{"id":100605,"date":"2013-08-16T11:46:15","date_gmt":"2013-08-16T06:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=100605"},"modified":"2013-08-19T12:50:21","modified_gmt":"2013-08-19T07:20:21","slug":"elephant-on-the-table-the-vast-majority-of-the-sinhala-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/elephant-on-the-table-the-vast-majority-of-the-sinhala-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Elephant On The Table: The Vast Majority Of the Sinhala Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Anandaraj L. Ponnambalam<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anandaraj L. Ponnambalam<\/p><\/div>\n

Truth, Accountability, and Justice: The Need of the Hour to End Impunity \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this article, the fourth[i]<\/a> on this subject, I wish to assert that if the right thinking people of the Sinhala Nation join in the world-wide effort currently underway for an international<\/strong> independent investigation of the Mullivaikkal massacre, it will not only be achieved sooner rather than later, it will also end the culture of impunity that is prevalent to this day.\u00a0 A culture of impunity that is only too evident in the recent assaults on the Muslim people and the Weliweriya<\/a><\/span> killings.<\/p>\n

We should ask ourselves why it is that only the May 2009 massacre rather than the many pogroms and massacres that occurred since independence in 1948 that there is this groundswell of agitation for an international<\/strong> independent investigation.\u00a0 The reason is actually quite simple.\u00a0 It is not entirely due to the immensity and monstrosity of the crime (40,000 civilian deaths by international estimates to over 140,000 by ground estimates).\u00a0 It is also due to the only period in time (present) compared to all those other periods, when the world order has embraced the concept of collective Responsibility to Protect (R2P)<\/strong>.\u00a0 Coupled to R2P is the fact that it is possible now than ever before for the technologies of instant communication (Internet), surveillance (GPS, Cell Phone cameras, WikiLeaks, etc.), and forensics (DNA evidence) to record and preserve evidence of atrocities and their perpetration, despite all efforts at muzzling and destroying that information.<\/p>\n

The \u201cTruth\u201d that that is sought are answers to the following and related questions, namely, during days leading to the end of the war and its immediate aftermath, were the \u201cPeople of the Vanni\u201d,<\/p>\n