Dr.Tilak Fernando

It all set in motion after the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Black JulyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ outbreak in 1983 as a retaliatory attack against a Tamil militant group who massacred 13 Sri Lankan Army soldiers in Jaffna.

The LTTE (founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran) transformed into a ruthless terrorist peril over the years and brought mayhem and destruction to every Sri Lankan who did not draw the line with him to dissect the country. They spared no children either, and recruited innocent young as soldiers to become cannon fodder. President Rajapaksa, with an unwavering policy to eradicate the terrorist threat and bring forth freedom to the citizenry, achieved his goal within three years of his governance to the envy of some international administrations and their financial ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”vulturesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

Going back to over two and a half decades, batches of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”victimised boysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ straight from rustic villages of the far North and East saved every cent with one day in mind, to leave the country, if not by a direct ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Air LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ flight from Katunayake International airport or by devious means seeking assistance of human traffickers to reach London, via Germany, Italy, Ireland or France where they could re-start life on a different perspective in a dreamed land, adopting new methods, a new language and possibly with a new job or depending on the national assistance claiming refugee status.

New environment

Of course they were well looked after initially by ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the boysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ who had experienced of this new adventure before. Friends of a feather flocked together and found them accommodation until they were ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”climatisedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to the new environment. Subdivisions of the LTTE in the meanwhile did overtime, utilising such labour to their advantage with LTTE funds in buying them ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”corner shopsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ with conditions attached and obtaining promises of repayment with ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”kappamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ at the end of every month.

Unlike Sinhala expatriates, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”boysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ from the North and East worked hard, sweated much more than they did in their dry zone. At the end, they mastered the art of living in London – After all they were Londoners by then! Experienced veterans of the game visited the new influx in expensive motor cars.

The new breed managed to have a glimpse of modern Hi Fi stereo systems, colour wide TV screens, video recorders, flashy motor cars, which they had not set eyes on before, in their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…” friendsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ possession. Oh Gosh! It was too much to bear. Along with excitement, an element of jealousy began to brew in them… ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Why canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t we follow suitƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? The new lot thought seriously.

Tamil pop

Finally they befriended driving school instructors who came to fill up at their petrol stations and arranged discounted driving lessons. Yes indeed! They passed the British driving test in double quick time and they were on a fast lane in life to the top!

Change of their lifestyle initially started with an old Ford Escort. Oh! The pride……, the washing ……., polishing ……… and the pulling power! Hitting 90 mph on the motorway with the wind behind them!

Within two years, they became owners of used Mercedes Benz or BMWs. They had no time then to mess up their Farrah trousers by scrubbing vehicle hub caps. They loved driving and traffic jams where passing white teenage girls could admire their firm grip on the steering wheel and to share ear-splitting delights of megawatt entertainment – Tamil pop. They loved the feel of the gear knob in the left hand and the power beneath the right toe.

Friday nights they slipped into Jaeger casuals, had a body bath in Pacco Rabana and hit a disco where white female au pairs went in search of prey. They did not care about AIDS; perhaps they got the wrong meaning of the word!

The new breed never thought that there would come a time that their refugee application might become under scrutiny in a situation when the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”AortaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ that sustained their life machine in a foreign land would one day become clogged to such an extent that no ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”by-passƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ operation would help them to survive and one day they might have to get back to their old roots.

Urbanized new cities

But they do not want to get back to their villages. Out of sight is out of mind! Clash of culture and sophistication have embedded in them. They still want to visualise pictures of their old villages of bare and barren lands in the dry zone, so how can they even imagine the drastic transformation of desolate villages into well urbanized new cities in a rapid redevelopment plan of action under Mahinda Chinthana to take care of their own cousins who were kept under PrabakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s boots?

One point is crystal clear. They are compelled to stay put in their new sophisticated environments and determined to retain their new comfortable living styles in the West. They cannot afford to abandon mortgaged houses, leased splashy motor vehicles and disrupt childrenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ education in British seats of learning.

Political refugees

Who can really blame them? After all they are human too! Having no other alternative they have had to think about their survival quite seriously, get intermingled and associated with their friends to have a go at resuscitating a corpse by masterminding and fabricating new spurious stories and planning out new strategies to debase the good name of their motherland to find new avenues similar to those very fabrications that helped them a temporary stay as political refugees.

In their final approach they have become victims of some of the Western politicians who have displayed a quenching thirst for ethnic votes for their own survival in power and joined hands with a bunch of newly arrived Sri Lankan traitors to feed the Western media with fictitious information.

What became the final result is now become history. A distorted, unprofessional video called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”killing fieldsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ has already exposed Channel 4, once considered an esteemed TV station, as a cow without a tail!

tilakfernando@yahoo.co.ukƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
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