By Anonymous –

Mahinda Rajapaksa

This so called war victory has to be viewed in the back-drop of how Mhanida Rajapaksa won the Presidential Election in November 2005, where VP prevented the entire NE from exercising their vote mainly for the purpose of preventing Ranil Wickremasinghe being elected as President. Thereafter what is on record is, how MR took on the LTTE on the War Front in Jan 2007, and how he defeated the LTTE, to liberate the country in less than thirty months to end the war by May 22 2009. I am certain many witnessed the Govt. media that subsequent to the victory, how the Forces unearthed a massive haul of weapons that were buried by the LTTE, ranging from SAM missiles and launchers, RPGs and Launchers, Long Range guns and ammunition in large stock, from various places in the Northeast.  Some of these LTTE weapons were even displayed at Dayata Kirula Exhibitions for the Public as well. It is strange that the LTTE drawing the Govt. Forces to a War, after closing the Mawilaru Anicut to have buried all these arsenal without using any one of them, in their defense or to attack, which they never did. Had the LTTE just used the arsenal they possessed, certainly the war would have taken much longer to finish than thirty months and a large casualty figure would have resulted in the Forces. Of course the Northeast was closed to the NGOs, the UN or to any Independent Body of Observers, which has never been the case of wars anywhere else in the world. Here again all including the UN meekly obeyed the Orders of the MR govt. leave alone the Americans protesting, not even India or for that matter Tamil Nadu did utter a word of protest as the plan had been mooted by them.

The News of the War was disseminated through the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) directly under the Secretary, Ministry of Defense, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Public was informed of heavy fighting in the Northeast, the LTTE getting a sever thrashing, a beating of their life, with heavy casualty figures on both sides. Yet again there were stories that each side was exaggerating the dead on the other side.  Be that as it may, there were no sirens of Ambulances wailing here as before, nor the arrival of the dead bodies of soldiers in numbers to indicate of a high rate of casualty figures. The story was that the dead soldiers were not brought here, lest there will be unrest to quell. However there were no mass scale Alms Giving’s to correspond or signify such a high death toll in the houses in the South, either during the thirty months, at the height of the War or afterwards? Yet the public was informed that the Forces were capturing LTTE territory town after town, day by day over running the LTTE at tremendous cost to life of the Forces.

By July 2008 just prior to the NCP PC elections, the MR govt. proudly announced that the LTTE had been almost defeated and was confined to Killinochchi and that the Forces had encircled Killinochchi on three fronts, and it was likely that Killinochchi will be captured on the day of the elections. It was Sarath Fonseka who said that he will fire the first shot at Kilinochchi. However after MR won the PC elections the Forces did not enter to capture the last resort of the LTTE, that of Kilinochchi. Then the Monsoon set in and there was incessant rain in the area which continued till almost December 2008. The reason given for not capturing Killinochchi soon after elections was that it was strategy and SF is on record that he will enter Killinochchi when it was opportune. So up till January 2009, the Forces were shown, pushing Armoured vehicles stuck on muddy ground where the Forces were moving in areas in the Mullaitivu District.  Once the weather conditions improved by January 2009 after the killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge who was well aware of what was going on, the Forces entered Kilinochchi by end January 2009 to find the entire Civilian Force numbering over three hundred thousand, had vacated Kilinochchi with the entire LTTE cadre without any battle. In hind sight, after the Forces had surrounded Kilinochchi in Aug 2008, not to have captured Kilinochchi, looks obvious that it was a ruse to allow the LTTE to remain with the civilians, till the weather improved for all of them to move to Puthukudiirippu for the final drama.  Besides for the Forces not to have known that such a large number moving out of Kilinochchi which would not have been in one day, is impossible after surrounding on three fronts and leaving one side for the escape route for them to leave, clearly signifies their collusion. If one is to go by how the strong hold of the LTTE, Kilinochchi was captured without a battle, it is difficult to believe there was heavy confrontation with the LTTE to secure less important towns under the LTTE in the NE. Therefore the Forces capturing the entire Northeast which was heavily fortified with land mines, had been in similar fashion as how Kilinochchi was captured, without any real confrontation of a war, although VP boasted earlier that if the Forces entered Kilinochchi that the A9 road will be a river of blood, just to hype the foolish Sinhalese masses. Once the LTTE and the Tamil Civilians had moved to Puthukudiirippu, again it was advertised that, VP and the LTTE were holding the Civilians as a Human Shield, but contrary to such claims, almost all the Tamil Civilians wades the Lagoon and arrives under the Forces Command. It is here that the LTTE, sells the look alike dead VP in loin cloth to the Forces to take the heat of VP, who along with the LTTE cadre was to surrender according to the plan agreed with the assurances given obviously by the Americans and the Indians who nurtured the LTTE for thirty years and also brokered the deal between MR and VP in the first place, to consolidate MR as a War Victor to be accepted by the country as the undisputed leader. However VP, not even in his wildest dreams would ever have thought that the Brokers had plans otherwise and the whole lot of them were massacred by the Forces, as they did not have much weapons to defend themselves. First these Tamils including VP, Isipriya and crowd were subject to air raids and then the Forces were unleashed to finish them at ground level. It is here that many a soldier captured mementos of the killings, some of it which ended in the hands of Channel 4. Of these surrendered some were taken prisoner, hands tied and later killed and the senior cadre like VP would have committed suicide with their personal weapons. This is the white flag story which the UN, the Americans and the Indians want to keep suppressed, lest their involvement in this whole War Drama gets exposed. Instead, news was spread that these parties were trying to save VP in the final stages, just to conceal their involvement. It is a public secret that MR was helped by the Americans and the Indians in the War, right along and yet continues to do so. After the Americans and the Indians helping MR, MR is projected to have defied the entire world to have defeated the LTTE. Therefore is it any surprise then, that when a part of the World body, the Rights Groups try to expose with graphic photo evidence and Interim Reports of the UN are shelved for fear of being exposed, that every action is taken to soft peddle with Diplomatic Appointments given to Forces personnel as Shavendra Silva et al. by the very Guardians of Human Rights?

The culpability of these Power blocks is such that one could see when MR has clearly blundered with the Judiciary, violating the Principles of the Commonwealth and the UN, in removing the Chief Justice, being pointed out, of losing our membership in the Commonwealth, third parties as the Australian Foreign Minister, Bob Carr on a visit here assures support for MR to host the CHOGM Summit in 2013. It is not only Bob Carr and the Australians who are desperately trying to save face for MR but even the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamlesh Sharma had phoned Minister GL Peiris to inquire about the CJ matter and issuing a news release that he is satisfied with the progress and that he looks forward for the Summit in Nov 2013. Today India is beholden to MR even to repeal the 13^th Amendment, just to save face for MR as he finds difficult to devolve power under the 13^th Amendment which the Indian Foreign Minister assured after a meeting with MR on a visit here that he promised to implement the 13^th Amendment, only to be denied by MR later. A slap and an insult to the Indians, who are yet willing to endure, pandering MR at every turn as they have placed all their eggs in the MR basket.

It is on record in the Hansard the number of dead soldiers mentioned for the period July 2008 to Sept 2008, three months as four hundred and sixty one, as revealed by none other than the PM then, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake in Parliament for the purpose of extending Emergency . Thus, imagine the number dead of the Forces for the Thirty Months should be a figure of over four thousand? At this writer’s request a UNP member placed this on the Order Paper, requesting to reveal the Names, Rank, Division and addresses of the deceased, with an approximate date of death, but no answer has been offered to date. Therefore to establish whether there was a war to the magnitude mentioned, it is important for the MR govt. to reveal a list of names of all the Forces dead for the period Jan 2007 to May 2009 giving the details asked. If not at least the list of the dead, what has been officially revealed in Parliament should be made public. From what is evident, is that the casualty rate on both sides have been very low, right through except the last stages of the War, where a large number of Tamils and the LTTE have died at the hands of the Forces, but the casualty rate of the Sri Lankan Forces is minimal. Therefore the citizens have the right to know the truth about this Great War.

MR can not be considered as a War Victor, when he had paid VP millions of rupees and sought VP’s assistance to become the President in 2005 and in addition the Americans and the Indians who have been nurturing and providing succor to the LTTE for the last thirty years gets VP to agree to a deal that for VP to concede victory to MR to consolidate his position as the undisputed leader, promising VP that the Tamils will be given autonomy to the Northeast afterwards. Then as instructed VP scuttles the Peace talks, buries all his weapons and closes the Mawilaru Anicut to draw the Forces to a staged War. On the instructions of the Americans and the Indians, MR clears the War Theatre of all witnesses without any protests from any quarter, not even from the LTTE. Thereafter a Propaganda War is carried out with the LTTE retreating for the advancing Forces to capture land as done in Kilinochchi. Much publicity is given in the media with graphic photographs of a gory war, through the only source in the hands of the MOD Secretary Gotabaya, to convince the masses. The Forces are provided a route map to avoid the land mines, thus it enabled them to easily capture the land mass in the Northeast although the demining is yet continuing and will take more years to complete. Then VP sells a look alike, in a span cloth to the Forces to deceive, that he has been killed to take the heat off him.  In the end VP releases the Tamil civilians and prepares to surrender with the remaining LTTE cadre as part of the bargain. What plans VP had for himself with MR, with assurances from the Americans and the Indians is known only to those involved in the drama like the facility afforded to Karuna Amman to pose off as Kokila Gunawardene. However VP was betrayed by all in the end as MR back tracks on the advice of his Masters, the Americans and the Indians that he gets the Forces to massacre the lot. As a side bargain, that MR has had with the LTTE with the obvious blessings from the Americans and the Indians, KP arrives on the scene to secure Leadership and the support of the Tamil Diaspora to appease the remaining Tamils who were inimical to VP anyway, to obtain the funding required to develop the Northeast from the Tamil Diaspora itself who are rather reluctant at the moment without a firm solution. The irony of the UN is seen when MR refuses to even implement the LLRC proposals after agreeing to it earlier, but the UN doing nothing about the matter as they do not want to force it on MR to destabilize him further. What a mockery! So folks this is MR who is supposed to have defeated the LTTE in battle? MR is projected from the beginning to have challenged and even defied world opinion and the concerns of Human Rights Groups including that of the UN and has continued with little or no major repercussions or hiccups, faced by his predecessors in combating Terrorism before. Be that as it may, not only MR has got away Scott free, for war excesses of civilian casualties committed in the Northeast, but also has been successful in dodging gross Human Rights Violations in the South, with the assassination and assault of a number of media personnel and Political Opponents being kidnapped and made to disappear for being critical of his administration.

Therefore it is pertinent, in trying to understand how a Third World Leader as Mahinda Rajapaksa, sans a previous track record of brilliance in any field other than the notoriety earned of being dishonest with repute and being involved in underhand deals, could take on the whole world and yet survive, unless he has the right connections, merely carrying their brief for them, for him to be spared and also to have been assisted in this drama of Eelam War IV. Further the lukewarm attitudes of the International Bodies at times castigating MR just to appease the world body, where MR rebuffs and ridicule them in return to satisfy the locals, seem an ongoing exercise with no punitive measures adopted, leaves one to wonder how serious the International Calls were in the first place. It is no secret that both his brothers Gota and Basil also being American citizens, many were under the misconception and some still are, that they will be taken to task for the excesses committed under Human Rights Violations  here. Leave alone them being charged, they have not been even questioned on the allegations leveled at them by renowned people of repute holding high office in the World Bodies allowing the allegations to just fizzle out.

Now that, almost the entire body of the LTTE with their suicide cadres have been wiped out, except the ones who have joined MR in his pursuit of corrupt governance, every attempt is made by those interested to prevent the other Tamils from regrouping, seeing they have been taken for a ride. The recent denial of entry to Dr. Brian Seneviratne by Singapore preventing him on a trip to Malaysia is a step in that direction. How long the people can be kept deceived, your guess is good as mine.