{"id":99506,"date":"2020-03-01T17:49:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T00:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99506"},"modified":"2020-03-01T17:50:32","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T00:50:32","slug":"partisan-politics-undermines-neutrality-and-credibility-of-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/01\/partisan-politics-undermines-neutrality-and-credibility-of-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Partisan politics undermine neutrality and credibility of human rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY H. L. D. MAHINDAPALA<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Of all\nthe community leaders in Sri Lanka only the Tamil leadership has officially\ndeclared war against another community (i.e., the Sinhalese) and led their\npeople to commit the crime against peace. On May 14, 1976 they collectively\npassed the Vadukoddai Resolution urging the Tamil youth to take up arms and\nnever cease until they achieve Eelam. They unleashed the longest war in Sri\nLanka which has led to the violation of human rights on an unprecedented scale.\nHaving laid the foundation for the violations of human rights and perpetuated\nthe violations through a brutal war which the Tamil leadership never wanted to\nend for 33 years, despite several peace offers, the Tamil leadership go around\nthe world claiming to be the victims of the violations of human rights by the\n\u2018Sinhala State.\u2019 Sri Lankan politics is full of ironies and this one beats them\nall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the Tamil leadership adopted the Vadukoddai Resolution they abandoned the non-violent democratic mainstream and opted deliberately for violence which inevitably leads to violations of human rights. In endorsing Vadukoddai violence the Tamil leadership abandoned the higher principle of upholding, defending and protecting the human rights of others as well as their own Tamil people. Aggressive wars pursuing territorial gains are not launched to protect human rights. In international law, it is considered to be a crime against peace. Such war will grind its way invariably violating human rights. Only counter wars launched to end wars that violate human rights have the moral right to pursue violence in defence of human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncontradiction in declaring war against a neighbour and then proceeding to\nparade as the victims of the counter violence organized to end the violations\nof human rights is obvious. It is also hypocritical and hilarious, to say the\nleast. The Tamil leadership committed themselves to war knowing very well that\nit leads to the violations of human rights. But they refuse to categorize their\nviolence as war crimes, or violations of human rights. They assume that their\nviolence has a superior moral purity \/ force that elevates their brutalities\nabove the level of crimes against humanity or war crimes. They assume that\nthere is nothing higher than Tamil rights and everyone else must surrender\ntheir rights to enthrone Tamil rights as the ultimate human right. In fact, in\ntheir political equation they believe that Tamil political rights equals human\nrights. And that any other counter force — moral or military \u2013 should be\ncondemned as violations of human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was\ndemonstrated amply by Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, the foreign-funded\nmulti-millionaire circulating in the American cocktail circuit with a glass of\nwhiskey in hand. In the dying days of the Tamil Tiger terrorists he jumped from\nWestern city to city posing as the great champion of human rights engaged in\nsaving the Tamils from the advancing Security Forces who were on the verge of\nending the war. His self-appointed mission then was to mobilise international\nopinion to halt the Security Forces advancing to end the war \u2013 the only means\nof saving human rights from the merciless brutalities of \u2018the world\u2019s deadliest\nterrorist\u2019 (FBI). He argued that the advance of the Security Forces would lead\nto a great humanitarian disaster. It didn\u2019t. On the contrary, it released\n290,00 Tamils held forcibly by Prabhakaran to impress the world that the Tamil\npeople were with him. While the Tamil people were marching out of Prabhakaran\u2019s\nprison camp into the arms of the Security Forces Saravanamuttu was doing his\ndamnedest to stop the advance of the Security Forces bleating that stopping the\nwar (meaning: saving Prabhakaran) was the only way to save a humanitarian\ndisaster. He was operating on the premise that Prabhakaran had the moral right\nto wage his war until his demands were granted and the Sri Lankan Forces had no\nright to end his violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ncock-and-bull story of Saravanamuttu was rejected by the triumphant events that\nended the Vadukoddai War on the banks of Nandikadal. The commonly accepted\nwisdom of the day too concluded that removing Prabhakaran from the prevailing\npolitical equation was the only way to regain peace. Keeping Prabhakaran alive\nfor another day would have meant the perpetuation of the violations of human\nrights. Knowing this Saravanamuttu kept on chanting his mantra which like all\nother NGO mantras only aided and abetted Prabhakaran to ruthlessly perpetuate\nviolations of human rights. Under the cover of protecting human rights\nSaravanamuttu\u2019s hidden agenda was to save Prabhakaran from annihilation. He had\ntacitly accepted Prabhakaran as the defender of the Tamil rights which he had\nequated with the human rights of the Tamils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nefforts in Western capitals was to keep Prabhakaran alive and kicking. It was\nthe humiliating defeat of Prabhakaran that was hawked by Saravanamuttu as\n\u2018triumphalism\u2019 of the Sinhala-Buddhist forces. Saravanamuttu\u2019s theories,\nstrategies and policies were smashed to smithereens by the Security Forces who\nrestored peace, human rights and the dignity of the Tamils. After Nandikadal\nSaravanamuttu was forced to live on a diet of sour grapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his\npolitical calculations the \u2018Sinhala State\u2019 was on the wrong side of human\nrights even though it saved the Tamils from the Tamil Pol Pot and restored\ntheir dignity to live as free individuals. But Prabhakaran\u2019s one-man state was\ncategorised to be on the right side of human rights even though he fought his\nfutile war by recruiting under-aged children and liquidating Tamil dissidents\nand those who posed a threat to his claim to be \u2018the sole representative of the\nTamils\u2019. Even the American policy-makers kicked into this debate. Their kind of\nhuman rights led them to grant full citizenship to Prabhakaran\u2019s lawyer, V.\nRudrakumaran, who was a committed and willing partner in the war crimes and the\ncrimes against humanity committed by his leader while denying even a visa to\nLt. Gen. Silva \u2013 the General whose military strategies led to the triumph of\ndemocracy and the restoration of peace in Jaffna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in\nthe last stages the NGO millionaires refused to accept that Tamil violence had\nreached intolerable levels under Prabhakaran \u2013 the firstborn child of the\nVadukoddai Resolution. It was a time when the best of Tamil intellectuals could\nnot defend his brutalities. Unable to defend the inhuman violence of\nPrabhakaran they argued that he was created by the Sinhalese. If this is a\nvalid argument Prabhakaran should have then targeted only the Sinhalese to get\neven with the violence of the Sinhalese. But he began his violence by targeting\nthe Tamil leadership. What had Alfred Duraiyappah done to the Tamils to be\nslaughtered by \u2018Surya Devan\u2019 (Sun God of the Tamils)? What had Appapillai\nAmirthalingam and Neelan Tiruchelvam done to the Tamils to be assassinated by\nthe Tamil hero? Then he targeted the Muslims. What had the Muslims done to harm\nthe Tamils? So was Prabhakaran made by the Sinhalese or by the internal\ndynamics of Jaffna which had a political culture of unmitigated violence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nuniversally accepted that wars indiscriminately lead to violations of human\nrights from both sides. The moral victory, however, should go in the end to\nthose who can end the violations of human rights swiftly, using the least\nviolence. Obviously, what is acceptable \/ tolerable is the side that can\nsuccessfully end violence, either through non-violent negotiations, or through\nthe application of minimum of violence. The side that refuses to accept\nnegotiations and insists on perpetuating violence to achieve its goals,\nparticularly when they are facing defeat, cannot be treated \/ accepted \/\ntrusted as defenders of human rights. They forfeit the rights that flow from\nthe fundamental principles of human rights because in war human rights can be\nprotected only by ending the war. The Tamil leadership went the other way. They\nripped apart peace deals repeatedly insisting on grabbing what they called\ntheir rights (mainly territory) at the expense of the others. Mulish\nintransigence of the Tamil leadership had never served the goals of saving\nhuman rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incorrigible\nwar criminals who insist on pursuing their self-serving goals should be\ncondemned as the enemies of human rights. In the Vadukoddai War the Tamil\ntactic has been either to disregard or underplay the violations of human rights\ngenerated by Tamil violence or, simultaneously, to go under the cover of Tamil\nrights to pursue their violence. They believe morality is on their side even\nwhen they violate it to pursue their political goals. Morality that goes along\nwith this double standard will lose its credibility and viability.\nWar-mongering criminals can\u2019t have it both ways. They can\u2019t declare war and in\nthe same breath claim to be victims of those fighting back to end the\nviolations of human rights. The rights of those waging a war to end the\nviolations of human rights are superior to those violating human rights to\npursue their self-serving, narrow political ends. The highest morality must\nnecessarily serve to end the violations of human rights. It cannot serve to\nperpetuate the violations of human rights. That is immoral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the\nfailure of the Tamil leadership to stand up for the human rights of their own\npeople unequivocally that turn them into absolute political Judases. They\ncondemn the Security Forces that restored their right to walk this earth with\ndignity, honour and respect. But they hero-worshipped and went on their bended\nknees before their \u2018Surya Devan\u2019 (Sun God) who suppressed their rights to\nexercise their basic rights. Tamil leadership must also take full\nresponsibility for the violence they unleashed in Vadukoddai. In passing the\nVadukoddai Resolution they not only legitimized Tamil violence as a political\ntool to achieve their separatist goals but also became partners, subsequently,\nin the crimes committed by the children of the Vadukoddai Resolution.\nPrabhakaran and his criminal gang were the \u2018boys\u2019 who came out of the\nVadukoddai Resolution. They were urged to take up arms against the Sinhala\nsouth by the fathers who drafted and passed the Vadukoddai Resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rajavarothiam\nSampanthan, who is now shedding crocodile tears for his people, not only was a\nfounding father of the Vadukoddai Resolution but went along with Prabhakaranism\nwithout a murmur of protest. He gave his full backing to the horrendous\nviolence unleashed by the Vadukoddai Resolution. So what right has he and his\nside-kick, Abraham Sumanthiram, to speak of the human rights of the Tamil\npeople when they went on their bended knees to hero worship their \u2018Suriya\nDevan\u2019 (Sun God) \u2013the political criminal who killed more Tamils than all the\nothers put together? In every national and international forum they never\nfailed to point a finger at the \u2018Sinhala State.They never raised a voice\nagainst Prabhakaran. Accusing the Sinhalese was their theme song to divert\nattention from the violations of human rights committed by the Tamil\nleadership. Besides, they feared the loss of political sympathy from the\ninternational community if they revealed that Prabhakaran was a Tamil Pol Pot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their\nfailure to resist the subhuman racist violence of Prabhakaran make them\ncomplicit partners in the crimes against humanity and the war crimes. They have\nno right to point an accusing finger at the generals who restored their right\nto walk this earth with dignity, respect and honour. They have survived on\ntheir myths of victimology long enough. The most privileged community in Sri Lanka,\nwith the highest quality of life index, pretending to be the victims of the\nmajority community, is a joke. They enjoyed the best of both worlds \u2013 the north\nand the south. As the old saying goes, the son shone in Colombo while the\nfather reaped the harvest in Jaffna. The undeniable historical fact is that the\nSinhalese had never treated the Tamils in the inhuman way the Tamil leadership\ntreated their own people from the time they set foot in Jaffna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was\ntheir misguided politics that led the Tamil people to their miserable end in\nNandikadal. In short, the Tamil leadership played the hideous role of the Pied\nPiper of Hamelin and lured their people all the way to drown in Nandikadal. The\ntotal responsibility for the failure of Tamil violence, Tamil politics and the\nsubsequent violations of human rights rests solely on the war-mongering Tamil\nleadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY H. L. D. MAHINDAPALA Of all the community leaders in Sri Lanka only the Tamil leadership has officially declared war against another community (i.e., the Sinhalese) and led their people to commit the crime against peace. On May 14, 1976 they collectively passed the Vadukoddai Resolution urging the Tamil youth to take up arms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99506","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99506\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}