Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam detonated an Improvised Explosive Device targeting a civillian train bound to Colombo from Batticaloa. IED was attached to the rail tracks and caused damages to several cabins upon explosion. 4 civillians are injured.
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The LTTE is playing out its game plan. It has already got the increase in troop deployment in colombo.
ReplyDeleteIt is also carrying out gurreila attacks wherever and whenever it can.
I believe that an increase in such attacks will precede an attack on Jaffna.
I believe it might be the work of LTTE but the SLA has a habit of announcing that its the LTTE before any investigations are done. Even the international newspapers say suspected LTTE whenever they publish the news so that they do not lose credibality.
Their headline from SLA say innoncent passenger for example. All passengers are obiviously innocent but to higlight it in the headlines is military propoganda. When they go for overkill in their press releases they start to lose credibality.
LTTE Attempt to Kill Innocent Passengers on Batticaloa – Colombo Train Fails
BATTICALOA: TIGER TERRORISTS detonated an explosion targeting COLOMBO bound BATTICALOA train at VAKANERI junction this morning (06) at about 7.30 a.m..
A pressure mine had been laid on the track and the train was passing the VAKANERI junction when it went off.
Three passengers were injured in the explosion and admitted to POLONNARUWA hospital.
The railway track was also damaged.
Troops are conducting search operations in the area.
tragic,
ReplyDeletebut it can't be disputed that it was probably the LTTE who was responsible for the attack.
but anyways, everybody check out my latest SLDF video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ0arOQn1fQ
Untill elephant pass happened i thought this war could be won, but that and subsequent events have proved this war is unwinnable. Containing the LTTE and preventing them from causing major trageties while a sutable political solution is found is the only way foward.
ReplyDeleteI know many will disagree with me, i want those people to look at the previous wars. it has always been a roller coaster ride. some very big victories, followed by a expensive stalemate, which eventually ends in some humiliating defeats.
Anymouse
ReplyDeleteYour spot on with your assessment… besides it is very hard to find where situations like we are in that have been solved my military means
Anymouse,
ReplyDeleteIf any undue political power is given (for e.g. police powers) the tamils will ultimately organise themselves much better and continue the war and it will seep in slowly to the upcountry and then down south.
There is no choice but to keep on fighting.
Deekirata Ballaluth saakkilu!
ReplyDeleteThen tell me.. can the LTTE or other Tamil Terrorist organisation win the war?
ReplyDeleteIf the LTTE haven't won the war also and they are not giving up by any means and if some of us are "conceding" that we cannot win the war then we have already lost.
ReplyDeleteKiri
ReplyDeleteThe biggest blow to the LTTE was during Peace time and that was when the government got Karuna to break away. The lost of Karuna and his fighters is a bigger blow than all the arms they smuggled in. If Karuna didn’t break away do you think the majority of the east would be under government control today? I maybe wrong but I believe the LTTE cannot survive during peace time. As you can see even Karuna is having problems in his party today.
There may be some truth to what you say. But what about the immense benefits (which nobody is sure to what extent) gained by the LTTE through the CFA? What and how much have they unloaded? How many intelligence operatives and other eminent personalities they have killed? There should be attempts to engineer breakups within the LTTE. We should not rule out such possibilities. Perhaps the CFA was inevitable at that time. Perhaps. But I am sure the architects of the CFA was much more interested in grabbing power rather than the welfare of the nation and it's people.
ReplyDeleteUltimately what I am saying is we can't give the sun and the moon. In my opinion any solution to this conflict should include resettlement or allcation of resources to those communities cleansed away by separatist terrorism inluding jaffna, Muslims, Sinhalese alike. The cultural and religious heritage of all including sinhala buddhists all over the island should be preserved. Military and police powers should be under the central govrnment as well as the judiciary. Among other things...
sorry for ranting away..
ReplyDeletecoming back to the topic..
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070605_04
Another news item, which should confirm that the LTTE has infiltrated the east and is up to it'd dirty and murderous tricks.
My thinking is now resetllement should be paused and everybody should put on their thinking caps and come up with effective and "novel" means of handling this situation and restoring normalcy to the east.
Also I think there should be a task force of sorts to address civilian displacements short term and long terms. A task force that can be deployed with plenty of mobile houses, lavatories, small mobile hospitals and other facilities. Services of the public who are willing to volunteer with time and effort and can be enlisted as well. Basically what I am saying is that we have to identify that displacement of civilians is inevitable and we need to manage it.
Restoring normalcy to the Easet is our most demanding challenge at this moment I believe effectively and efficiently and this should be the stepping stone to peace.
ReplyDeleteSo we should not do this in a haphazard way just to gain some political mileage or just as a showpiece for the so called International Community.
Kiri
ReplyDeleteyour dead right on your last para but how do we achieve this???
"Ultimately what I am saying is we can't give the sun and the moon. In my opinion any solution to this conflict should include resettlement or allcation of resources to those communities cleansed away by separatist terrorism inluding jaffna, Muslims, Sinhalese alike. The cultural and religious heritage of all including sinhala buddhists all over the island should be preserved. Military and police powers should be under the central govrnment as well as the judiciary. Among other things..."
ReplyDeleteyour dead right.. but how do we achieve this???
The LTTE is weakest during the peace times, anyone who has closely followed the 1994/95 & 2002/2003 peace processes will realise that. in 1995 the LTTE almost lost all control over tamils during that peace process and that was why they had to brake it. it was the same thing in 2002/2003. if the peace process had been allowed to continue even soosai would have deserted the LTTE. he was going before the peace broke down.
ReplyDeleteKiri the present constitution allows for a seperate police or militia for the north & east. read the 16th amendment carefully. india even trained a seperate army for the north & east called the TNA (i think).
It's not going to be easy. I think military strategy and organising of cilivilians is the base on which thinking has to start.
ReplyDeleteAt our level all of us could contribute with whatever we might think is possible. I am not sure what will happen at the top.
Ok Anymouse,
ReplyDeleteTell us what you suggest specifically.
I didn't know about this from the 16th Amendment. Was this an amendment for Provincial councils?
Still, even if the constitution allows it that doesn't mean that it's the right thing, does it?
The army duty should be to control & prevent the LTTE from wrecking
ReplyDeletehavoc untill the government can find a sutable political solution.
The LTTE can never survive without the support of tamils. a political solution will make sure the tamils wont support the LTTE any longer.
the LTTE will die a natural death.
The only arguable point this for me is the "suitable polical solution".
ReplyDeleteBut are we in agreement that no matter what we need to bring normalcy to the East? Then let's talk about military and other strategies to bring this about.
To give this a start how can we tackle this newly started guerilla style terrorist attacks on civilians?
There are many possible political solutions but I guess this blog is not the place for it. I mentioned earlier that one of the reasons why people were against the war in the United States was because the war was going nowhere and more then the dead alot of kids at the prime age of 18-25 are getting maimed.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the DPU units are sucessful in taking LTTE targets, some here have to realise that the LTTE will want revenge. This is a vicaous cycle.
The LTTE has waited for few things to happen. Its allowed the war to proceed so as to build up anger on the side of the Tamils. Reports from the east reveal that Karuna/Pilliyan in fighting and warlordship is irking the tamils in the east. Even Asian Tribune has got onto the bandwagon.
Now that the economy is starting to detoriate. They or the RLO will start attacking in all cleared areas. This continues to build peoples frustrations. UNP as the SLFP has done before is preying on these frustrations.
Furthermore adding to the blunders ongoing, they have asked the tamils to leave Pettah. Does this not justify the LTTE asking the muslims/sinhalese to leave Jaffna. The LTTE is a terrorist outfit but the GOSL is not.
The reports of the LTTE attacking Jaffna now is probabily some false news. With the bomb haul in trinco and other areas, they will want to start a terror campaign. After all they are a terrorist outfit. Hence terrorist who are not recongnised and banned in alot of countries do not feel the need to conform to any norms. This is why the IRA ban was lifted.
Ironically the many bloggers call the LTTE a terrorist outfit and the government calls for countries to ban them but they are not banned in Sri Lanka or labelled a terrorist outfit.
Once the army is spread and tamils are forced to be behind the LTTE, then they will attack. Hence the army should take the intiative and launch an all out offensive now.
Guy's Don't worry about the train much. It happens when war is there.
ReplyDeleteLets see;
[Economical Targets]
1. Central Bank was bombed
2. Airport was bombed
3. WTC was bombed
4. Oil installations were bombed
5. We lost Elephant Pass, Poonaryn, almost Jaffna..etc
6. Galle, Colombo harbors were attacked.
7. Defence budget was increased by 40% (or was it 60%?)
8. Not to mention the Mr. T.Sunami attack.
9. Oil prices are sky rocketing
10. Prima, Shell, Laugh are topping their prices
But guess what !!! We are still here, and our economy is still alive.
So hold your head high mate. Our economy is very resilient.
This situation is extremely complex.A political solution is the best answer.Cannot do it on Velus terms.But that is the best kind of plitical solution?.Dont forget the tamil diaspora pattern.
ReplyDeletegain refugee status-make money in the property business-create political party-use that poliical party to influence greedy western poliicians in those countries by using that money gained-this whole thing is one tamil sangam-as you may know some tamil schools in massachusettes-USA are teaching Velus doctorine to their kids-the question here is how much political freedom is enough for them?..remeber the example of singapore..some of you were probably not born then..they wanted a little seperate state there as well.
recently one tamil millionaire in the u.s commented..we can change the sourse of SL history while being in the sates without even firing one bullet..what do u think he meant?.However there is a soultion that is to educate ourselves as hard as we can and try to get good jobs and help fellow citizens(tamils,muslims,sinhalese) etc
ReplyDeleteSee for all their oxford education the tamil diaspora have one fatal flow.they have inherited the "cast system" from india and adhere to it very strictly which caused Col Karuna to split let alone his wife not having mathivathanis privillages.
ReplyDeletegoto torronto news and see how many tamil girls are displaying "non tamil" characteristics...like running away from home and flirting with boys openly
ReplyDeleteAsk yourselves what wil happen to "tamils" if most of their girls start marrying foreigners?..what will happen to their customs say in 30 yrs time?
ReplyDeleteAll out offensive NO.Secure the east first and defend srilankans in the east first.This way all those kids in vanni can see and hear (through rumour)how well the people in the east are doing and try to understand that we dont want to kill them. On the contrary the majority sinhala army are laying down their lives to save them from cluthes of a terrorist outfit. what better gift can you give the next generation but the gift of life.how many tamil soldiers are there i nthe army serving in vauniya say...ee they are all getting degrees overseas .. a gross exaggeration i know,...but...////
ReplyDeletewhy no Big offensive because we want the whole world to see.and most of all our peoples to see we are for them "api whenuen api".Also very easy to destroy LTTE propaganda..What can you say when you have a very prosperous and healthy tamil popuation in the east..we can show everyone ...like Gen Fonseka said...if no one believes you..it will only take a short helicopter ride to show anyone who is interested.
ReplyDeleteSrilankan,
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. Do you have any references to look up the demand for a separate state by tamils in Singapore?
no i dont sadly i wish i did...As i can remeber the president used the army used it to suppress them.This is ancient history.. I am not suggesting his tactics in SL i am NOT.
ReplyDeleteKiri your mum and dad may know more about it than me..why dont u ask them..
ReplyDeleteSrilankan you are wrong, the Singapore Tamils not agitate for a separate state you must be referring to Malaysia. Anyway the Singapore premier (not president) did not use armed force to subdue the Tamils when they asked for their rights. on the contrary he granted the Tamils their rights, so the Tamils never had any problems in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteEven now the president of Singapore is a Tamil, the deputy prime minister is also a Tamil from Jaffna.
That’s what I’m saying here, implement a solution here and the Tamils will stop supporting the ltte for a separate state.
My apologies kiri.Anymouse is RIGHT.So now you know as i stand corrected.anymouse can i ask you something..why this need to go overseas and start creating your own areas..are you going to do it in say Canada like Quebec,the UK,Australia etc.IF no why not
ReplyDeleteI dont think all the TAMILS are supporting the LTTE.I think this LTTE thing will never ever go away...I think the tamil diaspora need the LTTE to keep their identity intact....what i mean is if not for the LTTE they will cease to be "tamils".. they will just integrate into their respective societies..i like to read your comments about this
ReplyDeletei wish and pray that you will give me some solid reasons to change my mind...
ReplyDeleteAnymouse is mostly correct.
ReplyDeletePeace was the worst time for the LTTE. Most of the talk that the LTTE gained a lot during the CFA is just current GoSL propoganda. If the LTTE was doing so well in the CFA, why were they agitating so hard for war?
Kiri, in WW2 the Germans executed anyone who talked about defeat, but that shouldn't be our way.
There is no military solution to the Tamil Nationalist issue. The LTTE can't be destroyed as long as they have safe haven in foreign countries. No PF group that has this has ever been defeated in the 20th century.
To solve the prob we have to first accept that tamil militancy/terrorism grew out of a genuine grieviance. Take away that grieviance and the LTTE will implode. We saw signs of that during the CFA when the NE Tamils realised that life for Tamils in the south was better than they'd thought. Support for the Tigers fell, Karuna split, etc.
If we want to defeat the LTTE we need a lengthy and genuine ceasefire without giving the LTTE governmental status. They don't have the ability to govern and will fall apart.
After that, it'll have to be federalism (with or without the LTTE). A federal Army and police force, but with a state-level national guard and localised police as well.
Another fact anymouse...i am all for a TRUE solution but the question is: in the course of time will a solution implemented say in 2007 be sufficient for the tamil people in say 2107..once a few generations forget all about the war...or will it be a case of.. TRUE WE HAVE A SOLUTION BUT WE NEED MORE AND MORE CONCESSIONS..ALSO SINHALA PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIVE ANYWHERE INCLUDING JAFFNA.. no more hartals etc
ReplyDeleteA Federal Army?!
ReplyDeleteHe he!
I am afraid we are digressing now.
ReplyDeleteSome Tamilnadu tamils wanted independence in the 1940' but the indian government did not panic. they gave all langustic groups their seperate states. and made it so the official language act did not apply to tamil nadu.
ReplyDeleteonce this was done the need for seperation disappeared from tamilnadu. now after 60 years every tamil in tamilnadu is for the unity of india. you wont find any separatism here. the tamils of tamilnadu are one of the most patriotic peoples of india.
so if a good solution is implemented in sri lanka it will last a lifetime.
THE LTTE HAVE THE ABILITY TO GOVERN NOW ..and someone thinks they dont have that ability... for 30 years they have been creating intellectuals from oxford,mit,the university of waterloo etc the finest universities in the world to takeover from a mass murder and sadist...it has become the creation of a second isreal...I GUESS WE CAN NOW ALL GO AND LIVE ON RANILS APPLE FARM IN AUS..OUR PROBLEM IN HISTORY HAS BEEN OUR INABILITY TO HOLD BACK FROM RAISING OUR FINGERS WHEN WE RE OFFERED A LOAF OF BREAD AT ELECTION TIME..MY HEART BLEED WHEN I THINK OF ALL MY SCHOOL FRIENDS WHO WERE KILLED WHEN SOME KIDS LAUNCHED SHOULDER LAUNCHED MISSILES INTO AN ARMY CAMP AND KILLED AND MAIMED 100S OF ARMY PERSONNEL.THAT DAY THE TAMIL DIASPORA WERE HAVING PARTIES..BUT they we have hopefully learnt a lot now..
ReplyDeleteSrilankan are you right everyone has the right to live anywhere. and no tamil has said the sinhalese or muslims cannot live inside the north & east.
ReplyDeleteit is terrorism that is preventing the sinhalese and muslims from living in the north & east not the tamils.
Thankyou anymouse.. i hope to god you are right.
ReplyDeleteI mean historically it is probably because of the tamils in Tamilnadu that buddism survived.please Correct me anymouse if you think i am wrong
ReplyDeleteyes there are some tamils who want to remain in the west and support the ltte for that reason.
ReplyDeletebut most tamils want to return home once peace is achieved.
During the 2002/03 peace time hundreds of new building were constructed in jaffna and wanni by people who are in the west. destroyed building were restored. some even began coming back. the north east some of the highest economic activity in the country during this period.
so there maybe some who support the ltte because they want to stay in the west but most want to come back home.
how ironic inst it...?
ReplyDeletei mean tamils from tamilnadu saving buddism from destruction..
ReplyDeleteSrilankan from 3BC untill about 7AD tamilnadu was one of the best centres of buddhist learning, many tamils were buddhists during that period and hundreds of monks from tamilnadu visited anbd studied in sri lanka and vive versa. but shortly after the asokan period the tamilnadu embrazed mahayana buddhism let to it falling a part from sri lanka.
ReplyDeletebut even then almost all mahayana monks of sri lanka relied on tamilnadu for support. but after 7AD buddhism disappeared from tamilnadu hence that also lead to the disapperence of mahayana buddhism from sri lanka.
i didnt know that very nice to know...thanks
ReplyDeleteGuy's we are seriously deviating from the purpose of this blog. The discussion of the political background to the conflict can be discussed extensively elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWe all came here seeking accurate information on the military developments within sri lanka (whether it be SLDF or LTTE) because the traditional sources of news have let us down!
This terrorist infilternation into east is very serious.Is the army teaching children in schools (in the east) what precautions to take in case of a terrorist attack?
ReplyDeleteKanishka is right, but before that I want to say one thing. The Sri Lankan government spends thousands of dollars and man-hours canvassing the west to ban the LTTE. If they spend at least a quarter of that energy into reaching out to the Tamils in the west the LTTE’s support network would collapse in an instance.
ReplyDeleteanymouse do u have any suggestions how this can be achieved.the question is do people want to listen...possibly for the fear of their lives...lets speak about relevant matters til someone brings us accurate info whch we are waiting for
ReplyDeletethe point is should the govt reachout to the daispora tamils after the ltte has been banned. ithink they are trying to reachout now
ReplyDeletemost diaspora tamils are afraid of the colombo government. they have scars that have not healed. the government should impress on them that they are genuine and care for them. they should keep them upto date on whats happening here. the embesies should conduct cultural programs perhaps.
ReplyDeletebanning the ltte will have only little effect, they will continue to function under different names and under different organisations. untill the government finds a way to change the diaspora tamils heart. the ltte will have no trouble in the west.
The ltte network is not a money making operation dependant on the diaspora tamils anymore. it has become "self generating".So other than a few trusted associates the ltte dont need any additional income from the diaspora.However if some ltte clown can scare a few tamils then they get a cut dont they?.remember this has been going on for 30 years.
ReplyDeleteyour absolutely right there.All this "banning nonsense" is nice at diplomatic luncheons and makes people feel secure.The sad fact is that having LTTE in SL is beneficial for some countries who are still practising this divide and rule policy.
ReplyDeletemy biggest fear is a sinhala prabaharan who will team up some lunatic who wants to progress up the money ladder.
ReplyDeleteIts official army admits 30+ MIA/KIA.
ReplyDeleteVavuniya battle: Sri Lanka military says 28 soldiers missing or dead
Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 13:45 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 06, Colombo: The Sri Lankan military today said that at least 28 soldiers are listed as killed or missing due to the recent battles with Tigers in North of Madhu in Vavuniya.
Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said “28 government troops were dead or missing in action and 52 wounded during heavy fighting in Vavuniya that began at the weekend.”
The military spokesman revealed that 61 terrorists were also killed in the confrontation.
He said that the army took over the bodies of two soldiers from the ICRC at the Omanthai entry/exit point yesterday after identification and confirmation that they were of two army soldiers missing since the attack. The LTTE had handed over 13 bodies to the ICRC claiming them to be of Army soldiers. The other bodies have been returned to the ICRC as they were not of Army personnel.
I see you all fear us tamils. You don't want to give us self-governance because you know we have more intellectuals and we have the potential to become better than Sri Lanka.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how hard you try, Eelam will be born.
"If they spend at least a quarter of that energy into reaching out to the Tamils in the west the LTTE’s support network would collapse in an instance."
ReplyDeleteok, how? what do you suggest the gosl do? i mean the tamils are like elephants, always talking about their 'past greivances' etc. could they give up the 'self pity' for just long enough to work with the gosl if it genuinely did what you said? tell me, how can the 'chauvinistic sinhalese state' reach out to tamils overseas. im very curious about this, because you may be onto something with this.
Defencenet what is happening to this blog.i have being visiting this blog almost daily for the last twelve months and never it has had so many jobless goons who have have been licking Praba's bloody boots.
ReplyDeleteOne of the significant changes in this war-after the CFA is that the normal people took a genuine interest in the war.as a result thousands of youngsters who had been trapped in a superstar dream started to see the difference between real superstars and the ponti superstars.so they started to join forces in thousands.this was the last thing ltte ever wanted. They actively sought ways to counter the southern moral.the kind of comments we saw in this blog over the last few days was a find example for that.
One eelam bootlicker went behind bushes and another one has emerged.(sadass emerging with a new name I guess...)Dont talk about the fictious eelam here just talk about defence facts. These people always emphasize that they are intellectuals, 1st in the class, best universitie's studnets blah blah blah. They always bring this fact even when discussing about the defence and security related discussion forum.
ReplyDeleteGuys, The discussion about the historical facts and other issues is rather interesting but lets start something related to defence news again.
isfuglen,
ReplyDeleteWe dont fear tamils, I respect them and I have quite a few friends working with me and they are really good guys and ther is nothing to be fear of them. People like you who jumped to a foreign soil and started day dreaming about a stupid fantasy kindom are the grassroot to all these problems.
As I would like to emphasize, most tamils are really good people and they have been living with sinhaleese for along period of time. Its people like you on the both parties who are responsible for the present situation.
The tamils have a lot of intellectuals. so do we sinhalese.This has occurred mainly because the world has changed so much within the last 30 years.Take it for granted that we sinhalese will catch up...In the new SLanka we need intellectual tamils as well as sinhalese and muslims and bugers for that matter. The point to this is that in the new SL we want to see members of all communities hold "top" jobs not just the tamils as was the case when the british left SL in 1948.
ReplyDeleteOne thing is for certain we need to overcome the LTTE and have a president who wants to be a "statesmen".But in the next general election if the UNP is elected to power tell me who is to blame?...see At election time you must not change your vote for a loaf of bread and an apple even if it is from australia.
ReplyDeleteNow the LTTE is the biggest menace to SL because it is killing all the intellectuals regardless of them being sinhalese,tamil,muslim burger you name it.
ReplyDeletei am going seriously off the track here so pls forgive me for my comments...i am worried that injured army persons and wives of dead army persons have to go through a lot of "red tape" to collect their meager salaries.This is very very worrying...Tell me dont these people whose husbands have sacrificed their lives for their country need a lot more compassion from us?..some please tell me this is not the case...This seva vanitha is just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI hope i have not upset too many people
ReplyDeleteThere is a story on pathivu.com about a MI-17, I cant read tamil, can someone who can read and translate please?
ReplyDeleteit says india is going to give two MI-17 helicopters to SL
ReplyDeleteTigers cremate the remaining SLA bodies.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=22392
There is an article at pathivu.com with the picture of a Mil-17 but it is in tamil could someone please translate for the rest of us. Cheers :)
ReplyDeletesdadas just did
ReplyDeleteanyone been to myday.lk to post comments?-i was there yesterday its pretty good.
ReplyDeletei cant believe what i am hearing on lanka tv..the UNP is attempting to create a rift between india and SL.What kind of "shits" are these at a time when the country needs to be united.
ReplyDeleteThank you sdadas.
ReplyDeleteIsfuglen.. you have more intellectuals ? Have been to Los Angeles ma' man ? Srilanka Foundation awards ceremony in LA baby check the roster it's all Sri Lankans not as you say US ! That's bigoted ! We have more professionals per ratio than you cuz, we dont go playing victim around the world and scam everyone dude ! You can fool people sometimes... but, not all the time ! Get off the US victim bandwagon baba and do some good looser! But, you know that already.I feel bad for those poor Tamils in the North have to put up with you bozo's in the ltte.
ReplyDeleteSomething from Iqbal Athas
ReplyDeleteDuring that period, another drama was being enacted in Colombo. Officials at the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) had the unenviable task of disseminating information on the incident to the local and foreign media. Faster than the speed of bullets fired by re-inforcements to re-take the Radar facility, the casualty counts were changing. At one point, officials at the MCNS said sailors who took over the island had seen six bodies of sailors lying in the area. It later rose to seven.
Then suddenly apologetic MCNS officials explained they were under orders from top brass at Navy Headquarters to give a lower casualty count. Strange but true that meant some of those found dead had been resurrected by the top brass. They declared only four sailors had died and four more were wounded. Five others had reported to the main Navy detachment in the Delft Island. All others reported missing had also turned up. Besides officials at the MCNS, separate accounts were also being given by a Navy spokesman. It was not so long ago that one such spokesman talked of a Sea Tiger attack on a Navy patrol. It later turned out that the number of Sea Tiger boats he announced as being destroyed far exceeded those engaged in the sea battle.
The Sunday Times learnt from authoritative Navy sources that contrary to claims by the top brass, eight sailors were killed in the incident and three others wounded. The dead sailors are: T. Jayatilleke, K.N. Weerakulasuriya, I.D.U. Silva, R.A. Prasanna, K.S. Weeraratne, W.I.D. Ratnayake, W. Wickremasinghe and W. Pushpakumara. Their last rites are to be accompanied by full Navy honours.
A Policeman examines the mangled remains of a motorcycle after Thursday’s claymore bomb explosion at Reclamation Road. The bomb was placed on the motorcycle facing the road. Photo: J. Weerasekera
It became clear that Navy top brass were not only directing operations by re-inforcements at Delft Island tasked to re-capture the area overrun by the guerrillas. They were also at the same time engaged in news management to give the Sri Lankan public and the world at large an entirely different picture. This is what prompted me to once observe that there are two separatist wars in Sri Lanka. One is in the theatre of conflict in the North and East. The other is the media release war in Colombo.
Even the Security Forces Headquarters in Jaffna, which is the overall authority for Security Forces deployed in the peninsula, was unable to report to Army Headquarters in Colombo on the casualty count in the Delft incident. Both the Navy and the Air Force in the peninsula come under the operational command of the SFHQ (Jaffna).
It is no secret that co-ordination and co-operation at the highest levels between the Army and the Navy have not been very smooth. This week, Security Forces Commander (Jaffna), Major General G.A. Chandrasiri, the senior most officer in the peninsula, sought a report from the Northern Naval Area Commander, Rear Admiral S.R. Samaratunga. Until yesterday, he had not received the account.
Ironic enough, managing the news has become a distinct characteristic feature of the ongoing undeclared Eelam War IV. The Delft incident is the latest to clearly illustrate this phenomenon. In an era where communications have advanced and the flow of information cannot be forever curtailed, news management by those spearheading the "war on terror" is only bringing the Government's credibility into further question. Apologists may argue it is necessary in order not to demoralize troops. This is nothing more than a myth, for it is troops in the operational areas who learn from the grapevine the exact casualty counts in military encounters. Moreover, to claim that four sailors have died when eight sacrificed their lives is a grave act of injustice by the men who die. Not even in their death is their sacrifice for the nation recognized.
Another equally disturbing factor is the reaction of the public who support the Security Forces and the Police engaged in battles with the Tiger guerrillas. Will not their morale be affected when they learn that some top brass engineer and doctor the news to economise on the truth? Therefore, will not such actions reflect badly on the leadership of the Government? In fact, some of the official claims after military encounters, particularly in a string of battles in the East, come into serious question. Reportage of such claims raises high public expectations but crumble no sooner the truth is discovered. Unlike during the previous phases of the war, there is little or no control by the Ministry of Defence over these matters. The result is news management going on unabated at various levels.
Strange enough they reach levels where the intelligence of the public is insulted by some of the claims. One example is the ease with which some spokesman describe flotilla of guerrilla boats coming into attack Navy patrols. The numbers of the "suicide boats" and the others are frequently spelt out though it is not clear how it is possible to exactly identify the "suicide boats''. They do not carry name boards. It is known that on some occasions the guerrillas have dived into the water after directing a suicide boat to a target. Other times, a single cadre had been deployed. But the boats used in attacks look much the same and any difference is often unnoticeable.
Please keep to defence issues in this blog. Just to deviate in the Malaysia issue.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Malaysia, its a reflection of Sri Lanka. Malaysia was a number of provinces with a ruler before being colonialised by the British. The Kings or Sultans were "aided" by a British Resident who helped administer their activities. After the Japanese Conquest, the states in the Malay Penisular was federated as Malaya.
However Communist activities became rampant. The more economicially sucessful chinese were linked to the communist. The chinese were resettled in New Villages and Sinhala Buddisht monks were brought by the British to bring peace to the chinese. Till today buddishm has a strong following among the chinese there.
Singapore leader at the time wanted to join Malaysia. It was still a valuable british colony but with a substainale chinese population. The local indegenous Malays feared they would lose the majority. Hence Northen Borneo which had british colony were brought in. They had a small chinese population and alot of Veddah like natives who were closer to the Malays.
After Merger, election were held and the ruling coalition in Malaysia could not penetrate Singapore while the Singapore Party won a seat in Malaysia. In 1964 this burst into racial riots between the Malays and the Chinese. The leader of Malaysia decide to split the country. The hope in some quaters was that Singapore would fail and crawl back to Malaysia. However the rest they would say is history.
From the Washington Post, My heart goes out to the mother in this story.
ReplyDeleteSri Lankan Steers Parents to Peace After Loss in War
By Nora Boustany
Wednesday, April 19, 2006; A12
After five years of trying to get information about her son, missing after a fierce battle in the heart of rebel territory in Sri Lanka, Visaka Dharmadasa learned that 500 bodies of soldiers had been doused with kerosene and burned in a pile on the killing field where they had fought Tamil separatists.
It was a victory, of sorts.
Repeated inquiries at the Defense Ministry, the army command and the International Committee of the Red Cross yielded no answers about the fate of her second son, 2nd Lt. Achin Tcha . She was not alone. There were 619 men still missing from that battle on Sept. 27, 1998, and more than 600 families had received no news of their whereabouts or remains.
So Dharmadasa took other parents and a film crew to the field in late April 2003. All that remained were helmets, shoulder bags and bones. "If I had known what we were to see, I would never have taken those parents with me. We just broke down and cried. I was expecting a black patch of land. The soldiers were not cremated, just incinerated," she recalled in an interview last week in Washington.
She was here to receive an award from InterAction, an alliance of nongovernmental, U.S.-based international development and humanitarian organizations, for her work on behalf of parents of servicemen missing in action. Dharmadasa, 49, is founder and chair of the Association of War Affected Women and another group, Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action.
After the trip to the battlefield, the parents filed a lawsuit requesting a mass funeral and DNA testing so Buddhist, Muslim and Christian families could collect remains and give their sons proper burials. The Defense Ministry carried out the funeral but has not acted on DNA testing.
"When your child or your husband is missing, anxiety increases. When death is certain, you know, you grieve. As time passes and you are still wondering, you cannot move on. Your family is paralyzed, and it can never be the same," she said. She had stopped helping her husband in his jewelry store and given up tutoring foreign students in Sinhalese.
She and her husband and two other sons still call one another for reassurance during the day. "We feel insecure," said her husband, Somenath Parua , who accompanied her to the United States.
Despite a cease-fire in 2002 between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels who have been fighting for 20 years for a separate homeland on Sri Lanka, an island off India's southeastern coast, the country is threatened with a relapse into war. Yesterday mediators were trying to salvage planned peace talks after recent violence.
After the 1998 battle, Dharmadasa wanted the authorities to understand that the mere assertion by the army that her son had not returned was not enough. She urged the military to have a religious ceremony, at least -- a flower offering. When families congregated for the Buddhist rite in Colombo, the capital, she distributed the telephone number of the local Red Cross office and asked the family members to bang on the door of the relief organization. Parents learned that the military was not recovering the soldiers' bodies.
She also went beyond the network of military families. Hoping to connect with parents of rebels, she traveled to their shrines and other places of worship, introducing herself. " 'I am the mother of a missing soldier,' " she told them. " 'If you don't join me today, the child holding your hand may be lost to you forever.' " Parents of the fighters, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, were sympathetic. "They were really listening to us," she recalled. She got them to sign petitions to help end the war.
She took other mothers with her to Jafna, the northernmost Tamil town, and listened to the views of residents young and old. "We don't want television and telephones, which you have," an old Tamil woman told her. "We want our dignity. If you can't let us be human beings, then keep us separate." Dharmadasa said she came to understand how Tamil residents felt discrimination and had grown to resent the majority Sinhalese. When she travels to those areas today, she stays with Tamil families who have become her friends.
"It is unfortunate that this happened to me. But I want to open the eyes of many others to issues that are not taken seriously," she said. "I have met mothers from Chile, Russia and Kosovo. I am just a mother with no agenda. Frankly, I am a victim, but I have also learned how to assume leadership."
She added: "I want to see my country get out of this mess. I want to see women make decisions in the peace process. I want women sitting at the table. I am trying to change things for the betterment of all of us."
There's just way too much spam on this blog right now. It's becoming a pain to read.
ReplyDeleteKanishka and Rator, I can't read Tamil either, but if the article is about India giving us Mi-17s, a Times of India article may be related to it.
"Apart from a special Indian team to advise on air defence operations and two Mi-17 helicopters stationed in Sri Lanka for a month now, IAF AN-32 medium-lift aircraft have also been making "covert" visits to Colombo with military supplies and spares."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_remains_undecided_on_aid_to_Lanka/rssarticleshow/2101653.cms
India is really tying itself up in knots about whether to help us or not. In the long run, the lack of Indian interference and their eventual overcompensation to get us back under their influence may actually benefit us.
Anyone looked at this ?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070607_01
Karuna's & Government's involvement in abductions revealed by the UNP
ReplyDelete(LeN-2007 June 06, 8.00 pm) UNP MP Lakshman Seneviratne told the parliament today that a DIG in the police is involved with the murders, abductions and ransom takings that take place in Colombo.
He said that DIG 'Rohan Abeywardena' and a Squadron Leader of Air force Nishantha Gajanayake are closely working with the Karuna Fraction to carry out the murders and abductions. The MP said that 'Nishantha Gajanayake' is currently residing in the 'Holiday Inn hotel' and that his bills are being paid by a businessmen called 'Gajadeera' who is a brother of a Minister. The UNP MP went on to say that Nishantha Gajanayake is lodging in room number 706 in the hotel.
Seneviratne pointed out that the murdered two Sri Lanka Red Cross Society Volunteers were also lodging at the Holiday Inn hotel while they were in Colombo.
Tiran reveals how Mahinda, Basil, Weeratunga, P.B. dealt with "Emil Kanthan"
ReplyDelete(LeN-2007 June 04, 7.10 pm) A weekend newspaper reports that former chairman of the air port and air port services Tiran Allas who arrested by the TID on the 30th of April has revealed all detains pertaining to the financial deals that he had with the LTTE on the request of president Mahinda Rajapakse.
He has also said that he became the coordinator for the North and East for the presidential campaign on the request made by then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. He has stated these details when the TID offices arrested him before he was being arrested at the Nawaloka Hospital.
Tiran Allas was arrested on charges of granting funds for a member of the LTTE intelligence unit called Emil Kanthan.
The statement made by Allas states that he was not informed by the security forces that Emil Kanthan was a LTTE intelligence unit member when the discussions were going on and that current presidential advisor Basil Rajapakse, presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga and secretary of the treasury P.B. Jayasundara were also present at the discussions. Allas has also said that Basil Rajapakse held several further rounds of talks with Emil Kanthan.
TIran Allas has told the offices that he has handed over a detailed statement through an affidavit and that he could hand over another, once he is discharged from hospital.
Tiran Allas who is a witness of the Rajapakse � LTTE deal to boycott the presidential election in the North and East remained tight lipped for a long time but broke the shackles on the 30th.
Earlier former minister Sripathi Suriarachchi disclosed that the government handed over 200 million rupees to the LTTE before the election and 800 million rupees after the election.
Meanwhile LeN learns through reliable sources that DIG of the CID D.W. Pratahapasinghe had phone Allas the day before he was arrested and asked him to make a statement excluding the names of Basil and Mahinda Rajapakse from the LTTE deal, which was refused by Tiran Allas.
"A Federal Army?!"
ReplyDeleteI fear you don't know what federal means, Kiri. If so, it's better to ask instead of laughing foolishly.
A federal Army (like the US Army) is controlled by the federal (central) government. Do you understand now?
Therefore you'll also have a federal police force (like the FBI) which reports to the federal (central) administration. Still with me?
The Air Force and Navy also come under the centre.
Alongside this you have provincial/state national guard units of the Army which report to the provincial/state government (like the Alabama National Guard or the Texas National Guard), and the personnel of which are native to the relevant province/state. You also have provincial/state police forces for local law enforcement.
Basically the provincial/state police & national guard take care of stuff in the local area, and the federal/central Army, Navy, Air Force, and police take care of things at a national level.
Hope you got it now :)
"THE LTTE HAVE THE ABILITY TO GOVERN NOW "
There's no need to shout, Srilankan. If the LTTE have the ability to govern, why is it all civil & govt servants in LTTE areas (who work for the LTTE administration) are paid by the GoSL? If the ability to govern is there, why does the LTTE depend on GoSL funded hospitals and doctors for the care of the population in their areas? There are many other examples. Governance isn't the same as control, though the latter is necessary for the former.
Mr Blacker,
ReplyDeleteI will admit up front that I am not very familiar with all these governing system definitions.
So here I might have made a mistake. Duly admitted if so. What I mean to say is there cannot be any policing that comes under what ever local administration. Similarly there should be one army, navy and air force coming under one central authority.
Still with me?
Such features in the "suitable" provision will spell disaster for all other communities.
MR Blaker..i am 56 yrs old..how old are u..? This guy Velu has told his people to wait till he has got possibly international recognition?.Once he gets this (((and he thinks he will get it eventually if he holds on for say a couple of years till the US elections perhaps?) then you will see a lot of qualified people coming to the north like it was during the ceasefire.Why should he bring his CHOSEN people to SL when he knows they may be bombed and killed?.the other fact is here he is being a sadist and deos not have to bear administrative expenses which the govt pays.So he has a free hand to use ALL his money on buying weapons.IF he govt stops paying for essential items in the north then he has the very good excuse of accusing the govt of "rights violations-to gain international sympathy...we go back to the following cycle tamils refugees gaining political asylum-this guy giving each of them a property in the west for which for the rest of their lives they have to "donate" say 50% of their income to the cause..The joke goes on and on...)))..this situation occurred during the period of the ceasefire when lots of tamils from the west went to the north and started developing the area.Actually if i was a tamil whose family was forcibly conscripted and violated i will finance an expedition to brutally murder (like the ltte intended to do with tamil people in the west who opposed them)the LTTE big wigs kids and definitely their grandkids in the west so they understand what it is like for the less fortunate tamils in the north and (east?) who have no choice but to see their children violated by tiger bulls and then sent to the front as cannon fodder.Can u for a moment imagine what the children and their parents are feeling.They have the same blood in their veins as we in the south do. Just because you decimate say 20 tamil families in the west the US wont send the 6th fleet to invade our country and we wont be attached by the australian navy for that matter right?...just like the president jailing a guy with a british passport recently...My point is we have to save those children because we have reached a point of no return....
ReplyDeleteMr Blaker..if you goto srilanka tv you can see the developments in vakarai....there is somekind of video there...pls take a look
ReplyDeleteJust because a person has a "foreign passport" does not make him or her an "untouchable"...what has happened here is this fellow has created a sicilian style mafia state on an INTERNATIONAL SCALE
ReplyDeleteSriLankan, You intentions may be true but please bring your discussions elsewhere.This is a defence blog.
ReplyDeleteI have made this mistake one two times. I appeal to guys to paste links rather then the whole text unless the articles are no long available on the net. The articles clog the blog and tends to frustrate people.
This is not a blog for polticcal solutions. If you contribute something defence related, else please keep off the blog. Lanka news papers will entertain your points.
THIS IS OUR FAULT as well.AT election time we have to be very careful of when to " ATHA USSANNA" and when to keep it down.
ReplyDeletepoint taken navindran
ReplyDeleteThis Train attack is done by GOSL to stop the tamils getting in to colombo, Its all political. No point talking about this sort of a work to fool all.
ReplyDeleteGovt dont need any new commers to colombo.
they didnt need to place a bomb. simply remving some track and not replaing it for yrs would suffice
ReplyDeletehowever what is good news is the fact that the bomb was an "improvised device".Means some level of security exists.
ReplyDeleteAnybody see this news?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rnhit.com/mcns/fullnews.php?id=6140
The BBC has thought it fit to make the governments move to expel the lodge occupants from Colombo their second biggest story. They ignore all the LTTE suicide bombing going on, but when something like this happens all of a sudden it's big news. Typical behavior.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people, Sinhalese included, are against this move, but what everyone has to realize is that this isn't a Sunday afternoon tea party. Plain and simple, we are at war. If the government intends to carry on attacks against the LTTE, then they have to follow that policy all the way through. There should be no half measures along the way.
Protecting Colombo isn't just about saving lives. It's about keeping the economy stable and ensuring the confidence of the masses in the ability of the government. Bombs going off will seriously damage the economy and possibly help the UNP back into power following a situation akin to what it was just before the 2001 elections.
And whoever opposes the move has to admit, given most LTTE suicide bombers are Tamils who come to Colombo and hide in such lodges, expelling these people will help limit suicide bombings - at least by a small amount.
The safety of the majority has to be the top priority of the government, along with ensuring the military has all the support it can get to combat the LTTE. They should not let rights of a few hundred people in any way impede those objectives.
I am sure those tamil people who were asked to leave will be able to return once the security situation stabilises.
ReplyDeleteu fools. VP is probably jacking off at this kind of happynews.
ReplyDeleteThis is ethnic discrimination which leads LTTE closer to Eelam.
moron.....
A Must -the entire vauniya battle well explained
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailynews.lk/2007/06/08/fea02.asp
yes alot of happy news for you all, while your 150 bodies of your SLA are scattered everywhere in Vavuniya.
ReplyDeleteactually very sad news since a lot of kids with their whole lives ahead of them were killed today.Iwonder which lunatic is forcibly supplying them with guns instead of providing them with the same education his children are receiving in medical clooeges in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteAccording to MCNS its 15. According to tamilnet its 40
ReplyDeleteAccording to isfulgen and sad Ass its 150
According to kiriella its 164
According to John amarathunga its 200
According to Mr Wikramasinha it might be 1000 tomorrow.
Accordign to the traitor kajendran (in his fantacy)its the whole army(That is sure a lie bcos I saw some soldiers when I came back from office on the way :-) )
This is starting to be a joke now.
"Protecting Colombo isn't just about saving lives. It's about keeping the economy stable and ensuring the confidence of the masses in the ability of the government. Bombs going off will seriously damage the economy and possibly help the UNP back into power following a situation akin to what it was just before the 2001 elections."
ReplyDeleteditto!
but can anything be done to stop the BBC?
LTTE false propaganda is exposed!
ReplyDeleteSLA has confirmed they lost a Buffle APC that went into a "huge explosion" from LTTE's RPG fire and toppled. The Buffle in the TamilNet (TamilNut) shows a perfectly clean looking Buffle! In addition, the LTTE made a huge blunder by digitally inserting a number (plate) into the Buffle picture they copied/downloaded from file archives/a website. The problem is the SLA Buffles have a 5 digit number whereas this Buffle in the TamilNut has only 4 digits! SLA has confirmed that the 4 digit number belongs to an SLA Ambulance!
The cat is out of the bag!
So much for the LTTE carcass maggots' false propaganda! So much for our own Sinhela idiots who jumped on the bandwagon of the LTTE 's trumpeted "Vavuniya victories!" So much for UNP MP Kiriella LTTE-mouthpiece rascal who cried and said LTTE has killed over 150 SLAs and captured "Battle Tanks!" (now it is confirmed that that they did not even get a Buffle APC)
A good lesson for all SL patriots who jump into believing LTTE's claims over our own SLDF versions! It is true SLDF may under/over estimate casualties, but out of the two, I am more inclined to believe the SLDF version even cautiously (simply because casualties/events cannot be hidden in the democracy we have within our society in the south (e.g. dead bodies need to be brought and handed over to relatives, all paperwork needs completion as per legislative requirements for deaths especially deaths in the armed forces, formalities for compensation paid, etc. which are not done hush-hush in the south and any media personnel can pick it up and publish in their news paper), whereas LTTE can say anything and get away as LTTE are the "media" in the Vanni and anyone who dares to utter a different version to what the LTTE has published is instantly killed there.
So much for the BUFFLE load of Buffalo Bull-Shit!
:)) :)) :))
Oao Asithri
I have a technical question for someone knowledgeable in military matters:
ReplyDeleteHow far does a terrorist "spotter" have to be from a130mm gun for a silmilar gun 30miles away to pick it up.IF question is too sensitive pls let it go
Rights groups accuse Sri Lanka over evictions
ReplyDeleteEnlarge image
COLOMBO (AFP) - Human rights activists accused Sri Lanka's government of imposing a "collective punishment" on its minority Tamil community after forcing hundreds of them out of the capital.
Activists and opposition politicians said the expulsions from Colombo, a measure the government said was to prevent Tiger terror attacks, had added to the already serious humanitarian crisis and would fan ethnic hatred.
"Nothing could be more inflammatory in Sri Lanka's polarised climate than identifying people by ethnicity and kicking them out of the capital," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
The rights watchdog said Thursday's operation -- an armed police swoop in the dark on temporary lodgings in Colombo -- was "blatantly discriminatory and will further fuel the conflict."
"Tamil Tiger crimes don't give the government the right to engage in collective punishment. By evicting thousands of Tamils, the Sri Lankan government is sending the dangerous message that it views most of its Tamil citizens as a threat to security," Human Rights Watch said.
Ethnic cleansing claim after police move Tamils at gunpoint
ReplyDelete· Hundreds rounded up in night raids in Colombo
· Action said to be aimed at clearing city of 'terrorists'
Randeep Ramesh
Friday June 8, 2007
The Guardian
Armed Sri Lankan police yesterday packed hundreds of ethnic minority Tamils into buses and drove them from the country's capital to war-torn northern and eastern districts - an effort, they said, to clear the city of "terrorists".
In a series of night raids, police stormed Tamil areas of Colombo and forced hotel guests to leave at gunpoint. In all, 291 men and 85 women were taken in seven buses to districts that are on the frontline of fierce fighting between Tamil separatists and the Sri Lankan army. Human rights groups described the police action as tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
Sri Lanka Supreme Court blocks eviction of Tamils: Lawyer
ReplyDeleteColombo, June 08: Sri Lanka`s Supreme Court today ordered an immediate halt on the eviction of minority ethnic Tamils from the nation`s capital, a day after hundreds were forced to leave at gunpoint by police as part of a crackdown on LTTE rebels.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court issued the order following a petition filed by a political activist group "Centre for Policy Alternatives", which argued that yesterday`s action was a violation of basic human rights.
"The court will hear the case on June 22," an official said, adding that police Inspector General Victor Perera and four officers in charge of police stations here were restrained from carrying out any eviction pending the court hearing.
A CPA spokeswoman said they will go before the apex court seeking redress for those already evicted. The government said yesterday 376 people were evicted in seven buses and would be taken to Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa.
"We were somewhat surprised by today`s ruling. This is not something that we expected in this way," the spokeswoman said, adding that they were encouraged by the court`s action.
Sri Lanka faces mounting criticism both from abroad and at home over the crackdown on minority Tamils, with the entire opposition and some government ministers terming it as "ethnic cleansing".
US condemns Sri Lanka Tamil evictions from capital
ReplyDeleteJune 8, 2007 (LBO) - The United States Friday condemned the eviction of ethnic Tamils without jobs from Colombo, and asked the government to reveal where they were taken.
"Such measures violate the Sri Lankan Constitution’s guarantee that every citizen has the right to freedom of movement and choice of residence within Sri Lanka," the embassy said in a statement.
"The United States understands and supports Sri Lanka’s obligation to defend itself against terrorism.
"But this action can only widen the ethnic divide at a time when important efforts are underway to reach a national consensus to end Sri Lanka's nearly quarter-century old conflict.
More than 300 Tamils who had come to Colombo from war torn areas in the north and east of the country were bundled back in buses this week.
"We call upon the Government of Sri Lanka to stop the forcible removal of its citizens from Colombo, to make public the destinations of those already removed, and to ensure their safety and well-being," the US embassy said. Human rights organizations and Sri Lanka main opposition parties have strongly criticized the move calling labeling it 'ethnic cleansing' and likening it to Adolph Hitler's treatment of Jews.
Sri Lanka's police say the move was aimed at blocking Tamil Tiger guerillas from infiltrating the capital, setting off explosions and engaging in other subversive activities.
ONE MORE FALSE PROPAGANDA added to tamilnut list
ReplyDeletecheck this previous false news item too
http://www.rnhit.com/mcns/fullnews.php?id=5563
JVP condemns Governments forced eviction of Tamils
ReplyDeleteBy Gihan de Chickera & Kelum Bandara
The JVP yesterday slammed the government for promoting division and mistrust between Tamils and Sinhalese through its ‘high handed’ and ‘foolish’ actions of evicting Tamils from lodges in Colombo.
JVP MP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, speaking in Parliament on the issue, said power hungry leaders had committed such injustices against Tamils in the past, such as the ‘83 riots, leading to the current crisis. “The 83 riots made Colombo a dangerous place for Tamils to live in, and the current evictions have created a similar situation for them. What is the difference between ‘83 and now? Such actions appear to be made on the premise that all Tamils are Tigers”, he noted.
He said the country’s leaders must deal with terrorism under existing laws and not through such ‘highhanded’ and ‘foolish’ actions. “Terrorism must be defeated. But it is essential that innocent Tamils are included in the fight to defeat terrorism” he stressed.
He said the government was the guardian of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people alike. “If the Tamil people feel they cannot depend on the government to uphold their rights, who are you pushing them towards?” the MP queried. “To what land are you transporting them? If the government is in charge of the whole country then to whose land are you sending these people? Are you chasing them out of Sri Lanka? Are you sending them to another country?” he thundered, as TNA MPs banged their tables in approval. Dissanayake stressed that Sri Lanka was one country, and all citizens had the freedom to travel, live or work wherever they wanted to, without having to justify their actions to the government.
“People come from Hambantota to Colombo seeking employment. They live indefinitely in Colombo. But are they rounded up and sent back to Hambantota?” he queried. He noted that some Tamils were residing in Colombo to escape Prabhakaran, and most were opposed to terrorism. The MP said the stance of the JVP is that Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims alike, to live in peace and harmony.
The BBC has got a few LTTE sympathisers in high posts. These guys only show info that is detrimental to govt..i thought this blog was about defense matters only?
ReplyDeletewhat is the total tamil poplation currently in colombo?..
ReplyDeleteSorry i thought this was a good read for all...
ReplyDeleteEye for an eye, are we blind?
By: Koththamalli
Courtesy: Daily Mirror - May 30, 2007
My Dear Mahinda Aiya,
Ayubowan, Vanakkam, Assaliumu Alaikum and best wishes as we move into June with the traditional blue moon looking blacker than ever before, amidst signs we might soon see stars if not an eclipse on several fronts.
At times of such grave crisis if not calamity, we could, as an act of repentance, reflect on what India's world famous Nobel prize laureate Amartya Sen said at a meeting in Oslo last week.
Answering a question on Sri Lanka, Professor Sen said the island had successfully implemented a number of welfare programmes such as free education and free health for its people.
These should have contributed to peace in that country. But, by taking a position of upholding the exclusive status to Buddhism and Sinhalese, it isolated other sections of the society from having a sense of national identity. The Cambridge and Harvard University Professor, who won the Nobel prize for development economics, said there was now little or no likelihood that the Sri Lankan state would go back from that position. It was tragic that Sri Lanka did not realize the richness in plurality.
In November 1994, when President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga took office with an unprecedented majority and the highest ever expectations of building a new Sri Lanka, she spoke of her vision of bringing about the full richness in our country's diversity or plurality.
Ms. Kumaratunga said she hoped to build a multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-cultural society with deep unity in diversity. She spoke of her dream where all the people of our country, while practicing there religion, speaking their own language and acting according to their own culture, would not only accept but also respect the religion, language and culture of others.
Twelve years later, and mainly after the November 2005 election, we saw the gradual reemergence of a hard line Sinhala Buddhist state. JHU theoretician Champaka Ranawaka who is now a Cabinet Minister, regularly speaks of Sri Lanka being a Sinhala state while the party in its devolution proposals, is calling for Buddhism to be made the state religion.
That might mean any official position could be held only by a Buddhist—so much in contrast to our neighbour India where the President of this Hindu majority country is a Muslim and the Prime minister is a Sikh.
Your one time ally the JVP—which claims much credit for your victory in 2005, still beats the Sinhala Buddhist drums with a vengeance, not nearly through conviction but largely because of a huge vote bank. Many other groups, including organization of Buddhist monks and Sinhala nationalists are also riding high and getting much prominence, thus creating a situation where racial and religious minorities are feeling more isolated and marginalized.
They find it difficult if not impossible to identify themselves as Sri Lankans in a calamitous situation where almost every Tamil is considered as a criminal, and those who support the peace process are seen as Tiger supporters or sympathizers. Indeed we are reminded of Gamini Fonseka's popular film 'Koti Waligaya' and we don't know where this tale of tragedy within tragedy will terminate.
With the closure of the exit-entry points at Omanthai and Uyilankulam, hundreds of thousands of people are said to be facing starvation, in varying degrees of despair and degradation. Each side is blaming the other for this catastrophe but, as , millions of innocent and defenseless people are paying the price of their lives.
Amnesty , in its annual report issued last week, described the crisis in Sri Lanka as the forgotten conflict – meaning that civic action groups and the international community were taking little or no , while war and violence, abductions and killings, threats to media freedom, and other human right abuses were continuing like hell.
On the political front revolting divisions emerged in the patchwork government over proposed electoral reforms. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who heads the parliamentary select committee which worked out the electoral reforms, is vowing to go ahead with the reforms though several parties are saying they won't sign the report.
The UNP and the JVP are strongly opposing the proposed reforms on different grounds, while minority parties like the TNA, CWC, the SLMC and the UPF have also expressed serious reservations.
Meanwhile the undeclared Eelam war-IV is booming and turning out to be the costliest phase of the war. According to defence analysts, the government has decided to go ahead with the purchase of state of the art MiG 29 fighter aircraft at a cost of billions of dollars, including the kickbacks and commissions symbolic of the epidemic of corruption driving this country into bankruptcy and poverty.
The latest is the huge telecom deal with a Malaysian giant, amidst allegations that a VIP might be getting a staggering commission of up to ten million US$ to build a royal mansion in the skies.
On the economic front, a catastrophe is looming with Ceylon Petroleum Corporation officials warning, over the weekend, that the price of petrol may have to be raised to Rs. 112 a litre and diesel to Rs. 72, because of soaring world market prices. With the cost of living also going into orbit around the blue moon or the black moon, popular street protests or food riots by millions of starving people have gone far beyond the nightmare stage and the outbreak appears to be well past the midnight stage.
In this horrifying and terrifying situation, we need to reflect on what must not be seen as a worst case scenario but as a sign of our times.
A Daily Mirror reader in a letter in this newspaper last Tuesday quoted from Noam Chomsky's "the Failed States" and we cannot fail to realize the similarities.
Chomsky wrote: "Though the concept is recognized to be 'frustratingly imprecise' some of the primary characteristics of failed states can be identified. One is their inability or unwillingness to protect their citizens from violence or, perhaps, destruction. Another is their tendency to regard themselves as beyond the reach of domestic or international law, and hence free to carry out aggression and violence. And if they have democratic forms, they suffer from a serious" democratic deficit" that deprives their formal democratic institutions of real substance"
Do we fail the test or are we yet so blind that we cannot see the log in our own eyes while we point to the speck in the other's eye or has the attitude of an eye for an eye made us blind?.
Your sincerely
Koththamalli
sorry for the last posting... out of context but a good read.
ReplyDeleteWhat people need to understand is a bomb does not distinguish between tamil or sinhalese.does this move not protect the law abiding tamils in colombo as well?.I felt so sad when some time ago...a bomb went off and killed this little tamil girl whose grandfather had brought her a new pair of shoes the same day she was killed..what a tragedy. what has this family done to the LTTE to deserve this or is this all just a case of testing how far the govt can be pushed?
ReplyDeleteIf this Government persists with these forced relocations then it gives the International community a justification to intervene claiming that there is ethnic cleansing going on and the LTTE would no doubt be their Elam
ReplyDeleteThis also cleary shows that this is not a terrorist issue but an ethnic one.
ReplyDeleteIf it was an ethic issue why did the govt bother to resettle tamils in the east (after sacrificing so many brave young sinhala lives and at extraordinary expense to the govt and sinhala people as a whole)or dont eastern tamils count?.I dont think this issue has anything to do with the plight of the tamils..I think it is a case of if your loosing ground militaryly you hve to create any issue to halt or suspend military operations in oder to save the credibility of your organisation.If the plight of tamils are so important to the LTTE why are they now infilterating the east once again and trying to create as much hardship for the eastern tamils now that their is a faint ray of hope of peace for them.Havent they gone through enough? or is it that they dont matter because they are not velvettiturai tamils?
ReplyDeleteYankeeZulu if this was an ethnic issue why are there still over 200,000 Tamils in the Colombo MC area? If we were ethnically cleansing the city why weren't they rounded up and sent to Vavuniya too?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem we face is the government has continuously failed to get the hang of putting a positive spin on things. If they had any common sense they'll have rounded up a bunch of Sinhalese as well and kicked them out of Colombo, just for propaganda purposes. And instead of letting news groups like Asian Tribune come out with "breaking news" that the Police were randomly rounding up innocent Tamils, the government should have been first to issue a statement about the "expulsion of suspicious persons", before the media could label it as the "expulsion of Tamils".
When the UNP government was killing scores of young Sinhalese JVP supporters no one said the government was anti-Sinhalese. This time should be no different. If you engage in terrorism, or as in this case, possibly help terrorists, the government has to take necessary action against you, regardless of what language you speak.
"Mr Blaker..if you goto srilanka tv you can see the developments in vakarai..."
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, my name's not Blaker:) And I don't need to see Vakarai on TV. I was there three weeks ago.