The Sequel to DEATH OF THE TIGER, Sri Lanka’s brutal victory over its Tamil insurgents BY JON LEE ANDERSON (The New Yorker, January 17, 2011)-DEATH OF THE INVINCIBLE TAMIL TIGER TERRORIST, Sri Lanka’s valiant victory over its Tamil terrorists
Posted on February 8th, 2011

BY ASOKA WEERASINGHE

First Political Assassination.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Tamil Tiger terrorism that began as a guerilla movement ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in the early 1970s had its first major kill when on 27 July 1975, Alfred Duraiappah, the Tamil Mayor of Jaffna was shot dead near Varatharaja Perumal temple in Ponnalai.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This was considered a seminal event marking the beginning of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Tamil separatist Eelam War, a killing that has missed the radar of the NGO police lobby War Crimes Brigade and the Tamil Diaspora Rump against Tamil Tigers,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  but have mischievously directed their scorpion-talons on the Sri Lankan Government to charge them of War Crimes. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The time has arrived for the late Mayor DuraiappahƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s immediate family to lay charges against these mindless NGO ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ police lobbyists in the International War Crimes Court for that negligence as that assassination of Mayor Alfred Duraiappah was a War Crime.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The major players of the NGO police lobby are, Amnesty International (AI), International Crisis Group (ICG), UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Human Rights Watch (HRW).

It was a Friday evening and as was his custom Alfred Duraiappah arrived at this Hindu temple for prayer with two friends even though he was a Christian. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Tamil youth assassins who were waiting for his arrival, went towards the three passenger doors of the 4-door car as the car halted.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The intention was to kill Duraiappah and both his friends.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When one of them got down through the back door he noticed a short youth pointing a pistol at him.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This friend, Yoganathan pushed the youth aside, toppling him to the ground and ran to the nearby boutique selling soft drinks.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The other friend Rajaratnam was injured but managed to run away. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Duraiappah who was shot at fell to the ground. The Tamil guerillas then over powered the MayorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s chauffer and escaped in his car with one Pathkunam at the wheel.

There was no attempt made by the assassins to go after Yoganathan who ran into the boutique.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The woman who was managing the boutique called out to Yoganathan when the assassins got away.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He came out and found his friend Duraiappah gushing out blood and crying for water.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Placing the dying Duraiappah on his lap he poured some aerated water into his mouth.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Duraiappah then breathed his last.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Years later Yoganathan identified the youth as Prabhakaran after seeing a photograph of him as the youth who stood before him with a pointed pistol after having shot Duraiappah. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But others have suggested that the assassin was one Kanapathy, a member of the group of these Tamil assassins

.This assassination sent shock waves through out the government circles. It affected a severe blow to the SLFP government of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike whose interests Mayor Duraippah represented.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Thus he was considered as a traitor by the Tamil guerrillaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This was a warning to all Tamils who betrayed the Tamil separatist cause.

Tamils who were considered Tamil Tiger traitors were punished with assassinations.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  These assassinations which were War Crimes in the Eelam War have some how dodged the radar of the NGO police lobby War Crimes Brigade and the Tamil Diaspora rump to bring them to task at the International War Crimes Court.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But they have mischievously directed their scorpion-talons on the Sri Lankan Government to charge them of War Crimes in an International War Crimes Court.

After the Puttur People Bank raid on March 5, 1976, a Police Intelligence Unit was set up in the North of the island.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Its primary objective was to wipe out the Tamil guerilla menace.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This unit began to operate with a net work of informants who the Tamil guerrillas considered as traitors to their separatist ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”politico-guerillaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ activities of their outfit.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The guerillas concluded that their movement cannot advance without disrupting the Police Intelligence network.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  So they decided to get rid of the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ suspected traitors.

OnƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  2ndƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  July 1976, N. Nadarajah a petrol station manager from Urumpirai was executed by the Tamil guerillas as he was considered a notorious police informant and traitor.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He was responsible for betraying several guerilla youths including Sivakumaran who was an outstanding fighter and a forerunner of armed resistance.

The Police Intelligence Team consisting among others were Constable Karunanidi and Constable Shanmuganathan, both Tamils attached to the Kankasanthurai police station, and Constable V. Shanmuganathan of Velvettithurai Police Station who were actively involved in the investigation of DuraiappahƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s assassination.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  These officers possessed substantial information pertaining to the activities of these Tamil guerrillas.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And so they were got rid of by executing them.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On February 14, 1977, Police Constable Karunanidi was executed by the Tamil guerillas at Maviddapuram.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  On May 18, 1977, two police constables bearing the names of Shanmuganathan were shot dead at Innuvil about four miles from Jaffna.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It was around 8:15 in the morning when these two officers in civilian clothes were walking towards the bus stand along the Innuvil-K.K.S main road.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Two Tamil guerillas approached them on bicycles and shot them dead.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Strange it may seem, all these deaths were War Crimes which missed the radar of the NGO lobby of War Crimes Brigade of Amnesty International, UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group.

Appropriating State Funds:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  As funds became a vital element in building and organizing a revolutionary underground movement, these Tamil assassins at this stage were not organized on a mass scale to be sustained by their supporters in the community.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They had no source of finance thus were compelled to appropriate State funds.

On March 5th, 1976, these Tamil guerrillas led by Prabhakaran ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ made their first daring daylight raid on the State owned PeopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Bank at Puttur.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The bank employees were held at gun point and the guerrillas got away with Rs.500,000 in cash and Rs.200,000 worth of jewellery.

And that was the beginning of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE aka Tamil Tigers) who later were trained and graduated by IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Indira Gandhi as terrorists in theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ mid-1980s in military camps in India.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  When the end came for these Tamil Tigers on May 18, 2009 at the Nandikathal lagoon in the east coast, whom the west thought were invincible, it was unmerciful.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  What they met were the bullets and bombs that they dished out at the Government forces, politicians and the innocent civilians for 27 long years.

Recently the former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and currently Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia, Robert O Blake, admitted that Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s decision to defeat the Tamil Tiger terrorists militarily disproved the skeptics, including him, who thought it could not be done.

The Tamil Tigers by then had fought a conventional war having brought in 11 ship loads of sophisticated armoury during the Ceasefire period between February 2002 and January 2008, with the connivance of the Scandinavian Ceasefire Monitors.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It was during that period that the Tamil Tigers violated the Ceasefire over 7000 times by July 2006, while the Sri Lankan Armed Forces had violated the Ceasefire just under 200 times.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Tamil Tiger army was led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, of Velvettithurai and who was involved with the first political assassination of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He was an elusive leader who had become one of the most successful terrorist leaders of modern times.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Tamil Tigers were persistent suicide bombers who had 388 suicide bombings to be proud of when the war ended, as well as relentless terrorist fighters in the field which included ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 5,300 kidnapped and recruited child soldiers, both boys and girls to fight on the frontlines. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And the war took at least 100,000 lives and shattered millions of lives across Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The international community paid little attention to this carnage executed by the Tamil Tigers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But when they did, however, it was to categorically lecture the Sri Lankan government that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-there is no military solution.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

It were these Tamil Tigers who perfected the art of suicide bombings, developing the suicide body-packs that soon became the favourite of Palestinians against Israel and of Islamist militants fighting moderate Muslims and the West in New York, Baghdad, London, Istanbul and elsewhere like Bali, India, Pakistan and Kabul.

Some of the western writers who have been eager to get their reflections on Sri Lanka see in print often got the historical and geographical perspectives of Sri Lanka skewed. Like John Lee Anderson who was patently wrong when he states that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the Sinhalese have traditionally lived in the southƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  When in fact, it was the north and the east of the island that was the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”rice bowlƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the island for a millennium and a half until elaborate irrigation civilization that the Sinhalese had constructed had collapsed. Thousands of irrigation tanks in the north and east, some still abandoned proves this point.

Once the Sri Lankan Government decided to take on the Tamil Tigers in July 2006, after they had blocked the anicut in Mavil Aru which provided water to nearly 30,000 acres of cultivation by poor farmers, it was the beginning of the end to prove all the international and local pundits who said that the Tamil Tigers could not be defeated militarily.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The blocking of the water resource also deprived drinking water to approximately 15,000 families of all communities in Muttur, Seruwila and Ichchalam pattu, as wells had dried up due to drying up of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the main water resource in the area.

Discussions were underway with the assistance of the Scandinavian Ceasefire Monitoring Mission to persuade the Tamil Tigers to restore the flow of water to the farming community, but the Tamil Tigers continued their intransigent attitude and made a series of demands amounting to blackmailing the Sri Lankan Government through the use of water as an instrument of coercion.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  With the Tamil Tigers taking an utterly inflexible position on a directive from their leader Prabhakaran, the Sri Lankan Government was obliged to use legitimate force to restore the water supply.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That is when the Eelam War IV began and when the Tamil Tigers met their Waterloo and by then it was the end of July 2006.

It took the armed forces 30 months to put the Tamil Tiger terrorists down taking every inch of land that the Tamil Tigers controlled for 27 years in the North and East of the island and liberating several hundred thousands of Tamils who were under the clutches of these ruthless assassins. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As for counter-insurgency this campaign was the classic text-book case of success by Sri Lanka in modern warfare, by doing it alone, compared to the NATO forces who since 2001 are struggling to defeat the Taliban forces in Afghanistan ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ battling with heavy weapons, drones ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and bombing the civilians mercilessly which they claim to be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”collateral damageƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

What has become the War Crimes charge Soap Opera against the Sri Lankan Government by the international NGOs like Amnesty International, UN Human Right Council,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  International Crisis Group and Human Rights Watch, and the LTTE Rump, missing the War Crimes executed by the Tamil Tigers through out the 27 years of battle, suggests that the War Crime charges against the Sri Lankan Government has a mischievous element and could be gleaned to be suspect.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  One could question how the atrocities conducted by the Tamil Tigers could miss their radar if they are genuine War Crimes police monitoring war events around the world.

The Massacre of innocent unarmed civilian farmer settlers by the Tamil Tigers at the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Dollar FarmƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Kent FarmƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ on 30th November 1984, is one such incident.

During the wee indigo hours of the morning of Friday, 30th November, the Tamil Tiger terrorists in a sudden unexpected attack massacred over 60 civilian farmers at the Dollar and Kent farm settlements in the Mullaitivu District in the East of Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Among the brutally killed were 4 women and 3 children.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This happened to be the first time that the Tamil Tigers killed innocent Sinhalese from the majority ethnic group.

Jayasuriya Pattabendige Jayaratne who was 19-years old was one of the civilians who lived on the Kent Farm at the time of the brutal massacre gave an eye-witness account how the attack took place.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-In the early hours of the morning of Friday 30th November 1984, at about 5:30 in the morning when my family was sleeping at my village hut at Kent Farm, I came out for a call of nature.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  At that moment I saw one of the Cultivation Officers who were in charge of the Farm being taken away by about 20 people wearing uniforms resembling army uniforms.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  These persons were armed with sub-machine guns, rifles and hand grenades.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They spoke in Sinhala with a Tamil accent and I heard them ordering the Cultivation Officer to walk ahead of them to the

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Farm Office.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Cultivation Officer tried to escape and run away, but they fired a shot towards him whereupon he stopped and continued to walk ahead of them to the office.

There after this Cultivation Officer and about another 15 persons who were living in the Farm were pulled out of their village huts by these terrorists who had disguised as military officers and the Cultivation Officer and the 15 other people were herdedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  into the Office building.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Thereafter the terrorists locked the door of the Office building poured kerosene oil around the building and set fire to it.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  While the office building was burning the terrorists started throwing bombs into the building.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  When this happened some of the civilians inside the building started to jump out of the windows but the terrorists shot at them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In this way they killed the Cultivation Officer who was burning inside the building and others who were shot, the Cultivation Officer and the 15 persons were killed.

Thereafter the terrorists called out to all surviving farmers who were inside their houses with threatening words and asked them to come out immediately and if they did not that they were going to throw bombs at the huts.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  On the threat some of the farmers came out only to be shot at by the terrorists.

I also received a gun-shot when I tried to run away with my family, but while my wife and child escaped I fell down but was able to crawl up to a large bush of foliage under which I hid unseen by the terrorists.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  There after the terrorists began destroying all the village huts and killing anyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  farmer who was in the area.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Many of the farmers by then had run into the nearby jungle and some of them were wounded with gunshot injuries.

The terrorists then went to each of the fallen farmers and began to execute them who were injured in a very brutal way. Some of the farmers were shot through the head, others were shot through the nose and I saw at least two persons pleading for mercy when the terrorists put the guns into their mouths and blasted their faces off.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In one instance they brought a woman and her two children from a hut and they killed the woman by blowing off her head with a shot gun at close range.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They then bayoneted the two children, one of whom was only one and a half years and the other three years old.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In this way the terrorists killed over 27 persons including three woman and four young children.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

With this graphic description of the War Crimes by the Tamil Tigers, which has been deliberately ignored by the International Human Rights NGOs who are after the Sri Lankan Government to charge them with War Crimes, should be sued for negligence by the families of these farmers and the Cultivation Officer for millions of dollars for compensation.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The LTTE Diaspora rump should not be excluded with such a charge.

This Eelam War was not without efforts by the Sri Lankan Government to have Peace Talks with the Tamil Tiger terrorists.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Most of the time the negotiations were moderated by the Government of Norway but they did not go anywhere, as the Tamil Tigers wanted nothing to hear of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-PeaceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ as they only wanted 33 per cent of the Sri Lankan real estate for 12.6 percent of the population, and that too bordered by 66 percent of the coastline which wrapped around the west coast, the north coast and the east coast of the island.

The Sri Lankan Government negotiated with the Tamil Tigers through the Indian Government between 1983 and 1987, and there after with President Premadasa between April 1989 and June 1990.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It was during that period that the Tamil Tiger terrorists in an act of sheer treachery mounted a Pearl Harbour type attack in May 1990 which almost killed Foreign Minister Hameed who had gone to Jaffna in good faith for talks.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It was during this period that they also killed 640 policemen who had surrendered.

It was in February 1990 that formal peace talks between the government and the Tamil Tigers commenced at the Colombo Hilton Hotel.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  These peace talks failed due to mutual distrust and accusations that both sides were arming themselves while talking peace.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  President Premadasa, who took the initiative to solve the issue through negotiations, was also assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber on May 1, 1993.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This is a war crime by the Tamil Tigers that missed the radar of the human rights policing NGO War Crimes Brigade, who are zealously going after the Sri Lankan Government for War Crimes.

When the Tamil Tigers attacked and overran 17 police stations in the eastern Batticaloa District and took over 640 policemen, President Premadasa had ordered the policemen to surrender having been given assurance by a Tamil Tiger leader Anton Balasingham that they will be sent south unharmed.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ However,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  President Premadasa had Inspector General of Police Ernest Perera flown to Batticaloa with specific orders to direct the police force in Kalmunai Police Division under ASP Ivan BotejuƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  who had defied orders of the President and were fighting the Tamil TigersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to hand over 324 police officers to the Tamil Tigers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This was an amazing act of a live sacrifice which was unprecedented in this Eelam War.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On the mornings of June 11 and 12, 1990, the 640 policemen were blindfolded and brought in relays to a patch of jungle.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  After feeding a cup of water to each one of them when kneeling and their hands tied at the backs were shot through their skulls, everyone of them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  One who was lucky enough to be alive having pretended that he was dead, lived another day to tell us the story.

What has been amazing is the treachery of this blatant war crime to have missed the radar of the policing NGO War Crimes Brigade of AI, UNHRC, HRW and IGC, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and the Tamil Diaspora Rump to charge the Tamil Tigers of war crimes.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But they have mischievously directed their scorpion-talons on the Sri Lankan Government to charge them of War Crimes.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The time has arrived for the immediate relativesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of these assassinated policemen to lay charges against these mindless NGO ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ War Crimes Brigade lobbyists in the International War Crimes Court for their negligence as these 640 death were most definitely War Crimes.

When October 1994 came along, the newly elected President Chandrika Kumaratunga initiated peace talks with the Tamil Tigers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This effort did not bear fruit either.

It was in January 1995 that the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers agreed a cessation of hostilities as a preliminary step to a government-initiated plan for peace negotiations.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  However on April 1995, the Tamil Tigers unilaterally resumed hostilities with an attack on the Trincomalee naval base in the east of the island sinking two naval gun-boats murdering 12 sailors and thereafter murdered 264 members of the security forces and 57 civilians in 27 separate attacks over the next 39 days.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was more and more apparent that the Tamil Tigers were not interested in peace and a military solution was the best answer for the Sri Lankan Government to give back to her 21 million citizens their right-to-life which had been hi-jacked by the Tamil Tigers for 27 long years.. Proving this fact that the Tamil Tigers intention of not seeking a solution through peaceful means, they attempted to assassinate President Chandrika Kumaratunga when a suicide bomber blew herself at an election rally attended by her in 1999.

On February 22, 2002, The Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers signed a Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with was facilitated by the Norwegians and Peace Talks began in 2002.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  However, after three rounds the peace talks broke down on 21st April 2003 as the Tamil Tigers announced that they were suspending the talks due to their displeasure at the handling of some critical issues.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Among the critical issues was that that they were excluded from reconstruction talks in Washington DC on April 14, 2003 although the chances for their being included was nil as they by then had been banned by the US as a terrorist organization.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  However, the Tamil Tigers maintained that it was committed to a negotiated settlement to the two-decade war, but stated that progress had to be made on the ground before settlement could be implemented.

On 31 October 2003, the Tamil Tigers issued its own peace proposal, calling for an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The ISGA would be controlled by the Tamil Tigers and would have broad powers in the north and east.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  However, the Sri Lankan governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s coalition partners rejected the proposal which they saw as a sinister attempt to lay the ground work for their separate, mono-ethnic, racist Tamil state, Eelam.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers continued to extort funds nationally and internationally and armed themselves by bringing 11 ship loads of sophisticated arms and four Czech ZLIN 143 two seater propeller aircraft and converted them into night bombers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  All this was accomplished under the very eyes of the Scandinavian Monitors who collaborated in these roguish shenanigans. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ By then the Tamil Tigers had graduated as the first terrorist outfit in the world to have an air-wing.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

The co-chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference called on both parties to return to the negotiating table.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The United States in particular were heavily critical of the violence perpetrated by the Tamil Tigers. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On 7 February 2006 they agreed that new talks could be held in Geneva, Switzerland on 22nd and 23rd February.

When the Tamil Tigers resumed attacks against the military they called for the postponement of the Geneva talks until 24 and 25 April 2006.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  However, on April 20, the Tamil Tigers officially pulled out of Peace Talks indefinitely and continued their attacks in the North and the East of the island.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They attacked civilian targets; massacring six rice farmers on 23rd April and on the following day hacked a young mother to death and kidnapped her infant.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  All indications were that the Tamil Tigers were averse to Peace Talks and were trying to engage the Sri Lankan Armed forces for a fight during the Ceasefire period.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In fact they were spoiling for a fight.

On 29 May 2006, the European Union proscribed the Tamil Tigers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It resulted in the freezing of the Tamil Tiger assets in the EU member states.

Not bothered by the new change of heart by the EU nations the Tamil Tigers went on with what theyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ did best , to kill innocent people with claymore mines and shooting them as if on target practice in a rifle ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ range, like the Welikanda massacre on May 29, 2006.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The 12 workers who were killed and the two who escaped death in the Tamil Tiger attack at Omadiyamadu in the Welikanda area were engaged in an irrigation canal construction project for the Mahaveli Authority under taken by contractor P.G.A. Abeysuriya (50) who was popularly known as Mahadan Mudalali and the President of the TradersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Association there.

According to injured Wijebandara who escaped death the Tamil Tigers surrounded them when they were about to get onto the tractor after completing the dayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s work, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-There were all 13 of us, including Mr. Abeysuriya the contractor.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Tamil Tigers took us to Omadiyamadu from Ransaratenna.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  We were shot after we were made to kneel down, lined up and hands were tied at the back.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I escaped after they left the place.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They tied our hands behind our backs.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They did not instill any fear on us.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They took our money and asked us how the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government was faring.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Then suddenly I was shot and down I went.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The blood of the man next to me was all over my body.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I pretended to be dead.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

June 2006 rolled in andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Norwegian mediator Eric Solheim had scheduled new Peace Talks in Oslo for 8th and 9th of June.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They were scheduled to discuss the future of the Scandinavian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Tamil Tigers flew in to Oslo but refused to participate in talks with the Government of Sri Lanka claiming its fighters had not been allowed safe passage to travel to the talks.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They demanded that the Scandinavian Monitoring Mission remove any monitors from the EU member states. The Norwegian mediator Eric Solheim was left with an embarrassed ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ lobster-red face and told the journalists that the Tamil Tigers should take direct responsibility for the collapse of the talks.

It was the arrogant bombast by the Tamil Tigers who were proclaimed that misjudged acclamation by western nations like Norway, Britain, US, Canada and several EU countries that they were an invincible conventional military force that the Sri Lankan armed forced could never defeat and so they went ahead and closed the Mavil Aru anicut cutting off the water supply to 15,000 farmer families to die of water starvation.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This arrogant act of misplaced confidence was what made them retreat in their final run to defeat and lose their crown ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s most ruthless terrorist organization when all their top-rung leaders of the Tamil Tigers, including Prabhakaran were shot dead in battle in the Nandikathal lagoon in the east coast of Sri Lanka.

The armed forces took up the challenge and on August 2, 2006 clashes erupted when the Tamil Tigers attacked Muttur and then moved in and gained control of some parts of the town.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The military retaliated and by May 18, 2009, the war was over and the mighty Tamil Tiger terrorists were wiped out to the surprise of all western nations who supported the Tamil Tigers financially, with military training and military arms. With the end of the war, the world saw Sri Lankan GovernmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s acts of humanitarianism by giving back the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”right-to-lifeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for its 21 million people which had been hi-jackedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  by the Tamil Tigers for 27 years with claymore mines, bombs, SAMs, Kalashnikovs and live bullets and other vicious war tools.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Although the world that was critical of the Sri Lankan government for not giving the Tamil Tigers their separate state, Eelam, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ had to grudgingly acknowledge that they had liberated 300,000 Tamils who were kept as a human shield by the Tamil Tigers and shot at if they tried to escape.

The last four weeks of the Eelam IV saw a lot of activity by the western nations, including the UN trying to save the Tamil Tigers by demanding from the Sri Lankan Government a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”CeasefireƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The comings and goings by senior politicians like David Miliband (UK), Bernard Koucher (France), Eric Solheim (Norway), Liam Fox (UK), Ban ki-Moon and Nabiar (UN) made Colombo look like a busy Fort railway station.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not heed to this request not wanting to provideƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ oxygenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to this most ruthless terrorist group in the worldƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to survive another dayƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to kill his innocent people.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He had enough and so did the people at large.

President Rajapaksa was absolutely right as a Head of a Nation to stop the hemorrhaging of his beautiful island and 21 million peoples for 27 long years by an unelected Tamil terrorist outfit with the connivance of India, who trained the Tamil Tigers in military warfare and western nations that provided them with funds and military and communications hardware.

He would certainly be supported by Professor Louis Rene Beres from Perdue University, US, who strongly argue that though assassination is normally illegal under international law, limited support for assassination can be found in AristotleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Politics, PlutarchƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Lives and CiceroƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s De Offices. Prof. Beres argues that:

  1. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ No crime without punishment is a sacred principle of international law.
  2. Where known perpetrators of crimes cannot be punished through normal judicial remedy (i.e. extradition and prosecution) the criminals have to be punished extra-judicially, and assassination may be the least injurious form of such punishment.
  3. The right of self defence as codified in article 51 of the UN Charter and customary right of anticipatory and preemptive attack could include assassination as a distinct law enforcing measure.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Justification sought in such assassinations must have the two essential invariants that they must be terrorists and their crimes cannot be remedied through normal judicial process.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Beres further states that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Lacking any central institutions of global authority to interpret and enforce the rules against terrorism, the existing law of nations must continue to rely on even the most objectionable forms of self-help.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

He quotes some International Examples of Assassinations by States against terrorists to defend his thesis;

  • British Commando raid to assassinate German General Alfred Rommel during World War II (Charles FoleyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Legion for the Survival of Freedom, 1992, p.155);
  • Phoenix Program of US Military assassinated 1,800 Viet Kong Leaders per day;
  • From 1991 to 2006, Russia assassinated Chechnyan leaders including Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev;
  • In 1960 Eisenhower administration orderedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  assassination of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba;
  • Assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Din Diem and Che Guevara, and so forth.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Engaging in this Eelam War IV by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces was an out right war to restore Human Rights and it was a Liberation War also, to liberate the hundreds of thousands of Tamils who were controlled under the Jackboots of the Tamil Tigers, and liberating the sovereign territory of the country which had been hi-jacked by these Tamil Tiger terrorists wanting to create their separate, mono-ethnic, Tamil state Eelam.

However, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ unfortunately these two facts the NGO ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ policing lobby War Crimes Brigade and the Tamil Diaspora Rump had difficulty to comprehend and they have mischievously directed their scorpion-talons on the Sri Lankan Government to charge them of War Crimes.

While risking to repeat myself, it has value to summarize the two factors, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Human RightsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”LiberationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and remind the International Sri Lanka Watchers what was achieved by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces by wiping out militarily the 27 year curse of the Tamil Tiger terrorist killer menace in Sri Lanka that hemorrhaged that island nation for that long.

It restored the Human Rights of the 21 million people by giving them back their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…” right-to-lifeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ which was hi-jacked by the Tamil Tiger terrorists with their claymore mines, suicide bombers, Kalashnikovs, live bullets and hatchets.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It gave back the peace of mind of the family bread-winners who went to work in the morning and no longer had to make the sign-of-the-cross or place their palms together before they get onto a bus or a train on theirƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ way to work in the morning praying that they will get back home in the evening in one piece and not return home in a casket being laid as a puzzle of flesh, skin and bone and not breathing or smiling anymore having been blown to smithereens by a Tamil Tiger claymore mine.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It gave the parents back their peace of mind not having to wait at the door steps waiting for their children to come home from school not knowing whether their buses were bombed by the Tamil Tigers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It gave the Tamil parents in the North and East a peace of mind that they could send their children to school or to a boutique and not worry whether they would be kidnapped by the Tamil Tigers and train them for their Child Brigade and Black Tiger Suicide Bomber Squad as at one point over 5,300 of them were kidnapped and trained in their camps.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It gave a peace of mind for the Buddhist devotees that they could close their eyes in mediation under the Sri Maha Bodhi tree on a full-moonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s day and not worry that they would be shot dead by the Tamil Tiger terrorists.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It gave the fisherfolk and farmers in the North and East bordering villages that they could go to sleep in their adobe huts with their families and have aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ full night sleep knowing that they would not be hacked to death by the marauding Tamil Tigers at night and could wake up to witness the sun rise the following morning. Thus, the Government Armed Forces achieved all these factors of Human Rights which the callous Human Rights policing AI, UNHRC, ICG and HRW seemed to have missed by miles.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t seem to have honesty or a clue.

By wiping out the Tamil Tigers militarily on May 18, 2009, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces not only liberated the territory under siege but also liberated 300,000 Tamils who were herded like cattle from the west coast to the east coast for 30 long hazardous months which the Human Rights policing NGOs and the bleeding heart international politicians had little interest to comment on the suffering nor asking the Tamil Tigers to let these people go as they were kept as a human shield.

But, by February 2009, when it was apparent that the Tamil Tiger terrorists will be going down in defeat like a wrestler pinning its opponent to defeat for a count of one-two-three, all hell broke lose as the international bleeding hearts as well as theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  international governments who helped the Tamil Tigers all along, added pressure on the President of Sri Lanka to stop the war with a ceasefire, and there were contingency plans ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by these foreign countries to air lift the Tamil Tiger leaders, the most ruthless terrorists in the world to safety. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But unheeded by these international bullies the Sri Lankan Government pressed on when they saw the end was near, and by May 18, 2009 the war was over.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And all of Sri Lanka celebrated including the people in the North and East of the island.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The liberation of the land also saw the poignant drama of the liberation of 300,000 Tamils who were kept as a human shield by the Tamil Tigers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They were housed in long houses in welfare villages, fed three meals a day by the majority Sinhalese who cooked a miraculous a million meals a day so that their Tamil colleagues: seniors, adults, children and infantsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ did notƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ starve.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  There wereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ doctors and medical clinics to look after their health and there were special tutors and class rooms to teach the children. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A factor that shamefully missed the radar of the policing NGOs of the War Crimes Brigade.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They had difficulty to accept suchƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a success storyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of restoring of human rights by a battered and bullied Sri Lankan governmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This NGO War Crimes Brigade is aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ down right hoax.

It is unfortunate that this War Crimes Brigade failed to acknowledge the post-war Human Rights successes by the Sri Lankan Government that celebrated its 63rd Anniversary of their Independence on 4th of February.

President Mahinda Rajapaka was confident when he addressed the nation on Independence Day when he said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Building a united Sri Lanka is the best means by which freedom can be protected and given more meaning.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ And he meant it.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Asoka Weerasinghe of Sri Lankan origin is the author of this article is a geologist, paleontologist, museologist and an award winning published poet now domiciled in Canada.

10 Responses to “The Sequel to DEATH OF THE TIGER, Sri Lanka’s brutal victory over its Tamil insurgents BY JON LEE ANDERSON (The New Yorker, January 17, 2011)-DEATH OF THE INVINCIBLE TAMIL TIGER TERRORIST, Sri Lanka’s valiant victory over its Tamil terrorists”

  1. jimmy Says:

    Asoka
    I read this article with tears
    I am a tamil and ashamed of what happened to Sinhalese by Brutal LTTE. I understand LTTE killed Innocent Muslims also in hundreds

    I beg Tamils Sinhalese Muslims Burgers to love, respect each other

    No more suffering no more hatred

    This life in Earth is very short . People should treat each other with love and compassion

    The men in Tamil areas do not know much about the great sinhalese people They never had a chance to live with them unlike me
    The only people they see are Army police and Navy officers
    I urge the Government to train Army navy and Police to respect to love and to be compassionate with Tamils
    This will give a very positive opinion on SInhalese. There is no war any more The Govt should work hard to win Tamils in Lanka not necessarily with people Abroad
    I pray for peace I pray for Unity I pray hard for harmony

    We all should think and dream of Peace Peace Peace

    There is no More Tamils no More sinhalese no More Muslims no More Burgers but SRILANKANS

  2. Ben_silva Says:

    Excellent article by Asoka. Well said Jimmy – No to racism.

  3. A. Sooriarachi Says:

    Why are the so called human rights organisations barking up the wrong tree? Hitlers Nazis are still being hunted down for their crimes, Polpot’s Kmer Rouge are also at the receiving end of the Western powers for the brutal crimes they committed. Why is it that the brutal Tiger terrorists, who committed crimes equal to those of Nazis and Kmer Rouge excluded from similar treatment? Could it be that the Western Nations are afraid of their mastery of terrorism and are therefore, protecting the LTTE in return for not engaging in acts of terrorism in those lands?
    Also, it is well past time for AI, ICJ, UNHRC and HRW to have listened to the voices of reason expressed by many through article similar to this well written article by Asoka Weerasinghe and realise that they have been taken for a bunch of idiots by the Tiger terrorists and call off their wasteful campaign against the SL Govt, which did a marvelous job in liberating 21million civilians from raw terrorism that went on for 3 decades. Also I hope the SriLankan Govt will have the energy and resources to go after these terrorists still living in foreign lands, just like what was done to the Nazis ans KmerRouge.

  4. sanath sirisena Says:

    the UN organization is a joke and this orgnization will keep on damaging the peace through negoticiatons due to onesided affair with USA and UK. It is very difficulty to correct this set up unless all others get together and educate the UN.

    As such, The step taken by our dear learned friend Asoka ( with utmost respect to you ) is the best way to highlight the real story or stories to the entire world so that it could lead to understand and work together for ever lasting peace.

    I once again beg the UN to wake up and take the right path towards peace.

    I hope and pray (as my friend Jimmy mentioned and hoped) that we as human beings to be able to love and help each other and to live in peace forever.

  5. jay pathbey Says:

    Asoka,
    Thank you for a well written, balanced, an accurate and a factual presentation of the beginning, the rise and fall of the LTTE.
    The surviving members of the LTTE, their diaspora supporters, the NGOs, AI, HRW, Navi Pillai, Donald Bradman, Charles and Jayantha Gnanakone and Ranil Wickremasinghe to name a few, should be held accountable and legal action should be taken internationally and nationally to bring them to book. The Sri Lankan government should go after those with deepest pockets for damages.
    It is no point harping on the West for explanation and to criticize them so long as we depend on them for aid and such. Without doubt Sri Lanka should be gradually formed into a nation state where the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers etc., can proudly call themselves Sri Lankans and not call themselves by their ethnicity or group themselves by the language they speak, the color of their skin or by the religion they believe in.
    It will no doubt take time and the country itself should be evenly populated with all its citizens regardless of their ethnicity or the language they speak, the color of their skin or the religion they believe in. There is an abundance of land in the North and the East and these should be developed using the people of the country and its armed forces for the benefit of the people of the land irrespective of the language they speak, the color of their skin or by the religion they believe in. Let us keep the Indian, Tamil Nadu and the Diaspora Tamils out of Sri Lanka. We do not need them or their opinions.
    After all a mountain cannot be brought down by barking dogs, especially mad dogs.
    The likes of Tamilnet, Tamil Mirror, Tamil Guardian, Tamil News Network or any other trash gutter press that cater for the enemies of our state and are hell bent on giving Sri Lanka a bad name do so out of fear, fear that the mono-ethnic status of the North and East will be no more.
    It serves multiple purposes to make Sri Lanka’s entire landmass inhabited by all people living in Sri Lanka and the country be made into a homogenous, multi-ethnic country. This, once achieved should and will silence all the divide and rule philosophers and Eelam (for the Islands’ North & East) Barons.
    Even though the president of Sri Lanka has a vision for a united Sri Lanka he must realize that to undo the racial disunity stirred up after the independance 63 years ago and the origin of it created by the British, Dutch and the Portugese during their 350 year occupation of Sri Lanka in importing a different race from a neighboring country for cheap labor, then educating them in their language and favoring them with jobs created by them to control the majority of the country has created the mess we are in today. What Sri Lanka needs is a tougher go-getter interim president to handle the present situation for at least 10 years to convert the country from its lazy, idle lethargic workforce and its beg for anything mentality to a modern republic where it will have a mixture of Japan and Singapore type work ethic and development attitude.
    The diaspora tamils and their leaders have to be singled out using our embassies and consulates and by employing valuable soldiers from our armed forces and our secret service in these valuable overseas institutions abroad. Life should be made difficult in Sri Lanka for the diaspora tamils to call it their home. Who needs them if they are hell bent on dividing this little piece of land
    Asoka once again you have opened up a new wave of thinking for all of us. There are many like who needed a uniting article such as this to express ourselves. Jay Pathbey / Indonesia.

  6. Wickrama Says:

    Hey, jay pathbey, “Donald Bradman”?? you must be referring to Bradman Weerakoon, I presume!

  7. Chintha Says:

    Yes, I think though we know all this, we have not taken any action internationally against the culprits, the LTTE terrorists and its funding LTTE diaspora. Well written, and good for everyone to add to favourite for refference. Thank you Asoka.

  8. gdesilva Says:

    What all Sri Lankans and friends of Sri Lanka need to ask themselves is just one question – Why is that despite the Govt. being able to annihilate the LTTE in Sri Lanka, the LTTE’s voice gets stronger by the day in Western countries? Is LTTE being used by Western economies for their benefit? If so, what is their ulterior motive?

    While I acknowledge that LTTE has some dedicated supporters who spend their lives working for the organisation, I just cannot accept the proposition that it is just their own effort that made it possible for them to have their moles in NGOs and so called human rights groups. If I am wrong tell me why the pro Diego Garcia lobby (check out the DVD Stealing A Nation by John Pilger if you do not know the story of Diego Garcia) has not got anywhere close to what LTTE has been able to get? LTTE is doing the West a favour – they are helping the break up of India and are getting paid handsomely, money plus media exposure, by the masters.

    There is a much bigger force than the LTTE operating behind the scenes and LTTE is just a cat’s paw carrying out the paymaster’s agenda. That force is sometimes called Western Imperialism.

  9. shaz Says:

    What a true account of the events of the past 30 years in Sri Lanka. I am British, english, but I love Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan people. It is a heartbreaking account, I do not understand why the west misreport the truth all the time. I am continuosly mystified by the skewed reporting of Sri Lanka. There is so much ignorance it is almost like chinese whispers which are then reported as fact. The jounalists seem to think that all sinhalese are rich and all Tamils are poor. There is no understanding that a huge majority of all Sri Lankans have very little. That they only want to live their lives in peace and better themselves in any way they can. If there was real ethnic hatred from the sinhalese to the tamils there would surely have been a backlash against tamils living amongst sinhalese after attacks and bombings, I follow the news in Sri Lanka very closely and I have never read about such a thing.
    This article should be in the broadsheets in Britain, the left, and I am of the left have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, they talk about a ‘tamil insurgency’ I have even heard a well known BBC journalist describe the war as a ‘skirmish’ Seems to me there is a real subversive briefing from the status quo never to admit the truth about the LTTE why, I don’t understand. We have Adele Balasingham living here, if ever anyone committed war crimes it was her, but nothing is done, why? The west seems to have totally lost it’s way, amnesty international was formed for a quite different purpose but it is now inhabited by middle class coloniolists who jump to wrong conclusions from skewed information. The LTTE are really so strong and influential that they have enormous power and influence at high levels. Why does the west tell Sri Lanka they should repeal their powers of emergency when they are trying to redevelop and overcome what is a very real threat to the people of sri lanka. I say be careful, go slowly, show the people who have suffered so very much that there is another way and I look forward to the time when all Sri Lankans can live in real peace as a sovereign state and can live together in real peace and trust as a common people in the most beautiful island in the world with the most warm and dignified people I have ever met. By the way develop your island take money from the tourists but never compromise your beliefs and never let the developers ruin the beautiful inheritance of your gorgeous land.

  10. Lorenzo Says:

    Asoka,

    The first political assassination was SWRDB.

    Total absence of CI strategy in 1970s in SL was the root cause of all this trouble. Timely elimination of vile elements in the society would have saved many good lives.

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