The claymore mine in Rathmalana yesterday killed at least six (6) civilians including two females and injured more than 16 including children. Amnesty International or any other human rights activists doesn't seem to bother much about that. Perhaps it's not to the best interest of their funders.Our country is at war. Enemy has it's roots in our society. Security forces along can not be held responsible for protecting civilian lives. It's the responsibility of every peace loving person in this country to be on alert and act upon anything suspicious. Perhaps more information from the public and/or another white van could have prevented yesterday's bloodshed.
I would like to ask some questions.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that the government's plan to get rid of terrorism or the LTTE by waging a war over the next three years will work?
Also if it doesn't, how long more would you be prepared to alow the government to work on getting rid of terrorism by waging a war?
Or can you think of other more effective means?
By the way aside from all the politics. I am sorry this incident happened and people got killed.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that LTTE's plan of killing innocent Buddhist monks and civilians, destructing civil establishments and properties would work?
ReplyDeleteThe government would make sure it would not.
How long does the LTTE plan to carry out its terrorist acts?
I'm prepared to allow the government to wage war until then.
I could, but LTTE doesn't seems to be able to. There have been at least five attempts of cease fire and peace talks. LTTE betrayed in each one of them and used them to strengthen their military powers.
"Do you believe that LTTE's plan of killing innocent Buddhist monks and civilians, destructing civil establishments and properties would work?"
ReplyDeleteDon't need to think hard about that answer:
No. If that is the plan it will not work.
I was looking at a Sri Lankan website yesterday. Unfortunately I lost the link because it has some interesting articles. But I remember this quotation by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize.
ReplyDelete"Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows"
Great, did you also mailed it to Prabhakaran and Thamilsevan?
ReplyDeleteActually Mahasen,
ReplyDeleteI am serious here, I did email the LTTE peace secretariat with feedback about their website. It looks pretty good. But frankly, its pointless having a website if you don't carry out what it purports to. I am afraid the Sri Lankan government has a similar website.
The feedback I gave them was something as follows (can't remember the exact words):
ie that as a Tamil I feel the sentiments expressed in your website are admirable but I hope they will be carried out in reality.
I try to be consitent across the board.
By the way they still have not replied. I just checked my email box just to make sure, before posting this up!
ReplyDeleteI doubt they ever would.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, no matter how much front line LTTE is try to say other wise, LTTE is a terrorist organization engaged in brutality and SL forces are the military out fit of a legitimately elected government who are on a mission to save the sovereignty and civilians of this country.
A careful study of the history of LTTE would reveal that they have never commit themselves to peace.
Even if the LTTE in the past appears to not want peace, it is not inevitable that they will continue this way.
ReplyDeleteThere are many other millitant groups similar or worse than the LTTE who have become part of the mainstream after a proper peace process.
There has been more than 20 years of war and only a few years worth of ceasefires.
For every few tamils who are picked up in a white van, you will create more LTTE supporters. The people in the LTTE are highly trained and disciplined and much more skilled at evading white vans.
Have you read this book?
Inside an Elusive Mind - Prabhakaran
by M.R.Narayan Swamy, Published by Literate World, Inc, USA, 2003
Its by an Indian author and well researched. He isn't a big fan of the LTTE so it is quite balanced. To do a careful study of the LTTE you have to include this book as part of it.
U seem to be a very ignorant person, it is sad that this country is full of such ppl, try to understand the Tamil perspective of matters, u will then understand why there is a LTTE on the first hand.
ReplyDeleteWith a clear political solution this problem can be resolved, in two short years of relative peace the LTTE almost imploded breaking into two factions, the LTTE r a group of thugs who cannot survive without the war much like some of the SL politicians here who feed on the Sinhala racist like youeself who crave for war. (as long as the kids in the villages r willing to go to battle for u)
To be honest I suspect it may not be racism. In Mahasen's case I think it is based on an absolute and unquestioning trust in the authority of the government and the armed forces.
ReplyDeleteLet us start by acknowledging that none of us here (to the best of my understanding) has any real influence on the decision makers in the conflict.
ReplyDeleteAll discussion here is mainly of academic interest, having little our no influence on the outcome of events. However it is worthwhile sharing various views which may help improve understanding amongst the parties to the discussion at least.
This is going to be, in my opinion at least, a long drawn out conflict. The Defence Secretary has claimed that he can win the war in three years, which is a relatively short time. I think we are looking at a few more decades at least.
Since this government was elected on a war platform (and the previous one deposed on a peace platform) my recommendation is that we observe how effective it is in delivering a lasting solution and depending on its performance vote accordingly at the next election (presidential due in 5 years but parliamentary may be due next year or the year after).
In the meantime it is good to pin down our opinions now : we can revisit our opinions at a later point in time to evaluate, with the benefit of hindsight, if thingg or our opinions have changed. Looking at my aborted blog a year on is quite interesting (to me at least), no doubt it will be more so in couple more years.
On the wider perspective, this bomb attack is another small event, it will take a big push one way or another to influence the course of the war.
The latest country report by Amnesty International is availabel here:
ReplyDeletehttp://thereport.amnesty.org/document/15
(see page 198 for Sri Lanka)
direct link to SL report
http://thereport.amnesty.org/page/1126/eng/
Yes saw the report.
ReplyDeleteI am beginning to think you may be right regarding the time it will take. Not just because of the LTTE or the government.
I read the other day that a group called Eros is planning to take up arms against the LTTE.
With all these paramilitary groups on the lose, this brings it closer to Israel, Palestine, Lebanon or the Balkans.
If you look at the BBC website the report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6698527.stm) says the LTTE have denied responsibility for the last two attacks. Its difficult to know who to believe. In the near future it may be even more difficult to sift out the truth, when the country has to contend with more armed millitant groups running loose.
Well this does look a lot like an LTTE attack, in my opinion almost certainly an LTTE attack, despite teh denial.
ReplyDeleteEROS (Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of STudents) is one of the many armed groups (PLOTE, TELO, EPRLF, EPDP were some of the others) that sprang up in the 1970's and 1980's.
The LTTE eliminated most of them in the mid 1980's, they existed in name only by 1987 and all of them signed the JRJ peace of of 1987 and then faded away. EPDP exists as a political organisation, now apparently allied with the government.
EROS reactivates to defend Tamil diaspora from LTTE clutches
ReplyDeletehttp://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070420_07
correction:
It doesn't say they are going to take up arms.
There are alot of letters in the article. Don't know who TMVP is.
Think TNA is a party usually considered to be allied to the LTTE?
And EPDP is Devananda's party.
Anyway, looks as though the govenment is trying to get these people onside.
In my opinion it will make the LTTE even more defensive and lead to more killings.
I do not believe in MR's government. His agenda is very much questionable. There is no transparency and no integrity in the way he governs.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that permanent peace is only possible through a political solution.
I have raised the question of what caused a terrorist group like LTTE, with no reasonable answer at all. So for all who are bitching here about a root cause might first want to find an answer first.
LTTE is a terrorist organization. If they are not willing to lay down their weapons, the government does not have any other option but to make them.
Maybe under that post it might be useful to outline why you find the answers inadequate in explaining the root cause of terrorism.
ReplyDeleteSri Lankans have to realise that they are not the only people who are in this situation.
There are many countries that are going through this and have gone through this. So we can learn from them.
If you look at places that have simply used this kind of intimidation of civilians and bombing of areas to get rid of terrorists, it has not stopped them. Especially with modern technology and smaller and more powerful weapons. So what makes people think Sri Lanka will succeed where others, including richer and more powerful western countries like Britain and America have failed?
Anyway, I am not an expert. Maybe they have a unique plan and they will succeed. We can only wait and see, because we don't make the decisions. Least of all I, since I can't even vote for them.
Read the Amnesty report. It just highlights what army did. Why doesnt it talk abt whaT ltte IS DOING DAY IN DAY OUT?
ReplyDeleteLTTE uses child soldiers, Kills civialians sihanala, tamil and muslim. They killed so many civialn including religeous leaders. So, why amnesty is silent about those?
Here is the fact. NGOs like amnesty can exist only if HR violations are highlighted. If not, they dont get money, so they highlight HR stuff, to do that, they need to sympothoise the terrorists bcos its terrorist who violate it most. Mahasen is dead right. Govt is not perfect, but LTTE are terrrorists, they dont reprsent tamils, so that has to be finished thru a war. Bcos terrorists dont understand peace, after that, tamils and sinhalese can have a peace solution, LTTE has to be cleared off the ground.
As a Tamil living in colombo, I can attest that how L perceive the situation is wrong.
ReplyDeleteInterrogating a person would not turn us in to terrorism.
Generations of Tamils have been living happily in Colombo and other areas. It's the LTTE who destroyed our harmony. We have enough brains to distinguish national security from racist riots. We have enough good memories of living here to forgive a mistake.
I have to admit Ramesh, I had a totally different perception about you before your last comment.
ReplyDeleteL, I need not summarize any thing, just read the comments from Tamils and you would understand.
personally I know a lot of tamils living wellawatta area and a family in jaela and another in kandy, had many tamil frinds at uni. When you get very close to them (If not they won't tell), most of them have indicated their unhappiness with what LTTE is doing. LTTE does not reprsent their views or problems. Most tamils say that there is a problem here to be solved, but its not as serious as taking arms or killing innocents like LTTE does. LTTE is a dangerous terrorist group headed by a dictator, if someone goes against them, you are guaranteed to be shot.
ReplyDeleteI can only say what has been said by experts in the field. There is strong evidence to say that eroding the rights of a particular ethnic group leads to marginalisation from mainstream society and resentment towards authorities. I provided some internet links in a previous post.
ReplyDeleteElimination of the LTTE requries far more sophisticated tactics. As people have attested here, they are ruthless, highly disciplined, and I gather willing to fight at all costs. That is why both Tamils and Sinhalese should read Narayan Swami's books to gain a more indepth understanding of the group. I think they have also been translated into Sinhalese and Tamil. You should be able to purchase it locally.
This is a blog. I don't expect people to take what I say seriously. Mahasen, a few priviledged Tamils including myself, popping up and giving comments does not represent for instance the hundreds who are displaced and killed in the north and east. Those are the people who will be determining if they wish to secede from the rest of the country. They have a right to make that choice without having bombs dropped on their heads, day in and day out.
I assume most people commenting here would have a slightly above level of education and as educated people we need to be more discriminating about where we get our information from.
We need to be careful that we don't shoot the messenger. ie those who might give us the bad news. For example, I personally would have preferred to hear the news that there is likely to be a ceasefire and the LTTE is open to negotiation, but I now understand and accept Jack Point's reasoning and analyis of the current situation, that this is highly unlikely at present.
I don't think people in Colombo would turn to terrorism just because they were picked up by a white van. What I am suggesting is they will be less likely to be proactive in supporting the people who picked them up in white vans to keep carrying out their search for real terrorists.
By the way, from what I gather, picking up someone in a white van does not mean you will be picked up, given ice cream at the police station and then dropped back.
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I am wrong, it could mean being detained in a remand cell for some time until you can get a proper lawyer to get you out of there.
Sorry anon on May 30 at 6am am really busy. Anon...I can only say the report also highlights the LTTE's violations. Not sure why you have missed it. Hopefully you can get some assistance from someone to find this.
ReplyDelete