Asada M Erpini

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The write up by a person named James Jupp, Australian National University, that appeared in World News on 09 November is another example of disinformation aimed at vilifying Sri Lanka. The section that had been quoted in the Sri Lankan media can only make the reader wonder about the pathetic level to which foreigners who obviously know nothing about Sri Lanka are ready to descend.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jupp titles his write up, which is clearly anti-Sri Lankan and anti-Sinhala, with the query ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Why the increase in Sri Lankan asylum seekers?ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ He should know very well that hordes of people go, and went, to the UK, US, Canada and many other affluent countries, by hook or by crook, with the ultimate intention of settling down in those countries. Australia is no different from any other magnet that attracts foreigners, except that a mere two centuries back it was a land mass of immense untapped resources, which the British thought was fit enough only for their convicted criminals. Naturally, the Australian aborigines, who had lived in the country for thousands of years prior to that – surviving off the land and what it was ready to give – were not worth a tuppence as far as the white masters were concerned.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Many Sri Lankans who went to Canada, Australia, the UK and other such countries in the past two to three decades, decrying Sri Lanka and its near 75% Sinhalese population, were no refugees: they were pure illegal economic migrants looking for greener pastures. If they ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” as the overwhelming majority among them were Tamils with cultural, linguistic and religious links to the 70 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu in India ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” were genuine refugees, they would not have embarked on perilous journeys to alien lands that lay over 3000 Kilometres away, when the welcoming hands of their brethren were inviting them from a mere 30 kilometres.

The writer (Jupp) of the original story states that tensions between the Tamils and the Sinhalese burst into open warfare in 1983. All that happened in 1983 was that the Tiger Terrorists (Tamil Tigers to the correspondent) killed 13 soldiers, which ultimately led to an unanticipated clash and attacks on Tamils by unruly mobs. The fact that many Tamils were rescued and were saved by the very alleged killer Sinhalese, of course, is never mentioned by anyone, including the bleeding hearts in the Western nations.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The correspondent brazenly goes on to say, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-For almost 30 years, Sri Lankans were at war with each otherƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. No! Sri Lanka has Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Malays, Burghers and Vinnie Eththos. It is only a fraction of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, among those based in the North that openly challenged the legally elected government of the country and usurped a third of the land mass and two thirds of the coastal belt for a mono-ethnic Tamil Eelam. While all this alleged discrimination – which Jupp and his counterparts from the rich countries were ready to accept without question, probably because of the lucrative enticements offered by the Tamil terrorists with their 300 million dollar annual war kitty – was going on, the population of Colombo swelled to nearly 40% Tamils. Some of the most successful business concerns and real estate today are managed or owned by the Tamils, with no hindrance from any other ethno-religious group. That is discrimination and deprivation!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The correspondent talks of a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-massacre and subsequent internment of Tamil civilians has remained a controversial topic ever since (2009)ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. In the extremely bloody finale to the war, to use the terms used by Jupp, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” wars are never meant to parallel the sombre events at a place of worship ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” 300,000 Tamil civilians were rescued by the very armed forces of Sri Lanka that stand accused since May 2009 of war crimes and genocide of Tamils. Those rescued were not subsequently interned, as Jupp alleges: the whole land area was littered with hundreds of thousands of land mines that had been planted by the Tamil Terrorists, and the government was not ready to let its citizens go back to the places from where they came until the localities were declared safe by the authorised mine-clearing teams.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jupp implies that Sri Lanka has only Tamils and Sinhalese that one needs to worry about. And, he goes on to refer to Islam as a minor religion. If the correspondent has cared to study the demography, Sri Lanka has 74% Sinhalese (mostly Buddhists), 7% Moors (Muslims), 4% Tamils originating from the North (who were the prime backers of the terrorist movement) and a similar proportion of the so-called Indian Tamils (indentured labour brought in by the British to work in the Central Province tea plantations).

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The correspondentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s disparaging remarks of the present President of Sri Lanka are uncalled for. Sri Lanka elects its rulers through democratic elections, and if the voters opted for Rajapakse, so be it. When they feel that someone else should replace him, it is they ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” and no citizen of Australia, India, Canada, the US or the UK ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” that will choose the next incumbent of the supreme post.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is sad that the correspondent goes on to say, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-there was little apparent prospect for educated Tamils to enjoy the social positions which had previously been theirsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The slip is showing, JuppƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, one would even say. The statement itself clearly shows what had been going on Sri Lanka for generations: a small minority of people had been given the opportunity to be well educated and learn English, securing the best employment opportunities. The large majority of the population, naturally the Sinhalese who were Buddhists, only had meagre facilities, and all that the majority among them could ever aspire to be was employment as a school teacher or a clerk in a government office. On the other hand, the Tamils were the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”intelligent people with brainsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and they ended up as doctors, engineers and architects, earning lucrative salaries and prestige in the society.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Erpini can go on and on indicating the falsity in JuppƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s nonsense, which he does not intent to do. Yet, this write up will not be complete unless there is a response to JuppƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s talk of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sinhalese police and soldiers were stationed in Tamil towns and villagesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. There are no towns and villages earmarked for the Tamils by the government (although JaffnaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s thesavalamai law, of Tamils for Tamils, prevents any outsider from purchasing property in Jaffna ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a classic example of discrimination of everyone including their own BY a select few of the Tamils). Any Sri Lankan citizen has the right to live in any part of the country as long as the property has been acquired according to the laws of the land. Sri Lanka Police and soldiers (not Sinhalese police and soldiers) have every right to be anywhere in the island nation of Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as some still prefer to call it), and the decision where they should be stationed is a matter for the concerned government authorities.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The worst piece of writing by Jupp is his attempt to bring in a non-existent rift between the Christians (Catholics) from Negombo and Buddhists, citing the formerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s feeling of insecurity because of militant ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” to use JuppƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s own adjective ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Buddhists. Neither this statement, nor his single paragraph starting with ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-None of this is meant to excuse the vicious and authoritarian nature of the TigersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ will convince the open-minded reader that the correspondent is objective and desirous of reporting facts.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mr. Jupp, please be honest. How much do you get from the Tiger supporters for writing untruths against Sri Lanka?

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