Asada M Erpini

Hindustan Times on 17 June carried a write up by a correspondent named Meenakshi Ganguly. The penultimate paragraph says the whole story and lucidly presents the intention of the writer, when she writes of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”need to ensure that Tamils, after decades of war, can enjoy peace that provides “equality, dignity, justice and self-respect”. However, the government has persisted in its suspicion and has been demonising the Tamil communityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

All that the correspondent has done with her numerous dubious allegations in the write up is to make an exhibition of her preconceived misconceptions about Sri Lanka: she has done a better job than that by the writers to the Tamilnet. If women have been sexually abused by the soldiers, or by any other individuals, there is a legal mechanism in Sri Lanka to deal with such crimes. Why does Meenakshi not be more specific than throw wild allegations? Or, is she suggesting that the legal set up in the country has collapsed wholesale and that there is no law and order in the country?

The report continues on, to blame the government of Sri Lanka for lack of commitment in investigating war crimes, stating ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sri Lankan forces committed indiscriminate shelling into populated areas, summary executions of prisoners, and other war crimesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. The world saw how 300,000 Tamil civilians who had been corralled by the LTTE to be used as a human shield were being rescued by the armed forces when the whole operation was beamed live, whereas the canard of the civilians being shelled was the LTTE propagandistsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ fiction that was gobbled up with glee by their backers abroad and widely disseminated by the fake human rights guardians who had been singing for their supper at the behest of the LTTE rump.

There was no case of the Sri Lankan armed forces shelling populated areas. The government forces had declared no fire zones for the civilians, into which the LTTE had moved in with their weapons. Sri Lanka, in the meantime, had stopped using heavy weaponry against their enemy LTTE, because of their concern for the civilians, and consequently lost over 6,000 of its soldiers in the process.

The HT correspondent should not give credit to India for moves ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-for reconciliation among ethnic communities, the rebuilding of shattered lives, and a government investigation into allegations of war crimesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ is pure hypocrisy. The entire world knows now that it was India that provided military training as well as moral backing and strategic knowhow to a rag tag bunch of street ruffians, turning the latter into a powerful fighting machine with the capacity to take on the armed forces of the sovereign nation of Sri Lanka. If Sri Lanka were left alone to run its affairs, there would not have been any need for ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-rebuilding of shattered livesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the island nation would have carried on at its own, probably slow pace, but many lives would have been saved and the money now being spent on rebuilding would have been there for initiating new projects to benefit Tamils as well as all other ethnic groups.

Meenakshi ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ would do well to take off her blinkers and open her (fish-like pretty) eyes to see what really is happening in the real world of Sri Lanka ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” in Colombo, Kandy and other places – where the average Tamil clearly is much better off in every aspect than his counterpart from the majority Sinhalese community. She certainly does not have to lament that Tamils do not ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”enjoy peace that provides “equality, dignity, justice and self-respect”ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢: During the past thirty years, Tamils did not have a fraction of the peace that they now enjoy, thanks to the valiant efforts of the members of the armed forces of Sri Lanka.

It is essential that the HT correspondent also opens her eyes to some of the positive developments, especially for the Tamils, since their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Sun God saviourƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ met his maker at Nandikadal on 19 May 2009. Tamil parents in the Northern Province now send their children to school in the morning with their school bags without having to worry about them not returning home in the afternoon after being kidnapped by the Tamil (Yes, Tamil) Tigers to be sent to the warfront carrying KalashnikovƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s. The affluent Tamils based in the West ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the UK, Canada, US, etc. – can come for a sojourn to their luxury condominiums and apartment complexes in ColomboƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya or Kollupitiya, and enjoy the vegetarian meal at Greenlands, with no fear of having to fork out millions to get released after getting abducted by the LTTE agents.