Diaspora

Taxonomy Color
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  • SLA takes heavy beating

    Mar 31
    1412 Sri Lankan troopers were killed and 6123 were wounded in 7 days of fierce fighting when Sri Lankan Forces attempted to break through Tamil Tiger defences around Puthukudiyiruppu (PTK) town, according to a statement released by LTTE Battle Command.
     
    According to the LTTE statement Sri Lankan Army incurred the heavy casualties when they launched large scale offensive operations towards Iranappaalai and Aanathapuram, east of PTK town.
     
    According to media reports from Vanni, Sri Lankan Army is also suffering significant losses due to ‘friendly’ artillery and aerial bombardment of their positions by Air Force planes and Army artillery units.
  • Futile Wait
    As the Sri Lankan military continues to massacre Tamil civilians at will in Vanni, there have been increased murmurs of disquiet from the international community. The United States, for example, has, with a few words, surpassed India in its criticism of Sri Lanka's cold-blooded slaughter. The mass agitation in Tamil Nadu has not stirred the Central government to act. Instead, overwhelmed by the simplest of tasks expected of any aspiring great Power - ending a regional crisis - Delhi is paralyzed. Bewildered by the responsibility thrust upon it, the South Asian hegemon is simply hoping the problem will go away. The eruption of Tamil outrage and the ensuing nationalist mobilisation - in Tamil Nadu and the Diaspora - will, along with untrammeled Sinhala chauvinism, ensure this crisis will not disappear, but expand to become an important part of the international agenda.
     
    Diaspora anger is directed not just at the Sinhala state, but at the (West-led) international community. With good reason. For many years, especially during the 2002-2006 peace process, Western liberal states have not only lectured the Tamils on human rights, pluralism, democracy, etc, but justified their calculated attempts to thwart the Tamil freedom struggle on these bases. The proscriptions of the LTTE in 2006 by the European Union and the Canada, for example, were rationalized on the movement's 'violence'. The supposed primacy of liberal values were put forward as justification for denying the Tamils self-determination - the quintessentially liberal right of a people to govern themselves.
     
    Yet, today, as the Sinhala state deliberately and openly tosses these values aside, as it uses mechanized violence to kill upwards of 60 Tamil civilians each day, as it incarcerates those who flee the warzone, as it silences the press, not through censorship, but spectacle killings and arbitrary arrest, these same Western states are silent. Their logic is the same as the Sinhala state: if the LTTE can be wiped out, the Tamils can be easily pacified; hence, whatever serves the destruction of the LTTE is permissible, including the wholesale slaughter of Tamil civilians.
     
    Even now, as over two hundred thousand starving, traumatized Tamils cower amid Sri Lanka's ceaseless barrages, these self-styled paragons of liberalism remain silent. No threats now of sanctions, withholding aid, war crimes charges, travel bans and such. Instead, there are mumblings of independent accounts not being available, questionings of the number affected and, of course, blaming of the LTTE: the problem, according to them, is the LTTE's blocking of the people's movement, not the hundreds of shells being fired at them by 'their' state. There is also no talk now of 'responsibility to protect', or 'sovereignty as responsibility'.
     
    These are important lessons for the Tamil community. Firstly, international commitment to human rights is a fiction. Rather, human rights have been merely a rhetorical tool to justify the self-serving bias of the Western states (non-Western states, whilst equally self-serving, do not attempt to dignify their interests with claims about human values). In other words, the Tamils need no longer take seriously these hypocritical sermons. Secondly, it is clear that if the Tamil people are to survive the genocide being conducted by the internationally-backed Sri Lankan state, they have to act. It is not simply a matter of waiting for the West to be stirred into action by the scale and horror of killings: the West did not act when Bosnians, Kosovars, and Tutsis, amongst others, were being slaughtered, there is no reason to think it will do so for us. These peoples stood up for themselves first.
     
    However, Tamils must test Western rhetoric to the utmost, bringing as much pressure as possible to bear on Western governments, agencies and institutions. Some actors are rethinking their long-standing logic that the Sri Lankan state, no matter what its flaws, must be defended against the LTTE and Tamil demands for Eelam. HRW, for example, is now insisting that the world do something, warning the IMF, which has been approached by Colombo for an emergency loan, that the money will not further peace. These changes have nothing to do with the Tamils, but with the realization that the Sinhala state cannot be cajoled, stroked and seduced into behaving like a good liberal world citizen: it needs to be disciplined. Tamils realized this thirty years ago; state terror cannot be stopped by strengthening the state, but by confronting and coercing it. Our struggle is based on this self-evident fact, one deliberately ignored by Western states or, more charitably, masked by liberal optimism. The question for Tamils is: when the realization dawns in Western capitals, will they act or will they watch?
  • LTTE continues attacks on STF in the east
    In the space of one week, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched attacks on Special Task Force (STF) commandos in the eastern district at four separate locations killing 9 STF commandos injuring 13.
     
    According to LTTE officials in Ampaarai, LTTE fighters carried out three separate attacks on Friday March 29 and Saturday March 30.
     
    Liberation Tigers launched the first attack around 10:45 pm on Friday on the STF commandos posted at the road check point located between Urukaamam and Kiththul on Batticaloa-Badulla road in which an STF commando was killed and three seriously injured.

    The second attack took place Saturday around 12:30 pm on the STF mini camp at 78th mile post on Chengkaladi-Badulla road where a time bomb planted by the Tigers exploded killing two STF commandos and seriously wounding one.
     
    The third attack was on the STF sentry post in Karadiyanaaru police division in which three STF commandos were killed and four seriously wounded, Batticaloa district LTTE said.
     
    Meanwhile, two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) home guards lost their legs caught in a booby trap set by the Tigers Saturday around 6:30 am in the 16th village in Ampaarai district, LTTE in Ampaarai said.

    Few days earlier, on Sunday March 22, three STF commandos were killed and five sustained injuries when LTTE commandos launched a surprise attack on an STF mini-camp on Chengkaladi - Badulla Road, according to a news release issued by the LTTE Political division in Batticaloa.

    The mini-camp was located between Koappaaveli and Pullumalai, the Tigers said.
  • LTTE missiles puzzle military
    According to Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry, LTTE fighters in Puthukudiyiruppu (PTK) fired surface-to-air-missiles (SAM) at two Sri Lankan Air Force helicopters on Wednesday March 25, raising questions about LTTE’s weapons capability.

    Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times, reporting on the attack stated: “Troops fought bitter battles with guerrillas in the general area of Puthukudiyiruppu. Air Force helicopters that rushed in to evacuate casualties were fired upon. Within seconds, the onboard Self Protection System (SPS) activated and prevented any damage. It soon transpired that the [LTTE] had used Surface to Air Missiles (SAM) though the exact version is yet to be established.”
     
    “The news, needless to say, has shocked Colombo's intelligence community. Since the military crackdown against [LTTE] by the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration since 2007, there has been no known instance of missiles being used on aircraft. So much so, it made them believe that they no longer possessed it. Confirming this were other factors like continuous air raids on [LTTE] positions in the past several months had only drawn 23 mm, 50 mm, machine gun and rifle fire. Moreover, there had also been reports that [LTTE] attempts to procure SAMs from black market channels had failed in Eastern Europe and South East Asia.” the newspaper further reported.
     
    “Now, the question is being raised whether the SAMs used for this week's attack on Bell 212s were smuggled in recently. This is on the basis that if the [LTTE] possessed it before, they could have put them to use. A less likely argument put out by some sections of the intelligence community is that the [LTTE] had them but waited till the urgent need arose to use them. Both the defence and the security establishment are busy seeking answers to these questions and many others.” Sunday Times added.
  • Sydney protest draws more than 5,000
    More than 5,000 protesters took to the streets of Sydney Saturday, 28 March, demanding action against the Sri Lankan government and the atrocities being committed against Tamil civilians caught up in the war in the Vanni.
     
    Sydney's Central Business District suffered traffic congestion and delays as demonstrators took over major city roads as the protesters marched towards the city's Town Hall, participants in the rally said.
     
    Many protesters carrying placards of the Eelam flag and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Pirapaharan and called out for the Australian government to help end the genocide in Sri Lanka.
     
    Members of the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) which organised the event said they were pleasantly surprised at the show of solidarity.
     
    TYO representative Jay Nathan spoke to the crowd, describing the stark differences between life in Australia and life in Sri Lanka.
     
    "I see my fellow Tamils living in Sri Lanka and I am overcome with sorrow to see that they are denied even a fraction of the rights and luxuries that I enjoy here in Australia," Ms Nathan said.
     
    "They live their lives in fear of persecution, abduction and death because of who they are."
     
    Adrian Francis, another TYO representative, said: "To me it is beyond doubt that the agenda of the government of Sri Lanka is to reduce and marginalize the Tamil population. These are our brothers, these are our sisters, mothers, fathers, everything - all lost, lost lives, lost dreams.
     
    "The thousands of protesters, many of whom have lost faith in the international monitors who have repeatedly failed to hold the Sri Lankan government to account for the thousands of civilians left dead, and the many thousands more injured without access to decent medical aid, demand the immediate action to stop any more lives being lost," Francis added.
     
    "We feel that organisations such as the UN need to do more to stop the bloodshed in Sri Lanka immediately. The parrallel between what is happening in Sri Lanka and what happened to the Jewish people in Germany is uncanny, yet the world sits silently. You would think the international community would have learnt from the horrific lessons of the past," Francis said.
     
    "What the world doesn't realise is that once you are forced into a corner with no way out, one can only fight for one's life, one's freedom. That is exactly what is happening to the Tamil people. Yet the world conveniently calls this terrorism." said another protester. 
  • Tamil Eelam flag flown in Toronto protest legal - Canadian Police
    The use of Eelam Tamil national flag did not contravene any law in Canada, according to a report by CBC News which cited Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash.
    Citing the ban on the LTTE, some representatives of the Sri Lankan government, who have been over-sensitive to any demonstration of overwhelming Tamil diaspora support to Tamil nationalism, have been demanding a ban on the national flag of the Eelam Tamils, seeing it an opportunity of dismembering Tamil nationalism.

    Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Canada, Dayanada Perera, last week in an interview with the country's foreign policy newsweekly, Embassy, called on Canadian authorities to crack down on public protests by the "Tigers".

    "The steps of Parliament were awash in a sea of red flags emblazoned with a roaring tiger in front of two crossed rifles," said the magazine describing the massive human chain and the rally held in Toronto by the Canadian Tamils.

    "Your government should have climbed down and not permitted them to wave the LTTE flags because it's a banned terrorist organization," Mr. Perera was quoted as saying.

    Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary for the foreign affairs minister told the magazine that he had received Perera's complaints, but the government does not plan to take any action against the protests.

    He said that LTTE funding channels from Canada have been blocked and that the government has cut all contact with the group, but no action will be taken against peaceful LTTE protests.

    The national of flag of the Eelam Tamils, described as symbolizing the political, social and cultural aspirations of the Tamils of Sri Lanka was declared in 1990 by the LTTE, at a time when it was not banned by any government.

    The flag was also differentiated from the LTTE emblem by having no legend on it. There is no red colour background in LTTE emblem, which is differentiated from the national flag. The fighting formations of the LTTE have their own regiment specific flags, which are identified as military flags of the movement.

    The national flag soon got into wide use with the masses and became a symbol of their nationalist aspirations.

    "There is nothing wrong in the Tamil nation raising its national flag. The Tamil national flag is not the Tigers’ flag but it is the Tamil people’s flag," was the message of religious leaders who resisted the opposition by the Sri Lankan military to hoist the Tamil Eelam flag during the peace process in SLA controlled territory.
    Yellow signifies that Tamils' aspiration to freely govern themselves in their own homeland is a fundamental political and human right. The colour expresses the righteousness of Tamil struggle and reinforces Tamil Nation's will to uphold moral high ground during its path towards freedom, according to a guidebook published by the Tamil Eelam civil administration.

    Red represents that egalitarianism should be the spiritual principle. The Tamils should abolish distinctions of caste and class. Gender equality should permeate Tamil society, the description says. "The revolutionary changes necessary to spread social justice represented by these principles are reflected by this colour."

    "Black signifies determination and resoluteness of the Eelam Tamil Nation."

    "White demands purity, honesty and selflessness from the members of the Eelam Tamil Nation."

    32 years ago, in 1976, LTTE leader Pirapaharan selected Tiger as the Tamil Eelam national insignia to present an image rooted in Dravidian civilization symbolizing martial velour and the uniqueness of Tamil language and culture.          
  • TNA calls for immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access
    Sri Lanka’s largest Tamil political party called on the government to declare a ceasefire to protect civilians in the north and demanded that humanitarian agencies are permitted access to the conflict zone before discussing a political solution to decades long ethnic conflict.
     
    Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a press conference organised to clarify its stance relating to an invitation by President Mahinda Rajapakse to discuss the ‘prevailing political situation’ in the country, on Wednesday March 25, said that it has decided not to engage in talks with the Sri Lankan President or anyone representing the SL state before a conducive environment for such political engagement is created by an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to the suffering people of Vanni.
     
    “The Sri Lankan military must stop the offensive,” Mavai Senathirajah, a lawmaker from the Tamil National Alliance, said yesterday.
    “Humanitarian workers must be allowed in.” Senathirajah said adding “The government must listen to the calls by the international community,”
    The TNA, which holds 22 seats in the 225-member parliament, also condemned the abduction of the brother of Jaffna district MP Kajendran, barely 48 hours before the TNA was to decide its position on accepting an invitation for a meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
    Family members of TNA parliamentarians have earlier been harassed, especially during the time of budget voting.

    The full text of the statement released by TNA follows:
    2D Summit Flats
    Kepitipola Mawatha
    Colombo-5

    Tel. No. +94-11-2559787

    E-Mail –
    [email protected]

    25 March 2009

    H.E. Mahinda Rajapakse,
    President of the Democratic
    Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,

    Presidential Secretariat,
    Colombo 01.Your Excellency,

    INVITATION TO MEET WITH THE TAMIL NATIONAL ALLIANCE
    We thank you for the letter sent by your Secretary dated 20 March 2009, inviting us and all the other Members of Parliament belonging to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for a meeting chaired by you, to be held on 26 March 2009 at 6.30 p.m. at Temple Trees to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country.

    We observe that you vaguely state that you desire to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country without any specific reference to the political issues that need to be discussed. There is also no reference to the grave humanitarian crisis prevailing in a part of the Mullaitheevu District, relating to around 300,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians. After the government designated certain areas as safe zones, these displaced Tamil civilians largely moved into these areas.

    We consider it necessary to state certain facts pertaining to this grave humanitarian crisis relating to the displaced Tamil civilians.
    1.     The fighting between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE’s) military formations is said to be taking place on many fronts some distance away from the said government designated ‘safe zones’. Yet the Sri Lankan armed forces have been bombing the safe zone areas by air and artillery fire killing on an average between 40 to 50 civilians on a daily basis and causing grave injuries to civilians many times more.
    2.     Despite the grave humanitarian crisis prevalent in these areas, the government has evicted all international humanitarian organizations and has since imposed restrictions on supplies to these areas tantamount to an embargo on food, medicine, shelter and other basic humanitarian items.
    3.     No independent media is permitted access to this area to report on the situation really prevailing in this area.
    4.     No functioning hospitals remain in the Vanni as government bombing campaigns have destroyed all such facilities. There are gross shortages of medicines. Despite numerous requests by the few remaining medical officers in the Vanni, the government has failed to send adequate medicine. Diseases related to overcrowding, poor nutritional intake, a lack of sanitation and exposure to the elements are becoming prevalent.. People have died recently as a result of complications which could have been easily treated had there been proper health facilities and medicine.
    5.     The Internally Displaced Persons do not have any form of toilet facilities. The government has banned all construction materials into the area and as a result building of temporary toilets has not been possible.
    6.     More than 60,000 families (240,000 individuals) are living in open areas with shelter made from tarpaulin. Due to the very hot weather conditions, staying in these shelters has become intolerable. The government has not allowed shelter materials into the area.
    7.     Even though there are around 300,000 civilians in the relevant areas, the government insists that there are only about 70,000 civilians in the area. This position of the government is inconsistent with the assessment of UN and other international agencies who estimate that there are around 200,000 displaced civilians in this area. In doing so the quantity of food aid and medicine and other essential humanitarian supplies sent is grossly inadequate and as a result the civilian population is starving to death or dying due to unavailability of medical supplies. It should be noted that within the last month, several people have died of starvation. The dead have included many children.
    8.     There is also a complete inadequacy of drinking water. Water Bowsers from Puthukuddirruppu are used for transporting water. This water is dangerous to collect due to continuous shelling and bombing of the area by the Sri Lankan armed forces. To compound matters, lack of fuel for the Bowsers and the water pumps is also hampering water collection and delivery. The situation regard to non drinking water (toilet, washing, cooking, etc) is that it is almost non-existent.
    9.     Since the beginning of this year alone, over 3000 civilians have been killed in these so-called ‘safe zones’ by bombing campaigns carried out by the Sri Lankan armed forces. Well over 8000 civilians have been gravely injured. The fact that the armed forces have been bombing these areas suggests that the civilians are being deliberately targeted. It is also our submission that the government’s failure to permit adequate food and medicine into these areas demonstrates that food and medicine are being used against the Tamil civilians as a weapon of war.
    The TNA has made public this grave humanitarian situation and appealed to the government to take necessary steps to ensure that the Tamil civilian population is not harmed. The international community has similarly made strong appeals to the government on behalf of the Tamil civilian population. The government has not responded to these appeals. If the military attacks now taking place, and the deprivations caused by the embargo on food, medicines, shelter and other humanitarian needs continue, a grave humanitarian catastrophe affecting the Tamil civilian population will before long occur in this area.

    We consider it our primary duty to protect and safeguard the displaced Tamil civilian population from this grave humanitarian catastrophe. We have to therefore earnestly request : -
    • That the military attacks be stopped immediately.
    • Ensure that adequate supplies of food, medicines and shelter are sent immediately to sustain a civilian population of around 300,000 so that the displaced Tamil civilian population is not denied urgent humanitarian needs.
    • Urge that UN agencies, the ICRC and other international NGOs are able to freely function in this area, and thereby ensure the fulfillment of the humanitarian needs of these displaced civilians.
    We should also point out that the international community has with one voice urged the government to swiftly take action on the aforesaid lines.

    It is in the background of this grave humanitarian crisis relating to the Tamil civilian population that we have received your invitation. The Tamil people and our party are strongly of the view that the utmost priority must be given to the resolution of this humanitarian crisis before it assumes catastrophic proportions, and that any political discussions to be purposeful and meaningful must follow such resolution.

    Since you have hitherto consistently followed a policy of ignoring the TNA in regard to all political issues in the Northeast, we are glad that you now wish to engage in discussions with us, recognizing even though belatedly, that we represent the Tamil people.

    We will extend our cooperation to any credible political process that seeks to evolve an adequate, acceptable and durable political solution to the Tamil question.

    We would strongly urge that you take necessary steps to address forthwith the grave humanitarian crisis pertaining to the displaced Tamil civilian population.

    Yours sincerely,

    R. SAMPANTHAN M.P.
    TNA Parliamentary Group Leader

    MAVAI SENATHIRAJAH M.P.
    ITAK

    N. SRIKANTHA M.P.
    TELO

    SURESH PREMACHANDREN M.P.
    EPRLF

    G. G. PONNAMBALAM M.P.
    ACTC
  • Cluster bombs, concentration camps, attacks on civilians and media … Sri Lanka’s lies
    Sri Lanka’s war on the Tamil people has reached an extremely brutal level. Many neutral observers and human rights activists have called it ‘genocide’. While brutal attacks against Tamils have reached a new height, lies spread by the government have also reached a new height. For example, Sri Lanka has been lying on the use of cluster bombs, concentration camps, and attack on food supplies, civilians, and media. The catalogue of lies and disinformation churned out by plethora of ministers and spokespersons of Sri Lanka reminds us the propaganda unleashed by the Dr Joseph Goebbels under the Hitler’s Third Reich.  Sri Lanka has been emboldened to churn out lies after lies because it has thrown out all international media and aid organisations from the war zone and imposed censorship on domestic media through draconian laws and brutal violence. Even ICRC does not have full access to this area. Despite this news blackout, one after the other Sri Lanka’s lies are being exposed everyday.
     
    Since October 2008 there have been reports about the indiscriminate use of cluster bombs and artillery shells by Sri Lankan forces on Tamil population. These are banned weapons under the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) which was signed by 92 countries in Oslo in December 2008.   Sri Lankan ministers and officials have repeatedly denied using cluster munitions despite graphic evidence from the war zone. They claimed that Sri Lanka does not even have cluster munitions and technology. This lie was exposed by Pakistan which supplied these munitions to Sri Lanka. In an interview to the Dawn newspaper in July 2008, Major General Mohammad Farooq, Director General of the Defence Export Promotion Organization, while boasting about Pakistan's defence exports spilled the beans that Sri Lanka has purchased cluster bombs, deep penetration bombs and rockets and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) from Pakistan. As early as May 2006 the Indian Express reported that Sri Lanka has placed orders with Pakistan for cluster bombs, deep penetration bombs and rockets and UAVs. At the time no one took the report seriously, maybe except the LTTE.
     
    Sri Lanka claims that Tamil civilians who crossed over to government areas from the LTTE controlled areas are sent to ‘welfare villages’. In reality these are nothing but concentration camps. They are surrounded by thick rolls of barbed/razor wire and manned by the army. The inmates are denied free movement outside camps and are not allowed to meet relatives. The fact that these are really concentration camps are not lost on international agencies and media.   For example, after seeing the plight of the so called ‘liberated’ Tamils in the East, this is what Sreeram Chaulia from the Maxwell School of Citizenship in Syracuse, New York, commented (Online Asia Times, 11 September 2008): “With the objective of luring Tamil civilians into "cleared areas" (territory retaken from LTTE control by the state), the government is setting up reception centres in Vavuniya district. These camps are strictly policed and offer very limited freedom of mobility for inmates. Since civilian escapees from Wanni are all suspected of loyalties to the LTTE, the camps are subject to screening and "weeding out" operations by security forces. One informed international aid official likened them to Nazi concentration camps.” Again, in her testimony to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (February 2009), Dr Anna Neistat from Human Rights Watch described these camps as ‘defacto internment camps’. She observed: “The perimeters of the sites are secured with coils of barbed wire, sand bags, and machine-gun nests. There is a large military presence inside and around the camps...Upon arrival in Vavuniya, all displaced persons, without exception, are subjected to indefinite confinement in defacto internment camps, which the government calls transit sites, “welfare centres”, or “welfare villages”.”
     
    Recently, some media and embassy officials were taken on a conducted tour to one or two selected camps which are considered the best ones to demonstrate how nicely the helpless Tamils are looked after by the government.  In one just tour, Amos Roberts, reporter for ‘Dateline’, a programme of Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), could see how terribly frightened these people are to open their mouth to the visiting reporters and he also observed how the camp was filled with soldiers everywhere. A representative of Medicine san Frontiers advised him not to talk to the inmates as that could spell disaster to these helpless people.  When Amos Roberts sought permission to visit and interview the wounded Tamil civilians who have been evacuated by ICRC from the war zone to Trincomalee, Major General Palita Fernando, the military commander in Trincomalee refused permission and when asked why not, he replied: "that's the way we want it, simple answer." It is obvious, if allowed to interview wounded civilians, they would tell the truth that the government has been attacking civilians with cluster bombs and munitions and thousands were killed.
     
    Sri Lanka has presented a plan seeking international funds to create a number of these ‘welfare villages’ (concentration camps) to detain displaced people for at least three years. When objected by international agencies including the UN, the government started saying that Tamils will be sent to their homes within a short period. This is another lie that is proved by the experience of the people in the East and Jaffna. Thousands of people in the East are still languishing in internment camps more than one year after their so called ‘liberation’.  There are over 93,000 permanently displaced persons (for over 19 years) from Jaffna district where their homes were taken over by the army to form High Security Zones (HSZ).  This shows that the government has no intention of sending people back to their own villages.
     
    Often Sri Lanka used embargo on food and medicine to bring Tamils to their knees. During the ceasefire period it closed A9 Highway to Jaffna and stopped food supplies. It followed same strategy and also used artillery shelling and aerial bombings to drive Tamils out of their villages in the East. In September 2008 the government ordered all aid organisations to leave LTTE controlled areas and stopped supplies of food and medicine to over 350, 000 Tamils.  Recently, the government allowed ICRC to carry just a tiny fraction of the supplies needed by a ship to the conflict area. The army fired artillery shells on the ship while it was unloading and blamed it on LTTE. This is a devious ploy to cancel even this tiny volume of food supply. This cheap lie is again exposed by the ICRC. In a statement to BBC (9 March 2009), Carla Haddad, Deputy Head of communications of ICRC, Geneva said: "We have no reason to believe the ship flying the ICRC flag was targeted by shells which were falling around it while trying to unload supplies."
     
    A number of journalists, particularly Tamils, have been killed by Sri Lankan government forces and its paramilitaries. Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of Sunday Leader, was killed in broad daylight. His obituary (published as editorial) written by himself anticipating such event clearly accused the government for his death. Recently, Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, the editor of two Tamil news papers - Uthayan and Sudar Oli - was at first abducted by the notorious White Van in broad day light (very few returned alive after being abducted). But the government was forced to declare that he was arrested due to international pressure.  Yet, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the US, had the audacity to argue that the "attacks on journalists may have been perpetrated by "terrorists" seeking to embarrass the government."
     
    Again Sri Lanka has been deliberately and repeatedly lying about the number of Tamil civilians in the war zone. It insists that there are only 70,000 people in the war zone while the ICRC and UN aid agencies have been saying that there are between 200,000 and 250, 000 people in the war zone. It seems that by repeating same lies hundreds of times, Sri Lanka wants to make the international community to believe them as facts and truths. To some extent, it appears to have succeeded in marketing its lies and deceptions.  But now increasingly the international media has started asking probing questions. For example, the international community has willingly accepted Sri Lanka’s absolute lie that it is always ready to find a political solution but the LTTE has been intransigent. They never asked Sri Lanka: ‘what is your peace proposal or political solution?’ In his recent article in The Guardian (17th December 2008), Jonathan Steele nailed this lie and observed: “Ironically, the only constructive proposals made since the crisis started came from the LTTE in 2003. Their suggested Internal Self-Governing Authority is over-ambitious but it has never been matched by a detailed blueprint from the government side. Until the government comes up with a realistic offer, which will have to involve elements of a federation, there will be no cause for celebration and no chance of compromise and peace.” Is this the beginning of the end for the Goebbels of Sri Lanka? Let us hope so.
    Dr Angathevar Baskaran is Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Middlesex University Business School, London
  • India’s help significant in defeating Tigers - Sri Lanka minister
    Nimal Sripala de Silva, a cabinet minister in Sri Lanka parliament, said that India’s great assistance helped Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to defeat the Liberation Tigers and that the people of Sri Lanka should be grateful to India, while responding to the strong accusation against allowing Indian Medical team into Sri Lanka by Anurakumara Tissanayake, the parliamentary group leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party, during the proceedings of the House of Representatives when it met Tuesday, March 17, sources in Colombo said.

    Anurakumara Tissanayake pointed out that the Indian medical team in question is really a wing of the Indian Army and that its members will engage in espionage from Pullmoaddai hospital helping the Liberation Tigers.

    Tissanayake had submitted a lengthy report on this issue expressing his strong condemnation and protest against the coming of Indian medical team to Sri Lanka.

    The report was presented in the House with the permission of the Speaker at the end of question time.

    Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva also told the members of the House that the Government of India is providing its co-operation and support for the war against the Liberation Tigers to the Rajapakse government.

    The minister told the House that as no Sri Lankan doctor was willing to treat the SLA soldiers, fifty of them have been forcibly enlisted to serve.

    Therefore no one can protest against the presence of Indian medical team in Sri Lanka, he further added.

    Meanwhile, National Independent Front (NIP) led by Wimal Weerawansa and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the Buddhist Monks party, had expressed their strong opposition to the coming of the Indian Medical team in a press meet held in Colombo last week.
     
    BJP to expose Congress
     
    During the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, India’s main opposition party, the Bharathya Janatha Party (BJP), will expose the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s support for the escalating war in Sri Lanka in which thousands of Tamils have been killed and maimed, according to a senior leader of the party.
     
    Referring to Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva that India’s help significant in defeating LTTE, Tamil Nadu State BJP president L Ganesan said on Wednesday, March 18, said it is proof of the tacit support extended by the UPA government to the Sri Lankan army.
  • PMK leaves Congress Alliance, Reiterates support for Eelam
    Paataali makkal Katchi (PMK), an ally of ruling Congress government has announced that it is forging a new regional alliance in a blow to the ruling Congress party's attempts to secure a national coalition weeks before the general election.
     
    PMK said it would join Congress opponent the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the Lok Sabha election, party officials said.
     
    PMK's move is the latest in a series of blows for Congress. While it is still the election front-runner, Congress has struggled to cement alliances in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which together account for 120 seats in parliament.
     
    The main national vote battle is between a coalition led by Congress -- the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) -- and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
     
    Many national polls show that the Congress-led alliance could beat the main opposition grouping led by the BJP, but it could still fall short of a majority in parliament.
     
    A "Third Front" of communist and regional parties is challenging the two main alliances. PM|k’s move in Tamil Nadu could give impetus to the Third Front if the PMK and AIADMK join it in an alliance.
     
    Tamil Nadu, which accounts for 39 of the parliament's 543 seats, was a swing state in the last general election in 2004 and helped the Congress-led coalition gain a majority in parliament.
     
    Eelam only solution
     
    Speaking to reporters after announcing its split with Congress, PMK founder and leader Dr. Ramadoss said Congress has been ignoring the sentiments of seven crore Tamils on the Eelam Tamils issue and his party would press the next Central government to take concrete steps on Sri Lanka which includes stopping all aid, economic and military.

    He also said that the party stands by the belief that a separate nation for Eelam Tamils was the only solution to their problem.
     
    The PMK leader further added that the AIADMK has already made its stand on supporting Lankan Tamils cause clear. The presence of MDMK and the Communist party strengthens the front on working for the Lankan Tamils cause, he added. 
  • Singh to ‘Wait and See’ even as Tamils die
    Despite hundreds of Tamils dying in Vanni daily, Indian premier Manmohan Singh wants to ‘wait and see’ for the Rajapakse regime to put forward a devolution package, something it has not managed to do for over three years.
     
    In a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Singh wrote: ''Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has very recently reaffirmed his commitment to a devolution package, which, he said, will fully satisfy the Tamils,'' and added ''We may wait and see what steps are actually taken,''
     
    The letter, which tries to project India setting up a military field hospital near the eastern port city of Trincomalee as a major achievement, is aimed at defending the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress from attacks by Tamil Nadu political parties in the context of Sri Lankan issue ahead of Parliamentary elections.
     
    Most Tamil political parties in the state of Tamil Nadu have accused the Central and state governments of abandoning the Sri Lankan Tamils to their fate.
     
    Singh’s letter, dated March 19, which was a reply to a February 22 letter written by the Chief Minister, further stated: ''During discussions with Sri Lanka, we have consistently proposed temporary cessation of hostilities, which could be utilised to facilitate movement of the Tamil population out of the war affected areas to safety zones, where proper rehabilitation facilities could be arranged.''
     
    ''Our concerns regarding the plight of the Tamils were explicitly reiterated. Certain suggestions to ameliorate their conditions were proposed, the most important being an offer to set up a Field Medical Unit/Hospital to cater to the civilians and internally displaced persons evacuated from the war zone.”

    ''The Sri Lankan side has responded enthusiastically to this offer and the field hospital has been established and it is functioning well,'' he said.
  • UN relief chief reiterates concerns over civilians but adds nothing new
    The top United Nations relief official Thursday repeated the world body’s concerns over the safety of civilians – numbering as high as 190,000 – trapped by fighting in northern Sri Lanka between Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
     
    Addressing reporters after an interactive Security Council discussion on Sri Lanka, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, characterized the situation as “extremely worrying.”
     
    According to the UN, the conflict zone shrank from 300 square kilometres to nearly 58 square kilometres in February, with many civilians – Mr. Holmes today put the number between 150,000 and 190,000 – sheltering in a 14-square kilometre “no-fire” zone in the Vanni region.
     
    Those uprooted by fighting who are trapped in the no-fire zone have limited access to food, safe water, sanitation facilities and medical assistance, with the International Red Cross delivering a two-week supply of medicines aboard a ship to the zone and the World Food Programme (WFP) preparing to send 1,000 tons of food to the area by the end of the week.
     
     “Our first appeal is to the LTTE to let the civilians out in a safe and orderly fashion,” Mr. Holmes said.
     
    He also called on the Government to do all they can to avert civilian casualties and to not use heavy weapons in the area.
     
    The official said he also reiterated a call for a “humanitarian pause” in fighting to allow much-needed relief in and to allow people to leave.
     
    Since January, over 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have escaped the conflict zone into makeshift camps, located mostly in Vavuniya, as well as Mannar and Jaffna, and nearly 4,000 shelters have been constructed at various IDP sites in Vavuniya District, where the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is setting up a temporary medical facility.
     
    “We have a separate set of concerns over the situation in the camps and transit centres,” Mr. Holmes said today, calling for conditions in these sites to meet international standards.
     
    Following a visit to Sri Lanka, he told the Security Council last month that movement into and out of these camps is “currently highly and unacceptably restricted.”
     
    Mr. Holmes "didn’t say anything new in his latest briefing other than reflecting on the escalation of the crisis and the pathetic impotency of the UN in handling the situation," Roy Gardiner Wignarajah, a spokesman of the Canadian Tamil activist group, International Human Cultural Union (IHCU), told TamilNet Friday.
     
    He also referred to a recent statement by Professor Francis Boyle, a leading expert in International Law, who said that it seemed as if the UN is now repeating one of the 'most shameless and disgraceful debacles in its entire history in today's Vanni Pocket by becoming complicit in Sri Lanka's genocide.'
     
    Mr. Holmes in his brief on Thursday said: "I call on all who can exert any direct or indirect influence on the LTTE, for example through the Tamil diaspora, to use that influence now to persuade them to give people the choice to leave and to stop forced recruitment and the use of civilians as human shields."
     
    Roy Gardiner who provided TamilNet a copy of Mr. Holmes' brief, which he had received from a diplomatic source in Colombo, said the brief reflects the "helplessness" of the UN.
     
    "Holmes is turning to the help of the diaspora, which has been unjustifiably victimised all these years as ‘terrorist supporters’ just for sympathising with the liberation struggle of their kith and kin," he said and blamed the top UN official for "grasping at straws leaving the tail' (a saying in Tamil: Vaalai viddu thumpai pidiththal).
     
    “This diaspora has already said and is saying loudly and clearly what it wants for its kith and kin: A ceasefire and negotiations, the diaspora demands to end the human tragedy," the Canadian Tamil activist further said.
     
    "The members of Tamil diaspora have already spoken for their blood relatives and no one else could have spoken better on behalf of the civilians of Vanni."
     
    “Why can’t the UN listen to the diaspora that voices for their own kith and kin rather than asking the diaspora to do something else in ending their people in concentration camps for an indefinite period."
     
    The UN is the apex body of humanity enjoying all powers, privileges and jurisdiction to act on a situation like this. "But it has a problem in perception," he said.
     
    "Holmes is hiding a big truth why the UN is unable to act," blames Roy Gardiner.
     
    "It is the policy followed by the powers, branding a liberation struggle as 'terrorism' and branding the genocidal war of Colombo as 'war on terrorism', that is preventing the UN from engaging Colombo and the LTTE in a positive way to end the conflict."
     
    "Holmes should be first asking the powers to revise their outlook to facilitate UN handling the situation in a positive and humanitarian way. These powers are responsible for this war by their abetment. They can always stop it if they want. Why can’t Holmes ask them to do so," questions Roy Gardiner.
     
    Meanwhile, the Inner City Press (ICP) at the UN reported Thursday that Holmes' equivocation has contributed to the claims by the Sri Lankan government that "no one in the UN has criticized their conduct in the conflict, neither from the UN Secretariat nor from UN member states."
     
    ICP also brought to light the evasive stance of the UN in crucial matters such as the number of casualties in the safe zone and on the probable duration for running the internment camps for civilians who leave the combat zone.
     
    The ICP reported that Holmes "wouldn't like to put a time frame" on how long the UN would fund the camps.
     
    Likewise, he declined again to confirm his own agency's figures of 2,683 civilians killed from January 20 to March 7, a number that only came out because the document was leaked to the ICP earlier, the agency report said.
  • US and rights group accuse SLA of shelling civilians
    The United States has accused Sri Lanka of breaking promises to stop shelling a no-fire zone where thousands of civilians are trapped by fighting between separatists and government forces.
     
    "We are very concerned that the government of Sri Lanka continues its shelling of areas where there are large numbers of civilians, very close to hospitals, very close to civilian facilities," Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters on Thursday March 28.
     
    "We have urged the government of Sri Lanka to cease the shelling near civilian areas," she said after the U.N. Security Council met informally behind closed doors to discuss Sri Lanka. "We've had promises, but we need to see results."
     
    Two days earlier, New York based Human Rights Watch made similar accusations against the Sri Lankan government stating indiscriminate army shelling is killing dozens of civilians every day in the no-fire zone in northern Sri Lanka.
     
    "We receive reports of civilians being killed and wounded daily in the no-fire zone, while the Sri Lankan government continues to deny the attacks," said Brad Adams, Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch.
     
    A doctor at a hospital in Puthuumattalaan, inside the government-declared "no-fire zone," told Human Rights Watch over the phone that dozens of dead and wounded civilians were being brought to the hospital daily.
     
    According to the UN, more than 2,800 civilians may have been killed and more than 7,240 injured in the fighting since January 20.
     
    Sri Lanka, however, rejected the allegation, saying the Sri Lankan military was not using heavy weapons to attack the Liberation Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE) held no-fire zone in northern Sri Lanka.
     
    Sri Lanka's Ambassador H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, however, acknowledged that the government was returning fire when attacked by LTTE forces from inside the no-fire zone.
     
    "They (government forces) are not firing heavy weapons into the safe zone," he said. "Because (Sri Lanka's) forces have come so close to the military safe zone there is no sense in firing at short-range heavy weapons."
     
    "As you know, the LTTE is firing from the no-fire zone," he said, adding that the automatic return fire might have resulted in some civilian casualties, but not deliberately.
     
    However dismissing Sri Lanka’s rejection, Adams said: "The Sri Lankan government has responded to broad international concerns with indignation and denials instead of action to address the humanitarian crisis,"
     
    Both DiCarlo and Aadms criticized the LTTE for not letting civilians leave the no-fire zone and using them as ‘human shields’.

    The Tamil Tigers' use of civilians as human shields "adds to the bloodshed," Adams said and called on the LTTE to allow civilians to leave the conflict zone.     
  • Global Powers’ experiment with Vanni civilians
    To what extent human beings can survive under extreme conditions was a Nazi research on the ‘dispensable Jews’ of the concentration camps, to find out the levels of extremity the human body and mind can withstand.
     
    Academic and professional circles raise an alarm that the Colombo government and the abetting powers, in experimenting political cum military effectiveness of their local and global order through a no-witness genocidal war, are probably at such a research with the Eezham Tamils.
     
    "Whether a humanitarian catastrophe faced by them is deliberately ignored by the international community and whether the instruments of humanitarian intervention have given up Vanni people for good," ask Dr. J. Sivamanoharan and S. Edmond Reginold, professionals of mental health working in Vanni.

    The professionals of the Psycho Social Co-ordinating Committee of the Vanni Region have come out with a first hand report, Friday, on the alarming mental health conditions of the civilians in the so-called safe zone in Vanni.

    Recently a British parliamentarian said that she had never heard of the need of bunkers in a ‘safe zone’.

    The report of the professionals is a true story of the trauma of a people, who are forced to live day and night in the bunkers, amidst torrents of SLA shelling and hundreds becoming casualty everyday. All forms of religious rituals to the deceased are abandoned, the report said.

    “Many are losing their zest for life and suicidal ideations are widely found”, the report said on the situation, where patients lack medical care and people see their beloved ones pathetically killed in front of their eyes.

    “Children seem to have outgrown their youth state. The games they play have military connotations and this is a very unhealthy symptom”, the report said touching a significant point on the mental condition of children.

    Scores of children are killed everyday in government shelling, witnessed by these children.

    The most dangerous phase of the experiment is the use of terror at a 'safe zone' by a government abetted by powers, in order to imprison the civilians and send them to internment camps for further experiments, said an academic specialized in refugee studies.

    The academic also hinted at the connotations behind India starting a military hospital instead of a civilian one at Pulmoaddai. It shows the angle from which they want to experiment with the civilian issue of Vanni, he said.
  • Apply adequate pressure on Colombo for ceasefire and negotiations: LTTE

    The LTTE is not a movement believing that war is the only means to achieve the aspirations of the people it represents. But, political solution needs an environment conducive to it. The IC can play a positive role by adequately pressurizing Colombo for ceasefire and by promoting negotiations between GoSL and the LTTE as equal partners with due recognition, said Selvaraja Pathmanathan, the LTTE plenipotentiary for international relations, in an interview to TamilNet on Monday. On the issue of civilians, Mr. Pathmanathan said they have already asked the IC, what international instruments now hold GoSL accountable for the denial of basic rights of the people already moved and presently living in the internment camps.

    Pathmanathan’s interview was a summary of the LTTE’s endorsed position on the current situation.

    “No amount of international concerns or guarantees had enabled the Sri Lanka government to provide a swift and just solution for the displaced in the past”, Pathmanathan said, citing the examples of the people of Valikaamam, Jaffna, in camps for 19 years and the people of Ma’nalaaru and Thiriyaay in the East for 14 years.

    “It is unrealistic to expect that the people of Vanni who have shown allegiance to the LTTE will be treated any differently or with justice”, he said.

    While insisting that the IC should ensure adequate food and medicine to the civilians of Vanni in the safe zone as a priority, Pathmanathan said that such a humanitarian response is an important step, but band-aid solution will not deal with actual grievances of the people.

    Responding to the human-shield accusation, he said that they were people living with the LTTE, sought protection from the LTTE and always chose to move towards LTTE, even when they were displaced and had chances to go to Colombo’s side. “ LTTE has a moral responsibility to protect them”, he said adding that people should not be coerced to leave their place of choice by denial of food and medicine and by continuously placing them under shelling.

    Laying down arms before any political solution is unrealistic, he told TamilNet, pointing to the Sri Lankan context where the government has built up a brutal force and the peaceful demands of the Tamils in the past have always been met with violence of the Sri Lankan forces.

    “It is wrong to assume that the versatile and resilient LTTE is in a weakened position”, he said.

    Looking upon Tamil Nadu as an emotional and geographical base for Eezham Tamils in any fall back and appreciating the support of the people of Tamil Nadu, Pathmanathan said that the Tamils who have genuine sympathy for India have never been opposed to its strategic interests.

    On the uprisings of the diaspora, Pathmanathan foresees further strengthening and resoluteness, if there is escalation in the aggression of Colombo. The right to self-determination is of paramount importance to the diaspora and it has clearly recognized the role of LTTE in any solution to the conflict, he said adding that diaspora should be given with a chance of being heard by the IC.

    Full text of the interview with the head of LTTE's International Diplomatic Relations follows:

    TamilNet: How do you view the response of the International Community to the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the intense war in Vanni?

    Mr. Pathmanathan: It is apparent that the international community has been observing the developing situation in Sri Lanka with greater interest. However the responses from them to address the situation to find tangible solutions need to be more persuasive. Today, thousands of Tamils are under siege by the Sri Lankan armed forces in Vanni. Their circumstances are dire. Having been subjected to an intense war during the recent months their day-to-day existential situation has become acute with shortage for potable water, food and medicine and extremely inadequate sanitation.

    Medical facilities and health services have become over stretched with the needs of the large population and the multitude of war related injuries. The number of people affected by psychological disorders and trauma has multiplied several folds due to the constant fear of shelling and bombing, particularly the children and women. Severe malnutrition is taking a toll on children, pregnant and lactating mothers, elders and sick. The people are becoming increasingly vulnerable to even simple and treatable ailments such as diarrhea, high fever, malaria and diabetes.

    The International Community can do two things at this juncture. The first is to apply adequate pressure on the Government to enter into a ceasefire with the Tigers. The second is to ensure that adequate food and medicines are sent into the conflict areas.

    While humanitarian response is an important step in the current climate, addressing that alone without addressing the long term and fundamental issues will only provide a band aid solution and not deal with the actual grievances of the people.

    TamilNet: How do you view the role of the IC in finding a negotiated settlement?

    Pathmanathan: LTTE clearly identifies the importance of the International Community and is open to wider engagements.

    LTTE is representing the rightful aspirations of the people, as mandated by them, and as a freedom movement spearheading the Tamil struggle for decades. It is important that the international community recognizes this.

    It is only when the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are engaged in a constructive manner, a lasting solution could be found to the conflict, satisfying the needs and aspirations of our people.

    The International Community should play a positive role promoting a conducive environment for negotiations to take place between the GoSL and the LTTE, as equal partners with due recognition.

    TamilNet: Despite the upsurge of sentiments against Colombo's war, the Indian government has been continuing its support, including military assistance, to the Sri Lankan government. How do you read the current developments in India?

    Pathmanathan: We are grateful that the people of Tamil Nadu have expressed so much solidarity with Eelam Tamils. These are true feelings of the people without any political or vested interests. It gives us solace to know that our brethren across the sea are one with us in our time of grief and sorrow. The sentiments and emotions poured out by the people of Tamil Nadu, and the cries of the Tamils in the island, are bound to reach the hearts of the Government of India.

    The cultural affinity of the people across the Palk Strait has historically been strong. Whenever our people were attacked and killed their first choice of refuge has been India. Eezham Tamils have always looked to the people of India and the Government of India with genuine sympathy.

    The Tamil people have never been opposed to the strategic concerns of India. Furthermore, it has been their expectation that the Indian government would extend its support to their national aspirations.

    TamilNet: Some members of the IC have urged the LTTE to consider negotiations to lay down its weapons, which is practically interpreted as nothing else than calling for a surrender. What is your opinion on this?

    Pathmanathan: Historically, there has never been a precedence of asking a freedom movement to lay down its arms before a political resolution has been reached. This is particularly pertinent to Sri Lanka where all peaceful demands for the rights of the Tamil people have historically been met with violence, intimidation and brutality by the Sri Lankan forces.

    The Tamil youth were compelled to wage an armed struggle only when all political and democratic processes to redress the injustices against Tamils had failed. The LTTE plays a paramount role leading the struggle against the oppressor, the Sri Lankan Sinhala rulers, to defend the rights of the Tamil people.

    The war machinery built up by the government of Sri Lanka is a brutal and indiscriminatory force.

    To expect the LTTE to lay down the arms before any political solution has been reached is not realistic.

    TamilNet: Colombo, and its military negate the call for ceasefire by arguing that it would provide an opportunity for the LTTE to re-group, strengthen and come out of its 'weakened position'. What is your response?

    Pathmanathan: The LTTE’s insistence of a ceasefire is purely from a humanitarian perspective, to give relief and respite for the people caught in the conflict.

    It is a myth that LTTE had built up its military capacity during the ceasefire. Looking at it carefully it will become evident that the Sri Lankan government was the one that militarily strengthened itself during the 6 year ceasefire between 2002 and 2008 and not the LTTE.

    If you observe the history of the conflict, the LTTE was strong during periods of conflict. The battles for Mullaiththeevu, Ki'linochchi, Elephant pass and the Sri Lankan Operation Jayasikuru were all fought and reversed when the Sri Lankan Government had an upper hand.

    It is wrong to assume that the LTTE is in a weakened position. LTTE is a versatile and resilient movement. Control of territory has constantly changed hands during the past thirty years of war. Several examples of reversals have been witnessed in the past. To believe that the LTTE is a spent force is not correct.

    LTTE is not a movement that believes that war is the only means by which the aspirations of our people should be met. We strongly believe in a political solution. However, to reach a political solution, there needs be a conducive environment. It is only in this background can a meaningful dialogue be held. However, if the Government of Sri Lanka insists on war, the LTTE will be forced to the inevitability of defending its people. It is in the interest of the Sri Lanka government to engage politically with the LTTE to bring a lasting solution to the conflict so that both the Tamil and Sinhala communities can live in peace in the island. A prolonged war is not only against the interest of the people’s welfare but is also economically un-sustainable for the Sri Lankan state.

    TamilNet: What do you have to say to those who argue that the Tigers are holding civilians as human shield?

    Pathmanathan: The LTTE is not holding the people against their will. The Tamil people have lived with us in the areas that were under our governance and have moved with us in the recent displacements seeking our protection. LTTE has the moral responsibility to protect the people.

    The people of Vanni are fully aware of the mistreatment that has been meted out to them historically by the Sri Lankan military and other Sri Lankan instruments whenever Tamils were displaced. They still have painful memories of the Kokkaddichchoalai massacre, Batticaloa Oo'ra'ni massacre, Polonnaruwa Mayilanthanai massacre, homicides in Allaippiddi and Vangkaalai and of Chemma'ni mass graves. No amount of international concerns or guarantees had enabled the Sri Lankan government to provide a swift and just solution for the displaced in the past.

    The people of Valikaamam in the Jaffna peninsula continue to lament in transit camps some 19 years after their homes were occupied by the military. The people of Ma'nalaa'ru and Thiriyaay continue to suffer in makeshift camps in the East after 14 years of displacement. The situation is similar for the people displaced from Vaakarai and Moothoor after Colombo's offensive in the East. In this context, it is unrealistic to expect that the people of Vanni who have shown their allegiance to the LTTE will be treated any differently or with justice.

    In our discussions with the international community we had queried the international instruments that can be used to hold the Government of Sri Lanka accountable for the people who moved from Vanni and are now living in camps in Vavuniyaa. Even the sick and injured have been denied their basic human rights.

    It has been the choice of the people to remain where they are. It is the intimidatory tactics and the constant shelling of the people living in the “safety zones” that could compell the people consider leaving the area under pressure of survival, against their will. These people should not be coerced into leaving their place of shelter by denying them the necessary food and medical assistance and by continuously placing them in imminent danger.

    TamilNet: World over the Tamil Diaspora in very large numbers has exhibited their solidarity with the people caught in the conflict. Do you see an increased role for the Diaspora in years to come in determining the political future of Tamils in Sri Lanka?

    Pathmanathan: In recent events, the Tamil Diaspora unlike at any other time has expressed their solidarity with their brethren in their homeland in huge numbers. This is a reflection of the increased violence perpetrated by the Sri Lankan military machinery and the denial of rights by the GoSL. It is increasingly apparent that any increase in aggression by Sri Lanka against the Tamils will only further strengthen the resoluteness of the Diaspora to stand against the dehumanizing treatment.

    The Diaspora has always played an important role in the history of our struggle and has been an important instrument in highlighting the existential ground reality in an otherwise blacked out war that has no witnesses.

    The Diaspora’s role in engaging the international community to creatively and positively contribute to the solution of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is clear. This will only increase in the future. The Diaspora after thirty plus years is also becoming more integrated in their countries of residence and getting more involved with taking part in mainstream activities. This too has implications for the way in which they relate to the conflict in Sri Lanka.

    The Diaspora feels strongly that the international community has to give them a chance and hear their opinion for the solution of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The international community needs to assure the Diaspora that their opinion is being taken into account. Recent resolutions passed in Diaspora gatherings have clearly recognized the role of LTTE in any solution to the conflict and that the right to self determination of the Tamils is paramount.

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