Need for Safe Haven for Civilians
in Active Conflict Zones –Reply to Ivan Pedropillai.
By Charles.S.Perera
On the 23 September,2008 through the Sri Lanka Guardian Mr.Ivan Pedropillai,
has made a delayed appearance to plead for the worthy cause of the displaced
Tamil Persons involved in the on going conflict. It is extremely sad
that the humanitarians like him were playing hide and seek all this
while and appear just now to defend the poor Tamil Civil population
who had been made to suffer for the dream of a man who wants territorial
separation to set up a homeland for the Tamils.
Before we get down to understand the present plight of the innocent
displaced Tamil persons, let us see , without throwing aspersions at
the government, who are responsible to have put these innocent Tamil
persons in to this most inhuman situation.
The Sri Lanka Government of the President Mahinda Rajapkse, even before
he was elected promised to meet the terrorist leader Prabhakaran personally,
if he were to be elected, to find a solution to the problem of the Tamil
people. Thereafter, when he was elected to the high office, the President,
true to his promise , sent emissaries- the SLMM, inviting Prabhakaran
the terrorist leader to meet him personally. Prabhakaran's answer to
the President was in his so called annual address in November, 2005,
in which he said that he would renew his armed struggle.
Subsequently with the intervention of the Norwegian Mission, Prabhakaran
agreed to send a delegation to attend a meeting with the representative
of the Government in Geneva, Switzerland to negotiate for a peace settlement
on the 22-23 of February, 2006. Latter the terrorists attacked the Sri
Lanka army, and asked the government to postpone the scheduled peace
talk for the 24-25 April,2006.
On the 20 April,2006 Prabhakaran officially pulled out of the negotiations
indefinitely.
Again with the intervention of the Sri Lanka Government and the Norwegian
Government it was agreed to commence peace negotiations, this time in
Oslo, Norway on 8-9 June,2006.
In the meantime the LTTE cancelled the scheduled peace talks, and on
the 15, June,2006, exploded a Claymore bomb in Kebithigollawa killing
64 civilians including men, women, and many children.
On the 21 July,2006 the terrorists closed the Sluice Gates at Mavil
Aru depriving water to 15 000 villagers, and on the 2 August, 2006 attacked
the army camp at Muttur. It was only then that the Government forces
retaliated. That was the beginning of the armed conflict in which the
Government Forces militarily challenged the terrorists. Please see :
http://www.defence.lk/pps/peaceattempt.pdf for details.
Now, Mr.Ivan Pedropillai, you see the sequence of events that lead
the Government Forces to intervene militarily, to say no to Prabhakaran
and his terrorist forces who understand only the "language of the
gun". That sequence of events given above shows why the Government
of Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse was forced to intervene militarily, to stop
further continuation of Prabhakaran's , pretentious, unpredictable ,
dishonest manoeuvres to dupe the government of Sri Lanka, the International
Community represented by Norway, and the people, to attain his dream
of an Eelm State at what ever cost to the civil population.
To-day in Kilinochchi, Prabhakaran is holding the Civilian population
prisoners, to make of them a human shield to save his skin. The government
has not left the civil population in Kilinochchi without resources,
they have been provided with food and medicine, despite both commodities
are being pilfered by the terrorists to feed their cadres. The life
for the civilian population is certainly unbearably difficult, the government
has also made arrangements to receive them, if they can break away from
the terrorist hold, into non-military areas.
The culprit who is primarily responsible for this sad situation is
Prabhakaran, though Mr.Pedropillai does not seem to admit that fact.
It is he who has inflicted this suffering to the civil population in
Killinochchi, and not the Government. There are many factors at play
in this terrorists issue. There is a very interesting article in the
LankaWeb, by Kithsiri Athulathmudali, titled "Who Wants to Win
the Hearts and Minds of Tamil Nadu Tamils: Narayana? ", which makes
us think that terrorism in Sri Lanka, is used as a pawn on a larger
political game of chess.
One begins to question why the International Community, including USA,
along with UN System, Karen Parker, Human Rights Watch, the Catholic
Church, and the AI , are opposing with vehemence the Sri Lanka Government's
war against terrorism, while at the same time making the terrorist issue
in Sri Lanka different, from the terrorism America and the IC have vowed
to fight where ever it is found.
However, the question one raises now Mr. Ivan Pedropillai, is what
you and your Writers Guild had been doing all this time. If you were
genuinely interested about the suffering of the civil population why
did n't you intervene when Prabhakaran withdrew from the scheduled peace
talks in Geneva and Oslo, to insist on him the necessity to meet the
government for peace talks to avoid considerable difficulties for the
civil population.
You cannot wash your hands now Mr. Pedropillai, and put all the blame
on the government of Sri Lanka for the sad plight of the civilian population
in Kilinochchi to-day. Because you Mr.Pedropillai and your Writers Guild
have not done any thing to force Prabhakran to come to a settlement
with the government. You watched in silence, when he refused to attend
the scheduled meetings to negotiate a peace settlement, and continued
to fight the government Forces to the greater inconvenience of the Civil
population.
That was because you also connived with Prabhakaran's pathological
scheming for the partition of Sri Lanka for a Tamil Homeland. Therefore
you and your Guild never cared a dime for the suffering of the civilians,
who were to be the human sacrifice for the Tamil Homeland Prabhakaran
was to set up. That is why Mr.Pedropillai, you and your writers' Guild
stand condemned for having caused immense suffering to the Civil Population
in Kilinochchi. You are responsible, as much as Prabhakaran for the
sad plight of these innocent civilians in Kilinochchi today.
Mr.Ivan Pedropillai and his writers guild who have been watching the
continuous sacrifice of brain washed Tamil Youth for a promised homeland,
wake up now, when the Government Forces are on the verge of ending the
blind terrorism that cost so many human lives and destroyed so much
land and material; They have woken up now to plead the International
Community to intervene to save the terrorist, still hoping that terrorism
will make the Tamil Homeland a reality. If Prabhakaran and his wild
dream is not ended now this massacres, murders and assassinations would
continue for another 25 years. And the civilians who had suffered for
the last 25 years will continue to go though the same suffering for
another 25 years. Is that what Mr.Ivan Pedropillai and Writers Guild
want ?
The Government of Sri Lanka as much as any other International government
has to defend its people and protect its territory. In the present conflict
with the terrorists, the government of Sri Lanka is not the aggressor,
and it has a right to use its army to fight and eliminate terrorism.
Terrorism is a scourge that all governments have agreed to fight without
giving into it. In a war there are possible danger to the civil population,
not only in the areas of conflict but also, in Sri Lanka where terrorism
has evolved under Prabhakran, with a special suicide cadre, he can extend
his spree of massacres, assassinations, and murders every where in Sri
Lanka. They set up bombs in buses, trains in market places killing,
and maiming innocent civilians.
Mr.Pedropillai cannot start blaming the Government Armed Forces for
a war against terrorists causing untold suffering to civilians, without
telling the world of the ruthless nature of the terrorists lead by Prabhakaran.
They are terrorists and the Sri Lanka military forces are fighting against
the Terrorists, doing all it could to help the civilian population.
It is not true that the government has stopped supplying food and medicine
to the combat areas. Even though the NGOs have been removed from the
military zones, necessary assistance by way of food, and medicine for
civilians continue to be supplied by the government.
The terrorists are not a group of freedom fighters. Because freedom
has not been denied to the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. More than 50 per
cent of the Tamil population is living in he South of Sri Lanka along
with their Sinhla and Muslim compatriots. The Tamil people have no restriction
for employment , purchase of land and property , and settle down in
any part of the country. Therefore it is wrong to say that the terrorists
are fighting for the freedom of the Tamil people. Tamil people are 13
percent of the total population of the country, while the Sinhala are
73 percent of the total population. But this difference has not given
the Sinhala people any special rights over and above the Tamil and Muslim
people.
Mr.Ivan Pedropillai is not pleading for the cause of the plight of
the civilians in Kilinochchi. He is attempting to keep alive Prabhakaran
the most ruthless terrorists of the present era. The Tamil diaspora
wants his safety, to keep alive the concept of a homeland for the world
Tamils. He had been a force to bring together the Tamil Nadu and all
dispersed Tamil population together. The catholic Church is also behind
you. They also want to keep Prabhakaran alive. They have there own agenda.
It is important to eliminate terrorism to Save Sri Lanka and keep together
the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and other Communities united into a peaceful
Nation. The sooner the terrorism is eliminated, sooner will be the end
of the suffering and the end of the present plight of the Civil Population
in Kilinochchi.
Therefore, do not call upon the International Community and the UN
to interfere in to our affairs. They can only make things worse for
us. We see it happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and else where,
wherever they- the International Community intervened the civilian population
suffered, and they can do nothing about it. On the other hand the government
of Sri Lanka has a better understanding of our people of different communities,
and can intervene successfully to ameliorate their conditions. We can
very well settle our problems and build a peaceful, progressive Nation
. We should have confidence.
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