Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah
After we heard from the ‘kangaroo court’ of murderers sitting in judgment in their own case, i.e.the Army Court of Inquiry, we heard from the man who wants to short change Tamils, Dayan Jayatilleka. He is ready to give Tamils an unsolicited poisoned chalice of an “Avuruddhu” gift called the “13th amendment” which the Tamil politicians and civil society members have rejected out right “as not an adequate starting point.” The Indian delegation has just come and gone with hopefully one message from the Tamils. This is a golden opportunity for Tamils to present a united front, with the blessings of the Indians, to move forward towards fulfilling Tamil aspirations.
Meeting of the Minds
What we need to work on is a meeting of the minds of all Tamils. Now that shouldn’t be a problem when considering the outlook is bleak and we can’t sink any further. We need to set aside our differences and work in concert to save our Nation in the island of Sri Lanka.
Dayan Jayatilleka defended the Hawks; what is he talking about?
Do we have to have to give any credence to a Sri Lankan diplomat who has been sidelined “who has shamelessly taken credit for having cleverly concealed the truth about the mass slaughter of Tamils in Mullivaikal Northern Sri Lanka in May 2009?” No I don’t think so.
Read my article on Dayan Jayatilleka titled Response to ‘Geneva consensus: Setting the record straight’ to know about how he was “basking in the glory of what he achieved that day at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC) at a special session convened to discuss war atrocities allegedly committed by both sides in the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka, the out come ( in favour of Sri Lanka) actually sending shockwaves in the international circles,” especially with the international media and rights groups who were left livid.
I have a few things to say to Dayan: Who is he calling the “Sinhala Hawks” when he has brazenly defended the “Sinhala Hawks” singing for their supper at the UN and beyond? The other points I’ll keep for later in the article.
Grim News from the Vanni
The news from the Vanni is bad. I have just heard from a friend who had visited the Vanni and just returned. The North is an open prison, people are overcome by fear; they want to flee: I got this raw unadulterated news straight from ground zero from the horse’s mouth: Women are being used as “sex slaves” and the families dare not disclose it to anyone. They watch as “silent partners in a crime” that they can’t report. The people are held captive against their wishes but can’t speak out. Any activity would elicit a visit from the “bad men” in uniform, the Rajapaksa government’s equivalent to armed Gestapo.
The army snatched my friend’s mobile and broke it before he could take a single picture.
India Must Shed its Obsession with the 13th Amendment
Tamils have broken the ice with the Indians. The Tamil politicians and members of the civil society who met with the Indian delegation visiting the NorthEast province wanted India to shed its “obsession with the 13th amendment: “The obsession with the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution will hardly help the Tamils, politicians and activists in northern Sri Lanka told the Indian parliamentary delegation, which wound up its visit to Sri Lanka on Thursday,” reported Meera Srinivasan for The Hindu.
Differences between Tamils should be Ironed out before the Provincial Council Elections: Contesting each other would be Suicidal
Looking at the Tamil political parties and some members of the civil society, there seems to be a few differences between them that are not hard to iron out. If Tamils remain divided they would virtually let the enemy in; that would be suicidal in a provincial council election if they contest each other.
TNPF and Guruparan want a Transitional Administration Model
Now from The Hindu report both Gajendrakumar of the TNPF (Tamil National People’s Front) and K Guruparan, Law Lecturer of the University of Jaffna ‘”reportedly emphasised that the 13th Amendment was not an adequate starting point in addressing the problems of the Tamils. Responding to a BJP MP’s question whether the Northern Provincial Council Elections opened a ‘window of opportunity’, The Hindu quoting Guruparan reported: “In response, civil society members are said to have prescribed a “transitional administration” model, outside the current Sri Lankan Constitution, as an alternative, where in Tamil representatives have actual powers in realms of education, health and livelihood issues. “In this model, the Sri Lankan government will also have a role and so will representatives of various communities. If the government is willing to engage with this option, we could work out the modalities,” he had told The Hindu.
For Dayan to Note:
The 13th amendment is a non starter – does his version include police and land powers? With the advent of the Divineguma Bill (now law) and the 18th Amendment, a lot of the discretionary and financial powers have been removed from the provincial councils (that were already nothing less than “glorified Municipal Councils: Nadesan Satyendra). Furthermore to his argument that an interim administration outside the Constitution is not possible, let me remind him of the ’72 constitution that was created outside of parliament by a Constituent Assembly that illegally abolished section 29(2) of the Soulbury Constitution. If there is a will there is a way. It’s not about Tamils giving “Sinhala Hawks” an “Avurudhu Gift” by not accepting the 13th amendment and some, the TNA President included, opting for an “interim administration”, the gift that they could inadvertently give the “Sinhala Hawks” would be the gift of a divided Tamil polity against the enemy.
Suresh Premachandran TNA President wants Interim Administration:
Mr Suresh Premachandran, TNA President was not far off with these views when he had told The Hindu Tamils need an interim administration: “We told the visiting MPs that the ongoing genocide has to end here. There are serious livelihood issues prompting Tamils to leave the country. We need an interim administration, overseen byIndiaor the United Nations, until there is a final political settlement for the Tamils.”
Although Sumanthiran speaking for the TNA made it clear that the TNA was looking to the Northern provincial council elections and wasn’t going for any “interim administration” like the ISGA (Interim Self Governing Authority), “till the provincial polls were held” the Island news paper reported.
The Island’s Report: Sumanthiran’s views: “No Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the Northern Province till the provincial polls were held?”
TheTamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday said it had not asked for an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the Northern Province till the provincial polls were held. This follows news reports that the TNA, with Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph and civil society members, had asked a visiting delegation of Indian Members of Parliament to press the Government of Sri Lanka to establish an ISGA. Asked whether his party had requested the GoSL for an ISGA and whether it was confident that it could obtain what the LTTE failed to during the 2001-2003 UNF government, TNA National List MP Sumanthiran told The Island: “We have never asked the government to establish an ISGA and that was never on the agenda of the TNA. What has effectively happened would have been that the matter pertaining to the ISGA would have come up when the members of the civil society had a meeting with the visiting Indian Parliamentary delegation, which we, the TNA, as a party, were oblivious to. The ISGA has not even figured in our talks with the visiting Indian Parliamentary delegation,” the Island adding that Sumanthiran urged the government to hold the elections to the Northern Provincial Council at its earliest, adding that it had been overdue for the last four years.
Crunch Time: A Single Unified Strategy Needed
So here we are at a juncture when it is crunch time; but haven’t we said it before a billion times. Are we going to continue to stumble and fall yet again without coming up with a single unified strategy and speaking with one voice?
If we don’t we won’t have Tamils living any more in Eelam, that’s not my prediction but that’s reality: Read Krista Mahr’s article, “Amid Abuse and Fear, Tamils Continue to Flee Sri Lanka,” she says, the number of Tamils fleeing has increased talking to Centre for Policy Alternatives Director, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu : “To escape this climate of fear, it appears that an increasing number of Tamils are fleeing Sri Lanka, boarding barely seaworthy vessels, bound for an uncertain future as asylum seekers. This is despite the government’s official effort to reconstruct the war-torn north of the country. “You have a significant number of people leaving postwar, at a point at which the government is assuring that economic development is prioritized and reconciliation is being effected in earnest,” says the CPA’s Saravanamuttu. The fact that so many people are choosing to go “seems to suggest people in the north don’t feel that way. They are voting with their feet, so to speak, and they are paying fairly large sums of money and risking life and limb to do it.” Saravanamuttu says that official numbers of the number of people leaving are unavailable, but to give just one example, over 6,000 Tamils arrived in Australiain 2012, some 30 times higher than the 2011 figure.”
Falling into the Government Trap and Losing Everything
Are we going to fall into the trap laid out by Sinhala governments by complying with the Sinhala agenda of obliterating theTamil Nation; so that soon they can say, “who where what” are you talking about, the Tamils, they do not exist, they are not even “visible minorities”, they are nothing; Eelam what’s that, it’s a figment of the imagination of some delusional people. If Sinhala governments have their way soon Eelam Tamils will be landless and the NorthEast will be denuded of all Eelam Tamils. Call it a self fulfilling prophesy but why not say it when all indications are that it might just become a self fulfilling prophesy.
Tamils will have only Ourselves to Blame if we Remain Divided!
So what is our response to the complete erosion of our social, civil, political, democratic and human right including our right to our home land, nationhood and self determination;’ what is our response to the occupation of our land by the Sri Lankan military at the ratio of 1 soldier to 5 civilians and 1soldier to 3 civilians in Vavuniya and the army’s interference with our daily lives; what is our response to the desecration of our temples and churches; what is our response to the appropriation of our private lands and the take over of our state lands and the deprivation of our peoples’ livelihood; what is our response to the ongoing structural genocide to change the demography of our traditional home land and destroy the Tamil national identity, religions, culture; what is our response when we have been reduced to the opposition in the Eastern provincial council.
Assault on Press Freedom
Take for instance the assault on press freedom; what is our response to our missing and murdered Tamil journalists; what is our response to Tamil BBC broadcasts being continuously interrupted so much so the BBC took the unusual step to suspend operations; what is our response to the destruction of Tamil press offices and machinery. The Uthayan newspaper has been destroyed 37 times; it was subjected to a “second armed attack in ten days,” say Reporters without Borders. Mannfred Nikolai who has more than 6,000 followers tweeted that Sri Lanka is ranked 162nd out 179 among nations in the 2013 world press freedom index. What is our response to the news that the last attack has rendered the machines useless. This spells disaster not only for press freedom, not only for the Tamil media, but for Tamils, deprived of the right to freedom of information as they face a provincial council election; an election where they are unwilling participants, because a boycott would bring the scoundrels into the council, those who committed the dastardly acts, those subjugating our people as we speak. So do we stand helpless and divided! No I don’t think so.
Kangaroo Court’s “Empty Findings”
So what is our response to the Sri Lankan farce, the so called Army Court of Inquiry that has exonerated itself completely from any wrong doing, engineering a major cover-up of gigantic proportions, hoping it would get away with it; blaming it all absolutely on the “LTTE whom it refers to as LTTE terrorists”.
The Rajapaksa government has the audacity to think its ‘kangaroo court’ can pass for a “credible and independent” body worthy of respect to inquire into “credible” allegations of mass atrocity crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity made against its own senior officers including the President, the Commander in Chief made by not only Channel 4 UK but by two eminent UN Panels the Dublin Tribunal and all the major international human rights NGOs and UN workers.
Ms Yasmin Sooka of the UN Panel of Experts has summarily dismissed the conclusions of the ‘kangaroo court’ as “empty findings”.
To Tamils the findings won’t stand in court when there are stacks of evidence, numerous items of video and pictorial evidence, testimonials, satellite images, expert witness testimonies of women, seniors and children taking cover in bunkers and those in ‘no fire zones’ shelled, bombed, rocketed and massacred in cold blood (that they as an “additional measure of safety added 500 meters more to the boundaries of the ‘no fire zones’ does not absolve the evil minds) The scale of atrocities committed, the heavy weapons used, the denial of food, medicine and humanitarian aid and the senseless executions, that has been documented can’t be denied.
Court has No Standing, Not a Single Civilian Casualty
This ‘kangaroo court’ has no standing for it interviewed only murderers from Senior Field Commanders down to Officers and no other witnesses. It told a bare faced lie that the Sri Lankan Army did not kill a single civilian: “The evidence before the court has conclusively established that the humanitarian operation conducted strictly in accordance with the ‘Zero Civilian Casualty’ directive made by his Excellency, president Mahinda Rajapaksa which the “commanders at all times obeyed,” the court concluded.
It’s an insult to the intelligence of reasonable people to say that the Sri Lankan army “was a well disciplined military force” engaged in humanitarian rescue operation and that they followed their President’s order of zero civilian casualties. Contrary to those blatantly false claims the Sri Lankan army was the most deadliest and savage army that did not treat the captured or the dead or even those who surrendered with dignity, so many were found stripped naked with their hands tied behind their backs, most of them sexually abused, even gang raped and subjected to mutilation before they were brutally executed. Many of the dead were found fully naked and transported after the bodies were stacked into vehicles in the most degrading and inhuman manner; we have seen a prisoner interrogated, tortured and then executed and the body burned in the latest ‘no fire zone’ documentary. We have seen execution videos of many prisoners executed at close range. We have seen children and one iconic child of the LTTE leader given a snack and then executed at point blank range.
Not only that the ‘kangaroo court’ found the “Sri Lankan troops had refrained from firing heavy weapons and this self-imposed moratorium had caused heavy casualties to Army troops,” but hadn’t given any casualty numbers, so that the Sinhala people would know how many Sinhalese died due to Rajapaksa’s hawkish policies, breaking the cease-fire and waging war..
And in a stinging rebuke to the international community the court “also noted the International Community had failed in their duty to stop the war crimes committed by the LTTE terrorists.”
Not a Humanitarian Rescue Operation’ it was a “Hostage Taking Operation”,
I say the ‘humanitarian rescue operation’ was actually a “hostage taking operation”, as nearly 300,000 people were put in ‘internment camps’ tightly packed with poor facilities for months, in conditions that were less than human; quite a number died there and the youngsters were taken as LTTE affiliates and disappeared, some were raped and abused; there are allegations that items of jewelry were taken by the soldiers.
Yes the Rajapaska government’s handling of issues of accountability and impunity for heinous crimes shows utter contempt not only for the international community but for the tens of thousands who perished.
Even “Western Powers can’t avoid the vagaries of war”
The Sri Lankan Army Commander’s final salvo absolving the army of all criminal liability came with his “concluding remarks”: “In any war even those fought by western powers using state of the art hi-tech equipment, civilian casualties are inevitable due to the vagaries of war…that if any new evidence is presented by giving precise information on casualties, such instances will be investigated further by giving that person the opportunity to present their evidence.”
Ms Yasmin Sooka: “Colombo’s Contempt for the International Community”
Need for Independent International Investigation
Ms Sooka did not mince her words when she said she was shocked at Colombo’s contempt for the international Community, underscoring the need for an international independent investigation and I quote:
“Colombo’s contempt for the international community seems to be increasing. The recent media release on the findings of the Military Court of Inquiry stretch credibility.
While I have not had access to the full report and to the evidence presented to the Military Court of Inquiry, I am shocked by the Court of Inquiry’s findings. I was a member of the Panel of Experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to look into accountability for the final stages of the war. The Panel rejected with utter certainty the notion that the Sri Lankan Military mounted a “humanitarian rescue” and that the war was conducted with “zero civilian casualties”. The Panel’s work revealed “a very different version of the final stages of the war than that maintained to this day by the government of Sri Lanka. The panel found “credible allegations” which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan military and the rebel liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers). The Panel concluded that “the conduct of the war represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law designed to protect individual dignity during both war and peace”. It also found that as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war, most as a result of indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan military. The Panel’s work was further vindicated by the report of Charles Petrie, the UN official appointed by the UN Secretary General to look into the role played by the UN agencies on the ground during the conflict. Charles Petrie suggested in his report that the number of civilian casualties is probably closer to 70,000. This figure is staggering and points to an enormous loss of life. The Catholic Bishop of Manner has suggested that more than 147 000 people remain unaccounted for.
The Panel rejected the notion that in any war there are casualties which are inevitable. The Geneva Conventions exist for a purpose to ensure that the lives of innocent civilians are protected at all time.
The findings of the Military Court of Inquiry exonerate the military of any responsibility and attest to the fact that the Government of Sri Lanka and the Military cannot be trusted to investigate the crimes committed during the final phases of the conflict.
That is why an independent international inquiry is needed.”
What is our Response when brought down to the lowest common denomination by a Sinhala Government
So what is our response to the Tamil National question when we have been brought down by a rabid Sinhala government to the lowest common denomination and cannot sink any further? We have lost our people, our land, and our rights; are we going to lose our surviving and future generations too?
It’s critical that Tamils make their position clear, that they do not work at cross purposes and look as though they seemingly were at odds with each other. The need of the hour calls for clarification of positions and consensus on the issues relating to provincial council elections or speaking with one voice on an interim administration in our message to India.
At last we have the unreserved support of the people of Tamil Nadu and a student population that’s agitating for our rights. At last we have major Indian political parties, Tamil Nadu state wide as well as from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, distinguished politicians and a Chief Minister voicing their disapproval of the Sri Lankan government’s massacre of the Tamil people, who want the army to pack its bags and leave the NorthEast, who are not only calling Mullivaikkal a genocide but are open to looking at viable political solutions that would guarantee Tamil rights.
One Voice One Message
Let Tamils show the same fervour and single mindedness we demonstrated carrying the Vaddukoddai resolution forward, and giving it an overwhelming mandate.
This is a golden opportunity for Tamils to present a united front and to speak with one voice, conveying one message to the Indians.
Dr Dayan Jayatilleka / April 17, 2013
Here’s today’s Daily News Editorial (please see below) responding to my article in the Daily Mirror and CT of yesterday. I find it delicious that the Sinhala hawks as well as the Tamil ones such as the representatives of the TGTE, criticize my views. This tells me my perspective represents the Middle Path or the Golden Mean. For the record, the Sinhala hawks are those who do not recognize an ethnic problem, are opposed to devolution especially with the province as the unit, and are for the abolition of the 13th amendment. Not only have I never advocated such views, it is my advocacy of the opposite ones — instead of silently and comfortably resting on my laurels after the May 2009 UNHRC victory– that played an important part in my removal from Geneva.
Daily News Editorial April 17th 2013
“A GIFT?
As per the news reports, we hear that members of a TNA (Tamil National Alliance) delegation told some visiting Indian MPs that they want an extra-constitutional mechanism that is an interim administration for the north and the east — which is of course an obvious way of saying that they want a separate state, and the creation of a stepping stone for that.
This has prompted various responses, including a rather god-fatherly one that states that this position is a gift that is given to the Sri Lankan President because it is a rejection of the 13th Amendment.
Rational people would have to say that this is not a rejection of the 13th Amendment, it is a rejection of all sanity and good sense. That brings us to the crux of the problem which is that the 13th Amendment is so hard to implement for the simple reason that the regime is dealing with a bunch of irrational people that are fixated on extra constitutional methods that quite clearly reject the existential reality of the Sri Lankan unitary state.
These TNA MPs are people who have been known LTTE quislings. They deal in the currency of hate speech and palpable untruth, bandying about words such as genocide at the drop of a hat. How could any responsible regime risk the 13th Amendment with a political entity led by people such as these?
Of course the reader would have to prepare for the invariably unreasoned arguments stemming from that blunt question. The 13th Amendment, the armchair political pundits would say, is the compromise solution – the little something that can be given compared to the entire farm that the loud and trenchant TNA leadership wants.
This is akin to saying that if the fox is invited to the outside perimeter of the chicken coop, the animal will stop salivating about the chickens inside, and will moreover be so good as to leave this feathered kind alone. The fact remains that the continually unreasoned Tamil Tiger like attitude of the TNA leadership has virtually foreclosed any options of a responsible effort on the part of the government to work towards the full implementation of the 13th Amendment — plus or minus.
It is eventually the decision of the elected government of the people to implement or abrogate the 13th Amendment, and that will be a political decision that will not be informed by anything that’s written in these spaces. But, the regime’s options – predicament if you will – can be empathized with.
Here we are, gradually coming out of a disastrous thirty year old conflict, after which, the nation before all other considerations, is beholden to the literally thousands of soldiers who perished in the war effort – and the people who with unstinted faith backed these soldiers to see the bitter armed campaign to a finish. The pundits are telling all these people in effect to forget these sacrifices, and let the fox into the perimeter of the chicken coop, with a protective fence that’s gossamer thin, offering a delectable view of the chickens?
“I don’t think so,” would be how the answer to that would have been written into a made for TV comedy script. One look at Suresh Premachandran of the TNA who told the visiting Indian delegation that he would like an extra-constitutional interim arrangement would make enough people realize that the quantity they are dealing with is not versed in the art of rational and reasoned compromise.
A responsible political process cannot be initiated when the regime has to deal with persons that have not remotely proved their bona fides. People, and not only processes count. Could Mandela have worked with P. W. Botha rather than with de Klerk?
In short it is unlikely that the people of a country would readily countenance handing on a platter, what was protected by one of the costliest wars in human terms. Premachandrans may want to dream on about their Eelam without firing a shot – but a dream it will remain.” ( Daily News)
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ONE / April 17, 2013
“tells me my perspective represents the Middle Path or the Golden Mean. For the record” – MIDDLE PATH,MIDDLE FINGER,THE DIRTY PATH TAINTED LYCRE.”
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manisekaran / April 17, 2013
@DJ
You quote;
“existential reality of the Sri Lankan unitary state” ? Why in first place SL to be an unitary state? During your independence it was multi-ethnic country and your governments aim to make singhala unitary state is the cause for all holocaust in island. You blame your back first.If people think, it is not possible to live as one country, accept it, just like india was partitioned as pakistan and India. why even within pakistan , people of samee religion could not live together and later went split as bangaldesh and pakistan. You need to understand, the separate eelam is the possible , peaceful solution for both Singhala and Tamils.
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Ben Hurling / April 17, 2013
Manisekaran
Oh.. we can live together in equality and justice. No problem. We can build Sri Lanka to be such a state.
But, we are cursed with primitive, tribal extremists such as yourself. Among both Sinhalese and Tamils. Despite this being the 21st century.
That is the problem.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 18, 2013
Ben Hurling
Tamils had enough of the sinhalese jargon of living together.Sinhalese will never ever change from racism.So only solution for now is an Interim Adminstration supervised by the United Nations to stop the continuing Genocide and raping tamil women.
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Ben Hurling / April 19, 2013
Thiagarajah,
It is not my duty to donate you a completely racism free Sri Lankan state. It is something all Sri Lankans have to struggle and work for t achieve together.
But, if you put all your eggs in the UN basket, and hope they will get for extremely racist, Tamil nationalist monkeys, what VP could not get after so much bloody carnage, I wish you very good luck.
What is certain is that you dream of racial segregation and ethnic cleansing of our ccountry to realize your sick racist dream of a ethnically pure Tamil only seperate state will never materialize. But, dream on, if you wish.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 19, 2013
Ben Hurling
You are backing away from the truth of Racism and continuing genocide under some pretext or other.You have to tell your people to treat Tamils as brothers and they must stop their policy of Genocide,rape,abductions.Tamils have no part to play in this.It is your people who have to stop all these.As I said earlier,Tamils do not want separation or separate state..They want their Tamil Kingdom you all took over in 1940s so that they also can live in peace and harmony like the sinhalese.If you really believe in Dharma ,you will give it very soon..
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Native Vedda / April 17, 2013
manisekaran
“Why in first place SL to be an unitary state?”
Thamby
It was your Tamil brethren who agreed to live together with your Sinhala brethren under unitary set up though a section of Sinhala people demanded federalism for up country Sinhalese.
Your Sri Lankan Tamil leadership supported D S Senanayake to pass a racist immigration act which made nearly 1 million up country Tamils stateless over night. Since then it has been a slippery slope for the Tamils.
They were readily accepted by mother India.
Please start blaming your Tamil brethren.
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manisekaran / April 18, 2013
@NV
OK, I am not sure at the political background under what circumstances the forefathers accepted it, may be some one like kumar or senguttuvan know it and explain.
Even it was accepted, when the rights of minorities were violated, they have every right to secede.
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Roger Harding / April 18, 2013
Absolute BS.
“When the rights of minorities were violated, they have every right to secede”.
In that case, USA should be like 5 different countries by now.
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Native Vedda / April 18, 2013
Roger Harding
On the other hand India should have been at least 3000 different countries by now but it still survives with its 1.4 billion problems.
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manisekaran / April 18, 2013
In US or India, no genocide, that’s why they remain intact.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 19, 2013
Roger Harding
There is no violation of rights of minorities in USA as happening in Sri Lanka.USA gives protection to all their citizens.For example Rajapakse and Gothapaya,USA did not arrest them and give any trouble.There are lot of Muslims,USA did not do anything to them after the plane incident.In Sri Lanka slightest mistake by Tamils,kill them,rape the tamil women.abduct the Tamils.Change the constitution and so on.USA is a heaven compared to other countries with equal rights for everyone.May God bless the American people.
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Native Vedda / April 18, 2013
manisekaran
“In US or India, no genocide, that’s why they remain intact.”
Are you sure about what you said above?
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manisekaran / April 19, 2013
I am very sure as I lived in both places recently. I know where you are coming to? Black atrocities in US and India’ s massacre on Sikh were all stopped.
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manisekaran / April 19, 2013
As a person resided in both place considerable period, I am sure that in last one decade there is no such structured genocide in US or India as with Srilanka. If you talk about atrocities on balck in US or India massacre on Sikhs, they were thing of past by atleast 30 years.
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Siva / April 18, 2013
manisekaran
This was my response to Dr Laksiri Fernando in another thread. Since the subject matter is somewhat the same, let me post it so that you may be able to understand what happened.
Regarding the controversy surrounding All Ceylon Tamil Congress leader G.G.Ponnambalam and the Citizenship Act, it is correct that G.G.Ponnambalam supported the D.S. Senanayake government by voting against Citizenship Act No.18 of 1948 which deprived a million Tamils of Indian origin their citizenship.
That was the time when the power hungry Ponnambalam was believed to have been secretly negotiating with D.S. Senanayake to join the Cabinet. S J V Chelvanayakam who was the deputy leader of the Tamil Congress, broke away in protest and formed the Federal Party. The burning battle that took place between the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) lead by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) lead by G.G.Ponnambalam in 1952 was over the Indian citizenship act. The ITAK declared Ponnambalam a traitor. Even today you find such traitors in the Tamil community (eg: Douglas Devananda).
Right from the day the British gave Sri Lanka independence and handed over the entire country including the historical Tamil homeland to the Sinhala leaders, the Sinhala leadership had a hidden agenda. They wanted to transform the multi-ethnic Sri Lanka into a mono-ethnic (Sinhala) country. The first Sinhala leader, DS Senanayake started the Sinhalization process by colonizing the Sinhalese in Tamil areas, changing the Tamil area names into Sinhala names and systematically dilute their (Tamil) strength until finally they all assimilate/naturalize and become Sinhalese.
Even after being deceived several times (broken promises) by the Sinhala leadership, unfortunately the Tamils (even the LTTE & TNA) still continues to trust the Sinhalese with some hope that they will devolve power.
Knowing the Sinhala leadership very well right from independence, the Tamils should stop trusting (negotiating with) the Sinhala leadership. Whoever becomes the country’s president (or the government) is not relevant to the Tamils as long as their goal/objective is clear. It is time for the Tamils to take their struggle to the next level (Globally) and seek support from the IC, UN and India.
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manisekaran / April 19, 2013
Thanks Siva.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 19, 2013
Thank you Siva
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Ben Hurling / April 19, 2013
Siva
What idiotic rubbish. The situationn is far more nuanced and complicated.
It is not so black and white. Like Sinahelse against Tamils.
There are all sorts of people with all sorts of ideas.
You represent the ultimate Tamil racists and ethno nationalists. You have a rigth to do so. Non violently.
But, you have no right to impose your Tamil ultra nationalism on all others by force or by using violence.
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Siva / April 21, 2013
“You represent the ultimate Tamil racists and ethno nationalists. You have a right to do so. Non violently.”
NONSENSE!!! It is not me but your own president.
“But, you have no right to impose your Tamil ultra nationalism on all others by force or by using violence.”
???
What RUBBISH!!! Again tell this to your own president.
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Flowery Pearl / April 22, 2013
Senguttuvan, the apprentice? A brat with a puerile proclivity who pick age old opinions from irrelevant blogs to his own.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 18, 2013
Yes you are right.Sinhalese took the two foolish leaders at that time for a ride and took over the Tamil Kingdom.Those two leaders are fools of the first degree.Now we have to correct that mistake.If we had a leader like the grate Monammed Alli jinnah ,we would have got our Kingdom at that time.Immediately a UN supervised Interim Administration must be established to stop the genocide,rape,abductions and other attacks.
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Native Vedda / April 19, 2013
S.Thiagarajah
“If we had a leader like the grate Monammed Alli jinnah ,we would have got our Kingdom at that time.”
Jinnah was persuaded by the British to calve out Pakistan from the greater Bharat. The idea of Pakistan is very simple, Islam and Kashmir. If you take both out of Pakistani politics, the state would just collapse. Even with those two elements the state is still collapsing.
With the borders secured Pakistan still had to fight three wars with India, and the war has not ended yet.
Already a war had lasted 30 years. The Tamil Kingdom and Sinhala Kingdom would find all sorts of reason to keep the war going, profiting merchant of death and the politicians and top brasses of army, navy, and air force on both sides.
The only solution would be to send these two people back to their homeland in India.
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Ben Hurling / April 19, 2013
Native Vedda
I give you a standing ovation.
Neither stupid Tamil racists nor stupid Sinahla hawks understand these basics. So, intoxicated by extreme nationalism.
To seperate states on Sri Lankan soil will lead to eternal skirmishing, war and destruction on both sides.
At the end, Tamil Nadu Jokers, due to electoral compulsions will try to swallow up the whole of Sri Lanka. Leading to uttrerly bloody chaos.
Good news for Veddas though. In the aftermath of war and destruction, both stupid Sinhalese and stupid Tamils will cease to exist. A new era may dawn for true owners of the Island of Sri Lanka. The native Veddas.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 19, 2013
Native Veda
I can only laugh at your comments.You look like real Veda.
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Ravi / April 17, 2013
Dayan is simply blabbering. The war ended in 2009, four years have passed. The Power to implement the 13th amendment was in the hands of MR. So, the Tamils have to wait indefinitely for the GOSL to think of a ‘Political Solution’ at their own pace?
There is no point. With International Pressure mounting on GOSL, Eelam Tamils are no longer interested in talking with the GOSL. Let IC, UN and India talk.
Dayan is just another messenger of Raja Inc. with a different approach to spread fear without the gun and try to make people accept the unacceptable. Wait and see when this stunt is over he is going to take another posh position in another western country or take a minister position like his good friend Rajiva.
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lanka peiris / April 19, 2013
Manisekeran go and have your Eelam state in Tamil Nadu India. Sri Lanka has and always will be a unitary state. Sri lankans give ear to minorities but we will not minorities dictate terms to the majority.
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manisekaran / April 20, 2013
you are not such big to globe to dictate( i mean SL), because you are super minorities to world.
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Dev / April 17, 2013
Ahh the joys of blowing one’s own trumpet !
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simhi / April 17, 2013
If you don’t who will?
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K.A Sumanasekera / April 18, 2013
Dayan,
This is precisely the feeling of the great majority of the inhabitant population,
Extremists may be in your classification, but they are just ordinary punters who want to live in peace and harmony with their fellow inhabitants. in the new environment which was given to them by brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in their thousands.
Take the TNA and it’s President out of the equation , there wouldn’t be a need for editorials like this.
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Mike / April 19, 2013
K.A.S…..
The regular readers of CT know who you are and will not bother to respond to your comments.
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Siva / April 22, 2013
Knowing very well that not only the Tamils but also Sinhalese rejected the 13A, I cannot understand why Dayan is still obsessed with it.
When the British handed over the entire country to the Sinhalese without the consent of the Tamils, the Tamils were confined to a specific Tamil speaking region (North & East). As soon as the Sinhalese took over, they colonized the Sinhalese in the Tamil areas, they oppressed and deprived the fundamental freedom of the Tamils who were the rightful citizens of a specific land area. Since the Tamils are totally dissatisfied with their treatment (by the Sinhalese), they have all the rights to seek autonomy or complete independence from what they feel is an ethno-religious chauvinist oppressive state.
Why should the Tamils negotiate (or rather beg) the Sinhala leadership to get their due rights? From the day the Tamils lost their rights to the Sinhalese (via British in 1948) they had been negotiating with the Sinhalese (Peacefully and violently), but they were only hoodwinked with broken promises. The Tamils know very well (it is more than clear) that the Sinhalese will not give anything (devolution) but why should we continue to ask them? The citizens of a specific Tamil speaking traditional land area, the Tamil Nation of Eelam should decide what is good for them.
Indian mediation brought us the good for nothing 13A, Norwegian facilitation brought us nothing. If the Tamils are to negotiate for federal style devolution, they should involve a powerful country like US as the mediator. On the other hand, if they are opting for a self rule (like Kosov, South Sudan, etc), then they should be influencing/lobbying the IC (US, EU, UN, India, etc) to demand for a Eelam Referendum for self rule.
It is in the hands of the Tamil Diaspora (and Tamil Nadu) to continue this struggle to free the Tamils from the ethno-religious (Sinhala-Buddhist) chauvinist oppressive state.
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Ben Hurling / April 17, 2013
There is no doubt GOSL is mishandling the situation post war badly.
Leaving room open for ultra nationalist LTTE extremists such as Usha to come up with this kind of ranting utterances.
These ex LTTE extremists with lofty names such as TNA, TGTE and GTF etc. are moving to exploit stupidity of GOSL and its idiotic Sinhala hawks.
Make no mistake TNA, TGTE and GTF etc are all after only one target. Partition of Sri Lanka. One way or the other. And creation of an ethnically cleansed Tamil only state in Sri Lanka. Which will be in eternal conflict with Sri Lanka proper. Until of course they grab all of Sri Lanka. With loving support from Tamil Nadu eventually.
ISGA was a cunning document typical of extremist LTTE then. It is more so now.
Sri Lanka should move now without delay. Read the writing on the wall accurately. Preemptive measures are required. Establish rule of law. Democracy. Freedom of expression. And devolution to the provinces as agreed upon by all Sri Lankans.
Extremist Tamil nationalists such as Usha thrives in the current vaccum left open by GOSL.
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j.muthu / April 18, 2013
beny oh beny after 4 yrs dont u think separation is best thing for u and me…..i meean themala and sinhala u cocked up every thing, like praba…. best way for ward break up live in peace…
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Roger Harding / April 18, 2013
Mr. Muthu,
Breaking up of Sri Lanka will never be on the agenda. Under any circumstances.
30 years of war has proven how far Sri Lankans are willing to go to keep Sri Lanka united.
If living with fellow Sri Lankans is so unacceptable to your primitive, tribal mindset, you seperate and move to Tamil Nadu. True home of Tamils, if you want to. We are not for seperation.
Sri Lanka is not on offer for racists to realize their sick dreams of ethnic cleansing and segregation.
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Native Vedda / April 18, 2013
Roger Harding
“30 years of war has proven how far Sri Lankans are willing to go to keep Sri Lanka united.”
30 years of war has proven how far International Community is willing to go to keep Sri Lanka united, for the time being. Don’t forget you neighbour.
“If living with fellow Sri Lankans is so unacceptable to your primitive, tribal mindset, you seperate and move to Tamil Nadu.”
If treating your fellow islanders with dignity is so unacceptable to your parochial Mahavamsa mindset, you pack your bags and move to Bihar.
“True home of Tamils, if you want to. We are not for seperation”
True home of Sinhalese is Sinhapura in Venga, India. I am not for separation but I want my ancestral land back from both Kallathonies.
How soon can the Tamils and Sinhalese leave?
“Sri Lanka is not on offer for racists to realize their sick dreams of ethnic cleansing and segregation.”
You are right. How would you reverse ethnic cleansing of more than 300,000 of up country Tamil who were uprooted and sent back to India since 1960s? How would you account for million Tamils leaving the country since independence? Wasn’t it a different kind of ethnic cleansing?
The LTTE learnt every aspect of racism and ethnic cleansing from Sinhala/Buddhist state of Sri Lanka and terrorism from Sinhala/Buddhist JVP terrorists.
Sinhala/Buddhists have been building an exclusive Sinhala/Buddhist state over the past 65 years backed by sheer monopoly on violence. LTTE and its supporters followed suite, got the basic idea from the Sri Lankan state and pursued it with terror, and miserably failed.
The LTTE was only catching up with you.
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Roger Harding / April 18, 2013
Native
You make a few good points worthy of discussion.
Sinhalese should rekindle their links to North India. As a counter weight to Tamil Nadu maniacs.
Tamil Nadu Jokers do not like it much. They shouted at our Ambassador to Delhi in filth. For merely mentioning our links to North India.
Guess who collaborated in exporting Up Country Tamils back to India. So called, high caste northern Tamils. They did not want these very hard working, naturalized group of Sri Lankans to remain on Sri Lankan soil eihter. I consider them a part of Sri Lanka now. I have no problem with them. I want them here.
I treat all Sri Lankans with dignity. Nobody needs to go anywhere. Sri Lanka belongs to all of us equally. Period.
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Native Vedda / April 18, 2013
Roger Harding
“Sinhalese should rekindle their links to North India. As a counter weight to Tamil Nadu maniacs.”
Sinhalese have more closer genetic affinity to Tamil Nadu maniacs than their imagined Bihari relatives. Why didn’t the Ambassador disclose his close affinity to the Tamilnadu maniacs in public? Perhaps he was not aware of this fact.
“For merely mentioning our links to North India.”
Your Ambassador to Delhi also stated that the attacks on Monks in Tamilnadu was terrorism. Sri Lanka should have recalled him for a good bollocking. Man didn’t know the difference between terrorism and hooliganism.
Being the “generous Buddhist”, Sinhalese should have prevented the deportation of Up Country Tamils to Tamilnadu. The Tamil vote was incidental, bought with ministerial jobs. The act itself was cruel initiated and enacted by members of majority community.
“I consider them a part of Sri Lanka now. I have no problem with them. I want them here.”
As an individual you may want them back in the event of expected labour shortages they will be expected to provide cheap labour and put up with all kind of abuses by the masters.
In any case what are you doing to get them back? Have you spoken to your Sinhala/buddhists and your Tamil brethren about it? Have you launched campaign to reinstate Sri Lankan citizenship?
“I treat all Sri Lankans with dignity”
You may be an exception but the norms speak a volume in words and actions.
As far as I am concerned Tamils and Sinhalese are racists.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
Our High Commisioner in New Delhi, has already approached the North Indians for support. He or his instructors apparently do not yet know that the Sinhalese and Tamils are genetically quite related. This kinship should be the basis on which issues must be approached and solutions sought.
Dr.RN
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lanka peiris / April 19, 2013
Native Veddah,
The country belongs to all Sri lankans, Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and others. Anyone who does not want to be a Sri lankan is free to get out from Sri lanka. Thank God 300,000 Indian plantation labourers were sent off, it would been a million by this time!
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Native Vedda / April 20, 2013
lanka peiris
“Thank God 300,000 Indian plantation labourers were sent off, it would been a million by this time!”
You should be grateful to my people for letting you “kallthonies” stay in my ancestral land, which help you to actively procreate 20 million very very stupid things, and causing genocide of my people.
Another 1 million very very stupid things won’t make much difference.
“The country belongs to all Sri lankans, Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and others.”
No, the island belongs to my people.
“Anyone who does not want to be a Sri lankan is free to get out from Sri lanka.”
Anyone who does want to be a Sri lankan is free to get out from Sri lanka, and back to their ancestral land either Tamilnadu or Bihar.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 21, 2013
Roger Harding
Tamils are in Sri Lanka from long,long time.The Tamil Novel Silappathikaram will tell you that.You came after us.So how can you say that.Tamils are asking for their Tamil Kindom not your Kingdom.If you believe in Dhrama as all of you say,you will give back our kindom without any further delay.
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Native Vedda / April 21, 2013
S.Thiagarajah
“Tamils are in Sri Lanka from long,long time.The Tamil Novel Silappathikaram will tell you that.”
Does it? Could you quote chapter and verse.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 18, 2013
Ben Hurling
What are you talking.There is no question of separation or partition .Tamils are not asking for even one cm of sinhalese Kingdom.Tamils are asking for their Kingdom.Usha wants an ISGA to stop the Genocide,rape,abductions, attacks on newspapers and such crimes.You are talking of taking over the whole of Sri Lanka.If that is the case India would have taken over the whole of Sri lanka the moment you got too close to China.They did not do it,still they allow you all to shoot the Tamil Fishermen and support the genocide of Tamils.
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Ben Hurling / April 19, 2013
Thiagarajah
There is no Tamil Kingdomm or Sinhalese Kingdom.
There is the Republic of Sri Lanka. That will continue to be so. Forever.
There are many HR related problems in Sri Lanka. All citizens suffer from that terrible situation. Specially Tamils due to the armed conflict that was there before. These problems must be resolved at once.
There is no Genocide in Sri Lanka. No concentration camps or mass rapes as you imply. Sorry. That is bad news for LTTE rump’s global propaganda.
Indians are not stupid to invade Sri Lanka. At the behest of Tamil Nadu Jokers.
Even LTTE managed to slaughter Indian soldiers like flies. During the IPKF period. Imagine the resistance from SLA during a potential Indian occupation of SL.
In fact, an Indian invasion will never happen. Sri Lankans consider Indians to be our brothers.
Do not waste your time Thiagarajah on racist Ealam rubbish. Help build Sri Lanka to be a great nation for all of us.
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S.Thiagarajah / April 20, 2013
Ben Hurling
There is a proverb in Tamil.Covering a full pumpkin with the rice you eat.Your saying of”there is no Tamil Kingdom or Sinhalese Kingdom” is like that.Tamil Kingdom was existing from prehistoric times.It was also part of Kumarikandam (a continent) that existed 50,000 years B.C.It was ruled by Pandyan Tamil Kings and Chola Kings.Tamil kingdom was existing during the Portugese and Dutch rules.It was only during the British rule,they amalgamated the two kingdoms for administrative purposes but they maintained the people as TWO Nations.So Tamil Kingdom was a colonial Kingdom for all purposes.You all have threatened and killed the News reporters,so they are not writing about killings and rape.Women are frightened to complain of rape as more and more women will get raped as a retaliation.Any sinhalese can do anything to a Tamil and get away.There is no law and order for Tamils.If India wants it can take over Sri lanka in a matter of two or three hours.If Sri lanka considers India as brothers why is Sri lanka giving priority to Chinese who are waiting to attack India.In any dispute with India and China,Sri lanka will support China due to religion.So Tamil Ealam will balance the power struggle of China and India and bring everlasting peace in the region.
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dingiri / April 17, 2013
The Tamils will feel “short changed” unless 35% of the country’s landmass is handed over for the exclusive enjoyment of 11.8% of the population regardless of History, demographics and geography.
If equality is what they are after, their demand should be for just their share of the land, which is 11.8%. And I personally will support that. Until then, their demands are just supremacy disguised as “equality”.
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manisekaran / April 17, 2013
You grabbed their 35 % land in 1948 and now trying to give only 11.5 %, if tamils peopulation grew by 5 times now and let us say they are now 50 % will you give remaining 12% from your part because they are 50 %.?
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Ben Hurling / April 17, 2013
Manisekaran
Sri Lanka belongs to all Sri Lankans mate. Including Tamils. Nothing belongs to anyone exclusively on ethnic lines.
In Sri Lanka you are welcome to live, work, study, own property in any part of our country regardless of your ethnic origin.
Meaning I can move to Jaffna. If I wish. Being a Sinhalese. You are more than welcome to live among us in the deep south of Sri Lanka, if you so wish.
I will fight for that right. Both for you and for me.
If you cannot accept these basic, modern human values, may I suggest you move to a primitive racist state. Consider Ealam proper, which is Tamil Nadu.
Good luck. I do not think Delhi will be too happy with your brand of Tamil racism. India is secular and very diverse ethnically. But, one country. As you know well.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 17, 2013
Being an Indian citizen , he has to get a residence visa and is not entitled to buy land or a house. Of course he has the right to comment on subjects he knows little of, relating to Sri Lanka. If he wants to really understand Sri Lanka, I join you in welcoming him to our motherland.
Dr.RN
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ONE / April 18, 2013
Your problem is not a case of one secular nation but a master slave where the master does the siesta because he/she is a lazy beggar Moda pute dannate gaas nagine aepa. Its their traditional homeland which was never sold by law to the sinhalese even today- your identity does not exist in that barren land.over to you?
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PresiDunce Bean / April 18, 2013
@Ben Hurling
Sri RajaPakistan, formerly known as Sri Lanka no longer belongs to it’s citizens…and especially not to the Tamils, Muslims and Christians. It now belongs to the Rajapaksa family and its cronies and sycophants. Extremist groups like the BBS are also trying to grab a piece of the pie. Sinhalese in the South are only now beginning to realise what the real motives of the Rajapaksas’ are. Time to wake up from the wonder of Asia dream that the Rajapaksas’ sold to the majority. There will never be any peace or prosperity for anybody in this country as long as that family continues to rule this country fanning hate against the minorities using proxies like BBS. For those who dream that they can send the Rajapaksas’ home at the next election…wake up! Without a free and fair election that will never happen.
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manisekaran / April 18, 2013
First I am Indian tamil, living in chennai, i know what is true democracy, because i bought land in bangalore so as my kanndiga friend bought in chennai. But that was possible because we all ahd equality in every sphere, whereas all the trouble was started by SL governments in suppressing Tamil’s right. Was there any big elephant foot in your mouth in last four years when people in North and north east suffering in barbed wire?
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Ben Hurling / April 18, 2013
Manisekaran,
Chennai is a city I would not visit due to racist attacks on Sri Lankans right now. My friends and family frequent visitors to Chennai are staying away these days as well.
Focus on making your situation better first. Before Sri Lanka. Your plate is full of problems.
Whipped up Tamil ultra nationalistic racism over Sri Lanka is a huge problem.
Apart from that, Tamil Nadu is extremely poor. Very illiterate. Hygiene standards are of unspeakable low quality. Sri Lankan Tamil refugees will confirm.
Visit Colombo. You are welcome. Even if you are from hostile Tamil Nadu. We would love to have you as a guest. And will be treated likewise. Not with beatings. When you are so defenceless in a foriegn land.
We will show you how all ethnic groups, including millions of Tamils thrive side by side in Colombo.
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Native Vedda / April 19, 2013
Ben Hurling
“We would love to have you as a guest.”
Can I assume you welcome Tamilnadu Tamils because this island is facing an acute labour shortage in estates and farms?
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Ben Hurling / April 19, 2013
Manisekaran
According CIA India Fact Sheet.
Literacy rate India = 61% (considered to be much lower in Tamil Nadu)
Sanitary Facilities India = 42% Do not have access (Even higher in Tamil Nadu)
Hence the “Toilet Nadu” joke about Tamil Nadu in Sri Lanka.
Any further questions?
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manisekaran / April 20, 2013
Stupid Ben, I asked about TN state as you suggested about TN and Chennai, and you are posting whole data of India. i understabd your IQ level. You included your ancestral Bihar, bengal in your list.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
I own houses in Jaffna and Colombo. I had to buy a house in Colombo, because the LTTE took over my house in Jaffna, looted it and contributed to its near total destruction. If the right to buy a house in Bangalore is democracy to you, then we have it in plenty here. Further, I also remember there were anti- Tamil riots in Bangalore and some Tamils there wished they had someone like Prabaharan to fight on their behalf! There were several anti Tamil riots also in South Sri Lanka. Muslims and Sinhalese were also cruelly evicted from the northern province. You are not better off than I am or any other Sri Lankan is.
Dr. RN
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manisekaran / April 18, 2013
Ben,
Post the data for your statement, TN is extremely poor and illiterate.. we have successfully eliminated many problem and on the way to make more progressive, peaceful state. You dont need to teach us. A country that unleashed state supported terrorism on its own citizen, you have no morality to speak about that.I know how a Tamil student was stripped off dress in 1998 who visited colombo. If you consider chennai as racist place because of couple of incident, then what to name SL which continuously attacks its own people since 1956 to BBS date. Super ultra racist??
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
The caste-related violence Tamil Nadu, which are frequent, are also to be remembered. Further, in my previous comment I have referred to Bangalore as the place where anti-Tamil riots took place. I was referring in fact to the Karnataka state.
Dr.RN
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Native Vedda / April 19, 2013
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
“I had to buy a house in Colombo, because the LTTE took over my house in Jaffna, looted it and contributed to its near total destruction.”
You must be a lucky chap to have a rich father in law. These two houses you mentioned here, are they part of your dowry properties?
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 19, 2013
Native Veddah,
Fortunately no. They were what I built or purchased with my hard earned money!
Dr.RN
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S.Thiagarajah / April 19, 2013
Ben Hurling
You are saying Sri lanka belongs to Sri lankans but Your President Rajapakse,Gothapaya and Buddhist priests are saying Sri lanka belongs to Sinhala Buddhists.You can’t move to jaffna as you wish,bcause that is our Tamil Kingdom you took over by deceiving two PhD qualified in fool,fools.It is Aryan racism not tamil racism because Aryans only say they are a superior race to tamil race.Indian Govt. has to look after his people who includes Tamils.If they cannot,they must hand over the powers to Hon.CM Jeyalalitha who is Goddess Durga.She can handle much better than Sonia.
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Ben Hurling / April 19, 2013
Thiagarajah
Amazing how gullible you are. With your faith in Jayalalitha etc.
No wonder VP could play “Sun God”. Manpulate you. Keep you guys under his despicable jackboot for 30 years.
If not for SLA that rescued 300 000 people from the jaws of death, you would still be sitting in Vanni eating Cyanide and kidnapping kids for frontline duties. And taking orders from an uneducated, barbarian like VP.
You are incurable. Infected by an extreme version of Tamil racist nationalism.
Get help. And get a life. A more normal one. Don’t waste your life away on this crap.
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Native Vedda / April 20, 2013
Ben Hurling
“If not for SLA that rescued 300 000 people from the jaws of death,”
There would have been 400,000 people still alive.
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Ramanan / April 20, 2013
“With your faith in Jayalalitha etc.”
Indeed she has achieved little for the Tamil cause. The Congress were definately going to vote against SL at the UN human rights council whatever her protestations!
“kidnapping kids for frontline duties. And taking orders from an uneducated, barbarian like VP”
We remain thankful for the clean operation conducted by SL army in 2009 which did not yield any civilian casualties or rapes. The Channel 4 documentaries were made from fake footage. The UK media regulator allowed this programme to be broadcast because it was bribed by LTTE terrorists (such is the pathetic state of UK law enforcement). The bravery of Mahinda to enter such an environment to attend the Queen’s jubilee should be appreciated.
“Infected by an extreme version of Tamil racist nationalism”
Indeed it is a disease without any cure with death the only cure (as demonstrated by Gotabhaya et al)
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Ben Hurling / April 20, 2013
Vedda
I do not subscribe to GOSL’s zero casualty crap.
We should admit bad things happened. It was a horrible war. Against world’s worst terror outfit. Civilians paid a massive price. No doubt. GOSL can be upright about this.
It is possible SLA soldiers committed excesses in the the thick of battle. GOSL must investigate and punish in all such cases.
However, 100 000 deaths is LTTE propaganda. The opposite of zero casualty theory of GOSL.
GOSL should be honest. Tell the truth. We do need to apologize to anyone about removing the LTTE from our soil.
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Ben Hurling / April 20, 2013
We do NOT need to apologize to anyone about removing the LTTE from our soil.
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Native Vedda / April 20, 2013
Ben Hurling
“We do NOT need to apologize to anyone about removing the LTTE from our soil”
Of course you don’t have to however there are other millions reasons why you should.
Can you think of anything?
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Tissa / April 21, 2013
If you wish to be in deep south, you’ll be indiscriminately reaped with machinations to live.
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lanka peiris / April 19, 2013
Of the 11.8% Tamils in Sri Lanka, over 50% live in Colombo and the south. So it actually 35% of the landmass for 6% of Tamils, while 94% of all other Sri Lankans must share 65% of the land mass!
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justice / April 17, 2013
DJ quoting the Daily News is like the ‘Devil quoting the Scriptures”.
The Daily Noise is the mouthpiece of the Rajapakse Junta.
It manufactures news in praise of the Junta’s government.
Usha’s expose is excellent.
The goings on in the vanni is in accordance with “To the victor goes the spoils” – the spoils of war.
This victorious army which has investigated itsef and confirmed “zero civilian casualties” now enjoys free sex too.
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Dr Laksiri Fernando / April 17, 2013
It is my earnest appeal to the moderate Tamils to get their acts together and counter the extremist pronouncements that would reinforce the hawks in the South. It is already happening. Haven’t we learnt the lessons of the war? The extremists on both sides are trying to reinvent the wheel of conflict and destruction in the country.
I don’t want to call the ‘call for a separate state’ again or any steps towards that objective a ‘dream’ but it is at least unrealistic and unreasonable. It is also destructive and the international context would not allow that apart from strong opposition in the country. It is quite simple and clear. On the other hand Tamils along with the Muslims could win their equal rights if they join hands with the moderate and progressive forces among the Sinhalese. Why do we think only in ethnic terms whatever the discrimination that we face on the basis of ethnicity? What we are facing is a common struggle for democracy, justice, equality and rule of law. There are specificities related to various communities which should be addressed within an overall peaceful but forceful struggle.
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manisekaran / April 17, 2013
You will soon learn the lessons of genocide as well.. Simply the so called moderate singalese are nothing but hypocrites…Tamils please realize at-least now your existence will only be possible if you all united with single objectiveness, else people like him will divide as moderate and terror groups just to disunite us.Wahtever differences are that should be within us. We can resolve our disputes internally,
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lanka peiris / April 19, 2013
Laksiri can you name a right that a sinhala person has that is not available to a Tamil, Muslim or other person in Sri lanka. What were you and the moderate Tamils doing 20/30 years of LTTE terrorism. Where were your pronouncements of equality and human rights. Were you or your NGO mates able to stop Tamil children from abduction and frog marched to the battle front.
You talk of democracy, justice, equality and rule of law can you give an example of a single country US, UK, Europe or anywhere in the world where these are practiced according to the letter. But do you see learned people in these countries ever demeaning their countries.They respect the country which gave them birth, education (free) etc. Do not wash your dirty linen in public just to justify your existence abroad.
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Wickramasiri / April 20, 2013
Lankapeiris I beg to differ. All that Laksiri Fernando is stating is asking the Tamils to join the moderates to ensure securing of rights and justice they are entitled to. Why do you shoot him down? What is the dirty linen he is washing? Are you unaware of the discrimination Tamils are facing? If you are serious I suggest you go to the North, spend a week there, and talk to the people. Do you not want everyone in this land to have equality and justice? If not what do you advocate? As for other countries please take the trouble to read up and you will be surprised at the numbers that criticise practice and policy whether government or otherwise.
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OutRider / April 17, 2013
Usha the loose cannon is back with her hysterics.
Usha, you say stupidly, “This is a golden opportunity for Tamils to present a united front, with the blessings of the Indians, to move forward towards fulfilling Tamil aspirations.” You have no place in any united front of the Tamils as your moronic TGTE was declared unilaterally without consulting the Tamils in Sri Lanka. And you will never have the “blessings of the Indians” as they have stated you talk out of turn and you are an embarrassment to their diplomatic efforts.
Then you say, “What we need to work on is a meeting of the minds of all Tamils. Now that shouldn’t be a problem when considering the outlook is bleak and we can’t sink any further.” Listen, you are sitting on your mind if you indeed have one and don’t underestimate yourself. You will sink the Sri Lankan Tamils further.
And I got this news from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of mine that TGTE Tamils are visiting Sri Lanka in increasing numbers now and having a pukka time. He says they have been visiting Wanni and Jaffna and are highly impressed with all the infrastructural developments and the good rapport between the people and the military. Further he says it is the visitors from the diaspora who are harassing the local Tamils by trying to kick them out of the properties they have been looking after for over 30 years. He also says the undercover TGTE observers also devour Jaffna toddy, mutton and mangoes and swim in Keerimalai. And then they return to their menial jobs in the diaspora and file false reports about the situation of the Tamils in the north as instructed by the TGTE.
Come On Usha, don’t be a pathetic ambulance chaser. What is it with your morbid fascination with rape?
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Lasantha Pethiyagoda / April 17, 2013
My recollection of Tamil people of Sri Lanka in the 70’s was that they were of a quiet countenance, polite, god-fearing while being persevering under hardships and largely honest and incorruptible.
These qualities were at a higher level than of many Sinhala people of the same era. Of course, all that has changed, with the disastrous war that ensued. The above writer is a case in point, of the paradigm change in the Tamil mindset since.
There is no doubt that the management of Sri Lanka could have been far better handled, had the notion of avarice and opportunistic selfishness not overtaken the notion of service to the nation. Ethnic rivalry is only a symptom of the larger malaise of wrong priorities in management.
It seems like it is too late for agonising over what might have been. Yes, the Tamils, and indeed the Sinhala people (if they still have that capacity) must unite, and rid the nation of bad eggs by eliminating the conditions that help them thrive.
Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been very patient in the last few months when their mettle was severely tested by the marauding thugs. Similarly, all citizens must think reflectively on who stands to gain from turmoil, who has the most to lose by a united nation, etc.
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manisekaran / April 17, 2013
Crocodile tear!
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essie / April 17, 2013
Tamils united and speaking with one voice? The writer is dreaming or joking. When have the Tamils ever presented a united front. Ambition and greed for power have always been priorities- (except perhaps when the LTTE took over. At that time fear kept opposing voices silent.)
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Kiri Yakka / April 17, 2013
My sense is that Dayan is genuine in his desire to keep Sri Lanka Unitary and is frustrated by the fact that it is not the top priority for Tamil Politicians. He is puzzled why his top priority is not other people’s top priority. It is that simple.
Tamara appears to be an order of magnitude more confused, fighting for the rights of besieged nations by forces of civilization. I guess the besieged people are not her problem.
As much as Praba and Co ruined the future of Tamils and caused them death and pain for his own benefit (in the name of the Tamil people of course) we are witnessing a similar favour being conferred on the Sinhalese.
This is no cause for celebration. It is time for the Tamils to worry about the Sinhalese – because their crimes are televised and globally distributed. Those of the LTTE were not.
So the big difference between the Tamils and the Sinhalese now is that the Crimes of the Sinhalese are globally distributed while the crimes of the Tamils are not.
This is a very minor difference amongst the warring tribes and I would agree with Dayan that they remain Unitary in account of their short term memory and comical criminality – that disgusts the rest of the world.
I also agree with Tamara that such disgusting activity need to be protected from the gaze of other nations in order to guarantee its continuation.
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Native Vedda / April 18, 2013
Kiri Yakka
“My sense is that Dayan is genuine in his desire to keep Sri Lanka Unitary”
You are wrong.
He is interested in no such thing.
From his days with EPRLF, Premadasa, and Mahinda he has always wanted to identify himself with whatever establishment there was.
If Ranil offers him a job if he forms the next government with almighty India’s support, Dayan would not hesitate to grab it.
He has never been a principled person with convictions, only guided by expediency rather than principle.
One has to read between his many articles if one wants to find his message. For him this island is a Sinhala/Buddhist state and he wants the country to remain so.
What he writes is the packaging of his intentions not the real stuff. Don’t fall for it.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 17, 2013
Usha,
I read your comment in response to Mr. Sivathasan’s article on the Thirukural and was pleased that the TGTE had at least one person who understood the meaning of being a Tamil. Unfortunately, your present article goes against that grain. It is a cheap propaganda exercise meant to score points. The story that your Diaspora friend told you is an outright lie that you have unfortunately, but conveniently believed.
You have a right to promote your cause and that of the TGTE, but please do not lose your credibility in the process. You have also a right to condemn the wrongs or mistakes of the GOSL, but base it on unimpeachable truths and with good intentions.
” Maranthum Piran Kerdu Soolartka- Soolin,
Aram Soolum Soolthavan Kerdu ( Thirukural # 204)
( Do not think of harming others in anyway even in forgetfulness, if you do so, ‘ Aram’ will harm you in return)
“Saman Seithu Seerthookum Kole Pole- Ammainthoru
Koedaamai Saandrorkani ” ( Thirukural # 118)
(Being balanced like a weighing scale , without being one sided is an ornament of the great)
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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justice / April 18, 2013
Narendran,
You earlier said that all war widows,their daughters and jaffna women are engaged in prostitution to make a living.
So now acording to you,armymen are not among the “customers”?
Did you not think of Thirukkural then?
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
Justice,
With objections to your inclusion of the word ‘All’ , I admit that I said this quite vehemently . I am proud I exposed the hypocrisy in Tamil society. That is the truth and it is thus Aram.
Dr.R.N
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Valluvan V / April 18, 2013
Dr Narendran,
There is nothing lie about Ms Usha S Sri-skanda-rajah ‘s friend’s story . It’s a behavior pattern or we do it intentionally that we tend not to trust affected Tamils stories. What is getting published is a fraction of ongoing mass scale government terrorism in North. Many of these people in North are being utilized in various ways under tight military presence instead of reconciliation.
Do we really know who is running the business of sending asylum seekers to Australia? It’s a coordinated business which involves continues threat to make them feel unsafe and then organise the boats for large sum which they get by selling their properties.
Do we really know how much money they have been making on release of captured including the suspected civilians and former LTTE members. My family personally paid money to get my uncle, who was a government servant in Kilinochi, released. There is another story of my Friend who paid 500000 to get her brother, who was a former LTTE member, released and then he got arrested again demanding more. That’s when they had to leave him for another two years for so called rehabilitation as they couldn’t afford to pay for this endless business.
Do we really know what does this sexually deprived military does to the rehabilitated women in Vanni? See this documentary just recently done to show what they are going through now.
Are these the steps to heal the past wounds and make us to feel that we are brothers and sisters of a foreseeing united country?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSSv9Kk3tkI
Is this is the rehabilitation they were talking in the UNHCR
Don’t you think intimidating young women to participate in the miss beautiful competition organised by a sexually addicted military is an evidence of ongoing torture of this community.
There is also an ongoing indirect economic suppression by involving military in mass level farming and business. Using these peoples poverty, South’s business giants are engulfing their economy.
Traditional Tamil fishermen are put in to ever loosing competition by settlement of state sponsored well equipped majority fishermen instead of help them to improve their fishing ability.
I don’t need to talk about well-known government terrorism against political rights and freedom of speech. It is the worst case in north as opposed to the whole country.
There are plenty of similar day to day stories of government terrorisms behind the well portrayed developments of ‘Vadakin Vasantham’
Finally there is no genuine motive or interest for this government ( even I don’t see any such foreseen prominent politicians in Colombo) to manage Tamils equally rather it sees current situation as a good point of start to suppress Tamils in long term, demolish their identity, make them as a dependent community. I don’t think you can put a halt to this plan by defending them, supporting them and blaming us.
These successive governments have two strong weapons, lie and Sinhala supremacy, to run this wild governance for any long. So ‘Thirukural’ would hardly find its way in this bloody ocean.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
Valluvan,
I have heard the stories from many affected people since March’ 2009. I have witnessed their plight and continue to do so to this day. The story has progressed from a terrible tragedy, utter destitution and unimaginable hopelessness to one with much hope now. There are livelihood and social problems confronting large sections of the war-affected yet. There was much that needed to be done by the Tamil community, which was not done.
I question everything Usha has said under the heading ‘ Grim news from the Vanni’ . They are sweeping generalisations. They are exaggerations by someone who has not heard the collective sigh of relief and the sounds of laughter; and, not seen the smiles of hope and the pace of changes in the Vanni. Things are getting better by the day and they have got better to an extent I had not expected within approximately four years after the war.
There are yet problems no doubt and they have to be clearly identified, studied in depth, solutions identified and resolved. The current problems have to be viewed from the perspectives of nature of the LTTE reign, the modus operandi of the LTTE, the nature of the war, the destruction of everything connected with civilised life, the security concerns- some real and some imagined and of course the time factor. This necessary perspective is missing from this article. It is is unbalanced and very skewed.
Dr.RN
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
Valluvan,
I have seen the video you refer. I have been writing about the plight of war-affected women for a long time and have been pointing out repeatedly that they are victims of a heartless and hypocritical Tamil society, more than they are the victims of what you call the Sinhala army. Please read my comments on the said video presented recently in CT and the figures for the poverty levels in families headed by females in the Vanni. 67 % of such families are liviing on an income of less than Rs. 1500/ month! The lament of ex-Tiger female cadres in the Vanni, as to how the Tamil society treats them, has been conveniently ignored by everyone commenting on this video.
Dr.R.N
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Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah / April 18, 2013
Dear Valluvan
Thank you for taking the trouble to comment to put the record straight.
Dear Dr RN I got my story from a reliable source who doesn’t lie and I know a lot more.
regards
Usha
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manisekaran / April 18, 2013
@RN,
I had personally known a victim who fled to India in 2009, she was raped and tortured. So dont tell as if people are living in paradise. Better if you want to stay with SL , vote your preference.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
We are in 2013 now! Remember 1987 too, when the IPKF raped young girls and 60 year olds? A few days back a drunk Tamil father in Jaffna, raped and killed his nine year old daughter! When one finger is pointed in one direction, the others point in other directions.
Dr.RN
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Dev / April 18, 2013
Any story to whitewash your pay masters …but I guess that’s what you get paid for !
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Real Peace / April 17, 2013
Usha
How on earth Tamils can unite under a “national flag” that displays muderous rifles and bullets?
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Siva / April 18, 2013
Real Peace
How on earth did the Sinhalese unite under a “national flag” that displays a murderous Lion with a sword, that too pointing at the minorities?
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Real Peace / April 18, 2013
Siva
Come on, why do you want to compare yourself with disgusting war criminals? Why can’t you learn and grow up by comparing yourself with civilised people?
Tell me which country on this planet displays a single bullet or a rifle on its national flag. Sit in front of your PC and insert ‘national flags of world nations’ on the Google search engine and go through flag by flag and you will not find a single bullet or a rifle, ok?
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
What Usha is calling for is for the Tamils to unite. Why not do it under the peaceful Nandi flag than the ferocious Tiger Flag. Of course it may be difficult for closet tigers to eat gras!
Dr.RN
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Tissa / April 21, 2013
A Lion murderous? You stifle us terribly. The lion with the sword is the great-great-great-greatest of the grate grandfather of the Sinhalese, how dare you sneer upon that animal. And again, if the minority stripes were laid on the Lion’s rear too you will scoff on the tamed animal for poo pooing on the minorities. By the way what’s your fuss on the relevance of this outlived matter?
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Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah / April 18, 2013
Dear Real Peace
Please read my article on the gun on the Tamil Flag
http://tamilmirrorcanada.blogspot.ca/2011/03/ohhhh-please-remove-guns-from-flag-by.html#!/2011/03/ohhhh-please-remove-guns-from-flag-by.html
Comment: some flags have swords..
regards
Usha
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Real Peace / April 18, 2013
Dear Usha
Thanks for the link to your paper which I have just read: your thinking process is as gorgeous as you look! I take my hat off to you! Would you mind asking CT to reprint this brilliant paper.
I certainly agree with you. Thousands of militant cadres made supreme sacrifices for us to live with dignity and freedom, let them live in our hearts. However, the philosophy of the LTTE leadership cannot sustain us to conduct a progessive struggle to restore dignity and freedom in our homeland.
Would the TGTE parliament pass a resolution to ditch the guns and bullets from the flag?
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manisekaran / April 18, 2013
Dear Usha,
I still believe, when you all look for a peaceful, progressive country, the flag should be reflection towards it. My humble opinion .
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m.c.spencer / April 19, 2013
“”How on earth Tamils can unite under a “national flag” that displays murderous rifles and bullets?””
Back in 1996 when the late Thilai Jeyakumar the TCC chief organised a sudden talk by the visiting apparent LTTE Minister of Foreign Lawrence Thilakar (LT) at the Oakleigh church hall. At this meeting in question time I asked LT whether he honestly believed that the” Blood Dripping From The Mouth Of The Tiger” along with the crossed guns and 32 bullets LTTE flag of violence that was flying high at full mast in that room would ever fly at the UN and expect people like me to rally under it. His response was to the effect of asking a counter question as what was wrong with the Tamils in Australia to ask such a question when the Tamils from the rest of the world had accepted it without such questions. One Rajakone from the audience responded to it stating that the roots of a majority cross section of Tamils in Australia at that time was quite different to those in Canada and Europe being of a more educated and professional inclined background etc.
Some of the later LTTE flags did not have the blood dripping from the Tiger’s mouth. A few days later I had a one on one chat with LT and told him as diplomatically as I could that he was no match for LK especially when he took quite a while to pause and think and reply in Tamil as well as in English quite abruptly and suddenly when the situation demanded it. I asked him as to why he would not respond in English at all times to a majority English understanding foreign audience. His response was that the Japanese, Russians and Arabs spoke their own language.
Then I had to point out at length the errors of his ways and told him that after my encounter with him, I was dropping out of being involved in the intended publication of an English periodical for the TCC despite his protestations to the contrary, I withdrew and let them stew in their vanity, greed and folly though I did not totally give up cautioning them over 24 hour Inbath thamil radio which too seems emasculated, shrunk to only Sydney with mostly a foreign tamil programme to air being nearly defunct today after its sole director Balasingham Prabaharan has gained a mistress from one of the announcers’ and seems to be more keen on his second honey moon.
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m.c.spencer / April 19, 2013
“How on earth Tamils can unite under a “national flag” that displays murderous rifles and bullets?”
Back in 1996 when the late Thilai Jeyakumar the Australasian TCC chief organised a sudden talk by the visiting apparent LTTE Minister of Foreign Lawrence Thilakar (LT) at the Oakleigh church hall. At this meeting in question time I asked LT whether he honestly believed that the” Blood Dripping From The Mouth Of The Tiger” along with the crossed guns and 32 bullets LTTE flag of violence that was flying high at full mast in that room would ever fly at the UN and expect people like me to rally under it. His response was to the effect of asking a counter question as what was wrong with the Tamils in Australia to ask such a question when the Tamils from the rest of the world had accepted it without such questions. One Rajakone from the audience responded to it stating that the roots of a majority cross section of Tamils in Australia at that time was quite different to those in Canada and Europe being of a more educated and professional inclined background etc.
Some of the later LTTE flags did not have the blood dripping from the Tiger’s mouth. A few days later I had a one on one chat with LT and told him as diplomatically as I could that he was no match for LK especially when he took quite a while to pause and think and reply in Tamil as well as in English quite abruptly and suddenly when the situation demanded it. I asked him as to why he would not respond in English at all times to a majority English understanding foreign audience. His response was that the Japanese, Russians and Arabs spoke their own language.
Then I had to point out at length the errors of his ways and told him that after my encounter with him, I was dropping out of being involved in the intended publication of an English periodical for the TCC despite his protestations to the contrary, I withdrew and let them stew in their vanity, greed and folly though I did not totally give up cautioning them over 24 hour Inbath thamil radio which too seems emasculated, shrunk to only Sydney with mostly a foreign tamil programme to air being nearly defunct today after its sole director Balasingham Prabaharan has gained a mistress from one of the announcers’ and seems to be more keen on his second honey moon.
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Real Peace / April 19, 2013
M C Spencer
Two cruel people reduced the Tamils to this level. They are Mahinda Rajapakse and Prabaharan.
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m.c.spencer / April 20, 2013
“Two cruel people reduced the Tamils to this level. They are Mahinda Rajapakse and Prabaharan.”
MR & VP may be the recent and immediate causes but there is much more to it than them depending on how far back in time one wants to go including are archaic religions, myths, genomic roots and mematic makeup. These too contribute as the medium term, intermediate and distant causes.
About 3 to 4 decades ago a QC was appointed to find all causes behind a crash at a railway crossing gate in the UK. In his findings he observed that about 130 odd people contributed to it and broke it down into the above mentioned categories. Yet he emphasised that had the train driver been alert, diligent and followed the cautions and instructions he alone could have averted the crash despite all those others contributing to it through errors of omissions and commissions in having been responsible as well.
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Siva / April 17, 2013
‘The 13th Amendment to Sri Lankan Constitution – Devolution or Comic Opera’ was written almost twenty years ago.
There are some who may describe the 13th Amendment as a constitutional sleight of hand par excellence. But, that is to put too fine a point on the matter. The blunt reality is that those who proclaim that the 13th Amendment is intended to share power between the Tamil people and the Sinhala people, are, to use a colloquialism, `trying to pull a fast one` on the Tamil people.
Under the 13th Amendment power will continue to reside in a Sinhala dominated Central government, within the frame of a unitary constitution. The 13th Amendment is intended to secure a constitutional frame which will enable a Sinhala majority to manage the Tamil people more effectively than before.
It has created Provincial Ministers who will not exercise executive power but who will have executive power exercised `through` them!
At the same time it has created a Provincial Governor appointed by the Sinhala President who will exercise executive power in respect of provincial matters – a Provincial Governor who is also the administrative head of the provincial public service and who has control of the Provincial Finance Fund.
And the 13th Amendment has created a Provincial Council without control of planning, without control of the provincial budget, without control of police and public order within the province, without control of disposition of state land within the province, without control of higher education and whose remaining meagre legislative powers are subject to the overriding will of the Central Parliament.
The provisions of the Provincial Councils Act itself may be amended from time to time by a simple majority of members present and voting in Parliament.
The 13th Amendment will do nothing to share executive power with the Tamil people because such power will continue to be vested in the President and in his servants.
It will do nothing to secure an equitable allocation of financial resources to Tamil areas because such allocation will continue to be determined at the discretion of a Sinhala dominated Central Government.
It will do nothing to prevent continued state aided Sinhala colonization of the Northern and Eastern Provinces because the disposition of state land will be in the hands of a Sinhala dominated Central Government.
The 13th Amendment will do nothing to prevent standardization of admission to Universities, because higher education is a subject excluded from the Provincial List.
The 13th Amendment will do nothing to control the abuse of police powers because the subject of `Police and Public Order` in the Provinces will continue to be effectively vested in a Sinhala dominated Central Government.
The 13th Amendment will do nothing to prevent the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act whose provisions were described by the International Commission of Jurists as a `blot on the statute book of any civilized country` because this too will be within the competence of a Sinhala dominated Central Government.
The 13th Amendment will do nothing to prevent the operation of emergency regulations which enable Tamils to be killed and disposed of without a post mortem inquiry and which regulations have been condemned by Amnesty International as an encouragement to indulge in extra judicial killings.
The 13th Amendment will do nothing to prevent the operation of the 6th Amendment to the Constitution which according to the International Commission of Jurists, violated the right to freedom of expression.
On the contrary, the 13th Amendment will require members of the Provincial Council to take their oaths under the 6th Amendment and acquiesce in and sanction such violation.
And the 13th Amendment will do nothing to energize the Tamil people to work for the rehabilitation of their homeland, because it refuses to recognize the existence of the Tamil people as a people with a homeland.
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JAckall / April 21, 2013
Mmmmm,,,, Looks like the handiworks of Sengottovan???
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Mahasohon / April 17, 2013
Pity, this lady has voted for their ethnic brotheren by voting with her feet and runaway to a better world. I would consider her a poor messiah to lead the flock, more like traitor to the cuase that she is preaching, I would say.
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justice / April 18, 2013
Today,the president is reported to have said that he “will not give priority to elections over development” at the Immigration Resource Centre which he opened in Tangalle.
Does this not show the ‘coming colours’ with regard to pending provincial elections in the north?
The Elections Commissioner has said that the government has not yet gazetted the existence of the Nothern Provincial Council,and that until this happens,elections cannot be held in the Nothern Province.
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Park / April 18, 2013
It is true, to be effective, Tamils or for that matter any other minority group should form a united front and speak with one voice. In order to speak in one voice, Tamils all over the world should first give up the request for a separate state but fight for equal rights. Holding the tiger flag on one hand and expecting all the Tamils to rally behind the flag will never be successful. All Tamils must accept that Sri Lanka should and could not be divided and there should be a federal system of government in Sri Lanka. I have seen comments in the past which stated that Tamils have been fighting for equal rights for a long time and nothing happened. Yes why were those protests and actions did not result in the desired result? It is because all the Tamils did not support the common goal, each group had its own idea what the Tamils should get. Then again Tamils did not treat all other Tamils as equals. Jaffna Tamils did not treat the estate Indian Tamils as equals. Jaffna Tamils did not treat the eastern province Tamils as equals. Jaffna Tamils did not treat the Muslim Tamils as equals. So when one group of Tamil does not treat the other group of Tamils as equal how can there be a common ground. If only during the Bandaranayake times when Jaffna politicians were trying to fight for equal rights got the support of the Indian Tamils the result would have been different. Same would have been the case when LTTE took up arms, if they have put their arms around the Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka without putting the arms around their guns, Tamils would have got what they wanted without spilling a single drop of blood as the economy was run by the revenue from the Tea Estates. Do not get me wrong Indian Tamils too were cheated by Thondaman and his grand son is now doing the same thing. As Rauff Hakim is being a traitor to the Muslims, Thondaman is a Traitor to the Indian origin Tamils. So if Tamils are to speak in one voice without the request for a separate state and the tiger flag, I am sure there will be Sinhalese also who will join the Tamils in getting equal rights for the minorities. The time is ripe for a leader who can do this in the Tamil community.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
Uniting is welcome. However, for what is the big question? Under whom, is a bigger question? Can a people, who did not unite to help their fellow men, women and children, devastated by a very cruel war and made it political hunting ground, find a unity of purpose in pursuing rational and viable political objectives?
Dr.RN
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Park / April 18, 2013
When its a war there are two sides. When there are two sides the aspirations of the opposing sides are different. That does not mean that both parties cannot work together at some point. The winner will always beat the drums and the looser has to dance to the tune. But that does not mean that the dancer has to do it to the tune of the drummer, if the dancer is good then the drummer will change the tune as the drummer will be caught up with the beat of the dancer. But the dancer cannot hold the flag which he or she took to the battle ground and expect the drummer to beat to the dancers beat. This is the law of the nature no one can beat it.
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justice / April 19, 2013
Under elected political leaders – who else?
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K.A Sumanasekera / April 18, 2013
With ugly terrorism breaching the Homeland Security of the land where this Senator’s Boss is based. is it wise to entertain separate enclaves with politicians who were militants engaged in Terrorism in the recent past?.
Wouldn’t it be better to introduce a 20th Amendment, to enable the Muslims and Sinhalese to live in the North, the same way as more than 50 % of the indegenous Tamils have been living in the South over two hundred years?..
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Native Vedda / April 18, 2013
K.A Sumanasekera
“Wouldn’t it be better to introduce a 20th Amendment, to enable the Muslims and Sinhalese to live in the North,”
Wouldn’t it be better for both Tamils and Sinhalese to go back to their homeland, India? When are you planning to leave?
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sivathasan / April 18, 2013
Usha
The blistering attack on venality is for everyone’s appreciation. Thanks for not mincing your words. The civil society of learned people made their presentation with commendable forensic skill. The visiting team of five, began to doubt their own views and finally jettisoned theirs. The Jaffna wind has prevailed over the northerly one. The message has well registered and the Jaffna Thesis is now the beginning point of deliberations. The success of it is irksome to that man because he sees the demise of 13 A. Hence his aberrated effort to bring 13A back to the destructive trajectory.
Poisoned Chalice
Yes. The description suits India better. What ruined the attempt at devolution was India’s insistence that any power devolved to the Tamils should be within the limits of what the states of India have. The effort at constitution making was poisoned at its source. What do the states have? A mere caricature and all the constraints of quasi federal powerlessness. It was to foist the unwanted that the army was sent at JR’s invitation. DJ thinks that with his eulogy it will spring to life. Hence his ire with the Jaffna Thesis. In his reckoning, a standing army of 150,000 in the North would suffice for a re-thrust. He cannot digest the thought that there is intelligence on the other side of the divide. Usha has put him in his place.
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Ravi / April 18, 2013
TAMIL UNITY is very urgent and important if we are to achieve anything. The main cause for the SL Tamils failure in their struggle for freedom whether it is by peace or by war was due to their disunity.
The SL Tamils were always divided either by caste, party politics (GG Vs SJV), regional differences (Northern/Jaffna, Eastern/Batticaloa, Estate/upcountry, Colombo, etc.) that caused the Karuna defect , many Tamil Eelam militant groups (LTTE, PLOTE, TELO, EPRLF, etc) killing each other, and now the Tamil Diaspora divided into many groups.
The GOSL knows how to take advantage of the SL Tamil disunity to divide them and rule. The SL Tamils will NEVER EVER achieve anything unless they unite as one Tamil voice. Can that happen?
We saw in 2009 how the Sinhalese were united in defeating the LTTE. When will the Tamils learn to unite or will they ever?
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Kiri Yakka / April 18, 2013
How come the spokes people for Tamil unity were happy to see PLOTE,TELO and EPRLF being massacred ?
Tamils are are bad at horse betting. They closed their eyes and betted on the one that was massacring the rest. There were no moral issues then. Tamils are a great danger onto themselves.
While the Tamils would like to see some investigation on Sinhalese war crimes, it is more important to do an investigation on pre-war Tamil crimes. Tamils on Tamils and Tamils on Muslims – they clapping when that happened.
Now a sad attempt to unite an internally wrecked community. Wrecked not by the Sinhalese, but by the terrific dumbness, racism and castisim of the Tamils.
Tamils are better off divided. So are the Sinhalese.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 18, 2013
Kiri Yakko,
Good to see you recounting critical history. Thanks. I however will not call this a response of your ‘ Clerical Mind’ , as you have referred to my response to Prof. Hoole’ article on the northern PC elections. I
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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Peter Ratna / April 18, 2013
Bravo Usha, now we are talking!
Yes, the outlook is bleak for siri lanka, let’s grab this golden opportunity and go for –
“The String of Pearls” – Tamil Nadu>siri lanka>Malaysia
The world is ready for TAMIL EELAM.
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Peace Lover / April 18, 2013
@ Usha,things need to improve yes,but I cannot agree that all is grim in Vanni,many of my friends work there and no its not like what you say and certainly not a case where people are sex slaves that i can vouch for,lots of diaspora people come and then spread such stories
Please for heavens sake dont believe lies like that and FYI people were not living luxuriously under the LTTE in Vanni either,
I) they had to get passes to go to Govt controlled areas
ii)ask anyone who lived in Vanni about the LTTE behaviour in the last days Usha and you will know the truth! dammm bastards forced/press ganged even 12 – 13 year olds to fight
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Chandra / April 18, 2013
For Tamils “we should speak with one voice” is the phrase used to mean “I speak, you shut up and listen otherwise I will declare you a traitor and kill you”.
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Naga / April 19, 2013
Usha ssys
“If Sinhala governments have their way soon Eelam Tamils will be landless and the NorthEast will be denuded of all Eelam Tamils.”
Usha should realize that it is the call for Eelam, Interim Administration and Self Determination that help speed the on going process of demomographic change in North East Sri Lanka. Already over 210,000 Tamils mostly from Jaffna have permanently settled down in the Colombo district. In matter of years there won’t be a territory in North East identifiable as homeland of the Tamils. Eastern Province is already gone, Mannar district is gone too and the rest of Vanni will soon become a non-Tamil dominated area.
Usha is quoting Pakiyasothy Saravanamuttu and Krista Mahr to say that Eelam Tamils are going to Australia because of the environment of fear. These guys are talking non-sense.
The present wave of Tamils taking boats to Australia are economic refugees. There is absolutely no doubt about this.
It is good business for Sinhala people smugglers and for the Sri Lankan Navy. The boats that reach Australia are the boats that are allowed to leave by the Sri Lankan Navy. I heard that each person on the boat has to pay one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand to the Sri Lankan Navy personnel on their way to Australia. I heard that each person will have to take this money with them to be handed over to the Navy personnel. If not, they are captured and retuned to the shore to face court charges.
I know the type of people who are taking the boats to Australia. They are school dropouts and petty criminals. They are not only causng problems to Julia Gillard’s Labour Government in Australia but have become a nuisance to the Tamil community living in Australia. These uneducated Tamil guys are getting a bad name for Tamils. Those Sri Lankan Tamils who came as refugees earlier established Accounting and Audit firms, Law offices and Medical practices. Now those guys who have come recently are opening “barber shops” and do hair cutting. A friend told me that the other day some of ten of these guys entered a restaurant run by a Tamil, ate belly full and simply left without paying. That is the type of example they are setting in Australia. Most of them, who are now allowed to live among the community, are simply roaming about in shopping centres and on street corners. They do not seek any gainful employment thanks to the doles paid by the Australian government. That is why Australians are seething in anger that their tax money is wasted on these useless rotters. It is a big election issue and the opposition party which is definitely expected to win the forthcoming Federal election will put an end to the arrival of these boat people from Sri Lanka.
I do not think that MR government would worry that these useless Tamils leaving Sri Lanka. It is good riddance. If the government really wants to stop the boat smugglers it can easily do it, but it won’t.
The irony is that while Usha is calling attention to the emptying of Tamils from North East, her counterparts in Australia like the Australian Tamil Congress are going to the Australian courts to stop the Federal Government from deporting these boat Tamils arriving in Australia.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 19, 2013
Naga,
The Tamils left in the north and east will yet ensure that the Tamilness of these provinces is retained. Amidst all the problems, these people are making a come back. The signs are visible all over. The optimism is quite palpable, despite the efforts of the purveyors of doom. No one can develop the lands in the Vanni and make them productive like the Tamils who have lived there. it is an art they have mastered. No one who is transplanted will endure the difficulties they do to achieve success. The surviving Tamils have been remade a hardier bunch of people, by their prolonged travails. They are also a people who have been taught realism and pragmatism the hard way. They are not dreamers or a people who can be easily misled, anymore.
One post-war development that many fail to recognise is that the Tamils and Sinhalese ( Soldiers and others) are interacting with each other as never before. They are seeing each other as human beings. They are learning each others languages and of each others culture. This interaction is mostly positive and rarely negative. What was perceived as an Ogre, is taking a human face!
The ones who cannot leave or do not want to leave the island, will be the foundation stones for a resurgent and vibrant Tamil community. As you have mentioned many who are sailing away have criminal tendencies. It is in reality, good riddance of bad rubbish, for the Tamils and this country. The bad rubbish may become good compost in the west and provide some benefits to the Tamils here. The prolonged war and attendant violence has criminalised Tamil society to a considerable extent. What is unfolding is a societal purge.
” Ellaam Nanmaikay ( everthing is for the better)!
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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Bruz / April 21, 2013
It’s pathetic that the responsible people who are not learning anything but destroying the nation and making citizen wasting their time writing, arguing instead of working together for the betterment of the nation. Nothing good is going to happen until the whole country is taken over by outsiders and by the time it will be too late. It’s the curse of this miracle of Asia. People who were chased out or who left the country in disgust are doing well in other adopted and accepted countries, with respect, honor, dignity, equal rights, political rights and without any fear of death, rape or discrimination. The only think they miss is their own mother country, their birth right to live in their country of origin, and that sentiment which was denied and totally taken away by the rulers. This is a barbaric, uncivilized, unbelievable thing in this 21st century. Even a fraction of the life they live and enjoy in these adopted countries are denied to then in their own country of birth. That’s the sad story. The people who are marginalized are still suffering with no signs of normal life, peace, prosperity, reconciliation or anything. The only thing they have is intimidation, thuggery,land grab,subjugation and what not. Sadly, Peace in Lanka is just a mirage, at least for a long time !
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Wyatt K / April 30, 2013
I think the issue is that if unifying the nation is the goal, how can the Tamils trust an investigation conducted by the army. I think M.A. Sumanthiran has made this point as well in his calls for an international investigation. The issue is one of trust over the long term. Sri Lanka will better be able to heal if all people can trust an independent investigation. To be fair, both sides will not get what they want, but that is the best way ahead if the object is national healing. I do think the present leadership has served its purpose and that it has no adequate direction for a future of healing and prosperity. I, of course, think that M.A. Sumanthiran will one day be president because, even though he is Tamil, he seems to speak of the things that are needed to unify the country and transcends politics to be a national statesman for Sri Lanka which is why he gets a lot of support from the diverse groups of the nation. It is indeed time for a new direction in Sri Lanka and hopefully the people there will consider a change in leadership. Sri Lankans deserve peace and prosperity. There are a lot of very fine people in Sri Lanka…
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