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  • They went, saw and returned'

    The meeting of the representation from Tamil Nadu led by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi with the Prime Minister of India on Thursday failed to achieve its basic objective of convincing the Indian government to take a stand against Colombo’s war on Tamils, revealed journalistic circles in Chennai.

     

    The silent listening of the Indian Establishment may have several meanings. Perhaps Dr. Manmohan Singh is not the authority to respond on this particular matter. But the message to Eezham Tamils is clear: either they ought to fight back the war thrust upon them, or face genocide, and probably they knew it long back, commented the circles.

    The focal issue of the delegation from Tamil Nadu was to request the Indian government to take immediate steps to stop the war waged by the Colombo government against Tamils.

    The Indian government is on record for abetting the war in the island by providing arms, training, intelligence, technical assistance and even personnel to the Sri Lanka government.

    On earlier occasions at least as a matter of formality the Indian Establishment used to come out with the rhetoric that there was no military solution to the crisis. But nowadays even the rhetoric is conspicuously missing.

    The Tamil Nadu delegation on Thursday was a result of an extraordinary uprising of angered masses in Tamil Nadu, in support of Eezham Tamils, demanding the Indian government to take action to stop the war and killing of Tamils in the island immediately.

    The delegation was also a follow up of unanimous resolutions enacted in the Tamil Nadu State Assembly, Human Chain Protest, relief fund collection and two All Party Meetings, initiated by the Chief Minister.

    Earlier on Tuesday, 34 Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu and Puduchery submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister to take effective measures to stop the war in Sri Lanka against ‘civilian Sri Lankan Tamils’.

    When the delegation met, the Indian Prime Minister silently listened to them but didn’t respond anything positively, journalistic circles said.

    A Congress member of the delegation while agreeing that something has to be done expressed concern about ‘LTTE sympathisers’ getting benefited by the campaign, it is learnt.

    Other members countered him by saying that they had gone there only to convey the will of the people of Tamil Nadu and not to talk about the LTTE.

    Another member of the delegation reportedly pointed out to the Prime Minister about the need for always upholding a universal etiquette not to encourage war and to call for stopping it. But the PM was silent, it is said.

    It was Kalignar Karunanidhi who finally suggested the PM to send Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Colombo for talks. It was accepted by the PM but what to talk was not specified. It looked as though the decision was primarily meant for giving an impression that there was some outcome from the delegation, said media circles.

    Later on that day, speaking to media after a brief bouquet presentation meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Karunanidhi said that Mr. Pranab Mukherjee will take up the matter with the Colombo government, but media persons didn’t fail in noticing the lack of zing in the countenance of the Chief Minister.

    The people of Tamil Nadu may have to further pressurize the governments of Chennai and Delhi said D. Pandian, the state secretary of CPI in a press meet on Friday after returning from Delhi.

    Tamil Nadu people and politicians have every right to demand the Congress President Sonia Gandhi to stop playing puppetry and to come out open on the question of Eezham Tamils was the comment on the sidewalks by a politician from Tamil Nadu.

    Media circles in Tamil Nadu indicate that the post November 26th scenario in India, the stand off between India and Pakistan, millions of people taking to streets in the Indian cities protesting the Mumbai killings, the mood created by the visiting US and Russian dignitaries – all have considerably diminished the importance of the plight of Eezham Tamils.

    They also indicate the need for Delhi to woo Colombo in case of an escalated crisis between India and Pakistan. One may guess what Pranab will be actually talking in Colombo.

    How the Eezham Tamil struggle is an altogether different phenomenon from the Pakistan-linked threat to India and even from the crisis in Kashmir, which from the very beginning a military situation internationalized than a national question, have to be made clear to the Indian public to avoid manipulation of national and international elements of vested interests, said some political circles in Tamil Nadu.

    It is not new to Eezham Tamils that whenever their crisis needs concentrated involvement from India, some forces coordinate the situation with larger geopolitics and hijack it. Indra Gandhi’s 80s are a good example.

    Encouraged in every respect and unchecked, the Colombo government has embarked upon bold air and artillery attacks on civilians using prohibited weapons of mass destruction in Vanni, stepped up killings in the East and arrests in the South, and has intensified all efforts needed for physical and structural genocide of Tamils.

    By using Cluster Bombs on known civilian targets, that too when the war-torn population was suffering a natural disaster, the Colombo government and its abettors seem to pass a message, i.e., ‘surrender to us’. It may look a folly to expect a people struggling for a cause for decades to surrender, after all their sacrifices, without the sight of any solution.

    The Colombo government is reportedly having a large stockpile of cluster bombs. Except some powers the vast majority of the civilized world has decided to ban the weapon for deployment. As an emotionally charged IDP at Tharmpuram said on Thursday: “There are elements to supply this weapon to Colombo, knowing that it will be used against the people of a national struggle. Those who voiced against child recruitment are silent when children are killed by state terrorism. We are puzzled, wondering who the international terrorists are.”

    In the meantime, an obviously unhappy Chief Minister Karunanidhi reiterated the public in his typical literary way of his relentlessness in safeguarding Tamils.

    But the reality is that the power centres never yield in, unless the arms are twisted.

    The impressive delegation from Tamil Nadu consisted of the following representatives of political parties and social movements:

    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi and senior leader Anbazhakan representing DMK, K. V. Thangabalu and D. Sudharsanam of the Tamil Nadu Congress, Dr. S. Ramadoss and K.K. Mani of PMK, D. Pandian of CPI, Thol Thirumavalavam of VCK, K. Veeramani of DK, RN Veerappan of MGR Kazhagam, Vijaya T. Rajendar of AILDMK, Tirupur Al Dab of TN Muslim League, Bishop E. Satkunam of Social Justice Movement, Kadar Moideen and Abdul Fasid of Indian Muslim League, P. V. Kathiravan of FB, Radhika Saratkumar of AISMK, L. Ganeshan of PMDMK, Dr. Krishnasamy of Puthiya Thamizhakam, Hydel Ali of TMMK, Jagath Ratchakan of JMK, and Jaganmoorthy of PB.

    The AIDMK of Ms. Jeyalalitha, Vaiko’s MDMK, CPI (M) and Actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK were not represented in the delegation.

  • Government and UNP reject ceasefire

    Even as Tamil Nadu leaders pressed for an immediate ceasefire and India reiterated that there could only be a political solution to the Tamil national question, both the Sri Lankan government and the main opposition, United National Party (UNP), rejected calls for a ceasefire during a debate on the defence budget.

     

    Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka addressing the parliament on Thursday December 4, declared that the government will not agree for a ceasefire till the ongoing operations are concluded.

     

    Earlier, the UNP’s Badulla District MP Laksman Seneviratne told Parliament during a debate on the defence budget that the government should not end the ongoing operations in North until the LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan is destroyed.

     

    "It is our party’s clear opinion," MP Senaviratne pointed out.

     

    UNP MP John Amaratunga said that the UNP will vote in favour of the defence vote and will continue to support the ongoing military offensives as well. The vote was passed by 114 to 14.

    Prime Minister, Rathnasiri Wickremanayake appreciated the support and thanked the UNP on behalf of the government.

    Seneviratne said a political solution based on 'extensive devolution of power' should be implemented for Tamils after 'curbing (LTTE) terrorism'.

    The UNP MP questioned TNA members whether their claim during world tours that the Sinhalese are suppressing the Tamils was made according to their conscience.

    Mr. Seneviratne asked the government not to label the UNP as 'pro-LTTE' just because the party points out shortcomings in war offensives.

    Responding, Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that that the UNP MP's statement could only be a personal opinion and challenged UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to repeat this to the House in person.

  • UN, EU lament killings, carry on giving aid
    THE United Nations (UN) strongly condemned the killing of an aid worker in late November and called for safety guarantees for humanitarian aid staff. The European Commission also condemned the killing but announced an increase of 2 million euros in aid to the Sri Lankan state, which is accused of killing number of aid workers.
     
    The increase in aid is in addition to a 17-million-euro humanitarian aid package for Sri Lanka adopted by the European Union's executive arm earlier this year. The announcement came in the same week the European Union decided to extend trade concessions to Sri Lanka through its GSP plus scheme, despite Sri Lanka refusing to cooperate with an EU human rights probe.
     
    "The aim is to help over 300,000 displaced and vulnerable people in the Vanni region, where recent heavy monsoon rains and flooding exacerbated the humanitarian situation," said EU aid commissioner Louis Michel.
     
    Michel also condemned the recent killing of a 28-year-old aid staffer, who worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on a shelter project financed by Brussels.
     
    A. Vigneswaran, a 28-yearold aid worker who worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in an EC-financed program, was killed on November 27 by unidentified gunmen in eastern Sri Lanka. "I believe that continuing our humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka is the best tribute we can do to honour the memory of Mr. Vigneswaran and all his colleagues who lost their lives while making every effort to alleviate the suffering of those in desperate need," Michel said.
     
    "I am appalled by the assassination of this brave and committed young aid worker in Sri Lanka," "The perpetrators of such horrendous acts must be brought to justice. There can be no impunity."
     
    Michel applauded the work of the NRC, a partner of the Humanitarian Aid department of the EC, the EU's executive arm, calling it "a highly valued and longstanding humanitarian aid partner of the EC in Sri Lanka working under often very difficult and dangerous conditions."
     
    Norway is not a member of the EU.
     
    Neil Buhne, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in a statement in Sri Lanka condemned the shooting of Vigneswaran, and urged authorities to "vigorously pursue" the perpetrators.
     
    "For humanitarian workers to meet their responsibilities fully, they must be able to work without fear," he said.  
     
    "A successful investigation resulting in the killer being brought to account would not only bring  solace to Vigneswaran's family and to his colleagues, it would reduce this fear and create a better  environment for the more effective implementation of humanitarian programmes in Batticaloa benefiting tens of thousands of people."  
     
    Vigneswaran is the third staff member from the NRC to have either disappeared or been killed.
     
    At least 29 aid workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2006.
  • Sri Lanka out of oil deal on court ruling
    A RULING Friday by Sri Lanka's Supreme Court's to halt payments to an international bank in connection to a badly judged oil hedging deal entered into by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) could harm Colombo's ability to obtain credit from global markets, an international rating agency warns.
     
    The CPC had entered into a hedging deal on the assumption oil prices would not fall and was now obliged to buy 200,000 barrels of oil per month for 12 months at $100, even though the market price is now almost half that. Chanaka Wickramasuriya, Head of Fitch Rating Lanka, told local media that there is a real possibility of premiums going up or credit lines drying up for Sri Lankan state agencies, particularly CPC, which depends heavily on credit from global markets.
     
    Wickramasuriya further added that whilst the halt in payments imposed by the Supreme Court would not be construed as sovereign default per se, creditors would be forced to think twice prior to lending any money to or entering into a transaction with a Sri Lanka state agency, as the ruling raises doubts over the reliability of such financial transactions.
     
    The interim ruling by the Supreme Court on the Fundamental Rights petition filed by Sri Lankan civil society group Corruption Watch might damage Sri Lanka's credibility in international financial markets, analysts say. "Future agreements with any party are at risk and will have serious financial repercussions with possible increase of risk premium," Reuters quoted unnamed analysts as saying. "This might make it very difficult for Sri Lanka to borrow commercial loans in future as investors will be concerned over borrowings as well."
     
    In addition to suspending the remittance of any payments to Standard and Chartered Bank, the Supreme Court Chief Justice on Friday recommended the President take over the functions of the Minister of Petroleum, A.H.M. Fowzie, until a suitable minister is appointed. The ruling effectively suspends the minister and orders the functions of the CPC chairman, Ashantha de Mell, be suspended immediately.
     
    Meanwhile, a Colombo stock market source speaking on the grounds of anonymity told the Sunday Leader newspaper that even before Friday's interim injunction foreigners were pulling out of the bourse.
     
    "This [SC ruling] would only make it worse," the source was quoted as saying. According to the paper, all
    was well and good when the CPC was saving money, but now the problem has arisen because the government is losing money.
     
    According to the hedging deal with Citi Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank and two local banks, the Sri Lankan state, through CPC, committed to purchase 100,000 barrels of oil per month for three months at $140 per barrel cap and 200,000 barrels of oil per month for 12 months at $100 per barrel floor.
     
    This meant if oil prices went above $140 per barrel, CPC would still be able to buy oil at $140 per barrel with the banks taking the loss. It also meant, even if the oil price dropped below $100, CPC will have to pay a $100 per barrel, taking the loss.
     
    Oil prices have fallen sharply in recent months, to around $50 per barrel. Hedging analysts say Sri Lanka would have to pay at least $300 million during the next seven months if global oil prices remained at current levels.
  • Thanks for food, but help to win our rights,' Vanni IDPs urge Tamil Nadu

    INTERNALLY Displaced persons in Vanni who were receiving the humanitarian supplies sent by the people of Tamil Nadu, while expressing their gratitude for the timely help, urged the leaders of Tamil Nadu to help them to win their freedom by voicing for the political aspirations of Eelam Tamils.

     

    TamilNet correspondent recorded expressions from the IDPs who were gathered at Karaichchi Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, one of 23 supply centres in Vanni, on Thursday, December 4.

     

    The IDP families in Vanni were receiving humanitarian supplies sent from Tamil Nadu, through the co-operative societies with active monitoring by the ICRC.

     

    Vananthan Prema, a 27-year-old mother of three children aged 8, 2½ and 9 months, displaced first to Jeyapuram and then to Aanaivizhunthaan, Murippu and now living in a makeshift camp in Kaddaikkaadu said, described the plight of her baby struggling without milk. "Earlier, I managed to feed my children by doing chores in houses, but now it is impossible to find any work here."

    She had to rely upon the lentils she got in the World Food Program (WFP) humanitarian ration to feed her elder children. One of them got ill being fed only on lentils, she said.

    "I do not have the money to take them to the hospital. I cannot breast feed my child and our life in the makeshift camp is miserable with the continuing rain and floods making everything drenched in water," Prema told TamilNet correspondent.

    Murugesu Thavarajah, an IDP who received humanitarian supplies for his family, said he had lost his properties many times in the war.

     

    "Every time, after losing our places and properties, we build our lives again from the scratch," he said. What was different this time was that the people of Tamil Nadu, from all the corners of their state, with a clear understanding of the intention of the Rajapaksa regime, said Thavarajah. "From the common people of Tamil Nadu who joined hands in the human chain, amid heavy rains, to the poets and cinema artists, the entire Tamil Nadu has realised the real picture of the Rajapaksa regime," he said.

    "The Tamil Nadu people should continue to struggle forward till they win the recognition for Eelam cause, I am sure they will succeed," he added.

    The Sri Lankan government had only allowed 50 lorries carrying relief packages sent by the people of Tamil Nadu to reach Kilinochchi district.

     

    Officials said that the supplies that have reached them were adequate to cover immediate relief requirements of 40,000 IDP families in Vanni. At least 51,200 families, comprising more than 230,000 individuals, are in need of urgent aid, according to the officials. The officials were forced to prioritise families with children on Thursday.

    "We thank the people of Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi and all the other leaders for their generosity," Rasamani, an elderly woman displaced from Uriththirapuram on October 18 due to intense artillery shelling, said. "We hope that a better future will dawn with their help," she added.

    The distribution of the relief packages began Thursday in 23 branches of the Multi Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) in Kandaavalai Assistant Government Agent (AGA) division in Kilinochchi district.

    The first distribution began around 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the branch of Karaichchi MPCS located near Tharmapuram No.1 School.

    People displaced due to Sri Lanka military offensives, and staying in temporary shelters, had gathered in large numbers at the cooperative retail shops as early as 5:00 a.m.

    Thavarathinam Kamalahasan, 32, a day labourer displaced from Mallaavi to Tharmapuram due to the bombardment by the SLA and the SLAF expressed his gratitude to the people of Tamil Nadu for the relief food. He complained that the World Food Program (WFP) supplies that didn't reach them on time for many weeks, were inadequate to meet the demand, but said the supplies from India was a great relief for the time being. "600 gram rice, 500 gram flour and 300 gm lentils were the only food relief items that we got earlier. We received it irregularly in bulks as the supplies were not allowed to reach Vanni on regular basis," he said.

     

    "The food packages from there sent on 15 November have reached us only now. The clothes sent by the people of Tamil Nadu are yet to reach us. The few clothes that we had, been washed away in the recent floods and we hope that the clothes sent to us from Tamil Nadu will reach us soon," Kamlahasan who is presently living in Kaddaikkadu after being displaced from Mallaavi first and from Kanthapuram and Ki'linochchi said.

    Representatives of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the ICRC Economical Relief Branch officer Mr. Harry Mewa Chilaffia visited the cooperative branches to ensure orderly distribution of the limited relief food that was allowed in by the Sri Lankan government.

    Hundreds of IDPs, including the singles who had lost their family members, had to return empty handed after waiting for hours.

    The IDPs who did not receive relief registered complaints with the ICRC.

  • GSP plus extended amidst spiraling rights violations

    Despite Sri Lanka refusing to cooperate with European Union’s (EU) investigations into human rights violations, it was announced that a European trade concession scheme for the garments industry in Sri Lanka would be extended for a year whilst the probe take place.

     

    The Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP Plus) which allows Sri Lanka to export 7,200 items duty free into the EU and is credited with helping to boost Sri Lankan exports, had been due to expire at the end of the year, and the EU recently warned it may not renew the concessions scheme after it expires in December because of continuing human rights abuses stemming from Sri Lanka's civil war.

     

    In October, the EU proposed a probe into Sri Lanka’s human rights violations to determine the latter’s eligibility for GSP plus.According to the latest announcement, the GSP plus concessions will remain in place while the EU completes the human rights probe, even though the Sri Lankan state has made it clear that it will not cooperate with the probe.

     

    Sri Lanka’s Commerce Department said that an extension of GSP plus had been confirmed  and will be available for local exporters at least until mid 2009 - if not longer.

     

    Sri Lankan officials say the facility will continue to be available for an additional six months, after the investigation, even if the findings go against Sri Lanka.

     

    “According to their regulations, during the period of investigation, even in 2009, the GSP plus will continue to be available for Sri Lanka. The investigation itself should finish within a 1-year period,” said the Director General of Commerce, Chulabhaya Magedaragamage.

     

    “But, even if the investigation ends well before 1-year and the findings are negative, we will still be given a 6-month ‘notice period’ before the GSP plus is withdrawn. So the GSP plus will be available at least up to around middle of next year, but probably longer,” said Mr Magedaragamage.

     

    Secretary for the ministry of export development and international trade, S Ranugge, whilst confirming that Sri lanka will continue to enjoy the trade concessions until the investigation is completed, said the government would not cooperate with investigators if the EU sends them to Sri Lanka.

     

    "That has been communicated to the E.U. by the government. Sri Lanka will cooperate with the investigations, but not with the investigators," Ranugge said.

     

    In October, Minister of Export Development and International Trade, G.L Pieris rejected the probe demand, saying it was a betrayal of the country.

     

    "What the cabinet has decided is not to agree with investigations that are required by the EU to renew GSP Plus," Peiris told reporters at a press conference held on October 20, at the Central Bank to brief the media on the GSP Plus Scheme.

     

    Pieris added that the Government will not betray Sri Lanka's sovereignty to obtain economic benefits from other countries.

     

    "The Cabinet has decided to reject the investigation and we have instructed our Ambassador in Brussels to inform relevant authorities on our decision. We are ready for open discussions with the Commission regarding the issue,"

     

    An E.U. spokesperson in Colombo said the rights probe started in October and must be completed within a year.

     

    "We cannot say it will be six months or a year. Until a decision is made afterward, Sri Lanka will continue with GSP Plus," the spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.

  • Floods, bombs add to displaced’s woes

    As the ongoing war in Sri Lanka displaces yet more people, the indiscriminate targeting of civilian populations by the Sri Lankan government and mother nature have also added to the miseries of the displaced populations.

     

    Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers attacked a refugee camp in the Kilinochchi district in the early hours of November 29, killing at least 3 people and wounding another 20.

     

    The bombers deployed Russian made OFAB-500 cluster bombs, eyewitnesses told TamilNet's Vanni correspondent. Cluster bombs release miniature bomblets and are used to spread damage over a wide area.

     

    Many internally displaced persons (IDPs) had sought shelter at the camp bordering Piramanthanaaru and Uzhavaoor (Tharmapuram) in Kilinochchi.

     

    The IDP camp had been constructed and maintained by the TRO and a local NGO called REERDO for families that had been displaced due to the Sri Lankan government’s ongoing military offensive into Vanni.

     

    The settlement was named Tharumapuram Kallaru Ranimayanathan Scheme or Uzhavanoor Kudiyiruppu settlement, the TRO said in its press statement.

     

    The bombardment destroyed more than 29 shelters of IDPs within the 'secure zone' announced by Colombo government, the TRO noted.

     

    Medical authorities described the bombardment as "terrible mid-night aerial attack on refugee camp".

     

    IDPs living in the camp blamed the Sri Lankan government for targeting a refugee camp which was located within the 'secure zone' unilaterally announced by it a few weeks ago.

     

    "We had some hope that the Sri Lankan government would not bomb refugee camps within the perimeter of secure zone announced by it," a mother told TamilNet correspondent who visited the site Saturday.

     

    Meanwhile, in Jaffna and Vanni, heavy flooding made thousands of IDPs homeless once again as even the flimsy shelters they had were swept away.

     

    Flooding between 21 and 27 November in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka directly affected over 70,000 of the 300,000 IPDs reported the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO).

     

    The Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts were the most severely affected, with the largest numbers of IDPs being ‘redisplaced’ in the Puththukudiyirippu, Marimepattu, and Oddusudan divisions, the TRO said.

     

    Cyclone Nisha resulted in the deaths of 12 people, including 3 children, and injuries to over 300.

     

    5,000 permanent houses and 6,000 temporary shelters were damaged as a result of the flooding caused by the cyclone and 14 IDP settlements and camps were affected, the TRO said.

     

    Meanwhile in Jaffna, six people died and nearly 270,000 people were affected by the torrential downpour and gale-force winds that plagued the peninsula.

     

    6,689 houses were totally destroyed while 14,820 were partly damaged, according to statistics revealed by the Additional Government Agent (AGA) of Jaffna.

     

    In Ilavaalai, Balakrishnan Visuvalingam, 28, drowned while Arumaithurai Kumaran, 19, from Aanaikkoaddai, Ms. Rasalingam Manickam, 62, a resident of Madduvil, Visuvalingam Balakrishnan, 41, from Pannaakam and Thavaraja Thenmoli, 26, of Changkuveali in Valikaamam have died due to rain related incidents, according to information released by Jaffna Secretariat officials.

     

    Many people sought shelter in relatives' houses, schools and churches.

     

    Though there were official reports that cooked meals were to be supplied to those displaced by the flooding, the relief food supply has not reached many of them, local residents told TamilNet.

     

    Transport services in many parts of the peninsula were suspended, while the electricity supply was completely disrupted and telecommunication services were severely affected.

     

    Another discomfort for the displaced is the effects of the embargo on goods going into the NorthEast. Aside from shortages of food and medicines, the displaced are also struggling to clear the carcasses of animals killed by the flooding.

     

    Close to 5,000 cows and goats are estimated to have been killed by the floods, while the number of chickens killed is closer to 7,000.

     

    Given that most animals are reared in family plots, the carcasses of these animals are now lying in the areas in which people live.

     

    The embargo on goods into the area has made cleaning harder and means the smell of rotting flesh is yet another factor compounding the lives of the displaced.

  • The Land Of The Blind

    Stuck for ideas as their administration becomes increasingly bankrupt, the Rajapakses have taken to asking the Sri Lankan people to dig deep into their collective bosom and come up with some patriotic fervour to help offset the spiralling cost of living, rising unemployment, ubiquitous corruption and that long-forgotten ideal we used to call human rights. The idea of whipping up patriotic passion when in dire straits is not new: it is as old as the hills, and certainly as old as Rome, as told by Julius Caesar himself :

    "Beware of the leader," said Caesar, "who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry who, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How will I know? For this I have done. And I am Julius Caesar."

    Mahinda Rajapakse may not be the most erudite politician this country has known, but even his worst enemy would concede that he is not altogether witless. Despite the economy collapsing about him thanks to unprecedented ignorance, waste and corruption of the crassest kind, he has single-mindedly prosecuted a military campaign that he says will solve the Tamil Question. While that remains to be seen, there can be no doubt that for a section of Sri Lanka's Sinhala majority (the folks who turned the page), the idea of whipping Tamil ass - excuse the metaphor: Hollywood's influence is everywhere - has taken precedence over all else. The idea that capturing the territory of the north and east, and subjugating its people to the iron boot of the central government's remit, has become the cornerstone of the Rajapakse Doctrine.

    But as Karuna himself has now come to admit, the east is far from secure. With the TMVP deeply divided, the LTTE has again infiltrated the region, spawning a fresh wave of terror. And without a package on the table, the government cannot muster the moral authority to stamp them out, as they must be. According to Rajapakse, the government will spend Rs 170 billion in the coming year to wipe out the remaining 5,000 LTTE cadres: that is Rs 34 million per militant. It is difficult to imagine that if that colossal sum were to be offered to develop the north and east, with a credible package of reforms on the table, the Tigers would find themselves isolated and without popular support. And a lot of young servicemen would live to see their children and families again.

    For all Velupillai Pirapaharan's bravado, there can be no doubt that the Sri Lankan armed forces can capture the north if they set their minds to it. Capturing territory, after all, is simply a matter of bombs and bullets, and with Rs 500 million being spent every day of the year towards that end, sooner or later the government will be able truthfully to claim that the north has fallen. That much is written, and no serious observer has questioned the inevitability of such an outcome should the war be prosecuted indefinitely at its present intensity.

    The question we beg to ask is, What happens afterwards? Just like in the east, the government will have no choice but to establish a network of (Sinhala) security-forces encampments so as to ensure that the local Tamil population doesn't try any hanky-panky. If they do, we shall have to incarcerate them or shoot them. When we do, it is most unlikely that the rest of them will be content with pursing their lips and muttering unsavoury epithets under their breath. They will fight. And then we're all back to quadratio unis or, if you didn't take Latin at school, Square One.

    For the scenario Mahinda Rajapakse sees for Sri Lanka's north is, quite simply, the same one he sees for the east: an occupied territory governed by a Quisling Tamil government. Au contraire, say we: that is merely a recipe for a new phase of disenchantment and violence. Rajapakse talks glibly of bringing militants into the democratic mainstream. Has he wondered for a moment just what the Tamils were doing since representational government was introduced in 1833, until Independence in 1948? They were in the mainstream. And despite some of their ablest and most moderate leaders having been part of that mainstream, 1958 and 1983 happened. And it was right under their noses that the Sinhala-only 'reforms' of 1956 happened. All this under a Sinhala leadership that was infinitely more centrist than Mahinda Rajapakse, whose favourite bedfellow nowadays is Champika Ranawaka, a man whose political ideals are well known to be slightly to the right of Genghis Khan.

    Drive around the byways of Colombo and see for yourself the number of half-constructed multi-storey buildings, standing ghostly and abandoned, as if some grim hand had liquidated their builders. See for yourself how the advertising supplements of Sunday newspapers have fattened over the past year, with people scrambling to sell off their land, their cars, their wealth, just to make ends meet. And yet, listen to the leaders of the chambers of commerce purr reassuringly that all is well, congratulate the government on the budget and talk of blue skies tomorrow. In whose pocket, you wonder, do they nestle? Perhaps you spare a thought for the other newspapers you might read today, obediently beating the war drums and groping for words to fit the Rajapakse tune. How, you wonder, could they be so out of touch? And then you remember nearly everyone in Sunny Sri Lanka has their price, whether a contract to print exercise books or to sell weapons.

    Speaking of which, what price the opposition, or what is left of it? At no time of national crisis could an opposition be more at odds with itself as ours is. So long has it been sitting on the fence that it is in imminent danger of developing haemorrhoids. The UNP is yet to decide whether or not it supports the government's military adventure. If it does, and its platform is identical to the Rajapakse-Ranawaka platform, its remaining 43 MPs may as well join the government and be done with it. If it does not, it had better be telling the people why. As it is, we see the UNP, in the guise of its spokesman, Tissa Attanayake, sending mixed and meaningless signals to its constituency. On the one hand it claims that there is no military solution, on the other, whenever the government announces a military success, it is out there congratulating the victorious, heroic armed forces. Somewhere along the way it lost the plot.

    Thankfully, Mangala Samaraweera retains his fiercely independent fighting spirit. But for the looks of mute admiration and envy from his bedfellows in the UNP, however, his is a lone voice of reason in the wilderness. Samaraweera has taken to calling the bluff of the Rajapakse regime and the steady stream of fairytales it invents to assuage the concerns of the people. Listen to the Rajapakses, and the LTTE has been destroyed many times over. By amazing happenstance, the army captures key strategic targets to coincide with the army commander's extension, the President's birthday, the budget readings, and so on. Yet the UNP, like Mary's little lamb, follows mutely, clicking its heels and saluting at intervals. It is not for nothing that diplomats now refer to the UNP as Mangala's Dumb Chums. As for Samaraweera, he is coming to discover that in the UNP's land of the blind the one-eyed man is roundly disliked.

    The UNP could well take a page from the book of Barack Obama who, having decided that the US presence in Iraq was wrong, made no bones about it. He ran a high risk but was able to swing the American voters to his side. The UNP, however, has opted for a 'wait and see' strategy, the hallmark of the coward. There is no moral justification for prosecuting this war in the absence of a credible response to the grievances and aspirations of Sri Lanka's minorities. And that response should come in the form of a package of constitutional reforms that will assuage the concerns minorities have that they are being excluded from the mainstream. Perhaps the most telling symptom of this ailment is the polarization of political parties by race.

    Whichever way one chooses to slice Mahinda Rajapakse's attitude toward the ethnic strife that bedevils Sri Lanka, one saws through to a hard lump of bigotry at the core of the loaf. There is no novelty in that, for all presidents since J. R. Jayewardene have fallen into much the same error.

    In 1983, even as his government presided over a breathtaking economic recovery, so acute was Jayewardene's myopia that he stood idly by as the island's Sinhala majority unleashed a pogrom of biblical proportions on the Tamil citizenry to avenge the deaths of 13 servicemen at the hands of the LTTE. It dawned only slowly on Jayewardene that by doing so he had shot himself in the foot. Ever since the pogrom of 1958, the Tamil community had been wary of its Sinhala brethren. Then, just 25 years later, Jayewardene made it abundantly clear that no lessons had been learnt; indeed, this time the violence was even more brutal.

    Since then, 18 servicemen (give or take a few) have, on average, died at the hands of the LTTE every week. The Sinhalese have grown accustomed to this unrelenting attrition and no longer does a fallen soldier stir untoward emotion in the Aryan breast. As for the Tamils, in the name of reining in the LTTE, they have fallen victim to death by a thousand cuts. Those who could flee have fled; those who have money have bought or bribed their way to security; and those with neither - the preponderant majority - find themselves wedged between a rock and an exceedingly hard place.

    Mahinda Rajapakse does not tire of telling the world that he and his Sinhala brethren have nothing against the Tamils. Indeed, it is a constant refrain that it was he who was first to address the UN General Assembly in Tamil. This, however, is about as empty as Chandrika Kumaratunga asking how her government could be accused of racism when her Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, was himself a Tamil. To be fair, the LTTE have not made it easy for Rajapakse. To start with, they have systematically decimated not only Sri Lanka's Tamil political leadership, but also the elite Sinhala leaders. With the A-team safely dead on both sides, it is the B-teams that now confront each other across the aisle of parliament. No surprise then, that there is a dearth of political imagination.

    Rajapakse simply fails to see that his equation of the cause of Tamil liberation with the elimination of the LTTE simply will not wash. Indeed, it is no different from Sirimavo Bandaranaike equating the case for southern emancipation with the military elimination of the JVP in 1971. The causes of militancy need to be separated from the militants themselves. Sadly for Sri Lanka, this subtle but important distinction eludes Mahinda Rajapakse.

    Today, Sri Lanka's Tamil community finds itself increasingly under suspicion. Tamil journalists are arrested and incarcerated on the flimsiest of pretexts. Tamil citizens must carry national identity cards in Tamil, immediately causing them to be singled out and harassed at security checkpoints. And the indignities are often even more pervasive. For example, when the security forces fought their way into Pooneryn last week, the government made this out to be an event comparable with the conquest of another country. It demanded that the country endorse its hysterical euphoria by displaying the national flag, sending a clear message to the Tamil citizenry that Sinhala troops had conquered the Tamil homeland. In many cases, Tamil's too, had to adorn their homes and businesses with the lion flag - now reduced to little more than a symbol of Sinhala supremacy - in order to avoid ostracism. But despite endless television appeals, the paucity of homes and offices that followed Rajapakse's dictates must have sent a message to the Brothers that at least some people in this country are alive to their bluff.

  • India is our friend, we are not against any country, remove the hindrance of ban: Pirapaharan

    While conveying his love and gratitude to the people and leaders of Tamil Nadu and leaders of India who have grasped the heartbeat of Eezham Tamils and have come forward with timely support, the LTTE leader V.Pirapaharan in his Hero’s Day speech on Thursday requested them to voice firmly for Tamil Eelam and to undertake conducive measures to remove the ban, a great hindrance to amicable relationship between India and the LTTE. “At no stage did we ever consider India as an enemy force. Our people always consider India as our friend. They have great expectations that the Indian super power will take a positive stand on our national question”, he said. The LTTE leader also requested the world powers to remove the ban on it, citing that the LTTE never schemed any act against any country and the Tamil struggle is not against the geopolitical, national or economic interests of any country.

    Full text of LTTE's official translation of the Tamil speech of Mr. V. Pirapaharan follows:

    My beloved people of Tamil Eelam,

    Today is Maveerar Naal – our Great Heroes Day.

    On this day of purity we remember and honour our dearly beloved heroes whose supreme sacrifice for the liberation of our motherland continues to fill all our hearts.

     

    It is for us a commemoration day of reverence when we pay homage to our brave and valiant heroes who have transformed our land from one that was for many years subjugated by foreign rule into a defiant land refusing to submit to the will of the alien oppressor.

    This is our national day on which we engrave tenderly in our hearts the memory of our great heroes who died and whose sacred aspiration was the redemption of our land so that our people may live in freedom and with self-respect.

    Our heroes loved this land deeply. From the moment they fixed their eyes on the redemption of our motherland to the moment they closed their eyes permanently, the sacrifices they made have no parallel in the history of the world. No country but ours had at any time encountered such wonderful dedication as expressed in the actions of our valiant heroes.

    It was on this land that our heroes were born. They grew up here and lived here. It was on this land that their footsteps have their imprints. The air they breathed is mingled with this land. From time immemorial, from generation to generation the Tamil people lived on this land. It was this land which our heroes loved deeply. Our heroes died for this land and are at rest in its bosom. The land where they are embedded, belongs to us. It is our own land. But an arrogant Sinhala nation stands adamant and is determined to occupy and conquer this historic land. All human suffering springs from unbridled desire. Unless one extricates oneself from the clutch of greed, one will not free himself from the fetters of sorrow. With its greed for land, Sinhalam has entered a militaristic path of destruction. It has sought to build the support of the world to confront us. It is living in a dreamland of military victory. It is a dream from which it will awake. That is certain.

    My beloved people!

    The land of Tamil Eelam is confronted with an intense war as never before. Rearing its head in different parts of Wanni, the war is gathering momentum. As the Sinhala state is committed to a military solution, the war is becoming intense and widespread. The underlying intent of the Sinhala state is to wipe out the national life and resources of the Tamils and subjugate the Tamil nation under alien Sinhala military despotism. With this in view, it is executing its war plan at full gallop. Pooling together all its military resources and arsenal, and with all its national wealth to buttress it, the racist Sinhala state has waged a fierce war on our land. Our freedom fighters, have dedicated themselves to unbending resistance against this war of aggression launched by the racist Sinhala state. With various countries of the world buttressing the genocidal war on the people of Tamil Eelam, we are waging a defensive war for the freedom of our people.

    Today, our movement has embarked on a historic journey, hazardous and strenuous. In this historic venture, we have encountered numerous turns, twists and confrontations. We have faced forces much mightier than ours. We have had direct confrontations even against superior powers, stronger than us. We have withstood wave after wave of our enemy attacks. Standing alone, we have blasted networks of innumerable intrigues, interwoven with betrayal and sabotage. We stood like a mountain and faced all dangers that loomed like storms. When compared to these happenings of the past, today’s challenges are neither novel nor huge. We will face these challenges with the united strength of our people.

     

    This land which the Sinhala state is trying to occupy and enslave, has never belonged to it. This land is ours. Ancient Tamil civilisation stood long and firm on this land. Our ancestors lived and belonged here. Our ancient kings built kingdoms and dynasties and ruled from here. On this land where the roots of our nation have sunk deep, we wish to live in peace and with dignity and make decisions on our lives without the intervention of foreign rulers.

    From the day that British colonialism was replaced with Sinhala oppression, we have been struggling for our just rights - peacefully at first and with weapons thereafter. The political struggle for our right to self-determination has extended over the last sixty years. During this period our struggle has gone through different shapes, developments and advanced to maturity. In the beginning, it was a peaceful and democratic struggle by our people for justice. The racist Sinhala state resorted to armed and animal like violence to suppress the peaceful struggle of the Tamil people for their political rights. It was when state oppression breached all norms and our people faced naked terrorism that our movement for freedom was born as a natural outcome in history. We were compelled to take up arms in order to protect our people from the armed terrorism of the racist Sinhala state. The armed violent path was not our choice. It was forced upon us by history.

    Even though the armed struggle was thrust on us by inevitable needs, yet we wish to stop the war and seek a peaceful resolution to the national question of our people. Our freedom movement is always ready for it. We are not opposed to a peaceful resolution. We have never hesitated to participate in peace talks. From Thimpu to Geneva, under diametrically varied historical circumstances, we have adopted peaceful methods and participated in talks in order to win the political rights of our people.

    Although we acted honestly and whole heartedly, to find a peaceful resolution to the national question, all talks were futile. The intransigence of the Sinhala state, its dishonest approach and its faith in military solution were the cause for failure of the talks. Even at a time when we had produced spectacular achievements in battle fields and broken the back-bone of the Sinhala armed forces, we participated in the peace negotiations facilitated by Norway. Bringing the war to an end, we participated with honesty and diligence in the peace negotiations which protracted for six years.

    We continued to exercise patience at the military rampages and provocations by the armed forces. It is not that we trusted the racist Sinhala state to respect our people’s fair claims and advance justice, but it was to expose the hypocrisy of the Sinhala state and at the same time to impress upon the international community our commitment to peace, that we participated in the negotiations.

    During the peace talks convened in different capitals of the world, there were no attempts to resolve the day-to-day needs of the Tamil people or to negotiate a resolution to the underlying national question. Sri Lanka made use of the opportunity of the peace talks to attempt to weaken the LTTE and hoodwink the Tamil nation and the international community. Using the talks as a masquerade, the Sinhala state made preparations to wage a major war on the Tamil nation. Making use of the cease-fire and the peace environment, the Sinhala state resuscitated its devastated economy and rebuilt its military might that was in shambles. It concentrated on heavy recruitment, refurbishing its arsenal, strengthening the armed forces and conducting military exercises. While the Tamil nation was engaged in peace-building, the Sinhala nation dedicated itself to preparations for war.

    Meanwhile, some countries which identified themselves as so-called Peace Sponsors, rushed into activities which impaired negotiations. They denigrated our freedom movement as a terrorist organisation. They put us on their black list and ostracized us as unwanted and untouchable. Our people living in many lands were intimidated into submission by oppressive limitations imposed on them to prevent their political activities supporting our freedom struggle. Humanitarian activities pursued by our law-abiding people in many countries, well within the purview of the law of the land, have been belittled and curtailed. These activities were aimed at providing humanitarian aid to helpless victims of genocidal attacks by the Sinhala Sri Lanka state in Tamil areas. However, these humanitarian activities were branded as criminal activities in those countries. Representatives of the Tamil people, along with community leaders were arrested, jailed and insulted. The explicit bias shown by the activities of these countries affected the talks, in its balance and in its consideration of our status as an equal partner. This further aggravated the racist attitude of the Sinhala state. Sinhala chauvinism was encouraged to raise its head with impunity and inevitably push the Sinhala state further on its war path.

    The Sinhala state shut tight the gates to peace and waged its war again on the Tamil nation. The cease-fire agreement facilitated by the international community was abrogated unilaterally by Sinhala Sri Lanka. Strangely no voice of protest was registered by any peace sponsor. Not even as a formality. Nor was any concern expressed. In contrast, some countries from the international community are providing an abundant supply of war materials, military training and expert advice, all for free. This has encouraged the Sinhala state to aggravate its genocidal war against the Tamils with a terrorist audacity.

    Today, the Sinhala state has, as never before, placed its trust on its military strength, on military modalities and on a military solution. Its desire to impose its military despotism over the Tamil homeland and order a stringent military rule over the Tamils, has increased. As a result, the war has gathered intensity and momentum. In truth, this is not a war against the LTTE as the Sinhala state professes. This is a war against the Tamils; against the Tamil nation. In short, a genocidal war.

    This war has affected Tamil civilians more than any body else. By turning the heat of war on our people and by burdening them with immeasurable sufferings, the Sinhala state is aspiring to turn our people against the LTTE. By closing the trunk-line roads, embargoing food and medicine and by suffocating people in tight military encirclements, the government has unleashed barrages of bombardments and shelling. Having lost their private lands and the serene life on them, our people have been reduced to destitution and live as wandering refugees. They have been forced to carry the cross of eternal suffering from birth to death. Struggling with disease and misery, malnutrition, ageing and untimely death, our people are steeped in suffering. With the solitary purpose of breaking the unbending will of our people, the Sinhala state has unleashed waves of oppression on them and subjected them to grievous injustice. A huge economic war has been declared on our people, their economic life shattered and their day-to-day living impaired. In Tamil areas under military control, hundreds of people disappear or killed, every month. In Sinhala areas, disappearance and killing of Tamils have become a normal routine.

    Tamil areas under military occupation are encountering an accelerated agenda of genocide, today. Death, destruction, army atrocities and open prison-life in one’s own land, are the unendurable suffering our people have to suffer, as an order of the day. Arrest, imprisonment, torture, rape, murder, disappearance and clandestine burial in unknown graves form a vicious circle in which the lives of our people is enmeshed. Yet, our people have not lost hope. No measure, however punitive, can withhold their will to resist. Their yearning for freedom remains strong. No aerial bombardment can wipe out their determination to attain their freedom. Our people are used to carrying the cross of suffering. They are used to facing destruction and loss, daily in life. This suffering has further tempered their will to be steadfast in their aspiration. With such impetus, the urge for freedom has gathered momentum as never before.

    Facing a great confrontation for such a long period, we have sacrificed so much and fought for so long, for nothing else, but for our people to live in freedom; live with dignity and live in peace. We are conducting this struggle with the unrelenting support of the Tamil people, the world over. Besides, our struggle does not contravene the national interest, geo-political interest or economic interest of any outside country. The inherent aspirations of our people do not in any way hamper the national interests of any country or people. At the same time, it may be noted that during the long history of our struggle, we have not conducted any act of aggression against any member state of the international community.

    Our freedom movement, as well as our people, have always wished to maintain cordiality with the international community as well as neighbouring India. With this in view, we wish to create a viable environment and enhance friendship. We wish to express our goodwill and are looking forward to the opportunity to build a constructive relationship. Cordially I invite those countries that have banned us, to understand the deep aspirations and friendly overtures of our people, to remove their ban on us and to recognise our just struggle.

    Today, there are great changes taking place in India. The dormant voices in support of our struggle are re-emerging aloud again. There are also indications of our struggle becoming accepted there. The positive change in environment gives us courage to seek renewal of our relationship with the Indian super power. The earlier approach and interventions of India were injurious to the people of Tamil Eelam, as well as to their struggle. The racist Sinhala state, with its intrigues, conspired to bring enmity between our freedom movement and the earlier Indian administration. The conflict arising out of this environment aggravated into a major war.

    It was because we were firmly committed to our conviction and freedom for our people, that friction erupted between our movement and India. However, at no stage did we ever consider India as an enemy force. Our people always consider India as our friend. They have great expectations that the Indian super power will take a positive stand on our national question.

    Not withstanding the dividing sea, Tamil Nadu, with its perfect understanding of our plight, has taken heart to rise on behalf of our people at this hour of need. This timely intervention has gratified the people of Tamil Eelam and our freedom movement and given us a sense of relief. I wish to express my love and gratitude at this juncture to the people and leaders of Tamil Nadu and the leaders of India for the voice of support and love they have extended. I would cordially request them to raise their voice firmly in favour of our struggle for a Tamil Eelam state, and to take appropriate and positive measures to remove the ban which remains an impediment to an amicable relationship between India and our movement.

    My beloved people!

    No great changes have taken place in the Sinhala political panorama. Politics there has developed into the form of a demonic war. In a country that worships the Buddha who preached love and kindness, racist hatred and war-mongering vie with one another. We can listen only to the throbs on war-drums. No sane voice is being raised either to abandon war or to seek peaceful resolution to the conflict. In Sinhalam, from politicians to spiritual leaders, from journalists to ordinary people, their voice is raised only in support of the war.

     

    The Tamil Eelam nation does not want war. It does not favour violence. It is the Sinhala nation that waged war on our nation which had earlier adopted the path of ahimsa and asked for justice through peaceful means. When the SAARC leaders of our region met in Colombo, we expressed our goodwill and declared suspension of hostility. On the contrary, it was the Sinhala nation that rejected our overture, ridiculed us and continued with the offensive. It is the Sinhala nation that has laid down unacceptable and insulting conditions. It is the Sinhala nation that is continuing with the war.

    The Sinhala nation is conducting a major war of genocide against us in our land, the news about which is denied to the outside world. Successive Sinhala regimes have hoodwinked the international community with a series of deceptions. Commencing with the round table conference, the list of deceit has now stretched to include the All Party conference of late. During this period the international community remains cheated. The Tamil national question was also left to drag on with no positive resolution offered. Meanwhile, the Sinhala nation has used its armed forces to set the Tamil land, ablaze. It has wiped out peaceful life on Tamil land, making Tamils destitute, displaced and wandering. Sinhalam has refused to offer the basic rights of the Tamils, split the Tamil land into two, installed anti-Tamil armed groups in the seat of administration while conducting a tyrannical military rule. It is now continuing with the war, offering to submit its plan to offer a solution only after the LTTE is defeated. Does Sinhala nation want to offer a solution only after the Tamils are suppressed and killed? Does it want to wipe out the true representatives of the Tamils and their bargaining power before offering a solution? The Sinhala nation is refusing to acknowledge the historic homeland of the Tamils. In such a situation, how will it offer a just solution to our people?

    When it comes to the Tamil national question, the Sinhala nation is adopting only one policy. It is obviously a policy of suppression. Even the tinge of hope our people had that the Sinhala nation will abandon its path of violence and offer justice, has now evaporated. No political transformation has taken place during the last sixty years in the Sinhala nation. Therefore, hoping it will happen in the future is futile. Our people are not ready to trust Sinhala nation again and get cheated.

    It is true Tamil Eelam is a small nation on the globe. However it is a nation with great potential. It is a nation with a characteristic individuality. It has a distinctive language, cultural heritage and history. Sinhalam seeks with its military might to destroy all these. It seeks to destroy Tamil sovereignty and replace it with Sinhala sovereignty. As the freedom movement of the people of Tamil Eelam we will never, ever allow Sinhala occupation or Sinhala domination of our homeland.

    Whatever challenges confront us, whatever contingencies we encounter, whatever forces stand on our path, we will still continue with our struggle for the freedom of the Tamil people. On the path shown by history, on the command of the circumstances of today, we will continue with our struggle till alien Sinhala occupation of our land is removed,

     

    At this historic juncture, I would request Tamils, in whatever part of the world that they may live in to raise their voices, firmly and with determination, in support of the freedom struggle of their brothers and sisters in Tamil Eelam. I would request them from my heart to strengthen the hands of our freedom movement and continue to extend their contributions and help. I would also take this opportunity to express my affection and my praise to our Tamil youth living outside our homeland for the prominent and committed role they play in actively contributing towards the liberation of our nation.

    Let us all make a firm and determined resolution to follow fully the path of our heroes, who, in pursuit of our aspiration for justice and freedom, sacrificed themselves and have become a part of the history of our land and our people.

  • Sri Lanka in need of a quick win

    Earlier this month President Mahinda Rajapakse unveiled a budget comprising of tax rises and heavy borrowing to support the government’s war efforts against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and declared that offensive operations in the country's north would continue.

     

    Noting that the war and its success appeared to be the lynchpin of the budget, observers point out that a quick victory is crucial.

     

    Neither the island’s already frail economy nor the Sinhalese people, who are facing one of highest inflation rates in the world – 23.4% in October, would take the burden of an expensive war for long.

     

    “If they can finish the war soon then people may bear with them, but not forever” the country manager of a leading multi-national firm in Colombo told IPS.

     

    Observers feel that Sinhalese public will only tolerate the economic hardships they are facing provided there are regular success stories from the battle front.

     

    Whilst Sri Lankan military has managed to capture territory from the LTTE, its goal of destroying the outfit continues to be a distant dream.

     

    Sri Lankan military chief has had to revise his timeline for wiping out the LTTE many times over the past two years.

     

    As defence expenditure continue to rise and casualty numbers continue to mount, Sri Lanka is desperately in need of a quick win.

     

    Sri Lankan eeconomists are concerned that the government has got the war euphoria mixed up with economic management.

     

    Whipping up patriotic fervour in expectation of military victory may indeed distract attention from the worsening economic outlook. But that strategy needs victory to come soon, said the Economist in a recent article published on Sri Lanka’s budget.

     

    Economist Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at George Washington University, commenting on the budget reflected similar views and said that as long as the military maintains its successes in the northern battles, Rajapakse would be able to muster public support despite the country's economic woes, reported IPS.

    “In spite of being the second largest public expenditure [after public debt repayments] and the major contributor to widening budget deficit, as long as the military advances and successes continue on the ground there is very little likelihood of the huge defence budget impacting negatively on the overall economy of Sri Lanka in the short to medium term,” Sarvananthan told IPS.
  • Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada ravaged by war in homeland

    The picture of a fallen top commander of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers is neatly plastered on the wall of a shopping center.

     

    Not far away, a food outlet peddles a crispy savory pancake, "dosa," named after Tamil Eelam, the independent state aspired by the Tigers.

     

    No, you are not in the stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in northern Sri Lanka but in Scarborough, the eastern part of Toronto.

     

    This largest Canadian city is home to about 250,000 ethnic Tamils who left Sri Lanka for Canada to escape the country's 25-year civil war.

     

    They make up the largest diaspora from the South Asian country, with Toronto itself reportedly home to the biggest number of Sri Lankan Tamils in the world.

     

    Though actively involved in the business, academic, political and social fields in their new home, many are still sympathetic to the Tigers' cause for an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka.

     

    Some display their support openly despite the group being labeled terrorists by the Canadian government, which earlier this year for the first time charged a man with terrorism financing for soliciting cash for the Tigers.

     

    Many of the Tamils in Canada have families and relatives in the north and east of Sri Lanka, where the Tigers were experiencing one of their worst setbacks since waging an armed struggle in 1972 to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils in the majority-Sinhalese nation.

     

    "We are psychologically devastated and traumatized by the war because it is in our homeland and there is genocide going on there," charged Canadian Tamil Usha Sri-Skanda-Rajah, the owner of a real estate firm in Scarborough.

     

    "We want the international community to help bring about a settlement to the conflict so that our statehood is recognized," said Usha, 57, who is among an informal group of "concerned" women attempting to highlight to the Canadian authorities what she called "humanitarian catastrophe" in northern Sri Lanka.

     

    Several members in her group have parents and other family members displaced by the fighting and their whereabouts remain uncertain, she said.

     

    Usha's husband, a retired senior banking executive, went on a six-day fast recently to draw attention to the plight of tens of thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting in Sri Lanka.

     

    The Canadian Tamils grasp at any opportunity to highlight the bloody ethnic strife in Sri Lanka.

     

    Recently, when Sri Lanka played Pakistan in a cricket match in Toronto, Tamil groups hired a plane carrying a banner "Stop the genocides in Sri Lanka" to circle the cricket grounds in an aerial propaganda blitz.

     

    Sri Lankan Tamils are "one of the largest growing visible minorities" in Canada, said David Poopalapillai, spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress, touted as the largest Tamil group in Canada.

     

    Catering to the bustling community, which has a municipal councillor as its first elected representative, are three 24-hour Tamil cable television networks and about half a dozen radio stations, he said.

     

    The Tamils are aspiring for higher elected offices.

     

    "We consider ourselves as part and parcel of the Canadian fabric and always encourge our people to actively perform their civic duty," Poopalapillai said.

    For some however their assimilation in Canada will not be at the expense of foregoing the elusive dream of a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka.

  • Rs. 50 million to kill a Tiger

    Leader of New Left Front, Dr Wickramabahu Karunaratne, in a column that appeared last week in Lankadeepa accused the Rajapakse administration of spending 500 billions of national wealth in its military drive to kill Tamil Tigers.

     

    Accordingly, for each Tiger killed, they have spent 50 millions. All this is wealth of the people. How many thousand Sinhala were sacrificed in this war? Today mounts of Sinhala dead bodies are stacked under Palmyra trees," Karunaratne wrote.

    Earlier this month UNP parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake also ridiculed the war expenditure of the Rajapkse administration saying that the government has spent over forty million rupees to kill one member of the Tamil Tigers since 2004.

     

    According to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka at least 13,000 Tamil Tigers have been killed by the security forces since President Mahinda Rajapkase came to power.

     

    Quoting government estimates, Karunanayake said 583 billion rupees were spent for the war since 02 April 2004.

     

    If the Sri Lankan military chief's estimates are to be trusted, Karunananayake said, 42 million rupees were spent to kill one Tamil Tiger.

     

    Sri Lankan observers point out that, in reality, the cost Rs.50 million to kill a Tamil Tiger would be many times higher as the LTTE casualty figures published by the Sri Lankan government are highly exaggerated.

  • Sri Lanka celebrates capture of Pooneryn

    Sri Lankan national flags flew from buildings and lamp posts and posters covered walls in the capital Colombo and across the south of the island as part of week-long celebrations ordered by the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse to mark the capture of Pooneryn in the north.

    ''The nation salutes our brave soldiers who once again linked north and south by their victory at Pooneryn," read a poster with silhouetted images of soldiers.

    Troops gained control of Pooneryn, a strategic town located on the northern Jaffna peninsula, after a lapse of 15 years on November 15.

    The capture of Pooneryn was followed by that of road junction at Maankulam and then, after a bloody battle, of part of the LTTE’s northernmost defence line in the Jaffna peninsula, at Muhamaalai.

    The victories have wrapped much of the south in a shroud of euphoria with Radio shows inundated by listeners calling in with congratulatory messages and people lighting fire crackers in the streets.

    Land route to Jaffna.

    In a special broadcast President Mahinda Rajapakse announced on national television that troops had seized the Tiger-held town of Pooneryn for the first time in 15 years.

    The latest military successes allow government troops to open a supply route to Jaffna and other areas in the north for the first time in almost a decade. "Now, we can open a land route to the Jaffna peninsula after many years," the President said referring to the A-32 highway from Manaar to Pooneryn.

    Sri Lankan military chiefs tout the capturing of Pooneryn as “turning-point” in the 25-year war bringing the entire western coast under military control and opening up a land route for the transport of troops and supplies to Jaffna peninsula that for years have been sent by sea or air.

    However, analysts point out that Pooneryn is more a symbolic victory than a strategic victory as the as the A32 is less use as a supply route at present than the government rhetoric suggests.

    The A-32 running between Manaar and Pooneryn is more a wide muddy track than a 'highway' and needs  to be rebuilt before being used as a Main Supply Route (MSR) for military purposes.

    Furthermore the causeway connecting Sangupiddy in Vanni to Keratheevu in Jaffna peninsula collapsed many years ago requiring the Sri Lankan military to operate a ferry service to transport men and material between Vanni and Jaffna, the analysts further added.

    Lay down arms.

    In his televised speech, Mr Rajapakse called on Velupillai Pirapaharan, the Tigers’ leader, to “lay down your arms and come to the negotiation table”.

    Commenting on Rajapkase’s call to lay down the arms, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member of parliamentarian Senadhiraja Jeyanandamurthi told The Morning Leader newspaper that the security of the Tamils will be under threat if the Tigers disarm.

    “The LTTE will come for talks. But, it will not lay down its arms before coming to the negotiating table. The security of the Tamil people will be in question if the LTTE does that. We have seen it in the past as well,” said Jeyanandamurthi.

    “Even during the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, the LTTE was asked to lay down its weapons. It was very difficult for the Tigers when fighting resumed. That mistake will not be made again,” the TNA Parliamentarian added.

    Kilinochchi elusive

    Jeyanandamurthi who returned from Vanni recently also told the Morning Leader that LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan had informed him that the that though the security forces had advanced into areas near Kilinochchi, they will not be able to capture Kilinochchi and the LTTE will give a devastating blow to the government, militarily within the next three months.

    Despite territorial gains in recent weeks, Kilinochchi, the Tigers’ administrative headquarters, remains a difficult target. Soldiers have been skirting its fringes for weeks, held back by strong resistance and, at one time, heavy monsoon rains.

    The army’s spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, admits it has been taking casualties, but insists it is “on target” to take the town.

  • Sri Lanka wants 'friends' to buy tea

    Sri Lanka has appealed to "friendly countries" to buy tea to help the country weather the global financial crisis, AFP quoted officials as saying. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and senior officials of the tea board on Friday met ambassadors and envoys of main tea-buying countries to urge their support.

     

    The Sunday Times newspaper reports that the decline in tea prices (which have almost halved in the past two months), and the large volume of unsold tea have caused a cash-flow crisis throughout the supply chain. However, last week demand had improved at last week’s Colombo auctions, reports said.

    Last year Sri Lanka, one of the world's top black tea producers, earned a record $1.02 billion from tea, the third-highest foreign exchange earner after garments and remittances, Reuters reported.

    Sri Lanka had enjoyed high demand, earning $1bn in the first ten months of this year. But the global financial crisis has reduced demand in key export markets.

    Russia and former Soviet republics are the largest markets for Sri Lankan tea, accounting for nearly a fifth of the total tea exports, followed by the Middle East and North Africa.

    LBO quoted analysts as saying the downward trend in oil prices might reduce the buying power of big buyers like the Middle East and Russia, though the approaching winter could help prop up the tea market.

    As part of shoring up the industry against falling demand, earlier this month the Sri Lanka Tea Board purchased almost 1 million kg of tea at a value of Rs.230 million, the Sunday Times reported.

    The intervention came after Sri Lankan government told the Tea Board to buy stocks to inject cash into the tea sector and stabilize it after nearly 60% of the tea at the Colombo Auctions remained unsold.

    Colombo, which conducts the world's biggest tea auctions, saw prices hit 4.26 dollars a kilogramme in August before sliding to 2.19 dollars a kilogramme by the end of October, tea board figures showed.

    However, while the government’s intervention helped the industry, traders say plans must now be formulated to dispose of these tea stocks – without putting downward pressure on prices.

    "Buyers are carrying stocks of tea at prices well above the current market, on which interest is fast accruing at phenomenal rates," the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association (CTTA) said.

    Meanwhile, the Private Tea Factory Owners Association last week thanked President Mahinda Rajapakse for his government’s intervention. “The tea industry which is dominated by the rural tea small holder sector benefitted by the timely state intervention under the direction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa,” the chairman of the Private Tea Factory Owners Association, Anil Perera, said in a statement.

    On Friday Ambassadors and envoys Egypt, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar were briefed about Sri Lanka's tea woes. A Palestinian representative was also present.

    "Sri Lanka is seeking the support of friendly countries who are principal buyers of Ceylon tea to remain active in the tea market to promote tea exports and to maintain price stability," the foreign ministry said Saturday.

    Russia and former Soviet republics are the largest markets for Sri Lankan tea, accounting for nearly a fifth of the total tea exports, followed by the Middle East and North Africa.

    LBO quoted analysts as saying the downward trend in oil prices might reduce the buying power of big buyers like the Middle East and Russia, though the approaching winter could help prop up the tea market.

    The Sri Lankan government has spoken of trying to arrange some kind of barter deal with major buying countries but the CTTA warned that it was an outdated concept.

    "The avenue of barter trade between friendly countries is not available any more," the CTTA said, in reference to the liberalization of the market in keeping with ‘free trade’ principles, which ended such arrangements.

    Sri Lanka’s tea pickers, who are iconic symbols for the island’s tourist trade, earn less than $2 a day and live in desperately impoverished conditions. They are mainly Upcountry Tamils.

  • ADB gives USD 630 million to Sri Lanka

    Despite a poor human rights record and even as Sri Lanka spurned advice from international monetary agencies and continued with its policy borrowing heavily to fund a dragging military offensive, Asian Development Bank announced USD 630 million to the island over the next three years.

     

    ADB is to provide USD 630 million to Sri Lanka for commercial projects and supplemented by some direct support to the private sector for the period from 2009 to 2011 with USD 210 million per year, the state newspaper Daily News reported.

     

    The package was announced by ADB Country Director Richard Vokes at the 18th Business for Peace Forum held at JAIC Hilton Colombo on Friday, November 20.

     

    According to Daily News, Vokes told his audience that the ADB’s partnership approach with Sri Lanka is based on President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Mahinda Chintana, which rejects existence of a traditional Tamil Homeland in the island.

     

    According to ADB’s Strength Weaknesses Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of Sri Lanka, its proximity to India and major shipping routes were identified as strengths whilst, high fiscal deficit, large infrastructure deficit, high regional inequality in growth of gross domestic production, relatively weak structure of public finance management, inefficient traditional agricultural systems, and complicated government structure were identified as weaknesses.

     

    Some of the threats to the country included the conflict, difficulties in developing consensus for political reforms due to the complex political economy and vested intentions, pressure from high and volatile commodity prices and inflation, according to ADB.

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