Sri Lanka must stop treating Tamils as terrorists
Tamil Tiger guerillas; so called Tamil Eelam Army by tamils will continue to attack, so long as young Tamils are marginalised
A British defence attache in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, who had been in Malaya, as Singapore and Malaysia were then called, during the only truly successful anti-guerrilla campaign, once asked me how many men I thought it took to be an effective guerrilla force. His response to my incorrect guess astounded me. “It takes 10,” he said. “You can do a lot of damage with 10 men.”
This should be a timely warning for a country which, after the assassination of its most famous independent newspaper editor and last week’s terrorist attack on the national cricket team in Lahore, is experiencing a rare surge of global attention.
Sri Lanka’s civil war, which has torn the island apart for almost 30 years, now seems to be coming to an end. This has been immensely popular with the majority Sinhalese, who represent 81 per cent of the population, and who have lost sons in far greater numbers than officially admitted. There has been a blizzard of national flags across the country’s south and with the fall of the Tamil Tigers’ last stronghold in the north-east last week, much understandable self-congratulation.
As long as Tamil Tigers remain, the end of war will not bring peace to Sri Lanka
The trouble is no one seems to have read the small print. This, in essence, repeats the defence attache’s warning – as long as there remain 10 Tamil Tigers, ready to strap on explosives or plant IEDs, the end of war will not bring peace.
Yet still the government continues to drive brutalised and marginalised young Tamils into the arms of the guerrillas. Late last year, army chief Sarath Fonseka was adamant: “This country belongs to the Sinhalese. Minorities can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things.”
This policy of subjugation is a dangerous one. The Tamil Tigers are amongst the world’s most ruthless and savage killers, whose trophies include a former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and countless government ministers.
And now, an unknown number of Black Tigers, Tamil Tiger suicide squads who are trained especially to detonate themselves, are hiding in the island’s towns and cities. Dozens are believed to have infiltrated during the six-year ceasefire before war resumed in 2008, which is why Colombo bristles with military checkpoints and, so that ministerial vehicles can race through unassailed, its main roads are emptied of all but stray dogs.
The government can do little about these suicide bombers already in place, but it can do a great deal more to ensure that the remaining Tamils – almost a million have escaped the war and now live in the West – remain out of the Tiger’s ranks.
This would mean ceasing to treat the 200,000 civilians still trapped in the war zone by the Tigers as sympathisers and therefore, fair game. It would mean ending the indiscriminate bombing which has killed an estimated 2,000 Tamil civilians and wounded 7,000 others, and which international aid staff have called “a campaign of ethnic cleansing”.
It seems Sri Lanka has ‘given its security forces a green light to use ‘dirty’ tactics’
As a report released by Human Rights Watch in 2007 revealed: “Sri Lanka’s government has been responsible for unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and other serious human rights violations since the resumption of major hostilities. It has also apparently given its security forces a green light to use ‘dirty war’ tactics”.
In addition, it would mean halting the construction of ‘re-settlement villages’ for refugees, which the United Nations has termed internment camps. It would mean ending the arrests and abductions of Tamils in the south, and the routine harassment of Tamil citizens at checkpoints in the capital.
It would also entail ending the assassinations and abductions of journalists: last week, Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, editor of two Tamil-language newspapers, was arrested by plainclothes police officers without a warrant. He is currently in detention where relatives say he has been badly beaten. In total, 16 journalists, most of them Tamils, have been killed in the last four years and 27 are still being held.
It would, in short, mean treating the Tamil population of Sri Lanka – as well as critics of the war – as full-ranking citizens of their own country, rather than intruders there on sufferance.
Until then, expect more suicide bombings.
terrorists called by any other name are still terrorists,,does not change the fact by changing the name.
you are happy to hear bomb blast at the mosque. you are the infidels, you don’t deserve human rights
Sri Lanka must stop treating Tamils as terrorists…??
or
LTTE must stop treating Tamils as animals…??
Tigers are only trying to maintain the balance on both sides of the equation you cant accuse that…you dont have the right to talk when SLA is killing tamil people who seek refugee…and unarmed
of cos sri lanka doesnt treat tamils as terrorists. its ltte whom are TREATED the way they know, the way they want and the way they understand
Srilanka treating tamils as tamils and tamil mass murderers as terrorists.Ltte leader & all cadras we called terrorist-merderers.We have good tamils we called them tamil ‘MAHATHTHAYA’
or DEMALA MAHATHTHAYA or DRAVIDA MAHATHTHAYA.
We were deeply sorrowed of the brutal killing of many tamil ‘Mahaththayas’(Killed by tamil terrorists)in Sri lanka.
Possibly ‘Lakhsman Kadiragamer MAHATHTHAYA’ could have be a good tamil Prime minister in Srilanka.
I agree with the above comment. Blowing people up and using the populace as human shields has never gone well for minority groups.
As a side note you also seem to not fully understand the meaning of genocide, two thousand casualties out of a population of over a million is hardly a genocide.
Instead of blowing things up why don’t the Tamils do something that might make a difference and engage the majority populace on a diplomatic level in government.
You’re deluded if you think threatening more violence is going to get the the Tiger Thugs anywhere.
Today they might be branded as terrorist, tomorrow it will be different, you ass hole. The next govt of Tamilnadu is supporting the Eelam divide, and you are gone. GoSL slapping it’s own face by getting support from india.
The time is coming near for the “fight to finish” where SF is going to run for life! Lol…….
Where there is no Eelam, there will be no PEACE.
By the way how when a bomb goes off, the blame will be automatically goes to LTTE. Stupids, do your homework, it might be your own kind, whose brother or father killed by this war.
LTTE’s enemy is SF and the present administartion, not the muslims in a restive corner. Wake up from your dreams.
I do agree the fact that GoSL and singalese are not treating all Tamils as terrorists but as slaves…
Only those who deny being slaves are treated as terrorists….
“Today they might be branded as terrorist, tomorrow it will be different, you ass hole.”
Sorry, but organisation that blow up random people will never be anything but terrorists.
In the same vein people that blindly support the government are just as bad.
I tried to illustrate the negatives of both sides on my own blog: http://ozsoapbox.com/world/suicide-bombing-in-sri-lanka-caught-on-film/
Regardless of your views on the Tigers or what the army are doing, blowing people up isn’t the way to go and *is* terrorism. The government isn’t going to stop eradicating the militia just because some randoms strap bombs to their chest.
You only have to look at the middle east to see how ineffective this has been.
Everytime a suicide bomber is resported in the media these days it’s just another faceless statistic trying to make a difference in a war that’s already been lost.
GoSL is the biggest terrorist organisation.
When a cat is pushed to an end, it will strike back. It was only cat in eighties but grown as tigers now. Who is to blame? Ask yourself.
There will be no use talking about anything, just see whether the SF & GoSL can “fight to the finish”. a promise made by govt. The govt has failed the “LTTE will be completely captured in matter of days” a statement made about few weeks ago. What has happened till now? Also ask yourself.
The govt is lost!
oh! DTSL,
all i see is rage in all your comments. ltte is a terrorist organization but not all tamils.
most of the tamils in this country are harassed cos of the acts by ltte.
the past would have been dark and gloomy. that doesn’t mean this country should not see the sunshine.
all communities HAVE lived in peace in this country and they will again after LTTE is gone…
Its quite imperative that LTTE shows their outrage by unleashing mass attacks and are they in favour of envisaging the good will of tamils………seriously a dubious fact.Srilankan peace cannot be hampered by any sorts of terror attacks and we call them attack against tamils
Its pathetic as self has seen local protest happening in chennai disrupting the local harmony with no basic moto but to help srilankan tamils when there is really no harm that happened to srilankan tamils
Srilanka is a different country and foregin natinals are treated with due respect and goodies