The Truth and Other Casualties of War- and Sonali Samarasinghe Sep 25th, 2008

American Army Manual paints American reporters as a National Security threat: It is strange that Sonali Samarasinghe wrote to Sri Lanka Guardian on the 24 September,2008 on Truth and lies, in her article “The truth and other Casualties of war “.

There are many types of lies. Sonali Samarasinghe had been subject to one, but denied by the other as the truth. Therefore, we can assume that, lies and truths are like the two sides of the same coin. The media is not an example of the purity of truth. News is often exaggerated or twisted in favour of one or another. BBC is one such institution, and truth is not the hall mark of the Sunday Leader.

Some times it has its benefits, being a journalist or even a not much known politician in small developing countries like Sri Lanka. Specially when the country has a Socialist President with a Socialist Government. In such a place bashing the President and his Government, accusing them of human rights violation is a sure means to be recognised by the International Community and Institutions, to offer a Global Shining Light Award, or US Freedom Defenders Award. I bet that next in line for an award is Thisaranee Gunasekara, who does President bashing, in style.

Now to come to Sonali Samarasinghe’s article about the journalists and the Army, it is said that the new American Army Manual paints American reporters as a national Security threat.

However, lies and war seem to be interconnected. One keeps the other going. After all war is not the best thing that could happen, and lies are not the best to be expected. The American war in Iraq began with a lie, with false documents, supposed to have been prepared by Tony Blair, to support the lie that Iraq had an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

There are some lies which could be tolerated, there are other lies which are as intolerable as the war itself. Lies are diffused through various means to mislead the enemy. And the truth is kept away from the public , to avoid an uprising of the people against the war which may result in mass desertion of the soldiers from the army, or their disappointment, which would result in the enemy taking the upper hand.

Samarasinghe refers to a report in the Sunday leader, that contested statistics cited by the Army Commander LT.General Sarath Fonseka. I am not surprised, because that is the stuff of which the Sunday Leader is made of, from what I have heard. It has no iota of patriotism. The two journals the Sunday Leader, and the Mawbima fall into the same category.

Putting into question the statements issued by the Commander of the army is the last thing a patriotic citizen should do. The war though it is evil, becomes a necessity for the country that defends itself against an aggressor. Hence, it is all important that the Armed Forces are left to do their duty without unnecessary probing in search of truth.

In military parlance , a lie could be a strategy, to help the army to gain ground over enemy. A Commander is not happy either when he kills the enemies, or when he has to sacrifice his own soldiers. Nobody would envy the position of a Commander in the midst of a war. He has to take decision, which would to a non combatant be unconventional or cruel. He has not got to explain to every prying Dick, Tom, and Harry, why, how or what, of his actions.

Our Armed Forces are carrying on a difficult war with dedication The death is a factor that an Army Commander has to take account of, and at the same time keep up the moral of the other soldiers to continue the battle despite the soldier next to him had fallen dead. So leave the war to the Commanders, and his soldiers, and let us prey that it would soon be over.

The Commander of the Army at war is not seeking popularity or credibility. He is there to win the war. He has to take the most difficult decisions, planning strategies to win the war with the least damage to its own army. He is not bound to make any statements to the media, because the media falls into the hands of the enemies, who scan them sentence by sentence to detect weaknesses and loop holes of the enemy to plan their attacks, and arouse the feelings of the public against the army . These are the psychological weapons used by the enemy to discourage the soldiers, who would finish by not giving of their best and thus losing the battle.

Questions asked and answers in the Parliament are different from those asked by curious journalists, not always to help but more often to damage. An army discouraged by the media reports which often exaggerate the information they get, or run down the army to make the public become critical, is not what a Commander wants to happen in the army under his command.

Questioning the conduct of a war by legislators, and journalists is a right enjoyed in democracy, says the Global Shining Light Award winner Sonali Samarasinghe, referring as an example the Chief Commander of the United States Forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus who was intensively questioned by the US Congressmen…., But being questioned by the American Congress is all together a different affair, and there are closed session of interrogations, when more important matters are questioned.

The Sunday Leader after having made accusations, and vilifying the President and the Government, has now sent his emissaries to begin their bashing of the Government Armed Forces and its Commander General Sarath Fonseka. That by all means is not being democratic or patriotic. The Army should be kept out of their unworthy interference.

Sonali Samarisinghe does not seem to be as well informed as I presumed her to be about the subject she had ventured to write about in keeping with her newly earned decorations. She does not seem to have read much about the American Army, and its opinion of the interfering journalists.

In order to update her knowledge, I refer her to Columbia Journalism Review which says:

“…There are certain information considered sensitive by the American Army, which are not imparted to the journalists. Steven Aftergood, senior research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists and director of the federation’s Project on Government Secrecy, raises some red flags about the new regulations, writing that the “sensitive” information as defined in the manual includes “not just vital details of military operations and technologies but also documents marked “For Official Use Only” (FOUO) that may be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.” In other words, as he says, “it follows that inquisitive members of the press or the public who actively pursue such FOUO records may be deemed enemies of the United States.”

That is for Sonali Samarasinghe’s assertion that, “..Questioning the conduct of a war by legislators and journalists is a right enjoyed in democracies….”

American Army’s Operational Guide Lines adds that, “A person doesn’t have to be in the military or government to support OPSEC…As a Nation, we are in this fight together, and all Americans are encouraged to practice OPSEC.”

( OPSEC stands for Operation Security Guidelines)

The Army commanders being questioned by the Congressmen is different from the commanders questioned by the journalists. Interrogators are not traitors, but they are thinking is different, therefore there would be a clash of right or wrong which reported in favour of the interrogators point of view, would affect the army point of view. The army should maintain an image that attracts future recruits to the army. If that image is smeared by over zealous interrogators it would affect the army recruitment prospects. Young men do not necessarily join the army for the salary, but there is for some an attraction for the uniform, bravery and hard challenging life. Therefore, the good image of the army has to be preserved.

Making all sorts of accusations and criticism against the President Mahinda Rajapakse and his government is bad enough, but when she begins to turn her guns of vilification on to the Army Commander Lt.General Sarath Fonseka, she begins to walks on unknown territory. The Army Commander Sarath Fonseka is a person held in great esteem by the people of the country, though not by the Sunday Leader. He is a great hero of the Nation, who walks heedless of death threats, to visit the combat zones, to be with the soldiers and encourage them, in their dangerous mission of saving the motherland from the terrorists.

Sonali Samarasinghe says, “We are not aware whether Gen. Fonseka contributes to the thinking of the famed German war strategist Karl Von Clausewitz: ‘War is a continuation of politics by other means’.”. This statement of hers goes to shows, that she does not know to evaluate a person, or try to understand that the origin of the unfolding events, is the result of the effort of a man of unblemished character, who is dedicated to the very hilt of the commitment of the task he has taken on himself to accomplish.

The success story of the Government Forces in bringing the LTTE terrorists, whose “military force” was spoken in highly exaggerated terms as an invincible army, to the present ignominious position, is due to the wisdom of the President who allowed the army to plan and carry out the military campaign against the terrorists without any political interference.

Sonali Samarasinghe goes beyond her journalist ethics –if there is such a thing, in casting aspersions at the esteemed Commander of the Army Sarath Fonseka, as having to look over his shoulders to make statements of a political nature to get an extension of service. In any civilized country, the Army carries out its duty of defending the country giving the credit of military successes to the Government. It was so when there were Kings, the wars were won in the name of the King. Therefore Sonali Samarasinghe you should turn to another subject to pour your venom.

Sonally Samarasinghes article trying to attack the army, without facts shows the extent to which she lacks the ability to produce an article of quality.

Is Navaneetham Pillay the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights responsible for her statement on the Situation in Sri Lanka ?

I think Ms.Naveneetham Pillay is not directly responsible for the inaccuracies of her statement and unverified statistics. Because she is apparently just a puppet of the reactionary and anti-progressive elements of her Office in the UN Human Rights Commission.

The people behind these high offices of Director Generals and High Commissioner of the Organisations of the United Nations System are the members of the International Community who are out to discredit the holders of such posts if they are not of the International Community.

They make the UN Commissioner, the UNESCO Director General and even the Director General of the UNO their puppets. It is they who collect information, prepare the policy statements and they present the reports to be read out by a Director Generals, or the High Commissioner.

When the LTTE terrorists communication centre was bombed in November, 2007, and two terrorist were killed, the Director General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura issued a statement condemning the Government Forces of Sri Lanka for air strikes on the Voice of Tigers’ Radio Station. That was also a statement prepared by his office which the Director General allowed to be sent out under his signature. ( I had heard it been said that the Director General was away on a Mission, when the statement under his name was issued to the press.) This is what happens when non-European people however qualified, are appointed to Direct the Organisations of the UN System. They merely become the spokespersons for their white subordinates.

If Ms.Navaneetham Pillay wants to contribute to an effective application of the United Nations Human Rights policies, she has to assert her position as the Commissioner of Human Rights without being a mere puppet in the hands of his subordinates signing any document or parroting any statement prepared by her Directors and Assistant Directors. They merely work for their salaries and have no commitment for the service expected of them to carry out the policies of the Human Rights Commission for the betterment of the people or the countries concerned.

Some time back an American was appointed as the Deputy Director of Education to UNESCO. He overlooked all administrative and financial regulations of the UNESCO., and gave contracts to American Companies for construction of buildings overlooking UNESCO contract procedures. He appointed his wife as the liaison officer between the Construction Companies and the UNESCO. He transferred all those who pointed out to him the irregularities of his actions. This is the mentality of some of the personal of the member states of the International Community. They presume they could do any thing if they have the correct “back ground”.

It was recently I sent an appeal to Ms. Pillay pointing out to her that when the UN Human Rights Commission is fighting for violation of human right in the countries of the world, she should also perhaps investigate whether there may be instances of violation of human rights of the personnel working within the UN System. I have not eve received an acknowledgement to the letter, despite two reminders I sent to her Office.

If Ms.Navaneetham Pillay has accepted the Post of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for the prestige of occupying that high office, and remain a mere “ rubberstamp”, no body would raise objection. But if she reads out statements prepared by her office “ cutting and pasting” news reports appearing in the Tamil Net, and other pro-terrorist Websites, then it becomes our right as the citizens of Sri Lanka to call her to stop. If she is to contribute in a more positive way against violation of human rights in the member states of the UNSystem, she should immediately change her Office Staff and appoint more reliable persons.

She should be more careful of the reports presented to her, and check them herself if necessary before they are presented in public. The International Community is against developing countries and above all against the coloured people. This is evident from what is going on in USA at the present moment. The President of USA Mr. Barrack Obama had good intentions and wants to change the image of USA, adopting not an aggressive approach to the Nations of the World , but an attitude of friendship with a willingness to engage in a constructive dialogue.

But what is the result, the Republican Party has boycotted him, and a group calling themselves a liberal Democrats from his own Party is preparing to oppose him. The bail out plan which he launched was not supported by the Republicans, and the Insurance Giant which was on the brink of bankruptcy, when it was paid a substantial amount of money to revitalise itself, the first thing the Directorate of the Company did was to pay them selves bonuses amounting to 165 million dollars.

This is the world we live in. It is a great opportunity for Ms. Naneetham Pillay to have been appointed to the High Post of HCUNHRC, but she should assert her position by changing the personnel, and changing the principles hitherto followed by the UNHCHR.

She should accept Governments as more responsible, and the information they produce more reliable than those provided by groups of terrorists. She should learn to understand the responsibilities of governments, rather than make them helpless in their fights against terrorists and undemocratic elements making false accusation on unverified reports.

Hon. John McKay PC, MP Scarborough-Guildwood

I have received today, 15 March, 2009, by e-mail a copy of a letter addressed to you by Vasseekara and Vadivetkaran. Probably two members of your electorate.

I appeal to you to please give 15 minutes of your valuable time to read what I have written below and reflect on it and set aside your political interests, and in the name of democracy, truth and Christian kindliness to evaluate the situation to do what you think is correct.

Firstly, please request Vaseekara and Vadivetkaran to contact the terrorist front organisation in Canada and request them to ask the LTTE terrorist group in Sri Lanka, to lay down their arms and surrender to the Sri Lanka Government forces, to save their own lives, the lives of those child soldiers, those civilians who have been given arms to fight along side them, those civilian Tamil population they are using as a human shield, and also to save the lives of those soldiers who are fighting to save their country from being divided and mutilated .

Secondly, ignore my appeal and help your Vaseekara, and Vadivetkaran, and help the terrorist in Sri Lanka to allow the suffering of the people to continue under an unwanted war, and divide Sri Lanka to set up their own fascist Racial Tamil Regime, and indirectly help undeterred terrorism in the World to continue.

I beg you to please read my presentation of the facts:

The appeal made to you by Vadivetkaran, is actually a distorted version of what is really going on in the North of Sri Lanka to-day. Therefore I am giving below what exactly is going on and explain why Vaseekara and Vadivetkaran have given you a distorted view of the situation in Sri Lanka.

In the North and East of Sri Lanka as you probably have heard were some territories controlled by a group of ruthless terrorists. The adjective “ruthless” was in fact used by the FBI in describing this group of terrorists in Sri Lanka.

Banning of the LTTE terrorist Group in 33 countries of the International Community:

Their cruelty to the masses and ethnic cleansing of the territories occupied by them, recruitment of children by force to be trained as soldiers and as suicide bombs, torturing the civil population and killing all moderate Tamil intellectuals, assassinating a Prime Minster of India, a President of Sri Lanka, two Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, attempted assassination of an Army Commander, a President, and a Defence Secretary all of Sri Lanka, and murder of a retired Army Commander and his wife, assassination of number of other Army Officers, mass murders of civilians by targeting buses, trains and crowded market places in the south of Sri Lanka were investigated and as many as 33 countries of the International Community, banned this ruthless terrorist group calling itself the LTTE.

The Canadian Government too rightly banned this terrorist group, and made it illegal to support and collect funds for it.

Tamil diaspora in Canada and other Foreign Countries.

The Tamil diaspora now in Canada, left Sri Lanka about thirty years ago due to racial riots that irrupted in Sri Lanka, as a backlash after this very same terrorist LTTE massacred 13 Police Officers in the North, chopping off their hands to remove rings they were wearing. This riot was made an excuse by a larger majority of the Sri Lanka Tamils to enter Canada as political asylum seekers.

This riot that erupted in 1983, was a sentimental backlash, also utilised by some, for political gain and others to plunder, seize property or take vengeance over family feuds.

These racial riots never occurred again in Sri Lanka, despite the atrocities that were and are being committed by the terrorist LTTE in the north and south of Sri Lanka- even as recently as on the 10 March, 2009, when it detonated a suicide bomber targeting a Muslim Religious Festival, in which 15 civilians were killed and over 40 wounded.

More than 55 percent of the Tamil population live with the Sinhala , Muslim and other minority communities in South of Sri Lanka.

Several Sri Lanka governments for the last 25 years had been trying their best with the mediation of the Government of Netherland to settle whatever causes that led to terrorism by peace negotiations with the terrorists. One of the Governments even signed a Cease Fire Agreement.

Financial Support to terrorist by the Tamils of Canada

The Tamils of the diaspora in Canada along with the Tamils living in many other Capitals of European and American Cities collected donations for the terrorists to enable them to set up a separate Tamil Homeland in Sri Lanka. Some of the Tamils of the diaspora volunteered to pay regular contributions to terrorist sponsored Collectors , while many others were forced to pay by way of extortion under threat of reprisal against their kith and kin still living Sri Lanka, if contributions are not paid.

According to specialised Jane’s Intelligence and Insight magazine, 200 to 300 million dollars
are collected annually from the Tamil diaspora, by the terrorist front organisations in the foreign countries.
In addition they tax the people in the areas under their control, extort money and material from rich Tamil businessmen. They engaged in drug sale and human trafficking. From this considerable income they had bought as many as ten cargo boats used mainly for transport of arms and heavy artillery.

Cease Fire Agreement that helped Terrorists to arm themselves

Within the three years under the Ceasefire Agreement this ruthless terrorist group collected a considerable arsenal of war material, including war planes , constructed seven air strips, made their own submersible boats, manufactured bombs and grenades, preparing to wage a final war against the government forces of Sri Lanka to separate a part of the territory to set up their own Tamil Homeland.

They constructed magnificent Bungalows with swimming pools for the terrorist leaders. They constructed most modern communication centres, air conditioned bunkers 30 to 50 feet under ground equipped with furniture and entertainment halls with equipments. They Constructed Prisons and torture chambers.

They had don nothing for the welfare of the civilian population in the territories under their control, evidence of which is now available to be verified after the territories under their control were recaptured by the Government Armed forces.

Refusal to negotiate and commencement of terrorism against government and retaliatory military operations.

The terrorists refused to negotiate for a peace settlement but demanded the setting up of a separate Tamil Eelam State, and to show their determination they targeted a bus by the explosion of a claymore bombe in which 87 people –men women and children were killed. And then they closed a sluice gate of a tank depriving thousands of farmers of water. It was only then that the government withdrew from the Cease Fire Agreement and used military operations to open the sluice gates. The terrorists opened fire at the government forces and the army continued retaliatory military operations.

The Government Forces were careful not to cause damage to human lives in the course of bombardments and artillery fire. The terrorists used all tactics to defeat the military operations, but the Government Forces were determined to end terrorism that had been there for three decades. The terrorists for the first time found that the Government Forces were a superior fighting force, and they were not equal to them despite the most modern military equipment they had acquired.

Terrorist’s global campaign against the Government of Sri Lanka.

The terrorists used their immense financial resources at their disposal to pay Global Media, Human Rights Activists, and even buy Attorney’s paying as much as 1000 Dollars per day to organise a campaign against the Sri Lanka Government Forces making it out that the Government Forces were violating the human rights of the Civilian Tamils.

As the Majority in Sri Lanka is Sinhala, and the Government therefore is Headed by a Sinhala President, the terrorists made it out to the International Community that the Sinhala Government is fighting a war against the Tamils. They even called it a genocide.

The terrorists are continuing their campaign using the Tamil diaspora to write letters to their Parliamentary Representatives, Human Rights Activists, Senators, and individuals. Vaseekara, and Vadivetkaran who have written to you are two of the pro terrorists Tamils living in Canada engaged by the terrorists Front Organisations in Canada to give you a distorted version of the situation in Sri Lanka to-day, which is a part of their anti Sri Lankan Government campaign.

Terrorists last ditch battle- the situation to-day:

The Sri Lanka Government carried out a successful military operation against the terrorist and recaptured much of the territory that was occupied by the terrorists. The terrorists are now restricted to a small area of about 37 sq.km. They are unable to fight back the Government Forces, but they do not want to surrender.

In order to keep fighting until some Governments come to their aid to give them a new lease of life, they have put in motion an active campaign with the aid of their Front Organisations in the Countries like Canada. In addition, they keep by force the Tamil Civil population that was living in the area estimated to be about 60,000 to 70,000 as a human shield to stop the Government Armed Forces from shooting at them.

The Government Forces opened a no fire Zone in the area occupied by the terrorists, but the civilian Tamils who come into the no fire Zone to escape into the Government protected areas are fired at by the terrorists to put the blame on the Government Forces. If the Government Forces were to declare a cease fire now the terrorists will organise them selves to fight back the government forces.

Now is the only chance for the Government forces and the people of Sri Lanka to see a final end of the thirty years of suffering under terrorism. Therefore, the military operations have to continue without a cease fire, and we expect the good will of democrats and humanitarian the world over to support the Government to end terrorism in Sri Lanka.

Tamil Civil Population provided with food and medication.

People in the 37 sq.km area are however provided with food and medication, that include the terrorists in control of the area. There is no sign of malnutrition or suffering from hunger perceived in the people who take the risk of being shot at by the terrorists, and come into the government controlled areas.

There is no genocide in Sri Lanka.

The military operations are against the terrorists and not against the Tamil Civilians. If the International Community calls for a cease fire it is a most undemocratic interference into the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

What is expected from Canada and the International Community ?

The International Community , Canada and USA should demand the terrorists to surrender and lay down their arms to stop further death and destruction, to men and material. It is not the Government Forces to stop firing, it should be the terrorists who should stop terrorism immediately.

The Tamil diaspora in Canada is out of contact with reality of Sri Lanka which has no Communal problem. The Tamil problem is created by the terrorists and the Tamils of the diaspora and not by the Tamils living in Sri Lanka.

The Tamils of the diaspora like Vaseekara, and Vadivetkaran, should let the Government of Sri Lanka solve its problem, and they should appeal to the LTTE terrorists to surrender to the Government Forces.

May I humbly suggest to you Honourable John McKay, to please inform Vadivetkaran to ask their sponsers the terrorist Front Organisation in Canada to request the terrorists to surrender to the Government Forces without causing further suffering to the Tamil Civil Population kept as a human shield by them.

Thanking you, I remain respectfully yours,

Charles.S.Perera

Karuna Amman a great hero of our time has given an example for National Unity abandoning narrow communal identity.

The Sri Lanka Tamils of the diaspora should take a lesson from Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan or Karuna Amman, who defected from the LTTE, and is today not only the Minister for National Integration and Reconciliation , but also a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

He is a very rare Sri Lankan , who was able to use his intelligence to think and did what he thought was correct in defecting from a terrorist group in which he held a leading position. He did not rest at that but made a further retrospective interrogation, and came out with lot of human wisdom.

His defection from the terrorist group at the proper time caused a crack in that ruthless group of terrorists that finally led to its complete demolition. He took a terrible risk and he is still not completely out of the danger of a probable attempt on his life by the terrorists.

He is a National hero whether one likes it or not. It was again our President Mahinda Rajapakse ,who recognised the immense contribution of Karuna Amman to our country which was at the peril of an enemy, who was determined to divided the territory of our beloved Motherland.

Karuna Amman is an example to all those politicians who have still not understood the necessity to unite as a nation leaving aside narrow communal identities. Karuna Amman understood that communal unity is possible not by being cooped into communal ghettoes in an outmoded political party system that had caused all the problems of the country , but by integrating into a national political party system which should finally result in the real unity of the communities, to render unto the future generations , and present to the world a real Nation of Sri Lankans.

It is in that light that we have to understand the immensity of Karuna Amman’s act of getting away from the segregation within a strictly communal Political Party, to integrate into a larger Political Party representative of all Communities.

If others like Rauf Hakim, Mano Ganeshan, Chandrasekaran , Thondaman or even Anandasangaree take account of Karuna Amman’s act of joining the SLFP , and do like-wise by giving up their communal identity to integrate wholly into a National Political Party, like the SLFP or UNP, it will not then be long before the Government of Sri Lanka will reflect the communities that make up the Sri Lankan Nation, and one day produce a President or a Prime Minister or both from the Minority Communities.

Karuna Amman is not a rabid noise maker like Mano Ganeshan-who uses his political investment for the separation of the Country. Karuna Ammn acts with wisdom to unite the country. His name could easily be put together with those prestigious names of much loved politicians like Douglas Devananda, late Lakshman Kadirgamar, and late Jeyraj Fernandopulle.

This new demarche of Karuna Amman makes the work of the APRC for the devolution of power an unnecessary exercise. Karuna Amman has also removed the distinction of minority communities and the majority community. He has paved the way for a more meaningful communal unity.

This move of Karuna Ammana, should open the eyes of political leaders who have set up political parties for the benefit of their own political future. They should take a lesson from Karuna Amman, to sacrifice their self interests for the greater interest of the country, by agreeing to disband the political parties with communal identities, and join national political parties to make a durable National Unity.

Karuna Amman stands well above the so called educated Tamils of the diaspora such as Narapalasingham, J.B.S.Jeyaraj and such like. Karuna Amman has all the more reason to be a racist against the Sinhala majority. He became a terrorist after the July,1983. As a terrorist he had been hated by the Sinhala people. But today he is neither a racist nor a terrorists with vengeance in his heart. And he has won the hearts of the people of all communities.

The same cannot be said of the hate mongering Tamil diaspora, awaiting every opportunity to attack the majority Sinhala Community and accuse the government of genocide and Sinhala Supremacism.

The aim of the Tamil diaspora is to divide the country, where as Karuna Amman wants to unite the country.

How dare the Tamils of the diaspora, or any one else compare the Government Welfare Centres in Vanni, to Concentration Camps ?

The Human Righgts watch and ICRC making statements supportive of the terrorists are responsible for giving a life line to the terrorists who had today killed 70 of our soldiers and 200 of the misled youth terrorist . Why cannot these “all knowing” wise gangs of the ICRC and the Humans rights watch, condemn out right the terrorists ( who they dare not call terrorists) and ask them to surrender to the government forces and allow the civilians to escape into the government controlled areas and safety ?
I listened to Ms.Anna Niestat of the human rights watch at a TV debated between two Canadian Tamils of the diaspora, representing the LTTE terrorists, and a Sinhala and a Tamil Canadians representing the Government point of view. It was heartening to see a Sinhala (Yapa) and a Tamil (Benedict) speaking against the terrorists.
Ms. Niestat was brought into give her point of view as a representative of the Human Rights Watch. She has nothing new to say other than playing the same old record of shooting of civilians in the no fire Zone and keeping the IDPs in temporary camps fortified and guarded by gun carrying soldiers. And repeating the falsehood of a hospital bombarded by the Government Air Force.

She knows next to nothing, about any thing else. She does not seem to know the terrorists, nor the civilians. She does not seem to know the history and the culture of either the Tamils nor the Sinhala. During the debate one of the pro terrorists Tamils (David) said that the Sinhala people do not respect the culture of the Tamils.

When the moderator asked Ms.Niestat of the HRW what she has to say about the destruction of the Tamil culture by the Sinhala, she made a grimace and said she does not know any thing about that aspect of the conflict but she is there to speak of the violation of human rights, and added that while the debate is going on there are many civilians being killed in Wanni.

The pro-terrorist Tamil (David) participating in the debate was ignorant of the history and culture of the Sri Lankans be it the Tamils or the Sinhala, which he attempted to defend. He attempted to condemn the Sinhala for having a flag with nothing to represented the Tamils.

(Children from three Communities holding the Sri Lanka Flag)

When Asoka Yapa said that the Tamils are represented on the flag with the orange strip on the side, David jumped to protest saying that it is very small compared to the Lion taking most of the place. Yapa replied that only 8 percent of the Tamils could not claim half of the flag to represent them.

The Human rights watch gets their half baked information from the Tamils of the diaspora who seem themselves to have only a limited knowledge. It is like the blind, leading the blind.

Ms.Niestat’s contention is that the IDPs escaping from a dangerous situation is herded into strongly guarded camps denying them the freedom to move about.

( Children of IDPs' in Vanni Welfare Centres )

Niestat refuses to understand the ruthlessness of the terrorists who are only seeking to enter these camps and cause a massive destruction by blasting suicide bombs to discredit the Government Forces. Therefore these welfare centres are well guarded against a possible intrusion by the terrorists.

( A school for the Children of IDPs within a Welfare Centre in Vanni which some in Tamil diaspora Compares to Concentration Camps, visited by Christian Priests.)

The freedom of movement between camps is also restricted for this reason. Niesta also says that it was the Sri Lanka Armed forces that shoot at the Tamil Civilians coming into the no fire Zone. No one with any intelligence will believe her, as the government will not declare a no fire Zone to help the Tamil Civilians to escape into it and then shoot into them once they are in it.

( Children of IDPs' Playing cricket in a Refugee Camp in Vanni)

There are again those who compare these welfare centres where the IDPs are housed as concentration camps. This shows their ignorance. It is an insult to those millions of Jewish people of the holocaust who died under terrible conditions. The Tamils of the diaspora should be more respectful in their use of terms like concentration camps, and genocide..

The concentration camps of the Hitler were the places where most inhuman conditions,
unthinkable by any one who had not gone through those harrowing experiences could even imagine. The worst conditions any where in the world cannot (and should not) be compared to the conditions of those poor people who were made to suffer and die in Nazi Concentration Camps.

Nine to eleven million Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Russian POWs, and handicapped people died in these camps.

(Indignities the Children were made to suffer in the Nazi Concentration Camps )

The Jewish people were transported to the Concentration Camps in Auschwitz etc,

(Concentration camp in Auschwitz. At least they had better buildings than the IDPs in Vanni the ignorant Tamil diaspora and the Human Rights Watch may say!!)


from every town of Europe, in railway carriage without seats, lights or windows stacked like animals . Some of them died of suffocation inside the carriages. On arrival family members were taken away from each other. The children, men and women were separated. Their clothes were removed and burnt. The jewelry such as rings, necklaces, bangles , ear rings, were removed, gold separated from silver.

Men and women were sorted according to health and strength, and driven into queues to works like slaves most often without food or water. Some were sent to medical centres, to be cut , operated and experimented while they were still alive.

The rest were herded into large empty rooms, under the pretext of giving them a shower, until the room was full without enough space for them even to move. Once inside the rooms were closed and barricaded.Then the nazi guards opened the gas which seeped into the room through the overhead funnels that looked like ordinary showers. They were kept imprisoned in the gas chambers until every one of them had died.

Thereafter the bodies were sorted out some being used for experiments. Some of them skinned to make lamp shades, and other items of "utility".

(A Book bound in humanskin)


(Artifacs made out of human remains with a humanskin Lampshade)

The rest were put in to burners. These bodies continued to burn day after day, night after night. The skies were clouded with the smoke of the burning corpses.

These were Concentration Camps of which some Tamils of the diaspora write lightly about. Ms. Niestat, Karen Parker, and other human Rightists too shamelessly make indirect reference to Concentration camps in describing the welfare Centres in Vanni.


It is only the Tamil Civilians who are now in these camps could describe the relief , and satisfaction of being in these Welfare Centres after their gruesome experience with the terrorists.

Why should Sri Lanka allow Indian Forces to establish a field hospital at Pulmoddai ?

It was shocking news, I am sure to many, that the Indian Forces are establishing a field Hospital at Palmoddai.

The public would be interested to know who authorised this. It is a stepping in of the Indian Forces to the shores of Sri Lanka which has to be stopped forthwith. May be the government had accepted it for diplomatic reasons, but then the fact that it is sponsored by the Military Force of India, makes it an unsafe move specially now when the terrorism is almost on the verge of being swept out.

A field hospital by an India humanitarian organisation with civilian Medical personnel would have been an acceptable proposition but not a field hospital by the
Indian Army manned by Military personnel.

Some body would have been out his mid to have accepted this very unusual demand by the Government of India which had refused military aid to Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism. India not only refused to give us military aid, but also demanded that we should not buy military equipment from China and Pakistan, if I remember correct.

When over 40,000 Sri Lankan troops in the Jaffna peninsula were cut off from the mainland, trapped, and feared that they would be overrun by the terrorists, the President Chandrika Kumaratunga negotiated with the Indian government for ships to evacuate troops from the peninsula due to the lack of transport ships in the Navy, but the “hypocrite” Indian government then refused to provide ships.

It was Pakistan who came to our help. Pakistan not only gave us multy barrel rocket launchers, but also air lifted them to Jaffna, with which the army launched a successful counter offensive that halted the LTTE advance.

It is this India that is now proposing to establish a field hospital in Pulmoddai. The Government of Sri Lanka should have the “guts” to say no to this despicable arrangement. India is not a friendly state. The government of Sri Lanka should of course keep friendly relations with the Government of India, but should be wary about the dealings with the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian RAW must already be having its agents every where in the North and East of Sri Lanka carrying out its destructive manoeuvres.

The military personnel manning the proposed field hospital may be RAW agents perhaps trying to give a hand to the terrorists to escape or give them a helping hand to reverse the situation in Mulativu.

It is time that our Parliamentarians take up this unexpected development in Pulmoddai and get the Government to open its eye to the seriousness of the situation . We do not want Indian army doctors and personnel to take care of our people in the North and East.

If the Indian Government wants to, they may supply the government with the medicine but not the personnel to go with them. There is likely to be more than 70 persons attached to this hospital, and that is almost a platoon. The Indian Army may station one of her Battle Ships in the high seas with large numbers of troops to be flown in even for the “capture” of the territory around Pulmoddai !!!

This sounds very suspicious after an announce of some interested individuals who were proposing to carry out a rescue operation with the help of the US Army personnel to take away the Tamil Civilians trapped in Mulativu.

What is important is to get the International Community to demand the terrorists to release the Tamil civilians and take action to stop the Tamils of the diaspora in various European, Canadian and American cities from continuing manifestations in favour of the terrorists.

If the “field hospital” is a pretext to take Prabhakaran alive as a prisoner , it is their problem, but it should not be done to the disadvantage of the military operations of the Government Forces of Sri Lanka.

India, surely has an ulterior motive in this “field hospital” episode, and the Government should stop it before it turns in to a fiasco of some sort of the military operations.

Why blame the Government of Pakistan for terrorism ?

Immediately after the Mumbais Terrorist attack India held Pakistan responsible for it. The fact that there are terrorists within the borders of Pakistan does not mean Pakistan is responsible for terrorism. The terrorism is a cancer of which Pakistan itself would like to be cured . India should extend its support to Pakistan to fight terrorism in her soil as there is a serious threat of terrorism spilling over to India in a larger scale.

The September 11 terrorist attack of the twin towers in New York was carried out by terrorists who lived in America. While living comfortably in America the planned, prepared and carried out the disastrous attack. America cannot take the blame for that attack because the terrorists living in America planned, prepared and carried out the attacks in America.

The killing of the late Rajiv Gandhi was planned by the terrorists in Sri Lanka,and carried out by them in India. But the Sri Lanka Government cannot be held responsible for the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister, because it was carried out by the terrorists who were in Sri Lanka.

Therefore, I cannot understand the logic of holding Pakistan responsible for the terrorist activities carried out by a group of terrorists hiding in Pakistan.

The recent attack on the bus carrying the Sri Lanka Cricketers, is a reprehensible inhuman savagery. Terrorism as a political tool could be understood, but not when terrorism is carried out against other field of activity such as sport, entertainment etc. What was evident in the terrorist attack on the cricketers was a break down some where of the security measures that had been in place. May be there were certain weak links in the security chain, some members of the security service giving in to the terrorist in connivance or through fear.

It becomes clear to a careful observer that even to have come out of that bleak situation with that much of damage was a miracle. And we feel happy our Cricketers got away with the minimum of physical harm.

Pakistan Government could learn a lot from Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism. In the incident in question we did not see any road blocks ( were they removed on the orders of the Supreme Court !) any where on the rout to the stadium, or cordoning off of areas where security was imposed without allowing access to the area by the public, and keeping the area under surveillance. After the shooting there was no immediate rush of Security Forces to the area to attempt to apprehend the escaping terrorists.

The terrorism in Pakistan is a lesson for India and the International Community who seem to treat terrorism differently according to where it takes place, and to what extent it affects them. The International Community and India seem to treat terrorism in developing countries as rebellions by freedom fighters.

They accept terrorism as such only when it affects them. The International Community refuses to negotiate with the terrorists but demands developing countries in the grip of terrorism to negotiate with the terrorists. This double standard has encouraged terrorism, and terrorists.

Terrorism will continue as long as the International Community refuses to consider terrorism any where, at any scale as a part and parcel of the same global terrorism, that has to be stopped at any cost before it becomes a threat to world peace.

When a small country with all obstacles put on its path is successfully eliminating terrorism from its territories, the developed countries let loose a whole lot of human rights activist, agents of the amnesty international, groups of ex- Ambassadors, Senators, and Attorneys to give a life line to terrorists.

The argument may be that the terrorists in developing countries are not that dangerous to the countries of the International Community. They can meet with these terrorists, share a drink or sit for a meal with them. That is what they had been doing in Sri Lanka with the terrorists like Tamilselvam in Kilinochchi. Therefore, for them they are a “friendly” sort of terrorists with whom they could even talk about making bombs or training a suicide cadre !!.

No country affected by terrorism should allow INGOs from entering conflict areas or have any dealings with the terrorists.

If global terrorism is to be removed for good, there should be a planned global effort without differentiating terrorism according to where it exists, or to what extent it affects the countries of the International Community. But terrorism where ever it exists in what ever scale, should be treated as a part of the global terrorism.

In other words the world should not accept terrorism in Sri Lanka for instance, as different from terrorism against America. The fundamental error made by the International Community is the sorting out of terrorism, as their terrorism and our terrorism.

Human Rights Activists, should be kept away from countries affected by terrorism, as violation of human rights, and military operations against terrorism are incompatible. Terrorism does not respect life it is an all out terror to kill, devastate and create fear. Seeking to accuse a governments in the grip of terrorism, for violation of human rights will only favour terrorism, causing a disadvantage to the government in its fight against terrorism.

The World Leaders planning to fight terrorism , should not let terrorism arise where it did not exist before. Therefore as much as possible the leading Countries should not begin their action against terrorism establishing enmity with other nations. All those Nations big and small determined to fight against terrorism should make a joint effort without seeking to protect their own interest

Iran is a free country. It has the right to develop independently without being interfered into its internal affairs by the developed Nations of the International Community. If Iran’s development of the nuclear programme troubles the International Community, it should not adopt aggressive methods to stop Iran from carrying out its nuclear programme. It is only through dialogue and through a friendly approach that Iran should be persuaded to use its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes.

The International Community should not treat terrorism in Sri Lanka less importantly because it does not affect USA or Great Britain. The criteria should not be to what extent is the terrorism in one country going to affect other countries such s USA or UK, but the criteria should be that the terrorism any where in any country in the World is accepted as affecting all countries of the world. They should all give a country fighting to eliminate terrorism all material and moral assistance.

To conclude, the developed countries should change its aggressive method of imposing its leader ship in the world, without respecting the Sovereignty of other nations. The International Community should adopt a different attitude from that of an aggressive nosey parker. It is in the best interest of the world that Pakistan is helped to set up an anti terrorist force, to effectively fight terrorism within its territory, instead of accusing Pakistan for what it is not responsible.