to demining, resettlement and rehabilitation, the Government has also provided a great deal of assistance to citizens in the North to help them resume normal lives. Support has been given for the restoration of livelihoods. This includes concessionary financing being extended to individuals for farming, fishing, and business. Markets and other facilities to support these activities are being rapidly developed. Infrastructure development has also been expedited. Programmes are underway to rapidly develop roads, rail, electricity, and irrigation. It should be emphasised that the military is playing a key role in undertaking these development programmes, as these are considered high priority and difficult for civil organisations to handle on their own. Through all these means, the Government is working very hard to restore normalcy to those civilians who suffered for so many years because of the LTTE's dominance in those areas.

Perhaps the most critical gain resulting from peace is the restoration of democracy and democratic institutions to that part of the country. Despite the war ending less than three years ago, local authority elections, provincial council elections, a Presidential election and a General election have all been held over the past two years. Last year in the North, people were able to exercise their franchise freely and without fear for the first time in three decades. It should be noted that international observers had few adverse comment about the conduct of all these elections. That electoral transparency and political plurality has returned to these areas is clear from the results of these elections, in which the Tamil National Alliance did well. However, the Government party ran a close second in a number of Districts. That is a significant achievement in a region that suffered for so long under a virtual dictatorship.

Apart from the threat posed by the reorganisation of LTTE-linked groups abroad and what is happening in Sri Lanka, another critical factor to consider is the broader geopolitical situation in this part of the world. All of you should be aware that the part of the world between the Horn of Africa and the Pacific is becoming increasingly important in international economics, politics and military activities. Emerging economies in this region are shifting the axis of global trade and commerce away from the west. Global energy security, industrial activity and even financial stability are increasingly dependent on what is happening in the Asian region. Asia is also critical for global security, as most of the countries from which terrorist groups like al-Qaeda draw their strength lie within this region. For all these reasons, increasing global attention is being paid to Asia. Sri Lanka is situated in a uniquely strategic geographical position within this region. That fact has focused the attention of many western powers on our country. They are all keen to see that Sri Lanka never aligns itself with anyone other than them. They are particularly worried that Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly close to powers emerging from this part of the world.

In this context, there is a strong misperception that exists internationally and even in Sri Lanka about the extent of Chinese influence on this country. The fear in this regard is unfounded. China is a country that Sri Lanka has had a close relationship with for many years. The primary involvement of China in Sri Lanka is in commerce and trade. In this regard, Sri Lanka is little different to a number of countries around the world. China is fast becoming one of the world's greatest economic powers, and its commercial links and economic influence on other nations will only increase as befits a nation of its strength. This is only natural, and not something to be unduly worried about. Sri Lanka has many friends on the global stage. China is one of them. There is no reason for anyone in Sri Lanka or outside to worry about the relationship between our two nations.

A more realistic potential threat to our national security is the possibility that certain groups may strive to create instability in Sri Lanka through indirect methods. Having seen political change accomplished in countries such as Tunisia,

Egypt and Libya through uprising, some parties that have failed to achieve their objectives through democratic means might resort to such activities even here. This is only a very minor possibility, but we have already seen certain groups encouraging students to take to the streets in various protests in the recent past. To a certain extent, such protests are perfectly fine as long as they are peaceful, do not disrupt the life of the people, and does not obstruct university education overall. Under such conditions, they are in fact an encouraging indicator of the robustness of our democracy. Unfortunately, there could be some who seek to expand these protests into something less peaceful and therefore less conducive to democratic dialogue. We need to be aware of this possibility and guard against it. The last thing Sri Lanka needs now is for our fast-tracked economic development to be derailed by instability.

Sri Lanka is a democratic nation. The true value of democracy is that engagement with the Government is not only possible but also welcome. The democratic process will sort out the disagreements that are bound to arise from time to time. The Government must and will listen to the voice of the people. Unlike the countries in which dictatorships reigned before being derailed by popular uprising, if the people wish to change the Government in Sri Lanka, they can do so without any problem at the polling booth. In actual fact, elections at every level have been held all over Sri Lanka over the last two years, and it is clear from the results that the popularity of the Government is extremely high. Any group or person trying to resort to non-democratic means to destabilise Sri Lanka because they have not achieve their objectives within the democratic process should be resisted and rejected.

In this context, it is important for all of us who believe in our motherland to stand together and work towards the betterment of the nation, irrespective of our political differences. Unfortunately there are a handful of Sri Lankans who do not seem to care for their homeland. Speaking to the media, publishing articles and making presentations at various forums, these individuals harshly criticise not only the Government because of whatever ill feelings they harbour against it,

but also speak against the country as a whole. While their ability to speak in this fashion demonstrates the freedom of speech that exists in Sri Lanka, their actions are unwarranted. Whatever disagreements one may have with the Government, speaking or writing or working against the nation itself is not just unpatriotic but treacherous. Such actions beg the question whether there is a hidden agenda behind such actions; an agenda that is not far removed from the one shared by those who seek to destabilise this country.

During the course of this lecture I have highlighted a number of national security threats that face this nation. We must face reality and guard against all eventualities. It is of vital importance for all of us to protect the peace that has been regained after so long and at such cost. We must stand firm and not allow anyone to drive this country back to the state it was in during the past thirty years. As a nation, Sri Lanka has had more than its fair share of suffering. We must all work together to put the past behind us, and work towards a brighter future for this nation and all her people. That will be the best defence against those who seek to oppose us. Let us all work together to make this better future a reality.

Thank you.

Tiger Nominated Agent's (TNA) HIGH TREASON: Sri Lanka President denounces Tamil National Alliance's call for international inquiry

ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Dec 20, Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa says the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the major Tamil party of the country needs to move away from the war mentality of the Tamil Tiger terrorist group LTTE.

Addressing the media personnel today at the Temple Trees, the President said instead, the TNA must appear on behalf of the needs of people they are representing in the country and not on the requirements of pro-LTTE migrant groups.

Accusing the Tamil party of working in conformity with the wishes and requirements of LTTE loyalists in the world, the President denounced the TNA's call for an international inquiry against the country as the most serious treacherous act and harm they were doing for the country and for the Tamil people.

President Rajapaksa emphasized that the government will not grant police powers to provincial councils as sought by the TNA and said the arguments presented by the Ceylon Workers Leader and Minister Armugam Thondaman on problems that could arise due to provision of police powers to the provincial councils are reasonable.

He said the government has never engaged in a dispute with the TNA, but the party was participating in talks with the goals of the LTTE in mind. He urged the TNA to make efforts for a political solution instead of making undue political efforts for the world to unnecessarily interfere in Sri Lanka.

"The Eelam dream is still reigning in them. What the Tamil Alliance should do is to nominate representatives to the Select Committee for a political solution," the President said.

The President also noted that the government has recruited Tamil speaking citizens to the police. Interviews are presently being conducted to recruit another batch of Tamil citizens to the police service.


TNA wants accountability mechanism for Sri Lanka

By R. K. Radhakrishnan
TheHindu.com
December 19, 2011

Calling upon the international community to establish a “mechanism for accountability” to bring to book the perpetrators of war crimes during the last stages of the Eelam War that ended in May 2009, the Tamil National Alliance on Monday said the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report “categorically fails to effectively and meaningfully deal with issues of accountability”.

Recalling that many Tamil civilians, direct victims of the war, deposed before the LLRC, TNA leader R.Sampanthan said “the findings of the LLRC offend the dignity of these victims”.

The TNA insisted that the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both the Tamil Tigers and the government forces needed to be fully investigated. The U.N. Panel of Experts which investigated the last stages of the war had concluded that the LTTE had deliberately targeted civilians and used them as human shields, among other violations. The allegations against the Sri Lanka government include deliberately underestimating civilian numbers in the Vanni in order to deprive them of food and medical supplies, deliberately or recklessly endangering the lives of civilians in No-Fire Zones, targeting civilian objects including hospitals, and executing or causing the disappearance of those who had surrendered.

“The LLRC concludes that, on these issues, the government is not responsible. Instead, it shifts blame onto individual soldiers and surmises that any violations that may have been committed were merely isolated incidents. For example, large numbers of disappearances that resulted from the surrender of unarmed persons to government forces have been cynically dismissed as isolated incidents perpetrated ‘by a few'. The LLRC unjustifiably rules out the possibility that these violations were systematic,” said Mr. Sampanthan.

Replying to Anandasangaree’s the desperate plea of a patriot for a permanent solution

By Charles.S.Perera

Lankaweb.com
November 22, 2011

Writing to the President of Sri Lanka Anandasangaree says, « Although both of us entered Parliament together in 1970, I am more senior to you in age and in politics. Hence I have a moral duty to tell you frankly what I feel about every one of your actions and decision. »

Although the writer  did not enter Parliament with Anandasangaree, he knows that Anandasangaree was a member of the LSSP . And as  the writer is of the same age as Anandasangaree he thinks he also has  a moral duty to tell Anandasangaree that he is the worst Tamil racist and a  hypocrite.  

 His membership in the LSSP had been bogus and hypocritical, because if he was a sincere member of the LSSP he cannot today speak in the language of  a separatist Tamil racist.  He was awarded the 2006 UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence, which he did not deserve.

He  calls himself a patriot, and  the writer challenges his patriotism. A patriot is one who loves his country and his compatriots whatever their  race, colour or religion.  A patriot does not seek to divide the people, a patriot loves the unitary status of his country, and does not seek to divide it territorially or communally. But Anandasangaree divides people as Sinhala and Tamils, he does not work for the unity of the people, he wants federalism which is a sort of  divisionism.  Therefore he is not a patriot.

 If Anandasangaree wants to be a real patriot , he should give up his call for a Federal Constitution or an Indian model. He should not treat the Tamil Community as a different entity.  He should instead be a bridge to bring in the Tamil Community into the mainstream of the Sri Lankan people without allowing them to tear away from the fabric of Nationhood.

 Sri Lanka could progress faster if all communities  get together to give a hand .  It is the Tamils who stand on the way  of progress with their pseudo “ethnic problem” and show to the world outside a division within. It is the Tamil diaspora which has brought Sri Lanka to disrepute, accusing the President and the Armed Forces for military crimes when they know very well that the elimination of terrorism was a necessity for any progress and that the military operations were against the terrorists and not against the Tamil people. 

 If the civilians were to have died it may have been inevitable and it was a sacrifice to end thirty years of suffering, and find at last peace and security for every one.  Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand symbols of human sacrifice for the greater unity and peace of the world, at least that is what the West believes.

 Now that the terrorism is over the expatriate Tamils should if they want to be real patriots contribute to the work in progress in Sri Lanka, and join hands with all Communities to develop the country to make the people happy, peaceful and prosperous.

 Anandasangaree should help Sri Lanka not by demanding Federalism, but by getting the Tamils to fall in line with the rest of the communities to create Communal Unity.

 His statements are pungent with hypocrisy, as when he says, “ I am one who is not communal and had been always saying that I wish to have a Sinhalese family as my neighbour on one side and a Muslim family on the other. I have still not changed my views in this matter.” Is that to show that he is not communal, and is that the way to bring the Communities together ? He thinks he could fool people with that kind of trash.

 Anandasangaree as an elderly Tamil politician, living in safety amoung the Sinhala people in the South, had a greater role to play for the reconciliation of the two main Communities of Sri Lanka the Tamils and the Sinhala, if he did not try to play the Tamil Nadu game of separating the Tamils from the Sinhala.   He also  raises the GG Ponnambalam’s  out dated demand for 50-50, but in a different way.

 The permanent solution  to the so called ethnic problem in Sri Lanka is there before every ones eyes , but the Tamils including the UNESCO prize winning Anandasangaree do not want even to look at it.  The Solution is,  that the Tamils should try to forget their Tamilness and accept to be patriotic Sri Lankans à part entière  and unite with the other communities to form a larger Nation of Sri Lankans, where there would be no Sinhala, Tamil and Muslims but just Sri Lankans.  That is what the President Mahinda Rajapakse meant once when he said that there are no minorities and majorities.

 The fear of the Tamils is that the they  will be assimilated into the Majority, otherwise there is no reason for the Tamils to ask,  to be treated separately with a special devolution of power.  The whole of the  ethnic problem stems from this failure of the Tamils to give up their fear of loosing their Tamilness. 

 It is typical of the Tamils, this is what DBS Jeyaraj says on his article on  Nedumaran’s book on Prabhakaran which he says would be  Nedumaran’s magnum opus the “ hagiography “ of Prabhakaran.  DBS Jeyaraj says “……… I am very proud of being a Tamil. My pride is based on the notion so well articulated by Namakkal Ramaligampillai one time poet laureate of Tamil Nadu.” Is he a Sri Lankan or of TamilNadu ?  If he is a real  Sri Lankan he should have at least said I am proud to be a Sri Lankan Tamil.

 This stems from an inferiority complex  of the Tamils. They do not want to accept being Sri Lankans .  The black African Community in America understood that accepting to be Americans is the way out of their isolation, and became a part of the larger people of America, and that is how today a black African is the 44^th President of USA. 

 They had the intelligence to understand that they had to accept being Americans, but the Tamils in Sri Lanka and the prize winning Champion of tolerance  and non-violence are unable to comprehend that simple essential unity of people of all communities to build a Nation out of them.

 Sampanthan and his TNA cohorts were slaves of Prabhakaran and did what ever the Thalaivar asked of them, spying for the terrorists in the Parliament.  They were therefore free from the wrath of the uncertain moods of the Thalaivar the terrorist leader.

 Anandasangaree was not selected by Prabhakaran to spy for them , therefore he feared  Prabhakaran, who would have eliminated him if it became necessary.  Therefore he played a double game living with the Sinhala people in the south, but echoing Prabhakaran’s call for a homeland by harping on a Federal Constitution.  

Anandasangaree  wanted to be different from Sampanthan the proxi of Praphakaran,  therefore he did not ask for a separate Homeland for the Tamils, but he thought it was better to go step by step before he could arrive at  making the North and East the Tamil Homeland, therefore he opted for Federalism. 

 Anandasangaree  is an old political fox, who thinks he could get what he wants , by pretending to be  friendly ( tolerant and non-violent) with the “Sinhala modayas” and moving along with their ideas until the time is right to “jump the queue” to  bag in  what he wanted a Tamil Homeland, or  North and East as a separate Province under a  Federal Constitution. 

 Therefore Anandasangaree mooted the Federal theory, and when he found that the Sinhala people would not accept it, he  changed it to an  Indian Model.  He knows how to wriggle his way out of a situation, to get back to his demand to which he sticks stubbornly, when the time is ripe.

 It was the Tamils  who created the so called  “ethnic problem” to enable them to get a Tamil Homeland established in the North and East.

 There is in fact no  “ethnic problem” at all.  But it was created artificially, to divide the country to have a separate Tamil Homeland.  That is why all this Anti Mahavamsa theory of Narapalasingham, and the rewriting of the Tamil history insisting on the presence of Tamil settlements in the North and East prior to the advent of the Sinhala.

 Anandasangaree says, “  I am yearning to see the dawn of peace in its true form in this beautiful Island of ours, in which from time immemorial the Tamils and the Sinhalese had lived in peace and harmony along with Muslims and many other ethnic groups, before the country gained its independence.” 

 He does not mean a word of what he says. He is vehemently opposed to any large numbers of Sinhala people taking permanent residence in the North and East.  He will call it colonizing, which in fact what the Tamils have done in the South.

Anandasangaree says, “ What was going on in this country since independence in 1948 is not fully known to the present generation. They hardly know what a peaceful country Ceylon was in the good old days. I am one who had lived throughout this period and had witnessed and experienced all good and bad events that took place in our country. ” 

In the good old days the south of Sri Lanka was a paradise for the Tamils from the North .  The British colonialists following the divide and rule policy  pampered the Tamils giving them important places in their administration pushing the Sinhala to the background. 

 The Jaffna Tamils came to South and opened shops and boutiques.  Only the Tamil men came to the South leaving  their families home,  not wanting to socialize with the Sinhala.  The well to do vellalas came and settled down in Colombo sending their children to best of schools to  make them Doctors or Engineers.
 The North and the East was left for the Tamils to live as they want,  the majority of the Sinhala people were not interested, either in settling down or even to know about the  Northern Provinces .  

That is why Anandasangaree is  nostalgic for the old times.  If things would have been the same today North and East would have been their uncontested Homeland.  Anadasangaree knows very well that neither North or East voted for any candidate of the  LSSP the political party which stood for all communities.  There was I think just one LSSP Member  from the North in the House of Representative. Not seeing a future being a member of the LSSP  Anandasangaree changed camps.

In a way the terrorism brought some thing good in its wake, the Sinhala people of the South  became aware that the North and East are after all  part of the whole of Sri Lanka and that they have an interest in those parts of the country as well.

That is what irks Anandasangaree, North and East becoming close to the South and the possibility of more Sinhala people settling down there. Hence his demand for an Indian Model so that the North and East could be  kept a Tamil enclave as it was in the good old days.

If Anandasangaree wants a real reconciliation of the Communities and  make Sri Lanka a peaceful place as it was , the time is ripe now.  The Sinhala people are ready to make any sacrifice just to bring the Communities together.  But do the Tamils want it, and would the Tamils in the North and East forget their Tamilness to create a United  Nation of all Communities,  stepping out of their narrow Communalism ? 

This Communal integration forgetting the Tamilness does not mean that  the cultural and  religious values of each Community is to be devalued, but there is all the more reason that the  parity of status of  different Communities should  be maintained in forming a  multicultural Nation.

The Sinhala people have been inviting students from North and East to the South to stay with Sinhala people to understand more of each other.  Do they profit from the occasion ?  Has Anandasangaree gone to meet these young people  who came from the North and East and spoken to them  of the necessity to unite to  forget their minority complex and become part of the larger community of  Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people ? 

No ! the UNESCO award winning tolerant and non-violent Anandasangaree would not do a thing like that.   He knows that if the Sinhala people in the South were to bring the whole population of Tamils from the North and East and entertain them for even for one whole year, they will go back and become once again Tamils with their racial hatred to the Sinhala people.

Federalism or Indian Model means nothing to the ordinary Tamil people,  even if every one of them  in the North and East makes their daily  morning Salaams or Namasthe to Tamil Nadu, what they want is to live peacefully, with daily amenities and  plan a future for their children. 

The Federalism and the Indian Model is the dream of the high class Tamils who want to dominate the poor low caste Tamils with ruling power in their hands  with a Parliament of their own, with their own Police and land rights.

Only means for Sri Lanka to forge ahead with peace and prosperity is by being an undivided people united to coordinate with one another for an ambitious program of development as a country of a united community of people.

Anandasangaree says, « The turning point was the passage of the Citizenship Acts and the situation got aggravated with the passage of the Act making Sinhala as the only official language of the state in 1956. » 

That is all nonsense, because it was necessary to make  a difference in an independent Sri Lanka, where the colonialists ruled the country the  way they want  by  denying the Sinhala people their rightful place, burning their villages , killing their people  when they rebelled  against these savage invaders who had continually harassed them, insulted and denigrated the culture and the religion of the Sinhala people.  That necessity was understood only by  SWRD Bandaranaike. He did what was necessary, to give back to the people what had been denied to them for  nearly 500 years.

The Tamil people did not take part in those rebellions, whether it was against the Portuguese, the Dutch or the British,  though they claim they have a long history as settlers in Sri Lanka.  How many Tamils fought along side the Sinhala Soldiers against terrorism ? In the long history of Sri Lanka the Tamils have not played any  role to defend the country  except of course few exceptions like, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Jeyraj Fernandopulle and few other Muslims and Malays.

Anandasangaree should be happy because he is there today,  free to speak out his mind because he had been with the Sinhala people in the South whose children had fought the terrorists to rid him of the fear of  assassination by a wayward terrorist.

His theme of complaint through out the long article revolves round the ethnic problem and the  advice to implement an Indian Model.  But this ethnic problem he  speaks of does not exist any more, even if did in some ways existed before.

Now with the  implementation of the Mahinda Chintanaya, even the language problem has been settled and the Tamils share all rights equally  with  all other Communities. And the Tamils like Anandasangaree, Sampanthan etc. raise a Tamil ethnic problem knowing well that no such thing really exists now, but yet  to make an issue of it merely to bring disrepute to Sri Lanka and allow interference by the foreign countries into our internal affairs, and hoping for some politically beneficial fallouts for themselves.

Anandasangaree  insists, «  A unitary system will not be acceptable to the minorities, the Tamils in particular. It will never serve as a permanent solution, since it can be meddled with, by some others when you and I are no more. I had been repeatedly saying that only the Indian Model will be acceptable to the minorities as the only alternative to a “Federal Model” if the term “Federal” is allergic to some. Otherwise it would be the best and the most acceptable one. »

What is special about the Tamils that a unitary system will not suit them.  If it suits every one else it is democratic that the Tamils accept what is accepted by everyone else.  It is people like Anandasangaree who should  make them understand  that simple  reality and bring the communities together without holding onto a separatists ideology.

 Everything is not hunky dory in India despite Anandasangaree’s eulogy of India as a Model. India which is a leading nation today claiming leadership in the South, with its own atomic bomb, preparing to send Indian men into Space, is unable to provide equality of opportunities  to all  the citizens of the country.  The low caste untouchables have still to find their place in the Indian Society. 

 There is ethnic problems in Assam, Sikh and Hindu conflict in Punjab. India still has Hindu Muslim conflicts.  It has  very racist Tamil politicians in TamilNadu.  Tamil Nadu has taken away the power of the Central Government of India which is being made to dance to the tune of the Nedumarans, Jayalalithas, Vaikos, Karunanidhis or  the We Tamil Movement of Seeman.  Is that the glorious Indian Model Anandasangaree dreams of for Sri Lanka ?

Anandasangaree goes on with his eulogy of India , «  ..A majority Hindu country has a great Muslim Scientist as Head of the State and treat him with due honour. ….Another highly respected leader is the Prime Minister of India from an ethnic group that forms only 2% of its population and the leader of the ruling Party who is a very highly respected lady is one, not born in India. This great neighbour of ours has found unity in diversity; why can’t we have powers devolved to our regions on the Indian pattern? “

But this has been made possible  by India having no divisive political parties  except in TamilNadu.  Sri Lanka could easily have the same possibilities if the Tamils come down from their  sacrosanct Tamilness and accept to be citizens of Sri Lanka  without having racist political parties for Tamils, such as the :
Tamil Eelam Liberation Army, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization, Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal,Tamil National Alliance, Tamil National Liberation Alliance, Tamil National People’s Front,Tamil United Liberation Front.

Anandasangaree should demand that these Political parties with the Tamil Label be banned and all citizens of Sri Lanka, Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim  and others should join the two main political parties as in America, UK or France.  Then the country will select as President  the  leader of the political party  that has won the elections. It may be a Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay or Burgher.  For that to happen we need not be a country with a Federal Constitution, or a Constitution with that of India as a Model, but we should be a United Nation, without any Community demanding to be different from the rest of the Communities .

The rest of the letter need no reply as it is the repetition of the same ethnic problem, the Federalism against a Unitary system, and if allergic to Federalism requesting to opt  for the Indian Model.

Mr. Anandasangaree, you will soon be  eighty years of age. The future is short for you, but the past had been long. When the end is near we become more and more nostalgic about the past  and  forget the present and try to project the past into the future as a model for the present generation to emulate.  But the present generation has more wonderful things to do than you had been doing  through out that long past.  Therefore, do not try to make the past a model for  the future generations.

 The President Mahinda Rajapakse who you knew as a young man has matured. He has shown to every right thinking man and woman  that of the many Heads of State of Sri Lanka we have had from the Prime Ministers to Presidents, President Mahinda Rajapakse stands out as the man who did the most to this country of ours within the short time he was given the reins of leadership. 

 He had driven away the terrorists that were menacing the very existence of Sri Lanka as a Unitary State.  He has reconstructed North and East as no body had ever been able to do before.  He had brought the once poverty stricken South to an important centre of political and commercial activity.  He had built  roads and railways  as none had ever dreamt of doing before.  He has developed our country into a  middle income State.

 But all those who criticize him despite all that  he has done for this country, has done nothing.   It is only Mahinda Rajapakse who has shown to every one of these critics what, a President with a vision , determination and effort could do, within the shortest possible time to turn a dream into a reality.

 Therefore, Mr.Anandasangaree, Mahinda Rajapakse is not a “podiyen” who dropped from the last rain, and he knows what he is doing  and it is up to you to wish him well and  allow him to do what he wants to do in his own way.  From what he has done so far there is no reason to think that he will disappoint any one of us in the future.

All progressive work in Sri Lanka to develop  it economically, culturally, and socially  had been mostly the indifatigable effort of the Sinhala people .  While Sampanthan and the TNA, Anandasangaree, Kumar David, Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, DBS Jeyaraj et al make a hue and   cry about an ethnic problem and collect international awards, the Sinhala people are at work in the North-East South and West of Sri Lanka for the betterment of the people and development of the country.

Norway faults Sri Lanka's political structure, LTTE's hardline position for failure of the peace process

Norway attempted to DIVIDE Sri Lanka in pursuit of its Geopolitical, Economic and Christian Missionary agendas ... supporting the LTTE with diplomatic cover, Norwegian government funds, military equipment, and a secure base in Norway.

Yet, Norway FAILED MISERABLY to create an CLIENT EELAM STATE in Sri Lanka, because a PATRIOTIC Sri Lankan Government backed by the VAST MAJORITY OF Sri Lanka's PATRIOTIC PEOPLE, mindful of their history and their roots, arose to confound their "Grand Design".

Other countries of the world beset by similar terrorism, supported and orchestrated by foreign Neo-Colonialist forces that attempt to destabilize and undermine them for their own gain, have RECOGNIZED what the patriotic indigenous forces of Sri Lanka accomplished in ridding itself of BOTH terrorism and foreign domination. They are now emulating Sri Lanka by following suit to secure the integrity and sovereignty of their own countries.

We say ... MORE POWER TO THEM! Long live the indigenous native peoples of the world! May they succeed in securing THEIR PLACE UNDER THE SUN independently, through their own efforts, and not accept domination as abject minions of advanced foreign countries preaching HYPOCRITICAL SERMONS which they themselves never practice when their own interests are at stake!

.....................
ColomboPage.com, Sri Lanka.

Nov 11, Oslo: Norway, the facilitator of the failed peace process in Sri Lanka conflict blames Sri Lanka's political structure and the Tamil Tiger rebels' hardline stand for the failure of Norway's efforts to bring a peaceful solution to the island nation.

A report titled "Pawns of Peace: Evaluation of Norwegian Peace Efforts in Sri Lanka, 1997-2009" released in Oslo on Friday, says the election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is from "outside the metropolitan English-speaking dynasties" combined with the Sri Lanka Marxist party, JVP's electoral come-back and emergence of Buddhist monk party, JHU, marked an important change in Sri Lanka's political structure.

The report on evaluation of Norway's involvement in Sri Lanka's peace process has been prepared by the Evaluation Department (EVAL) of the Norwegian government development agency NORAD. The evaluation has been carried out by Chr. Michelsen Institute together with the School of Oriental and African Studies. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Norway was a main stakeholder in it.

According to the terms of reference of commissioning an independent panel to report, the purpose and objectives of the evaluation and the intended use of the report were to "learn from the unique Norwegian experience as a facilitator in the peace process in Sri Lanka."

The Intended users of the evaluation are Policy-makers in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the general public.

The 208-page report attributes the failure of the peace process also to the political rivalry between the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka during height of the peace process (2001-2003) Ranil Wickremasinghe and the then President Chandrika Kumaranatunga.

"At no point did Chandrika and Ranil's relationship with each other become less important than their relationship with Prabhakaran," a member of the Norwegian team has noted.

The efforts by the United National Front government that was in power during those years to limit the President's involvement in the peace process were short sighted and destabilizing, the report concluded.

Changes in the military power balance between the government and LTTE in part account for the emergence of the Ceasefire Agreement, the subsequent stalling of talks and the re-escalation of war as the LTTE believed it had reached a position of military parity, the report said.

However, the increasing number of countries blacklisting the LTTE, due to its hardline position and ceasefire violations during the peace negotiations left the rebels isolated and the military power shifted in favor of the government over the years ultimately leading to the defeat of the movement.

Once President Rajapaksa came to power, the new administration drew the military and diplomatic support from non- Western states including India, China and Pakistan, which had very different views about sovereignty, human rights and conflict resolution, the report noted.

With the support from the East, the government changed the initiative to end the conflict peacefully and opted for all-out war against the terrorists, the Norwegian evaluation observed.

"Rajapaksa diluted the influence and pressure of Western actors and created space to pursue the war in spite of the humanitarian costs," the report noted.

In conclusion, the report determines the SLFP government aligned itself with India, China and other Asian powers while also drawing on a mixture of humanitarian and counter-terrorism doctrines to generate the policy space and diplomatic cover to pursue a military solution to the conflict. Many other governments with their own insurgency problems have looked at what they regard as Sri Lanka's successful diplomatic and military campaign, with a view to replicating many of its features.

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Australia Based LTTE Network Exposed

President’s maligner - top Tigress

By Bhakthi MENDIS and Mahinda ALUTHGEDERA
DailyNews.lk
November 03, 2011

Meena Krishnamoorthy - who was used in Australia to level baseless allegations against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Security Forces - has been found to be a second rung commander of the LTTE’s ‘Malathi’ brigade.

The Army intelligence has uncovered that she had joined the LTTE international operations wing in December, 2003. She had subsequently traveled to a number of countries to promote LTTE activities. She at present acts as the chairperson of an LTTE supportive organization in Australia.

She had been trained in the ‘Malathi’ brigade for over five years and is also known as ‘Illanadi’ and ‘Thangani’ within the organization.

She is also believed to have had close links with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

She had got married to another hardcore LTTE leader ‘Kubiran’ alias ‘Thaiparan’ and in 2008 she had got pregnant. Later due to her military activities the child had been stillborn.

Recently she has come up to level false allegations against the Security Forces on a number of fronts and has also compiled documents containing fabricated material to support her allegations.

Australian TV uses LTTE cadre to attack SL ahead of CHOGM

By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
October 22, 2011

Sri Lankan intelligence services have exposed an operation by Australia’s ABC TV Channel aimed at embarrassing President Mahinda Rajapaksa ahead of the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Meeting (CHOGM 2011) in Perth, Western Australia.

In spite of the LTTE’s propaganda efforts and threat of protests, the president will participate at the biennial meeting of leaders of one-time British colonies.

He will leave for Perth early this week for the three-day summit scheduled to be opened by Queen Elizabeth II on Oct. 28.

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) is believed to be planning protests during CHOGM 2011.

An authoritative official told The Sunday Island that the Australian Channel had telecast a documentary targeting Sri Lanka over accountability issues citing an eyewitness account of Meena Krishnamoorthy.

They said that the so-called eye witness was an LTTE cadre Krishnamoorthy Navarangi Meena aka Eelanadee, a Sri Lankan born Australian citizen.

Valvettiturai-born Meena had returned to the then LTTE-held area in 2004 on the invitation of the LTTE and had three years later married a hardcore LTTE cadre.

The person interviewed by the Australian TV Channel had received a six-month military training programme and served the LTTE’s Malathi ‘regiment’ until the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, these sources said.

UK’s Channel 4 News partly based its unsubstantiated ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ on comments attributed to Sri Lankan born UK passport holder Vani Kumar believed to be a colleague of Meena.

"We believe they were in the Vanni together at the end of the war," a senior official said. The 50-minute long Channel 4 News production was aired by Channel 4 last June with the backing of the UK government, the official alleged.

Since then the documentary had been shown in various parts of the world, including Oslo, USA, India, Australia and the EU parliament.

Sri Lanka’s war time Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told The Sunday Island on Friday that images of torture and the subsequent killing of Gaddafi now on the internet had exposed those seeking to avenge Prabhakaran’s killing citing LTTE propaganda propagated by a section of the international community and primarily three NGOs, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group.

Military intelligence said that the international media and human rights watchdogs had stepped up using LTTE women in their propaganda offensive.

South Africa-based Vathsala Devi, an ex LTTE cadre (wife of LTTE leader Ramesh) recently moved the US judiciary against Sri Lanka. Another leading woman activist is Sampavi, former LTTE/TYO (Tamil Youth Organization) activist is presently playing an active role in Australian Tamil Congress (She represented ATC in the recent meeting with Green Party Australia)

Using Meena, a section of the Australia media had targeted President Rajapaksa, UN Ambassador Palitha Kohona, and Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka High Commissioner for Australia, intellingence sources said.

The military has also identified Meena’s husband, Irasarathnam Thayakaran,

Meena had been among a selected group of LTTE cadres sent to South Africa to follow a course in law and briefly coordinated LTTE activities in Malaysia.

Her husband, Thayakaran, had joined the LTTE in 1993 and served the Imran Pandiyan Special Regiment. He had been among those sent on a special mission to Johannesburg in Nov. 2003 and returned to country in December the same year.


LTTE rump Meena Krishnamoorthy lied to ICJA and to the Australian people

By K.T.Rajasingham
Asiantribune.com, Colombo
November 01, 2011

She has made baseless allegations, as people were 'massacred' in the final stages of the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and she is presently the LTTE‘s coordinator of the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) in Australia.

She was recently interviewed by 'ABC’s 7.30 News Report' and she said that the reason why she came forward to tell her story was because, “I always believed in Justice.”

Though she tried to cover her real identity and come up with the concocted story, it has become clearly evidenced that she has told lies and half truths and misled the International Commission of Jurists, Australia (ICJA) with her distorted version about Sri Lanka on the last days of the battle between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam –LTTE the ruthless terrorist organization that was responsible for the protracted 30 year long bloody ethnic conflict and the security forces of Sri Lanka.

Based on the lies nauseated by Meena Krishmamoorthy Mr. John Dowd, the President of the International Commission of Jurists, Australia (ICJA ) has prepared a report against Sri Lanka and handed over to the Australian Police chief to investigate and bring about charges against Sri Lanka President for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Even in an interview with ABC’s “7.30 Report” Mr. John Dowd has said "her story was credible". Now after the recent exposure about her, world is waiting for his response.

Already in our earlier news story Rump LTTE has their women operatives to spin stories to West NGO’s to satisfy their urge about ICJA and handing over the 500 page report on Sri Lanka to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus, Asian Tribune pointed out that they have committed a serious breach of trust and confidence by taking on the face value of her account without cross checking the statement made by Meena Krishnamoorthy.

It all happened after Veerakulasingham Manivannan or better known as Castro was made the person in charge of the International LTTE operations. On 3rd December 2003. he organized the Tamil Youth Organization and its members were between the ages of 18 to 30 years.

For the 2004 conference of the TYO organized by Castro in Vanni, Meena Krishnamoorthy and many others from the United Kingdom, Canada and from other Western countries came to Vanni to participate in the conference.

But in her interview with Australia’s ABC News 7.30 she had stated that she went to Sri Lanka to work in the orphanages in Vanni, but now it has been proved beyond doubt that she visited Sri Lanka to participate in the TYO conference held in Vanni.

Meena Krishnamoorthy who came to Sri Lanka in 2004 stayed back in Vanni after the TYO conference. She joined the Malathi women regiment of the LTTE and initially underwent a three month basic arms training. She was given a name after her induction in the LTTE - 'Eelanadhi'.

Subsequently, she received the uniform meant for the LTTE women armed cadres, as well as the necklace with the cyanide capsule. As she has received them, she rightly became the LTTE armed cadre. She was also given further armed training.
Australia_4.jpg

Though she was registered with the Malathi regiment, she worked with Castro and was made a coordinator of TYO and on 2005 she was on a short visit to Europe.

In her interview with 'ABC 7.30 news', she has said that she met an accountant of the LTTE and married him.

But in fact she married one Kuberan alias Thayaparan who joined the LTTE militant wing in 1993 and in 1994 he joined the Castro group.

In Vanni, she was married to Kuberan in the beginning of 2008 after she conceived. It was suspected that she had extramarital relationship prior to her marriage with Kuberan and once she conceived, her marriage with Kuberan was arranged.

In October 2008, when she was into her 8th month of pregnancy and she complained that there was no moment of the baby and went to Dr.Ponnampalam’s Memorial Hospital which was run by LTTErs and was specially meant for the LTTE cadres. Asian Tribune reliably learnt that she was taken to the hospital by some LTTE armed cadres and not by her husband Kuberan and he was not seen anywhere when she went to the hospital and after.

At the Ponnampalam hospital, Asian Tribune learnt that Dr.V Shanmugarajah was channeled by the hospital authorities to check Meena Krishnamoorthy's condition.

Asian Tribune further learnt that Dr. Shanmugarajah, a gynecologist, who after examining the patient found that her child had died (infra uterine death) and put her on an observation for two weeks.

Asian Tribune also learnt that she wore jeans when she went to meet Dr. Shanmugarajah and she was told to come in a loose dress next time she visit the hospital.

After two weeks, Asian Tribune learnt that again she went to Dr. Ponnampalam memorial hospital to remove the dead baby. Agaiin it was Dr. Shanmugarajah who attended on her and inserted prostaglandins into her organ to induce pain and she delivered the dead baby virginally.

After the delivery, she was admitted in the hospital for two days and later discharged.

But she gave another version of the still born baby in her interview with 'ABC 7.30' as it was related to the last days of the war, with the view to create little bit of sympathy and to show the world that even the unborn babies were not safe during the last days of the battle.

It has become clear that the rump LTTE Meena Krishnamoorthy has clearly misled Mr. John Dowd, President of International Commission of Jurists, Australia (ICJA) with her distorted version.