Shenali Waduge

 

Nowhere in the world do we hear of countries scrapping their Victory Day celebrations just because the feelings of the vanquished is hurt. The Allies still celebrate victory not bothered whether it upsets Germany or Japan. No country will ever scrap a Victory over terrorists but Sri Lanka becomes an exception under this government who are courting and flirting remnants of the Tiger Inc in a laughable bid to reconcile with terrorists. We take this opportunity to run through some facts.

 

LTTE and Tamil militancy are inextricably linked to objectives to destabalize Sri Lanka by multiple elements, players with a plethora of objectives.

 

The Tamil high castes used Tamil militancy to advance their own agendas to reign supreme over the low caste Tamils. The links to LTTE and Tamil elitist politics as well as India obscures and blurs the distinction between Tamils & terrorists. What needs to be clearly identified is that the demands made by LTTE and TNA are virtually the same. Demands made by India claiming to be mediator was to use their initial puppet to secure advantage over Sri Lanka geopolitically and strategically. This requires any government to investigate TNA for links to terror and remove TNA from mainstream politics if they are using political cover-up to achieve what the terrorists in arms strived to do.  

 

India that helped arm, train and finance Tamil militancy secretly training groups of unemployed Tamil youth, did so with the intent to use the ‘Tamil’ card to use as a ploy to give India the ‘right’ to interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs claiming India was looking after the interests of people who were originally from India. The second stage of that objective has now been launched with the arrival of the Indian PM to address only the estate laborers imported from South India during colonial rule. The Tamil card becomes an unbreakable umbilical chord with India eternally using ‘national defense’ as reason d’etre to interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka after helping create the problem.

Evidence to support India’s guilt of sponsoring terror is in the Jain Commission report following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the affidavits confirming Indian soil was used as a training ground, memoirs and books written by former Indian envoys, IPKF heads, retired Indian military personnel and diplomats.

 

The other foreign involvement came via a plethora of Western countries where LTTE had their offices and who used Tamil/Indian diaspora to garner votes for western politicians in exchange for their support of a Tamil homeland. With no shame western politicians were seen atop LTTE stages, signing petitions on behalf of LTTE eelam demands and even travelling to LTTE events and speaking as chief guests. Even former US presidential candidate had taken funds from LTTE sources, UN bodies had also been compromised as they too had been working with LTTE front charities. But then again UN has been so compromised that the country that has lists of violations against women is today the champion of Women’s HR rights and the UN was forced to remove that country from its list of violators after it threatened to stop all funds to the UN. Therefore, money buys what happens inside the UN is nothing for any of us to be surprised about.

 

Evidence of Western double standards include not taking action against Adele Balasingham now living in UK for training LTTE child soldiers and even instructing them to commit suicide by biting the cyanide capsule. Allowing LTTE to use London as its international head quarters. Silence and inaction against UK MPs who have been regular attendees at LTTE front events even after UK banned LTTE. Apart from a handful of arrests, even investigations by metropolitan police on LTTE operatives have not arrested the key LTTE players who had been providing material support and raising funds for LTTE over the years. In fact, State premises are being used by these LTTE fronts for their events!

 

Let’s all realize that Prabakaran and his merry men would be no ‘internationally feared’ rebel force without guns and ammunition supplied to them that at times outmatched what the national army was given. Where were these arms coming from is as important as who were paying for the arms and this was never investigated and culprits living overseas on foreign passports arrested for that material support given that LTTE was banned by the very countries that continue to harbor LTTE fronts & their heads who are continuing their struggle politically given that they have financially and voter-wise helped this government come into power. The US inaction against UNSC 1373 banned LTTE front TGTE and its head is a case in point of the double standards that prevail.

 

While India must take blame for starting armed militancy, the west stands guilty of allowing that armed militancy to grow and giving their lands to be hiding grounds for material/fund raising as well as to harbor runaway LTTE cadres over the years. It has now come to light that there are firms training Tamils to enact a drama when being interviewed for refugee status and Tamils are paying to be bodily harmed with a doctor endorsing that the wounds are recent and committed by the Sri Lankan Army. This is a mass money making endeavor that is yet to be investigated though the British authorities are well aware of it. Money has silenced a lot of international agencies, players and statements but has caused unnecessary loss and death of both civilians, armed forces and even Tamils who had been forced into becoming part of that terrorist movement. While a handful of people were thrown into the battle ground the rest of the Tamils used that as an excuse to claim discrimination apply for refugee status and live abroad.

 

Peace talks – that failed

 

§  Thimpu in July 1985

§  Indo-Lanka Accord July 1987

§  April 1989 – June 1990 direct talks between GOSL and LTTE

§  October 1994 – peace talks initiated by President Chandrika

§  January 1995 cessation of hostilities but LTTE began violence in April

§  December 2001 – unilateral ceasefire declared by Ranil W

§  February 2002 – cease fire agreement between GOSL and LTTE – 3 rounds of peace talks failed

 

All those who have been chirping that Sri Lanka must return to the negotiation table must first realize the futility of these talks and ceasefires that have been taking place since 1985. No one came up with any solution while the LTTE continued its murderous ways killing not only civilians, army personnel but even Tamils and their own cadres. Had the 32 nations had banned the LTTE taken action to stop the LTTE fronts from raising funds that purchased the arms and ammunition Prabakaran and his men would not have become as deadly as they did.

 

It is unfortunate that the very countries that have illegally invaded, after cooking up false stories and making false propaganda and destroyed nations and made their citizens destitute in their own homes are claiming to champion human rights and bringing resolutions against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC. It is hilarious and ironical that these countries who have shameless records of killing and destroying nations are using their power in the halls of the UN to steer puppet UN officials against Sri Lanka and its military. The farce has been such that calls for investigation against the Sri Lanka army on LTTE dead completely ignores the 3000 missing Sri Lankan soldiers. Despite the UN and UNSG as well as the international community making official statements during the height of the conflict to release civilians kept as human shields/hostages and firing on them while fleeing the LTTE have never taken measures to question how many the LTTE killed in the final battle. The UN is yet to reveal how many LTTE cadres died in battle (in civilian/uniform), how many Tamils LTTE killed, how many civilians took part in hostilities and got killed and without making this differentiating every dead is being credited to the Sri Lankan Army. Moreover, without a dead body or even a skeleton, how can the Sri Lankan Army be accused of murder?

 

Having said that even the arrangements that were made to accept fleeing Tamils were laughed and referred to as ‘internment camps’ with the mainstream media shamelessly lying and distorting the facts.

 

Let us remind all that upto 2015 following the West’s illegal interventions in Iraq there are 3.3million internally displaced, in Libya the figure is now 417,123, while in Syria the figure is a staggering 6.6million. Where is the UN and UNHRC demanding action against the West and giving them deadlines on resettling them? These hypocrisies reveal what a farce human rights placards raised by the West and the UN are. We can see how the EU is using human rights as benchmarks to give unilateral concessions which they can revoke any time but force countries to pledge commitment to open their sovereignty to these Western countries to interfere in.

 

What makes the victory on 18 May 2009 great is

 

·         Sri Lankan Forces were up against a terrorist force that was indirectly backed by powerful countries and armed by a LTTE diaspora that was making USD300m annually in profits the money which is now being used to buy over foreign and local politicians and decision makers.

·         While carrying out a military operation the Sri Lankan Forces simultaneously engaged in a humanitarian rescue operation that saved close to 300,000 people (which included LTTE cadres in civilian clothes)

·         Those pointing fingers at the Sri Lankan Army have yet to explain why the army would save 300,000 people yet kill numerous guestimate figures for which they do not even have a dead body or skeleton to substantiate their claim.

·         A successful rehabilitation program was launched and many LTTE cadres were rehabilitated while the over 500 child soldiers were given a presidential amnesty and they have completed their studies, launched their careers and reunited with their families.

The fault of the previous government however was not to take action against all those that supported LTTE over the years by initiating an official investigation against them that needed to investigate the TNA, local NGO heads, local media heads, UN officials, foreign MPs, LTTE diaspora and their groups etc for their role in LTTE terror and demanding through diplomatic channels that foreign governments take action against them using their country laws as LTTE remains banned in their countries.

 

However, 8 years on we still proudly remember the men who sacrificed their today for our tomorrow and enabled us to live without bombs and suicide missions. If at all our people must look back in time and recall the fear we all suffered during the height of LTTE terror. Parents scared to send their children for classes, parents not travelling in one single bus, the anguish of the ambulance sirens and wondering how many had been killed, the mourning in the homes of the soldiers, the agony of their wives and children at the loss of their soldier husband/father. We cannot be a selfish nation to forget these sacrifices made. There are thousands of soldiers injured, young men many hardly 30 years old lying unable to feel or move parts of their bodies. These men are suffering in silence. A trip to the Abhimansala and Ranaviru homes will show you what sacrifices they made and as a grateful nation it is upto all of us to look after them, at least make them smile and feel loved. Caring for others should not have to be done on a special day – we must nurture our compassion for all.

 

Shenali Waduge