28 March, 2024

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No Tiger Symbolism, No Troop Withdrawal

By Dayan Jayatilleka –

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

The men of the Sri Lankan armed forces did not die, lose their limbs, their eyesight, their futures, so that the fascist separatist Prabhakaran could be openly hailed as a great hero, his photographs distributed, his songs sung and his organization sanitised in the same battlefields. The revivalism that we have seen in the past weeks could, among other things, trigger a backlash that may initially be subterranean but has far reaching political and systemic consequences.

Jaffna’s Uthayan newspaper, as cited in the political column of the Sunday Times, (Colombo) quotes TNA’s chief ministerial candidate as having said:

“Prabhakaran is not a terrorist. He is a hero and a warrior who fought for the liberation of the Tamil nation. A Sinhala newspaper that interviewed me recently, quoted me saying that I had said Prabhakaran is a terrorist. I told them Prabhakaran is not a terrorist and that he is a great hero. It is the angle from which we look at, that makes the estimation of the person. In my view he is not a terrorist. In Kandy, Keppetipola Dissawe who fought against the whites was declared as a terrorist and punished, but now the Sinhalese have installed a statue and celebrate him as a hero. Once viewed by the Whites as a terrorist, was later declared a hero and warrior. It is in the same manner, Prabhakaran is seen to me as a liberation fighter…” (‘Showpiece Development in North but TNA victory inevitable’, Sunday Times, Sept 15, 2013)

As far as I recall, Keppitipola didn’t murder anyone on the side of the anti-imperialist resistance while the ‘Great Hero’ Prabhakaran slaughtered pretty much the whole leadership of the TNA’s constituent parties—Amirthalingam, Yogeswaran, Mrs Yogeswaran, Neelan Tiruchelvam, Sri Sabaratnam, K Pathmanabha—as well as the former Prime Minister of the world’s most populous democracy, and the grandson of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru! Some ‘Great Hero’ that.

Meanwhile, the respected academic Prof Ratnajeevan S. Hoole, discloses that

This morning, Sept. 13…40 youths campaigning for the TNA were arrested in Kodikamam….The 40 youths had copies of the newspaper [TNA’s newspaper Veedu/House,] …and Prabhakaran’s picture for distribution.” (‘The Northern Provincial Council Election’, Colombo Telegraph, Sept 14, 2013). 

Prof Hoole sees nothing wrong in the dissemination of Prabhakaran’s photograph and denounces the police action.

The TNA’s electoral rhetoric is in the same category that got the Basque parliamentary party Herri Batasuna gavelled out of the game by the Spanish courts.

The fealty of even well-educated Tamils to the memory of the Hitleresque Prabhakaran; the bitter reaction to the movie Madras Cafe, coupled with a continued refusal to denounce the murder of Rajiv Gandhi by the Tigers; the failure of Tamil communities in the liberal First World to absorb and replicate the values of these societies by producing a moderate Tamil political alternative reveal not only the commitment of Tamil nationalism to a secessionist project but also the covertly/latently fanatical and politically fundamentalist character of Tamil nationalist consciousness itself. If as Jesus said “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”, the same goes for heroes, especially Great Heroes, and political communities which regard them as such.

Is it possible then to reconcile the necessary respect for the democratic process and the Sept 21st outcome of the Northern provincial election, the prudent preservation of the existing framework of provincial devolution (not least because to do otherwise would capsize our relations with India), and the moral imperative to suppress the glorification of fascist separatist symbolism? The answer is yes.

In the struggle against neo-Nazism, many Western societies have illegalised the display of Nazi symbols, regalia etc. In Sri Lanka, the Prevention of Terrorism Act was initially known as the ‘Tiger Law’. When it was enthusiastically moved in Parliament by the Prime Minister of the day, Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1979, it was called the Proscription of Liberation Tigers and Other Similar Organizations Act’. This legislation needs to be reviewed, revised and revived and any glorification of Prabhakaran, the LTTE and its terrorist ‘struggle’ must be illegalised; re-criminalised.

For those who will doubtless ask why it is alright for Wijeweera’s likeness to be displayed while Prabhakaran’s should be proscribed, I would request them to ponder why it is not illegal to display Stalin’s portrait but it is to display Hitler’s in many societies.

Of course, an individual or party may consider Prabhakaran a ‘great hero’ and are free to do so. But they mustn’t articulate it publicly. If they wish to do so, they may, but not in Sri Lanka. They may do so for instance at the splendid Mahaweera Commemorations in the UK or in Tamil Nadu. They must be made fully aware though that if and when they return to Sri Lanka, they face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.

The pro-LTTE revivalism in the TNA’s election campaign erodes the legitimacy of the call for troop withdrawal from the North. The North is a vulnerable strategic border zone, within which there is obviously an attempt to re-legitimise the Tigers and their leader while across there is a hysterically hostile anti-Lankan movement. The military must remain there, though redeployment and reconfiguration are necessary, so as to reduce the military ‘footprint’ in everyday existence.

While there must be a sufficiency of troops to guarantee overwhelming superiority to in the face of any separatist resurgence, any troop build-up may be imprudent, for three reasons. Firstly the outcome of the Soviet troop presence in Eastern Europe shows that a heavy military presence perceived as alien, generates a long term social alienation that actually undermines strategic interests. Secondly the concentration of troops in the North may also make them vulnerable to bottlenecking, especially by a force that may have the capability to aerially interdict supply lines, neutralising the excellent road networks. Thirdly large troop dispositions constitute a target rich environment for a superior military force.

The TNA has issued a qualified denial and a clarification of its position with regard to secession, in the English language press. It has not said a word about the whitewash of the LTTE in the manifesto and the glorification of Prabhakaran from the platforms. That is the litmus test.

The problem is that Tamil nationalist politics has a long and demonstrable history of sounding eminently reasonable in English while rabble-rousing in Tamil. After all it must be something of a world record for a political party to have had two distinct names, one in English and the other in Tamil. The parent party of Tamil nationalism is the Federal Party, or the FP as it was known in the South. As far as I know the Tamil equivalent of Federal is Sandeeham.   However the same party is registered as the ITAK, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi. This means the Lanka Tamil State Party (or less charitably, the Lanka Tamil Kingdom Party, since ‘arasu’ is used for state as well as kingdom).  Either the party should have had the same brief nomenclature in Tamil, with the Tamil word for Federal in it, or the English language version of the name of the party should have been Lanka Tamil State Party.

Why was it not the case? A plausible explanation is that the Tamil version sounded more emotive and ambiguous than did the English language one, and that is precisely the way that the Tamil nationalist ideologues wanted it. One result of this duplicity is that the Tamil nationalist politicians were mistrusted among the Sinhala majority. The habit of sounding eminently reasonable in English and far less so in Tamil, lasted down the decades, with Anton Balasingham and Prabhakaran being extreme examples.

Let’s say it plainly. It is increasingly obvious that the global movement for a separate state of Tamil Eelam carved out of the soil of this island is readying for a re-match. The game plan is simple. It assumes that the external factors are ripening, by which is meant the separatist surge in Tamil Nadu, and the growing negativity in world public opinion with regard to Sri Lanka. The global Eelam movement hopes to incorporate the TNA as part of its bloc.

The strategy is clear. The leader of the self-proclaimed Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, Mr Rudrakumaran, articulates it in a call for a vote for the TNA, as follows:

“…As a body committed to struggle for the creation of a free and sovereign State of Tamil Eelam through political and diplomatic means, we feel it is the responsibility of the TGTE to clarify its own position with regards to the Northern Provincial Council elections. The TGTE is of the firm conviction that the 13th Amendment as well as the idea of Provincial Councils have expired long ago. The TNA leader, Mr R Sambanthan himself, once said in a BBC interview after May 2009 that the 13th Amendment was a “dead corpse for many years now”.

…We believe that the TNA has launched into the NPC elections with the clear knowledge that the Provincial Councils are a meaningless void, yet they are in it only to win over the support of the International Community…The Eelam Tamil Nation could win over its rights only by liberating itself from the bondage of the Sri Lankan State. We believe that the TNA leadership is taking cognizance of this reality. We do wish whole heartedly that the TNA reaches an unprecedented victory at the NPC elections…

Given this backdrop, the TNA should make the decision now itself that a likely failure of the Provincial Council system could be used to propel our freedom struggle to the next level. They should take up the lessons of being part of the PC, to make it known to the world that a solution to the Tamil National Question could not be reached within the State structure of Sri Lanka. We should harness the mass support in our homeland, the Diaspora, the Tamil Nadu and in the many countries where Tamils live throughout the world, and re-launch political and diplomatic struggles, joining hands with friendly forces throughout the world who believe in justice. History has this expectation from us. We believe the TNA will give weight to this call on behalf of history. ‘The Thirst of Tamils is the Freedom of Tamil Eelam’  ” (‘NPC Elections: What is to be Done’, Colombo Telegraph Sept 17, 2013)

This confirms DBS Jeyaraj’s reading of the strategy of the secessionists. He wrote: “The avowed purpose of Tamil hardliners is not to gain power in the Provincial council and use it constructively to better the lives and economy of the Tamil people in the North. Their objective is to capture power and then ruin the council thereby demonstrating that no scheme of devolution could satisfy the political thirst of the Tamils.”

While the analyst must guard against an intellectually lazy and obsessively monotonous mono-causality which in a ‘unified theory of everything’ explains it all away as the fault of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his siblings, it must be recognised that the government played its part in creating this situation. As I had repeatedly argued (in a polemic which is said to have lost me my job) in mid-2009 in the pages of The Island, the Govt should have held provincial council elections in 2009 before the TNA revived (the EPDP did well at the August 2009 municipal elections). In 2011, it should not have allowed its junior-most negotiator to insult the senior-most Tamil politician and plant the story in the newspapers. It should not have broken off talks with the TNA, insisting that the latter participate in the discredited parliamentary select committee. All this pushed the TNA into the waiting arms of the secessionist, pro-Tiger networks of the Tamil Diaspora.

But no one can push a party that wasn’t ready to be pushed. The collective or communitarian mentality it represents is what made the TNA reject Chandrika Bandaranaike’s quasi-federal proposals of 1995, 1997 and 2000. It is also what made the TNA, while still engaged in post-war talks with the Rajapaksa administration, produce a lengthy exegesis of the UNSG’s PoE (‘Darusman’) Report in which it improbably accused the ‘deep penetration teams’ of the Sri Lankan armed forces of killing ‘tens of thousands of Tamils’ and follow this up months later with a near 100 page document of which the first 70 plus pages were a slashing critique of the LLRC Report (while in the last 30, the Report was “damned with faint praise”). Even in its proposals of 2011 which it presented while negotiating with the Government, the TNA sought to go well beyond the carefully worked out arrangements on land as contained in the 13th amendment –and negotiated for the Sri Lankan side by Minister Gamini Dissanaike and Dr Sarath Amunugama.

Having been the fellow-traveller of a fascist formation that lost the war, but obviously utterly oblivious to the post-war context,  the TNA called in 2011 for all power over land to be vested in the province, with any usage of land by the Government to be strictly with the permission of the council.  Reading the TNA’s proposals I recalled the decisive and spontaneous pronouncement of President Premadasa chairing the All Parties Conference of 1990 (and contradicting the young leader of the Liberal party, Dr Chanaka): “land is the patrimony of all the people”.

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Latest comments

  • 0
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    Oh Poor DJ, Arasu means government in Tamil.The meaning of government is explained in dictionary as “The governing body of a nation, state, or community”. Is province not a form of devolved government? How stupid taht you can get at best? Example, in all gazette in Taminadu to central government mentions as “Thamizhaga arasu”. Do you think GOI consider this notification as a memoranda from another country?

    Can you answer me as you know international politics, is that illegal to claim a separate state if people want it? Are you meaning Pakistan, Bangaldesh, Singapore are illegal states because people had aspired to separate from its former united governments?

    • 0
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      This guy DJ is crazy, he thinks his word is the last word in Sri Lankan politics. His knowledge is limited, but he arrogantly passes judgement on everything like the Oracle of Delphi.

      Somebody has to shut his big mouth.

      • 0
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        No Thiru, DJ is not crazy, just scheming. He is hoping that by writing articles like this he will catch the eye of HisLordandMaster and perhaps be rewarded with a plum overseas job where he can help with damage limitation to the shit reputation that is now the calling card of the President and his ministers in the decent capitals of this world.

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      Why do you need a Tamil government? There is no Sinhala, Muslim or any other ethnic government anywhere in the country.

      Therefore if anyone is talking about a Tamil government, then it has to be a separate state like the jewish state.

      Following from above using the term federal Party to the South and Tamil Government Party to the North is deceitful

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        hela

        “There is no Sinhala, Muslim or any other ethnic government anywhere in the country.”

        I hate to agree with you, however there is a Sinhala/Buddhist state.

        There are other tools in the Sinhala/Buddhist armoury, such as Sinhala/Buddhist government, Sinhala/Buddhist armed forces, Sinhala/Buddhist bureaucracy, Sinhala/Buddhist judiciary, Sinhala/Buddhist parties, Sinhala/Buddhist constitution, Sinhala/Buddhist media, Sinhala/Buddhist Buddhism, Sinhala/Buddhist historians,Sinhala/Buddhist thugs, ……………..Sinhala/Buddhist 10%,…

        Sinhala/Buddhist perceptions
        Sinhala/Buddhist southern consensus
        Sinhala/Buddhist paranoia
        Sinhala/Buddhist fear

        You have a lot to go for you.

        • 0
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          The only state in this country is the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

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            hela

            “The only state in this country is the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.”

            With all the attributes I mentioned in my earlier comment.

        • 0
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          This Stupid Vedda doesn’t understand what is democracy and how it work. Good thing that Wanniale Atto and other Vedda here are better educated and hence do not subscribe to this bugger’s idiotic rambling.

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            Banda

            “This Stupid Vedda doesn’t understand what is democracy and how it work.”

            May be I don’t understand what Sri Lankan brand of home grown democracy is, otherwise I am alright.

            Please tell me what Sri Lankan brand of democracy is all about.

            I am bit thick don’t call me stupid which is completely reserved for Tamils and Sinhalese.

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              Native@ On this fully moon day- sacred to Buddhists.
              I THINK HOME GROWN DEMOCRACY UNDER MR REGIME/ADMINISTRATION SHOULD SEPARATELY BE DEFINED. That should be very idiosyncratic from them.

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          Have you gone to school ? What have you written ? What is the Tamil population live in North & How many Tamils live in South peacefully ? There is no Sinhala Buddhist state existing in South or in Sri Lanka.This is a multy ethnic & multi religious country.Only the terrorists opposed this structure & fought for separate state on ethnic basis even by killing their own Tamil people.

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          This is Anti-Sinhala Buddhist Propaganda.

          Now, Sri Lanka is a Battle ground of Tamils, Muslims and Christians for domination.

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      Think what would have happen if he became somebody in the UN?

    • 0
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      So, Basically what you say that ITAK is for Tamil SElf govt ?

      In order to have a SElf – govt you need a TAMILS – ONLY REGION TOO. That is why you have the Tamil-mythical homeland that existed the times unknown.

      Some other tamils come and say Sri Lanka is multi -ethnic.

      IF so, how come ONLY Tamils have Tamils – ONLY GOVT ?

    • 0
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      Manisekaran, Thiru, Spring Koha I agree with you all and also with
      Dr.Rajasingham Narendran – September 19, 2013 7:00 pm.

  • 0
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    Its quite amusing to see Dayan launch into his diatribes against Prabah.I am no fan of the late Sun God but I wonder why Dayan J, our [pandankaraya is so inclined not to lambast MR. One does not have to go far to answer this question, I would say.

    • 0
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      Another job in the pipeline!

      • 0
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        Dayan’s views always matched with what India wanted. That is why India selected, at the very beginning, Dayan to participate in Provincial councils.

    • 0
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      DJ put Velu not in the category of a human but a demon whereas MR, he put him in line with any shrewd politician to say the least.

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        Does anybody know how dangerous MR has been ? His performances on the stage is miles away from the real acting. I believe this man is the most dangerous lanken politician – perhaps the worst in entire Southasia. Sama is a sinhalese – but anti Rajapakshe by every means

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          Certain Sinhalese also worked for LTTE on payment basis.MR is an enemy for them also.So they have to act against MR.That we can understand.

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            You the idiots, would not see the nature of Rajapakshes. It can take many more years for you people to know his danger. He is the virus before us today not anyone else. Dissident means not you necessarily belong to PRO-LTTE factions. That is like Wimal Buruwanses theories that say- any foreign body criticises MR regime as western imperialists. Anyway, all NGOs and INGOS are also not dollar greedy organisations. For you guys, there exists only black and white – that is the great problem we the dissidents to this brutal regime faces today. So long stupid masses stay unaware – Rajapakshes would suck your blood selling the country to China.

      • 0
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        Bando, you should be an born idiot. How dare you to compare the languages in original countries with those of migrating countries. Is that the same for you ? That alone makes clear about your IQ level ?

  • 0
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    You are a Sinhalese extremist, just as Lee Kuan Yew Said MARA is.

    It appears you can’t think beyond your Sinhala Buddhist blinkers.

    It appears the so-called leftists hanging on to the government like leeches, Vasudeva for example, are all in the same Mahavamsa mould.

    Balkanization may be the solution for failed Sri Lanka.

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      Mr. Idiot,
      he is not sinhala buddhist :D

      Also isnt it amusing that every one of Dayan’s articles attract comments by former terrorist now HR fags ridilucing the article or the author.

      Does it mean you people do NOT understand what is being discussed in the article?
      Does it mean you people have no Knowledge, talent or ability to analyse and critise the content of it?
      Does it mean anyone who says Prabha is a terrorist is a sinhala buddhist racist though that person is not buddhist?
      Which of the above :D

      And talking about Lee kuan yew, i asked thiru whether he would like to have Lee’s practices in SL? In that manner all areas of SL would have a 74% sinhala majority including Jaffna. DO u like Lee’s techniques like that?:D

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        You all are the same for Tamils, perpetrators of genocide of Tamils.

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          Say you all are the same for Tamil terrorist sympathisers

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            Premadasa killed thousands of unarmed civilians without jurisdiction , Sirimavo did the same in 1971. (Both have killed armed rebels too)
            Do you guys classified those SL gov leaders and gov forces as terrorist? No you don’t!! Why only Siri Lankan Prabakaran was a terrorist? And You guys loved to say that loudly too. Mass graves of Sinhalese youth (Matale) are not important? Those were NOT uncivilized or terrorist acts by SL leaders?
            Now BBS and other monks are terrorisng Christian and Muslim sri lankans? Can those SL people sleep peacefully?
            Are those monks terrorists?

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              This is not called killing. It is called humanitarian operations. If people die during humanitarian operations it is their faults.

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              Anura, the crux of the matter was that the JVP uprisings of 1971 and 1987-8 provided an real and present danger to the government of the day and threatened to fracture the Sinhala-Buddhist vote.
              The LTTE was never a threat to any particular government; just a manageable discomfit. In fact, for many people the war proved a very profitable time and many fortunes were made. Don’t ask!
              The GOSL today will have no compunction or hesitation in putting down any uprising whether Tamil, Sinhalese or Muslim.
              They have no intention of letting anyone else enjoy the peace dividend.

        • 0
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          Thiru,

          When you say “you are all the same” what exactly do you mean? All Sinhalese? Don’t you know any Sinhalese person who has almost exactly the same problems that Tamils face in their day to day lives? Don’t you have any friends among the Sinhalese?

          Do you charge all of them with genocide?? Don’t you think that is a silly generalization? Why don’t you take the trouble to go and see the mother of the kid who was shot in Weliweriya? It might open your eyes a little.

          And what right do you have to speak on behalf of all Tamils? You certainly don’t represent me.

          And you happen to be an educated Tamil person?

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            Peruman:

            How silly? You have to go back to kindergarten to learn that it is said “man has six senses”, it does not mean it is only man but also includes “women” albeit human beings, those without biological & physical defects. No one is talking about the culpability of ALL Sinhalese, just a term to generalise that the majority of them are as such, and which is true, isn’t it?

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            Peruman,

            Please don’t get worked up.
            I meant all those Sinhala Buddhist extremists. Since my childhood I have seen many, starting with SWRD. JRJ said he couldn’t care for the lives of the Tamils or their opinions. I have witnessed 1958, 1977 riots and others in films.

            For 65 years Tamils have been going through hell in Sri Lanka. There are good Sinhalese people who have protected them during pogroms. However, the vast majority keeps silent of all the atrocities since 1948. They only talk about LTTE attacks which started as a reaction to army atrocities.

            In Hitler’s Germany the vast majority also kept silent, while some protected the Jews at their own risk. Result: More than 6 million Jews killed. Do you want me to be with the silent (if decent) majority? History blames the silent majority too!

            Structural genocide of Tamils continue, but most Sinhalese don’t even talk about it, or even deny it.

            You may have your opinions, and I have the right to mine. You need not accept my views, but I am sure some will. We don’t need majority opinion to be right, if it happens to be the truth.

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            Sorry the Sinhalese face problems but cannot be compared with what the Tamils go through. To start with the Sinhala do not have language issues whereas the Tamils face institutionalised racism when it comes to exercising their fundamental rights. You need to recognise this rather than merely associate the issues generally!

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              Burning_Issue, Answer me, if you can. What better language rights than in Sri Lanka you Tamils have in your new found lands like Canada, Britain and etc or in the capital of the country, Delhi where 95% of all Tamils in this world live.

            • 0
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              Stop talking nonsense Mr Banda. The foreign countries are same for both the Sinhala and Tamils. Comprehend it; The Tamils have the right to their language in Sri Lanka; it is your chauvinistic attitude that is causing the problems.

        • 0
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          I dont care what we are to you. I pointed out that Dayan is not a sinhala buddhist but a sinhala catholic.
          what i did was pointing out a factual error. As your mudslinging totally depends on it and it further proves you have nothing to add in a mature debate.

        • 0
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          Next it will be genital-o-cide of Tamils!

  • 0
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    DJ writing something sensible after a while.

    • 0
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      DJ is furious for TNA is screwing up his pet project, 13A that he has been backing throughout his life as the perfect solution for a peaceful Sri Lanka. Now that our NPC is about to be established, DJ knows that he is doomed without it being run viably. But Satan is standing right in front of his pet project, the 13A. Say it Mr. Pending CM; Velu is no terrorist but your hero. We knew that you will do a Wartharaja and follow him all the way to India sooner than later. The way to go Justice Wignaswaran.

      We ordinary villages always knew that the aim of most Tamils is nothing but Eelam. We knew they do not want 13A or even Sandeeham. (Thanks for letting us know the true Tamil meaning of ‘Federal’.) Only our Don Juans and Dona Kathrenas never knew it. Fortunately for Sri Lanka, Rajapaksas knew it all along. And that’s all that matters to us.

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    DJ,

    Before I read your bullshit excuses, you try to avoid answering my simple question.
    Can you tell why you Sinhalese agreed for a ceasefire agreement proposed by LTTE and what proposals you agreed to discuss with LTTE to resolve the National problem? Can you tell me the exact words used in the Oslo Communique?

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      do u know there are things called books, google? This writer is not bound to help a lazy man like u in finding information. Mr. Idiot!

      • 0
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        I know very well. But I need to get it from this Idiot’s mouth.

        • 0
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          why should he say what u want to hear? :D
          Are u lazy or dont knw how to do a research. People of the calibre of Dayan do not go answering Qns of anonymous idiots in an internet forum.

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            I am much qualified than your Dr DD. I want to hear why he and his government accepted that communique and sat on the same table to talk about that with LTTE. Why can’t he tell the truth that the TNA manifesto is exactly the same agreed by our leaders. Why he is now telling different story similar to that of BBS.

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      Ajith,
      LTTE resorted to war with SL to get its declared goal, Eelam. Had they won they would have declared Eelam. If you’re educated as you say, then you should know that LTTE is drowned in Nanthekadal and what remains of it is banned. And everything that was discussed with LTTE have become bygones good for historians.

      • 0
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        I know you drowned LTTE and 70,000 Tamil civilian in Nanthikadal, but it is not the first, you massacred thousands in 1983, 1977,1958 and so on. You still cannot run your politics for a day without LTTE. Why you are still discussing LTTE in this forum and elsewhere? Now the whole world branded you as a nation of failure, nation of war crimes, a nation human rights abusers, a nation of corruption and authoritarian. You should be proud of these achievements.

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    “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”- Great to have come from the mouth of the man who defended the bloodiest regime in South Asia! His friends, Gota,Mara,Basil,Karuna,Douglas,Mervin Silva…..DJ is also a war criminal as he is also accountable for the 146,679 missing people.

  • 0
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    Manisekaran, Thiru, Chandra & Ajith – I agree with what you have written. Tx.

    • 0
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      The so-called Sinhalese intellectuals, save some enlightened ones like Wikramabahu, are in the Mahawamsa mold: Wearing Sinhala Buddhist blinkers – they can’t see anything else.

      They are hell bent on creating a Sinhala Buddhist state in Sri Lanka, just like the Buddhist terrorist Wirathu doing in Myanmar.

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        where has dayan or anyother speak of creating a sinhala buddhist state :D can u point a single instance?
        Actually the ones who talk of such acts like BBS are criticised by the ones like Dayan and many others.

        The last time I remember of creating a mono ethnic country was Tamils. And they developed terrorism to achieve that

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        Can You Blame us,This Is the only country for us, you have you home land (TN),

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    Dayan,
    May be I might agree with Manisekaran’s comment about word Arasu.
    Arasu means ‘Jathika’ in Sinhala.

    For example, UNP is eksath jathika pakshaya. I think that is the same in Tamil Arasu Katchi.

    However I agree with Dayan on rabble rousing and using emotive speeches by Tamil politicians. That has taken this country down and it seems they havent learnt a lesson.

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      Please do not be selective when it comes to emotive speeches! Of course if you were to deem a minority group should tread carefully and a different set of rules apply to them, then you are a bigot. The post independence history of Sri Lanka is littered with communal politics from all angles. The current regime is centred on Sinhala Buddhist Hegemony and subjugation of the minorities is the theme. You singled out the TNA!

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        TNA is the so called main representative of Tamils in North and East. Therefore what TNA says and does matter. It is not singling out TNA.

        They are on the same racist and separatist platform as LTTE and that matters to the country.

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          You miserably missed my point all together: I am not surprised at all! You only see one-sided racism with your blinkered vision. I have nothing further to say to you!

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            I talk about one side you guys deliberately do not talk about or try to hide.

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      If that is the case,then it should read as ‘Tamil National Party’ and not ‘Federal Party’ in english.
      That is what Dayan said, it is one in Tamil and completely another in english.

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    Yes indeed a new job from the RajaPoxsas’ must be in the pipeline for Da Yarn.
    Who is Da Yarn to decide who Tamils should consider a hero or a traitor? Why this stepmotherly treatment against the Tamils but not against the JVP who are allowed to display pictures and cutouts of Rohana Wijeweera?
    If the Tamils in the North give the TNA a 2/3rds majority it will show the world that the Tamils consider freedom of movement, expression and the right to live with dignity more important than the roads and bridges built by the RajaPoxsas’. White elephant ports, airports and highways that can be used only by the rich including handouts and false promises may fool the Sinhala idiots in the south during elections but not the Tamils in the north. All the best to the Tamil voters and the TNA.

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      Which means no infrastructure development should be done for Tamils. The loans taken are paid by majority Sinhalese.

      GOSL should channel all that money to rest of the country who would appreciate it while paying for it.

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    The TNA has set a ceiling of 2 seats for low-castes. I heard Vingi whinning about university standardisation before. Here he has standardised each Pradeshiya Sabha for low-castes when over 50% of the Jaffanese population are low castes. Go figure!

    Why is there a duality in language by these Tamils? In one hand they want to keep the low-castes under their jackboot. In the other they are forced to depend on their vote to come to power. They feed the lower-castes a regular dose of xenaphobia and nationalism in Tamil. They then ask for their vote with a promise of a “Tamil kingdom” where they will be “safe’ and live in “dignity”. Most low-castes do not see the deception becuase they are illiterate. They switch to flowery language when speaking in English.

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      From where did you get this figure, “50% of the Jaffanese population are low castes”???

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      All Jaffna people are low caste. Tobacco and sanitary workers brought by the Dutch and the British.

      Just look at how they pray. Naked or half naked! Just like apes in stone age! Uncivilized.

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        Your slip is showing too much Goraka! hmmm.

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        You are right they are people. They were brought to rehabilitate and civilize the animals living in Sri Lanka

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    I constantly quoted you as a Sinhala racist, and an opportunistic. You may call Pirabahran as a hero but Wigneswaran may call him as a hero. For many Tamils Pirabahran is undoubtedly a “Hero”. You Sinhalese celebrated Mahinda Rajapakse and Gotapaya Rajapakse as Hero’s when they killed over 40,000 innocent Tamils. These two guys have killed lot of Sinhalese journalists, killed many Tamil politicians including Raviraj and Pararajasingham. For Tamils they are terrorist. You are part of that terror and it is absolutely right to consider as a terrorist because you are part of that institution.

    Pirabaharan stood for the rights of the Tamils and he made Sinhalese to accept that Tamils are traditional inhabitants of North East of Sri Lanka and federalism is a suitable and acceptable form of devolution. You yourself accepted that principle and was part of that devolution package under North-East Provincial Administration. There is nothing wrong in considering Pirabahran as a hero.

    Provincial Councils as it is useless. A military Governor appointed by the Government who is biased and against to the people and people representatives, grabbing land owned by people, using his powers to involve in the political and social activities and encourage military to disturb law and order. Why do we need a 100% Sinhala militray and police force and armed militant groups in the North? Are you happy to have 100% Tamil army and police in Hambantota and Tamil Governor Grabing Sinhalese land?

    The intention of Sinhalese governments to change the demography in the North East has proven without doubt in the East and Sinhala leaders have expressed their intention of doing that in the North. Can you deny these? Under these circumstances, devolution of police and land powers are necessary to have an efficient administration and maintain the law and order. Further, North East merger is a necessary to protect the Tamils from ethnic cleaning.

    Secession is an alternative to federalism when the Central government fails to provide its obligations. Under the federal system security is still going to be under the Central administration and any threats to the national security is under the control of Central Government.Tamils stand for federal form of devolution is nothing new to Sri Lanka. It is going for a century. There are examples of new countries formed through various mechanisms. If the environment and circumstances comes together you cannot stop from separation. Split of Soviet Union, division of Great India into Pakistan, Bangladesh, and many other examples around the world. Why look at LTTE and Sri lanka. Under the Unitary system, your military lost control of North East for nearly 30 years and you thought you will never win LTTE. But circumstances changed India turned against LTTE despite your Government attempted to kill the former Prime Minister of the world’s most populous democracy, and the grandson of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru!. The western countries provided full support in terms of intelligence, expertise, China, Russia, Iran, Israel providing weapons of mass destruction including cluster bombs and chemical weapons, UN providing its support through withdrawal of its monitoring and allowed and silently watched the massacre of over 40,000 civilians brutally. Tamils cannot forget what you did to their sons, daughters, fathers and mothers. You celebrate the victory of unlawful killing, raping and now grabbing their livlihood as well.

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    One of the rules of debate and polemics requires first listening (in this case reading) and understanding and then responding. The comments indicate clearly that this rule is not followed.

    The people who pay the prize for not taking into account of the salient points in DJ’s analysis are not the TNA leaders or those in the TGTE but the rest of the Tamils living not only in the North and East but those in other parts of Sri Lanka. Dj’s writing on this topic is a positive contribution in understanding of political causes and effects.

    We have to make sure that the Provincial Council lead by the TNA succeed for the following reasons:

    1. Failure will be used as a pretext to revive the Ltte and send another 100,000 people to Nanthi Kadal.

    2. To ensure the immediate as well as the long term needs of the people in the NP are planned and delivered by securing the necessary resources through intelligent negotiations with the central government.
    We must make Vigneswaran to play this role. That is what people are hoping from him. This is why we need a strong opposition in the PC to steer the PC in the right direction and to make checks and balances.

    3. To educate the Tamil people that they are capable of using the existing devolved powers and if necessary to secure more powers to self govern their province without the services of any despots or agents from within or outside.

    4. This is test that the TNA can administer efficiently and responsibly taking advantage of the devolved powers. If they cannot use the existing powers it can be argued that they do not deserve more. TNA must be encouraged to pass this test.

    5. Successful use of the existing powers will encourage other provincial councils also to become empowered and grass root democracy will flourish throughout Sri Lanka.

    6. Success in responsibly running the council w/o misusing the devolved powers and w/o undermining the soverignity of Sri Lanka will be the basis for securing more devolution if that is proved to be necessary.

    Sooriasegaram

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      Dear Sooriyasegaram,

      So you agree that 100,000 Tamil Civilians were massacred in Nanthikadal by Sinhala Military. That is great news. I am sure now Dr, Dayan Jeyatilake will agree with you.
      In other words, you describe Sri Lanka as a terrorist state and it will kill another 100,000 if land and police powers are granted to the NCP. Do you agree Dr DJ?

      What are the short term and long term needs of the Tamils of North?

      Can they stop Colonization of Sinhalese in the North with existing powers? can they stop land grabbing of Military in the North with existing powers? Can you stop BBS attacking Hindu Temples, Muslim mosques and Christian churches in the North?
      Can you stop corruption of pro government militant groups and military intelligence groups interfering the life of the people without police powers?

      So you can put all the blocks to the existing powers using those groups and then say TNA has not used existing powers efficiently and bring back your corrupted regime under unitary system to complete Sinhalaisation of North.

      If you can’t agree to those land powers and police powers, will this government agree for them in five years, 10 years or ever?

      It is funny that if TNA unsuccessful in the North,the democracy will not come back to the South.

      The final point is notable. misusing the devolved powers and undermining the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. How do you define those terms and Who decide this? Is it BBS?

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      Sooriyasegaram,

      You refer to the need of a strong opposition in the NPC. Are they to be led by the goons of Devananda whose exploits are well described in the article by Rajah Rajasingham in this same webpge (CT)? I think you are slowly losing your sanity!

      Sengodan. M

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      Hi Sooriasegaram, good thinking by and large. The only thing that worries me is that the Rajapaksas will not permit a stable TNA controlled PC to function in the n/e.The way I see things, given known factors and the players [north and south]a TNA controlled n/e council will not BE PERMITTED TO FUNCTION FOR MORE THAN THREE MONTHS. Much less in fact. What dayan is aiming at is a pivotal position in the PC apparatus. Perhaps that’s something that he and GL have had a lot to talk about in these past few weeks, a move that will enable thr government to say to the UN ” look, we are even scaling down all level of military involvement in the north.WE ALL KNOW THAT GL, THE EGO BOOSTER, HAS FOR AGES BEEN READING MR RIGHT AND HAS BEEN SUGGESTING THINGS WHICH ARE EXACTLY THE THINGS MR LIKES TO HEAR… AND HAS PERHAPS BEEN SINGULARLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE SHIT THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN DRAGGED INTO… EVERYONE BLAMES MR AND GOTA FOR THE SHIT.DAYAN IS COMPARATIVELY NOTHING IN COMPARISON TO GL IN THE FINE ART OF BULLSHITTING. PLAYING ON MR’S EGO AND LEADING HIM INTO ALL SORTS OF SHIT DOES TAKE SOME DOING. AND GL HAS LANDED THE WHOLE RAJAPAKSA CLAN INTOO QUITE A MORASS FROM WHICH, MARK MY WORDS HERE : THERE CAN BE NO WITHDRAWAL SHORT OF MASSIVE BLOODLETTING ONCE AGAIN.

      NOW, THAT’S THE TIME BOMB WE’RE ALL SITTING ON AND THE POST-NORTHERN PC ELECTION SCENARIO WILL SEE THE FRUITION OF THIS PROPHESY.

      The new northern PC will be a bummer, a non-starter. So where do we go from there? Create a destabilised law and order scenario in the north and east [ don’t forget that suddenly, out of the blue, very recently we have seen a few HUGE Tiger explosives caches ” discovered” in the south, call in the army and police AND SHOW INDIA THAT THE 13A SIMPLY WILL NOT WORK.

      THE GOVERNMENT WILL THEN HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT 13a ONLY SERVES TO BE A HUGE DESTABILISING FORCE IN THE COUNTRY AND IT WILL THEN HAVE , OR CLAIM TO HAVE, JUSTIFICATION TO DUMP IT IN THE DIYAWANNA.wITH CHINA’S HUGE STATURE IN THIS GOVERNMENT’S SCHEME OF THINGS, INDIA IS NOT VERY LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING RASH IN SUCH A SCENARIO EVEN IF IT LEADS TO YET ANOTHER ROUND OF BLOODSHED IN THE NORTH, WITH THE LIVES OF ALL TNA MEMBERS NOT WORTH A DUD ONE CENT COIN.aND WHAT THE HECK CAN RUDRAKUMARAN AND THE DIASPORA DO THEN? NOT A DAMNED THING.COME , COME. WE’RE NOT KIDS. WE KNOW THE FACTORS WE’RE DEALING WITH. WE KNOW THE POLITICAL STAKES INVOLVED.WE KNOW THE MINDSETS OF THE KEY PLAYERS.

      I, FOR ONE, GOT FREE OF MY BLINKERS A VERY LONG TIME AGO.THERE’S GOING TO BE A VERY BRIEF AND VERY, VERY BLOODY RESPONSE BY THE GOVERNMENT TO THE DEIFICATION OF PRABHA AND THE CALL TO A REVIVAL OF THE DEMAND FOR THE TAMIL ‘NATION’. JUSTICE SANSONI WAS THE FIRST TO SPELL THIS OUT THOUGH PERHAPS EVEN HE FAILED TO REALIZE THAT THE STATE WOULD BE SPONSORING THE SINHALA/BUDDHIST EXTREMIST BACKLASH.

      THE STAGE IS SET AND YOU CAN BET THAT ALL ACTORS HAVE BEEN WALKED THROUGH THE ROLES THEY NEED TO PLAY…INCLUDING DAYAN.WE ARE DECADES AWAY FROM AN END TO RACIAL BLOODSHED,WHAT TRANSPIRED AT NANDIKADAL CAN SOON LOOK LIKE A MERE DRESS REHEARSAL.I AM AWED BY THE FACT THAT THE TNA SEEMS TO BE INEXORABLY MOVING TOWARDS WHAT APPEARS TO BE A DEATH WISH WAITING TO BE FULFILLED.DAYAN COULD EASILY BE THE STUPID VICTIM OF A SHREWD PLAN TO ELIMINATE WHAT’S LEFT OF THE LTTE’S REMAINING PROXIES.. AND VERY LIKELY END UP AS THE NEXT GUY WITH WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST HIM.IN FACT, I’M INCLINED TO GO ALL THE WAY WITH AJITH’S COMMENT BELOW. HE PAINTS A SCENARIO THAT WILL BE VERY, VERY MUCH TO DAYAN’S LIKING.PITY, THERE WAS A TIME WHEN MANY FELT THE MAN’S CREDENTIAL WERE IMPECCABLE AND THAT HE WOULD REASSERT THE ESSENTIAL INTEGRITY AND DIGNITY WHICH , EVEN NOW, I STILL SEE IN HIM. WILL IT BE A TRAGIC CASE OF KNOWING A MAN BY THE FRIENDS HE HAS? WAS DAYAN PERHAPS SUBCONSCIOUSLY SEEING HIMSELF FOR WHAT HE FEARS HE REALLY IS THOUGH WE’VE BEEN MORE GRACIOUS IN OUR ASSESSMENT OF HIM? TIME WILL TELL..BUT, I AM AFRAID, NOT BEFORE MORE BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED IN THIS COUNTRY. WANNA BET?

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    PM Rudra and Reverend Emmanuel surely didn’t pay first class fares and summon the LTTE proxy Sambandan abd his Deputy to coach them on how to abide by the Srilankan Constitution.

    Did they?..

    Cannada which hosts the biggest contingent of the ex Tigers including the card carrying members of the LTTE has the most Eelaam friendly Govt under P M Harper.

    Conducting Terrorism classes and collecting funds seem not a problem still in this LTTE territory.

    Soon after their return, Sambandan got his Vellala front man to not only write the Manifesto to articulate PM Rudrakumarans thoughts and wishes but also to print the homage to Maha Veera Prabakaran as a how to vote card.

    As the Prez pointed out clearly,to the senior Journ from the Hindustan Times, 80 percent of the TNA candidates are Velllalas, who lived comfortable lives when the inhabitants in the North went through hell.

    Will These inhabitants who are lnow iving a peaceful life and trying to put food on the table,provide their youngsters again to wear the Cyanide capsule and get bullets and blow themselves up to fullfil the Diaspra, Vaiko dream through their Vellala agents?.

    Or the Diaspora is going to send their sons and daughters this time to fight the Srilankan Forces to deliver the Eelaam to the TGTE?.

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      K.A Sumanasekera:

      For argument sake, let us assume that those vellalas denigrated the low caste people. Would that be worse than slaughtering more than 70,000 civilians? What about locking them up in concentration camps like animals with barricades and guns pointed at them? This scum president of yours can’t even help widows of the war – what more that a number of them have turned to prostitution because they have no means of and for a decent livelihood. In the sense, your president is nothing more than a criminal. If you want to get a laptop from him, by all means sing your hosannas to him and prostrate at his feet. During the time of Prabhakaran, no one dared to talk about the caste system openly.

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    DJ says, ….”The men of the Sri Lankan armed forces did not die, lose their limbs, their eyesight, their futures,…….”.

    So, Tamils say, ….The men and women of the Eelam Tamils, did not die, lose their limbs, their eyesight, their futures, so that Sinhalese can occupy and rule them.

    :-)

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      ‘So, Tamils say, ….The men and women of the Eelam Tamils, did not die, lose their limbs, their eyesight, their futures, so that Sinhalese can occupy and rule them.’

      Oh but they did! Because when their cowardly leader ran out of children and women to hide behind, he hadn’t the balls to bite his cyanide capsule.

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        Don’t you get it?

        I am not saying VP is a hero….. what I am saying is as long as army is there, and tamils feel they are occupied, LTTE has a good chance to come back.

        Reconciliation is failing, not because of TNA, but due to ‘occupy and rule’ mentality of the Sinhala Govt.

        :-)

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          May be it is a chicken and egg situation!

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            Leave the poor chicken and its egg alone. The short of it is that Sinhalas are simply too greedy to share power with the Tamils.

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              jansee

              “The short of it is that Sinhalas are simply too greedy to share power with the Tamils.”

              The situation is similar to that of LTTE era when VP was too greedy to share power with his own Tamils.

              The moral of the story is that Tamils cannot be trusted with power.

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              “The moral of the story is that Tamils cannot be trusted with power”

              Then what do you suggest? What morality you have referred to? What is moral about how the Tamils have been treated post-independence? I am sure the Tamils would do a better job of it than the current bunch at the helm!

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              Burning_Issue

              “What is moral about how the Tamils have been treated post-independence?”

              Please refer to my earlier comments elsewhere.

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          you can say what you want when you are living in Canada hiding behind a keyboard . and you can cry for even . The International community cant get you what you lost in the war .

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        Puswella:

        But I thought your Dutugemunu declared that it was a humanitarian operation with the human charter in one hand and the missile in the other. Now, when you admit that Tamils were in fact maimed and murdered, make sure Gotabaya’s white van does not come after you. And if Prabhakaran is a coward, what then is MR and Gota – unless you can show us that both of them were right in the frontline, with a gun in one hand and the humanitarian charter in the other, or were they sleeping sound and well in their palaces? You are a fool – you think they are going to pat on your back and relieve your foolish soldiers from the frontline?

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    Opportunities might arise to resort to arms again in case rights are not offered to the Tamils. Due to ranting, ravings, tormenting, nagging and harassment by the ruling elites, we might be forced to take up to arms – cautioned V.K.Vigneswaran, former Supreme Court Judge and the Chief Minister candidate of the Tamil National Alliance in the North Provincial Council election.

    The statement challenging the Government stance was made by Vigneswaran at a press meet held on 15th September, at the headquarters of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi.

    He further said, Sri Lanka Army which is not needed to our people, should not be present here anymore to subdue us.

    He extended the threat by stating , Opportunities might arise ` to resort to arms again,` in case rights are denied to Tamils.

    He added, according to the basic concept of the Provincial Counci laws, the central government should provide justice. Failing to provide justice amounts to the violation of the very concept of the laws of the Provincial Council.

    We will bring this to the notice of the international community, Vigneswaran chided.

    He continued, We would also inform the international community that this government has failed to implement the 13th amendment to the Sri Lanka`s constitution.

    Vigneswaran reiterated his threat of resorting to arms , Due to the ranting, ravings, tormenting, nagging and harassment of the ruling elites, we might be forced to resort to take up arms.

    If the coterie involve in ruling the country continues with their harassment, then an opportunity might arise to resort to arms again, he emphasized without mincing words.

    Explanation has to be provided for the presence of the Sri Lanka Army in the predominantly Tamil regions for the last four years, after the conclusion of the armed conflict, Vigneswaran demanded.

    If they are keeping the Army without any need or requirements, then that means, they are keeping the armed forces to enslave and to subdue and harass us Vigneswaran opined.

    People have every right to demand and send back the Army from here. The Army which is not necessary should not be here to enslave us Chief Minister Candidate of the TNA roared.

    He further said that, we will get the mandate of the people and pack up the Army away. If in case the government fails to cooperate with us, we will go up to the United Nations.

    At the same time, R. Sampanthan, Leader of the Tamil National Alliance said , We will not allow Sri Lanka government to impose any political solutions on us, that are not acceptable by the Tamil people.

    At the press meet held at the headquarters of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi, the TNA leader further said, Sinhala chauvinist elements in the South, as well as Sri Lanka President were very critical of our Election Manifesto.

    He said, I presume that they have not fully gone through our election manifesto. We have placed for a solution, only within a United Sri Lanka.

    He pointed that, `Our self-determination right included in the manifesto, I think, might be the matter of contention to them.

    He clarified that the TNA election manifesto was prepared based on the international laws. We have placed our self-determination claim based on the civil right covenants.

    When clarifying self-determination, TNA leader said, based on a country`s constitution, a group of people fulfilling their civil, political, economic and also matters related to education, amounts to self-determination. But those in South have got our position wrongly and trying to implicate us by interpreting our demand for self-determination with separation.

    He further pointed out that we can`t be subservient to the majority community. Self-rule and enough rights have to be given to us he demanded.

    Even in the All Party Representatives Conference, Experts Group Conference, Mahinda Ban Ki-moon Joint Declaration, and even in the LLRC report, devolution of powers have been clearly emphasized.

    Will the President comes forward to implement them? Demanded Sampanthan.

    He also stressed, We have placed the kind of solution needed for the Tamils. We have also told very clearly how we are going to achieve those solutions put forward by us .

    But the President has to place before us the type solution he was prepared to grant to the Tamils , Sampanthan urged..

    However, he said, Our rights would be attained with the active involvement and contribution of the international community.

    – Asian Tribune –

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      Silva,
      You have elucidated the views of TNA correctly.
      Others are twisting the TNA manifesto.
      Tamils merely wish to live free of constraints, suppression & oppression by the SL armed forces,as free and equal individuals and plot their social and political future through their elected representatives in a united sri lanka.
      But this is being vehemently opposed,by people like Dayan.

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    The President only claimed that ‘the LTTE was militarily defeated’. The rest of the LTTE are alive and well and busy sending their kids to universities in the West. There is nothing like myths about the ‘saviour’ VP to keep the hatred burning and brainwash the next generation. You can see the results of this on the streets of Toronto and London. Decent, moderate Tamils (the kind that VP murdered) are outnumbered by this rabble.

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      President also promised 13A+, now under pressure from Gota and Army, he is for 13-.
      Decent moderate Sinhalese are outnumbered by this Sinhalese rabble.

      :-)

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      Puswella:

      “The rest of the LTTE are alive and well and busy sending their kids to universities in the West.”

      If you say, then it must be true. Just out of curiosity, I am sure you are talking about Karuna Amman, Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), Pillayan, etc. This time you are spot on.

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    There is no fundamental shift in the Sri Lankan Tamil politics. The only change is that TNA has replaced LTTE as the sole representatives of the SL Tamils. TNA is saying what LTTE said; Tamil homeland, Tamil nationalism and right to self determination. For the hapless SL Tamils, pillows have changed but not the headache. Instead of Pirabaharan, Anton Balasingham and Tamilselvam, SL Tamils now have Sampanthan, Sumanthiran and Vigneswaran.

    TNA is igniting the flames of racial hatred in Northern Sri Lanka, while LTTE remnants like Rudra, Father Emmanuel and Nediyavan and the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora are doing the same thing from the comfort of Western Europe, US and Canada. The annual circus in Geneva is on again and the Tamil Diaspora community is out on the streets of Geneva with their Tiger flags heeding the calls of Nedumaran and Kasi Anandan to ignite the flames.

    DBS Jeyaraj is right. TNA wants to capture the Northern Provincial council only to demonstrate to the so-called international community that only a separate state would satisfy the Tamils.

    There will be no end to the communal politics of TNA. AND there is no future for the Sri Lankan Tamils.

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      Naga:

      For devastating the Tamils, maiming and murdering more than 70,000 civilians and laying to waste the Tamil areas, the SL regime has destroyed the future of the Tamils. So, what is there for you to talk of the future of Tamils. Yes, it is the unshaken fervent hope of the Tamils that only with the TNA that they can look into a better future.

      The SL regime had all the four years to revive the economic well-being of the Northern area, but sadly it sorely and stupidly screwed that chance. Who is this hoodlum DBS Jeyaray? After all, he is a pawn of this regime who writes for his living. He is nothing more than a slideshow for this regime. May be you may wish him to be on your lap but we don’t want even his shadow to fall on us.

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        Do you remember recently in Batticola, I recollect, the military personnel told protesters that what happened to People in Mullivaaikkaal can happen to you too?

        One drunken soldier in Vavuniya without provocation uttered that we should do what we did in Nanthikkadal to all the Tamils.

        When Naga says:”AND there is no future for the Sri Lankan Tamils.” that is what will happen, If Tamils don’t behave as we say!

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      Lo Naga,

      may I quote ? “There will be no end to the communal politics of TNA. AND there is no future for the Sri Lankan Tamils.”

      Should we not be looking at what the Tamils want in terms of dignity, equality, honor etc. etc. etc

      =The crux of the problem is this fact: There was the “sakkili” mindset that governed the collective Sinhala/Buddhist psyche in it general attitude to the collective Tamil population.

      They were all lumped under that category.Emigre Tamil laborers from India were compelled by poverty to become public toilet cleaners[ remember the days of municipal lorries loaded with huge bins of human excreta splashing the stuff on public roads on their way to Madampitiya and elsewhere ? Remember the “Demala kadala karayas” who were easy meat for cops and thugs who’d at every turn of whim and fancy scare the hell out of them to get themselves the gram, wadai etc. AND MOST OF THE SALES PROCEEDINGS ALREADY MADE ? i’VE SEEN THOSE WRETCHED WOMEN GANG RAPED IN cOLOBMO[ vIHARA MAHADEVI PARK CIRCA 54-58] AND THE POLICE DOING BUGGER-ALL ABOUT IT.

      BUT SUDDENLY THERE WERE TOO MANY EDUCATED TAMIL MEN WOMEN WALKING INTO ALL SORTS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS. OVERNIGHT AS IT WERE “SINHALA ONLY” BECAME THE BUZZWORD AT THE BEHEST OF SINHALA/BUDDHIST EXTREMISTS WHO FEARED LOSS OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.tHERE AROSE THE “APEY RATA ” CRY.

      IT WAS TOO MUCH FORE THESE PETTY MINDS INTO WHOSE VORTEX OF RACIAL HATRED AND RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY THE MORE REFINED SWRD BANDARANAIKE WAS SO BRTALLY SUCKED IN.rEMEMBER WHEN SINHALA MOBS HEATED TAR BARRELSON THE STREETS OF jAFFNA AND TARRED THE PRIVATE PARTS OF HAPLESS TAMIL MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAD TO BE ” TAUGHT A LESSON”.

      WHAT LESSON ? TAUGHT WHAT LESSON”. AS A TEENAGER I WAS DRAWN IN of my own ACCORD TO HELP SOME PEOPLE FROM THE “St. John’s Ambulance brigade”,TO CARRY OUT REAL HUMANITARIAN WORK AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT INCLUDED ? IT WAS SOMEWHERE NEAR CHUNNAKAM THAT THE BODIES OF A MAN AND WOMAN WERE EXTRICATED FROM IRON POLES WHICH HAD BEEN RAMMED UP TO THEIR CHESTS THROUGH THEIR ANUSES. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THOUSANDS OF TAMIL MEN AND WOMEN WERE BUTCHERED, RAPED AND BURNED PUBLICLY IN ’83 ?

      YOU ASK WHY THE TAMILS FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES SO DEEPLY THAT THEY SEE NO WAY OUT OF THAT DESIRE TO STAY ALIVE EXCEPT BY HAVING A PROTECTIVE WEAPON IN THEIR HANDS. THEY KNOW ALL TOO WELL WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM WHENEVER THEY WERE WITHOUT WEAPONS.

      AS THEY ARE BEING MADE TO KNOW IT YET BETTER TODAY.

      THE COLLECTIVE “SOUTH’ [ WHAT A DASTARDLY EUPHEMISM FOR KILLER RACIST/RELIGIONIST EXTREMISM]UNLEASHED ITS GENOCIDAL HATRED TO SUCH A PARALYSING DEGREE AND YET PUT ON A LOOK OF PERPLEXITY WHEN THE TAMILS SEEK ARMED PROTECTION AGAINST MASS MURDER IF THEY DARE TO DEMAND ANY LEGITIMATE RIGHT.

      TODAY, THE DEMAND FOR LEGITIMATE RIGHTS HAS METAMORPHOSED INTO A SOCIO-POLITICAL RECOGNITION APPROXIMATING STATEHOOD IF STILL WITHIN THE AMBIENCE OF SELF-DETERMINATION WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF A UNIFIED STATE.

      SOME FACETS OF THE GENESI OF THIS SORDID SAGA OF RACIST SUPREMACY AND RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY THAT SEEKS TO CRUSH ALL AND SUNDRY UNDER THE WHEELS OF ITS JUGGERNAUT. THIS JUGGERNAUT WE ALL KNOW IS FUELLED AT STATE EXPENSE, DRIVEN BY MEN ON STATE PAYROLLS.

      AND YET. …AND YET… PEOPLE PRETENDING PERPLEXITY EXCLAIM “WHAT? THEY’RE TALKING OF ARMING THEMSELVES AGAIN?

      AGAIN? IT’S ACTUALLY IN THEIR MANIFESTO ? GOOD GOD ! LET’S WIPE THE BASTARDS OFF !

      SO THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT THIS TREND OF THOUGHT.

      THEY HAVE BEEN DOING SOME HOMEWORK.

      THAT HOMEWORK IS EVIDENT IN STATEMENTS MADE BY JUDGE VIGNESWARAN, TO WIT :
      “Our rights would be attained with the active involvement and CONTRIBUTION [ CAPS MINE] of the international community.”

      THAT ‘CONTRIBUTION” can take many,oh so very many, forms and methods don’t you think? That one sentence can mean that much preparatory homework has been done unless Judge Vigneswaran is foolishly risking his reputation with vain boasting.

      I will wager that he knows what he’s talking about. He also knows that now that he has pledged his lot in with the Tamil cause, his life is not worth a dime if Dr.Shiranee Bandaranayake’s passport being impounded is any thing to go by.Douglas Devananda’s services might not even be needed. a man can be taken out at will today anywhere in this country.

      So then , Judge W says his piece and that’s ‘saying a whole mouthful’

      By the way, i do respect all your views. i just felt that readers would also do well, especially younger Tamils born long after the sordid times I’ve referred to in this piece, to be reminded of facts which are etched deep into the minds and hearts of the older generation of Tamils so that they can appreciate why [ if they do not necessarily concur with] their very fundamental approaches, their unrelenting stances, their so-called intransigence, their collective modus operandi in attempts to solve a curse upon their people, the Tamil people, a responsibility that they see has been historically thrust upon them.

      It’s one helluva moral responsibility, a mammoth challenge to their collective integrity.

      what happens to their people after they move on , after they are ‘taken out”? Will they be mercilessly and irrevocably be crushed like vermin ? That seems very much on the cards if the state’s attitude to sinhala/buddhist extremist actions of recent months against Muslims and Christians is anything to go by.It seem very, very much on the cards if state managed Sinhala colonisation in the north is anything to go by. It is very much on the cards if illegal alienation of houses and properties belonging to Tamils is anything to go by.

      Given the manifestation of a higher level of a more nakedly extremist Sinhala/Buddhist backlash, it does not need an Einstein to say that the government’s hype is taken to be anything more than just that, HYPE, by any right thinking man or woman ….and that includes the international community that Judge Vigneswaran was talking about. Some call it hoopla.

      I’m afraid that time is running out fast for Sri Lanka… and if you’ve got a pipe, put that in and smoke it. Just a clue though, from Donne : ” Send not to ask for whom the bells toll Put this also into your pipe and smoke it ” why is India diggin up the SETHUSAMUDRAN ? FOR FISHING? CARGO VESSELS ? WHY IS THE us BASED IN THE mALDIVES ? TO CELEBRATE gUY FAWKS DAY RIGHT ?

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    DJ is a Tamil racist.

    He is the biggest supporter of 13 amendment and provincial councils.

    If not for these two, Vigneswaran is just a retiree.

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      Hahaha………., I kept on changing my glasses only to realise that it was not my glasses that were tainted. The biggest proponent of 13+ was your president – no one ever heard of the phrase 13A plus, that was coined by your president. You see, now you have an axe to grind against your president.

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        ” Your President..” ?!#

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    The government’s propaganda that the TNA wants to divide the country is totally misleading (as usual). Those who depend and intending to depend on the Rajapakshe regime for their daily bread are adding fuel to the false propaganda. The Sinhalese people are being instigated by the government and its bootlickers using false statements to the effect that the TNA is trying to divide the country.

    Let us be clear.

    The TNA manifesto DOES NOT talk about any separation. A separate state for the Sri Lankan Tamils that was adopted in the Vattukotai resolution and converted into an armed struggle by Prabakaran and the LTTE ended with the demise of the LTTE. Today the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) or the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) ONLY talks about a solution within a UNITED Sri Lanka. Neither the Chief Ministerial Candidate C.V. Wigneswaran nor the TNA leader R. Sambandan or any other TNA member is asking for a separate state. LTTE wanted to divide the country as a solution but today the TNA/ITAK wants to have a solution within one united country. The TNA/ITAK is not engaged in any kind of struggle (armed or peaceful) to separate the country. They are only engaged in election propaganda and all those TNA members who are contesting the election have already taken an oath (6th amendment) to safe guard the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

    Not only the Sri Lankans but the whole world knows that the North and East of Sri Lanka is the homeland of the Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka (their historic habitation). Whenever there was an anti-Tamil riot in the south, the Tamils are packed and sent to North & East (their homeland).
    Not only the Sri Lankan Tamils but every Sri Lankan knows very well that the NE Tamils of Sri Lanka are a distinct people in Sri Lanka. They are ethnically, culturally, linguistically, religiously, socially, historically, and geographically distinct from the Sinhalese.
    Obviously, a distinct people living in their homeland (Tamil speaking area) have all the rights for self determination within the united Sri Lanka. The right to self determination is NOT the right to separation.

    Remember In 1956, the Opposition Member of Parliament Dr. Colvin R. De Silva said, “one language two nations, two languages one nation”.

    When the Rajapakshe regime and the Sinhala politicians can call the genocidal SL Army that killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians as HEROs what is wrong in a Tamil politicians engaged in an election propaganda calling the Tamil militant leader as a Hero in his village. If the Sinhalese can do it why not the Tamils?

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      you are right. TNA is engaged in election propaganda to get tamil votes. soon after thats done, they will go shake hands with the sinhalese rulers once again. both the tamils and sinhalese are fools by the end of the day.

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    Dayan:

    Who do you think killed Lasantha Wickramatunga? SL is on the map, all for the wrong reasons. The latest journalist to flee, Mandana surely would not be the last. Gotabaya’s foul language of expression puts on the same dimension as a psychopath. During the JVP uprising, who murdered thousands of Sinhala youths?

    So, “Mr Right”, please stop lecturing us and turn your attention to your masters to seek the true wisdom of the “Enlightened One” for having blemished and even disgraced his “presence” in SL.

    For a person who had so much support to finish the war, today MR is an internationally discredited hoodlum. Have you been able to change his gaze and face?

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    Despite liberal whitewash the TNA’s stripes were always visible if one looked hard enough. An interesting question is whether the TNA can fully trust its ‘international sponsors’ given recent events relating to the situation in the Levant. The Tamil people paid the price for the TULF’s folly. The TNA’s leaders are of course fully geared for flight if things turn sour.

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    Ex-LTTE men, Karuna, KP and Pillaiyan and EPDP chief Devananda and others.

    Are they terrorists or heros. They are with the government and some hold ministerial powers. Why so much space and time are devoted to the analysis of Prabakaran’s testimony without reference to others serving in the government.

    DJ advised this government to keep Devananda intact. Wikileaks exposed Devananda as a the head of criminal gang that was involved in robbery, abductions, torture, extra judicial killings, facilitation of Tamil children for prostitution, abortion of Tamil pregnant mothers and so on. If DJ wants Devavanda to be serving the country why not Tamils want Prabakaran serve them?

    Judge Wigneswaran and Sambanthan of TNA are committed for a Federal System within a united Sri Lanka. But president Rajapakse promised to talk to Prabakaran on any solution to ethnic problem except separation, promised 13A plus to India,
    agreed to to take measures on accountability on war crimes and human rights violations,
    Investigate disappearances and so on. But he hasn’t kept his word on any of them.

    If at all the NPC becomes a failure it will be because of the Rajapakse government. They can do many things including witholding funds to the NPC as JR -J did in 1989. Lt Gen Chadrasiri will not allow any development project undertaken by NPC implemented. Com Hathurisinghe will use the army and intelligence personnel to attack, intimidate and threaten elected members of NPC and other officials. In other words the president will use the military to block the work of NPC.

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    My SL friends

    Hero will not be the same for all races.

    What we have to agree as a whole nation, we will solve this issue without arms without violence without blood

    A leader is a hero or zero will be decided by people in the long run

    Can we say MR is a hero ( I am sure many will not agree) but for some he is

    Let it be the same for VP

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    During a pre-election period every party tries to gather as many votes as possible by slinging mud at each other.The TNA and the UPFA are doing the same thing while they trade allegations against each other.
    Vignashwaran has clearly said the TNA is for a united Sri Lanka while the Government and racists say the aim of the TNA is a separate state.
    I do not think these allegations should be taken seriously during a pre election peroid.
    Also I think Vigneshwaran’s aim is only to gather some votes by saying that Prabhakaran is a hero as he and the TNA know well enough that there is not much difference between Prabha and Hitler.
    The tragedy is the national reconciliation is only a dream in the foreseeable future.

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    Dayan, there is no reason why TNA in their manifesto should condemn LTTE. They are not supporting LTTE in the manifesto so why should they condemn? Further a manifesto is related to the party and not related to the country. If the people who vote for TNA accept the manifesto and vote for TNA then rest of Sri Lanka should not have any issue. If they do not like they will not vote for TNA. Let us wait and see the results. Further Federalism they propose is not “separate state”, you should know it better than any one else. Are you censoring speech in Sri Lanka by saying those who claim those who claim Prabaharan (Killer) as a hero should not speak in the open? This shows you have two different views when it comes to freedom of speech. If you are so sure that TNA is looking for a separate state why won’t you challenge Justice Wigneswaran for an open debate on TV in Tamil, English or Sinhala? Will you take this challenge? By the way I hate tigers, do not think I am a tiger supporter.

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    At last Dayan is coming to the roots of his greatest blindness, ie, the reality of Sinhala/Buddhist Chauvanism and the imagined take over by Tamils of the whole island using Sun God?

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    Dayan Jayathilake:

    We don’t want wars.

    Yet, why there are so many weapons in the world ?

    Garbage in – garbage out of kind arguments.

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    What would be the outcome if the left over tigers understands that the Sri Lankan govt is militarily weak ?

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      What do you think they should do – sing lullabies to you?

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    Why did some LTTE Tamils attend defence -seminar in disguise ?

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    No point in wasting our time in talking of the TNA OR The so called respected judge.Sobitha,Karu J,Sumanthiran,Shirani,Winga,etc are all in human rights business.Wingas shopping list is too long.A bloody idiotic dreammer.Winga the cool dude day dreaming of becoming the king of Ealam.

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