Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .Canada

May 26, 2009

TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  EditorƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  EMBASSYƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Ottawa

Sir:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”The Way Forward in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ is what every Sri Lankan in Sri Lanka as well as abroad is looking forward to.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  What is expected is now that we have won the terrorist war, we all want to win the Peace.

I understand the jubilation on the streets in Sri Lanka after the announcement that the terrorist war was over. It is the freedom that the people felt to know that they could now walk out of their homes in the morning for work and not worry whether they would return home in one piece or in a casket in a stitched puzzle of their body parts having been blown to smithereens by a claymore mine planted in a train, a bus or a busy street corner by the Tamil Tigers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Such triumphalism is part and parcel of winning a brutal war which lingered for 30 years, and just not 6 years as World War II did which closed its chapter with two dropped Atomic bombs by the US on JapanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing 140,000 in Hiroshima, and 80,000 in Nagasaki which was a humanitarian, evil catastrophe.

That ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-jubilation in the streets of Colombo undoubtedly in some homes in CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, you said.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In my home, the jubilation was to light a candle and say a prayer for the souls that got killed from all ethnic communities during this brutal war, and a prayer wishing for wisdom to bring about reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction towards a ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ sustainable peace among all ethnic groups in Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

I tend to believe the Government of Sri Lanka when it says that the war was against the Tamil terrorists and not the Tamil community.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And I have difficulty with your conclusion that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the Tamil community, which has been under siege from both sides for more than a generation.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Not so, as 54 percent of their Tamil population who live in the south certainly did not feel that they were under siege as they lived in harmony with the majority Sinhalese, and 40 percent of the population in the capital Colombo are Tamils, and the majority of them cursed the Tamil Tigers for creating problems for them.

It was interesting to note the recommendations and conclusions of CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development in their Report after consultations in which I participated in.

I have difficulty to understand the allegation of killings on both parties in this war, as wars do kill and there is nothing extra ordinary about Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s terrorist war.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Anti-Taliban terror operations by PakistanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s army at the behest of the US have left thousands of civilians dead and 2.4 million people displaced, compared to 220,000 Tamil civilians displaced, liberated by Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Armed Forces in northern Sri Lanka who were held hostage by the Tamil Tiger terrorists. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When half- a-million Iraqi children died due to the US invasion of Iraq in 1996, the then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in an interview with CBS said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We think the price was worth it.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That is how crass the West is when it comes to eastern hemisphere country wars.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

However, Tamil Tigers recruiting child soldiers and brain-washing children, mainly women to become suicide bombers is another story. But Canada is too late to apprehend the Tamil Tigers on these crimes as the top and second run combatants have all been killed in battle.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This should have been a concern for Canada, may be when UNICEF alleged that the Tamil Tigers had recruited 6,300 children for their Baby Brigade through abductions a few years ago.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Perhaps, antagonizing the Tamil Diaspora voters in Canada was the reason to negate that possibility.

In my estimation the second part of the recommendation that Canada could facilitate talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil moderates will get us no where, as Canada has lost its leverage on all counts after the Liberal GovernmentsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ support for the Tamil Tiger sympathizers to fund the war which was one of the reasons why ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ this brutal war dragged on this long.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Nevertheless, I doubt the Sri Lankan Government needs any western country help as they have already begun to have a dialogue with the remaining moderate Tamil politicians to find a home grown solution.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Eighteen of the 32 politicians assassinated by the Tamil Tigers were moderate Tamil politicians.

It is interesting to note that democratic elections of the local bodies in the Jaffna Municipal Council andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Vavuniya Urban Council will be held very soon as nomination dates have been gazetted to be between June 14 and 24.

Canada joining 16 other western country members of the Human Rights Council calling for a special session to force Sri Lanka to face charges of gross human rights violations in the war against the Tamil Tiger terrorists doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t help CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s interests wanting to get involved in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s internal affairs, either.

It is foolish for Canada to hope that we could be a major player, or even a bit player in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s search for lasting peace.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t look like Sri Lanka, a sovereign nation, however puny, is willing to be browbeaten by such morality codes by ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Anglo-Saxon western countries thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  have skeletonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s in their closets, and Canada surely happens to be one of them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Nor does Canada have the right to dictate terms to Sri Lanka just because we decided to house the second largest Tamil population outside Sri Lanka who have claimed their rights and freedoms with street demonstrations waving flags of the Tamil Tiger banned terrorist organization, and blocking streets and six lane Express Highways, to let the Canadians know their views on Sri Lanka.

Asoka Weerasinghe