Thirteen LTTE supporters have been arrested in various parts of the U.S., after some of them attempted to buy arms from a U.S. agent (thanks, tipsters). 
Others were involved in a bribery plot to have the LTTE removed from the U.S. State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. One person (the liasion between the group of 13 and the LTTE in northern Sri Lanka) is still being sought.
Sense any irony here? In case not, let me spell it out: if you’re trying to buy bombs to use in terrorist attacks, it may be difficult to “convince” the State Department that you’re not a terrorist organization.
Another thought: this is the first time I can remember that LTTE supporters have been arrested in the U.S. for involvement in terrorism.
The government in Sri Lanka is by no means innocent in the current conflict. It has, to begin with, bombed the Tamil-controlled areas of Sri Lanka pretty aggressively. The LTTE claims one of the recent targets was a home for orphaned girls, and that sixty of the schoolgirls living there were killed, and another sixty wounded. (The LTTE claims have not been confirmed by any neutral observers, so it might not be true. The Sri Lankan government claims the site was an LTTE military facility.) And a Swedish negotiator has criticized the Sri Lankan government for starting military action against the LTTE too soon after negotiations over water ran into trouble three weeks ago. The same negotiator argues that the dispute over water was both overblown and on the brink of being resolved at the time the government started its artillery assault.
But the LTTE has also delivered a number of bombs to Colombo this summer, the worst of which being a June 15 bombing that killed 64 people (civilians). And there have been many others, including a bombing this week that killed seven and injured many more in Colombo. And thus far, it is the LTTE that has resisted returning to the table to resume talks; according to this report, the government has made it clear that it wants talks to get underway again as soon as possible.
The folks at What is Really Going On? point out that the number of dead in Sri Lanka this summer — 800+ — equals or exceeds the number of people killed in the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict. The site is not a neutral one, but the point they make is valid. Despite the large number of deaths, the news about the conflict has been effectively absent from the U.S. media (and, for that matter, from the internet).
And yet, it is the above-the-fold headline on the National Post, Canada’s most anti-LTTE national newspaper. Americans don’t care about Sri Lanka, but Canadians do (a little). So what. Complaining that the news doesn’t cover the stories of your choice is like complaining a blogger isn’t covering the stories of your choice. Interesting in analyzing the biases of the author, but ultimately not important.
Ikram, I’m not complaining about the lack of coverage (the reasons are predictable, and have often been discussed at SM: it’s brown-on-brown violence; it’s a small, poor country; there’s no U.S. connection, etc.).
The reason I brought that up at the end is to put the conflict in perspective, and underline its importance: these are not a few random attacks.
This “war” perhaps joined the “a bus dived into a gorge at a place called X (which we can’t locate on a map) & Y dead” stories that the US newspapers use as filler material? They will run it when they don’t have enough ‘runaway convict caught’ stories, and a couple of inches of blank space left to fill. A year or so ago, I was a dinner for international students, and a gentlemen involved in foriegn policy wonkery gave a speech; in his estimate less that 5% of the US news is devoted to the “world” news, and that level at which geography taught in schools is highly elementary for a ‘republic’ with military bases in over a hundred countries. Time to revisit Ondaatje “Anil’s Ghost” me thinks.
I’m not sure how the LTTE hopes the situation will play out. They don’t have the muscle to win in a civil war so the only way they could do so is with outside support. I’m not sure what the general view of the LTTE is in South India, but much of my extended family is still in Tamil Nadu. I know that opinions of the LTTE among them dropped sharply after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. I also have never heard of LTTE operations in North America. It also doesn’t surprise me that the Canadian papers covered the story. While there are Tamil communities in most major American cities, they are relatively small. On the other hand, I believe that the Tamil community in Toronto is substantial. So, it makes sense that a major paper would cover it because Tamils comprise a significant minority in a large Canadian city.
i dont have a nyt account so cant validate – but the local news sezthese guys were canadians – hence the splash in our pages.
more grist for the mill that … canada is a haven for terrorists -grumble-
that being said, i’ve followed the threads in the newspapers. have heard that there’s internal friction among the ltte, with rival factions emerging from within, and getting their respective leaders bumped off periodically.
my part of toronto favoors ltte. it isnt unusual to see a tiger tail hanging from the rear view mirror or revolutionary posters in the tamil convenience stores. now that i think of it… the sri lankan sinhala presence in toronto seems to be muted at best.
The conflict in Sri Lanka doesn’t get much press coverage in general. There has been fighting in the East for much of the year. There were communal riots people expected to get quite bad in Batticaloa several months back for example.
The school that was bombed was an LTTE run orphanage. Maybe you don’t like the fact that the LTTE run orphanages, but that’s how it goes. The Sri Lankan government isn’t going to run any out there. The claim that the children were not Tigers in training has been backed by The Red Cross, which has offices in the area, and by UNICEF. So contrary to what you write, it has been backed by neutral third parties. Here is a BBC article on UNICEF and the Sri Lanka Monitor Mission visiting the site.
Toronto Star is reporting 4 Ontario men charged with one of them allegedly saying he took orders from Pottu Amman.
Ramanan, thanks for the link — I hadn’t seen that, and it supports your claim that the building was an orphanage. But do note that the title of the BBC article is “Dispute over Sri Lankan Air Raids.” The BBC is reporting both sides of the story; I am too.
And yes, I know that the LTTE runs orphanages, schools, and hospitals.
Toronto–and Canada–has a large Tamil population because Canada, unlike the U.S., took in Tamil refugees after the anti-Tamil riots now known as Black July (1983). (Australia also took a lot of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.) These emigrants were victims of anti-Tamil riots that went on for days with no government intervention. Lots of these people lost family and property; it’s not surprising that their support would go to whoever is against the Sri Lankan government. You will see more coverage of Sri Lanka in Australian and Canadian newspapers.
Amardeep, you’ll note in the article that the dispute appears to be between the Sri Lankan government, and everyone else.
Toronto has a very large Tamil community. As context points out, a good chunk of the community will be refugees from the war. There were a wave of people that moved in the 80s, and another in the mid-90s the last time fighting flared up. The high school I went to had its Tamil population boom over the course of a year. This is why you see more coverage of events in Sri Lanka in Canada.
Much of the community here is pro-LTTE. In particular, those people who were displaced by the war are most likely to be sympathetic to the LTTE. (And much of the middle class diaspora that left Sri Lanka in the 60s and 70s will be of the same opinion I suspect; being divorced from the conflict probably allows one to romanticize the group I suspect.) Almost every single Tamil shop in the city will carry several pro-LTTE newspaper. The various pro-LTTE groups in the city and well connected and well organized. Tamil protests in the city are usually quite big; tons of people come out. Almost all the MPs (politicians) in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto where most Tamils live, back the LTTE to some extent. I am guessing because the Tamils are a worthwhile voting block. I think the Sinhala community in the city is much smaller, and probably much less political as a whole. As such, they are much less likely to be heard.
It’s also interesting that the recent assassination of a Tamil journalist has not been covered very much by the U.S. media. The man was also a Tamil politician, and he was killed–where else?–at his home, in the Sri Lankan Army’s High Security Zone. Super secure, huh? Gee, I wonder who would have had the best opportunity and motive to do that? Do you think it’ll be investigated? If you think it will, there’s a bridge I’d like to sell you.
Ramanan, nice link to the BBC. In addition to noting the Red Cross and UNICEF, it’s worth noting that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission does not think Sencholai was a military installation–and they’re really supposed to be the mediating party in the conflict between the government and the Tigers, so if they didn’t think that, they really shouldn’t say it. I wish that one of these stories quoted them saying what exactly they did see.
Finally, even without incidents like Sencholai, the Tigers’ use of young people (including, I believe, conscripted children–I agree with those who condemn the LTTE’s tactics) gives the government ammo to target and abuse young Tamils, regardless of how much evidence there is of their involvement. This has been true for years, and young Tamil people, particularly students, have suffered as the government has “disappeared” people. There but for the grace of God goes the United States. Hey–wait just a second…!!!
Three issues. 1.Amaradeep: “And yes, I know that the LTTE runs orphanages, schools, and hospitals. “
Yes most of it funded by Sri Lanka government using existing government infrastucture.Officals report to both Government and LTTE. 2.”The school that was bombed was an LTTE run orphanage” The place used to be a orphange.All the people killed were 15-17 girls.(GCE O/L and A/L students) .Attending a training camp.LTTE story has evolved after the bomb attack.If you consider fact that LTTE has (and still recruiting ) child soldiers with thier latest initiative to build a civil defence force ,this orpahn school camp story sounds highly suspicious. Also find DBS Jeyaraj’s account here.http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/187
3.Ramanan:So contrary to what you write, it has been backed by neutral third parties. Here is a BBC article on UNICEF and the Sri Lanka Monitor Mission visiting the site. BBC doesn’t look like they are impartial (even the Sri Lanka/Sinhala version ). Also LTTE is refusing to have any members from Europian union.SLMM is a ongoing saga with lot’s of twists and turns .
http://lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=2868
another link http://lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=2876
In case you are wondering, lobbying with the State Dep. does work. At least heavy Saudi lobbying ensured that World Muslim League (Rabita-e-Alam-al-Islam) get away while its sister concern Rabita Trust was “sacrificed”.
Context : The man was also a Tamil politician, and he was killed–where else?–at his home, in the Sri Lankan Army’s High Security Zone. Super secure, huh? Gee,
Please get the context straight .
Sri Lankan army commander was sucide bombed insight army headquaters in Colombo.
There are so many parties in the conflict ,you don’t know what’s going on. (Army ,LTTE,EPDP all can do this.If something happens in East add to the equation rebel-rebel faction (Karuna) group)
Chandare, I read the DBS Jeyaraj article you linked to in comment #9 (at transcurrents.com), and it actually supports the pro-LTTE/Tamil perspective. Though he does point out that the use of the building that was bombed has changed in recent months, he’s pretty clear that in his view it was an orphanage:
In short, this article doesn’t support your argument very much at all.
Amaradeep: My Argument is this , 1.The place bombed is a NOT an orphange:(It used to be the site where this Sencholai orhpanage was located.This orphanage has been re-located several times since 1991 it seems.So putting ORHPANGE in the news headlines is LTTE’s way of getting the biggest bang for the buck.) 2.There was a training program going on when the bombs fell.(LTTE and Gov and third parties agree on this )The students were school childen aged 15-17 from surrounding area attending a residential camp. 3.Govt assumed this to be an LTTE training camp(and still not backing down from the story) and bombed it. 4.KILLING INNOCENT NON COMBATANTS IS BAD.(No matter who does it). 5.EXPLOITING INNOCENT CHILDERN AND USING THEM AS CANNON FODDER IS BAD(No matter who does it).
Chandare:
You wrote:
Can you provide a citation to prove that? I’ve never read anything indicating that that was true. In fact, there’s been considerable news coverage of the fact that the Tigers run a de facto state.
Chandare writes:
Says… the government. Their credibility? Not so high.
Chandare writes:
It’s certainly fair to say that it’s suspicious. But the burden of proof is on the government. So far, the LTTE has UNICEF, the SLMM, and the Red Cross on their side. I’m still waiting for someone to agree with the Sri Lankan government. The Tamil Nadu government doesn’t–they condemned the bombing. (Aside from all this, if you really believe these kids were in training, take that a step further, and suppose that they are being forced to it (not such a stretch, considering the Tigers conscript children). Is it moral to attack them? A very complicated question–they’re minors, and presumably victims too! But I don’t think the Sri Lankan government is concerned with moral complexities.)
Next, Chandare said “Also find DBS Jeyaraj’s account here.http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/187“
This contains this paragraph:
“The SLMM later observed that the place was not a military installation. The SLMM also said that ten large craters had been made by the bombs. The UNICEF went on record that schoolgirls had been killed and injured in the incident and that there was no evidence of the victims being LTTE cadres.”
Chandare writes:
“3.Ramanan:So contrary to what you write, it has been backed by neutral third parties. Here is a BBC article on UNICEF and the Sri Lanka Monitor Mission visiting the site. BBC doesn’t look like they are impartial (even the Sri Lanka/Sinhala version ).”
The idea that the BBC is not fair is laughable. They present both sides of the story in that link, as Amardeep pointed out, and they are respected all over the world. Your suggestion that even the Sinhala/Sri Lanka version does not look fair further undermines your criticism. Why should the Sinhalese version be different? Please cite some evidence showing the BBC’s bias.
What?
Let me add one more thing. 6.Sending money knowing to a group which uses child solders is bad.If that person is sending money while his childern are safe in west and asking the poor tamil childern in North-East Sri Lanka to sacrifice the life for motherland,then that is EXTRA BAD!
Chandare:
The LTTE/EPDP would have no motive to kill the editor of a pro-Tamil newspaper. The Sri Lankan Army has abused the occupants of the North for years, kidnapping, killing, torturing, and seizing and destroying property in the name of “security.” They are the most likely suspects for this crime. But wait and see what the “investigation” bears out. In the meantime, consider the Tamil newspapaer that was burned down after curfew, when only soldiers are allowed out. I’m perfectly willing to admit that the LTTE commits tons of atrocities. Suicide bombs and conscripting children–BAD. So why are you unwilling to admit that the GoSL and its Army are guilty of their own sins?
If the incident had happened in the East, I’d agree that Karuna might be a factor. However, even in that situation, one would have to consider that there are plenty of rumors about the government backing the paramilitaries. Suspicious, as you would say.
Since the EU added the LTTE to their terrorist list, the Tigers have asked that any EU members in the SLMM leave. I think this is what Chandre is talking about, though I’m not sure why.
Chandre, do you get your talking points from LankaWeb?
Also, as context points out, your 5 arguments taken as a whole are contradictory. Even if the school was in fact a training camp for children, which I doubt, the fact that the Sri Lankan government knowingly bombed a school full of children (soliders) strikes me as morally repugnant. Especially since they frequently argue the LTTE are forcing children to join them. (An aside: a lot of evidence exists to suggest the LTTE recruit child soldiers, so having them to run orphanages strikes me as a bit suspect.)
Chandare
Yes, it’s bad. But you seem determined to avoid placing ANY blame on the GoSL. Check out what Varikkuthirai and Parthi say on this thread. The government has certainly contributed to creating its own enemy, and to ignore that is to feed this conflict forever.
If there are any SM readers from South India, particularly Tamil Nadu, I’m curious to hear what your take on the situation. How much support is the LTTE garnering over there? My understanding is limited, being that I only go back every 3 or 4 years.
Context:Let me be clear, Army has done some atrocious things in the past and are fully capable of doing it.
First let’s clear things up about how LTTE is running it’s administration. Give me couple of hours to come up with how third party sources.
Context:Let me be clear, Army has done some atrocious things in the past and are fully capable of doing it.
First let’s clear things up about how LTTE is running it’s administration. (I will link the third party sources here)
Sriram,
Check out the story I linked to re: Tamil Nadu–it makes it seem that Tamil Nadu supports the Sri Lankan Tamils, while the rest of the nation is against them. Pro-LTTE sentiment is apparently a crime in India.
Chandare,
Thanks for acknowledging that the Army has done “some atrocious things.” But why are they reduced to that, while the LTTE is raked over the coals? Let’s be fair and rake ’em both. I’d also note that it’s not just the Army–it’s the Government of Sri Lanka itself that has encouraged and perpetrated many of these crimes.
I look forward to your clarifying links to unbiased news sources re: the administration of Tiger territory.
Actually (though I no longer live in TN, a lot of family is still there), support for the LTTE or elam is at best a marginal issue. No one really cares that much. A lot of people somewhat sympathize with the plight of tamils. That’s just about it. If you list 50 things people in TN worry about or think about……the elam conflict might come out at 50. Except at southern TN (Rameshwaram, and to some extent tirunelvelli/kanyakumari districts) where there’s a little more involvement, in part due to the large number of lankan tamil refugees. Rest of the state…..doesn’t really care much for the LTTE.
Please stop trying to equate the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. The Sri Lankan Government is a democractially elected government recognized by the United Nations while the LTTE is a terrorist organization banned in India, the UK, USA, Canada, Malaysia and Australia. The LTTE is nothing but a terrorist organization that has SINGLE HANDEDLY killed Tamil democrats voted into power by the Tamil people themselves. I need not mention how Rajiv Gandhi got blown up into a million pieces and the latest attack on Pakistan’s envoy in Colombo. Most Tamils in Sri Lanka live in Government-controlled territory. The bombed “orphanage” was not a bombed orphange at all. It was a training camp for LTTE cadres.
Let’s have a good look:
These ‘school girls’ were definitely innocents. Here is the proof:
The LTTE never uses children as soldiers. The whole world knows this. Shame on you for even believing so.
The LTTE never uses females in warfare. Just ask Gen. fonseka, he will verify this.
This camp was held far far away from civilization. What a nice place for a school or a first aid camp. The efficient bus service is always there to take them into and out of that jungle. Also a good place as nobody can hear patients screaming when they make a mistake. No lights and no water in the place is good as they will learn to work in harsh environments (I do not mean the battle front).
They were there for a two day first aid camp. That was because they had to be taught how to apply first aid in the dark using night vision. A terrorist training camp would never be held overnight. The buggers come in the bus in the morning and go off at four.
There is a double perimeter around the camp. Lots of animals that come in the night no. The barbed wire helps to keep them out. This is not to trap in and kill any of the students should they want to run away in the night.
There is a firing practice yard. This is never to be used to practice with weapons but solely for them to play batta jumping after the first aid camp.
After the blast there were many brown uniformed figures running away on the road from the place. That is not the LTTE uniform you fool but the pyjamas of the oppressed school girls. Pity that the GOSLÂ’s restriction on essential services mean that only brown coloured striped pyjama cloth is allowed to go to these areas.
Some of the photos showed dead girls all wearing trousers underneath the clothing. Not that they didnt have time to remove the tiger uniforms before taking photos of the dead students. It is just that all females in the area wear trousers under their clothes to escape from mosquitoes.
The LTTE does not allow media to go there. Simply because they would catch malaria if they didnt wear trousers under their salwars. Also since the unbiased LTTE media has reported on this there is no need for the biased world media to see them again.
The unicef and SLMM didnt see any evidence of military activity there. If it was a military camp the LTTE would never have hidden the facts from the world, would they? And these two organizations are famous for making clever observations arent they (like the one about the “third party” which attacked the chinese trawlers off the eastern coast).
May the farce be with you.
And hey lookie lookie! More “school girls” doing a “first aid course” and an “orphanage”:
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/1583
Context said:
“It’s also interesting that the recent assassination of a Tamil journalist has not been covered very much by the U.S. media. The man was also a Tamil politician, and he was killed–where else?–at his home, in the Sri Lankan Army’s High Security Zone.”
Sorry, using Tamilnet (aka Voice Of The Tigers) as your source isn’t going to cut it. Tamilnet claimed that it took place in the High Security Zone but this claim is rejected here:
Sri Lanka Army rejects claim that former Tamil MP was killed in HSZ http://www.colombopage.com/archive/August21135339SL.html
Bench, you’re throwing around a lot of unsubstantiated insinuations. There are reasonably reliable reports that the building was in fact an orphanage. At any rate, the dead all seem to be teenage girls, and there is no indication of any arms cache at the site. If there are pictures floating around with the dead girls in military fatigues, show them to us.
The bottom line might be this: surely the SL government could have found a better target to bomb.
And no, that isn’t to minimize the many deaths caused by LTTE bombs this summer. One just hopes the government would take the high road and focus on verified military targets.
No I disagree with you Amardeep. “Child” soldiers of 16-20 are deadly kiling machines and ARE legitimate military targets. Do you expect soldiers on the frontline to go “aww lookie, cute little itsy bitsy 16 year olds with machine cuns and cyanide capsules, let’s invite them to a tea party”? I don’t think so. The LTTE was attacking Jaffna or no reason at all and guess what happened after the bombing of this so-called orphanage? The strength of attacks immediately ceased. The place WAS an orphanage – note the past tense. The orphanage was moved to Kilinocchi in January of this year and Sencholai grounds were changed into a training camp. Do you honestly believe normal orphanages have a firing range?
Let’s have a look at a picture BBC published on its website when it reported the attack:
http://defence.lk/img/Afattack120060816.jpg An “injured child” with a Walkie-Talkie and military belt still at her waist
Please don’t try and take a the moral high ground viz are viz Sri Lanka, because the Indian government has done terrible terrible things and yet I’m sure you won’t equate them to say, Lakshar-e-Toiba, would you? Don’t forget India armed and trained the LTTE to the hilt before Rajiv Gandhi got blown up.
And Amardeep, are these “school girls in “military fatigues”?
PICTURE ONE http://www.asiantribune.com/files/images/parathi6.img_assist_custom.jpg
PICTURE TWO http://www.asiantribune.com/files/images/parathi4.jpg
PICTURE THREE http://www.asiantribune.com/files/images/Parathi2_0.jpg
I suppose since they’re not in military fatigues, they simply must be “inocent school girls” doing a “first aid course”, eh?
And the suicide bomber that blew up Rajiv Gandhi – she just couldn’t have been a suicide bomber either because she was dressed in civilian clothes.
I’m sure you won’t equate them to say, Lakshar-e-Toiba, would you? Don’t forget India armed and trained the LTTE to the hilt before Rajiv Gandhi got blown up.
i just finished dying to win by robert pape and he claims that before the indian withdrawl the sri lankan gov. was arming the LTTE in their fight against the indian army in the late 1980s as they both wanted them out of there. so it is perhaps a little more complex than you are making it out to be? 🙂
Yes perhaps, since India unilaterally violated Sri Lanka’s airspace, forced the Indo Lanka Accord down Sri Lanka’s throat, arm twisted Sri Lanka and sent its Indian People Killing Force (IPKF) – or wait, that was meant to be Indian Peace Keeping Force – to Sri Lanka. All Sri Lankans whether Tamil or Sinhalese were glad to see the backs of those folks.
And hey Amardeep, maybe you might want to have a long at more pictures of “innocent children” doing “their thing”, Tamil Tiger style of course:
PICTURE ONE http://www.lankaspace.com/upload/thumbs/43536.jpg
^^ What a wonderful picture of “innocent school girls” doing a “first aid course”
PICTURE TWO http://www.lankaspace.com/upload/thumbs/651018.jpg
^^ Diapers anyone?
And Lets now move on to TAMIL TIGER MEDIA and have a look at pictures from that side.
More “innocent school kids”….
PICTURE ONE http://www.eelavision.com/gallery/5001-8664.jpg
^^ Let’s invite them to a tea party shall we? With biscuits and scones? Maybe they won’t kill us then.
PICTURE TWO http://www.eelavision.com/gallery/5001-8694.jpg
^^ What a cute little girl and what nice machine gun! It should be in a coffe table magazine. It just warms your heart up doesn’t it.
PICTURE THREE http://www.eelavision.com/gallery/5001-8700.jpg
^^ aww, look at that grenade launcher carried by that sweet innocent little kid.
PICTURE FOUR http://www.eelavision.com/gallery/5001-8699.jpg
^^ Wow! More “toys” that go “boom boom”
Bench, here are a bunch more photos from the same bombing (somewhat graphic, not too much). It’s a pro-Tamil news site, but note that they include the photo you link to.
I’ll let people judge for themselves whether the dead look like hardened soldiers. I believe my point stands: there must have been better targets than this one.
bench, you’ve made your point. ranting endlessly will turn you into a troll and dilute the strength of your message. also, please use web links rather than typing out the URL for each item you want us to look at. it’s much more effective and indeed increases the chance that readers will look at what you want to show them. thank you.
bench,
when do you sign up to donate some money to the tamil tigers? you’ve convinced me! 🙂
i mean, where do i sign up. damn “post.” hit preview from now on.
Sorry, the attack on the so-called “orphanage” resulted in immediate dulling of the attacks on the Jaffna Peninsula. Militarily I don’t think there could have been a better target as it was used as a staging post for attacks at Forward Defence Lines at Muhamalai and Nagarkovil.
And Amardeep, can you let me know why the LTTE banned the media from visiting the site?
PS How to insert direct links?
go to the FAQ and scroll down to “how do i hyperlink something in a comment?” for easy instructions.
Bench, so are you saying that these are the frontline of LTTE fighters, and that this was some kind of important military base? On what evidence?
I don’t claim to be an expert on the actual military conflict, but this article at Lanka Library describes the LTTE attack on the Forward Defence Lines as being thwarted as of Sunday August 13. The bombing at the Sencholai orphanage/school/camp/whatever took place the following day (Monday August 14). In other words, your claim that this was some kind of definitive, crippling strike isn’t supported by that time-line, which suggests that the LTTE had already been largely defeated militarily before the bombing took place.
I have no idea why the LTTE banned journalists — it’s not exactly a normal “government” — but Unicef and SLMM were there and confirmed that these were just teenage girls.
The Sri Lankan Government is a democractially elected government recognized by the United Nations while the LTTE is a terrorist organization banned in India, the UK, USA, Canada, Malaysia and Australia.
The united nations also recognizes: Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, etc, etc, etc. It’s not like being recognized by the UN is an accomplishment. Second, being democratically elected isn’t a free pass to do whatever you damn please. And to call Sri Lanka a democracy is simplistic. In a country like Sri Lanka, where there is a clear ethnic majority which votes in favour of itself, and to the detriment of the Tamil people, it’s hard to look favourable upon the government. Majority rule isn’t a democracy, it’s an ochlocracy. It’s a bad thing.
Keep on ranting. I’ve been told its the best way to be heard.
More updates on the military side of the conflict here.
Amardeep, the attack on the so-called “orphanage” blunted the LTTE attacks on the Jaffna Peninsula. That was the day Tamilnet and Sibernews suddenly went quiet after going on and on about how the LTTE breached the FDLS and was kicking some butt. Something must have happened. And what SLMM and Unicef said was that it “didn’t appear” to be a terror camp, they did NOT discount that it was used as a training ground for the LTTE. “Didn’t appear” is as wishy washy as you can get. There was more than enough time to get rid of the machine guns, AK47s, enough time to get rid of the wooden poles before the SLMM and Unicef was invited in – ALL OTHER MEDIA WERE BANNED FROM THE SITE. And Tamilnet even claimed the “first aid course” was being run by westerners, of course these westerners magically disappeared (ie never existed). And the SLMM and Unicef only said there were 19 dead bodies…far from the 62 the LTTE and Tamilnet claimed. “innocent school girls”
PS Thanks for the info Siddhartha
Sorry Ramanan, successive governments in Sri Lanka have been able to hold onto power purely thanks to the support of minority parties like the SLMC (representing Muslims) and the CWC (representing Indian Tamils). The Majority Sinhalese are evenly split between the UNF and the SLFP/JVP combine. So if you want to blame the Sri Lankan Government you should also blame these minority parties for KEEPING the government in power. If they weren’t happy with any policies, all they had to do was pull the plug – but they didn’t. The two major Sri Lankan parties – the UNF and the SLFP (or PA) have numerous minority members unlike the LTTE proxy party – the TNA which is ethnically Tamil-only.
As far as I can tell, sucessive governments have had 50 years to reverse choices made by the nationalists in 1956, and they haven’t. Tamils were politically active up until the late 70s, and they couldn’t bring about any changes to the system. Yay democracy!
There were about 30 years of non-violent resistence to what was happening in Sri Lanka prior to all the armed resistence of the late 70s and 80s. I am no fan of the LTTE, but it’s stupid to pretend they have no reason to exist.
Well I don’t think they have any reason to exist. All they are doing is destroying the Tamil community and leading them down the path of death, destruction and destitution. The LTTE has brought nothing but a bad name to the Tamil community. They have been banned as a terrorist group in so many countries and everytime “Tamil Tiger” and “terrorism” comes together they are smearing the Tamil community, and all the ordinary good folk. The areas controlled by the LTTE in Sri Lanka are the most backward and poverty striken areas in Sri Lanka. And most Tamils in Sri Lanka live outside of the LTTE-controlled regions in government controlled areas – among the very people the LTTE claims is carrying a “campaign of genocide” against the Tamil people. The Jaffna Tamil Politicans who prided themselves on their education and their “superiority” over Indian Tamils and Batticaloa Tamils have taken the Sri Lankan Tamil community down a terrible, terrible path. You might want to ask why yourself why the Muslims community – which is also Tamil speaking – and would have thus faced the same so-called “oppression” as the Tamil community faced didn’t take to arms and violence. Their politicans were smart. Then consider how many Tamils the LTTE has killed itself. Sri Lanka’s finest foreign minister ever, Lakshman Kadirgamar an ethnic Tamils was assasinated by the very group that claims to fight for “Tamil freedom.” The latest victim was Kethesh Loganathan another ethnic Tamil who was part of the GOVERNMENT’S Peace Secretariat. Then what about Neelan Thiruchelvam, Amirthalingam, Sarojini Yogeswaran, Rajini Thiranagama? The LTTE is worse that Pol Pot when it comes to the murder of ethnic Tamils themselves.
Even the car bomb the LTTE recently set off in Colombo lead to the death of a little Tamil girl and her mother. Who was it aimed at? A Tamil politician involved in the democratic mainstream.
Who are you kidding?
PS Been to your blog, it’s clear you’re an LTTE sympathiser.
If you’re interested in that Car Bomb story Ramanan: The barbaric act that claimed a cherub
Glad to know I’m a LTTE sympathizer. I must have confused myself and my friends.
Also, Pol Pot killed upwards of 1.5 million people, so the comparisons to the LTTE are at best stupid, and at worse offensive to those who suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. The LTTE killing their political opponents and critics is wrong, but not in the same league as the sorts of things the Khmer Rouge did.
Regardless of how much you don’t like the LTTE, their being very bad doesn’t make the government good. They can both be bad. It’s true.