ON “THOSE WHO BUTCERED TAMIL CIVILIANS”
Posted on October 25th, 2016
Sugath Samarasighe
Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole. in his illuminating essay()pinion Page- 14th Oct.) on the trivilasing and emasculation of the Independent Elections Commission by the government, says inter-alia as follows: The President said, military commanders who led a successful campaign to crush separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 should not be humiliated by bringing them to courts In other words, total impunity and hero-status to those who butchered Tamil civilians in the tens of thousands”
Such a statement coming from a renowned academic Prof. Rajan Hoole, holding responsible position among others, as a Member of the Independent Elections Commission is really serious and needs some clarification. We the public were made to understand that the government forces were busy fighting a Terrorist group who called themselves Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) who were finally defeated militarily at Nandikadal in May 2009, after a continuous battle for over 30 years. So, according to the good professor, were they all Tamil civilians carrying arms against the government, destroying and robbing, killing etc.? Again, if this is the case who killed over 20,000 soldiers and so many more injured in the final battle? Were it the ‘tens of thousands of Tamil civilians’ who killed them or did the soldiers die and others injured themselves, I mean, were they self-inflicted, likee suicide bombers?
Even if the Tamil civilians were not the people who were fighting the government forces, what were they doing on the battle fronts of Mullivaikkal and Nandikadal etc.? Who brought them there? The soldiers? Whose children were those who were fighting the security forces? How could they be both civilians and arms carrying civilians at the same time?
Once the final round was concluded at Nandikadal on 19th May, we were made to understand that over 285,000 Tamil civilians crossed over to the side of the Forces, who were safely taken to welfare camps, fed, medical attention and clothing etc. provided and sent out to their home areas after those areas were demined. We were told that even while the Tamil civilians were being entertained by the Army at the receiving points, a Tamil civilian had blown herself up killing and injuring many Tamil civilians around and many soldiers? Is this also the work of Tamil civilians?
Incidentally and coincidentally, there had been some LTTE fighters among the Tamil civilians who had came over to the government side for safety, who later owned themselves up. They had been later rehabilitated and returned to their parents. Strange, none of these people were ‘butchered’ by the armed forces. They seem to be so inconsistent.
Later we learnt that a census was conducted in the former fighting areas through Tamil Government Servants to enumerate the number of family members who had died and disappeared during the fighting times from the relevant areas. We are told that there were only 7000 odd such people,who died out of natural causes or otherwise. So where are the Tamil civilians who were Butchered” by the soldiers? On the other hand, could that 7000 odd add up to those Tamil civilians” who died fighting the armed forces donning LTTE uniforms, carrying arms?
When finally the Armed Forces succeeded in crushing and eliminating who ever those people who were fighting the government, didn’t the ‘Butchering’ of the Tamil civilians come to an end for good?
But I wonder whether the one time Supreme Court Judge Mr. Wigneswaran is trying hard now to re-open the ‘Butcher’s Shop’ once again. What do you think?
Sugath Samarasighe
October 25th, 2016 at 6:38 pm
It is sad to say that this Hoole appears to be a fool in this instance not to appreciate the defeat of LTTE terrorists who were a menace and responsible for the death of thousands of Sri Lankans, both Singalese and Thamils over several decades! It is obvious that he can not and does not think like a Sri Lankan but appears to think only as a biased, vindictive and extremely racist Thamil terrorist lover. Even though he is old, like many racist ltte supporters, he too has yet to learn that if SL is to be a peaceful place for all its citizens, then all groups have to give up the differences and embrace and build on the commonalities. People of Hoole’s calibre are expected to give leadership to nation building, rather than “throw salt on old wounds”. Please learn to look at the positive side and help build bridges; not break them. It is time for Hoole and similar “educated people” to remove their colored glasses, see the real light and grow up!,
October 25th, 2016 at 8:55 pm
And some times, putative butchers like Wigneswaran, aspiring to the status of his Surya Deva, themselves get butchered, as did the inestimable Dr. Guillotine of the French Revolution who was decapitated under the guillotine he himself invented!
Wigneswaran will be devoured by the Tiger he is currently riding when he can no longer hold onto its tail!
October 26th, 2016 at 2:10 am
Why is this writer and other writers repeating here the lies being concocted up by the LTTE terrorists supporters etc. and providing such lies publicity again and again and again? Why provide these lies publicity again and again and are we not doing a great injustice to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces by repeating the totally bogus allegations of the Darusman Report, the Petrie Report, the US,EU,UK, Norway, Sweden, Canada and the OHCHR?
The facts are that around 300,000 people were rescued by the Sri Lankan Army. Between February and May 2009 up to 36,000 persons inclusive of LTTE terrorists were ferried by the ICRC from Puthamathalan to Pulmuddai. Of the 300,000 persons who were rescued and the 36,000 ferried, around 12,000 were LTTE cadres or terrorists who were rehabilitated and released into society.
We know between 2006-2009 over 6,261 Sri Lankan Security Forces personnel perished. Quite a few hundred police personnel in addition would have also perished. Around 1,000 Sri Lankan Security Forces personnel in addition may be missing in action presumed dead. Around 10,000 LTTE terrorists would have died too between 2006 and 2009. However civilians would have not been affected and may be around a few hundred civilians would have perished, it is true. We know that during the very last weeks of May, around one hundred civilians were shot at and killed by the LTTE terrorists when they tried to cross over to the Sri Lankan Army side.
Therefore the lies being told by the LTTE supporters etc. should not be provided publicity falsely implicating us for no reason and these lies should not be provided publicity again and again for no reason whatsoever.
The LTTE massacred over 35,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members, Police Force members and Civil Defence Force members over 6000-7000 overwhelmingly Sinhala but also Muslim civilians, 1,253 Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF) members, over 2,000 Tamil Armed Group members who supported the Government of Sri Lanka and who were against the LTTE, around 3,000 Tamil civilians and all this add up to 47,000. Around 35,000 LTTE terrorists are estimated to have perished too. In all around 84,000 in total have perished on both sides in the war of over 26 years. This is the reality that any decent writer must discuss not provide publicity to lies and totally bogus allegations of the LTTE terrorist supporters, the Darusman Report, the Petrie Report, US, EU, UK, Norway, Sweden, Canada and the OHCHR which will not do us any good whatsoever.
October 26th, 2016 at 2:16 am
The LTTE massacred over 35,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members, Police Force members and Civil Defence Force members over 6000-7000 overwhelmingly Sinhala but also Muslim civilians, 1,253 Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF) members, over 2,000 Tamil Armed Group members who supported the Government of Sri Lanka and who were against the LTTE, around 3,000 Tamil civilians and all this add up to 47,000. Around 35,000 LTTE terrorists are estimated to have perished too. In all around 84,000 in total have perished on both sides in the war of over 26 years.
As you can see it is the brutal LTTE terrorists who massacred over 47,000 mainly Sri Lankan Armed Forces members, Police Force members, Civil Defence Force members in over 26 years of war. Over 23,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members are today both temporarily and permanently disabled due to the war. Over 13,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members are permanently disabled due to the war. Over 156,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members have been injured due to the war. Over 6,000-7,000 overwhelmingly Sinhala but also Muslim civilians have been massacred by the LTTE terrorists in the war of over 26 years.
The LTTE terrorist group also ethnically cleansed the entire Sinhala and Muslim population of the Northern Province, of over 65,000 Sinhala people and over 75,000 Muslim people of the Northern Province in the 1980s and the 1990s. The LTTE also ethnically cleansed the entire Sinhala population of the Batticaloa District in the East of over 25,000 Sinhala people.
Today, the Sinhala people and their descendants of over 135,000 are yet to be resettled in the North and in the Batticaloa District and Muslims of over 115,000 are yet to be resettled in the North. Uptil 2012, of the above number, around 32,000 Sinhala people and around 32,000 Muslims has been resettled in the North.
The LTTE terrorist group recruited over 20,000 child soldiers, all Tamil youth, as attested by UNICEF itself which stated in 2007 that perhaps the LTTE has recruited over 20,000 young persons under the age of 18 years into its cadre between 1983-2007 inclusive.
The LTTE was notorious for its horrific terror tactics such as large scale bomb attacks and the use of suicide bombers in carrying out hundreds of attacks against mainly Sinhala civilians and the country’s leadership, horrific attacks against Sinhala civilians using IED devices, claymore mines and bombs, the massacre of Sinhala villagers in their villages in the North Central, Eastern, Northern and North Western Provinces, the coerced recruitment or abduction of Tamil youth and children for recruitment as child soldiers, forced money collection from Tamils with threats to life in case of non-compliance, attacks on Sri Lanka’s economic infrastructure such as the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Sri Lanka’s the then only international airport, oil storage facilities, hotels, planes, buses, trains etc. ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese and Muslims from the North and East of Sri Lanka, the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the systematic assassination of over 120 noteworthy Sri Lankan politicians, civil servants, senior military and police officers, prelates, activists, academics, journalists and other professionals who were assassinated by the LTTE who were but a few of the hundreds of assassinations carried out by the LTTE, including the former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
October 26th, 2016 at 1:40 pm
Let us forget about all those ungrateful Tamils and think how we can how we can improve the living conditions, health and education of our rural Sinhala folks. Tamils should look at the living conditions of their brothers and sisters in Tamil Nadu and realise how fortunate they are to live in Sri Lanka and have equal rights to education health and live in any part of the country in peace. The Sinhalese and Muslims do not enjoy the right to live in the North and the east. Prof. Hoole should first think how he became a professor if the Sri Lankan state discriminate against the Tamils. We should stop trying to please those ungrateful Tamil parasites and think of our own Sinhala folks welfare.
October 26th, 2016 at 2:34 pm
Sarath W,
Yes, indeed, we MUST look after our own, while our hijacked government takes care of our enemies!
In my own little way, that is where all of my discretionary income is going …. helping our poor rural and often orphaned children in Sri Lanka gain an outstanding education and future career skills.
Instead of giving that child a fish and feeding him for one day, I am aiming to feed him all his life by teaching him to fish for himself!
October 27th, 2016 at 2:40 am
realise how fortunate they are to live in Sri Lanka !
Sarath W, I tried my best to thing I am Indian living in Mother Lanka but unfortunatly I lost myself to me .
I hope you understand my feeling eg : like Your brother told you your mother is not your real mother .
why this kolaveri machang ????