28 March, 2024

Blog

Expatriate Tamils And The Dimensions Of Culpability

By Malinda Seneviratne –

Malinda Seneviratne

Imagine the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which few would describe as anything other than a terrorist organization, running around in the jungles of the Vanni, occasionally blowing up a bus or carrying out a suicide attack inColombo. Imagine the LTTE ambushing the occasional Army patrol, stealing uniforms, guns and ammunition.

Imagine also a Tamil population of expatriates made of people who had the wisdom to see that something that begins in Vadukkoddai with a nod to armed insurrection ends in the Nandikadaal Lagoon ; a Tamil community living abroad that eschews violence and would have no truck with terrorism. A brave Tamil community, let’s say, that said no to extortion and abhorred those who would not think twice about making bucks out of illegal activities such as credit card fraud, human and arms smuggling, drug trafficking etc., in order to fund terrorist activity; a set of individuals who as a community or in their majority even if they supported the idea of a separate state would give up on the ‘liberator’ the first time he recruited a Tamil child to be deployed in military activities including suicide attacks, never mind the first time he sent a bayonet through a baby’s chest. Assume too that the lie of unbearable discrimination, both relative and absolute, was not referenced by those who needed to justify ‘refugee status’, and that it need not have been buttressed by the reality of the clash of arms and therefore fed the need for perpetual war.

No, we didn’t see a ‘Tamil Expatriate Community’ which was marked by the characteristics stated above.

I am convinced, though, that the majority of Tamils living abroad did not identify themselves with the LTTE, even if they were not averse to the idea of a separate state for Tamil people. Sadly, though, the decisions to support in one way or another did not ensue from a secret ballot on the particular issue. Sadly too, even a small minority and one that is not beholden to anyone nor constrained by fear of reprisal, legal or otherwise, can harm, can aid and abet. And that, ladies and gentlemen was a key factor that impacted the conflict and its perpetuation for three decades.

Let us be clear: every single person who supported the LTTE and every single person who supported the Sri Lankan armed forces were in fact raising their hands to ‘War’; every single person who misread the LTTE, believed it was invincible and therefore advocated strategies that strengthened the terrorists also said yes to ‘terrorism’, to death and destruction. There are no ‘guiltless’ in times of war. And ‘degrees’ of guilt is not salve enough for the aggrieved, who, one must remember are also culpable, one way or another.

But let’s come to January 2009. By this time it was abundantly clear what the outcome would be. The LTTE would be defeated. Now, if the expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils and their foreign friends truly believed their self-propagating claim of a genocide-pursuing Sri Lankan Government, then they would have had to envisage a carnage amounting to at least 300,000 Tamils being slaughtered in the event that the LTTE, which held these people hostage and as a human shield, refused to let them go free.

It is now revealed that as late as April 17, 2009 (as recorded by the then US Ambassador, Robert O Blake who can be described as the quintessential Meddling Yankee who actually spared no pains to save the behinds of the LTTE leadership right up to the Nandikadaal Denouement) the movers and shakers of the expatriate Sri Lankan Tamil community ‘refused to persuade the LTTE to release its (sic) civilians’.

There can be no ‘Tamil Struggle’, just or unwarranted, without Tamils, and the possible slaughter (as per perception of the Sri Lankan armed forces) of 300,000 Tamils shows up these Tamil expatriates and the true dimensions of their supposedly bleeding hearts (for the ‘Tamil Cause’).

Under these circumstances and given the clearly horrendous and unpardonable politics of these Tamil expatriates, it is not surprising that they’ve continue to decorate the edifice of lies that justified refugee status and lined bank accounts. What is as unpardonable is the fact that the word of these anti-Tamil ‘despicables’ still has currency among certain ‘world leaders’ and UN officials, never mind Channel 4 (proved beyond a shadow of doubt to have absolutely no regard to media ethics, civilized and balanced reporting and general human decency).

Those who funded and armed the LTTE, who waxed lyrical about Tamil civilians and made careers out of espousing a ‘Tamil Cause’ wanted the Tamil civilians held hostage by the LTTE killed and if those civilians can count anyone as ‘saviour’, it is the Sri Lankan armed forces.

There is no ‘deadline’ for self-deception. The pro-LTTE sections of the Tamil expatriate community can believe their own lies to their individual graves. As for the others, well, silence is easy but culpability is not dished out to only those who object vocally.

http://malindawords.blogspot.co.uk

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Latest comments

  • 0
    0

    I think this Tamil behaviour is their upbringing and the ideology they believe.

    Christian Tamils want negative attention and do business with that. Otherwise, how come Tamils suffered in Sri Lankan North get $ 40,000 to 50,000 each to sneak into Canada, Australia. Even their religion is like that. They use the god to do business.

    Vellala Tamils want to use them to exploit Tamils.

    See how TNA talks. They have begun the same old talk again. Recently, anandasangaree said that asking of a separate country was just politics.

  • 0
    0

    Malind

    Who appointed you as the Editor of the Nation?

    You are a partial racist writer.

    I am 100% sure that you are from the South.

    You must be ashame of what you write. If any western person comes to know that you are an editor of an English news paper in Sri Lanka, they will really misunderstand the quality of journalism in Sri Lanka.

    You are Sinhala Buddhist chauvanist.

    Please change your attitude, otherwise we may have report to your management.

    You are “Black-sheep” among the journalists in Sri Lanka

    • 0
      0

      Dilan,

      It seems Malinda’s accusation of the irresponsible behaviour of certain ex-patriot Tamil populations have hit a sensitive spot. Your response has nothing of substance, only accusations, while Malinda’s article was full of facts, references and globally accepted and commonly asked questions. Your attempt to discredit his work without even providing a single point of substance is what is a tactic of ‘black sheep’ journalists.

      You have the ‘right’ to report this journalist to his management. So instead of threatening, go ahead and just do it. Rights to speak and complain is something all people should in theory have, though organisations such as the LTTE held back from those who they claimed to represent. I can only hope Malinda’s management are driven by the ethics of human rights and free speech, rather than draconian self-interest like those who you seem to represent.

      • 0
        0

        This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy
        http://colombotelegraph.com/comments-policy/
        In short:
        • If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should have no problems.
        • Don’t be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humour we know you possess.
        • Take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you’re participating. Help make this an intelligent place for discussion and it will be.

      • 0
        0

        Navin Weeraratne:
        When you say, “You have the ‘right’ to report this journalist to his management,” are you assuming we are all village idiots? The man was recruited by the Presidential Family to work for THEIR paper, The Nation. No less a person than the President of this country identified that newspaper as “ours.”

        When do you collect YOUR next paycheque from Sri Lanka’s rulers to whom you attribute an interesting place in the scheme of things when you say, “I can only hope Malinda’s management are driven by the ethics of human rights and free speech.” Apoi, you must assume that everyone who reads this stuff is a maha gona, Navin!

    • 0
      0

      Malind,

      Majority of Sri Lankans are not from north or east though high percentage of Tamil & Muslim community living in Colombo..
      Wow.. Are you going to complain USA or EU? What the hell man.. who cares ….,
      If you are thinking truly about Tamil community in sri lanks , come forward and help them, instead of raising Tiger flag in UK , USA , Canada or in Europe.All these rallies for you people living in these countries to have your asylum application get through..It’s a open secret..

      See what’s going to happen in UK.. You edits rallied and shown your solidarity to LTTE tiger and raised your voice against our leader..Those shaky organizers cxled the speech, fearless leader got down and talk to true sri lankans.. Lions never go back…

      You think UK government going to relax immigration low ..Nope.. They are going to tight further and sending back to Srilanka.. so, collect more money to pay C4 and so call HR puppets.. Keep dreaming , it will keep you alive..

      • 0
        0

        Editor, nevermind, you go and edit whatever you like to support your former collegues.

        The FACTS REMAIN, you can’t edit/delete the facts.

        By the way Chuti/Dr. come-on you are so scared to use your reall name. Are you a COWARD? If so, I feel sorry for you!

        Who is your leader? Is it VP or Rajapaksa? or you each day you have differnet one? This may be possible with you because you writings shows that you are person without any policy. In otherwords you are OPPORTUNIST.

        It is a common sense, UK maintain one policy on immigration. It can’t have one for Myliddy and another one VVT.

        Chuti, is it true – once upon a time, you were the one who covered your whole body with Tiger flag to get more cliants for your profession?

        THIS IS POSSIBLE IN SRI LANKA.

        Good luck chuti, dont become a kuddy in the future.

    • 0
      0

      This is common knowledge, everybody knows that Malinda is Gunadasa Amarasekera’s blue eyed boy. Gunadasa Amarasekera the president of the patriotic movement of sri lanka is a rabid racist.

      Obviously, no body can expect anything better than Sinhala-Buddhist racism from Malinda.

      All these days, “the Island” was the only Sinhala-Buddhist racist news paper and now the “Nation” also can be labelled as the next Sinhala-Buddhist racist news paper in Sri Lanka.

      I stopped reading the Nation when I came to know that Malinda works for it.

    • 0
      0

      Dilan:
      Why do you ask redundant questions about this piece of you-know-what being appointed as Editor-in-Chief of The Nation which the President of Sri Lanka, no less, proclaimed as “our paper?” This Malinda is a rotten fruit that has not, obviously, fallen far from the rotten tree that bore it at the same time as it held pandan to N.M. (Giridara) Perera and Co. Check out this character if you want the Sri Lankan version of yet another Goebbels! He does nothing but sing for his supper and should be tied to the same bullock cart as Rajpal Abeynayake. In fact, RA and he used to swap stories in the pages of the Lakbimanews which is owned by a rather violent “bookie,” I am told.

  • 0
    0

    Malinda clearly demonstrates that he is a racist-chauvinist-extremist-jingoist Sinhala Buddhist journalist who received huge promotions from the State Terrorist GOSL, the war criminals to become an editor of a ‘rag’. He also gets regular free trips to places like Geneva, a all expenses paid free trip/holiday to lobby, canvass and write this kind of rubbish and racial attacks on the Tamils and the Tamil diaspora.

    All what he has written is highly exaggerated, distorted, misleading and blatant lies.

    Malinda has forgotten how the Sinhala civilians, burnt Tamils alive, looted homes, businesses, vehicles, shops, since 1958 riots and more likely years before he was born. The 1977 riots and 1983 riots was the worst than Rwanda war crimes. These were done by Sinhala civilians, while the Police and Army watched or just gave them the petrol to burn Tamils and babies alive, rape and molest girls, mothers and grand mothers.

    State Terrorism began slowly but surely much before LTTE was founded in 1976 as a defender and preventer of such crimes, and HR violations later becoming war crimes and crimes against humanity with genocidal intent. Corrupt journalist like Malinda and many others cheered and praised all the state terrorist and war criminals and still continue to do so. War heroes also become corrupt criminals suddenly and then thrown into Welikade jail like the Commander of the army 5 star General Fonseka.

    The fact is for every single Sinhalese killed these state terrorist and Sinhala civilians collectively killed 100 Tamil civilians, destroyed Tamil homes, numbered over 260,000, Tamil schools, hospitals, shops and buildings. This happened over 30 odd years and still continuing under military oppression, suppression and repression with 1 soldier for every single Tamil in the Northern Province.

    It is 3 years after the LTTE was defeated militarily. The state terrorist and their racist supporters thought rather mistakenly that Tamils have been defeated and destroyed. To their unpleasant surprise the international community do not believe their LIES any more, and all the Tamils are still alive and well, despite the 100,000 Tamil civilians they they ruthlessly murdered in barbaric fashion.

    300,000 Tamils were incarcerated in concentration camps under cruel and inhuman conditions. Rapes and torture was galore in the camps, and the same practices still continues daily, when young Sinhala soldiers are being let lose on a defenseless Tamil society with 90,000 widows, and many young girls, and women. That is a damn disgrace.

    Now the Sinhala war heroes and the whole country is being hounded and soon to be hunted by the whole world as war criminals. Such rubbish articles will not “white wash” the crimes against humanity and the Tamils. If Tamils in the diaspora have committed any crimes and the legal authorities in the west are fully capable of handling any law and order issues. They do not need liars like Rohana, Roberts, Malinda or other racist to assist them.

    It is not a crime to apply and receive asylum in foreign countries. In fact there are thousands of Sinhalese themselves have received asylum giving the excuse that they were targets of the LTTE or the JVP. There are tens of thousands Sinhalese living in Europe, UK, Canada, and America illegally and we feel sorry for them instead of the “heartless” character assassinations of the Malinda type, tar brushing every Tamil member of the diaspora as a LTTE Tiger, including those asylum seekers. They are leaving Sri Lanka on borrowed money is their desperation since they cannot bear the torture of the State Terrorist and their forces. Otherwise, why should they leave the country for the past 30 years?

    Malinda, stop this kind of racially provocative articles which will only make Tamils more determined, resolute to fight back in whatever way possible. Just remind your self of the Rajapakse and Cooray experience in the past few days in the UK, and India. Remember that Tamils want Justice first, and the demand for independent international investigations will continue. It is not about implementing your very own Silva report, which itself was a cover up and white wash document.

    • 0
      0

      Donald, as Malinda himself has clearly identified, it is only people like you who believe in your own twisted takes of reality. Anyone who argues for freedoms and rights, while holding up the LTTE as ‘a defender and preventer of crimes’, is extremely deluded or having a laugh, while belittling the spirit of protest against inhumane behaviour.

      If you want ‘justice’, then stand up for justice without double standards. After all, that is all Malinda has called for.

    • 0
      0

      Hey look here, Donald teera Seeya is back again. What happened to you Seeya?. Went shopping for a walking stick or red underpants with tiger head symbol? You should have found the second one easily in you wonder around London now a day as the Die-ASS-Poo-ra guys got plenty of them used for no-use.

      • 0
        0

        Hey Mark, I had to fly urgently to London to make sure Mahinda Seeya and 35 cronies including “Fatty” put their tails between their legs and left the country in a mighty hurry.

        What a disgrace that was and he certainly brought worldwide attention to Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, it was bad attention and where war criminals were exposed. Even Cooray in India, ran for his life, scared like hell. These are the forced “sanctions” which are being imposed leading to self imposed sanctions. All this is related to war crimes investigations and crimes against humanity and not directed on the Sinhala civilian community.

        Mahinda Seeya is older than me!!!!!!!!!!lol.
        And I am not suspected to be having cancer either.

        Even the Pope commented that he has visited the Vatican 3 times, and all without invitation.

        @Navin, I have stated the facts, and I have no intention of wasting my time with your rubbish. If Malinda responds, I would respond too. As for others in other comments, my battle is at a different level and not with unknown elements of the Sinhala community, blogging and barking rubbish under bogus names.

        May I remind you fellows that Sri Lanka’s largest trading partners are UK, EU, US, India, and Canada. Now Iran has been blacklisted with 750 containers of transformers are stuck in Colombo port given on loan from Iran. Oil imports are also restricted although July and August the refinery is closed for maintenance.

        Finally, remember LTTE is dead 3 years ago, and writing about what LTTE did or did not do serves no purpose. The IC wants to investigate the GOSL for war crimes and so does the US it’s own citizens. So Sinhalese should focus on it, than running to the Pope or the Sai Baba temples or other temples for poojas in India. Also remember that war criminals are not welcomed in temples in India. Face the reality and do not try to kill the messenger.

    • 0
      0

      Donald,

      Dont U’ve Anything Else Than this Bla…bla…bla???

  • 0
    0

    No expatriate Tamil could have raised his or her voice against the Tigers and requested them to release the trapped civilians for fear of being called a “traitor”. The pro-LTTE Tamils in Canada, UK, France, Germany and Australia held rallies with LTTE flags calling for a ceasefire not to save the Tamil civilians but to save the lives of their supreme leader and his lieutinants. The expatriate Tamils did lose their voices then because of the fear of the Tigers and their overseas lobby groups. They still do in the face of the resurgence of Diaspora Tigers. That is the irony. No ëxpatriate Tamil wants to be labelled a “traitor”. Why should they? They have good life in the western countries educating their children to become doctors and engineers thanks to the activities of the tigers and other Tamil armed groups that helped them to get refugee status. SL Tamils still get refugee status in countries like Australia citing fear of persecution by the Sri Lankan Government. Tiger demonstrations like the one seen in London last week will only help the cause of the SL Tamils in getting refugee status in UK and other western countries. That is one of the main reasons why these Diaspora Tamils are conducting these so-called protests. The more the Tamil refugees the more the funding for Diaspora Tamils. Tiger Conglomerate still thrives with or without KP.

  • 0
    0

    No expatriate Tamil could have raised his or her voice against the Tigers and requested them to release the trapped civilians for fear of being called a “traitor”. The pro-LTTE Tamils in Canada, UK, France, Germany and Australia held rallies with LTTE flags calling for a ceasefire not to save the Tamil civilians but to save the lives of their supreme leader and his lieutinants. The expatriate Tamils did lose their voices then because of the fear of the Tigers and their overseas lobby groups. They still do in the face of the resurgence of Diaspora Tigers. That is the irony. No ëxpatriate Tamil wants to be labelled a “traitor”. Why should they? They have good life in the western countries educating their children to become doctors and engineers thanks to the activities of the tigers and other Tamil armed groups that helped them to get refugee status. SL Tamils still get refugee status in countries like Australia citing fear of persecution by the Sri Lankan Government. Tiger demonstrations like the one seen in London last week will only help the cause of the SL Tamils in getting refugee status in UK and other western countries. That is one of the main reasons why these Diaspora Tigers are conducting these so-called protests. The more the Tamil refugees the more the funding for Diaspora Tigers. Tiger Conglomerate still thrives with or without KP.

  • 0
    0

    Mark, Do not worry about other people’s underwear. Worry about your dirty ones, and others who ran away scared from London. There was a bad smell in the Hilton area complained the Hotel workers.

  • 0
    0

    Re Donald Gnanakone’s rants, all you’ve got to do is to read the following. Shows the beggar up like nothing: http://my.opera.com/chandana_jayakody/blog/2008/01/22/gnanakone-brothers-fear-factor-and-the-scare-tactics

    • 0
      0

      Malinda Ayya,
      U Need to Keep in Mind Our Freaking Donald Seeya is Living a Borrowed Life !!!
      Chap has High BP & [Edited out] U will be Accused as a War Criminal by His Daispora-Gang !!!

      • 0
        0

        Kahapola:
        I suppose you were given your last name because of your behaviour: yellow.

        Incidentally, what is “Daispora.” The least you can do is go learn some English from your Harvard-educated (didn’t qualify, though) guru, Malinda if he has got the time left after licking the Rajapaksa boots, that is!!

    • 0
      0

      This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy
      http://colombotelegraph.com/comments-policy/
      In short:
      • If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should have no problems.
      • Don’t be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humour we know you possess.
      • Take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you’re participating. Help make this an intelligent place for discussion and it will be.

  • 0
    0

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy
    http://colombotelegraph.com/comments-policy/
    In short:
    • If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should have no problems.
    • Don’t be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humour we know you possess.
    • Take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you’re participating. Help make this an intelligent place for discussion and it will be.

  • 0
    0

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy
    http://colombotelegraph.com/comments-policy/
    In short:
    • If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should have no problems.
    • Don’t be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humour we know you possess.
    • Take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you’re participating. Help make this an intelligent place for discussion and it will be.

  • 0
    0

    The real problem is not solving the ethnic political problem head on. The Sinhala leaders from the time of independence have failed miserably. We thought Mahinda had an opportunity to do it when LTTE was defeated in 2009 but he is no different to the other Sinhala leaders.

    This is the real problem if this is solved then LTTE etc will not exist.

    • 0
      0

      Vas:
      Congratulations on a very-simply put FACT. Not only don’t these racists not have the skill to deal with the issue, they do not have the WILL because they are primitive humans without a bone of decency in them. Simply killers, not much else.

    • 0
      0

      Let’s also remember to return the 90,000 Muslims to their rightful homes in the north, which have been occupied by Friends of the LTTE since 1990.

      • 0
        0

        @Gordon Richens
        Some Muslims who were chased out by the LTTE are now living places like Kalpitiya for over 20 years, some of them prefer to remain where they are.

  • 0
    0

    Malinda is hoping for another all paid full board trip to Geneva to defend the despot Rajapaksa in November at the UNHRC.

    Talking about the LTTE after its demise three years ago is a waste of time but it does keep some people like Malinda occupied. Next time write it in your homework book but don’t publist them. They are old stories and are also boring.

  • 0
    0

    Imagine a day when most journalists in Sri Lanka are not bought and kept by the Rajapaksa regime…
    Imagine a day when most journalists in Sri Lanka will have the guts to write about state sponsored terrorism, nepotism, corruption and the abject impunity in which the Rajapaksa regime runs this country…
    hmmm…maybe when pigs fly…hell freezes over and Sri Lanka becomes the Wonder of Asia and the Universe… :)

  • 0
    0

    Malinda, like all government supporters, is in the habit of blaming foreign governments , Tamil Diaspora, LTTE, for all the problems we have in Sri Lanka. This is the easiest way to deviate the attention from day to day issues such as large scale corruption, nepotism, misuse of power, political interference in judiciary, suppression of media etc. I have never seen Malinda writing anything against the unjust rule of Rajapakse family. Most of his writings are preoccupied with LTTE terrorism and threats to Sinhala nation from Tamils. You do not mind Rajapakse’s misusing their powers and using Sri Lanka as their personal property to suppress human rights of not only Tamils but also Sinhalese and other communities
    For your information I produce here a portion of Editorial from your sister paper “Island” I was surprised that at last “ Island “ is expressing the truth about Sri Lanka. I earnestly hope you would have the courage to do it too. You might lose some privileges you have with Rajapakse’s, but you will be regarded as a great journalist if you could independently write about the true situation in Sri Lanka.

    Quote
    Before asking the media to soft-pedal crime etc., the Defence Secretary owes an explanation to the public as to why the government has failed to prevent and/or investigate crimes against the media let alone bring perpetrators to justice? The Sirasa TV studio complex came under an arson attack in 2009, and the attackers have gone scot free. The same fate befell Siyatha TV in 2010 and the arsonists got away with remarkable ease surprisingly in a high security zone. The Sunday Leader printing press was attacked twice in 2005 and 2008 and investigations were hushed up. The Sudar Oli press was attacked in 2005 and the perpetrators got away with their crime. The Udayan newspaper office in Jaffna has come under attack several times but no one has been brought to justice. Among the many journalists killed the most prominent was The Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, who was brutally murdered in broad daylight in 2009. No breakthrough has so far been made in what is made out to be a probe into his killing. Adding insult to injury, President Mahinda Rajapaksa keeps asking the media, Lasantha’s family and friends to furnish evidence and help the police with the probe! He gets locked into the same repetitive groove whenever he is questioned on ‘investigations’ into other crimes such as the massacre of five Tamil students in Trincomalee in 2006!
    President Rajapaksa and his party, the SLFP, together with its coalition partners made quite a hue and cry when the late President J. R. Jayewardene, intoxicated to the gills by a five-sixths parliamentary majority and unbridled executive powers, in his characteristic measured tone with a sarcastic grin to boot, told an irate public that they had to take care of their own security. But, today President Rajapaksa has overtaken JRJ; he wants victims of crime or their kith and kin to conduct criminal investigations, so to speak, and pass their findings on to the police for follow-up action! If people are to solve crimes themselves, what is the use of having a police force or a government? Little surprise that people, having lost faith in the police and the legal system, take the law into their own hands at the drop of a hat. This disturbing trend is symptomatic of nascent anarchy. It is high time the government realised that crime, human rights violations, corruption, abuse of power, criminal waste of public funds and the blatant plunder of people’s wealth cannot be swept under the carpet of pseudo-patriotism.
    Unquote.

  • 0
    0

    Malinda and Rajpal have sold their souls to the devil…and the devil does not wear prada (like the movie)…he wears a funny red piece of cloth around his neck. :)

  • 0
    0

    Reading the various letters that readers have posted, I get the feeling that there are factions of groups or affiliated parties who are either for or against the Sri Lankan government, and for or against the Tamil ’cause’.

    Those who see themselves as believing the ‘truth’ or who strongly feel that their point of view is more just or correct, must do so with some caution.

    That is because there are some unpleasant realities in this world of ours. One is that history is written or reported by the victors, from their own perspective. An example is the second world war. Britain,its colonies, the US and allies won against Germany, Japan and Italy.

    Now we believe that Hilter was a despotic maniac who was ruthless and utterly below the standards we have set for human beings. It was also believed that Hirohito’s Japanese were ruthless in the way they treated their prisoners of war.

    Look at Osama bin Laden. How many people did he kill for his cause? About three thousand. Yet, we are made to believe that he is a very evil ‘terrorist’who deserves our contempt. Do we feel the same about George W Bush who killed two million absolutely innocent Iraqis and countless Afghans? Probably not. At least reading Western or indeed Eastern media we see the demonisation of OBL but not of GWB. Why?

    What is “terrorism”? Israelis constantly evoke this term to describe Palestinian behaviour (resistance) against Israeli hegemony and despicable behaviour. The reality is quite the opposite to how Israel reports or discusses this phenomenon.The case against Iran and to some extent Syria is similar.

    Why did the civil war in Sri Lanka go on for about thirty years? Is it because the Tigers were too strong for the government forces? Is it because of political expediency that was given priority by political leaders? What aspects of Sri Lanka’s colonial history indelibly caused the war to rage for so long, causing bitter enmity between Tamil and Sinhala cousins?

    I wouldn’t form my opinions based on hyped up rhetoric used for various expediencies. I would rather try to examine the facts impartially without allowing any biases or ethnocentrism to intervene. Then we would not be fighting like fools in these kinds of fora.

  • 0
    0

    @Lasantha Pethiyagoda, instead of pontificating in the abstract, try and understand that many of these comments are driven by the distate that people feel for ‘paid journalists’ in the private media who write for the government. Of course, everything is propaganda – this is why the public space becomes such an important battle field.

    You seem to have a simplistic view of what people believe or think about the great wars or for that matter, the US war on terror. The Allied role in the great wars has been critiqued thoroughly and anyone worth his or her salt knows this. Similar with the US war. The hatred of George Bush was overwhelming even in the US when they realised how much he had lied. Very much so in other countries. Hence America’s foreign policy becoming heavily condemned by prominent columnists and by social activists.

    Please do not try and fit in a debate into your conception of what a particular collective view may be as your conceptions may be quite wrong and falsely premised.

    Understand a debate in terms of the realities driving the discussion. Long winded homilies are of little help.

  • 0
    0

    Hi Lasantha,

    I find it difficult to understand your arguments. I condemn all wrong doings whether it is done by Western countries including Americans or any other country. I believe humanity comes before your own philosophy, religion, community or country. When a wrong is done against a Tamil a good Sinhalese should condemn it without any reservation and vice versa. If you believe in Rebirth theory, your community, religion, or the country is decided by Karma and you do not know to which community, religion or country you would be born again. Therefore one should not get too emotional on any of these subjects. The correct thing to do is to safeguard the Truth and Righteousness, rather than being bias or have prejudices on anything.

    Accordingly one should respect human rights of all the people. Whatever the shortcomings Western Countries have, you have to admire the media freedom and their tolleration of oppossition. Any one can criticize the government without any fear. If you listen to BBC or CNN or read Western Newspapers you will realize how mercilessly they criticize the wrong doings of their own leaders and highlight the wrong doings of their own governments. Judiciary, police and state administration is free from any political interference. You hardly find torture or arbitrary arrests by white vans like in Sri Lanka. No one will question the validity of elections. British Prime Minister or American President will never dream of extending the term or changing the constitution to obtain more time to stay in power. When their Soldiers were misbehaving or killed innocent civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan, they did not say that videos were fake. There were enquiries and many British and American soldiers were disgraced and punished for the wrong doings. Still I admit they are far from real democracy and they do violate human rights of other countries in many ways. But in my view compared to Sri Lanka or other dictatorial regimes European or American models are still the best.
    If you are a patriotic Sri Lankan, rather than criticizing democracies of Western countries, you should try to persuade your own government to do more reforms. You have to fight for more freedom, democracy, accountability and a corruption less society. What Journalists like Rajpal and Milinda do is to encourage Rajapakse family to do more bad things by being silent on burning issues and by deviating the attention to other issues.

Leave A Comment

Comments should not exceed 200 words. Embedding external links and writing in capital letters are discouraged. Commenting is automatically disabled after 5 days and approval may take up to 24 hours. Please read our Comments Policy for further details. Your email address will not be published.