By Colombo Telegraph –
Siobhain McDonagh MP
“Channel 4’s documentary drew the world’s attention to the atrocities committed against Tamils in the last days of Sri Lanka’s civil war. The programme makers’ courage in demonstrating that war crimes will not be swept under the carpet has contributed to the reconciliation process, and has made war crimes elsewhere less likely. They are deserving nominees for the Nobel prize for Peace.” Siobhain McDonagh Member of the UK parliament said.
Issuing a press release she said; I join my Australian colleague, Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, in releasing the joint submission we made to the Norwegian Nobel Committee nominating the team at ITN and Channel 4 that produced the documentary film ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ for the 2012 Nobel peace Prize.
As Sri Lanka remembers on February 4 its independence from Britain in 1948, it remains accused in front of the world community of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the last phases of the war in 2009.
More and more nations join the call for an international independent investigation on Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes. There are demands for justice to be delivered to the Tamils of Sri Lanka through a UN Resolution at the next session of the UN Human Rights Commission convening in Geneva later this month.
Lee Rhiannon MP
The Channel 4 team produced a timely piece of journalism and brought to light the breaches of international conventions by the Government of Sri Lanka and this has much to contribute to truth, reconciliation and peace for all citizens of Sri Lanka.
Through our nomination of the ITN Channel 4 team for the Nobel Peace Prize, it is also our hope that the world’s attention to the continuing abuse of human rights in Sri Lanka will bring justice and peace to the long suffering Tamils in the island.
The full text of the nomination reads:
We feel honoured to nominate the team that produced the documentary film ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ in 2011 for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 , for its outstanding contribution to global peace and justice.
This team includes Callum Macrae, the director of the film, Jon Snow, the presenter of the story in the film, and indeed the entire crew at ITN UK who were behind this complex and enormously challenging production.
The one hour long documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ was first broadcast on Tuesday, 14 June 2011 on ITN Channel 4 in UK. Since then it has been shown by television channels in several countries in the North and South, and also screened at special events at numerous international forums and university seminars. It was shown to the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2011 and was also screened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The significance of the film as a recording of history, its impact on bringing out truth, and the potential it offers for reconciliation and peace in Sri Lanka are enormous.
As stated in Alfred Nobel’s testament, the work we refer to here has contributed to the ‘formation and spreading of peace congresses…….’ and in the long run will add to the ‘building of fraternity between nations and the abolition of standing armies’.
The ethnic strife and the subsequent civil war that ravaged Sri Lanka for over three decades entered its most cruel phase in the first months of 2009 leading to the death of an estimated 100,000 people, most of whom were Tamil civilians who perished under the attack by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The ‘Sri Lankan Killing Fields’ film has been an effective and significant means in raising the level of awareness globally about crimes committed by the warring parties in Sri Lanka. It has also called for an international investigation of war crimes, in line with similar calls made by international organizations such as the International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and also suggested by the UN Secretary General’s Expert Panel Report.
At a time when the failure of existing UN institutions is increasingly noted in relation to safeguarding human life and preventing brutal wars, the contribution of a documentary such as ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ in bringing to light not only this failure in the context of the war in Sri Lanka, but also promoting the need for reviewing and revitalising the UN’s capacity in cases similar to the Sri Lankan war, are immense.
By bringing to light the breaches of international conventions by the Government of Sri Lanka in a bold manner and by piecing together numerous forms of evidence in a coherent way, the value of independent journalism to the building of a peaceful global order in the century ahead has been amply demonstrated by the ITN team.
There has been a surge in interest in Sri Lanka to promote its ‘solution to the war on terrorism’ as a model to be exported to other countries in the world. The dangerous precedent such a shift in paradigm would pose to aspirations of deserving small nations and the threat it poses to global peace could only be contained by the truth of war crimes being exposed by watch dogs like the journalists at ITN, and their contribution to sustaining peace being acknowledged in appropriate ways.
We do not wish to see a world in which the brutality of wars and the horrific scenes of human tragedy are brought into the living rooms of families in the name of journalism. But in order to get rid of the menace of war and to erase the inhumanity residing amongst us once and for ever from this planet, timely and ethical journalism incorporating newer forms of technology and respect for human dignity are of utmost importance.
The ITN team has been acting in a consistent manner in this arena of responsible reporting for a long time, and their significant contribution to reaching out the conscience of the international community and working for a peaceful world is worthy of the highest recognition.
We are truly honoured to be making this nomination.
Respectfully yours,
Siobhain Ann McDonagh Lee Rhiannon
Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden Greens Senator for NSW
UK Australia
1 February 2012
For further information please contact Siobhain McDonagh MP on 020 7219 4678
padraigcolman / February 4, 2012
Some background on Siobhan McDonagh:
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=35385
See also:
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=33362
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Kuara / February 4, 2012
@ Padraig ,Anything about this lady? Lee Rhiannon ?
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padraigcolman / February 4, 2012
About Lee Rhiannon. The name Rhiannon is one she chose for herself after her divorce from Paddy O’Gorman. She was Lee Brown. Her parents were Soviet-supporting communists. That’s not her fault but she edited a newspaper called Survey which was Soviet-funded. She has backed many worthy causes – Green, anti-apartheid, anti-Zionist, anti-Vietnam war. She has defended herself at length against what she sees as smear tactics about her left-wing past and that of her family.
See:
http://archive.leerhiannon.org.au/blog/responding-to-attacks-on-my-family-and-political-background
Whatever about all that, she is plain wrong about Channel 4 and Sri Lanka.
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DG US / February 4, 2012
Disagree. There was no risks and they did not save any lives. Also others funded the project FYI for independent journalist to do different projects. Channel 4 did a great job.
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Peter Casie Chetty / February 4, 2012
One side of the story is not the story. The LTTE supported by many Tamils and the Labour and Liberal Democrats of England never did or anything against the LTTE who murdered many innocent men women and children for over 30 years. Has the Nobel Prize got this cheap when the Labour MP of the contituency that harbours the head of the suicide squad of the LTTE -Adele Balasingham, is someone proposing the nomination. What if Saadam Hussein has supported someone behind the 9/11 suicide bombers for a Nobel Peace Prize. Get real… this is as bad as giving Fred the Shred an honour! You could give Harold Shpman and award while you are at it.
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padraigcolman / February 5, 2012
Is Adele living in Mitcham? I thought she was in New Malden.
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DG US / February 4, 2012
They shud win the award for best editing in Great Britian or disunited Kingdom.
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DG US / February 4, 2012
Did they save any lives? Who paid the army officers and gave them or help them asylum in UK and EU or offered assistance in the USA??? The JVP also was paid for the various photos FYI. We are greatful for their acts of Mercinery not even realizing the importance of the photos, since they had no clue who those dead persons were!!!
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padraigcolman / February 4, 2012
I’m keeping an eye on Siobhan McDonagh via a website called “They work for you” which gives detailed information about UK MP’s voting records, attendances, interests etc. McDonagh strongly supported the invasion of Iraq and strongly opposed an independent inquiry into UK war crimes in Iraq. I used to live in Merton and know that she depends on a voter base of Sri Lankan Tamils.
I do not know about Lee Rhiannon but I will find out.
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Peter Casie Chetty / February 4, 2012
You should Padraig. Also people like the Croydon Central MP Geraint Davies (Labour) and Minister Simon Hughes(Lib Dems) who were supporters, at a price of the LTTE front groups even before the so called atrocities when Chandrika Kumaratunga President was waging a half baked war and losing ground to the terrorists. The Tamils had got used to their winning ways but started to complain after they got fixed by the Rajapakse Government.
The LTTE have an office in Central Croydon and men and women are not shy to sport LTTE supporters tee shirts at anytime of day or night
The Labour MPs are not interested in the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. They are interested in the investments the diaspora Tamil Groups make for the political parties with their ill-gotten gains made through credit card scams, housing scams etc. It became evident when Milliband asked Labour MPs to help the Tamil constituents because of their votes.. he could not mention the money because his dirty underwear would have been showing. This is the same policy of the Australian MPs and politicians in the US. Holland and the
other European countries have realised that Tamil Groups are as dangerous as the Islamists.
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Nihal P / February 4, 2012
Padraig Colman is little more than a war crimes apologist for the Sri Lankan government. He has never admitted, even once, that the Sri Lankan Army is guilty of a single war crime. He claims to be objective, but the stuff he writes on his blog, among other things, says otherwise. Notice, for example, the following quotation: “McDonagh strongly supported the invasion of Iraq and strongly opposed an independent inquiry into UK war crimes in Iraq.” Padraig has borrowed a time-tested tactic from our homegrown Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists: whenever Sri Lrankan war crimes are mentioned, bring up Western war crimes, in order to divert attention. Of course the West has committed war crimes. The difference is that in the West, many of these war crimes have been investigated. In Sri Lanka, however, the war criminals become ambassadors, e.g. Janaka Perera and Shavendra Silva and the crimes themselves are covered up.
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Peter Casie Chetty / February 4, 2012
One is about self defence. The other is about invading an Independent country.
The Srilankan was never a Buddhist Army. People of all faiths join the forces. The LTTE had a majority of Christians who were of the lower castes Tamils because of who the trouble started in the late 50s. Tamils did not apply to the Army of late because of the stigma and an example of the French losing soldiers when a Taliban infiltrator shot many of them when they were getting ready to go on patrol.
Padriag keep up the good work mate. We have a “Nihal” pretending to be a Sinhalese here.
If we have people like you in London I am sure there will be long lasting peace in Sri Lanka. “Nihal” can say what he wants.. free country here and there.
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padraigcolman / February 4, 2012
Peter I am not in London although Croydon was my last home in the UK. I have lived in Sri Lanka for ten years. Nihal has in the past told me that I have no right to write about Sri Lanka because I am a westerner. Now he seems to be telling me that, although I am a westerner, I have no right to discuss western hypocrisy. Nihal apparently lives in the USA but has nothing to fear from oppressive US laws because he is a US citizen.
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padraigcolman / February 4, 2012
I thought this would flush Nihal out!
He persistently accuses me of being a government lackey. He refuses to say what he thinks I would do this for. Does he think the Sri Lankan government is paying me? What would be the profit to me in being a “ war crimes apologist for the Sri Lankan government”.
Because I have written extensively on Tamil grievances and on how the LTTE arose,
(see http://agonist.org/padraig_colman/20100501/the_tamil_question_in_sri_lanka_part_1 et seq)
I have also been accused of being an LTTE propagandist. That is the price I have to pay for being objective.
Nihal has tried to paint me as a Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist. I was born in England of an Irish Catholic family.
I have no sympathy for any kind of nationalism.
http://mondediplo.com/blogs/nationalism-is-the-culprit
I have lived in Sri Lanka for ten years surrounded by Tamils and Muslims. As the saying goes: “some of my best friends are Tamils”.
Nihal says: “Padraig has borrowed a time-tested tactic from our homegrown Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists: whenever Sri Lankan war crimes are mentioned, bring up Western war crimes, in order to divert attention. Of course the West has committed war crimes. The difference is that in the West, many of these war crimes have been investigated. In Sri Lanka, however, the war criminals become ambassadors, e.g. Janaka Perera and Shavendra Silva and the crimes themselves are covered up.”
The fact that one of the leading voices in accusing Sri Lanka of war crimes supported the invasion of Iraq and strongly resisted an inquiry into the invasion is, I insist, worthy of mention. Invasion of another sovereign nation is of a different order to the fight against an armed uprising within sovereign borders by the army of a democratically elected government. One crime does not cancel out another, but the fact that McDonagh supported criminality is pertinent.
I have indeed written criticism of the appointment of military men as diplomatic representatives.
http://mondediplo.com/openpage/sri-lanka-s-own-goal
It would be extremely unlikely that crimes were not committed in the winning of a brutal war. I wish that those who perpetrated such crimes would be brought to justice. I think Nihal is too insouciant about the ability of western governments to investigate their own crimes. Last Monday was the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Has any British Paratrooper been punished for shooting unarmed men and innocent children?
How long did Corporal Donald Payne serve for beating to death Baha Mousa, an innocent Iraqi hotel receptionist? The answer is one year. Payne was the only person to be punished for what happened to Baha Mousa, although he told the Gage Inquiry that all members of the unit guarding the detainees had kicked and punched them, including an officer.
Incidentally, I have worked for the British government and I know how public inquiries are set up. I have taken part in the selection process. These bodies are no more neutral than the LLRC.
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Peter Casie Chetty / February 4, 2012
I will not agree with whatever they say about you. I have lived in England for 8 years now and lived in France since 1973. I go back and work for newspapers in Sri Lanka and unlike these jokers have seen the suffering of the Tamil people under Prabakaran’s militia. Vey much like you I detest the hypocrisy of Blair Bush and Obama. I live in Liverpool: phone -01514826916.
I have a lot of Tamil friends and am myself of mixed blood. I wrote a paper on terrorism and blames the colonialists for creating Israel (after being warned that I could be found fault with)..
I do have a lot of respect for you because while all these people applaud Ch. 4 they are not willing to express their fears that the evidence for that film came from doubtful sources – a part of the army were involved in extra judicial crimes without the Government being aware of the “goings on”. I am certain that this website caters to pro LTTE and pro opposition writers. Tamils like the Jews want the world to believe their version of events
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padraigcolman / February 4, 2012
Some pearls of wisdom from Nihal:
Prabakharan was a genius.
Marriage between the races is a bad thing because it “contaminates the gene pool”. What would Darwin have to say about that?
He chastised me for describing the LTTE as the worst terrorist organisation known to man. “The total number of suicide bombings carried out by the LTTE is less than 1% of the number carried out by Al-Qaeda in certain years. As far as sheer wanton destruction is concerned, Al-Qaeda outdoes the LTTE 100-fold. Furthemore, Al-Qaeda had a much broader global impact; be it New York, Madrid, London, Bali, or Yemen. So in terms of sophistication alone, comparing the LTTE to Al-Qaeda would be puerile. Now, there is one group of people that consider the LTTE to be the “worst” group of “terrorists.” I need not mention them explicitly.”
The Sri Lankan army and police are rife with homosexuality. Nihal did not reply to my queries about the UNP.
If Ranil had won the presidential election Lasantha “would be alive and well today. But then, so would Prabhakaran, whose daily bowel movement alone served as a great affront to the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist consciousness.”
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web spy / February 4, 2012
Oh dear dear!! Chetty Chetty; you said “You are the moron an an absolutely disgraceful one. I would love to see pictures of me singing in Paris because I do not have any and I could not take photographs of myself while I was singing or playing… this is therefore a bonus. I was in Sri Lanka a working journalist from 1996 -2002 and that was long before Mahinda became President. I visited teh Vanni with Ranil’s blessing and gave John Amaratunga a description of all that went on.”
Read your comment here;
http://colombotelegraph.com/2012/01/09/on-those-inconvenient-truths-in-the-llrc-report/
AND someone replied; Oh ho! So, on his own words, this guy was then singing for supper from the UNP at that time and is now bootlicking Mahinda. Why does he have to brief John Amaratunge or go to the Wanni with “Ranil’s blessings’? I thought he was identifying himself as a journalist! How these idiots betray themselves by their very stupidities! Does he even know this, I wonder. These morons are why journalism in Sri Lanka is known as a degraded ‘profession’.
SO, ARE YOU A JOURNALIST MAN??? WHY DO YOU WANTED TO BRIEF jHON???? ANSWER THE QUESTION MY FRIEND!!
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Nihal P / February 4, 2012
Hello Padraig,
Might I suggest that you quote me directly, whenever possible, instead of putting words into my mouth. Else, it only shows your deception.
Now, I never said you, being a Westerner, have no right to comment on Sri Lankan affcairs. What I said was that you since you didn’t grow up in SL and/or you were not intimately exposed to Sri Lankan culture at a young age, there would be certain cultural nuances, which, when transferred into a political arena, would be difficult for you to pick up on. The exact word I used was “naive.”
Regarding Western war crimes, they have nothing to do with Sri Lankan war crimes. To indicate that the West singles out Sri Lanka to hide its own dirty linen, is simply preposterous. The larger share of Western war crimes have been thoroughly investigated; journalists and other concerned third-parties have been allowed to do their jobs. Documentaries, such as “Fahrenheit 911” have been made. Entire books have been written. One can travel freely to Iraq/Afghanistan and speak with acquaintances of the victims. Now, what is the Sri Lankan situation like, in comparison? Has the Sri Lankan side admitted to even a single war crime? Why were journalists banned from speaking to IDP’s directly after the war; and instead, the IDP’s shoved into barb-wire camps for months, with zero outside mobility? Why does one STILL need permission from the Defense Ministry to travel to the North of Sri Lanka?
As I’ve always said, it is not so much the war crime that matters (all armies commit war crimes given sufficient time), but the response to such. And the Sri Lankan response has always been pathetic. Ultimately, it is from the response that we can judge motives and whether such motives translate into an unofficial policy of allowing rampant criminal behavior.
Regarding mixed marriages, what I stated was that the vast majority of Sinhalese are essentially South Indian at this point, genetically speaking, given the extent to which they have married with Tamils and Veddahs (the Veddahs share many of the same australoid genes as the South Indians do). Therefore, the Mavahamsa myth of Vijaya the pure Aryan mating with a lion and founding the “Sinhala-Buddhist nation”, as extolled by such nationalists as Dharmapala, has little relevance from a modern standpoint.
Finally, regarding the genius of Prabhakaran, that is indeed the description I gave. But I am not alone in this thinking.
“The Tigers, on the other hand, take video shots of their operations and distribute copies among their public and recruits to gain their confidence… the army seems not to have studied too well the capability of their main opponent – Velupillai Pirabaharan. Pirabaharan is a ‘military genius’ and his political power has given him an advantage to combat our political and military leaders. He has often outwitted, outmanoeuvred and outclassed our military and political leaders. Why is this so? Today after 18 years of battle, most of the victories, sadly, belong to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and we are continuing to fool ourselves… the man behind the weapon is always more important than the weapon itself and that this has been repeatedly proved by the LTTE forces….Pirabaharan has virtually beaten our forces on land and sea….” (Major General Prasanna Dahanayake in an interview reported in the Sinhala owned Sunday Leader, 6 December 1998)”
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dr / February 4, 2012
mere stupidity
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chula rajapakse / February 5, 2012
This nomination is outrageous.
The “Channel 4 documentary” has been exposed to be completely false by over 50 Tamil representatives of the 300 000 Tamil hostages rescued by Sri Lankan forces in the last weeks of the war. These are the people against whom Channel 4 alleges atrocities were committed. These expositions are contained in the testimonies of these 50 odd rescued Tamil hostages and can be seen on u tube any time in the documentary :
” Lies Agreed upon”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5O1JAfRXew
Never in the history of human conflict have so many been mislead by so few as the Tamil Tiger Diaspora have done with much of the world regarding the realities in Sri Lanka. Channel 4 is very much a part of the many that have been so mislead.
It was the teaching of Joseph Goebells’, Adolf Hilters propaganda minister that,”any big lie repeated frequently enough would eventually be believed”. Without exageration,the Tamil Tiger Diaspora have followed this teaching better than Goebells’ would ever have imagined. The Channel 4 documentary is one of the fruits the Tiger have reaped from this practice.
This nomination make a mockery the noble intentions of the “Nobel Peace Prize”
The nominees are well advised to see the “Lies Agreed Upon” and withdraw their nominations forthwith.
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Nihal P / February 5, 2012
The Channel 4 video is corroborated by Wikileaks.
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padraigcolman / February 5, 2012
Please give more detail, Nihal. What are the references?
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Nihal P / February 5, 2012
Here is one such reference:
“According to eyewitnesses the Sri Lankan government allows the TMVP/Karuna to “recruit children forcibly from within IDP camps in the East”.[16] The average age of a TMVP/Karuna recruit was 14. The TMVP/Karuna had resorted to criminal activities to raise funds. They had stolen food and supplies destined for the IDP camps and sold them on.[16] The operated prostitution rings in the IDP camps to “take care of” GSL soldiers.[16] Women were forced into prostitution by the TMVP/Karuna.[16] ”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contents_of_the_United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak_%28Sri_Lanka%29
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padraigcolman / February 5, 2012
You seem to be making the category error of regarding WikiLeaks as an authority in itself. What you are citing here are cables in which US diplomats express their OPINION AND BELIEFS. This does not constitute PROOF.
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padraigcolman / February 5, 2012
“Might I suggest that you quote me directly, whenever possible, instead of putting words into my mouth. Else, it only shows your deception.”
Nihal berates me for not quoting him accurately. How about this for a start?
He described my writing as “the ravings of a lunatic Irishman”
It would be good if he stopped making unwarranted assumptions about me employing loaded language. My first encounter with him was on Mango’s Word Press blog:
http://thecarthaginiansolution.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/when-pig-fly-britain-preaching-human-rights-to-sri-lanka/#more-740
There he was making assumptions and referring to “you guys” as if he knew all about us and our sinister agenda.
My first words to him were:
“Guys like me would certainly like to know the truth and wish the government would make an effort for its own sake to prove the truth… Guys like me are happy to have their views challenged.” Does that sound like “thinly veiled attempts to cover up the war crimes of GOSL”?
His response:
“To hell with you and your amateur analysis!”
After a few more exchanges he wrote: “might I suggest that you stay out of Sri Lankan politics altogether, since you obviously don’t know the ins and outs.”
He wrote: “Attempting to educate Westerns on Sri Lankan issues is one thing, but covering up war crimes is a wholly different matter. Perhaps, like Arthur C. Clark (sic) , you might want to stick to the flora and fauna. Politics is a dirty business in SL; unless you’re familiar with past precedents, any arguments that you formulate in the present will lack viability.”
I wrote: “I am not covering up war crimes. I am familiar with past precedents. I am well aware of the culture of impunity which means that crimes do not get investigated and that there are strong links between political criminals and ‘ordinary decent criminals’.”
“You have a perfect right to tell me to stay out of Sri Lankan politics. I have no intention of taking part in Sri Lankan politics. You are right to say that I have a lot to learn. Don’t we all? I am doing my best. As a long-term resident of Sri Lanka I have a perfect right to take an interest in what goes on here and to write about. Most people seem to appreciate my contribution.”
After some more abuse from him I wrote: “My modus operandi is to say ‘Some people say this and some people say that’. I really have no opinion of my own. No dog in the fight…. I am setting the different options in front of my readers and letting them decide. Some can decide without calling me an idiot or a government lackey.”
Graciously Nihal wrote: “Apologies for referring to you as an idiot and clown. I see now that your view of the situation is based on naivety than anything else (sic) . I do, however, repeat my earlier suggestion: that you refrain from commenting on politics. A lot of blood has been shed; the Sinhala-Buddhists are in denial, and the Tamils, of course, must bear the brunt of racism and discrimination for who knows how long to come. The NGO’s (sic – Nihal has problems with the correct use of the apostrophe) did what they could. In particular, Norway did what it could, but at the end of the day, the 21st century weapons supplied by China and Russia were too much for the LTTE (though their leader, Prabhakaran, was a genius, in many respects, if you care to study his life in more depth).”
My response: “Prabhakaran, was a genius, in many respects, if you care to study his life in more depth”. Could you be more specific about the respects in which he was a genius and how would you recommend that study his life in more depth?”
There was no follow-up to my question until today.
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Nihal P / February 5, 2012
It is not difficult to observe that Padraig practices a unique style of deceptive journalism. For example, Padraig has written a long article about Lasantha Wickrematunge that completely misses the mark. For example, this is what Padraig writes:
— The government has undertaken to probe Lasantha’s violent death. We only hope at least that investigation will be conducted to a successful conclusion. —
http://pcolman.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/death-of-an-editor/#comments
Now, either Padraig is completely naive or he purposely chose to omit the fact that LW named his killers before he died. And the primary culprit, of course, is Mahinda Rajapakse whom Padraig does not implicate as a potential suspect.
See my response to Padraig below, where I highlight other fallacies that arise in his dubious journalism. Portions in quotations are Padraig’s own words. Padraig also has an odd habit of mentioning my English; he forgets that this is the internet and not a class in spelling and grammar.
“Partisan” is indeed an apt description, as per your “Channel 4″ spiel. “Impartial”, however, would be a longshot. First of all, the strategic location of the word “fake” in bright red letters, even before the article begins, does not do your cause justice. No serious newspaper editor wishing to establish a modicum of credibility would stake his reputation upon such a puerile caption. But then, if we disregarded the header altogether, what follows leaves little room for doubt.
“The Sri Lankan government is considering repealing the emergency regulations brought in to deal with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) the worst terrorist organisation known to man.”
That’s quite a qualifier there… the worst? On what grounds? The total number of suicide bombings carried out by the LTTE is less than 1% of the number carried out by Al-Qaeda in certain years. As far as sheer wanton destruction is concerned, Al-Qaeda outdoes the LTTE 100-fold. Furthemore, Al-Qaeda had a much broader global impact; be it New York, Madrid, London, Bali, or Yemen. So in terms of sophistication alone, comparing the LTTE to Al-Qaeda would be puerile. Now, there is one group of people that consider the LTTE to be the “worst” group of “terrorists.” I need not mention them explicitly.
“So, Heyns is making a case which seems to be strengthened by the fact that allegations are being made by Channel 4, several NGOs and Moon’s advisory panel. In actuality, they are all drawing on the same unreliable source material and churning it up.”
Unreliable source material? I fail to see how extensive live video footage of Sri Lankan soldiers abusing naked corpses is “unreliable source material.” If you fail to see the connection between this, http://media.nowpublic.net/images//47/5/475666a0858bd36f9379a5f587eb8594.jpg, and this, http://groundviews.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/5F4A18ADD57A0F339B09213AC557831A.jpg, then it’s absurd to claim neutrality.
“Jon Snow introduces the programme by saying that at the war’s end “as many as 40,000, and possibly far more, civilians were killed”. As English goes, as logic goes that is meaningless.”
In fact, Padraig, 40,000 is a gross underestimate. Numerous mass graves of civilians killed during the final weeks and months are conveniently situated within the perimeter of hastily constructed “high-security zones” and sprawling new military camps.
“The government produced experts who attested it was a fake but these experts were not expert enough for the critics.”
Anytime a government appoints a panel of “experts” to investigate wrongdoings which directly implicate the former, one should take the findings of such a panel with a grain of salt. The fact that three independent experts with no affiliation to the Sri Lankan Government or the UN, reached conclusions that totally contradict the findings of the Sri Lankan experts, proves my point precisely.
“The unexplainable characteristics can be explained in a manner consistent with the conclusion that the video appears to be authentic. Alston is not saying the experts have said the video is authentic.”
As a fan of horror films, I can attest to the fact that the culprit is never caught because every piece in the puzzle fits together. The way it works is that the criminal leaves some clue – which for identification purposes, is virtually indisputable, as far as uniqueness is concerned. Ultimately, the goal is to prove, on the basis of sufficient evidence, that said party is the most LIKELY culprit. Short of a confession or eye-witnesses, absolute certainly is NOT the goal. Thus, in the case of the Channel 4 tape, the sufficient is SUFFICIENT to implicate the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. As I have explained to many a seething nationalist, the evidence provided by Alston’s team of experts would hold their weight in any court of law. There’s also this thing called “precedent.” In the Sri Lankan context, there are two institutional bodies which are known far and wide for their obsession with naked bodies and torture; these are the police and the armed forces. I’m not referring to isolated incidents either; these groups provided unofficial leeway, thanks to the PTA and ER – to carry out any number of heinous crimes. In my mind, the fact the victims in the Channel 4 video were fully undressed, is the smoking gun that implicates the SLA. The precedent is there, the license to kill is there, you could hardly do better short of an actual confession. Furthermore, it is naive to think that the LTTE would film such a video towards the tail end of the war, just to garner international sympathy. With the exception of India, the rest of the world has always been against the LTTE, and that has never changed.
I don’t care to go into detail about the rest of your opposition to the Channel 4 video; let me point out, however, that the subheadings speak volumes: for example, “The Experts”, in which you launch ad hominem attacks, such as “Daniel Spitz…. was appointed Medical Examiner by his father who was the county medical examiner before him.” How does being appointed by his father undermine his credibility? In fact, it might actually enhance his credibility, considering that the father was renowned in his field. As for the other headers, they again expose your bias: “The Camera Can Lie”, and “Unreliable Witnesses.” More importantly, they do nothing to directly refute the evidence in the Channel 4 execution tape, which actually corroborates what we then see in the Channel 4 “Killing Fields” documentary.
Regarding the IDP camps and rape, the allegations made in “Killing Fields” are corroborated by Wikileaks. Now, unless Channel 4 and Wikileaks share some kind of mutual bond, that looks like damning evidence to me:
“According to eyewitnesses the Sri Lankan government allows the TMVP/Karuna to “recruit children forcibly from within IDP camps in the East”.[16] The average age of a TMVP/Karuna recruit was 14. The TMVP/Karuna had resorted to criminal activities to raise funds. They had stolen food and supplies destined for the IDP camps and sold them on.[16] The operated prostitution rings in the IDP camps to “take care of” GSL soldiers.[16] Women were forced into prostitution by the TMVP/Karuna.[16] ”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contents_of_the_United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak_%28Sri_Lanka%29
I could go on about your faulty analysis, but I think you get the point. There is very little which can be construed as “impartial” as per your Channel 4 piece. Now, in light of the above, why you would choose to shed crocodile tears over Lasantha Wickrematunge is beyond me. What is bizzare, however, is the apparent contradiction in the extent that you go to defend LW’s murderers in one setting (e.g.the fascist Rajapakses), while feigning sympathy for LW in a different, but hardly unconnected, setting.
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Let's Ban Crooks and Charlatans / February 8, 2012
Nihal P:
Why do you persist in wasting your time and energy dealing with Padraig Colman and Peter Casie Chetty? Their lack of anything resembling morality, ethics and honesty should be self-evident to anyone who has seen the bilge they persist in spouting. “Guns for hire” would be an ultra-polite description of these two. At best, they indulge in the old (Joseph) McCarthyite tactic of “taking random samples and making sweeping generalisations.” Typically, though, neither has any respect for the truth.
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PresiDunce Bean / February 5, 2012
The Rajapaksas’ will have to pay for their crimes. It may take time, but justice will be done.
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padraigcolman / February 5, 2012
“The government has undertaken to probe Lasantha’s violent death. We only hope at least that investigation will be conducted to a successful conclusion”.
Nihal does not appreciate my understated style. To spell it out for him: I have very little hope that the investigation will; be conducted to a successful conclusion.
“Now, either Padraig is completely naive or he purposely chose to omit the fact that LW named his killers before he died. And the primary culprit, of course, is Mahinda Rajapakse whom Padraig does not implicate as a potential suspect.” Did he name his killers?
Despite Nihal’s delusions about me, I am not privy to the workings of the Sri Lankan government. I am just an elderly person living up in the mountains with my wife, four dogs and an elderly Irish cat. There are enough people who will implicate the president as a potential suspect. What do I know? In the immediate aftermath of Lasantha’s murder I wrote a piece about it and did my best to draw international attention to it. I quoted the posthumous editorial. Now, I mention that there is doubt about whether Lasantha actually wrote it. Again, what do I know? Let readers decide.
Nihal refers to my “dubious journalism”. I have never claimed to be a journalist. I am a freelance writer. Writing is a hobby. Anyone is free to challenge what I write. Nihal frequently does. I give him space to express his views. I do not delete them however bizarre or abusive or uncivil they might be.
I do not forget that this is the internet. Nevertheless, I am old-fashioned enough to wish that traditional rules of grammar, spelling and etiquette could apply. I am always grateful when people correct my errors of fact or grammar. I fail to understand why he is not equally grateful when I correct his errors.
I also fail to understand why he cannot disagree with me without calling me an idiot or a sodomite.
In most of this diatribe Nihal is covering old ground which I have dealt with before and which is too boring to go into again. I am not going to be drawn in to defending the Sri Lankan army or police. I am certainly not going to be suckered in to defending Karuna.
“Regarding the IDP camps and rape, the allegations made in ‘Killing Fields’ are corroborated by Wikileaks. Now, unless Channel 4 and Wikileaks share some kind of mutual bond, that looks like damning evidence to me”.
As I have already said, Nihal is committing what philosophers call a “category error” by praying in aid WikiLeaks as a definitive authority. Mainly, WikiLeaks revealed diplomatic cables in which US diplomats expressed their opinions and beliefs. I have been watching a lot of courtroom dramas on DVD. The defence attorney would leap to his feet shouting “Objection. Hearsay” and the judge would say, “Sustained”.
“Why you would choose to shed crocodile tears over Lasantha Wickrematunge is beyond me. What is bizarre (sic) , however, is the apparent contradiction in the extent that you go to defend LW’s murderers in one setting (e.g.the fascist Rajapakses), while feigning sympathy for LW in a different, but hardly unconnected, setting.”
That is an example of the loaded language I referred to. Why does Nihal say “crocodile tears”. Lasantha’s death was shocking to me at the time and I did my best then to publicise it internationally. My intention on the third anniversary was to set out the facts as they were known. I stated the suspicions about the Rajapaksa’s involvement. I also stated the views of those who thought their involvement unlikely. I have no personal interest in defending or attacking the Rajapaksa. Why can Nihal not understand that? The Rajapaksas are nothing to me. I dealt with the peculiar role of the Sunday Leader and Fonseka. I mentioned Mervyn Silva.
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Nihal P / February 5, 2012
“We only hope at least that investigation will be conducted to a successful conclusion.”
Do explain how the investigation can possibly be conducted to a successful conclusion if the suspects are investigating themselves. Welcome to the world of Sri Lankan “justice”, whether the suspect often doubles as the judge and jury!
“Now, I mention that there is doubt about whether Lasantha actually wrote it.”
And why should there be any such doubt, in the first place. To put the note into context, LW had been threatened for quite a while, meaning it was only a matter of time before the fatal blow came his way. So you cannot deny he had an incentive to write such a note. The authenticity of the note has been confirmed by his wife, who hasn’t exactly profited (financially or otherwise) from his death.
“Did he name his killers?”
LW does mention the mastermind explicitly (to do so would have resulted in a severe backlash against the Sunday Leader). But one can deduce that the mastermind is none other than Gothabaya Rajapakse. MR, with his knowledge of the mastermind, is therefore an accomplice.
“I fail to understand why he is not equally grateful when I correct his errors.”
These errors do not detract from the substance of the argument. Besides, regardless of how you express yourself, English by nature is a bastardized, imprecise language that is severely lacking. To give a simple example, those of us who work in technical fields understand the superiority of a simple equation over a drawn-out semantic argument.
“Mainly, WikiLeaks revealed diplomatic cables in which US diplomats expressed their opinions and beliefs.”
You grossly underestimate the ramifications of Wikileaks. Besides the obvious fact that Bradley Manning is in prison and Assange is under house arrest, this was not mere idle chatter; it was top-secret information not meant for the consumption of the public. Now, what is remarkable is that both Wikileaks and the CH4 documentary claimed women were being abused at the camps. The difference is that Wikileaks goes into much more detail – enough to actually induce an full-scale investigation.
“Lasantha’s death was shocking to me at the time”
“The Rajapaksas are nothing to me. I dealt with the peculiar role of the Sunday Leader and Fonseka”
You fail to understand that the assassination of the editor of a top newspaper in Sri Lanka could not have come about without the approval of those in the highest echelons of power. There is no need to speculate here. LW knew all these people intimately, and he was exposing them with little regard to the consequences. It was necessary to take out LW, not just to save face, but in order to set an example. Now, every newspaper outlet on the island understands the limits of press freedom.
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Nihal P / February 5, 2012
*LW does not mention the mastermind explicitly
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David Blacker / February 10, 2012
“LW does mention the mastermind explicitly”
You mean, Untersturmfuhrer Heshan, that the editorial the Sunday Leader claimed was written by LW mentioned the mastermind. You still seem confused about what constitutes a fact or a piece of evidence. Looks like not much has changed since you claimed that the Jews nuked Japan.
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Padraig Colman / February 10, 2012
Thank you David. Nihal has a hazy grip on reality. He thinks that If I quote someone’s words I am supporting those words. If I quoted Mein Kampf in its entirety it would mean that I was a Nazi. If I quote Sinhalese who support the use of violence it means that I reject the Buddha’s teachings. He believes that WikiLeaks is in itself an authority on the truth. If Robert Blake or Patricia Butenis say in a leaked cable that they believe the Rajapaksas are guilty of war crimes that in itself proves Channel 4’s case.
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padraigcolman / February 5, 2012
Someone made a possibly libellous remark about Nihal’s sexual activity. I alerted the moderators to it and it was removed.
I now see that Nihal has made a similarly offensive remark about me on another Colombo Telegraph thread.
http://colombotelegraph.com/2012/02/02/hitlers-rejuvenation-of-germany-as-inspiration-for-prabhakaran/
Nihal wrote in response to Mango:
“Like I said, go back to sucking Patshit’s co-k on your worthless blog; your knowledge of history is hopeless.”
Nihal, I know you do not like me correcting your use of English but i suggest you pick up an English dictionary and look up the words shame, decency, honour and then try to live your life bearing those concepts in mind.
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Lasantha Pethiyagoda / February 5, 2012
Readers and writers in this forum seem to quickly develop relationships of amity or antagonism and thereafter go at each others’ comments or engage at a personal level. Often the theme of the main article is lost in the process. Such distractions notwithstanding, both the UK and Australian MPs who have made submissions in support of the Tigers or Channel 4 seem to hold double standards about who should be punished and who shouldn’t, for very similar situations but when perpetrators are their own kind (ie White, Anglo) rather than dark-skinned third-world characters, their obvious bias is astounding. Nothing can excuse the invasion and destruction of Iraq, which had never even threatened the west or supported the people who did 9-11. The extermination of two million of its citizens under the rubric of war is a crime against humanity. The violations of human rights “in the final stages” of Sri Lanka’s conflict pales very much by any measure of comparison.
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Nihal P / February 5, 2012
As I said, it is not so much the criminal behavior itself that matters (given sufficient time, all armies will commit war crimes), but the ensuing response (or lack thereof). In the Sri Lankan case, the only response thus far has been blanket denial.
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David / February 6, 2012
Wow! for once I get to read about something written against the GOLIATH WEST in Lasantha Pethiyagoda’s comment above. After repeatedly reading like a mantra the hypocritical western media and the West worshipping lackey Sri Lankan journalists who would write any rubbish if you throw a few dollars at them, Lasantha’s comments above seems like a breath of fresh air. Since the demise of the most ruthless LTTE terror outfit, Diaspora Tamils have been licking their wounds and gone on a shopping spree to spend the billions of ill gotten dollars left behind by the LTTE. They have been buying Western journalists and Western politicians in the UK, Australia, Canada, USA & the EU. The result has created a Western Goliath who systematically and relentlessly bullied tiny minnow of a David called Sri Lanka on the World stage to cover up their own war crimes in Iraq & Afganistan. What has the ICG, AI, and HRW has to say about over one million innocent civilions killed in IRAQ & AFGANISTAN? Why are they totally silent on these war crimes. As Lasantha says above “The violations of human rights “in the final stages” of Sri Lanka’s conflict pales very much by any measure of comparison.”
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padraigcolman / February 6, 2012
Yes Lasantha, it is unfortunate that discussions go off-topic like this. I have seen it happen a lot on unmoderated sites like Open Salon. Perhaps the Colombo Telegraph moderators should be more alert. Nihal P seems to have developed an unnatural animosity against me but he derails the debate wherever he gets involved.
See
http://colombotelegraph.com/2012/02/02/hitlers-rejuvenation-of-germany-as-inspiration-for-prabhakaran/
for examples of his sophisticated debating technique.
See Groundviews for examples of his obsession with homosexuality:
http://groundviews.org/2011/09/21/are-there-really-gay-sri-lankans/
I am glad that you agree that it is relevant to mention that Siobhan McDonagh campaigns for Sri Lankan war crimes to be investigated but voted strongly in favour of the invasion of Iraq and strongly against an inquiry into the war.
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dr / February 6, 2012
Healthy debates on a subject may be entertaining but not like barking mad dogs pulling each others flesh is very very UGLY . I would say gone off the track to cover ones track. Sad day for journalism.
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Padraig Colman / February 7, 2012
You are quite right dr. Where are the moderators? For the record Nihal has persistently called ME a sodomite! I am well aware that he “has written extensively against such practices.”
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Nihal P / February 7, 2012
“What profit do you think there is for me to be a defender of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism and the Rajapaksas in particular?””
In a nutshell, despite your best efforts to describe Sri Lanka, including its politics, to a Western audience, there is little criticism of the Rajapakse regime or the general “Mahavamsa Mindset” that is part and parcel of the Southern nationalist consciousness. Refer to http://www.sangam.org/2009/07/Mahavamsa_Buddhism.php?uid=3596&print=true, for more information, if you’re unfamiliar with the term.
Given the lack of criticism, we can infer that ulterior motives are at play, since one can hardly remain objective when it comes to SL politics.
Peter, Paul, and Peter+Paul – by excluding Mary, we obtain the sodomite version.
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Rathyaka Banda - USA / February 7, 2012
Bad journalism or bad comments? freedom of expression has the broadest scope of any humanright, from the right of any citizen to speak their mind freely, to dissent or offend.
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Padraig Colman / February 7, 2012
I do not think either Nihal or mygoodself could be called journalists.
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Padraig Colman / February 7, 2012
Nihal – you have still not answered my question.
“What profit do you think there is for me to be a defender of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism and the Rajapaksas in particular?”
Rather than answering you have simply referred to “ulterior motives” without saying what they might be.
“Peter, Paul, and Peter+Paul – by excluding Mary, we obtain the sodomite version.” What does that mean?
Again, you cannot resist bringing in sodomy. What has sodomy got to do with this thread?
I do not care if Nihal is a homosexual. I see no shame in being a homosexual. If he tells us he is not I am prepared to believe him. I wish he would do me the same courtesy. Nihal reminds me of Mr Dick in David Copperfield. Whatever the conversation, Mr Dick reverts to his obsession with King Charles’s head. Whatever the debate, Nihal manages to bring in sodomy and fellatio. I have already given a reference so that interested readers can read Nihal’s own words expressing his views on homosexual practices.
Nihal cannot explain his bizarre notion that someone from an Irish Catholic background could be considered a rabid Sinhala Buddhist nationalist. It seems that he has tried to divert attention from that ridiculous idea with assumptions and smears about my sexual preferences and my religious beliefs. For the record, I am a heterosexual atheist.
When I respond to Nihal’s points, he ignores my answer and moves on to some other baseless charge. I have already referred him to something I wrote about Buddhism and politics. See:
http://www.doesthismakesense.com/writers/buddhism-politics-war-violence
George Bernard Shaw wrote to the Zionist David Eder.
“I cannot explain my position to you. There is something inherent in your germ-plasm which makes you congenitally incapable of understanding anything that I say. I have explained in writing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over with the most laborious lucidity.”
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Nihal P / February 7, 2012
Greetings Padraig,
You were the one who brought up the issue of sodomy, not me. By the way, sucking clocks is actually common American slang that has nothing to do with sodomy, or for that matter, anything involving vigorous physical activity between Adam and Eve. For further information on this seemingly vital issue which in your case seems to conjure up fond (fondling?) memories of Father O’Leary’s parish, I refer you to urbandictionary.
Regarding the link to the article you gave, it seems that in that particular case, you make excuses to justify the violent nature of Sinhala-Buddhism. For example, you quote one person who says that such violence basically serves a “utilitarian” purpose of ones’ life being “sacrificed” to save “multiple others”, and in another instance, you mention someone else’s argument that “that killing can sometimes be a legitimate response to suffering.” The fact of the matter is that the Buddha himself never justified violence under circumstances, let alone war, so arguments similar to the above are essentially baseless. Of course, I’m sure you could, in 5 min or so, convince a naive Western audience of why the “protectors of Theravada Buddhism” would need to wage such a war, but a deeper analysis would reveal serious flaws in your methodology.
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Padraig Colman / February 7, 2012
“By the way, sucking clocks is actually common American slang that has nothing to do with sodomy, or for that matter, anything involving vigorous physical activity between Adam and Eve.”
Encountering you has certainly advanced my education. I have led a sheltered life. Although I have written much about the evils of the Catholic church and child-abusing priests, I was never the victim of such abuse myself. I will bow to your superior knowledge of what homosexuals get up to or into. I do recall reading about a police raid on a male brothel in Barnes, not far from my home in Putney. There was much unpleasant detail about wooden planks and nails and hammers. Not my idea of a nice night out!
I am familiar with the urban dictionary. I don’t think it is authoritative. It has rather let me down on the subject of sucking clocks. This is what it tells me: “sucking clock isn’t defined yet.” Where would the fun be in sucking a clock? You have accused me of naivety. I have to admit it here. Why would anyone suck a clock?
It is tedious and infantile to argue who brought up sodomy first. There were many references to butt-buddies by you before I engaged with the subject.
I think Colombo Telegraph’s patience may be sorely tried by these exchanges. It is extremely entertaining jousting with you like this. Why don’t you give me your e-mail address so we can carry this on in private? Nudge-nudge!
You are so cute, I think I want to marry you!
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Padraig Colman / February 7, 2012
Oh dear, Nihal. You just can’t get your mind around the idea that I don’t necessarily share the opinions of those that I am quoting.
You say: “you make excuses to justify the violent nature of Sinhala-Buddhism”. Oh no, I do not. I quote people who do that. That is not my own opinion.
You are not exposing flaws in my methodology.
“The fact of the matter is that the Buddha himself never justified violence under circumstances, let alone war, so arguments similar to the above are essentially baseless.”
I quite agree!
WTF is the matter with you?
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Padraig Colman / February 7, 2012
Lasantha’s murder is also a bit off-topic here but I cannot allow Nihal to misrepresent me yet again.
“So Padraig, you don’t question the veracity of “Mahavamsa”, yet you cast doubt on the authenticity of LW’s note? What kind of bizzare (sic) logic is that?”
Here is my true position.
At the time of Lasantha’s murder I wrote about it for an international audience and I quoted the posthumous editorial in full. I stated quite categorically then that the murder was a terrible thing and that the culprits should be brought to justice. I have stated to Nihal since then my belief that in the culture of impunity in Sri Lanka it is unlikely that this will happen.
At the time of the third anniversary, I wrote about the murder again. I mentioned theories about the culprits. The list included the Rajapaksas, Sarath Fonseka and Mervyn Silva. I quoted the opinions of different people about this and about Lasantha’s character and career. I mentioned the bizarre fact that current Leader editor did not listen to the answer when Lal Wickrematunge asked Sarath Fonseka if he had killed Lasantha.
I also mentioned Rajpal Abeynayake’s contention that Lasantha did not write the famous editorial and that Rohan Pethiyagoda did write it. I also mentioned the fact that some people thought it did not matter whether Lasantha wrote it. I quoted Dilrukshi Handunnetti: “Lasantha Wickrematunge wrote a powerful editorial which was published posthumously. (It does not matter if he wrote the whole of it or only a part of it or even none of it – the style, spirit and panache of it is unmistakeably Lasantha Wickrematunge.)”
I have no way of knowing whether the editorial was authentic. I doubt if Nihal has any way of knowing. It seemed to me to say something about journalistic ethics that a currently practising journalist (she is now writing for Tiran Alles’s paper Ceylon Today) could say that it did not matter if the editorial was a hoax.
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Nihal P / February 8, 2012
You’re missing the forest for the trees, Padraig. As I said, the assassination of a leading news editor in SL cannot come about without the approval and or connivance of those in the highest echelons of power. Assassination is one step above abduction/torture/prolonged incarceration. This website has proved that Mahinda Rajapakse was directly complicit in the prolonged incarceration of the journalist Tissanayagam. Then there are the libel charges against the “Sunday Leader”… guess who pressed the charges? None other than Gothabaya Rajapakse. There is also the burning of the “Uthayan” newspaper and the killing of one of its editors, by a pro-government paramilitary group. Finally, there is the disappearance of Pradeep E, the editor of LankaEnews, yet another newspaper highly critical of the Rajapakse’s. The point is that all of these events are connected. They provide a CONTEXT for LW’s final note:
And Then They Came For Me
“No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honour to belong to all those categories and now especially the last.”
Now, the fact that you refuse to connect the dots in your writings, shows that you’re an apologist for GOSL. The fact that you refuse to acknowledge the authenticity of LW’s note, instead paying heed to the laughable conspiracy theories of the President’s secretary, only highlights your sinister agenda.
It doesn’t matter if you hide behind 3rd parties to get your point across. It’s clear whose side you’re on.
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Padraig Colman / February 8, 2012
Nihal says: “The fact that you refuse to acknowledge the authenticity of LW’s note, instead paying heed to the laughable conspiracy theories of the President’s secretary, only highlights your sinister agenda. It doesn’t matter if you hide behind 3rd parties to get your point across. It’s clear whose side you’re on.”
“ It’s clear whose side you’re on.” That sounds pretty sinister to me. Echoes of Adolf Hitler and George W Bush. I am not on anybody’s side. I have no ”sinister agenda”.
I do not “refuse to acknowledge the authenticity of LW’s note”, I point out that some people do challenge it. You ignore the point I make about some people saying that it does not matter if LW wrote it.
You have still not answered my question: “What profit do you think there is for me to be a defender of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism and the Rajapaksas in particular?”
You alluded to “ulterior motives” before, now you allege a “sinister agenda”. What is your agenda?
I repeat what I said in a previous comment: “You just can’t get your mind around the idea that I don’t necessarily share the opinions of those that I am quoting.” That is not the same as hiding behind third parties to get my point across. Why can’t you get that?
I ask again. What does “Peter, Paul, and Peter+Paul – by excluding Mary, we obtain the sodomite version.” What does that mean? What has it got to do with this thread?
“Why would anyone suck a clock?”
Nihal says: “Greetings Padraig, You were the one who brought up the issue of sodomy, not me.”
This is what he wrote on Mango’s blog 29/12/2011: “Just because your third-rate blog gets no attention, except from your butt buddy Padrig, there is no reason to associate me with your past homosexual comrades, Heshan, Siri, or whomever it may be. Cheers.” To which Mango replied: “Your immediate grasping at ‘butt buddies’ and other gay slurs suggests deeply repressed homosexual feelings. Don’t be shy, embrace your inner gayness and splurge out the Judy Garland box-set.”
http://thecarthaginiansolution.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/mr-poop-goes-for-a-walk/
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Padraig Colman / February 8, 2012
“yet another newspaper highly critical of the Rajapakse’s”. I have told you before about your aberrant apostrophes.
Why are you telling me about all these things? I have written about them. I am not going to defend them. you have made a straw man out of me.
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Padraig Colman / February 8, 2012
“Nihal P:
Why do you persist in wasting your time and energy dealing with Padraig Colman and Peter Casie Chetty?”
Why indeed?
“Guns for hire” by whom? That is a question Nihal won’t answer.
The McCarthyite smears are not coming from me. I am not hiding behind a silly name like Let’s Ban Crooks and Charlatans.
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Nihal P / February 8, 2012
“Why do you persist in wasting your time and energy dealing with Padraig Colman and Peter Casie Chetty?”
“Typically, though, neither has any respect for the truth.”
I think you have a point there, Let’s Ban. I must say, however, that I’m astonished anyone would question the authenticity of LW’s last words, even one of his detractors.
You’re right, though; debating with Colman and Chetty is definitely a waste of time. On a lighter note, at least http://captainpurplehead.blogs.ie/2010/04/21/how-stupid-are-irish-people/ is more understandable now.
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Padraig Colman / February 9, 2012
Nihal persistently accuses me of being a government lackey. He refuses to say what he thinks I would do this for. Does he think the Sri Lankan government is paying me? What would be the profit to me in being a “ war crimes apologist for the Sri Lankan government”.
Any arrows I fire at him just bounce off. He just ignores what I tell him.
He asserts that no editor would publish a picture of the alleged summary executions with the word “Fake” on it. I have told him more than once that I got the picture from the Sunday Leader.
He is once again asserting that I questioned the authenticity of Lasantha’s posthumous editorial. He knows fine well that I told him that I was not questioning the authenticity but reporting the claim by Rajpal Abeynayake that the editorial was written by Rohan Pethiyagoda. I have no way of knowing the truth about this. It must be a rumour that gained some currency because Dilrukshi Handunnetti was moved to write that it did not matter who wrote the editorial, even though the reason the world was moved by it people did not doubt it was written by Lasantha. I invited Nihal to comment on the journalistic ethics of Handunnetti’s position but he has declined.
I have directed him to articles in which I have been critical of the government and other articles where I have been supportive of Tamils. He ignores this and continues to paint me as being supportive of Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism.
Now, he is revealing his own racism by referring to stereotypes about the Irish. I do not know Colombo Telegraph’s policy on racist comments but I hope they do not remove Nihal’s comments because they reveal a great deal about his character.
It is odd that the name of Joe McCarthy should be mentioned. McCarthy prospered for a very short time by using smear tactics, innuendo and unsupported allegations. Nihal uses smears about homosexuality and then denies it, even though the evidence is presented. Now he is revealing himself as a racist. (“Light-hearted” he says. All racists come up with that “where’s your sense of humour ?” tactic). What would be the reaction if I said things about Tamils similar to his comments about the Irish?
I have written at length on this topic. I would be interested to read Nihal’s comments.
http://pcolman.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/the-toxicity-of-taxonomy-stereotyping-the-irish/
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Padraig Colman / February 9, 2012
“We will not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia or other forms of hate-speech, or contributions that could be interpreted as such. We recognise the difference between criticising a particular government, organisation, community or belief and attacking people on the basis of their race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age.”
That sounds like a good policy. Absence of racism etc will make Colombo Telegraph a better site but I hope that Nihal’s comments are NOT removed.
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Padraig Colman / February 10, 2012
Actually the Captain Purplehead blog that Nihal refers us to is good and I would recommend a reading of it.It is Nihal’s spin on it that is offensive.
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Padraig Colman / February 9, 2012
I do not know Peter Casie Chetty. I assume that he is writing under his own name. He has had no qualms about giving his location and has been brave (foolhardy?) enough to give his phone number.
If you do a Google search on the name “Padraig Colman” you will come up with “about 98,200 results”. A search for Let’s Ban Crooks and Charlatans comes up with just two items.
My point here is that Peter and myself have the courage to put our words out there in the world without hiding behind a silly name. People are free to disagree with us and to abuse us. Who knows what the agenda of Let’s Ban Crooks and Charlatans might be? He is a man of mystery who is too cowardly to reveal himself.
Look at the name he has chosen. It suggest that he advocates censorship and is an enemy of free speech. He wants to ban crooks and charlatans. How does he define crooks and charlatans? If he is given the power to ban crooks and charlatans he will probably decide that crooks and charlatans are those people who do not wholeheartedly support his own point of view.
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Angel Gabriel / February 9, 2012
If only Julia Guillard and Lilly white Australia could do unto their own people what they would do unto LTTE apologists perhaps Julia would not have had to run from her own citizens minus her expensive shoe.
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Padraig Colman / February 10, 2012
Good point, Angel. There is no shortage of hypocrisy when it comes to crimes against humanity. Siobhan McDonagh has been persistent in her calls for an international inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. Voting records for the House of Commons show that she voted strongly in favour of the illegal invasion of Iraq and strongly against an inquiry into the invasion. There are large numbers of Tamil voters in her constituency.
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Padraig Colman / February 10, 2012
Nihal should read this:
http://www.theweek.co.uk/society/45208/blood-spattered-trip-through-todays-lamentable-lingo?utm_campaign=theweekdaily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
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