{"id":87148,"date":"2019-04-12T20:48:46","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T02:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87148"},"modified":"2019-04-12T09:14:23","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T16:14:23","slug":"right-of-reply-questions-for-r-sambanthan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/12\/right-of-reply-questions-for-r-sambanthan\/","title":{"rendered":"Right of Reply: Questions for R. Sambanthan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Colombo Telegraph carried transcript of\nspeech by TNA leader R Sambanthan on 5 April 2019 titled Mullaitivu 2009:\n400,000 Lived, 290,000 People Came Out, What Happened To The Balance? \u2013\nSampanthan Asks\u201d.&nbsp; Sambanthan claims that\non 21 January 2009 he highlighted plight of some 400,000 but as per press\nrelease on 21 January 2009 published by Tamilnet, TNA claims there are over\n360,000 IDPs out of a total population of nearly 500,000 people in LTTE\ncontrolled areas. This entire population is living within an area of about 400\nsquare kilometers\u201d. Sambanthan cannot give press releases and then say something\nelse in Parliament on the same day! &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"289\" height=\"174\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/images-60.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87149\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-colombo-telegraph\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"CWhIvUt4tr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/mullaitivu-2009-400000-lived-290000-people-came-out-what-happened-to-the-balance-sampanthan-asks\/\">Mullaitivu 2009: 400,000 Lived, 290,000 People Came Out, What Happened To The Balance? &#8211; Sampanthan Asks<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Mullaitivu 2009: 400,000 Lived, 290,000 People Came Out, What Happened To The Balance? &#8211; Sampanthan Asks&#8221; &#8212; Colombo Telegraph\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/mullaitivu-2009-400000-lived-290000-people-came-out-what-happened-to-the-balance-sampanthan-asks\/embed\/#?secret=CWhIvUt4tr\" data-secret=\"CWhIvUt4tr\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>LTTE kills fleeing child &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sOEwN58UVys&amp;fbclid=IwAR0O8ZjhHoHfs-LWvqHCCTrOUXssRRESgMvnF9JxkaATivYlp1e7qa6To04\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sOEwN58UVys&amp;fbclid=IwAR0O8ZjhHoHfs-LWvqHCCTrOUXssRRESgMvnF9JxkaATivYlp1e7qa6To04<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LTTE snipers kill Tamils fleeing to Sri Lanka Army <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BJ7zlRiijfM\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BJ7zlRiijfM<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tamils used as human shields by LTTE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"LTTE use Civilians as a Human Shield  IDPs Confirm (2009\/02\/04)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/19iDC70OuPQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Australian Govt condemns LTTE for terror tactics &amp; asks\nrelease of Tamil civilians<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Australia condemns LTTE terror tactics 21\/03\/2009\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pvGtwXz6JuI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rajeswari Balasubramaniam\nfrom London says LTTE is violating human rights <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tamil Representative from London says LTTE is violating human rights 10\/04\/2009\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l07AoNZwn-k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan claims he protested on 21 January\n2009 regarding Tamils being fired at and \u2018running helter-skelter\u2019 however as\nper Tamilnet website TNA press release addressed to the international community\nclaimed \u2018over 360,000 IDPs out of a total population of nearly 500,000 people\u2019\nwere in a 400 sq.km area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tamilnet.com\/art.html?catid=13&amp;artid=28090\">https:\/\/www.tamilnet.com\/art.html?catid=13&amp;artid=28090<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on what evidence is the TNA placing a\npopulation figure of 500,000? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How many LTTE were there to herd this many\npeople with them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There would be no civilians with LTTE, if the\nLTTE did not herd them. Can Sambanthan answer this simple hypothetical\nquestion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TNA press release quotes 66 civilians killed \u2013\nhow many of these died while trying to flee LTTE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sampanthan claims 40,000 people have been\nkilled \u2013 who claimed this &amp; on what evidence? Even the Ban Ki Moon Panel\nreport says 40,000 may have been killed\u201d which is not the same as 40,000 was\nkilled. While those that claimed less than 10,000 dead can produce names &amp;\ndetails of every person dead, those that claim 40,000 &amp; more are only\nthrowing numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its now 10 years since LTTE defeat. No one\nclaiming 40,000 dead has produced names of 40,000, details of their families\nand no one has even filed police \u2018missing\u2019 or sought death certificates. There\nare no skeletons either and its no easy fete to be digging graves to stuff\n40,000 dead bodies (not even in skeleton stage) while engaged in hostilities\nwith LTTE who were in uniform, in civilian clothing and civilian LTTE force as\nwell as civilians forced to take up gun dying for which LTTE must take full\nblame for putting non-LTTE combatants in harms\u2019 way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan claims probably around 400,000\nbased on our own investigations\u2019 were with LTTE. What investigation was this?\nHow many of them were LTTE cadres, how many were civilian LTTE &amp; how many\nwere really civilians? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan claims food, medicines and other\nsupplies were sent only for 60,000 \u2013 70,000. The Government &amp; the UN\nagencies sent supplies. It was obvious that bloating up of numbers were given\nas LTTE needed provisions for their cadres &amp; families lest the conflict\ndragged on. There is enough evidence to highlight that Tamils that were not\nassociated with LTTE were denied food &amp; essentials sent by the Govt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Connecting the dots of allegiance \u2013 it was no\ncoincidence that TNA supported the regime change that took place in 2015, it\nwas for that reason that TNA with just 16 MPs in a 225 Parliament became the\nOpposition &amp; TNA leader the Opposition Leader. For the first time the TNA\nsupported the budget. TNA supported the government at every crucial juncture\ninspite of being in opposition. TNA leader was not vocal for the Opposition\nexcept to promote the demands of Tamils aligned to TNA. UN &amp; UNHRC\nconducted 2 investigations and they have found absolutely no evidence to\nsubstantiate their claims except continue to quote 3<sup>rd<\/sup> party \/ 4<sup>th<\/sup>\nparty \u2018invisible witnesses\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 21 January 2009 the Sri Lankan military\ndeclared a 32 square kilometres (12&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi) <em>Safe Zone<\/em> 5\nkilometres (3.1&nbsp;mi) north-west of Puthukkudiyiruppu, between the A35\nhighway and Chalai Lagoon (this safe zone has no legal binding as it was\ncreated by only one party &amp; was not agreed by the other party)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 12 February 2009 the military declared a\nnew 10 square kilometres (3.9&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi) <em>Safe Zone<\/em> in this area,\nnorth-west of Mullaitivu town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let it be noted that Navi Pillay publicly\nstated on 13 March 2009 that 2800 may have been killed &amp; over 7000 wounded\nsince 20 January 2009 (this implies from 20 Jan to 13 March Navi Pillay quotes\n2800 as dead &amp; 7000 as wounded)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.peaceinsrilanka.lk\/for-the-record\/the-relentless-posturing-of-navi-pillay\">http:\/\/www.peaceinsrilanka.lk\/for-the-record\/the-relentless-posturing-of-navi-pillay<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of these UN heads &amp; international\nagencies quote from sources outside of the war terrain and thus they cannot be\naccepted as witness accounts. As for those claiming to be \u2018eye witnesses\u2019 they\nmust first establish they were actually in the war terrain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan is quoting various international\nparties questioning Sri Lanka\u2019s dead but why has Sambanthan not asked \u2013 the lost\ngenerations of Tamils because of LTTE that created TNA? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How many Tamil children did LTTE kidnap since 1980s<\/li><li>How many of these kidnapped Tamil children died during\ntraining, trying to flee LTTE camps &amp; return home, engaged in hostilities<\/li><li>How many young men, women were denied their right to\neducate, work and make a career for themselves &amp; ended up holding a gun\n&amp; wearing a cyanide capsule?<\/li><li>How many LTTE cadres &amp; child soldiers died following\norders to commit suicide by biting cyanide capsule \u2013 LTTE must take full\naccountability for these suicides. <\/li><li>How many LTTE cadres were trained to commit suicide \u2013\ntaking one\u2019s life is a crime, training people to commit suicide must be far\nworse a crime. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan is quoting the US Constitution \u2013\nthe Colonial British invaded the Americas and colonized it initially with prisoners\nfrom British prisons in 1607. It took just 169 years for the 13 colonies to\nsevere ties with Britain and declare independence adopting confederal constitution\nin 1776. When 7 out of the 34 confederates attempted to secede the confederacy\nwas abolished and replaced with the present constitution in 1790. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Confederacy which ITAK\/TNA promotes did not\nlast even 20 years in US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan quotes Indira Gandhi on Bangladesh\n&amp; asks the question \u2018how long has the Tamil question remained unresolved\u201d?\nWe would like to know what is the Tamil question first and we have been asking\nthis for 70 years! All that we have been given is a bucket-list of solutions\nwithout knowing what the problem is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We would like to challenge Sambanthan\u2019s\nstatement that Tamils are \u2018second-class\u2019 citizens \u2013 Tamils &amp; Muslims\nconstitute the larger populations in Colombo 1 to 15 capital of Sri Lanka.\nTamils &amp; Muslims run the main wholesale business in Sri Lanka. Tamils have\nthe most jewellery outlets, communication outlets pharmacies in Colombo. Both\nthe present &amp; past governors of the Central Bank were Tamil. There are over\n30 Tamils in the 225 member Parliament representing all political parties. Tamil\npolitical party held the post of Opposition in 1978 and 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our question for Sambanthan &amp; any others\nwho claim to fault the Sinhala Buddhists this simple question <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is it that the Sinhalese enjoy because\nthey are Sinhalese that the minorities do not enjoy because they are not\nSinhalese\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is it that the minorities do not enjoy\nbecause they are the minority that which the majority enjoys because they are\nthe majority\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is legally, constitutionally &amp;\nlegislatively given to the majority that is not given to the minorities\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Name a single country that has changed its\noriginal national anthem, national flag just to please &amp; appease the\nminorities &amp; have these afforded any reciprocity by the minorities? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tamil was made official language by India\u2019s\nIndo-Lanka Accord in 1987 and there are less than 2million Tamils physically\nresiding in Sri Lanka. India with over 70million Tamils and a separate Tamil\nonly state has not even made Tamil an official language or including anything\nTamil in India\u2019s national flag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Name a single country where Tamils are the\nminority which have declared Pongal as a national holiday, Maha sivarathri,\nDeepavali as public holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Name countries where Tamil minorities are\ngiven cabinet rank positions in government representing minority political parties,\ntop post in Police, foreign minister, chief Justice (Sri Lanka has had 3 Tamil\nchief justices), judges &amp; ambassadors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Name countries that have issued stamps for\nTamil minorities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Name any country that will allow laws like\nThesavalamai to exist when everyone chants equal law \u2013 equal justice for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tamil minority are powerful in many ways &#8211; Largest\nsupermarket chain is Cargills and recently the Govt gave state funding to it. The\nlargest brewery is Carsons owned by Tamil family. Largest media network is\nowned by the Maharajah family who also own the largest hardware \u2013 SLON,\nKevilton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The largest construction conglomerate St\nAnthony\u2019s is owned by the Gnanam family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples of discrimination by Sinhalese\nagainst Tamils<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-lankaweb-com\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Us5iJ4TjBl\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/10\/15\/examples-of-discrimination-by-sinhalese-against-tamils\/\">Examples of discrimination by Sinhalese against Tamils<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Examples of discrimination by Sinhalese against Tamils&#8221; &#8212; LankaWeb.com\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/10\/15\/examples-of-discrimination-by-sinhalese-against-tamils\/embed\/#?secret=MRCOwSDSBG#?secret=Us5iJ4TjBl\" data-secret=\"Us5iJ4TjBl\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If Tamils have left the country, it is by\ntheir own free will &amp; as a result of them leaving and being domiciled in\nWestern countries they are helping their families back home. We would like by\naffidavit for TNA MPs to confirm that they themselves are not dual citizens as\nmany of their children are studying overseas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan refers to the North-East\ndevelopment \u2013 we like to remind him that LTTE ran a defacto rule for almost 30\nyears in full control of these areas while LTTE was making annual profits of\n$300m so the better question is what did LTTE do with this money if it really\nstood for the needs of the Tamil people. Immediately after LTTE defeat those\nthat visited the North-East could see for themselves that other than posh\nbunkers for LTTE and fancy homes for LTTE families all others were living in\nhorrible conditions. Some areas of the North-East did not have electricity,\nwere not allowed to watch tv even. These people were living in the cave-days\nunder LTTE rule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sambanthan-Sumanthiran letter to Finance\nMinister Mangala regarding a special fund takes us back to the PTOMs where a\nsimilar proposal was made for even direct funding to come to LTTE held areas\nwithout going through the Central Govt. The very areas Sambanthan covers are\nidentical to the proposals suggested by the PTOMs and ISGA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why should there be a special fund starting\nwith Rs.5billion only for the North which is the least populated of all the\nprovinces in Sri Lanka? Allocation is given to each of the provinces based on\nthe funding requested by the provinces and the Northern budget is almost always\n2<sup>nd<\/sup> to that of the Western province but it is never spent &amp;\nreturns to the Treasury while there is a separate budget allocation for each\nprovince spent by the Central Govt to develop the provinces &amp; this gets\nspent and is accounted for. What audacity for Sambanthan to ask Rs.5b only for\nthe north when 7 out of 10 people are Sinhalese tax payers and Sambanthan &amp;\nTNA are eternally accusing Sinhalese of treating Tamils as second-class\ncitizens. What right does the Finance Minister have to create such a fund only\nfor the North &amp; camouflage that by calling it \u2018Palmyrah Fund\u2019 and open it\nfor \u2018donations\u2019 obviously serving as an outlet for money-laundering and we like\nto question why the PM is also the Minister for Northern Development too \u2013 does\nthe PM function only for the Northern Province?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sambanthan or TNA cannot be allowed to get away spreading lies &amp;\ndistortions when successive governments should have investigate TNA for links\nwith LTTE and applied 6<sup>th<\/sup> amendment against TNA for there is ample\nevidence by TNA statements and photos to depict the TNA\u2019s gameplan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-onlanka-news-latest-sri-lanka-breaking-news-updates-sri-lanka-news\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.onlanka.com\/news\/where-are-the-next-of-kin-of-the-supposedly-executed-40000-125000-tamil-civilians-in-sri-lanka.html\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colombo Telegraph carried transcript of speech by TNA leader R Sambanthan on 5 April 2019 titled Mullaitivu 2009: 400,000 Lived, 290,000 People Came Out, What Happened To The Balance? \u2013 Sampanthan Asks\u201d.&nbsp; Sambanthan claims that on 21 January 2009 he highlighted plight of some 400,000 but as per press release on 21 January 2009 published [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}