By N. Logathayalan –
Political Prisoners
During Sri Lanka’s civil war, several thousands of Tamils were taken away by Sri Lankan forces and by those working for them; others were surrendered to the forces by their families and removed, never to be heard of again. Government is yet to respond even about those handed over to it.
These tens of thousands of disappearances are now well known to the world. Yet, what exactly happened to them is known only to those who disappeared them and those who gave the orders for that. We do not know how many were killed and how many are in custody except through the UN Report that says that 40,000 persons were killed.
The Current Political Imbroglio
These are times when the two major parties are claiming the premiership. Each promises to solve the problems of the Tamils but many Tamils say their idea of a solution is to eliminate Tamil presence from Sri Lanka. Tamil arguments on whom to side with, centre around under whom they would have a chance for a solution to their problems. To their credit, the more important, only valid constitutional positions in this debate are upheld by the TNA leader Mr. R. Sampanthan. He was telling at his meeting on 5 Nov. with President Sirisena on the long list of broken promises
This article is to report evidence that has newly emerged that the governments before and after 2015 have lied about holding political prisoners, and that Tamil claims that the government holds political prisoners are very true.
Jeeva, LTTE Fighter
Tamil organizations have a long list of persons who were taken away by the army, and are still not heard of. We have ferreted out evidence affirmed by witnesses that there is at least one person who has been secretively held prisoner since on 2 July 1995, proving the governments to have been lying. The entire government machinery including the Head of State could not see him in the prison system?
Thuraisingham Jeeva is from Mulliyavalai in the Mullaitivu District. He was born in 1970. He left the LTTE at some point and got married to Mullairanee and entered the trading business to make ends meet. He would travel regularly to Vavuniya to buy goods to be sold in the Vanni, and would return home.
However, one day he did not return home after travelling to Vavuniya. As such his wife Mullairanee, fearing something seriously amiss, joined by her mother, father and brothers searched here and there for him without any success.
Jeeva’s father lost his life in the last war in Mullivaikal and her mother died in the Resettlement Centre at Menik Farm in Chettikulam without proper treatment. One of their two children also died of brain fever during the war for lack of medicines. Mullairanee now lives in Mulliyavalai in Mullaitivu district with her second child, working as a labourer.
Serendipitous Discovery
Jeeva was 26 years old when he went missing. Twenty three years later, news of him reached Mullairanee when she had given up all hope and had no more energy to look for him.
Then suddenly one day, “Your husband is in the Anuradhapura jail” said a Mullaitivu man who had been with him in jail. This man had been convicted of illegally transporting trees and jailed. From his jailhouse he had been taken to Anuradhapura jail for a few days to do some labour. Their common Mullaitivu origins got him speaking to Jeeva who had communicated his family details and home address. After his release he contacted Mullairanee through Jeeva’s brother Ananthi.
Mullairanee thought it was a cruel trick for some nefarious purpose. Eventually, after hearing the correct date of disappearance, 23 years-old family details etc. she began to take the news seriously. The now hopeful Mullairanee went to the Human Rights Commission in October and filed a report working through translators calling for Jeeva’s release. The HRC officer also got very energized and asked Mullairanee to come with the fellow prisoner who had seen Jeeva. On 26 October 2018 the man had gone to HRC with the documents showing where in Anuradhapura he had been held and testifying how they had met, and the conversations that had transpired.
Jeeva’s second child, a female, was a seven-month old infant when Jeeva disappeared. She is a 23-year young lady today. She is t with trembling with expectation to see her father for the first time since she cannot remember him.
2009 Disappearances: LTTE’s Vinayahan
Evidence is now emerging of those disappeared in 2009 while their presence in custody was denied by our governments. Vinayahan was a top LTTE Intelligence-wing Commander who took off to India just weeks before the war ended. His wife and three children crossed military lines around 18 March 2009 and vanished. In 2016 his wife and three children were brought to her parents’ house in Varani by the army and dropped off. Their house where Vinayahan worked and lived in Kilinochchi is occupied by the forces. The three children had not been provided with schooling for 7 years. The youngest cannot read or write.
Like this a few more who are missing are known to be hidden in various places. Soldiers are offering to release them for large sums of money. These incidents are occurring from the time they disappeared to this day. There are those who have offered money and got their loved ones released while others have been cheated.
Early this year, in the Kilinochchi District’s Thiruvai Aaru, an offer was successfully made to release a detainee on payment of money. Details on sums paid are available but we have been asked not to release them because of fears for their safety.
PLOTE?
Mullairanee adds, “It was in this state that after searching far and wide for Jeeva without success that I went to Vavuniya to seek Jeeva. There some members of PLOTE told me that he was taken away because of his involvement in the Central Bank bombing.” This cannot be she says because Jeeva was arrested in 1995 while the Bank was bombed in 1996. Is this false suspicion what makes the government keep Jeeva locked up to this day in revenge?
Mullairanee is certain that those responsible for the kidnapping of Jeeva are of the PLOTE which had Vavuniya as its base and worked in close collaboration in unlawful activities with the army. Even at the time of Jeeva’s kidnapping, PLOTE members in Vavuniya, she says, confided in her that the PLOTE was behind the abduction and she should go to the White House in Vavuniya (where the PLOTE leaders were holed up). On this basis she went to the White House to ask for Jeeva, but they had threateningly responded, “Who told you we took him? Bring them to us to see if this is true.” Mullairanee says she did not want what happened to her befalling the wife of her witness so she did not reveal the name of her witness.
Last Link to Sri Lanka
The intellectual climate is wanting. Matching Donald Trump, President Sirisena insulted PM Wickremesignhe calling him a butterfly – the allegory being to Monarch Butterlies which tend to be homosexual. He cannot work with butterflies he says. In saying he will “not allow ‘war heroes’ to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes” which included necrophilia, the President seems unable to see that he is expressing a preference for necrophilia over gay sex. Our politicians for defend our murderous and necrophillic troops (whose war time atrocities are widely available on the internet and in Geneva) calling them our “National Heroes,” should be locked up for encouraging separation. They are in violation of the constitutional provision 157A(1) that
“No person shall, directly or indirectly in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.”
I say they encourage separatism by engendering in Tamil minds the thought
“What have I to do with this rotten bunch that encourages through impunity our large scale murder and necrophilia on our women’s corpses after murdering them?”
My last link with a decent Sri Lanka without wishing for separation rests not on our Sinhalese leaders but on those soldiers who released the photo evidence of our troops’ bestiality to the UNHRC for punishment.
They are the last hope for Sri Lanka.
N. Logathayalan, Jaffna Municipal Council Member
Chris Farley ret USN / November 11, 2018
That photo reminds me of American soldiers posing with dead bodies in Iraq and Afghanistan/ A lot of soldiers in the heat of the battle pose for photos. US soldiers cut off fingers and ears of Vietcong gooks during the Vietnam war. Those soldiers also raped and murdered women at MyLai and no one was ever charged with war crimes. Time to move on. Dead women terrorists were stripped of their clothese because they were believed to be hiding booby traps and IEDs. US soldiers did the SAME with hundreds of Surrendering Japo soldiers in Iwo Jima, Okinawa and so many places in the Pacific ocean. In Sri Lanka too a lot of them blew themselves up while pretending to surrender. These are well documented just like what Americans faced with Japos. Very few surrendered. They blew themselves up. Reality
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K.Pillai / November 11, 2018
So Chris Farley ret USN. Are you suggesting we throw away the Geneva Convention during war but invoke them in peace times?
Our own Retd. Lt. (Something) will agree with you. But it is a skunk. The manicured foot in the photo in a negrophilic act probably belongs to it.
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alex / November 11, 2018
Good article, exposing the absurdity of the president’s positions on the depravity of human behaviour.
The world is watching, and in this day and age, crimes of this magnitude, will eventually result in prosecutions. The International Community, India and the Tamil Diaspora will stand by the Tamil people, as long as Sri Lanka continues to oppress them.
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Bingo / November 11, 2018
I am very ashamed to be living in this murderous, rapist and human-rights abusing country right now.
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K.Pillai / November 11, 2018
Two compete for ‘Mother of all lies’.
GR had on the Defence Ministry website (for two years) “No Tamil civilian deaths towards the end of civil war”.
MR said “My soldiers carried a book on human rights in one hand”
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Thank you N. Logathayalan, Jaffna Municipal Council Member
As an aside, he could have said what he said during the MR/GR regime.
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Thiagarajah Venugopal / November 12, 2018
Dear Sir, A possible solution that will avert such horror in the future may lie here
Now we have a real chance of “rewriting the constitution altogether” and my personal wish list for the major political parties revised election pledges/manifestos are for – removal of the Presidential post, dissolving PC’s, Compulsory military service for all, ban all parties with language/race/religious tags, National security act to put away anyone discuss race/divisive politics, 3 language education for all, environment takes centre stage in all our future planning, Memorial for all the Mother Lankan Children who died since 1948 and a National day holiday for mourning/remembrance and to clean the country together of all rubbish/trash and get involved in recycling activity for our children future, electronic and finger printed National IC’s, air tight such no foreigners will ever exploit our children problems in the future, a well trained dedicated police and armed forces to take care of their Nation, A technocrat education centre to groom next generation of the elected officials of the country in administrative skills, a fully written job spec for all the elected officials, parties should post select Sinhala speaking candidates in Tamil speaking areas and vis a vis, time the Indian Tamils be fully assimilated into Sri Lanka and no separate parties and separate living spaces too, regular TV question time programs for the politicians/civil servants, social workers, pressure groups to answer public, No more ghetto politics. One Mother Lanka to solve all her children’s problem.
I very much hope you had this childs family consent/permission to display this traumatic photo. No war crimes limited to final few days will prevent such horrors again as per the despicable act but a thorough investigation a ‘Truth Commission’ for all that took place since 1970 in our soil will record Tamil Crime against Tamil, Sinhala Crime againist Sinhala, Sinhala and Tamil crime against each other, Foreign involvement for our future references/clarity.
Thank you sharing you thoughts Councillor
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Thiagarajah Venugopal / November 12, 2018
Dear Sir
Have a graph plotted and updated regularly with all critical junctures in our journey with some emphasis on the following – (1) Post Independent (2) 1948 to 1970 (3) 1970 – 1977 (4) 1977 elections to 2009 (5) 2009 to 2018 vs number of SL died helplessly vs Time. Add notes to the graph the national/international political events and all our evil deeds to ourselves and the evil deeds to us by other Nations too training and arming our children. Separate plot for the injured and traumatised, a separate one for the displaced, a separate one for the refugees who emigrated be it for safety or economical too please.
Encourage/Include factual investigation of the absurd crimes Tamil vs Tamil, Sinhala vs Sinhala, Sinhala vs Tamil, Foreign vs SL will lead us to a set of conclusions to show beyond any doubt that we are a very sick people from North to South.
The Majority who wanted to be left alone to go through the process of the hardship to get there as a Nation and the Minority who have squandered all that belongs to the Majority through thuggery. This has no language/religious/race/cast lines but the same minority has used this very effectively with the connivance with the help of the International criminals to create what we have today a weakened Nation where every family lost someone in the process???
Please present this graph to the UN members please. Create a website and let all 7 billion people around the world access this absurdity in SL.
I do not have access to exact data and may be some one with access to this kind info can start a preliminary plot with foot notes then we can all chip in to review/update/comment/learn etc.
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Thiagarajah Venugopal / November 12, 2018
Time has come to let go of the past. We have learned a lot about ourselves, about the neighbours, about the world at large. The essence if you do not take care of yourself no one will……..if anyone do they will all have their own needs and agendas we respect. Understanding Patriotism, National pride, respecting the Elected Head of State and the Armed forces are critical part of brining the country together. If we people do not give the support to the Head of State and to the respective Ministries then they can never deliver what is in the interest of the Country. It is essential we have one interest that is the interest of all her subjects beyond race/religion/language/cast/class..etc. If we grow as people the language we loves so much will also grow with us. We can not protect a language when we can not even protect a fellow man as this is the basic law of cohabitation too. Democracy is not defined by written laws and technicality but we need to understand the essence. We all went around and killed everyone else who did not agree with us in the name of various causes whilst taking cover in a democracy is light years away from where we should be as the beneficiaries of such a system.
We have allowed TNA and JVP to stand for election is not through fear but through strength that we shall get there one day taking everyone with us……is a credit to the Nation of People too. I sincerely belief is time TNA and JVP should shed their names and join mainstream politics if we were to complete this journey.
continued
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Thiagarajah Venugopal / November 12, 2018
There should be one national policy and this can not be drafted/discussed nor implemented under such climate and the known historical facts will unfortunately will always affect the outcome. This will always be tempered by outside forces in every opportunity possible. There shall be no Muslim and Indian entities too. Ideal is to have a 2-3 main parties with the similar western themes (not policies) that captures the Conservative /Liberal and Socialist mindset if more we shall entertain later in our journey. We already have UNP/SLFP etc. We are a small Nation of people we do not need to worry so much about the party politics so much initially as the ground work we ned to do to catch with others are immense and they have no party lines…….so let us start a different journey without discussing who should TNA/Muslim/Indian Workers parties should support as this itself is a defeatist standpoint leading to chicken and egg situation………I am sure no other combination left either as we tried all avenues in the recent past. The reason we have the current dissolution of the parliament tells you we all have passed our sell by date with our past deeds. The opening is there for a new era as we have all learned the blind leading the blind can not go far can only end up with the horrors the author shared with us for a good measure.
In the 70 years of history we have never worked together (politicians/we fell back into our own comfort zones to create our own ghettos the moment the first challenge came our way) and then how can we say we failed??
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Thiagarajah Venugopal / November 12, 2018
Then to maintain Key Performance Indicators on a regular basis (not waiting for the next elections) as failures/not meeting targets need to be captured and the required support/training given to the elected too? How can the party leadership and more experienced candidates mentor the young with their limitaions? The reason the parties currently create the same next generation of politics is because we clone the next generation to be in the same comfort zones??
This election is a great opportunity for all the race/religious/language parties to drop there names and to try something new……….revolution SL style because we get it and we want others to get it too. Join the major pareties in numbers will liberate the land like no other. No one have to negotiate anything with anyone except to do due diligence work on Nation Building activities requires city planning and a bit of economics outlook. This itself requires another set of skill set which need to be supported by technical people and civil service behind the Sean. Then one has to decide what part the public sector play vs private sector…the demand goes on.
Only National question there is do we have the suitable pool of people to govern us…the failure we have to date as a Nation comes from both the elected and the voting public should take shared responsibilty …..if we ever were to avoid the trauma we have already gone through.
Nothing above is written as a derogative remark nor is a generalised view. I just went through an evaluation process for personal needs and sharing with you all my thoughts.
We should remember we all have equally suffered from all that took place in our Nation and selective grievance is not always fair on others too is very counter productive too.
Thank you
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Punchi Point / November 19, 2018
Don’t mix-up things please. It maybe news to your Tamil mind and Tamil values but suicide bombing, slaughtering innocent people in their villages, threats to poison drinking water in the country etc etc etc do not have a place in politics. If a person is arrested with a suicide west all set and ready to explode killing innocent civilians, then he/she is not a political prisoner but a terrorist rightfully imprisoned.
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Punchi Point / November 19, 2018
This woman like many other Tamil women have been exploited in all possible ways when they lived by a terrorist fundamentalist gang, in death too they are exploited by people who subscribe to the same sick ideology. What would be your reaction if you died in this sad violent way and your naked body, whether man or woman was displayed all over the world? What would your parents feel?
Please for God’s sake, stop posting these appalling pictures – you are losing the effect of them. Instead present your case in a decent respectable manner, respecting everybody, including these hundreds photographed dead women and men who very mysteriously do not seem to have a voice, even the voice of family and relatives. If this was my daughter or sister or relative I would forget all about finding out how she died, but would first sue the people who post them in this most degrading way for twisted political agendas.
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