Asoka WeerasingheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada

September 16, 2009

Bishop John Arnold
Diocese of Westminster V
aughan House
46 Francis Street London SW1P 1QN

Dear Bishop Arnold:

I have just read a ReuterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s report which said: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield and Bishop John Arnold of Westminster call for Tamils displaced by civil war to be allowed to return home after visiting camps in Sri Lanka.

Two English Catholic bishops have recently returned from Sri Lanka where they gained a rare insight into life in the post-conflict camps.

Alongside CAFOD, they are calling for the end of forced confinement of nearly 300,000 Tamil survivors of the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s long and bloody conflict and allow them to go home.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Sweet Mother of Jesus, please tell me that these two Sons of God are just joking!ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  If they are, then tell them that they are pulling at my wrong leg as it is the other which has Christmas jingle bells. I donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t think they really know what they are wishing for.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Do you Bishop Arnold?

No doubt, the people who escorted you two took you all along a safe passage up north, not over the mushroom dotted mine fields not knowing whether you two could traverse diligently and elegantly as if you were tip-toeing through tulips, as your lives were too precious to be popped off by a Tamil Tiger planted land mine.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  We are told that there are millions of buried landmines and I believe them.

This is one of the problems that the Sri Lankan Government has. Although they are diligently de-mining the terrain the process unfortunately is slow for the lack of expertise and equipment.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And you bet they will not let these Tamil people out like a horde of English Guernsey cattle to be killed when they step on these land mines.

The Sri Lankan Government has figured out your trap, as once these IDPs meet their untimely deaths in the hundreds, then the two British Bishops John Arnold and John Rawsthorne will be the first to pick up their bull-horns and announce to the world that the Sri Lankan Government is conducting an unprecedented act of genocide to let these Tamils go away knowing damn well that the roads and fields to their homes are mined.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Right Bishop?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sneaky, isnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t it?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Sri Lankan Government has grown to be smart having lived in a British white manƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s divide-and-rule den for over a century.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And they have also been introduced to the cabal of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Roman Catholic Bishops who have been supporting the Tamil Tigers for over two decades. You two Bishops are suspect for that very reason.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamil Roman Catholic priests is another story.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Most of them have been up to no good since their involvement in the Neervely Bank robbery in 1981 in support of the Tamil separatist cause.

You Bishops have asked the Sri Lankan Government to let the displaced Tamil people in the northern welfare villages return home.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I doubt you two had replaced your purple zucchettos with thinking caps when you made that request.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Return HomeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, you had requested. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Did you figure out what homes were left ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in habitable conditions after 26 years of ruinous warring?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Some may only have ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ had roofless shells where the monsoon rains would have drenched them in bucket-fulls; some may have had their windows blown off encouraging mosquitoes and scorpions to come and zap them; and some may have been pocked marked with deep bullet holes. I doubt they had running water, electricity nor functioning toilets either. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You two are silly even to come up with such a ridiculous request. Were you two out of your minds?

You knowƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  dear Bishop Arnold, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ moving the IDPs ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ into their homes would have been quicker and easier if only the INGOs who had gone in with heavy equipment and building materials saying that they were going to build and repair the houses and the infrastructure ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ destroyed by the war did their tasks honestly.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Did you hear what these lousy INGOsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ did?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They helped the Tamil Tigers to build seven air strips, three of which were big enough to land large cargo planes with the intention of having night landings of plane armouries; hangars, air-conditioned bunkers for the senior Tamil Tigers, and miles long eight foot high bunds around Kilinochchi and other important Tamil Tiger garrison cities.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Pox to all of these foreign NGO liars, I say.

The 26 year old Eelam War ended on May 19, almost four months ago and you want the Sri Lankan Government to allow the remaining 240,000 Tamil IDPs to go home when they are not sure whether they have a home to go to.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Why this rush dear Bishops, when you British were still building houses in 1958, 14 years after the six year World War II ended in 1945 to house the Londoners who had lost their homes during the London Blitz when London was bombed ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by the Germans for 57 consecutive nights in 1941.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  More than a million houses were destroyed or damaged in London then.

How would I know, you might wonder.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Well, I happened to be a youngster working for the London County CouncilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ArchitectƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Quantities Division in Westminster and helping the Senior Quantity Surveyors to proof the Bills of Quantities to build Council houses in Lambeth, Elephant & Castle, Shoreditch, Camberwell, Brixton and other places around London.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That is how ridiculous you two Bishops are.

You know what, Bishop Arnold.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I used to live in a flat at 10 Chichester Street in Pimlico, and walked to work at the London County Council ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ on the other side of Westminster Bridge each morning meandered myself through the side streets.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What was stark then was that in 1958 there were still empty holes between row houses where German bombs had destroyed houses which were still not rebuilt.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And isnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t it not insane for you two to expect ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Sri Lankan Government have the houses rebuilt and repaired four months after the end of a 26 year old war, to let these Northern ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamils to go to their homes.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  What homes Bishop Arnold?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Your request was a typical British political statement trying to harass and drown the Sri Lankan Government with pressure like what your bombastic, bully politicians, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ David Milliband, Gordon Brown and Keith Vaz tried to do. They did hear from me as to what I thought of their shenanigans. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I am sorry to say this Bishop Arnold, but they are a silly bunch of Westminster political-twits.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And I expected from you two Bishops a certain intelligent, Christian sensitivity, but that certainly didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t come through even if you had tried to.

And if you have ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ any intention to speak again on the, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.allow them to go homeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, I hope you will be Christian enough to be sincere and generous towards the Sri Lankan Government by reminding yourselves with this simple ground rule.

If we British took nearly 20 years after the end of the 6-year World War II to house the Londoners who lost their homes after the London Blitz, then let us not expect the Sri Lankan Government to rebuild the houses of their northern Tamil people four months after the end of a 26-year long ruthless war.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That is indeed an honest and a logical wayƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to look at the issue.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  When we British werenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t magicians to come up with quick solutions, we shouldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t expect the Sri Lankan Government to be magicians either.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That indeed should be the bottom line.

I know you Roman Catholic Bishops are political on this Sri Lankan IDP issue and have been sympathetic ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ towards the ruthless Tamil Tiger terrorists in the past, if you two indeed have an agenda stuck under the sleevesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of your cassocks, then spit it out so that we are given an opportunity to consider its validity.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I smell a nasty rat here.

Very Sincerely,

Asoka WeerasingheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
(a Buddhist by upbringing who has a wealth of respect for all other denominations which I consider are honest and ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ kind towards mankind)