LTTE Destroys Tamil Culture

- Ven. Dr. Walpola Piyananda Nayaka Thero

In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese and Tamils lived in harmony for many centuries. They shared customs, cultures and traditions which helped to maintain a harmonious lifestyle in our country.
In Buddhist temples there was always a place of worship for Hindu devotees. The Buddhists even believe that the God Vishnu is the protector of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. God Subramanium or Skandha who is upposed to have resided in Kataragama is respected by most Sri Lankan Buddhists.
In fact all Sri Lankan Buddhists, when they perform any religious service, transfer merit to these deities.
During King Mahanama's reign in Anuradhapura some monks who belonged to the Abhayagiri Vihara were exiled as they accepted the Vaitulya Vada tradition. The monks who lived in Danakataka Vihara in Southern India were supported by Tamil Buddhists. It is also stated that during the Anuradhapura period, Sinhalese monks have lived in Danakataka Vihara. Ven. Buddhagosa the well known Buddhist commentator who composed, The Path of Purification/ (Visuddhimagga) may have been a Tamil from South India.
Ven. Anuruddha, another Buddhist scholar who wrote "Manual of Abhidhamma" was a Tamil monk too.
In recent years Professor Ananda Coomaraswamy, a distinguished Sri Lankan Buddhist Tamil scholar, taught Buddhism at Harvard University. He can be introduced as one of the pioneer Buddhist propagators in the U.S.A. It must be mentioned, that a few of the Sinhala Buddhist monks, who turned out to be world renown scholars learned English in Colombo and Jaffna from Tamil scholars.
Some notable facts that I wish to state here, are my own. Before 1983 the majority of students in the Colombo and Peradeniye Medical College and the Engineering Faculty were Tamil. In Sri Lanka, there were numerous Tamil doctors, engineers, and civil servants. We had a beautiful rapport with everyone, Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim and Burghers.
So why is it different now?
It is obvious the root cause is due to the ruthless, terrorist organization led by Velupillai Prabhakaran. The LTTE cadre forced the educated professional Tamils to flee the country. The terrorists did not leave the families of the immigrants alone. They were harassed, ransoms demanded, jewelry and property taken by force. The children were kidnapped, forced into army training camps. It did not end there; the Tamils who remained were tortured by the LTTE. As a result, anyone who could afford migrated to Europe, Canada , U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, etc. We are sad that over three million innocent people, left their motherland reluctantly due to the atrocities of the LTTE.
The LTTE killed not only the Sinhala politicians such as President Premadasa, Gamini Dissanayaka, Lalith Athulathmudali, but also killed Amirthalingum, Kadiragama, Tiruchellum and many other distinguished, educated politicians. The LTTE killed the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi, an international figure in May 1991. This resulted in a no faith attitude towards the Sri Lankan Tamils by the Indians. Moreover due to the LTTE terrorist activities the world has begun to shun not only Sri Lankan Tamils, but all Tamils.
Even though the Tamils are a religious and non-violent group of people who try to preserve their ancient traditions, yet the world has come to view them in a different light. Today, some Tamils who fear the LTTE have come to Colombo, the capital to live with the Sinhalese. In fact, now in Colombo the majority are Tamils.

The Tamils who live in the North and East of Sri Lanka are in an unfortunate situation. They cannot escape from the North to go anywhere. They are controlled by the LTTE, during the past 25 years most of the Tamil children were not allowed to study. They were trained to kill non-believers of the LTTE. They instilled anger, hatred and ill will in the children. The Tamils, were mostly Hindus and vegetarian, they were a non-violent group. Unfortunately the LTTE destroyed their culture. However, Prabakaran's children are studying in the U.K. along with the children of the leading LTTE cadres.
For human beings, the most valuable period in life is their childhood. At this time they should be nourished, have parental care and love, be allowed to play and think freely without fear, and be given a good education. None of the above was given to the children in the LTTE controlled areas.
As teenagers, they should have the freedom to socialize, in maturity they should be allowed to marry. The youth in these areas had none of these opportunities.
Why aren't the Human Rights Organizations condemning the LTTE's activities? Why do they blame those who try to liberate the innocent people?
In world history, we cannot find a single organization that has destroyed a great Sri Lankan Tamil culture and civilization. Yet because of fear, the average Tamil is turning a deaf ear to the happenings.
In the past there would have been instances of wrong doings due to lack of spiritual understanding, due to the greediness of politicians and a lack of vision. However in Sri Lanka the situation is different now. This generation has mutual respect, problems can be solved by discussion and negotiations. Lives have been lost needlessly on both sides, due to a lack of communication and a lack of commitment to peaceably solve our problems. This is the time to close the chapters of the past and open new avenues. We must respect each other and strive to live in peace as one nation.

read more

U.S. freezes pro-LTTE Terrorists TRO funds

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday announced that it would be freeze the U.S.- held assets of the pro-LTTE Tamil terrorists Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) a front organization of LTTE Tamil terrorists fund raising arm.
The press release, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka charged that the TRO has acted as a front to facilitate fundraising and procurement of illegal arms for the Tigers terrorists.
Robert Blake, the U.S. Ambassador for Sri Lanka, is scheduled to address media Friday in Colombo on the funds freeze of the TRO by the United States Department of the Treasury.
Full text of the press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka follows:
Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO)
Designated under Executive Order 13224
November 15, 2007
Colombo, November 15, 2007: The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced that it would freeze the U.S.-held assets of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), a charitable organization that acts as a front to facilitate fundraising and procurement for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE has been designated by the United States as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization since 2001 and a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997. The Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) was designated today under Executive Order 13224, which is aimed at financially isolating terrorist groups and their support networks. E.O. 13224 freezes any assets held by designees under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from transacting with designees.
The LTTE is a terrorist group that has waged a violent secessionist campaign for over two decades to secure a separate state for Tamil-majority regions in Sri Lanka's North and East. The conflict between the LTTE and Sri Lankan military forces has claimed over 60,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan citizens.
In the United States, the TRO has raised funds on behalf of the LTTE through a network of individual representatives. According to sources within the organization, the TRO is the preferred conduit of funds from the United States to the LTTE in Sri Lanka.
The TRO also has facilitated LTTE procurement operations in the United States.
Those operations included the purchase of munitions, equipment, communication devices, and other technology for the LTTE.
The TRO's efforts worldwide reportedly have allowed the LTTE to use humanitarian aid, which TRO collected for the international community after the December 2004 tsunami, to launch new campaigns to strengthen LTTE military capacity.
According to its website, the TRO maintains a headquarters office in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka and operates branch offices throughout Sri Lanka and in seventeen countries worldwide, including the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The LTTE oversees the activities of the TRO and other LTTE-linked non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Sri Lanka and abroad. Directives issued by the LTTE suggest that LTTE-affiliated branch representatives are expected to coordinate their efforts with the respective the TRO representatives in their locations and report all activity to the LTTE.
Recent information indicates that the LTTE has ordered international NGOs operating in its territory to provide all projects funding through local NGOs, which are managed collectively by the TRO. This arrangement allows TRO to withdraw money from the local NGO accounts and to provide a portion of the relief funds to the LTTE. The LTTE has reportedly exerted pressure to comply on a few international NGOs that have resisted these arrangements.
The U.S. Department of State designated the LTTE a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on October 8, 1997, in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. On November 2, 2001, the U.S. Department of State named the LTTE a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under E.O. 13224. The LTTE has also been listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and Canada.
An entity designated under E.O. 13224 may request a delisting from the U.S. government under published procedures if it can establish that there is insufficient basis for the listing or that it has taken remedial steps that would remove the basis for the designation. The United States continues to support a just, negotiated political settlement to the conflict in Sri Lanka that meets the aspirations of all communities.

read more

Dear TAMILS!

The comments by various people show how foolishly we, Tamils continue to glorify violence, suicide and terror. We began all this in 1939 with G.G. Ponnambalam attacking the Sinhalese in a virulent speech in1939, resulting in the first Sinhala Tamil riot.
After the war SJV and others used every chance to gore the government instead of building bridges. They spurned the left leaders who stood for parity and preferred to hob-nob with their Colombo-7 capitalist leaders.
Our Colombo, Tamil leaders arrogantly started the ball rolling, and even claimed that they are “ready for state terror”. The local militants realized that they were being bamboozled by the Colombo set, and they captured control, killed those leaders, our best men and women, and made cannon fodder out of our children.
Look at this partial list:
1. The JR government in 1977 granted all the demands on language etc. that the previous Tamil organizations had asked for. But we could not profit from it, because by then we were under the gun of Prabakaran.
2. India came in and merged North and East two provinces, and provided an honourable framework. But we reengaged the whole thing and started another war. Prabakaran would have been annihilated by the IPKF if not for Premadasa.
3. Further accommodation was possible under Premadasa. But we reengaged him and killed the 600 police who surrendered.
4. Under Chandrika we had the far reaching constitutional proposals by Neelan Thiruchelvan, but we replied by assassinating him.
5. Incredible concessions were made by the Ranil Wickremasinghe government with the Cease Fire agreement. But we used it to stock up arms, get ready for another war and made sure of such a war by preventing Ranil’s Victory.
This list of 5 does not include the innumerable other chances that had been offered. Why would any politician think that a political solution is possible with Prabakaran?
So, why are were talking of a political solution?
LTTE has always worked for a military solution. This Anuradhapura attack is the same old Killinochchi wine that Bishop Chikera is now peddling and desecrating even the Eucharist. The LTTE does NOT want a political solution. It wants a military solution from the barrel of a gun. In the process it will destroy the Ceylon Tamils by destroying the future generation. How many Tamils are now left in the Vanni? What is the percentage of Tamils in Sri Lanka today? The CIA world fact book says that there is now only about 5% Tamils in SL!
Instead of executing this attack on the Anuradhapura military camp, if Prabakaran had declared that HE IS FOR A FEDERAL SOLUTION and that HE WILL PEACEFULLY CONTEST ELECTIONS EVERY WHERE IN SRI LANKA, do you think ANY SINHALA POLITICIAN of any worth could OPPOSE IT? Even the most extreme “unitary man” would have to take up this chance. Even many Sinhala might vote for Prabakaran if he had the capacity to the right thing. But a “Venkai” does not change its spots.
Instead, for 30 years, he has led the Tamils on the path of destruction and suicide. Foolish Tamils, drunk with the venom of hat sing in his praise. I lay the whole blame on Prabakaran for destroying the Ceylon Tamils. He is the biggest friend of Sinhala Chauvinists. Prabakaran has done what no Dutugemunu could ever do - reduce the Tamil areas to a prison for the Tamils, reduce the reputation of Tamils all over the world, kill our next generation and convert the remainder into war-mongering youngsters unfit for civilian life. The adults have been reduced to displace persons.
School principles and Temple dignitaries have been assassinated.
Only the Tamils living in cozy comfort in the foreign lands can continue to rattle their swords, mesmerized by Prabakaran’s war games which have destroyed the Tamil people, and impoverished the Sinhala as well.
Nothing is possible for the Ceylon Tamils until Prabakaran is a factor in the balance of power. Tamils need educated leaders with a vision fit for today’s global village.

read more

Terrorist Leader Thamilchelvan Killed by SLAF attacks

LTTE Terrorist so called political head S. P. Thamilchelvan was killed in an air force aerial attack.
The LTTE has confirmed the killing. The LTTE mouthpiece TamilNet website said that the Air Force attack had targeted the residence of the members of the Political Division and according to the LTTE With him Lt Col Anpumani (Alex), Major Mihuthan, Capt Nethagy, Lt Adchgivel, and Lt Vahaikumaran were also killed.

read more

President calls parties to unite to end terrorism

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appealed to all parties to come together to re-unite a divided country by eradicating terrorism and to uplift the national economy.
The President made this appeal yesterday at the BMICH, when he addressed the 'Soorya Sinha' Certificate Awards Ceremony where 34 leading indigenous Brands were recognised for awards from the President.
The event is a part of an integrated national programme and a new initiative of the Mawbima Lanka Padanama, an organisation legally formed to build, promote and support local brands and strengthen local entrepreneurs, in their bid to reach the top locally and internationally.

President Rajapaksa pointed out that the country has had similar 'Buy Our Own Products' campaigns in the '70s, following the industrial renaissance in the '60s.
However, with the passage of time and the introduction of the 'open economy', several local industries failed, and some even closed down. Now the Mawbima Lanka Padanama has re-started their 'Buy Sri Lankan, be Sri Lankan' campaign to save valuable foreign exchange draining out of the country for imports, and thereby uplift the national economy.

"However, our local producers should produce goods of high quality on par with the highest international quality standards.
The consumer who is desirous of purchasing our local products, should not be held to ransom to accept sub-standard goods instead. Our garments have achieved high standards which are in demand in the global markets due to their quality. We are proud of them.
This is also an encouragement and an impetus in our efforts to eradicate terrorism and build an independent economy. This is our duty and also our responsibility," he said. He noted that the State sector would be directed to purchase and utilise locally manufactured vehicles, especially the vehicles purchased on permits.
The President said that the country's future generations should not be burdened with the task of settling the debts of the consumers unknown to them. The Government has gone that extra mile than any other Government in the past. Earlier, concepts which threatened agriculture has been dramatically changed.
"Paddy, tea, rubber, onions and pepper among others fetch high and favourable prices now. The purchasing patterns have also changed. We have focused our attention on enhancing the livestock industry only when the milk powder prices had gone up

We request the people to partake rice thrice a day only when the price of wheat flour is jacked up. This is however an opportunity for change and a blessing in disguise. This is not a journey solely for the Government. We need the co-operation of the entire Nation," he added.
The Chairman of the Mawbima Lanka Padanama Ariyaseela Wickramanayake, Director Kulatunga Rajapaksha, Dr. Wasantha Bandara, JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe and several others also addressed the ceremony.

read more

read more

Terrorism should be wiped out militarily - Defence Secretary

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a live interview telecast over Rupavahini, ITN and Swarnavahini last night said terrorism should be wiped out militarily, as it was clearly evident that the LTTE was never in search of a politically negotiated peaceful solution to the ethnic crisis.
The Defence Secretary said: "Despite the diverse interpretations of our successes and our failures, we are far more superior than the LTTE. This is what we had overlooked in the past and the battle was dragging on. However, we observe now that we have broken the spine of the LTTE.
We have seized much of their arms and ammunition and killed many of their cadres. They are being defeated even in the Vanni. As never in the past, we have chased after many LTTE floating weapons ships and completely destroyed them in the deep seas. We are convinced that the LTTE is now weakened."
"We should not pass this ethnic problem to the next generation," the Defence Secretary reiterated. He pointed out that the fully dedicated and committed war heroes should be given the correct leadership and their morale boosted.
The media, politicians or any organisation or individual should not seek to stifle the morale, concentration and dedication under any circumstances as it would certainly be a betrayal of one's Motherland if they do so.
It is not the weapons that matter but the man's psyche Although, I come from a political family which played a major role in the formation of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the entire period of my service in the Sri Lanka Army, I served in the North and the East as a soldier during the UNP regime.
"When one joins the Army and after his training no soldier will think in terms of any political allegiance but would have one aim, and that is to serve the Motherland. When the terrorism of Prabhakaran emerged and while the UNP was in power, I served my country and there was no petty mindedness to think otherwise."
"He said that the sheer dedication the soldiers show is difficult to understand and explain unless the person has the Army experience."
Those joining the Security Forces completely forget their kith and kin and all that matters in their personal life but fight the enemy to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of their Motherland.
He noted that the President from the date he assumed office, was all out for a 'honourable peace'. "But who re-started the war?, he asked. It was clear that the LTTE was on the war path, and we had to react and get our Armed Forces prepared. As otherwise around 40,000 of our soldiers would have been in great danger.
The President acted with foresight on the reports of the Service Chiefs and took appropriate action.
Although my brother was in the Opposition at the time, he encouraged me to serve the country and did not wish to see me retire when the country was in need of my service as a soldier. He always had a word of encouragement for me," the Defence Secretary said.

read more

Twenty five Years of War…..

Mr. Robert O Blake, the current American Ambassador to Sri Lanka is reported to have raised a few pertinent issues regarding the Sri Lankan conflict at his recent interaction with the JVP fire brand and MP Mr Wimal Weerawangsa. He is also reported to have met Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe upon the UNP announcement of renouncing the 'federal concept' as a solution to the country's conflict. He appears to believe that devolution and not the military drive to be the only answer to the country's conflict and in his own words '25 years of war has not taken the country anywhere'.
Mr O Blake is a representative of a country that has, since of late, taken a heavy beating in the hands of unbridled terrorism and therefore is not trying to justify terrorism but nevertheless appears to be a victim of separatist propaganda generated by the high flying 'NGO's and some 'international minded' national leaders in this country. Even at this moment of time when the forces are battling to liberate the people from terror, there are Cabinet Ministers in the Rajapakse Government who make official press statements with similar insinuations. Therefore, for the sake of Mr O Blake, the ambassador of the most powerful nation on the earth, or for our own sake, it would certainly be opportune to analyze the ramifications of this conflict during the past 25 years, because we ourselves are in a state of confusion as to whether we have been 'fighting terror' or 'talking peace' during the past 25 years. True, the casualties have been high, but are they casualties of war or casualties of a faint hearted and a confused 'peace'? It certainly is time that we pause for a moment and have good look back at the whole scenario.
The war clouds started gathering momentum over the skies of northern Sri Lanka as far back as 1979 after Mrs. Ghandi started training the Tamil insurgents in Dehradun in the Northern Indian state to teach a lesson to Mr JR Jayawardene, the then SL President for following a US/Israel aligned policy in politics and a capitalist economic strategy. This gave hope to the separatists Tamil politicians who expected Mrs. Ghandi to do what she did to Pakistan a few years back. Hence by the early 80 's there was a considerable rebel population of Tamil youths who were teaming up to fight the Sri Lankan security forces. First they started attacking the Police stations and by the year 1983, 15 police stations and 18 banks have been attacked thereby bringing the North and some parts of East in to a state of anarchy. Army had been mobilized in those areas and TELO, EPRLF and LTTE and other splinter terrorist groups were active killing the likes of Alfred Duraiappa, other popular moderate Tamil leaders, journalists and Policemen. Hence the conflict had actually started by the late 70's.
The riots of July 83 in the South gave license to India and the Church to support the so called Tamil cause in Sri Lanka. In fact the wide publicity was given to July 83 incidents by the Indian press and the western media was to denigrate the Government and the Sinhala community and then create a platform to interfere in the affairs of the country. All the heinous crimes committed by the Tamil terrorist were white washed by the Tamil Diaspora and the western media so much so that unbridled violence and terror became order of the day in Sri Lanka. Organizations like the National Peace Council, funded by the west, practically monopolized the Sri Lankan media justifying the mayhem and slaughter of innocence the name of a 'Tamil Cause'.
This 'Tamil Cause' and the manufactured 'historical grievances' was a hype created by the western media and the Tamil separatist lobby. Tamils of Sri Lanka, as Mrs. Bandaranaike has stated in her response to Mr. Amirthalingam in 1987, had been one of the most privileged communities anywhere in the world. The fact that the Sri Lankan Tamils had a Diaspora of 700,000 professional migrants, gainfully employed in western countries and that they dominated the country's commerce and education even by the 1970's would bear testimony to this. Therefore these so-called grievances was ruse manufactured to arrest the loss of privileges in the post independence era.
The role played by the western media and the reason for such unqualified support had always been an enigma for a lot of us Sri Lankans. The western media always take the side of the Church, but why should the Church in Sri Lanka align itself so heavily with the Tamils when there is an equally strong Sinhala Christian community. The answer is that the church too lost its position after independence and therefore had its own grievances against the emergence of Sinhala Buddhist. Specially the Church was controlling the education in Sri Lanka for centuries thereby producing western friendly English speaking elite who managed the affairs of this country all that while. The Church lost that monopoly with the take over of schools by the Government and the Swabasha act of 1956. Therefore it was in the interest of the Church to preserve the status quo of privileged minorities in Sri Lanka.
The Vedamarachchi operation in 1986 was a turning point in this conflict. Up to then the Sri Lankan forces were fighting the terrorist to finish them and disarm them. They had successfully fought them and the terrorist, Prabhakaran and his LTTE, were marooned in the jungles of Vedamarachchi sending SOS's to India in the face of the SL army onslaught. Those who talk about the invincibility of Prabhakaran should read the many books written by Indian author Narayan Swamy and the Indian intelligence reports to find out how helpless Prabhakaran had been in the jungles of Vedamarachchi. In the interviews given to the Indian press from the jungles of Vedamarachchi, Prabhakaran refers to Mrs. Ghandi as 'our mother'. India salvaged Prabhakaran with their Parippu/relief drop from the skies and ushered a new dimension to the conflict with direct Indian intervention. This resulted in the Indo Lanka Peace accord in 1987.
Since this 1987 Peace Accord and the resultant 'Peace Talks' there had been a series of 'Peace talks' between political leaders of Sri Lanka and the terrorist LTTE. They are the peace talks between, President Premadasa and the LTTE, President Kumaratunge and the LTTE and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the LTTE. In other words every leader that came to power after 1987 has held talks with the LTTE even disregarding the fact the LTTE was a terrorist outfit that was responsible for, ethnic cleansing in the North, assassinating dissenting Tamil politicians in the North, assassinating Sri Lankan and Indian national leaders, targeting the Sri Lankan economy nationally and internationally., slaughtering scores of innocent civilians in the South. Etc.. The fact that these negotiations were held with the legitimate Government of the country imposing no conditions whatsoever including the laying down of arms is a testimony to the sincerity of the incumbent Governments that held talks. The change of Governments through the democratic process gave the LTTE the advantage of repeating its scrupulous designs on successive Governments accruing advantages in military supplies and intelligence.
The successive SL leaders have been so 'starry eyed' in their quest for peace that the peace talks have proved to be destructively over optimistic over the years bordering on sheer asininely. It should not be forgotten that 650 policemen from the East who surrendered to the LTTE when the LTTE unilaterally declared war on the unsuspecting Premedasa regime were moved down by the LTTE contravening all civilized norms with impunity. In fact time and again it has been proved that Prabhakaran had reaped better dividends from the theatre of putative peace than from the theatre of conflict, to strengthen his position for a protracted conflict.
The year 1994 was another crucial year, or rather an important juncture in the North East embroilment. That was the year the Sri Lankan political leaders gave a different perspective to this conflict, in that the whole thinking of the Government elect, the people who voted for that Government, and to some extent even the opposition thinking took a new dimension influenced by a new philosophy. This new philosophy was introduced by the PA government in the form of a 'federal solution' to an 'Ethnic conflict' that we were told, existed in this country. Terms such as the "Ethnic conflict", "Political solution" were introduced to our day to day vocabulary by the Government sponsored print and electronic media.
Soon after assuming office as the country's president Ms Kumaratunga on an official visit to India was posed the question of 'Prabhakaran's extradition to face charges in India' by an Indian journalist. Ms Kumaratunge stated," So far no such request had been made by India, but I hope that the Indian Government will agree that it is more important to bring peace to a part of Sri Lanka, which was at war for the past ten years, than to bring one man to justice", insinuating that without Prabhakaran's blessings no peace would be possible in Sri Lanka.
Ms Kumaratunge quite boldly stated through the state media that a political solution is the only answer to the 'ethnic problem' and 'if you kill Prabhkaran today to solve this problem there will be many more Prabhakarans borne tomorrow'. It however appeared strange that the same logic did not apply to Wijeweeara, the Sinhala rebellion, and more recently to Karuna the ex LTTE Eastern commander. After having won her two terms of Presidency mainly on the majority Sinhala vote Mrs Kumaranatunge acted as a political ambassador to the LTTE justifying the most ruthless terror group on earth. This was a moral boosting the LTTE so badly required in the eyes of the world to descend on the Sinhala community and the SL Government. She ridiculed those who advocated the deployment of the forces to contain the LTTE saying that they are committing the poor youth in the army and challenged such advocates to go to the North and fight. But alas when she completed her 11 years in power in 2004 it so happened that she had caused the deaths of more than 35,000 poor young men during her fits and starts ' war for peace' from both the Armed forces and the LTTE. It should also be remembered that this was the period during which the LTTE reached the zenith of its power inflicting the maximum damage to the Sri Lankan economy. This period of 'putative peace' should go down in the history as the most horrendous period in this conflict. The only thing she proved at the end was, what she said at the begging of her term, that the LTTE can not be defeated by the Sri Lankan military forces.
Mr Wickremesinghe, another liberal minded, 'international community' inclined leader followed in her footsteps and entered in to a 'Ceasefire agreement' with the LTTE which finally proved to be a Cease fire only for the Government forces when LTTE went about a killing spree eliminating dissenting Tamil opinion and the Government intelligence personnel. Mr W even used his diplomacy to exonerate the LTTE from possible Al Qaeda connections in international forums. The CFA gave license to the LTTE to recruit child soldiers, build up its war chest, offered a semblance of international recognition and a demarcated land area of operation. All this, what the LTTE could not get after fighting all this while, did not cost the LTTE anything, not even an assurance of peaceful behaviour in the future. The return, if at all, was in the form of 'the enhanced future threat of war' as the LTTE openly trained its 'now conventional forces' while having their own mechanism to earn a revenue and established a war geared administrative mechanism.
Even in terms of casualties of the conflict, these period of 'putative peace' have been more costly than the period of direct war. As the conflict really started around 1979 and if we consider the 25 year period up to 2004 this period can be broken down in to three phases in terms of 'how the Government of the day treated this conflict'.
1st phase 1979 to 1987 8years Anti terrorist drive to disarm or eliminate terrorism.
2nd phase 1987 to 1994 7years Indian and SL Govt. initiative to bring LTTE to
negotiate.
3rd phase 1994 to 2004 10years International community and SL Govt. initiative for a
political solution to the conflict.
Although the accurate official figure are not divulged for strategic reasons, form the available past and present records the casualties relating to these three phases of the conflict could be deciphered as follows.
Security forces LTTE Indian army Civilian Total casualties
1st phase 1684 1235 --- 3156 6,075
2nd phase 3159 +650 2956 1260 3407 11,432
3rd phase 15365 14568 --- 9827 39,760
This being the history of this conflict and the economic and human devastation it has brought about, it cold well be observed that it is during times of putative 'peace' that this conflict has proved to be more costly. Furthermore, up to the point of Vedamarachchi battle, the SL forces were engaging the terrorist groups more purposefully even though there was indirect Indian support, and that was the most economical period of the conflict. It was after the putative peace processes started that the situation has got blown out of proportion and the LTTE has become ever more powerful. Therefore no person, even of the caliber of the ambassador of the USA, should be allowed to make passing remarks to say that the ' 25 years of war has not brought anything'. It would have been more appropriate to say that, 'the 20 years of peace has only exacerbated the conflict and made the LTTE stronger'.

read more

"Keep politics apart from national security" says Defence Secretary

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa speaking on the present security situation assured that attack on the Anuradhapura Camp would not in any way upset planned military operations against the LTTE terrorists and their bases in the Wanni.
Mr. Rajapaksa appealed to the main opposition not to play politics at the expense of the security forces as the war enters a decisive stage. Under estimating the military leadership or their commitment would only help the enemy who is now desperate at this juncture.
Failing to recognize the success of the security forces in the East make their motive clearer. "Accusations were directed at me personally for purchasing MIG-27 air crafts where as during their period in office the LTTE had received a massive build up. They allowed the terrorists to acquire arms, ammunition and equipment and even went to the extent of paying taxes on behalf of the LTTE, "Defence Secretary added. Mr. Rajapaksa said that the main opposition really speaking must conduct an internal inquiry to ascertain for them selves debacles suffered during their regime.

read more

No War in Sri Lanka – President

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who speaking at his ever monthly media (Janapathi Janatha Hamuwa) meeting at Temple Trees last night (October 19) says the country is not facing a war but is implementing only an operation within the uncleared areas.

Abour Report not Valuable – President

"Who is saying we are facing War? It's false. We are not facing war", President Rajapaksa said.
President Rajapksa also commented on the recent visit to Sri Lanka on her Human Rights Mission by Louiee Abour, The Commissioner for Human Rights to the World Body.
"How can she find out enough to fill a full report on Human Rights in Sri Lanka while on a 4-5 days' visit? It's so very difficult that we can't accept her report," President Rajapaksa said.
"How can we be satisfied with the value of her repot lacking any deep observations?" he asked.
Meanwhile, a top level Minster in the government, Champika Ranawaka , echoed the President's comment in follow-up: "We don't care about her report", he said.
The monthly media meeting orgnised by the president's office. Chief Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Rajitha Senanratna, and Douglus Devananda and few Ministers' secretaries including secretary of Defence Gothabaya Rajapaksa, P.B. Jayasundara and Lalith Weeratunga attended the media discussion. Others invited by the President were pro-Government Journalists some of whom are in the payroll of the Government.
The program was broadcast live on several television channels and radio stations in Sri Lanka.


MIG deal 100% transparent – Gothabaya

However, speaking to the rare media meeting, Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa said, "the deal of the MIG27 was the only one hundred percent transparent arms deal in Sri Lankan history. The Sri Lankan newspapers tried to create black mark for us with their selfish motivations but they failed. Now I'm ready to file a court case against those journalists and their newspapers."
Meanwhile some of pro-Government Journalists say have more media freedom under the current government than in the past. "Sir … I'm strongly satisfied in the implementation of media freedom in the Country. The Media here and their members are now never facing any problems," Hudson Samarasinghe who was a political party supporter and Journalist said.

read more