SRI -LANKA and WORLD Politics for Against Terrorism
New era in foreign relations to safeguard motherland -President
(Lanka-e-News, May 03, 2009, 2.00 PM) In order to, protect our new freedom after defeating terrorism, and to prevent being under the pressure of others, it is necessary to begin a new era in foreign relations to safeguard my motherland, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the nation at the Victory Day and Tribute to War Heroes celebration in Colombo, today (03).
Here is the text of the President’s Address to the Nation
I declare with great pride and dignity that I have hoisted the national flag in a single country unified under a single standard. Before me are our armed forces who astonished the world by their skill in war, discipline, efficiency and valour. It is with great expectation for the future that I address the Sri Lankan nation that is having pleasant dreams of bringing about the dawn of a great and distinguished future.
(In Tamil)
Friends
This is the Motherland of us all.
We should live in this country as the children of one mother, as brothers and sisters.
There can be no differences here. The war fought against the LTTE was not a war fought against the Tamil people.
Our Heroic Troops sacrificed their lives to save the innocent Tamil people from the clutches of the LTTE. We cannot forget the great service rendered by them.
The victory we gained defeating the LTTE, is a victory for our entire land.
It is great victory you obtained.
It is a victory for all who live in our country.
My dear Heroic Troops,
The war against the terrorists is now over.
It is now the time to win over the hearts of the Tamil people.
The Tamil speaking people should be protected.
They should be able to live without fear and mistrust.
That is today the responsibility of us all!
(Tamil ends)
Friends
The great humanitarian operation that unified our motherland under a single national standard has opened the path to our nation that is eager to step forward to a future of greatness and distinction.
The events of the past few days have shown us that the whole world is surprised by the by this enormous victory achieved by our Motherland. Many countries congratulated us for having defeated terrorism.
Until now the world had not seen such a powerful terrorist organization. It had ships, aircraft, submarines, huge fire power, and most of all thousands of men and women suicide killers.
For this very reason the world and some in our own country believed that in order to defeat the most powerful terrorist organization in the world, the army of a world military power would be needed. Others thought it may be necessary to deploy forces of the United Nations.
It is frightening to see how, not for a short period, but for full thirty years the terrorists had our country it their clutches. They had terrifying plans to subjugate the entire country.
By 2005, the terrorist leader remained unharmed having waged war against four Heads of State and assassinating one of them. They fought the powerful Indian Army and in the end assassinated a great Prime Minister of India. A Commander of our Navy, Admiral Clancy Fernando, was also assassinated.
The LTTE was able to assassinate our valiant Generals from Lt. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Maj. Gen. Wijaya Wimalaratne, and Maj. Gen. Lucky Wijeratne to Lt. Gen. Parami Kulatunga. It sank several Dvora vessels and had free rein at sea bringing in armaments at will, and also downed several aircraft and killed more than 35 pilots. Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne, and the Minister of National Security Lalith Athulathmudali who led the way to the Vadamarachchi Operation were also assassinated.
The LTTE had the ability to carry out major attacks in High Security Zones, on the venerable Dalada Maligawa, or any other place. Our Economic Zone inclusive of Colombo was easy prey to the terrorists.
As a result, quite apart from attacking the terrorists, there was the fear of them taking revenge for several generations if one even spoke against them. Yet, there was no one in the world who could stop this. Amidst all this, during the period of the ceasefire agreement the terrorists were able to develop to a dictatorial government. We had to provide protection to these terrorists who had killed our policemen and security forces by the thousands. Yet, for fear of provoking the terrorists the government did not give our troops even a piece of gunny bag to help build a bunker.
The orders to our forces were to be patient for the sake of peace, even if the terrorists came in front of their bunkers, raised their clothes and carried out provocative acts of indecent exposure. When I was elected President in 2005, our troops could move about in the North carrying weapons, but without ammunition. We must not forget that it was such an unarmed group of troops that was killed in an attack by the terrorists in December 2005.
Our troops had to suffer all this in silence.
This is a country with a people having a tradition of facing the most ruthless invaders through thousands of years, defeating them, and saving our Motherland. Our country is home to a people with a history of bravely facing up to invaders from the time of King Dutugemunu to the last king of the Sinhala Kingdom, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, and fearless patriots such as Keppetipola and Puran Appu.
The lessons we learnt from those great battles of the past are ingrained in our flesh, blood and bones. Our brave soldiers were not provoked, but waited with discipline till the proper time for action came.
We can now see how much determination is born from the pain one suffers… What was considered the most ruthless and most powerful terrorist army for thirty years was shattered and destroyed in less than three years.
Terrorists are no more invincible. It is only you, the valiant troops and our Motherland that are invincible. I recently went down on my knees and worshipped the glorious Motherland that obtained its freedom through the sacrifice of the lives of thousands of our heroic troops.
This great and glorious victory was achieved because of the younger generation that stands before us today. Young men and women from the four corners of Sri Lanka joined the Security Forces to free their Motherland. Some mothers and fathers gave all of their children to the armed forces and the police. When the eldest child had already sacrificed one’s life for the country, they gave more children to the armed forces.
Friends
If anyone were to ask me what the secret of the victory is, I would extend my hands and show our beloved people, who include these mothers, fathers, wives who gave their closest and dearest for this battle. Our entire nation owes an immense debt of gratitude to these mothers, fathers and wives. They sacrificed their children and loved ones for the nation, to save the lives of others.
In order to defeat racist terrorism the people of the country have a mature knowledge of the threat before them. The fortune of a nation lies is such knowledge and maturity.
As much as the Government, the people too had a good awareness of who the enemy was. Some mothers offered the treasured golden necklace they had inherited through generations for the security forces. While doing so, some mothers of our country also prepared meals to be sent to the displaced people from the North. Where else can one find a people who have sent their children to the forces to battle an enemy, and at the same time, send humanitarian assistance to the people in the areas where their sons are fighting?
Our valiant troops went to battle carrying the gun in one hand, the Charter of Human Rights in the other, and their hearts filled with love for their children.
Meanwhile, the people, while making sacrifices to the armed forces on the one hand; showed kindness and compassion to those displaced by war, and all the while were on the battlefield in their hearts. They protected the country by forming civil defence committees and carrying out inspections of villages, towns and vehicles. It was not only the troops that we deployed against the terrorists; we deployed the people of this country too against terrorism.
Friends
The sacrifices by the children in our forces in order to obtain this freedom for the people are incomparable. Our children continued their advance while artillery shells were falling, land mines were exploding at their feet, anti-air craft ammunition was aimed at their hearts, and their comrades were dying around them. Poison gas could also not stop them. Even in the face of age-old military strategy they did not retreat. How many of our children sacrificed their lives on huge earth bunds and the banks of huge tanks. They faced torrential rain and suffered under massive floods and kept moving forward with sore feet.
In the end the advantage of territory, climate and weather, and many other factors were on the side of the terrorists. Our children only had their morale and unlimited commitment. When the terrorists were keeping the innocent Tamil people as hostages and using them as human shields, when the terrorists were using the most modern artillery and heavy weapons to attack them, our brave soldiers using only small arms saved the lives of several lakhs. My Dear friends, this is true valor in battle.
Savagery is not bravery. Being humane is to be brave. I extend the respect and gratitude of the entire nation for their brave leadership to the Defense Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Chief of Defense Staff Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera, Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, Navy Commander Admiral Vasantha Karannagoda, Air Force Commander Air Chief Marshal Roshan Gunetilleke, the Inspector General of Police, Jayantha Wickremeratne, Director General of the Civil Defense Corps Sarath Weerasekera, the Brigade Commanders who bravely led the fighting till the end, all company commanders and the troops of all ranks for displaying such bravery in giving leadership and carrying out this battle.
Today, nearly 24,000 brave children of our land have fought for freedom and are resting for ever in their motherland. Similarly, nearly 5000 children of Sri Lanka are wholly disabled. The last breath of our heroic troops must be blowing in the wind where the national flag I hoisted today, flies proudly. Therefore, with every breath we take we must remember these heroic sons and daughters of our land. I also offer my respect to the high morale of our valiant troops who have been disabled but courageously participated in this event on their wheel chairs. There is an unique value in the sacrifices made by our heroic troops. Those great sacrifices have not been in vain. You have lost your feet in enabling a nation to rise on its feet. You have lost your hands, eyes, flesh and blood in providing a pleasant and prosperous land to this world. Our responsibility is to honour those great sacrifices by joining to build a great nation.
Therefore, we cannot allow the land that was won with such great sacrifice to be divided or even a shadow of separatism to fall on it. In the solutions that we offer there will not even be an iota of space for racism and separatism. We shall, as soon as possible, move towards our own solution of not dividing the land that is now made one and ensuring that there will be no threat to peace in our region.
Friends,
As a nation we have to go very far to make our independence complete. Terrorists were able to get the world to bring pressure on us, a free and sovereign State. That was possible because the terrorists had the capability to bring pressure on those governments.
Therefore, it is necessary to begin a new era in foreign relations to safeguard my motherland. Having won the freedom of our motherland, we must next establish our freedom and sovereignty internationally.
We have honest, close, and friendly relations with our neighbouring countries in Asia. We have also been able to build genuine good relations with the Arab and African countries. Those honest friends have carried out the greatest responsibility towards our freedom and sovereignty in this era. We value very much the assistance we received from all those countries at this moment. Our people who enjoy the satisfaction of freedom together with them must always have in their hearts the friendship extended by these friends.
Our nation that has been a symbol of courage to the world must now stand on our own free. We must build a nation that is second to none.
One of the biggest challenges we faced was to remove the border villages from the map of Sri Lanka. Next was the need to remove the threatened villages from our map. Having overcome these challenges what is left is to remove the villages stricken with hardship from our map. We have already initiated action in this direction. I am aware that due to the defeat of terrorism, the reduction in the budget deficit, economic development, and raising the level of investment are all targets that are well within reach.
Friends,
In the past three years we too obtained loan facilities. But, such facilities were not obtained by selling the national assets. From all such loan assistance we obtained the national wealth has been enhanced. Through this wealth, power projects, harbours, airports and expressways are being built.
Firstly, it is necessary for us to provide all facilities that were denied to the people of the north for 30 years. There is no doubt this will be a massive development exercise, similar to the operation carried out to end the terrorism of 30 years within two and half years. The northern spring is not only to be dawned but also to spread with speed across the north.
We are not a carbon copy of any other country. Our country that gave courage to Asia by defeating terrorism that could not be defeated elsewhere in the world should the made the Pride of Asia.
Friends,
When development is undertaken there are many obstacles due to ideological differences and attitudes of vision. These lead to delay. Ideology, political principles, issues of vision should be for the country. Instead, we cannot commit this country for the success of political, visionary or any other ideologies. We must emerge from ideological differences and look towards the country. It is not the struggle that should go forward but the country.
It is necessary to remember that carrying out higher education, providing electricity, doing urban development and many other matters on the basis of populist political decisions is a grave enmity to the country. We were able to construct the Norochcholai and Upper Kotmale power projects by moving out of the frame of populist politics and thinking more of the country. We took the necessary decisions. What was important was not whether they were popular, but whether they were important and correct. This country cannot be betrayed to drugs, corruption, and fraud and overwhelming laziness.
Venerable Sirs,
Three years ago many were the dreams of Sri Lankans.
There was a dream that we destroy the world’s most savage terrorist leader and all other terrorist leaders, do not let terrorism own one inch of our land, and make this a single unitary State. Today, that dream has come true. With regard to the development of our country too, it is the same that I have to say. We are now living in times when dreams are turning into reality.
Friends,
There is an important aspect we should not forget at this hour of victory. That is our children. They looked at our victorious march with great love and anticipation. They obtained great pleasure by seeing on television screens, the brave march of their fathers, brothers and sisters to save the motherland. Those who were most satisfied the moment the news of the freedom of the motherland was known were our children. Thereafter our Lion Flag waved most in the hands of our children.
My Dear Son and Daughter,
I am the proudest Head of State in the world for being able to see with my own eyes a future generation such as you who love your country so much. I am the proud father of such generation. I told you earlier, that we will not handover to you the problems that we face today. Today, my sons and daughters, we have not left a terrorist problem to be faced by you.
Therefore, it is your duty to grow up as true heroes who with your wisdom, good qualities and strength to love and protect this country, that is now being brought together under a single National Flag. I wish to emphasize again that I am not the owner of this land but only its custodian. Therefore, this unitary country which is without fear and mistrust, I now entrust to you.
I wish you all a prosperous future.
May you be blessed by the Noble Triple Gem!
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 Sri Lanka seeks 'new era' in foreign relations
AFP – Sri Lankan troops ride in tanks as they take part in rehearsals for The National Military Victory Celebration …
by Amal Jayasinghe Amal Jayasinghe – Wed Jun 3, 3:31 am ET
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's president called for a "new era" in foreign relations as the island staged a military parade to mark its victory over separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, whose government has been threatened with a possible war crimes probe over the manner of its military success last month, said it was time to launch a fresh diplomatic strategy.
But in doing so he also took a thinly disguised swipe at governments in the West that voiced concern about civilian casualties, pointedly thanking only countries in Asia, Africa and the Arab world for their support.
"It is necessary to begin a new era in our international relations to safeguard my motherland," the president said in a nationally televised speech just before the military parade.
"Having won our freedom in our motherland, we must now establish our freedom and sovereignty internationally."
Rajapakse, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said the defeated Tiger rebels had an international network that was able to exert pressure on foreign governments, without naming which ones.
"Terrorists were able to get the world to bring pressure on us, a free and sovereign state," he said. "That was possible because the terrorists had the capability to bring pressure on those governments."
Warming to his theme that only some countries had backed Sri Lanka in its campaign to defeat the rebels, Rajapakse said that "those honest friends have carried out the greatest responsibility towards our freedom and sovereignty...
"We value very much the assistance we received from all those countries at this moment," he added.
Sri Lanka's former colonial ruler, Britain, has been leading calls for war crimes investigations amid charges that government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels violated international humanitarian laws.
Last week, Sri Lanka managed to stave off censure at the United Nations Human Rights Council, where European-led Western nations had pushed for a critical motion over the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire.
Sri Lanka has denied shelling populated areas in its battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and has labelled its military action as the world's largest hostage rescue.
The Colombo government as well as the UN accused the Tigers of using tens of thousands of civilians as a human shield as one of Asia's longest-running ethnic conflicts came to a bloody conclusion two weeks ago.
Wednesday's triumphal parade along Colombo's sea-front Galle Face promenade was organised to mark the "defeat of terrorism."
Rajapakse said 24,000 security personnel were killed in the decades-old conflict while another 5,000 had been disabled.
The president, a member of the majority Sinhalese community, spoke a few lines in Tamil to assure the minority community that they will be protected.
"The war against the terrorists is now over," he said in Tamil. "It is now the time to win over the hearts of the Tamil people. The Tamil-speaking people should be protected. They should be able to live without fear and mistrust."
Sri Lankan troops last month overran the last sliver of Tamil Tiger territory and killed rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, ending his 37-year fight for a separate Tamil state.
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Lanka asks for extradition of Malaysia-based LTTE top representative
Shamindra Ferdinando
The Island
Publication Date: 02-06-2009
Sri Lanka is confident that Malaysia would expel LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s successor Kumaran Pathmanathan aka ‘KP’ wanted on terrorism charges. Although no formal announcement has been made, ‘KP’ has been recognised by various LTTE fronts as their top representative.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama May 29 requested Malaysian Defence Minister Dr Ahamd Zahid bin Hamidi YB Dato Seri to hand over ‘KP’ to facilitate ongoing investigations into LTTE operations overseas.
Well informed sources told The Island that the appeal was made on the sidelines of the 8th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. A Foreign Ministry press statement on Bogollagama’s meet with his Malaysian counterpart issued on Saturday didn’t refer to Sri Lanka’s call for KP’s extradition though it said Sri Lanka had urged Malaysia to proscribe the LTTE.
Authoritative sources said that ‘KP’ had sought refuge in Malaysia some time ago after his presence in Thailand came to light. India, too, had made inquiries when KP’s presence was made public.
Sources said that a high profile presence of the LTTE in Malaysia had been revealed in an unprecedented FBI investigation which targeted an LTTE arms procurement ring involving Singaporeans and Indonesians.
Sources said that some of the funds for procurement of armaments were to be transferred from a Malaysian Bank.
Ongoing police investigations have also revealed that a Lieutenant Colonel of the Sri Lanka Army on the Tigers’ payroll now in custody had visited Malaysia before the collapse of the LTTE.
A few days before the killing of Prabhakaran, Sri Lanka monitored ‘KP’ directing a close associate of the LTTE leader trapped in the Vellamullivaikkal area to hold the army until an international lifeline could be thrown in.
Recently Sri Lanka appointed Brigadier Udaya Perera as Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia to meet a new threat posed by the LTTE. Perera is the first serving army officer to receive a diplomatic appointment. Sources said that the appointment followed after Perera impressed foreign ministry mandarins at a special meeting called to brief top envoys of several countries in the run up to the final battle.
KP’s presence captured media attention after the Norwegians made contact with him in Malaysia and also facilitated contact between him and top UN officials. |
The paradox of Swiss policy
Atticus
The Island
Publication Date: 02-06-2009
The general impression in this country was that Switzerland had refrained from taking sides in the conflict between the Sri Lanka State and the LTTE because of a long standing policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. After all the first steps relating to Swiss neutrality were taken as far back as 1515. It was thought that neutrality with regard to foreign conflicts was the reason that Switzerland persistently refused to join most of the western international community (EU, United States and Canada) in declaring the LTTE a terrorist organisation notwithstanding countless acts of terrorism by the LTTE in Sri Lanka, and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE. The presumption was that the Swiss wished to leave open the possibility of acting as impartial intermediaries in conflict resolution.
We could not have been more wrong. On April 24, the Swiss Foreign Office issued an astonishing statement very much in line with the begging appeals of one party to the conflict - the LTTE. In particular it called for unimpeded and rapid humanitarian access of the ICRC, the United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organisations (sic!) to the war zone, and more generally to the Vanni region, to facilitate relief operations, and to guarantee their safety. Even more bizarrely was the call to the Sri Lankan authorities, on the threshold of defeating the LTTE militarily once and for all, to conduct inquiries on alleged violations of international humanitarian law as well as to bring to justice persons suspected of having committed such violations. To cap it all, the Swiss statement called upon all parties to put an immediate end to all hostilities as urged by one party to the conflict - the LTTE.
That was not all. After the war was over, the Swiss took a lead role in attempting to bring a resolution in the Human Rights Council arraigning for all intents and purposes the Sri Lankan authorities - the LTTE leadership is no longer a party having been wiped out - for human rights violations during the conflict and calling for a commission of inquiry on alleged war crimes. The western international community was resoundingly defeated. In extenuation of the Swiss, were all the vengeful proposals the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob (the British)?
Why did the Swiss come out so strongly in favour of one side of the conflict? It could not have been for deep concern about the humanitarian situation given that there has been a deafening silence on the part of the Swiss on current happenings in Pakistan (2 million refugees), Afghanistan (the bombing of civilians) and Somalia and, of course, previously in Iraq (several million refugees and hundreds of thousands of civilians dead). Moreover, Swiss humanitarian concern is hardly obvious by giving a measly amount of less than one million US dollars for the welfare of the IDPs (in contrast to $105million plus by India).
Nor could it not have been love for the Tamil civilians. The Swiss knew that partiality towards the LTTE would incense the Sri Lankan military and could lead to even greater Tamil civilian casualties as the Sri Lankan forces conduct the war with greater vigour, vexed by foreign efforts to throw a life line to Prabharkaran.
Could it have been a guilt feeling of being complicit in Tamil civilian deaths by allowing the LTTE to use Switzerland as a conduit for funds mobilized to build up the LTTE military arsenal that killed Tamil civilians when they were trying to flee from LTTE controlled areas?
Or was it the long association (and funding) of anti-war groups and pro-LTTE oriented NGOs in Sri Lanka, and their influence, that clouded judgment? There was the strange interview of a Swiss Foreign Office official this week highlighting that "statement have been issued stressing that the ferocity of the fighting and the war crimes attributed to the Sri Lankan army made it less likely than ever that there could be cohabitation between the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority within a single state". It is such a grotesque view focused by the Swiss who know better that the vast majority of Tamils live in mixed areas (in the South, Centre and East) of the country where the Tamils are very much a minority. For better or worse there is no option for the Tamils but to live under the authority of the Sri Lankan state and to cohabit peacefully with the Sinhalese and the Muslims in a single state unless of course Western Governments allow them to join the 1.5 million Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora who have happily found new homes in countries of the western international community.
No one knows why the cautious, conservative, level-headed Swiss, a country where compromise and conciliation is embedded in the psyche of the population, so openly backed the LTTE line. Perhaps it was a mixture of motives. Whatever the reason for behaving totally out of character and the long proud tradition of neutrality, the Swiss got it spectacularly wrong in the closing stages of the conflict between the Sri Lankan State and the LTTE.
Sadly by their conduct the Swiss, who have much to offer, have ruled themselves out of providing any helpful advice in the designing of the details of the post LTTE home-grown political solution that would satisfy the legitimate interests of all sections of the Sri Lankan community. Once trust is lost there will always be a shadow of suspicion of the motives of the Swiss in their offers of support of any kind, let alone in the ongoing political process in Sri Lanka. There would be lingering doubts whether there is a hidden agenda to divide the country.
Yet, Sri Lanka could learn much from the experience of multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi cultural Switzerland. The federal structure in Switzerland is irrelevant in the framework of the 13th amendment. It is governance in the cantonal and commune system (akin to our provinces and towns and villages respectively) that needs to be examined for its relevance to our needs.
A few areas merit close attention. One is the sources of funding of cantons and communes. In Switzerland, out of total taxes collected 31% goes to the coffers of the Central Government, 41 per cent goes to the cantons and 28% to the communes. This outcome incorporates, inter alia, a system of redistribution from the richer cantons to the poorer cantons. It is the access to tax money that enables and sustains a vibrant local self-government at the cantonal level and the communes throughout the country. Within a canton there is no centralization of power and many responsibilities are devolved to the communes. Powers given to the communes ( management of schools, social security, culture, sports, distribution of electricity, water and garbage collection, local police) are not overridden by the cantonal governments.
A second area relates elections to cantonal and communes legislatures and executives (Cabinets) that run these local bodies. The executive of each canton and commune, like the legislature, is elected directly by the voters. The local legislatures are elected on a proportional representation basis. For the executive body (the Cabinets) the electors vote for individuals although parties put forward their choices for office. Thus in most cantons and communes, the Cabinet is composed of individuals of different parties (from left to right) and even independents. Once elected however a collegiate system operates and decisions are taken on the basis of compromise and consensus among members of the executive. An interesting aspect is that both in the cantonal and communal level the elected legislators and executive are generally not full time politicians and have other professions; their remuneration is modest. Most serve in these bodies as a public service. Voluntary public-spirited service is pervasive in Swiss society.
Sri Lanka would benefit by examining the Swiss experience of governance at the cantonal and commune level. It might be fruitful, however, to bypass Swiss diplomats, academics and NGO types to obtain information on how Swiss governance works in practice. Rather, the Sri Lankan authorities should interact with those exercising office at the cantonal and communal levels to know, for example, the extent of powers at different levels of devolved government, financing of the cantons and communes, the electoral system and how the collegiate system of elected executives work whereby individuals, though from different political parties, act together on policies.
Hopefully, notwithstanding the recent "froideur" in relations, Sri Lanka would not throw away the Swiss baby with the untrustworthy bathwater.
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The war is over
B. MURALIDHAR REDDY
in Colombo
With the death of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran, the militant campaign for a Tamil state in Sri Lanka seems to have come to an end.
REUTERS
SRI LANKAN SOLDIERS with the body of LTTE leader V. Prabakaran at Nanthikadal lagoon, near Mullaithivu in northern Sri Lanka on May 19.
FOR the first time in 30 years, the Sri Lankan government can proudly claim that its writ prevails on every inch of the island nation. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the emerald island, stands decimated as a military force, and its top brass, including the supremo Velupillai Prabakaran, revered by some as the “Sun god”, have been physically eliminated. The majority community in the country, the Sinhalese, is celebrating while the Tamils and a section of the other minorities in Sri Lanka, such as the Muslims, are in an undeclared state of mourning. It is not that there is any love lost between these sections and the Tigers. Their worries stem from the ghosts of the past – such as the 1983 pogrom.
The passions unleashed by the proclamation of the end of Eelam War IV and Prabakaran’s death are running high. Sections of Tamils, despite confirmation of Prabakaran’s death by LTTE elements themselves, are in a state of denial. Sections of the majority community see the military annihilation of the LTTE as ultimate proof of their conviction that the so-called invincibility of the Tigers was a mere excuse for chicken hearts in earlier governments in Colombo who kowtowed to the international community, which is hell-bent on cutting the island nation into two in pursuit of its hidden agendas.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the military he presides over in his capacity as the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, therefore, deserve full marks for the successful completion of the war. The President has demonstrated conclusively that he meant every syllable of his promise, in the run-up to the November 2005 presidential election, that he would fight the Tigers to the finish. So he is entitled to bask in the glory for a while, but only for a brief while.
It would be a fatal mistake to see the military death of the LTTE as a demise of the cause that gave birth to the Tigers. The cause, the legitimate grievances and aspirations of the Tamils and other minorities in the island nation, is not only alive but kicking. That explains the sullen and sombre mood among the Tamils and other minorities. The truth is that of the three million Tamils in Sri Lanka and a further one million in the diaspora, very few have faith in the government in Colombo.
RAJAPAKSA’S CHALLENGES
The challenges before Rajapaksa are enormous and unenviable. First and foremost, he has to create basic minimum infrastructure to tender to the essential needs of 2.8-lakh war-displaced people, currently housed by the government in 29 temporary camps in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna. Simultaneously, his regime has to work on an executable plan to resettle the displaced in their original places of habitation.
India, which rushed two of its senior envoys, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, for a first-hand assessment of the post-war situation, was given a commitment by none other than Rajapaksa that his government would resettle the displaced in six months’ time. The agenda is laudable but the deadline is ambitious, given that the government just does not have the necessary resources to bring a semblance of normalcy to war-ravaged Wanni, which is dotted with landmines and booby traps. Whatever infrastructure existed there has been reduced to rubble.
The Sri Lankan government would require all the help it can muster from every quarter possible to achieve this gigantic task. But the extreme sensitivity of senior functionaries in the Rajapaksa government to even constructive criticism could prove to be a major stumbling block in enlisting the international community as a partner in the venture. The task becomes even more complicated as Colombo is pitted against a very powerful Tamil diaspora, which is caught in a time warp. Certain sections of the Tamil diaspora are more loyal to Prabakaran’s Eelam pipe dream than sections of the LTTE cadre who fought and perished in Eelam War IV and Tamils in general in Sri Lanka. Hence President Rajapaksa needs to make a sincere effort to convince these die-hards to jettison their utopian Eelam project and jump onto the bandwagon of the Tamil moderates who are ready to accept an honourable political solution within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.
The mutual distrust between the diaspora and the ruling elite in Sri Lanka is projected well in an article titled “Prabhakaran: the setting of the Sun God” by Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. Of course Jayatilleka has made it a point to mention that these are “strictly his personal views”, but that does not take away the reality that he is an important functionary in the Rajapaksa regime at such a crucial juncture in the history of the country.
The article reads:
“The degree of denial of Prabakaran’s death within the expatriate Tamil consciousness is the best evidence of the pathology of Tamil ultra-nationalism. Rohana Wijeweera’s followers were fanatics, but when their leader was gone, they did not go into mass denial. The hard core elements of the Tamil diaspora really have to get their heads around it: Elvis has left the building. The Sun God has set, and his son won’t be rising either.
SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT/HO/REUTERS
A close-up of his face with the top of his head blown off.
“That takes us to the heart of the problem. The self image of Tamil ultra-nationalism is such that it is hostile to India when the latter does not simply forgive and forget the Rajiv [Gandhi] murder and extend unconditional patronage to the Tamil secessionist cause.
“If the Tiger Diaspora wants a separate state or a confederation, it had better seek it in one of the countries in which they are concentrated, because it is certainly not going to be achieved either on the island of Sri Lanka or the soil of India.”
The acrimonious debate within the Sri Lankan diaspora, divided into two distinct camps – the Tamils numerically higher in one and the Sinhalese on the other – in cyberspace clearly shows that the chasm is not confined to the ruling establishment and the Tamil diaspora. Given below are responses from a Tamil and a Sinhalese to an article in the latest issue of The Economist.
“Sri Lanka – I was born there…countless ancestors of mine have lived there…. I cringe to call it my country… all it brings to my mind is shame… and disgust…. it is a country where as a 17-year-old defenceless teenager I was raped… by army personnel…. A country’s army is supposed to protect its civilians…. In Sri Lanka…the women hide from the government forces and pray that they are not molested/raped…the young men pray they are not taken away in unmarked vans and tortured….
“Whenever I read these comments I really don’t understand the view of the majority Sinhalese population… is it that they don’t really know all the abuse and torture that takes place in the Tamil areas ….or is it that they choose not to believe it… or is it that they believe they are better than the Tamil folks and it doesn’t matter what happens to them? To wrap this post up … All I can say is … it is the height of stupidity if you believe there ever will be a peaceful Sri Lanka. You can’t abuse an entire nation of people and expect there to be no consequences....”
A Sinhala response reads: “Many expatriate Tamils used the word ‘discrimination’ to gain refugee status in the greener pastures of the West. … the whole reason behind the Tamil protests is that they are scared that they will be sent back. Look at the Tamils in Sri Lanka: how happy they are to be freed from being held as a human shield by the terrorists. Tamil people in Jaffna thronged all streets waving the national flag and celebrating!”
The Sinhala diaspora echoes the sentiments of the Sri Lankan government on the issue of international concerns over human rights abuses in the island. Here is another sample letter from a reader to The Economist.
“In the global war against terror, accusations of U.K. & U.S. (excuses for invasion) of Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and harbouring and supporting Al Qaeda were a hoax. And the number of Iraqi citizens killed during the Gulf War II is more than 1,000,000 while UNHCR estimated the war uprooted 4.7 million Iraqis through April 2008 (16 per cent of the population) and two million had fled to neighbouring countries.... Alas, all because Saddam Hussein murdered 148 people.
“Also, they were involved in the first Gulf War which killed over half a million Iraqi children, and is also responsible for the present spate of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and in the Swat valley, where over one million people have already been displaced and 5,000 civilians killed.
“But in this case, after six attempts to negotiate, Sri Lankan forces fought against a terrorist group, who … killed one hundred thousand people & disabled thousands; destroyed billions-worth property and infrastructure; murdered almost all the Tamil leaders, many Sinhalese leaders & two world leaders; made an entire country and economy suffer for more than three decades; and finally held nearly 200,000 Tamil civilians as hostage or a human shield …. And you say “8,000 civilians have died this year”? After you… Bush, Blair, Clinton, Brown and Obama!”
THE STRATEGY
Now the often asked question: how did the Rajapaksa government manage to finish the Tigers militarily? Rajapaksa and his core group had made a political resolve in August 2006 to launch a “fight-to-finish” campaign against the Tigers. The LTTE provided the much-needed excuse for the assault when its cadre closed down the Mavil Aru sluice gates in the east, denying water to more than 30,000 civilians. The presidential core team in the campaign included his younger brother and Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and the army chief, Lt Gen. Sarath Fonseka, both of whom had scores to settle with the Tigers.
ERANGA JAYAWARDENA/AP
President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a ceremony to honour soldiers who fought the war against the LTTE, in Colombo on May 22.
Fonseka survived an assassination attempt when a woman suicide bomber of the LTTE blew herself up at the army hospital inside the army headquarters complex in April 2006. In December that year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had retired as a colonel from the Army almost two decades ago and settled down in the U.S. only to return as the Defence Secretary in his brother’s government, was the target of a suspected suicide bomber attack on a trishaw in the heart of Colombo.
The Defence Secretary and the army chief proved to be a lethal combination for the LTTE, which, ironically, had aided Rajapaksa’s election as President by asking Tamils to boycott the 2005 presidential election.
With the President in charge of the Defence portfolio and his brother as the Defence Secretary, war budget was no constraint though the economy of Sri Lanka was in dire straits. The President and his team tapped all possible sources for defence supplies, at times causing discomfort to India. The ranks of the military, all the three wings put together, swelled to over 200,000 and the allocation for defence for 2009 was pegged at Sri Lankan Rs.177.1 billion ($1.66 billion). The allocation for defence in 2008 was Rs.166.44 billion. Sri Lanka’s ratio of soldiers to population (under 20 million) must be one of the highest in the world. Intriguingly, in an interview to the state-run television telecast on May 27, the army chief said he intended to add another 100,000 soldiers to the army to ensure that forces such as the LTTE did not rear their heads in the island once again.
On the political front, the Rajapaksa government adopted a shrewd strategy, borrowing some of the LTTE’s own tactics, such as continuing to make politically correct statements on matters of peace, development and steps towards conflict-resolution while meticulously planning operations for an all-out war. The facade of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) brokered by the Norwegian government was kept alive until January 2008 despite the fact that hostilities between the military and the Tigers had reached a point of no return in early 2007.
Perhaps to impress upon the international community that it was keen on keeping the door open for negotiations, the Rajapaksa government did not ban the LTTE as a terrorist outfit until the first week of January 2009. Sri Lanka became the 31st country in the world to proscribe the LTTE when it formally issued the gazette notification on January 6, four days after Kilinochchi had fallen.
On the propaganda front too, the government borrowed liberally from the LTTE’s tactics. It created the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) in June 2006 with the sole aim of countering the pro-LTTE portal TamilNet. The Defence Ministry revamped its own website and kept up a relentless campaign not only against the Tigers but against anyone and everyone who was critical of the war.
On the battle front, the motto, in the words of the army chief, was: “Go for the kill, maximum casualties and destruction of infrastructure of the enemy with minimum possible damage to the troops.”
AP
A victory rally in Colombo on May 22.
The current phase of hostilities witnessed the maximum use of air power. The estimates of aerial attacks by the forces vary from 15,000 to 20,000 sorties. Despite such large-scale aerial missions, it is only in the last phase of the war (from December 2008) that it faced flak for alleged indiscriminate bombing. The military, in the course of its campaign in the east, wrested control of an area of 15,000 square kilometres.
Of course, the human costs have been enormous. While the military claims to have killed over 22,000 Tigers, 6,261 members of the security forces died since operations began in August 2006. Another 29,551 soldiers were injured of whom 2,556 were left disabled.
According to the military, from the day the ‘Wanni battle’ took a fierce turn, over 9,100 LTTE cadre surrendered. Of them, 7,237 are now being rehabilitated at various centres. Among them are 1,601 women. There are no accurate estimates of the civilian death toll. U.N. sources estimate that at least 8,000 civilians could have died in the course of 2009.
THE FUTURE
Neglect on the part of the government to ensure the preservation of dignity of the war-displaced in the transitional camps, delays in the implementation of plans for their resettlement in the shortest possible time, and indifference towards forging a national consensus for a political solution to the ethnic conflict that is acceptable to all stake-holders could prove to be very costly. It is a sure recipe for further rupture in the already strained relations among various communities in the multi-ethnic and multilinguistic island nation, and would cause a return of militant politics.
The military has won the battle for territory and now it is up to the polity to wage a war to win the hearts and minds of the people. Jaffna peninsula, which came under the control of the military in 1995, illustrates the point. It is cynically referred to as an “open prison” because an estimated 40,000 troops are present here as successive governments have not been able to resolve the ethnic conflict and pave the way for a political solution. •
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Volume 26 - Issue 12 :: Jun. 06-19, 2009
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
Tamil Nadu parties for U.N. role
In the days following the death of V. Prabakaran and the United Nations estimating that 7,000 Tamil civilians were killed between January and May in the conflict between the Sri Lanka Army and the organisation he headed, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), political parties in Tamil Nadu demanded that Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and its Army commander, Lt Gen. Sarath Fonseka, should be tried for war crimes in an international court of law.
What provided ammunition to their campaign was a draft resolution in the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC), sponsored by Switzerland and other countries, calling upon the Sri Lanka government “to investigate all allegations and bring to justice… perpetrators of violations of human rights…” during the final stages of Colombo’s war with the LTTE and “to increase its efforts to further prevent such violations.” The resolution also called upon the Sri Lanka government to ensure freedom of movement of internally displaced people.
The Sri Lanka government submitted a draft resolution of its own in the UNHRC, invoking the “principle of non-interference” in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs and respect for its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. Colombo’s resolution “commended” its own steps to meet the needs of internally displaced people.
What inflamed political opinion in Tamil Nadu was the fact that Sri Lanka’s draft resolution had India’s backing. Other countries that supported the resolution included China and Pakistan. Annoyed by India’s support for the resolution, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M. Karunanidhi wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 26, arguing that Sri Lanka’s resolution “is largely against the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamils”.
Karunanidhi, whose party is a partner in the new Congress-headed government at the Centre, told the Prime Minister: “Though there is on the one side a question of interfering in the internal affairs of the country, which would affect its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, Sri Lanka should be treated as a special case. It is widely believed by millions of Tamils spread all over the world that the draft resolution now presented by the Sri Lanka government to the United Nations Human Rights Council is largely against the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamils and, hence, I kindly request you to take appropriate action in this regard, having in mind the sentiments of the Sri Lankan Tamils and their future welfare.”
Karunanidhi wrote to the Prime Minister after Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr. S. Ramadoss demanded that India should give up its stand of supporting the Sri Lanka government’s draft resolution. Colombo should be made to pay the price for “conducting genocide against Tamils in the name of executing a war against militants” and India should gather support to prosecute the Sri Lankan leaders for their war crimes, Ramadoss said.
He asked whether Karunanidhi raised the issue with the Government of India when he camped in New Delhi for two days or discussed it with National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan in Chennai. “Karunanidhi should emphasise that India should give up its stand of supporting Sri Lanka in the U.N. Human Rights Council,” the PMK founder said.
Thol. Thirumavalavan, founder of Dalit Panthers of India (DPI), who contested as an ally of the DMK and the Congress in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, described India’s support to Sri Lanka’s resolution as a “betrayal of the entire Tamil race” and asked India to give up its “anti-Tamil stance”.
Karunanidhi’s letter to Manmohan Singh signalled a hardening of the DMK’s stand on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. There were other indications of this as well. On May 18, in an appeal to the Government of India, he “insisted that prevention of destruction and ensuring a lasting peace in Sri Lanka is the immediate responsibility of the Government of India”. The next day, in New Delhi, Karunanidhi insisted that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh should take “a more firm interest in the Sri Lankan Tamils’ issue”. He said Sonia Gandhi should fulfil the promises she made in Chennai (on May 10) on the protection and rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils and Manmohan Singh should implement the assurances he gave (the previous day) when he met the press in Chennai.
In the aftermath of Prabakaran’s death, several political parties and pro-LTTE organisations in Tamil Nadu made the following four demands: The U.N. should intervene directly to protect the Sri Lankan Tamils; Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka should be tried in an international court of law for war crimes; the internally displaced Tamils should be allowed to return to their homesteads; the U.N. and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should take part in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Tamil areas and the rehabilitation of the Tamils.
The first three demands were the highlight of a rally taken out by the Tamils’ Protection Front in Chennai on May 21, which comprises the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), the PMK, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Tamil Nationalist Movement founded by P. Nedumaran. According to Nedumaran, the rally was organised to pressure the U.N., the United States and the United Kingdom to protect Tamils on the island.
Addressing the rally, Ramadoss said he would make no more appeals to India on the Sri Lankan Tamils’ issue. For, no good would come out of it for the Tamils, he argued. Instead, the Tamils’ Protection Front would pressure the U.N. to protect Sri Lankan Tamils.
“The Tamils and the Sinhalese cannot co-exist in Sri Lanka any more. Formation of Tamil Eelam is the only solution to the problem. Political parties here should understand this,” Ramadoss said. He took a swipe at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for its insistence on the paramountcy of Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity. “The CPI(M), in particular, should change its stand on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue,” he said. Vaiko, MDMK general secretary, praised Prabakaran for his courage in fighting the Sri Lanka Army even as it surrounded the LTTE on all sides.
Jayalalithaa, general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, argued that the injustice done to Tamils could not be undone by defeating the LTTE or liquidating its leadership. She wanted the island’s Constitution to be amended to ensure that Sri Lankan Tamils, plantation Tamils and Muslims live as equal citizens (with the Sinhalese). Since the war had officially ended, the U.N., human rights organisations and international organisations should be given access to the war-ravaged areas to know the real situation obtaining there, she said. She demanded that the international press, instead of being allowed to tour the war-ravaged areas with the Sri Lanka Army, should be allowed to visit the areas independently.
R. Nallakannu, CPI leader, faulted the Government of India and the Tamil Nadu government for not taking firm steps to enforce a ceasefire on the island. He alleged that the Sri Lanka Army shot dead the LTTE’s political leaders P. Nadesan and Pulithevan even as they held aloft white flags. Nallakannu also insisted that the U.N. should guarantee the protection and rehabilitation of the Tamils.
The CPI(M) demanded that Colombo take steps, under the direct supervision of U.N. organisations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, for the rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils. In a statement, N. Varadarajan, secretary of Tamil Nadu unit of the CPI(M), said the armed conflict between the Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE had reached a sad end, including the death of Prabakaran. Thousands of Tamils had been greatly affected in this conflict. Colombo, which announced that its military action had come to an end, should find a political solution to the ethnic problem on the basis of autonomy and devolution of power [to the Tamil areas], Varadarajan said.
L. Ganesan, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, expressed sadness at the way the Tamils’ struggle for equal rights had ended. Although countless number of Tamils lost their lives in the struggle, the manner in which it ended showed that the Sri Lanka government would not be bothered about Tamils’ welfare, he said. |
* Former rebel leader says Prabhakaran would be still alive if he had listened to him
Tue, Jun 2, 2009, 01:36 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 02, Colombo: Former Eastern LTTE Leader and current Minister of the Sri Lankan government, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan said that if his former leader Prabhakaran would be still living if he had listened to him.
"Prabhakaran didn't listen to me, despite my repeated advice," Minister Muralitharan said addressing a meeting at Kaththankudi in Batticaloa.
He said that Prabhakaran had a chance to come to peaceful negotiations with the government if he lay down the arms.
Ex-rebel leader, Minister Muralitharan split from the rebel group due to an internal conflict with his leader Prabhakaran and joined the democratic path. He later joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and became a vice president of the party |
TRO bought US$70 million worth of weapons
LANKA TRUTH, Tuesday, 02 June 2009 07:46
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) that posed as an organization to get relief for Tamils have bought US$70 million worth of weapons.
This has been revealed when its chief Lawrence Thilakar was arrested. The heads of the network that assisted Thilakar to procure arms were ‘Waterloo' Suresh of the USA and Erik ‘Waterloo,' a former General of Indonesian Marines. This has been confirmed by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) of the USA.
As soon as Thilagar was arrested by Sri Lankan authorities Arjun Ediriweerasingham of TRO in London had asked assistance from Human Rights Watch to get him released.
With the arrest of Thilagar activities of Kumaran Pathmanadan alias KP would be revealed.
According to sources Thilagar had been recalled to Vanni by Prabakaran when it had been revealed that Thilagar was involved in the murders of two tiger fundraisers. As soon as it was revealed that TRO had given funds to the LTTE to buy arms K.P. Rejie, it's Colombo chief had fled the country. Nimalan Karthineshan of the TRO too has disappeared.
Seven senior tiger errorist leaders were arrested by security forces while hiding among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps at Vavuniya. Among them are Karikalan, Yogy Ratnam Yogy, Lawrence Thilagar, Elleelan, V. Balakumar, Ilamperni and Thangam. |
Killing Rajiv was LTTE's biggest mistake: Rajapaksa
New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was the biggest mistake of the Tamil tigers which cost them the sympathy of India.
"To kill Rajiv Gandhi. They antagonised the whole sympathy of India. That was the biggest mistake I think they did in 30 years," Rajapaksa told NDTV.
He said that when ethnic Tamil issue took root in Sri Lanka, India was sympathetic to their cause.
"...And finally they killed an Indian leader who was loved by all," Rajapaksa said when asked about the biggest mistake committed by the LTTE.
The Sri Lankan President said that another mistake of the Tamil Tigers was to underestimate the powers of the state.
"They didn't gauge the powers of this soft country," he said.
Asked whether Indian government put pressure on him during the final stages of the fight against the Tigers, Rajapaksa replied in the negative.
"No. I dont think so," he said when asked whether there was pressure from India.
"Among friends there cannot be pressure or persuasion," Rajapaksa said when pressed further on the issue. PTI |
Dialogue to arrest Balasingham’s wife Adella
(Lanka-e-News, 01.June.2009, 10.30 PM) Sri Lanka intelligence suspects that Adella Balasingham, the 59 year old wife of late LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, is behind the anti-Sri Lanka agitations in the parliament square of England.
Sri Lanka defense sections say that Adell is one of the senior most LTTE cadres and she is a person that rendered a remarkable service for the LTTE internationally. She was noted as a person who garlanded cyanide capsules for child soldiers of LTTE. Sri Lankan defense authorities believe she must be arrested.
Adella Balasingham lives in a four room house in New Malden, Surrey. The house is worth 500,000 sterling pounds. She was an Australian national nurse that married to Anton Balasingham in 1970s. Later she joined LTTE and was nicknamed as ‘Aunty’. She was one time leader of LTTE women cadres. She associated with Tiger leaders closely.
Allowing her to live in Britain shows the loose policy on Tigers by UK government.
Sri Lankan defense authorities are to discuss about her with the Scotland Yard and the Home Ministry of Britain since she can be a obstacle to peace in Sri Lanka.
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Britain sold weapons to help Sri Lankan army defeat LTTE
(Lanka-e-News, June 02, 2009, 5.50 PM) Britain and other EU countries sold military equipment worth millions of pounds to the Sri Lankan Government in the last three years of its bloody civil war with the Tamil Tigers, The Times has learnt.
Britain approved commercial sales of more than £13.6 million of equipment including armoured vehicles, machinegun components and semiautomatic pistols, according to official records.
Slovakia provided 10,000 rockets worth £1.1 million, while Bulgaria approved sales of guns and ammunition worth £1.75 million, according to EU documents and officials.
It is impossible to verify whether all the approved sales were delivered as the governments involved do not publish those details. Only Slovakia has confirmed delivery of the rockets.
The US also sold Sri Lanka millions of pounds of military equipment in 2006-07 but suspended all military aid and sales early last year because of concerns about alleged rights abuses.
(Times online) |
TMVP to be dissolved; Pillaiyan and the group to join SLFP
(Lanka-e-News, June 03, 2009, 9.45 AM) Tamil People’s Liberation Tigers (TMVP) sources say that the party will be dissolved and all members will join Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) after Eastern Province Chief Minister and party leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan returns from the foreign tour.
Batticaloa Mayor and TMVP member Sivageetha Prabakaran said that the party members wished to join SLFP like Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman. She said that her party would appreciate the President Mahinda Rajapakse’s initiative to unite Sri Lanka irrespective of religions, races and casts under one national flag.
However, the final decision is to be taken by the politburo of the TMVP soon, party sources said.
Minister of National Integration Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan has told that he will make a good base for the SLFP both in north and east. |
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