Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Lower Hutt New Zealand

The Editor,

Hutt News.

Dear Editor,

 Hutt News  9.12.14

It was deeply hurtful  ,to read K Patmanathan’s claim ( Hutt News 25th Nov , Page 10) that in  Sri Lanka “all Tamils were treated as if they supported the Tamil Tigers and were persecuted”. This claim is patently untrue and unfair. If the claim was true, how is it that over 60% of the 2 million Tamils live among the other communities  in the south with Tamils forming the ethnic majority in the capital Colombo where they dominate commerce and trade, plainly evident when one walks down Galle Road or Pettah  Colombo’s main commercial drag. Further, if Tamil persecution was true, why were three hundred thousand Tamil civilian hostages  rescued from the Tigers at the end of the war in  May 2009 , settled in their original homes de-mined and rebuilt  with  these areas  now seeing a annual growth rate of 24% compared to a national average of 8%

However, it is true that having experienced the ravages of  three decades of Tiger Terror, vigilance to prevent it’s recurrence  may lead to suspicion falling on some who may not have had dealings with the Tigers since differentiating  a Tamil Tiger from a Tamil who is not, can be difficult. The debate currently rife in New Zealand on determining who is at risk of being indoctrinated by foreign terrorist groups , without having ever experienced a day of terrorism, illustrates the complexities of this determination.

If some Tamils come under suspicion wrongly in Sri Lanka , it is important to acknowledge that it is a fallout from three decades of Tamil Tiger terror without casting  aspersions on Sri  Lanka that is doing it’s utmost redress this fallout.

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Knights Rd.,

Lower Hutt.