Insight By Sunil Kumar

May 26th,2010
In response to “The open letter to Defence Secretary from ordinary citizen Ms.Anne Abayasekera” who indicates dismay that she read the news report on the front page of The Island of Thursday, May 6th, titledƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”TRAITORS SHOULD BE GIVEN CAPITAL PUNISHMENTƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, with an inset that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Defence Secretary Rajapaksa says the LTTE rump is exploring every avenue to avenge PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s killing on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon last MayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ it is a truism she cannot repudiate on any grounds and needs to be enlightened as to why.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ According to the report under reference the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya has been quoted as saying that anyone seeking to undermine Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sovereignty should be regarded as a traitor and why not? In fact there should be an addendum to his statement that individuals who fall into this category are dime a dozen amongst the overseas Tamil Diaspora who have not given up hope of their secessionist dream, openly and blatantly campaign for the cause and even set up Elamist Governments in absentia in mock perspective with much support from certain sympathisers who lend ladders to the springing monkeys of the so called resurgent ghosts of Tamil Eelam overseas and these need to be taken to task!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The seems to be some syntax error in what follows in the Abeyasekara open letter which says quoting the Defence Secretary that” It will be a grave blunder on the governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s part for the so-called international community to interfere in Sri Lanka, he says.” which probably needs to be corrected to read “it will be a grave blunder for the international community to interfere into the internal affairs of the Government of Sri Lanka and quite rightly so as interfere is all certain pro-active die hard individuals with (the now defunct )Tamil tiger sympathies are continuing to do.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Given the hell on earth situation created by the LTTE in their vile attempt to destroy Sri Lanka during their time and the co-operation they had from traitors within and without Sri Lanka The Defence Secretary in all probabilities has every right to say that “any Sri Lankan promoting an agenda that is detrimental to the country is nothing but a traitor who should be ready to face the consequencesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.. traitors deserved capital punishment and no one should shed crocodile tears over them “and this seems to be exactly what the Abayasekara letter seems to be doing whether inadvertently or not while misguidedly attempting to draw analogies to the Tamil Tiger terrorist insurrection with the US Civil War where the disparities between the LTTE and the Confedrates who fought for the Confederation of the United States are vast and totally dissimilar towards any legitimate definition and even sounds ludicrous!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It seems a matter of self-opinion to suggest that “all too often, the Defence Secretary seems to speak impulsively not calmly issuing reasoned and well-balanced pronouncements” as he is a man of high intellect, honour and integrity with a sense of patriotism that his critique here probably cannot comprehend rending her statement somewhat obstreperous, biased and totally out of whack unless she was harbouring some sympathies of her own towards the Tamil Tiger cause in which case her attitude would undoubtably questionable.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There seems to be contradictions in her citing that “some of us ordinary citizens are often left to wonder and feel perturbed at the attitudes that are promoted” as the wondering continues on the part of many who have read her statement as to what attitude she seems to be refering to which appears more or less to boomerang towards her own and if the promotion of the cause and reason for citizens of a Nation to be loyal, patriotic and non-traitorous towards National Security and Unity by the Defense Secretary is perturbing it is an issue she needs to take up with her own conscience perhaps.

The contradiction arises where in the same breath she is criticising the Defense Secretary she goes on to say that ” All of us are mindful of the debt we owe the President and his brother the Defence Secretary, and even more to the former Army Commander, Gen. Sarath Fonseka and his men, for bringing the long drawn-out and ruinous war to an end. We can understand ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” even if we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t go along with it ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the triumphalism that prevailed when victory was finally wrested from the LTTE. But is it necessary to demonise the enemy?” where she seems to be unable to disassociate what transpired in the aftermath of the victory over the LTTE as a subsequent portrayal of who the righteous were and who the traitors were the moment she quotes the name of Fmr.Maj. Gen.Sarath Fonseka who has, in the eyes of the primary Military as well as Civil legislators of Sri Lanka disentitled himself to the privilege of patriot and turned traitor by all his actions in order to gain political power added to which are many irregularities unbecoming of a Military Officer of his stature to which he did not even have a smidgen of entitlement regardless of office.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And perhaps there is no need to demonise the demons the LTTE were and will continue to be as long as the attrocities they committed against the Sinhala Nation, her minorities as well as their own community are remembered !

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The continued jargon of references to Palestinian peace activists in the aftermath of the Arab Israeli conflict, The confrontations by the Administration of seditious and inflammatory journalists who make a mockery of the freedom of expression by the hidden agenda based submissions they make to invite world attention albeit never fully camouflaging their real objectives make this letter somewhat ambiguous towards Pro LTTE sympathies more than one of self righteousness and needs to be dissected towards real intent.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It also seems somewhat presumptuous despite being a personal impression that quote”Increasingly, the impression created is that the government will not allow any dissent and that we must all be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”yesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ men and women and forever hold our tongues ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” whatever the provocation ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” if we wish to survive in the present climate. There are many things that raise concern and at risk of being called a traitor” suggestive of an angered and confused individual Ms Abayasekara appears to be, probably fearing for her personal safety in the present climate of Sri Lanka where there seems to be an unprecedented crackdown of traitors who contribute to misguided world opinion and the paranoia within her needing to be arrested by simply being conscious of what it takes to be a traitor and avoiding the symptoms that can be aligned with such an individual!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It needs to be emphatically stated that Ms. Abayasekera has no right to ask the Defence Secretary the question regarding one such issue that disturbs her as it suggests the mentality of a disturbed person indeed who seems to be unable to rationalise over the consequences of such a bold question. Relative to the cemeteries in the North where the LTTE ( Tamil Tiger Terrorists who attempted to destroy a Nation) what about them? What honour is needed to honour their dead after the mayhem they caused for over three decades. What is the justifiable wrong in flattening the areas they are interred in, in order that an entire nation can forget? Is there a single Nazi grave in Europe commemorating the Gestapo and the Nazi criminals of Adof Hitler who contributed to the Holocaust? or is there a single grave in Cambodia honoring the Khymer Rouge and the mass murderer Pol Pot ? and what about Rwanda? amongst many other areas of the world where the memories of those who committed attrocities against humanity are spat on( to put it mildly) rather than remembered for their mendacities!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The only nagging question needing to be asked here is not whether the Defence Secretary concurred but whether, the instruction from the legislative panel which obviously was the case rather than a unilateral individual one which ordered the flattening of those areas incorporated the thoroughness of the job with the decision to bulldoze those LTTE cemeteries which, crocodile tears notwithstanding was one taken to wipe out any remaining memories of the heinous crimes committed by the LTTE!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It also needs emphasis in response to the Abayasekera letter that there can be no comparisons nor analogies drawn to Gettysburg or that great US President Abraham Lincoln relative to the graves and monuments of the Confederate dead as a parallel to the LTTE terrorist dead as one painstaking difference divides them where the answer is obvious and needs no disputing that there is nothing ‘hallowed’ about the ground the terrorists were interred in and best forgotten whereas Gettysburg, Arlington and other places pf internment of US War Dead have been hallowed and reserved for time imemorial for patriotic sons and daughters of the land who fought to preserve her sovereignity and territorial integrity and most importantly the unity amongst the people which resulted in Conferderation!!!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Letters of this nature regardless of intent are more obstructive and hamper the progress Sri Lanka is making in the aftermath of the terrorist wipe out and the only means to consolidate it is for the Nation to stand together united towards the cause rather than whistfully questioning the integrity of the Defence Sectretary which also spills out to include the entire Administrative Team of the President and a worthless display of personal opinion.