A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, May 31, 2014
Virtual LTTE Resurrection Is Vital For Govt.To Remain In Power .
| by Pearl Thevanayagam
(May 31, 2014, Bradford UK, Sri Lanka Guardian) UK
media is outraged that the government would only publish the details of
the gist of talks between Blair and Bush before Iraq invasion and not
transcripts and full notes of conversations although Chilcot inquiry is
in possession of these.
David Cameron’s government is going along with this charade since if the
invasion of Iraq was proven to be a grave injustice UK could be hauled
up for war crimes.
These two democracies preach human rights to third world nations but
their own actions belie the very concept of democracy it touts. UK makes
use of the 30 year ban under Official Secrets Act to whitewash its
actions. It is against the law to even ask a colleague what his/her
salary is.
It is not as though UK lies but it keeps mum on sensitive information.
The silence on Iraq invasion at the behest of US amounts to not just
lying but gross violation of the rights of Iraqi people who are still
reeling from the mayhem caused by two super-powers who took it upon
themselves the mantle as defenders of human rights. Whichever government
is in power British stiff upper-lip believes what Britain does in the
name of national security should be kept private and should not come out
in the open.Its strategy worked when it was the colonial power but not
any longer. Nations, particularly third world nations, are not taking
its arrogance lying down.
Which brings us closer home to the actions of the government on
resurrecting the LTTE to retain its hold on the North and East and
justify its militarising these zones. Jesus, a refugee, who was
crucified on the cross and left to die in front of witnesses,
resurrected himself on the third day and even his disciples showed
disbelief. LTTE leader Pirabkaran was killed along with his many cadres
and tens of thousands of civilians by government security forces and
their bodies exhibited to prove their annihilation and thus an end to
the rebel outfit.
But unlike Jesus, Pirabakaran is not coming back in life form nor are those who perished in Mullivaikkal.
Unearthing buried cache of LTTE weapons, arresting innocent youth who
may or may not have links with the remnants of the LTTE is akin to US
style of maintaining Al Quaeda is lurking round the corner despite the
assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
US needs the Bin Ladens and Saddam Husseins to justify its invasions
into countries which have oil supplies and minerals to protect its own
economic interests and to hell with the rights of those citizens.
Wherever US set foot in the name of peace it left destruction and human
miseries. Its actions are reverberating in that those affected by the
wars instigated by the US are converging on US and European shores
seeking asylum.
There is no doubt the LTTE left behind its arms and ammunition plundered
from the military but just because they were found in private
properties does not prove the occupants are resurrecting the LTTE.
Leaders need fresh impetus to sustain their power. The propaganda
machinery of the government is aided and abetted by scare-mongers such
as sycophant Tamil websites, the editors of which are handsomely
rewarded who plug in fabricated details and who have an axe to grind
lend flimsy evidence the LTTE are re-grouping. It is ironic these
website editors are spongers on western governments while bartering
their own kith and kin to the Sri Lankan government to feed their
debauchery and idle lifestyle.
Their revelations are going viral with India and Malaysia while the
hard-core LTTE arms procurer Kumar Pathmanathan aka KP is kept in
relative luxury and comfort by the government. The three hapless Sri
Lankan Tamils would certainly have claimed they were either targeted by
the government as LTTE activists or pursued by the now defunct LTTE for
defecting.
The recent upsurge in cordon and search operations in the North East
terrorising civilians, the continuous presence of the armed forces, the
appointment of military hierarchy as governors and emissaries, procuring
lands of Tamils and fortifying military cantonments proves the
government is bent on embarking on a genocidal mission.
Victory parades are celebrated with the exhibition of war machinery for
all and sundry to see and it is quite contradictory to the government’s
declaration the war is over. It is also flouting war paraphernalia in
Mullivaikkal to promote war tourism not unlike Auschwitz camp where Jews
were tortured and gassed by Hitler’s Nazis which is now attracting
tourists.
Propagandising LTTE resurgence could become a reality if the government carries on its vile campaign.
(The writer has been a journalist for 25 years and worked in national
newspapers as sub-editor, news reporter and news editor. She was Colombo
Correspondent for Times of India and has contributed to Wall Street
Journal where she was on work experience from The Graduate School of
Journalism, UC Berkeley, California. Currently residing in UK she is
also co-founder of EJN (Exiled Journalists Network) UK in 2005 the
membership of which is 200 from 40 countries. She can be reached at
pearltheva@hotmail.com)