Sri Lanka Army's infantry units moving ahead of the Muhamalai Forward Defenceline in Jaffna last morning destroyed an LTTE bunkerline killing ten LTTE cadres. Their bodies were left behind due to logistical problems. The Army has also intensified shelling and artillery strikes on identified LTTE targets ahead of the Vavuniya FDL this morning. Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Air Force is continuing air-strikes on pre-identified targets. The most recent attack was on an LTTE intelligence gathering place in Puthukudiiruppu on Monday, an attack on an LTTE Sea Tiger base on Tuesday and an LTTE training base in Weli Oya this morning. The locations of the targets were gathered prior to the loss of the UAVs.
Two members of the Army's Elite Special Forces were killed in a bunker-busting operation ahead of the Mannar Forward Defenceline. The two men were part of an 8-man team from the 2nd Special Forces Brigade that had to face unusual resistance from the LTTE in a thick jungle area. The two men got trapped and laid down their lives valiantly killing six LTTE cadres in the process. The thick jungle covering prevented the other six men from getting to the two men who got trapped and the terrain provided the LTTE an opportunity to seize the remains of the two soldiers, whose bodies have since been returned through the Red Cross. Contrary to Pro-LTTE Media, these were not members of the Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance Team (LRRP/LRS). By the time this is written, the SLA has overrun the LTTE's FDL in Mannar killing over twenty LTTE cadres in a fresh offensive launched by the SLA this morning.
Meanwhile many senior officers of the Military commended President Mahinda Rajapakse's decision to withdraw the Media Censorship Law. They are of the opinion that almost all Sinhala and English Media and some Tamil Media are faithful to the Military, but had no option but criticize the lapses at the Anuradhapura Airbase. They claimed these exposures are warranted given the negligence and serious lapses in security at the base. They further believe that civilians have the right to information regarding the management of the war, acquisition or destruction of military assets etc given they do not unduly assist the enemy.
(http://defencewire.blogspot.com)
Related News Item
Tigers gun down 2 DPU intruders in Mannaar
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday said a roaming patrol of their border security combatants on Monday evening gunned down two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) intruders inside LTTE controlled Valaignan Kaddu area in Mannaar district. Arrangements were underway to hand over the dead bodies of the SLA soldiers through the ICRC, informed sources in Vanni said. The Tigers have lost a combatant in the counter-ambush.
A Claymore mine, two T-56 assault rifles, one remote control for the Claymore mine, one smoke bomb, two holders and two military kit bags were recovered by the LTTE.
The SLA operated ambush units known as Deep Penetration Units (DPUs) are officially named Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) units, a borrowed terminology from the LRRP/Ranger detachments deployed for covert operations by the U.S. military during the Vietnam war.
The Sri Lankan LRRP units are increasingly deployed to attack civilian vehicles in addition to military targets in the LTTE territory.
(www.tamilnet.com)
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Mannar Offensive - Army captured LTTE line
Sri Lanka Army units from Sinha Regiment and Gajaba Regiment, backed by Army Commandos, who were involved in the pre-dawn attack on LTTE FDL in Mannar have now returned to the captured LTTE FDL after infiltrating further into LTTE areas. They have recovered at least 7 LTTE dead bodies and monitored communication revealed at least 15 more may have been killed. The Army lost three men and over 30 others were injured. The advance into LTTE areas was temporarily halted following heavy resistance in the area West of Giant Tank. Meanwhile a civilian was killed when a stray mortar hit her in the general area Murunkan.
SLA captures tiger bunker line west of Giant tank
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers from the 57th division moved ahead of their defense lines in Mannar to capture a much fought after rebel defense line north west of Giant tank in a pre dawn offensive today. Army's infantry formations backed by the commando regiment and Sri Lanka artillery, were able to overrun the LTTE bunker line today morning amidst heavy resistance.
SLA troopers have so far found 8 bodies of LTTE cadres scattered near the defense line. Interception of enemy communication revealed that at least 20 rebels have been killed in today's fighting.The Army too suffered casualties in the operation with 35 soldiers being injured and 3 soldiers KIA. Most of the SLA injuries were caused by deathtraps, IEDs and land mines which had been set up in the area by the tigers.
The army operation has been temporarily halted due to stiff resistance offered by the tigers. This has been the story of most SLA operations in the Mannar-Vavuniya region for the recent past. However, this strategy has helped SLA minimize the casualty figures. In contrast to the all out attacks involving massive numbers of troops (I.e. - Operation Jayasikuru, Operation Leap Forward - Idiri Pimma, Operation Agni Kheela) SLA have been waging a drawn out war with the aim of tiring out and frustrating the enemy.
Meanwhile fighting raged in the northern defense lines yesterday when a group of LTTE cadres tried to infiltrate Muhamalai forward defense lines. 55th division soldiers stationed in FDL positions near Muahamalai lead a devastating counterattack across the no-man's-land, ultimately destroying four LTTE bunkers along with at least 10 LTTE cadres.
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), after suffering a setback at the hands of Black Tigers, carried out consecutive bombing runs on LTTE targets yesterday and today. A sea tiger base and a tiger intelligence camp were among the targets that were hit. Effectiveness of these attacks cannot be confirmed as of yet.
SLA troopers have so far found 8 bodies of LTTE cadres scattered near the defense line. Interception of enemy communication revealed that at least 20 rebels have been killed in today's fighting.The Army too suffered casualties in the operation with 35 soldiers being injured and 3 soldiers KIA. Most of the SLA injuries were caused by deathtraps, IEDs and land mines which had been set up in the area by the tigers.
The army operation has been temporarily halted due to stiff resistance offered by the tigers. This has been the story of most SLA operations in the Mannar-Vavuniya region for the recent past. However, this strategy has helped SLA minimize the casualty figures. In contrast to the all out attacks involving massive numbers of troops (I.e. - Operation Jayasikuru, Operation Leap Forward - Idiri Pimma, Operation Agni Kheela) SLA have been waging a drawn out war with the aim of tiring out and frustrating the enemy.
Meanwhile fighting raged in the northern defense lines yesterday when a group of LTTE cadres tried to infiltrate Muhamalai forward defense lines. 55th division soldiers stationed in FDL positions near Muahamalai lead a devastating counterattack across the no-man's-land, ultimately destroying four LTTE bunkers along with at least 10 LTTE cadres.
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), after suffering a setback at the hands of Black Tigers, carried out consecutive bombing runs on LTTE targets yesterday and today. A sea tiger base and a tiger intelligence camp were among the targets that were hit. Effectiveness of these attacks cannot be confirmed as of yet.
Tigers on the Run : Latest Situation in North
Sri Lanka Army was able to overrun the first line of LTTE defences in area between Giant Tank and Madhu in Mannar District early on Thursday morning killing at least 06 Tigers. Troops backed by Artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers were able to capture the LTTE bunkerline despite heavy resistance, military sources said. Army officials say that around 10-14 soldiers were injured in the pre-dawn attack, but more than 20 wounded soldiers were admitted to Anuradhapura hospital since this morning, hospital sources said. 03 soldiers succumbed to their injuries sources further added.
Independent verification on Tiger casualties are not available at the moment, but military says several LTTE cadres may have been killed or injured during the attack. Sri Lanka Army made more than 10 attempts to penetrate in to the Tiger home land since early this year but failed due to heavy resistance by the LTTE.
Meanwhile Army's infantry units moving ahead of the Muhamalai Forward Defenceline in Jaffna last morning destroyed an LTTE bunkerline killing ten LTTE cadres. Their bodies were left behind due to logistical problems. The Army has also intensified shelling and artillery strikes on identified LTTE targets ahead of the Vavuniya FDL this morning. Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Air Force is continuing air-strikes on pre-identified targets. The most recent attack was on an LTTE intelligence gathering place in Puthukudiiruppu on Monday, an attack on an LTTE Sea Tiger base on Tuesday and an LTTE training base in Weli Oya this morning. The locations of the targets were gathered prior to the loss of the UAVs.
Two members of the Army's Elite Special Forces were killed in a bunker-busting operation ahead of the Mannar Forward Defenceline. The two men were part of an 8-man team from the 2nd Special Forces Brigade that had to face unusual resistance from the LTTE in a thick jungle area. The two men got trapped and laid down their lives valiantly killing six LTTE cadres in the process. The thick jungle covering prevented the other six men from getting to the two men who got trapped and the terrain provided the LTTE an opportunity to seize the remains of the two soldiers, whose bodies have since been returned through the Red Cross. Contrary to Pro-LTTE Media, these were not members of the Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance Team (LRRP/LRS). By the time this is written, the SLA has overrun the LTTE's FDL in Mannar killing over twenty LTTE cadres in a fresh offensive launched by the SLA this morning.
Meanwhile many senior officers of the Military commended President Mahinda Rajapakse's decision to withdraw the Media Censorship Law. They are of the opinion that almost all Sinhala and English Media and some Tamil Media are faithful to the Military, but had no option but criticize the lapses at the Anuradhapura Airbase. They claimed these exposures are warranted given the negligence and serious lapses in security at the base. They further believe that civilians have the right to information regarding the management of the war, acquisition or destruction of military assets etc given they do not unduly assist the enemy.
Independent verification on Tiger casualties are not available at the moment, but military says several LTTE cadres may have been killed or injured during the attack. Sri Lanka Army made more than 10 attempts to penetrate in to the Tiger home land since early this year but failed due to heavy resistance by the LTTE.
Meanwhile Army's infantry units moving ahead of the Muhamalai Forward Defenceline in Jaffna last morning destroyed an LTTE bunkerline killing ten LTTE cadres. Their bodies were left behind due to logistical problems. The Army has also intensified shelling and artillery strikes on identified LTTE targets ahead of the Vavuniya FDL this morning. Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Air Force is continuing air-strikes on pre-identified targets. The most recent attack was on an LTTE intelligence gathering place in Puthukudiiruppu on Monday, an attack on an LTTE Sea Tiger base on Tuesday and an LTTE training base in Weli Oya this morning. The locations of the targets were gathered prior to the loss of the UAVs.
Two members of the Army's Elite Special Forces were killed in a bunker-busting operation ahead of the Mannar Forward Defenceline. The two men were part of an 8-man team from the 2nd Special Forces Brigade that had to face unusual resistance from the LTTE in a thick jungle area. The two men got trapped and laid down their lives valiantly killing six LTTE cadres in the process. The thick jungle covering prevented the other six men from getting to the two men who got trapped and the terrain provided the LTTE an opportunity to seize the remains of the two soldiers, whose bodies have since been returned through the Red Cross. Contrary to Pro-LTTE Media, these were not members of the Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance Team (LRRP/LRS). By the time this is written, the SLA has overrun the LTTE's FDL in Mannar killing over twenty LTTE cadres in a fresh offensive launched by the SLA this morning.
Meanwhile many senior officers of the Military commended President Mahinda Rajapakse's decision to withdraw the Media Censorship Law. They are of the opinion that almost all Sinhala and English Media and some Tamil Media are faithful to the Military, but had no option but criticize the lapses at the Anuradhapura Airbase. They claimed these exposures are warranted given the negligence and serious lapses in security at the base. They further believe that civilians have the right to information regarding the management of the war, acquisition or destruction of military assets etc given they do not unduly assist the enemy.
Countering Force Multiplication
The recent LTTE attack in Anuradhapura is an example of Force Multiplication in 4th Generation War. The 21 Black Tigers acted as a Force Multiplier for the Tigers, shifting the Center of Gravity of the War. If the Sri Lanka Government is to overcome this threat, it must identify and use its Force Multipliers to good effect. They must also transform themselves from waging a 3rd Generation War (3GW) to a 4th Generation War (4GW or Counter-Insurgency).
Let’s understand these concepts and their applicability to the conflict. A Force Multiplier is a factor, person or unit that can dramatically increase effectiveness in war to reverse losses and increase prospects for victory. 3rd Generation war is linear but tactical use of units to infiltrate, bypass and collapse an enemy. 4th Generation War is a tactic used by non-state actors engaged in asymmetric war against a state. Asymmetric war is a war between a stronger military entity and a weaker military entity.
The Beechcraft, UAVs and the Fighter Jets were Force Multipliers for the Military. The LTTE destroyed them because of their force multiplication effect. The Military uses specially trained units as Force Multipliers in 3rd Generation War to infiltrate, bypass and collapse the enemy and attack it from the rear (LRRP). The LTTE counters the Military’s 3rd Generation War through Defence in Depth - meaning the longer the infiltration by the Army, the greater the resistance by LTTE. The LTTE also uses Black Tigers in 4th Generation Wars to attack physical, psychological and moral elements of the Military. This enables them to change the Center of Gravity of the war from Tamil Nationalism and grievances to effective Terrorism or Insurgency depending on the LTTE’s requirement. The state cannot shift its Center of Gravity like a non-state actor does since it is bound by principles of good-governance.
So how can a state win in asymmetric war where the weaker side uses effective terrorist tactics and 4th Generation War? Military History provides examples of states winning such wars through a ‘simple’ formula;
*Invest on quality, highly-trained and disciplined infantrymen and not on expensive weapons. (Quality not Quantity)
*Understand your weaknesses, the enemy and the terrain (Sun Tsu in The Art of War says know your Enemy, Know yourself. Know the terrain)
*Win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the local (Tamil) population for better intelligence gathering by avoiding collective punishment and the risk of damage to civilians.
Separate politics from war, soldier from civilian and peace from conflict.
*Move from tactical linear warfare (3GW) to Counter-insurgency and Counter Terrorism tactics (anti-4GW).
Let’s understand these concepts and their applicability to the conflict. A Force Multiplier is a factor, person or unit that can dramatically increase effectiveness in war to reverse losses and increase prospects for victory. 3rd Generation war is linear but tactical use of units to infiltrate, bypass and collapse an enemy. 4th Generation War is a tactic used by non-state actors engaged in asymmetric war against a state. Asymmetric war is a war between a stronger military entity and a weaker military entity.
The Beechcraft, UAVs and the Fighter Jets were Force Multipliers for the Military. The LTTE destroyed them because of their force multiplication effect. The Military uses specially trained units as Force Multipliers in 3rd Generation War to infiltrate, bypass and collapse the enemy and attack it from the rear (LRRP). The LTTE counters the Military’s 3rd Generation War through Defence in Depth - meaning the longer the infiltration by the Army, the greater the resistance by LTTE. The LTTE also uses Black Tigers in 4th Generation Wars to attack physical, psychological and moral elements of the Military. This enables them to change the Center of Gravity of the war from Tamil Nationalism and grievances to effective Terrorism or Insurgency depending on the LTTE’s requirement. The state cannot shift its Center of Gravity like a non-state actor does since it is bound by principles of good-governance.
So how can a state win in asymmetric war where the weaker side uses effective terrorist tactics and 4th Generation War? Military History provides examples of states winning such wars through a ‘simple’ formula;
*Invest on quality, highly-trained and disciplined infantrymen and not on expensive weapons. (Quality not Quantity)
*Understand your weaknesses, the enemy and the terrain (Sun Tsu in The Art of War says know your Enemy, Know yourself. Know the terrain)
*Win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the local (Tamil) population for better intelligence gathering by avoiding collective punishment and the risk of damage to civilians.
Separate politics from war, soldier from civilian and peace from conflict.
*Move from tactical linear warfare (3GW) to Counter-insurgency and Counter Terrorism tactics (anti-4GW).
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Hearsay as Gospel
Yesterday, Maneka Gandhi, an environmentalist of international repute said, in her column in this newspaper, parrots were far more intelligent than they were thought to be and capable of making rational decisions based on their own judgment, contrary to the conventional belief that they can only imitate humans. Sadly, some humans seem to lack that parrot-faculty. They rush to conclusions based on hearsay. The US State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack has urged the Sri Lankan government to reconsider its decision not to allow the UN to base a human rights group in the country, citing an assessment by UN Human Rights High Commissioner Louise Arbour that the human rights situation was deteriorating in Sri Lanka as the reason.
Let there be no argument that the human rights situation in this country is bad. But, it is not as bad as it is made out to be. If one were to go by the various reports filed by vested interests, then one would conclude the situation in this country is far worse than that in Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq, where American private security personnel can mow down Iraqis with impunity, as the Blackwater mercenaries did the other day.
The Sri Lankan government, no doubt, has to get its act together and take steps to improve the human rights situation with the help of genuine human rights groups, who are critical of violations by both the government troops and the LTTE, as we have repeatedly pointed out in these columns. Those who are calling for the establishment of a UN human rights mission here without highlighting and/or condemning the human rights violations by the LTTE are only furthering the interests of the LTTE, which is striving for a Cyprus like situation here through UN involvement. Ms. Arbour seems to be yielding to pressure exerted by various separatist fronts including a section of the Colombo-based NGO circuit, whose bosses get paid more than Ms. Arbour per month to create an environment conducive to LTTE operations.
This country may be anything but a killing field like Iraq, where not even an ordinary civilian can walk the streets without fear of being abducted or killed by religious fanatics despite the heavy presence of the US-led forces helping maintain law and order. Can a foreign diplomat ever think of venturing out at an ungodly hour for a stroll on a street in Afghanistan or Iraq? No! But, Mr. McCormack should be told that it was only the other day that the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake took part in a ten-kilometre marathon in Colombo! The same envoy together with a group of other ambassadors had to hit the dirt in the East a few months ago when the LTTE showered shells on them before that part of the country was 'cleared'.
It is in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. McCormack will agree with us, that Ms Arbour's services are most needed. Time was when in Iraq, deaths of children continued at 5,000 per month due to sanctions. In 2002, UNICEF estimated that 70 per cent of child deaths resulted from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. Those children, who died due to sanctions, could have been saved, had there been a proper human rights intervention. Although no comprehensive study has been carried out in that country of late, the situation is believed to be equally bad. Ms Arbour should also make a trip to Diego Garcia, where the CIA is accused of having a secret prison to 'put terror suspects to the question'. Ironically, while Mr. McCormack and Ms Arbour are busy trying to intervene in Sri Lanka, the much-dreaded hangman's noose, which is the symbol of lynching, has made a comeback in New York, much to the horror of the African American community. This time round, the ugly head of white racism has manifested itself at the Columbia University, where Prof. Madonna Constantine had a hangman's noose hanging from her door the other day. Prof. Constantine, who teaches psychology and education, is the author of the book Addressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence in Mental Health and Education. One is reminded of the recent Jena Case, which sparked racial tensions and civil rights protests against what was dubbed double standards of prosecution for blacks and whites in the US.
Finally, that foreign powers have no right to intervene in this country doesn't mean that the Rajapaksa government can turn a blind eye to human rights violations. It has to strengthen the local human rights protection mechanisms and permit the involvement of local independent human rights groups to monitor abuses, probe them and make recommendations, which need to be implemented. Similarly, those UN knights in shining armour tilting at windmills in small countries should be told that the protection of human rights is next to impossible during a fiercely fought war.
Sri Lanka is fighting the LTTE not for the fun of it. It has no other way of dealing with the outfit as it is not amenable to a negotiated settlement. Minister Douglas Devananda, a one time confidant of LTTE leader Prabhakaran, recently told Parliament that even if one could achieve the feats such as 'brushing the teeth of a cobra, ploughing the sea or squeezing an elephant through the eye of a needle, one couldn't make peace with Prabhakaran'.
About the PKK (or the Kurdistan People's Party), Mr. McCormack said on Tuesday, "You can't negotiate with a terrorist organisation... you have to deal with the larger question of how you eliminate threat from a terrorist organisation...to make sure that there are no further attacks or loss of innocent life..." But, it is the very antithesis of this policy that the US wants Sri Lanka to adopt!
Not even a game of soccer, Mr. McCormack and Ms Arbour will see, gets played without head-butts and illegal tackling. So, the best way to prevent human rights abuses is to put an end to the on-going war. If the foreign powers are not using human rights as a Trojan horse to achieve some sinister objective through their involvement in Sri Lanka's conflict, they must go all out to bring the LTTE to the negotiating table which it unilaterally left under the UNF government which was bending over backwards to keep the peace process on the track and stood accused of servile appeasement.
Will Mr. McCormack and Ms Arbour take notice?
(www.island.lk)
Let there be no argument that the human rights situation in this country is bad. But, it is not as bad as it is made out to be. If one were to go by the various reports filed by vested interests, then one would conclude the situation in this country is far worse than that in Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq, where American private security personnel can mow down Iraqis with impunity, as the Blackwater mercenaries did the other day.
The Sri Lankan government, no doubt, has to get its act together and take steps to improve the human rights situation with the help of genuine human rights groups, who are critical of violations by both the government troops and the LTTE, as we have repeatedly pointed out in these columns. Those who are calling for the establishment of a UN human rights mission here without highlighting and/or condemning the human rights violations by the LTTE are only furthering the interests of the LTTE, which is striving for a Cyprus like situation here through UN involvement. Ms. Arbour seems to be yielding to pressure exerted by various separatist fronts including a section of the Colombo-based NGO circuit, whose bosses get paid more than Ms. Arbour per month to create an environment conducive to LTTE operations.
This country may be anything but a killing field like Iraq, where not even an ordinary civilian can walk the streets without fear of being abducted or killed by religious fanatics despite the heavy presence of the US-led forces helping maintain law and order. Can a foreign diplomat ever think of venturing out at an ungodly hour for a stroll on a street in Afghanistan or Iraq? No! But, Mr. McCormack should be told that it was only the other day that the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake took part in a ten-kilometre marathon in Colombo! The same envoy together with a group of other ambassadors had to hit the dirt in the East a few months ago when the LTTE showered shells on them before that part of the country was 'cleared'.
It is in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. McCormack will agree with us, that Ms Arbour's services are most needed. Time was when in Iraq, deaths of children continued at 5,000 per month due to sanctions. In 2002, UNICEF estimated that 70 per cent of child deaths resulted from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. Those children, who died due to sanctions, could have been saved, had there been a proper human rights intervention. Although no comprehensive study has been carried out in that country of late, the situation is believed to be equally bad. Ms Arbour should also make a trip to Diego Garcia, where the CIA is accused of having a secret prison to 'put terror suspects to the question'. Ironically, while Mr. McCormack and Ms Arbour are busy trying to intervene in Sri Lanka, the much-dreaded hangman's noose, which is the symbol of lynching, has made a comeback in New York, much to the horror of the African American community. This time round, the ugly head of white racism has manifested itself at the Columbia University, where Prof. Madonna Constantine had a hangman's noose hanging from her door the other day. Prof. Constantine, who teaches psychology and education, is the author of the book Addressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence in Mental Health and Education. One is reminded of the recent Jena Case, which sparked racial tensions and civil rights protests against what was dubbed double standards of prosecution for blacks and whites in the US.
Finally, that foreign powers have no right to intervene in this country doesn't mean that the Rajapaksa government can turn a blind eye to human rights violations. It has to strengthen the local human rights protection mechanisms and permit the involvement of local independent human rights groups to monitor abuses, probe them and make recommendations, which need to be implemented. Similarly, those UN knights in shining armour tilting at windmills in small countries should be told that the protection of human rights is next to impossible during a fiercely fought war.
Sri Lanka is fighting the LTTE not for the fun of it. It has no other way of dealing with the outfit as it is not amenable to a negotiated settlement. Minister Douglas Devananda, a one time confidant of LTTE leader Prabhakaran, recently told Parliament that even if one could achieve the feats such as 'brushing the teeth of a cobra, ploughing the sea or squeezing an elephant through the eye of a needle, one couldn't make peace with Prabhakaran'.
About the PKK (or the Kurdistan People's Party), Mr. McCormack said on Tuesday, "You can't negotiate with a terrorist organisation... you have to deal with the larger question of how you eliminate threat from a terrorist organisation...to make sure that there are no further attacks or loss of innocent life..." But, it is the very antithesis of this policy that the US wants Sri Lanka to adopt!
Not even a game of soccer, Mr. McCormack and Ms Arbour will see, gets played without head-butts and illegal tackling. So, the best way to prevent human rights abuses is to put an end to the on-going war. If the foreign powers are not using human rights as a Trojan horse to achieve some sinister objective through their involvement in Sri Lanka's conflict, they must go all out to bring the LTTE to the negotiating table which it unilaterally left under the UNF government which was bending over backwards to keep the peace process on the track and stood accused of servile appeasement.
Will Mr. McCormack and Ms Arbour take notice?
(www.island.lk)
Civilians fleeing from the Tiger controlled areas in the North on the increase
Nine (09) Tamil youths aged between 20-25, residents from Mullaithievu, surrendered at the naval detachment, at Mannar-Pallimunai on Tuesday (30). According to their statements, recorded individually, they reached Papamottai by trekking jungle tracks (an area North of Vidithalathievu) and then walked along the shores up to Pallimunai, where the Sri Lanka Naval detachment was located.
When questioned by the naval personnel, surrendered youths declared that as Tamil Tigers were involved in the conscription of youths, they fled Mullaithievu and sought protection in government controlled area. They also said that Tigers’ at present adopt a very aggressive and violent method to recruit youths.
They further revealed that Tigers used to forcefully recruit young ones, as cannon fodders, without any considerations about the future of Tamil youths. They added that parents’ pleas were simply ignored by Tigers and at times parents intimidated and their voices stilled.
To avoid from being kidnapped by Tigers, according to the surrendered youths, many youngsters spend their nights sneaking into jungle hideouts, as kidnapping in Mullaithievu used to take place in nights.
Also they told that if in case one needs to sit for the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examinations, joining the Tigers is a must. Kidnapping school children on their way to school by Tiger cadres who come on motor bikes has become a day to day common event.
According to reports, Tamil youths who surrendered to the Navy were later handed over to the Mannar Police for further investigations.
Furthermore, on May this year, a family from Pudukudirippu area took a chance between life and death when they boarded a fibre glass dinghy in order to proceed to Trincomalee. Their message was perceptible one; ‘only to be liberated from Tigers deadly grip.‘
Reports revealed that over the last couple of months, more than 200 Tamil civilians fled from Tiger dens, surrendered to Sri Lanka Navy in Mannar area.
A spokesperson for Navy told Asian Tribune that already large number of civilians fleeing from areas controlled by Tigers had also surrendered to Army and Police from various parts of the North. He added that civilians fleeing from the Tiger controlled region at present is on the increase.
When questioned by the naval personnel, surrendered youths declared that as Tamil Tigers were involved in the conscription of youths, they fled Mullaithievu and sought protection in government controlled area. They also said that Tigers’ at present adopt a very aggressive and violent method to recruit youths.
They further revealed that Tigers used to forcefully recruit young ones, as cannon fodders, without any considerations about the future of Tamil youths. They added that parents’ pleas were simply ignored by Tigers and at times parents intimidated and their voices stilled.
To avoid from being kidnapped by Tigers, according to the surrendered youths, many youngsters spend their nights sneaking into jungle hideouts, as kidnapping in Mullaithievu used to take place in nights.
Also they told that if in case one needs to sit for the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examinations, joining the Tigers is a must. Kidnapping school children on their way to school by Tiger cadres who come on motor bikes has become a day to day common event.
According to reports, Tamil youths who surrendered to the Navy were later handed over to the Mannar Police for further investigations.
Furthermore, on May this year, a family from Pudukudirippu area took a chance between life and death when they boarded a fibre glass dinghy in order to proceed to Trincomalee. Their message was perceptible one; ‘only to be liberated from Tigers deadly grip.‘
Reports revealed that over the last couple of months, more than 200 Tamil civilians fled from Tiger dens, surrendered to Sri Lanka Navy in Mannar area.
A spokesperson for Navy told Asian Tribune that already large number of civilians fleeing from areas controlled by Tigers had also surrendered to Army and Police from various parts of the North. He added that civilians fleeing from the Tiger controlled region at present is on the increase.
LTTE bases destroyed
The Air Force on Thursday claimed to have raided two bases of the LTTE including a centre in the north where the “Black Tigers,” the suicide squad of the Tigers, are trained.
The raids came after a 21-member LTTE suicide squad attacked the Anuradhapura air base on Monday destroying eight military aircraft and killing 14 military personnel.
The Defence Ministry here said Thursday’s raid targeted an LTTE location identified as a threat to the Forward Defence Line (FDL) in Vavuniya.
It said the air sorties were carried on the basis of information gathered from “ground and air surveillance” and claimed that the LTTE had sustained severe damages.
However, the LTTE disputed the Air Force version and alleged that three civilians including a pregnant were killed in the raid.
It alleged that eight persons including four children were injured.
Separately, TamilNet claimed that five personnel were killed when a “guerilla team of attackers” ambushed a Navy convoy in the Hambantota district on Thursday. However, there was no immediate confirmation of the incident from the military.
The raids came after a 21-member LTTE suicide squad attacked the Anuradhapura air base on Monday destroying eight military aircraft and killing 14 military personnel.
The Defence Ministry here said Thursday’s raid targeted an LTTE location identified as a threat to the Forward Defence Line (FDL) in Vavuniya.
It said the air sorties were carried on the basis of information gathered from “ground and air surveillance” and claimed that the LTTE had sustained severe damages.
However, the LTTE disputed the Air Force version and alleged that three civilians including a pregnant were killed in the raid.
It alleged that eight persons including four children were injured.
Separately, TamilNet claimed that five personnel were killed when a “guerilla team of attackers” ambushed a Navy convoy in the Hambantota district on Thursday. However, there was no immediate confirmation of the incident from the military.
Sri Lankan Tamils, the ‘Cats Paw’ of the Church
The Christian denominations were first introduced to Ceylon by the Portuguese who invaded the country in 1505. Their reign was confined mainly to the coastal areas of the country and they vandalized the property in those areas raping women and brutally enforcing their will on the people. Their vagrancy was such that even today when the Sri Lankan landscape is dotted with the ancient ruins of a bygone civilization, the areas occupied by Portuguese are conspicuous by the absence of such evidence. The Sinhalese Kings sought the help of the Dutch, who were somewhat more reasonable, to get rid of the Portuguese. Then the British, who appeared most gentlemanly, came along and took over the country on an agreement entered in to with the Sri Lankan chieftains to protect Sri Lankan values and its religion. British with their ostensible gentlemanliness was the only power to conquer the whole of Sri Lanka in 1815.
All these external invaders brought the Bible along with them. The Catholics, the Reformist and the Anglicans in that order, advised the locals to ‘hold the Bible in their hands and pray with closed eyes’. When they opened their eyes, they still had the Bible in their hands, but alas all the land was in the hands of the invaders. The colonialists were not prepared to accept the idyllic lifestyle of the Islanders influenced by eastern philosophy and values that were different from theirs.
They advised the locals that ‘It is uncivilized to not believe in God’ and thereby arrogated the power to civilize the Islanders. They preached ‘love’ when the islanders already knew of ‘maithree’, ‘karuna’, ‘muditha’ and ‘uppekha’, more advanced stages of human kindness. Love in the eastern thinking was just ‘selfish infatuation’. But finally those who possessed more fire power proved to be the better ‘civilized’ and hence prevailed over the locals. Yet when the Catholics, with a Portuguese legacy, were eventually persecuted by the Anglicans, the Catholics had to seek refuge in the King of Kandy (uncivilized) to obtain Wahakotte as their undisturbed habitation.
The Anglican Church wielded enormous power over the Island nation during the British reign of more than 150 years. After having marginalized the indigenous education system they invited American missionaries to commence schools in Jaffna to create a blue collar work force for their plantations and administration in the1820’s. They preferred the manageable minority Tamils to the rebelling Sinhalese who had staged three rebellions up to then resisting the colonial power. As a result St Patricks and St Micheals and Vembeddy girls school were all started in the Jaffna district as the first schools in the Island of Ceylon.
The British colonialist expropriated the land of the locals and converted the Island in to a garden of plantations. They found the marginalized Indian labor more manageable to the savage looking slave labor that was used in other parts of the western world. Hence they ‘consigned’ contingents of labor from India to Ceylon to work in the plantation. From the Thalaimannar pier the indentured labor with their families were made to walk a distance of more than 200 miles through the jungle terrain. Some dropped dead on the way and the dead bodies were left for the jackals in the jungles. Once in the plantation, the lined rooms which were the permanent abode of the Indian Tamils, were no better than cattle sheds. A family of 6 or 7 lived in a room of 10’ by 6’.
The three Singhalese rebellions staged, were crushed with brute force exterminating not only the people but even the trees, paddy fields and other wherewithal that helped the locals in their dwelling. Entire areas and provinces were made barren, dislocating populations. As a testimony to this inhuman devastation, even to day the most fertile areas of the Island in the South East known as the ‘Wellassa’ (one hundred thousand paddy fields) is only parsley populated. The Anglican Church did not remain a passive spectator of all this ‘ungodly’ acts. They started conscripting the local population dangling the carrots of education and employment.
After more than 150 years of rule, when the British were compelled to leave the Island on the new world order brought about by the realization of the unceasing nature of the domination by arms, a privileged elite class of Anglo Saxon thinking, lead by the Church, had emerged in Sri Lanka from among locals. Unlike in India, in Sri Lanka there was no national struggle to win independence and as a result the patriotic indigenous leadership did not synchronize. The British handed over the power to the new local elites expecting them to preserve that status quo.
The new Government of the Independent Sri Lanka was initially towing the British line but eventually with the masses taking over the reigns of power the much awaited, progressive legislations were introduced. For instance, at the time of independence (1948), only 6% of the country’s population was conversant in English, the official language of the time. As a result 94 % of the country’s population was in the dark, being governed by the English speaking elite. Swabasha was introduced in 1956 to overcome this anomaly. With that move the foundation of the English speaking elite started to crack. The vested interests of the Church reacted to this in all possible ways. Even though there was provision for reasonable use of Tamil in the new legislation the Church propagated to the world about the unreasonableness of the legislation. The fact that there was a disproportionate amount of Tamils in the state service due to a one sided education policy for centuries gave credence to the ‘Tamil grievance’ as a corollary of the swabasha Bill. The church baptized the bill ‘Singhala only’
They found a very willing ally in Chelvanayagam, son of a clergyman, who was more Anglican than Tamil. He was obsessed with the thought that ‘How come these uneducated Sinhalese, being only a few million in population, could have a country of their own when the Tamils numbering 50 million could not have theirs’. According to him the ‘Singhalese were not big enough to govern us the Tamils’. The elite Tamil community who themselves had lost their privileges after the exit of the British was a good breeding ground for ‘alleged discrimination’. Chelvanayagam was not interested in implementing the reasonable use of Tamil because he would rather keep the ‘grievance’. He instead used this as an opportunity to introduce the first steps of the bifurcation plan in the form of Bandaranaike Chelvanayagam Pact where he demanded the land rights to North and the East. His strategy for total separation eventually was ‘little now and more later’. The B-C pact was rejected by the discerning public giving more propaganda matter to the Church and the Tamil elite.
It is not that the Tamils in general had no issue to demand more from the state but it is just that with a Sinhala dominated Government in power, the separatist minded Tamil elite like Chelvanayagam were able to project the Sri Lanka Government of the time as the source of all short comings. The popularity of the separatist politics of Chelvanayagam made even Ponnambalam resign from the Government, placing the Tamil community in a confrontational course with the Government of the day just two years after independence.
The legacy of the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka was that of colonial crusades, forced conscriptions, discriminatory treatment and economic exploitation. Hence it could not have picked any of those as a grievance against the now liberated Sinhala Buddhist population. But by taking the side of the Tamils it is saving itself and the status quo of the English speaking elite while projecting an image of a ‘fighter of the underdog’. Therefore with Sri Lanka gaining independence the Church changed its role from ‘blessing the aggressor’ to ‘fighting for the underdog’. That probably was the best way to check the progressive measures of the new Sri Lanka Government thereby preventing the transformation of Christian religion from the ‘patronized religion’ to the ‘religion of an insignificant minority’.
With the advent of Swabasha education the new liberated schools like Ananda and Nalanda broke the Christian monopoly on education and even the Maha Vidyalayas came to the fore with academic achievements surpassing the Christian schools. The Christian education suffered another body blow when they were taken over by the Government with progressive legislation in the 1960.s. Up to that time these Christian schools with their suave and ‘international’ standards were catering to the exclusive sections of the society producing even the leaders of the post independent Sri Lanka. Even today the English language media and the corporate sector in the country is made up of ‘old boys’ of these Christian schools. That way, what the Church could not accomplish in the form religious conversions had been compensated for in the form of conversions in culture and in thinking. In 1962 the senior police and security forces staged a coup de’tat against the elected Government of the day. All those officers who were involved were Christians and had that being successful; it was very likely that there would have been religious riots in Colombo as a corollary.
The Church had been consistently ‘sympathetic’ to the needs of the Tamils and helped them in innumerable ways to built up a Diaspora from the 1960’s. It was the Vatican through its communication network disseminated to the world the events of July 83 painting the Sinhalese Buddhist as ‘uncivilized barbarians’. From that point onwards the western funded and the Church guided National Peace Council unleashed its propaganda machine to justify all the heinous crimes committed by the LTTE as ‘retaliatory activities’ prompted by the July 83 incidents. In actual fact, by July 83 the Tamil guerillas had broken in to 15 banks and 18 police stations making it impossible for the civil administration to maintain law and order and in the North. Hence July 83 was the effect of those activities. But the NPC propaganda made July 83 a ‘cause’ to justify the killings and maiming of thousands of innocent civilians, in their homes, in their sleep, in places of worship, places of work or just on the road. Ironically even though the LTTE has now come to be known as the ‘world’s most ruthless terror organization’ none of its activities received the same publicity that July 83 received in the Vatican.
It should also be borne in mind that it was the World Council of Churches that sponsored the LTTE office in London which commenced its operation from 1984 denigrating the SL Government in general and the Sinhalese Buddhist in particular. The heads of the different Christian denominations in SL issue press statements from time to time, on the ongoing conflict, blaming mostly both parties to the Sri Lankan conflict, quite oblivious to the fact that on the one hand you have the legitimate Government of the country bending over backwards for peace and on the other the intransigent, ruthless and a totalitarian terrorist organization. They also make pilgrimages to Kilinochchi and eulogize the most ruthless terror leader and his activities. These are mostly done for the consumption of the Tamil Diaspora and the LTTE sympathizing Governments in the west.
Jesus Christ died as he had no cause even against those who plotted his murder. But the Church appears to justify the barbarism of Prabhakaran in the name of some illusive and unspecified ‘Tamil grievances’. These grievances are so holy to the Church that the Church even justifies mayhem and murder perpetrated on innocent lives in the name of these causes.
Although Buddhism is a philosophy that differs from Hinduism as a religion, practically in religious observances there is very little to choose between Buddhist and Hindu practices. They patronize the same temples and worship the same Gods. But the LTTE ‘s hatred for Buddhism is much larger than its hatred for the Sinhalese as this has been made plain by their many attacks on the Buddhist places of worship, killing of Buddhist monks and carrying out international propaganda against Buddhism in particular. When Taliban rulers decided to destroy the priceless Buddha statues in Afghanistan the whole world spoke against the act irrespective of religion, and LTTE was the only organization that issued a statement justifying the act.
The propaganda of the Church is very subtle. In spite of the ‘peace follies’ committed by successive SL Governments that bestowed a semblance of legitimacy on the LTTE, even today the Church will advocate ‘negotiations’. They wish that the legitimate Government keep talking till Prabhakaran muster enough military muscle and international diplomacy to attack and over through the Sri Lankan regime. They will express concern about ‘Human rights’ violations oblivious to the fact that the reason for these violations is the presence of a brutal terror outfit in our midst. They will loud the army excesses and provide a subtle platform for the LTTE in the international media. If a journalist wishes to expose national defense, for the benefit of the LTTE, he could always seek refuge in the Church under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’. This way the Church has been marshaling international opinion against the SL Government thereby making Sri Lanka, a pariah state in the eyes of the ‘International community’. On the face of it, there appears nothing wrong with the activities of the Church, because their modus operandi is ‘peace’, ‘human rights’ and ‘press freedom’. However, if the Government tries to muscle the Church for their subtle strategies, it will invariably stand accused of another basic violation to this list and that will be the ‘violation of the rights of the religious minorities’.
Recently the Bishop of Colombo issued a press statement on the aftermath of the visit by Ms Luise Arbour , the Directress of Human rights in the UN. This appeared to be a timely release to add pressure on Ms Arbour who in turn would add pressure on the SL Government to accommodate a UN human rights mandate in the country. Such a mandate was originally requested by the Bishop of Jaffna. The intensions of the Church are to cause foreign intervention in the country by some ruse. Because if the Sinhala Buddhist regime consolidates its power, the Church would be destined as the pontiff of an insignificant religious minority.
The son of the Bishop of Colombo Vijith de Chickera runs the Lanka Monthly Digest LMD which is very influential with the Sri Lankan business community. That too propagates ‘putative peace’, very subtly over business ethics, to the Sri Lankan corporate sector. The English media in Sri Lanka is exclusively dominated by the Christians and those with ‘western international’ mindset. Not only that they churn out putative peace propaganda day in and day out, but also acts as a filter for the international news agencies making sure that only ‘anti Sinhala Buddhist news’ gets highlighted in the international media.
The previous regime of President Chandrika Kumaranatunge came to power on a platform of ‘peace’ and survived her term on ‘peace’. But her activities caused the deaths of more than 40,000 Sinhala and Tamil lives of, the armed forces, the LTTE and the civilians. That was an unprecedented damage compared to the previous regimes. The LTTE became more nationally and internationally powerful during her time causing the most damage to the Sri Lankan economy. The Church had no compunction however, and in fact she was the darling of the Church because she shared the western concept of putative peace in Sri Lanka.
The present position of the Tamils in Sri Lanka is a far cry from what it was at the turn of independence. From the position of an ‘educated and privileged minority’ it has come down to a position of a ‘terrorist community in direct violent confrontation with the Government’. There numbers two have dwindled and the recent statistics have shown that they have been overtaken by the moor community in numbers. If the conflict prolongs in to the next decade the Sri Lankan Tamil community would be the first casualty of this conflict. Prabhakaran has long given up fighting for anything of the Tamils. He was a young bandit romantically attracted to the separatists propaganda of the Tamil elite in the 60’s and walked with all the patronage in to that platform. At 54 he is more matured now and knows only too well that his 30 year adventure has put the Tamil community 100 years behind. The enthusiasm of the Diaspora and local Tamil community has dwindled. Now he fights for his own survival with the support of the Church but at the cost of his own community.
The Church has used the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, first to build up its economy through the plantation, then to run the colonial administration and now to do the bidding for Prabhakaran to preserve its status quo.
(http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/8060)
All these external invaders brought the Bible along with them. The Catholics, the Reformist and the Anglicans in that order, advised the locals to ‘hold the Bible in their hands and pray with closed eyes’. When they opened their eyes, they still had the Bible in their hands, but alas all the land was in the hands of the invaders. The colonialists were not prepared to accept the idyllic lifestyle of the Islanders influenced by eastern philosophy and values that were different from theirs.
They advised the locals that ‘It is uncivilized to not believe in God’ and thereby arrogated the power to civilize the Islanders. They preached ‘love’ when the islanders already knew of ‘maithree’, ‘karuna’, ‘muditha’ and ‘uppekha’, more advanced stages of human kindness. Love in the eastern thinking was just ‘selfish infatuation’. But finally those who possessed more fire power proved to be the better ‘civilized’ and hence prevailed over the locals. Yet when the Catholics, with a Portuguese legacy, were eventually persecuted by the Anglicans, the Catholics had to seek refuge in the King of Kandy (uncivilized) to obtain Wahakotte as their undisturbed habitation.
The Anglican Church wielded enormous power over the Island nation during the British reign of more than 150 years. After having marginalized the indigenous education system they invited American missionaries to commence schools in Jaffna to create a blue collar work force for their plantations and administration in the1820’s. They preferred the manageable minority Tamils to the rebelling Sinhalese who had staged three rebellions up to then resisting the colonial power. As a result St Patricks and St Micheals and Vembeddy girls school were all started in the Jaffna district as the first schools in the Island of Ceylon.
The British colonialist expropriated the land of the locals and converted the Island in to a garden of plantations. They found the marginalized Indian labor more manageable to the savage looking slave labor that was used in other parts of the western world. Hence they ‘consigned’ contingents of labor from India to Ceylon to work in the plantation. From the Thalaimannar pier the indentured labor with their families were made to walk a distance of more than 200 miles through the jungle terrain. Some dropped dead on the way and the dead bodies were left for the jackals in the jungles. Once in the plantation, the lined rooms which were the permanent abode of the Indian Tamils, were no better than cattle sheds. A family of 6 or 7 lived in a room of 10’ by 6’.
The three Singhalese rebellions staged, were crushed with brute force exterminating not only the people but even the trees, paddy fields and other wherewithal that helped the locals in their dwelling. Entire areas and provinces were made barren, dislocating populations. As a testimony to this inhuman devastation, even to day the most fertile areas of the Island in the South East known as the ‘Wellassa’ (one hundred thousand paddy fields) is only parsley populated. The Anglican Church did not remain a passive spectator of all this ‘ungodly’ acts. They started conscripting the local population dangling the carrots of education and employment.
After more than 150 years of rule, when the British were compelled to leave the Island on the new world order brought about by the realization of the unceasing nature of the domination by arms, a privileged elite class of Anglo Saxon thinking, lead by the Church, had emerged in Sri Lanka from among locals. Unlike in India, in Sri Lanka there was no national struggle to win independence and as a result the patriotic indigenous leadership did not synchronize. The British handed over the power to the new local elites expecting them to preserve that status quo.
The new Government of the Independent Sri Lanka was initially towing the British line but eventually with the masses taking over the reigns of power the much awaited, progressive legislations were introduced. For instance, at the time of independence (1948), only 6% of the country’s population was conversant in English, the official language of the time. As a result 94 % of the country’s population was in the dark, being governed by the English speaking elite. Swabasha was introduced in 1956 to overcome this anomaly. With that move the foundation of the English speaking elite started to crack. The vested interests of the Church reacted to this in all possible ways. Even though there was provision for reasonable use of Tamil in the new legislation the Church propagated to the world about the unreasonableness of the legislation. The fact that there was a disproportionate amount of Tamils in the state service due to a one sided education policy for centuries gave credence to the ‘Tamil grievance’ as a corollary of the swabasha Bill. The church baptized the bill ‘Singhala only’
They found a very willing ally in Chelvanayagam, son of a clergyman, who was more Anglican than Tamil. He was obsessed with the thought that ‘How come these uneducated Sinhalese, being only a few million in population, could have a country of their own when the Tamils numbering 50 million could not have theirs’. According to him the ‘Singhalese were not big enough to govern us the Tamils’. The elite Tamil community who themselves had lost their privileges after the exit of the British was a good breeding ground for ‘alleged discrimination’. Chelvanayagam was not interested in implementing the reasonable use of Tamil because he would rather keep the ‘grievance’. He instead used this as an opportunity to introduce the first steps of the bifurcation plan in the form of Bandaranaike Chelvanayagam Pact where he demanded the land rights to North and the East. His strategy for total separation eventually was ‘little now and more later’. The B-C pact was rejected by the discerning public giving more propaganda matter to the Church and the Tamil elite.
It is not that the Tamils in general had no issue to demand more from the state but it is just that with a Sinhala dominated Government in power, the separatist minded Tamil elite like Chelvanayagam were able to project the Sri Lanka Government of the time as the source of all short comings. The popularity of the separatist politics of Chelvanayagam made even Ponnambalam resign from the Government, placing the Tamil community in a confrontational course with the Government of the day just two years after independence.
The legacy of the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka was that of colonial crusades, forced conscriptions, discriminatory treatment and economic exploitation. Hence it could not have picked any of those as a grievance against the now liberated Sinhala Buddhist population. But by taking the side of the Tamils it is saving itself and the status quo of the English speaking elite while projecting an image of a ‘fighter of the underdog’. Therefore with Sri Lanka gaining independence the Church changed its role from ‘blessing the aggressor’ to ‘fighting for the underdog’. That probably was the best way to check the progressive measures of the new Sri Lanka Government thereby preventing the transformation of Christian religion from the ‘patronized religion’ to the ‘religion of an insignificant minority’.
With the advent of Swabasha education the new liberated schools like Ananda and Nalanda broke the Christian monopoly on education and even the Maha Vidyalayas came to the fore with academic achievements surpassing the Christian schools. The Christian education suffered another body blow when they were taken over by the Government with progressive legislation in the 1960.s. Up to that time these Christian schools with their suave and ‘international’ standards were catering to the exclusive sections of the society producing even the leaders of the post independent Sri Lanka. Even today the English language media and the corporate sector in the country is made up of ‘old boys’ of these Christian schools. That way, what the Church could not accomplish in the form religious conversions had been compensated for in the form of conversions in culture and in thinking. In 1962 the senior police and security forces staged a coup de’tat against the elected Government of the day. All those officers who were involved were Christians and had that being successful; it was very likely that there would have been religious riots in Colombo as a corollary.
The Church had been consistently ‘sympathetic’ to the needs of the Tamils and helped them in innumerable ways to built up a Diaspora from the 1960’s. It was the Vatican through its communication network disseminated to the world the events of July 83 painting the Sinhalese Buddhist as ‘uncivilized barbarians’. From that point onwards the western funded and the Church guided National Peace Council unleashed its propaganda machine to justify all the heinous crimes committed by the LTTE as ‘retaliatory activities’ prompted by the July 83 incidents. In actual fact, by July 83 the Tamil guerillas had broken in to 15 banks and 18 police stations making it impossible for the civil administration to maintain law and order and in the North. Hence July 83 was the effect of those activities. But the NPC propaganda made July 83 a ‘cause’ to justify the killings and maiming of thousands of innocent civilians, in their homes, in their sleep, in places of worship, places of work or just on the road. Ironically even though the LTTE has now come to be known as the ‘world’s most ruthless terror organization’ none of its activities received the same publicity that July 83 received in the Vatican.
It should also be borne in mind that it was the World Council of Churches that sponsored the LTTE office in London which commenced its operation from 1984 denigrating the SL Government in general and the Sinhalese Buddhist in particular. The heads of the different Christian denominations in SL issue press statements from time to time, on the ongoing conflict, blaming mostly both parties to the Sri Lankan conflict, quite oblivious to the fact that on the one hand you have the legitimate Government of the country bending over backwards for peace and on the other the intransigent, ruthless and a totalitarian terrorist organization. They also make pilgrimages to Kilinochchi and eulogize the most ruthless terror leader and his activities. These are mostly done for the consumption of the Tamil Diaspora and the LTTE sympathizing Governments in the west.
Jesus Christ died as he had no cause even against those who plotted his murder. But the Church appears to justify the barbarism of Prabhakaran in the name of some illusive and unspecified ‘Tamil grievances’. These grievances are so holy to the Church that the Church even justifies mayhem and murder perpetrated on innocent lives in the name of these causes.
Although Buddhism is a philosophy that differs from Hinduism as a religion, practically in religious observances there is very little to choose between Buddhist and Hindu practices. They patronize the same temples and worship the same Gods. But the LTTE ‘s hatred for Buddhism is much larger than its hatred for the Sinhalese as this has been made plain by their many attacks on the Buddhist places of worship, killing of Buddhist monks and carrying out international propaganda against Buddhism in particular. When Taliban rulers decided to destroy the priceless Buddha statues in Afghanistan the whole world spoke against the act irrespective of religion, and LTTE was the only organization that issued a statement justifying the act.
The propaganda of the Church is very subtle. In spite of the ‘peace follies’ committed by successive SL Governments that bestowed a semblance of legitimacy on the LTTE, even today the Church will advocate ‘negotiations’. They wish that the legitimate Government keep talking till Prabhakaran muster enough military muscle and international diplomacy to attack and over through the Sri Lankan regime. They will express concern about ‘Human rights’ violations oblivious to the fact that the reason for these violations is the presence of a brutal terror outfit in our midst. They will loud the army excesses and provide a subtle platform for the LTTE in the international media. If a journalist wishes to expose national defense, for the benefit of the LTTE, he could always seek refuge in the Church under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’. This way the Church has been marshaling international opinion against the SL Government thereby making Sri Lanka, a pariah state in the eyes of the ‘International community’. On the face of it, there appears nothing wrong with the activities of the Church, because their modus operandi is ‘peace’, ‘human rights’ and ‘press freedom’. However, if the Government tries to muscle the Church for their subtle strategies, it will invariably stand accused of another basic violation to this list and that will be the ‘violation of the rights of the religious minorities’.
Recently the Bishop of Colombo issued a press statement on the aftermath of the visit by Ms Luise Arbour , the Directress of Human rights in the UN. This appeared to be a timely release to add pressure on Ms Arbour who in turn would add pressure on the SL Government to accommodate a UN human rights mandate in the country. Such a mandate was originally requested by the Bishop of Jaffna. The intensions of the Church are to cause foreign intervention in the country by some ruse. Because if the Sinhala Buddhist regime consolidates its power, the Church would be destined as the pontiff of an insignificant religious minority.
The son of the Bishop of Colombo Vijith de Chickera runs the Lanka Monthly Digest LMD which is very influential with the Sri Lankan business community. That too propagates ‘putative peace’, very subtly over business ethics, to the Sri Lankan corporate sector. The English media in Sri Lanka is exclusively dominated by the Christians and those with ‘western international’ mindset. Not only that they churn out putative peace propaganda day in and day out, but also acts as a filter for the international news agencies making sure that only ‘anti Sinhala Buddhist news’ gets highlighted in the international media.
The previous regime of President Chandrika Kumaranatunge came to power on a platform of ‘peace’ and survived her term on ‘peace’. But her activities caused the deaths of more than 40,000 Sinhala and Tamil lives of, the armed forces, the LTTE and the civilians. That was an unprecedented damage compared to the previous regimes. The LTTE became more nationally and internationally powerful during her time causing the most damage to the Sri Lankan economy. The Church had no compunction however, and in fact she was the darling of the Church because she shared the western concept of putative peace in Sri Lanka.
The present position of the Tamils in Sri Lanka is a far cry from what it was at the turn of independence. From the position of an ‘educated and privileged minority’ it has come down to a position of a ‘terrorist community in direct violent confrontation with the Government’. There numbers two have dwindled and the recent statistics have shown that they have been overtaken by the moor community in numbers. If the conflict prolongs in to the next decade the Sri Lankan Tamil community would be the first casualty of this conflict. Prabhakaran has long given up fighting for anything of the Tamils. He was a young bandit romantically attracted to the separatists propaganda of the Tamil elite in the 60’s and walked with all the patronage in to that platform. At 54 he is more matured now and knows only too well that his 30 year adventure has put the Tamil community 100 years behind. The enthusiasm of the Diaspora and local Tamil community has dwindled. Now he fights for his own survival with the support of the Church but at the cost of his own community.
The Church has used the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, first to build up its economy through the plantation, then to run the colonial administration and now to do the bidding for Prabhakaran to preserve its status quo.
(http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/8060)
06 LTTE bunkers destroyed, 10 terrorists killed- Jaffna
Four LTTE bunkers were destroyed killing at least eight terrorists when troops retaliated to an LTTE offensive advance at the Muhamalai forward defences yesterday (29), at 11.p.m, security sources said.
During the counter attacks, a soldier was injured and air lifted to the military base hospital at Palali.
Meanwhile, military sources said, two LTTE bunkers were destroyed killing two terrorists today (30), at 3.40a.m, in preemptive strikes by troops at the Nagarkovil FDLs.
According to ground sources, no damages were caused to own troops
During the counter attacks, a soldier was injured and air lifted to the military base hospital at Palali.
Meanwhile, military sources said, two LTTE bunkers were destroyed killing two terrorists today (30), at 3.40a.m, in preemptive strikes by troops at the Nagarkovil FDLs.
According to ground sources, no damages were caused to own troops
Bare facts of the terrorist attack
There was one shocking photograph which emerged from the Anuradhapura debacle last week - bodies of LTTE cadres who died in the attack being transported in a tractor trailor to the Anuradhapura hospital morgue.
It was shocking because the bodies were bare. One lying on top of the heap still had a belt strapped to the waist, but that was about all.
A policeman with a safety mask sat behind the driver, and there was a crowd of onlookers, including a policeman, gawking at the naked cadavers (which included three women, though their bodies weren't to be seen on the top of the pile).
The official explanation seems to be that the bodies, stripped of their clothing at the hospital, were being transported to the morgue a short distance away when one of the two tractors carrying them stopped and the grisly operation became a spectator event. Officials claim that this wasn't deliberate, and there was never any intention of putting these blood-strewn corpses on display.
However that might be, this picture will become symptomatic of the whole grim war, right from its inception. To those aware of history and visually educated, it will evoke World War II pictures from Nazi death camps, when the nude bodies of inmates were found piled up in heaps(the only difference being that the LTTE corpses weren't emaciated due to hunger). Even without going that far, this picture embodies all the unsavoury characteristics of our war - it's bloodiness, its grisliness, and its lack of regard for the rights of those involved even when they have been killed.
This deplorable quality must be shared by both sides. This time, however, the picture was taken on our side of the divide. It thus becomes a stark symbol of a state's steady degeneration into a moral void where basic decencies are simply not taken into account. Labelling the Tiger suicide commandos who attacked the SLAF base at Anuradhapura as terrorists and then denying their cadavers the basic dignities due to the dead only goes to reveal the abysmal depths to which we ourselves have sunk over the years. This government didn't start the process but has exacerbated and accelerated it with its blatant disregard of human rights.
The LTTE is an organization nurtured in terrorism. But it also has a proven military capability. The A'pura attack was a commando operation, daring in the extreme. To call those who carried it out terrorists is akin to Hitler's directive that all British commandos (the originators of this method of irregular warfare) should be treated as terrorists and executed if captured. All military hierarchies have a tradition of admiring their opposite numbers who have proved to be courageous and daring in battle. Thus, many high-ranking Allied officers became admirers of Col. Otto Skorzeny who led German Commando units during World War II protested against his being put on trial as a war criminal.
But ours has been, for the most part, a war without honour. It has also become one without any decency, and this has had devastating effects on the entire fabric of our society. It shows everywhere - in our workplaces, on our roads, in our schools, conference halls, and of course in the sanctified chambers of our parliament. People are not only rude; they are lawless and have no respect for the basic rights of those around them, as well as the institutions they are part of.
It is no exaggeration to say that a streak of fascism has crept into the Sri Lankan mental make up over the years. The presence of this government only goes to confirm it. Both sides in the ethnic conflict have executed most of their prisoners without trial. (The LTTE is more guilty of this than us, but then, the war is run on our side by a legally-elected government with moral responsibilities). The police seem to have followed this example and declared war on the criminal underworld, by sometimes executing suspects under almost any pretext (some of which are so ludicrous as to be laughable). Talk to the common man in the street, and he will strongly approve of this summary method of dealing with crime. (What should be done is to establish a maximum security prison for the mass murderers and psychopaths as there exist in many other countries).
People who speak up for human rights are accused of undermining national sovereignty by being in the payroll of international conspiracies. Or they are accused of imposing 'irrelevant foreign standards' to Sri Lanka, again undermining our sovereignty. This state of affairs is further exacerbated by those who openly deny human rights violations.
What these people forget is that basic decency is not something foreign and imposed. If it looks foreign, then there is something terribly flawed about our own way of thinking.
It was shocking because the bodies were bare. One lying on top of the heap still had a belt strapped to the waist, but that was about all.
A policeman with a safety mask sat behind the driver, and there was a crowd of onlookers, including a policeman, gawking at the naked cadavers (which included three women, though their bodies weren't to be seen on the top of the pile).
The official explanation seems to be that the bodies, stripped of their clothing at the hospital, were being transported to the morgue a short distance away when one of the two tractors carrying them stopped and the grisly operation became a spectator event. Officials claim that this wasn't deliberate, and there was never any intention of putting these blood-strewn corpses on display.
However that might be, this picture will become symptomatic of the whole grim war, right from its inception. To those aware of history and visually educated, it will evoke World War II pictures from Nazi death camps, when the nude bodies of inmates were found piled up in heaps(the only difference being that the LTTE corpses weren't emaciated due to hunger). Even without going that far, this picture embodies all the unsavoury characteristics of our war - it's bloodiness, its grisliness, and its lack of regard for the rights of those involved even when they have been killed.
This deplorable quality must be shared by both sides. This time, however, the picture was taken on our side of the divide. It thus becomes a stark symbol of a state's steady degeneration into a moral void where basic decencies are simply not taken into account. Labelling the Tiger suicide commandos who attacked the SLAF base at Anuradhapura as terrorists and then denying their cadavers the basic dignities due to the dead only goes to reveal the abysmal depths to which we ourselves have sunk over the years. This government didn't start the process but has exacerbated and accelerated it with its blatant disregard of human rights.
The LTTE is an organization nurtured in terrorism. But it also has a proven military capability. The A'pura attack was a commando operation, daring in the extreme. To call those who carried it out terrorists is akin to Hitler's directive that all British commandos (the originators of this method of irregular warfare) should be treated as terrorists and executed if captured. All military hierarchies have a tradition of admiring their opposite numbers who have proved to be courageous and daring in battle. Thus, many high-ranking Allied officers became admirers of Col. Otto Skorzeny who led German Commando units during World War II protested against his being put on trial as a war criminal.
But ours has been, for the most part, a war without honour. It has also become one without any decency, and this has had devastating effects on the entire fabric of our society. It shows everywhere - in our workplaces, on our roads, in our schools, conference halls, and of course in the sanctified chambers of our parliament. People are not only rude; they are lawless and have no respect for the basic rights of those around them, as well as the institutions they are part of.
It is no exaggeration to say that a streak of fascism has crept into the Sri Lankan mental make up over the years. The presence of this government only goes to confirm it. Both sides in the ethnic conflict have executed most of their prisoners without trial. (The LTTE is more guilty of this than us, but then, the war is run on our side by a legally-elected government with moral responsibilities). The police seem to have followed this example and declared war on the criminal underworld, by sometimes executing suspects under almost any pretext (some of which are so ludicrous as to be laughable). Talk to the common man in the street, and he will strongly approve of this summary method of dealing with crime. (What should be done is to establish a maximum security prison for the mass murderers and psychopaths as there exist in many other countries).
People who speak up for human rights are accused of undermining national sovereignty by being in the payroll of international conspiracies. Or they are accused of imposing 'irrelevant foreign standards' to Sri Lanka, again undermining our sovereignty. This state of affairs is further exacerbated by those who openly deny human rights violations.
What these people forget is that basic decency is not something foreign and imposed. If it looks foreign, then there is something terribly flawed about our own way of thinking.
Forces destroy four Tiger bunkers
Ten LTTE cadres were killed and many others injured while four Tiger bunkers were destroyed in a series of clashes with the Security Forces on Tuesday in the Jaffna Peninsula and Vavuniya.
Following the incident arms and weapons were also uncovered, the Media Centre for the National Security said. According to a spokesman for the MCNS, a female LTTE cadre was killed in a confrontation with Security Forces on Tuesday around 1.45 pm in general area of Nawathkulam, Vavuniya.
In a separate incident the Security Forces obstructed a group of LTTE cadres attempting to breach the Muhamalai Forward Defence Lines in Jaffna on Tuesday around 3.35 pm killing six Tigers and destroying four of their bunkers, the MCNS spokesman said.
According to defence sources, troops effectively retaliated thwarting LTTE attempts to advance upto the Muhamalai FDLs engaging heavy artillery and medium range gunfire attacks. In a subsequent search operation the Security Forces recovered an AK-47 weapon magazine, 28 AK-47 ammunition, a hand grenade and a pouch.
Meanwhile, two LTTE cadres were killed by the Security Forces in separate confrontation in Weli Oya and Nagarkovil on Tuesday, he added.
Following the incident arms and weapons were also uncovered, the Media Centre for the National Security said. According to a spokesman for the MCNS, a female LTTE cadre was killed in a confrontation with Security Forces on Tuesday around 1.45 pm in general area of Nawathkulam, Vavuniya.
In a separate incident the Security Forces obstructed a group of LTTE cadres attempting to breach the Muhamalai Forward Defence Lines in Jaffna on Tuesday around 3.35 pm killing six Tigers and destroying four of their bunkers, the MCNS spokesman said.
According to defence sources, troops effectively retaliated thwarting LTTE attempts to advance upto the Muhamalai FDLs engaging heavy artillery and medium range gunfire attacks. In a subsequent search operation the Security Forces recovered an AK-47 weapon magazine, 28 AK-47 ammunition, a hand grenade and a pouch.
Meanwhile, two LTTE cadres were killed by the Security Forces in separate confrontation in Weli Oya and Nagarkovil on Tuesday, he added.
Tiger infiltration meets with opposition
Amidst continuous infiltration attempts by the Tigers under cover of adverse weather conditions at least ten Tiger cadres were killed in the latest violence in the north during the last two days, the military said. It said six LTTE cadres were killed in Muhamalai, one in Athawetunuwewa, Welioya two in Nagarakovil and a female terrorist in Thavankulam in Vavuniya.
A large number of Tigers were injured in the confrontations. Meanwhile, troops successfully retaliated against the Tigers who attempted an attack on the forward defence lines at Muhamalai early on Tuesday morning and destroyed four Tiger bunkers, the military said.
Troops directed heavy artillery and medium range gunfire attacks at identified LTTE positions causing heavy damage, security sources said.
Confirming the report the pro-LTTE web site said ‘movement of LTTE combatants near the northern Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions had triggered the clashes’.
A large stock of weapons ammunition and other military items were recovered in subsequent search operations, security sources said.
A large number of Tigers were injured in the confrontations. Meanwhile, troops successfully retaliated against the Tigers who attempted an attack on the forward defence lines at Muhamalai early on Tuesday morning and destroyed four Tiger bunkers, the military said.
Troops directed heavy artillery and medium range gunfire attacks at identified LTTE positions causing heavy damage, security sources said.
Confirming the report the pro-LTTE web site said ‘movement of LTTE combatants near the northern Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions had triggered the clashes’.
A large stock of weapons ammunition and other military items were recovered in subsequent search operations, security sources said.
Nine Tamil youths escape from LTTE bondage
Nine Tamil youths who fled from LTTE captivity sought refuge at the Sri Lanka Navy and Police Fishing Marshalling Point at Pallemunai in Mannar 30th October 2007 around 7.15 a.m according to a milittary source.
Preliminary investigations revealed they had arrived from Papamotai and cited several instances of harassment, abduction, forcible conscription and killings meted out by the LTTE to those who defy the terror outfit’s dictates as their main reason for escaping from the LTTE clutches, he added.
All the escapees are males in the age group of 18 – 26. They were in the prime of youth. They had expressed their desire to live a normal life enjoying the benefits available to their counterparts residing elsewhere in the country where normalcy prevails.
There were two youths aged 18 from Mannar and another two aged 24 and 26 from Mullaitivu. One youth, aged 19, had escaped all the way from Jaffna. The rest were from Kilinochchi and were aged 21, 22, 24 and 25 respectively.
One youth talking to the security forces perrsonnel stated that they were taken forcibly from their homes for training in LTTE camps. They had fled from their training camp since they found the training hard and declined fighting. Another claimed that they were forcibly retained at the training camp under harsh conditions.
"They lacked food and no place to sleep while in training. They were not given medical treatment when they fell ill. All said in unison that they all had to look after their aging parents and had family members who were dependent on them for financial support,"the soucre also said.
Preliminary investigations revealed they had arrived from Papamotai and cited several instances of harassment, abduction, forcible conscription and killings meted out by the LTTE to those who defy the terror outfit’s dictates as their main reason for escaping from the LTTE clutches, he added.
All the escapees are males in the age group of 18 – 26. They were in the prime of youth. They had expressed their desire to live a normal life enjoying the benefits available to their counterparts residing elsewhere in the country where normalcy prevails.
There were two youths aged 18 from Mannar and another two aged 24 and 26 from Mullaitivu. One youth, aged 19, had escaped all the way from Jaffna. The rest were from Kilinochchi and were aged 21, 22, 24 and 25 respectively.
One youth talking to the security forces perrsonnel stated that they were taken forcibly from their homes for training in LTTE camps. They had fled from their training camp since they found the training hard and declined fighting. Another claimed that they were forcibly retained at the training camp under harsh conditions.
"They lacked food and no place to sleep while in training. They were not given medical treatment when they fell ill. All said in unison that they all had to look after their aging parents and had family members who were dependent on them for financial support,"the soucre also said.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Tiger ambush in Hambanthota a fiction
Several pro LTTE web sites yesterday spread the news about an alleged guerilla attack on a SLN convoy in Hambanthota district. According to the report on Pro LTTE Tamilnet.com web site, an elite commando unit of the tigers ambushed an SLN convoy near Thissamaharama at around 4.30pm yesterday, killing 6 soldiers and wounding 12 more.
According to our information, no SLN convoy has been ambushed in the said area. In addition to that, no LTTE presence was detected in the area although a joint search operation was conducted by the army and the police. A rumor about men clad in black seen entering the jungles near Thissamaharama was the primary reason for conducting the search operation. However it was later discovered that 3 lumberjacks clad in black clothing were mistaken for LTTE cadres by several civilians.
(http://defencenet.blogspot.com/)
According to our information, no SLN convoy has been ambushed in the said area. In addition to that, no LTTE presence was detected in the area although a joint search operation was conducted by the army and the police. A rumor about men clad in black seen entering the jungles near Thissamaharama was the primary reason for conducting the search operation. However it was later discovered that 3 lumberjacks clad in black clothing were mistaken for LTTE cadres by several civilians.
(http://defencenet.blogspot.com/)
The Mountainous Mole-hole
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as part of its world-wide publicity and propaganda campaign, has released a video depicting battle-preparations by the 21 Black Tiger cadres who attacked the Katunayake airbase last Monday. The unit is shown going through its paces in mock attacks along what appears to be tarmac. It is followed by the customary scenes of public mourning over the death of the Black Tigers. This content is available on pathivu.com under the following link.
http://www.pathivu.com/?ucat=sirappu_paarvai&file=261007
The Black Tiger group has since then been elevated to LTTE martyrs. The video is to be screened at several European destinations alongside religious observances and celebrations leading up to fundraisers. The Tigers, who are famous for their ability to generate theatrical masterpieces of its battle-field success are already planning to release the movie along with an accompanying soundtrack and compositions in several European cities. They currently own and operate more websites than the Sri Lanka government, with the main audience being the Tamil Diaspora. Intelligence sources believe that the success of this attack would be used to raise the funds necessary to replenish its depleted heavy weapon munitions and other stocks. The LTTE is also attempting to acquire a new fleet of deep-sea vessels either through purchase or long-term lease. Plans to rebuild its deep sea transport vessels would require vast sums of money and the success of the Anuradhapura attack and the ongoing media campaign would be beneficial to this effort.
(http://defencewire.blogspot.com/)
http://www.pathivu.com/?ucat=sirappu_paarvai&file=261007
The Black Tiger group has since then been elevated to LTTE martyrs. The video is to be screened at several European destinations alongside religious observances and celebrations leading up to fundraisers. The Tigers, who are famous for their ability to generate theatrical masterpieces of its battle-field success are already planning to release the movie along with an accompanying soundtrack and compositions in several European cities. They currently own and operate more websites than the Sri Lanka government, with the main audience being the Tamil Diaspora. Intelligence sources believe that the success of this attack would be used to raise the funds necessary to replenish its depleted heavy weapon munitions and other stocks. The LTTE is also attempting to acquire a new fleet of deep-sea vessels either through purchase or long-term lease. Plans to rebuild its deep sea transport vessels would require vast sums of money and the success of the Anuradhapura attack and the ongoing media campaign would be beneficial to this effort.
(http://defencewire.blogspot.com/)
Missing the Point and the Tiger
A certain candidate for the forthcoming Democratic Elections in the United States has claimed the LTTE cannot be described as a terrorist group. We understand the yardstick not fitting the measured but must we restate the obvious? Maybe reframing the issue in post 9/11 jargon and within the theories of terrorism would help.
The LTTE’s acts fall within many different categories of terrorism ever identified (Schmidt). These include Nationalist and Separatist/Ethnic terrorism (LTTE defines it as Tamil vs Sinhalese), Insurgent Terrorism (LTTE’s Insurgent Behaviour), Political Terrorism (elimination of political dissenters), Social Revolutionary Terrorism (correcting social ills like Caste, Gender-discrimination) and Pathological Terrorism (pregnant women suicide bombers).
Whilst acts such as indiscriminate bombings, armed assaults on civilians and focused assassinations are considered criminal offences in national or international law, mere crimes do not become terrorist acts (means rather than ends). There must be a distinct political motivation for it to become terrorism (i.e. LTTE’s demands for Eelam through political cessation). There is also a distinct connection between guerilla-warfare and Terrorism. Mao Tse-Tung in his book ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ (1937), concluded terrorism as a second stage of a three stage model of insurrection (1. Organisation, consolidation, and preservation of base areas; 2. guerrilla war; 3. conventional army to destroy the enemy). Mao would have been proud of the LTTE (at least in theory) for they seem to embody all three characteristics of guerilla warfare.
Terrorists also frequently elevate irregular practices of warfare into regular tactics. Suicide bombing for example is an irregular tactic the LTTE has regularized, internalized and regimentalized in, for example, the Black Tigers. Terrorists avoid open combat and avoid meeting its adversaries in conventional warfare.
Schmidt claims that “Acts of terrorism, then, can be understood as a special kind of violence; the peacetime equivalent of war crimes.” The Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions stipulates that “irregular fighters”(guerrillas, partisans, resistance groups) must fulfill four conditions:
1. Irregulars must be ‘commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates’; (The LTTE seems to have a loosely defined Rank and File)
2. They must have a ‘fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance’; (Violation by LTTE suicide bombers, recent Black Tiger infiltration squad, pistol gang etc)
3. They must carry their arms ‘openly’; (Violation: suicide bombers, Pistol Gangs etc)
4. They must conduct their operations ‘in accordance with the laws and customs of war’. (Violation: child combatants, pregnant women suicide bombers etc)
Terrorist violence is aimed at behaviour-modification by coercion and propaganda by persuasion. Terrorism, when using violence against one victim, seeks to coerce and persuade others. The immediate victim is merely an instrument for a calculated impact on a wider audience. Terrorism is perpetrated as an indirect strategy aimed at a larger audience than the victims of the specific act itself. For example the audience of the Dr Thiruchelvam assassination was the moderate Tamils seeking a negotiated solution.
From which angle we look, the Tigers bear all the hallmarks of a terrorist outfit. So what next? Perhaps we should wait and see how the candidate greets the reality of the world outside the US to make further conclusions. The International Community can be ignorant at times, but it is certainly not foolish.
(1) A.P. Schmid et al. Political Terrorism. A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature. Revised, expanded and updated edition prepared under the Auspices of the Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University. Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Company, 1988, p. 48. – with additions by J. Post.
(http://defencewire.blogspot.com/)
The LTTE’s acts fall within many different categories of terrorism ever identified (Schmidt). These include Nationalist and Separatist/Ethnic terrorism (LTTE defines it as Tamil vs Sinhalese), Insurgent Terrorism (LTTE’s Insurgent Behaviour), Political Terrorism (elimination of political dissenters), Social Revolutionary Terrorism (correcting social ills like Caste, Gender-discrimination) and Pathological Terrorism (pregnant women suicide bombers).
Whilst acts such as indiscriminate bombings, armed assaults on civilians and focused assassinations are considered criminal offences in national or international law, mere crimes do not become terrorist acts (means rather than ends). There must be a distinct political motivation for it to become terrorism (i.e. LTTE’s demands for Eelam through political cessation). There is also a distinct connection between guerilla-warfare and Terrorism. Mao Tse-Tung in his book ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ (1937), concluded terrorism as a second stage of a three stage model of insurrection (1. Organisation, consolidation, and preservation of base areas; 2. guerrilla war; 3. conventional army to destroy the enemy). Mao would have been proud of the LTTE (at least in theory) for they seem to embody all three characteristics of guerilla warfare.
Terrorists also frequently elevate irregular practices of warfare into regular tactics. Suicide bombing for example is an irregular tactic the LTTE has regularized, internalized and regimentalized in, for example, the Black Tigers. Terrorists avoid open combat and avoid meeting its adversaries in conventional warfare.
Schmidt claims that “Acts of terrorism, then, can be understood as a special kind of violence; the peacetime equivalent of war crimes.” The Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions stipulates that “irregular fighters”(guerrillas, partisans, resistance groups) must fulfill four conditions:
1. Irregulars must be ‘commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates’; (The LTTE seems to have a loosely defined Rank and File)
2. They must have a ‘fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance’; (Violation by LTTE suicide bombers, recent Black Tiger infiltration squad, pistol gang etc)
3. They must carry their arms ‘openly’; (Violation: suicide bombers, Pistol Gangs etc)
4. They must conduct their operations ‘in accordance with the laws and customs of war’. (Violation: child combatants, pregnant women suicide bombers etc)
Terrorist violence is aimed at behaviour-modification by coercion and propaganda by persuasion. Terrorism, when using violence against one victim, seeks to coerce and persuade others. The immediate victim is merely an instrument for a calculated impact on a wider audience. Terrorism is perpetrated as an indirect strategy aimed at a larger audience than the victims of the specific act itself. For example the audience of the Dr Thiruchelvam assassination was the moderate Tamils seeking a negotiated solution.
From which angle we look, the Tigers bear all the hallmarks of a terrorist outfit. So what next? Perhaps we should wait and see how the candidate greets the reality of the world outside the US to make further conclusions. The International Community can be ignorant at times, but it is certainly not foolish.
(1) A.P. Schmid et al. Political Terrorism. A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature. Revised, expanded and updated edition prepared under the Auspices of the Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University. Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Company, 1988, p. 48. – with additions by J. Post.
(http://defencewire.blogspot.com/)
Only 70% completed country's Air Defence System-Air Chief
Certain areas of Sri Lankan air space are still vulnerable and it needs at least 06 to 07 months to complete the air defence system fully activated, Air Force chief Air Marshall Roshan Gunathilake said.
Air Force commander met the journalists at weekly press briefing today in Colombo just 04 days after the devastating attack on one of the country’s main air base, by the Black Tiger suicide squad of the LTTE with the help of Tiger air wing.
Gunathilake said that at least 70% of the installation of the air defence system is now in place covering all strategically important areas, with out identifying covered and uncovered areas.
He said that Air Force was able to protect the camp by killing all the infiltrated tiger suicide cadres in the Anuradhapura air base early on Monday 22.
Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickremanayake admitted in the parliament after two days of the attack that the air force had lost 08 air craft in the attack, the number which LTTE claimed even before the attack ends.
Independent sources confirmed at least another dozen of air crafts have had considerable damages and are out of operation at the movement.
Air Force commander denied the media reports and said only US$ 15 million were lost due to the attack, but sources close to defence establishment confirmed that the amount is little shorter than three times of the official figure.
Government has made sudden changes in command and operational structure of the armed forces, after the Anuradhapura attack which is considered as the island’s biggest ever lost in a single incident in financial terms.
Outer parameter security of all the air bases in the country with airports, have been assigned to army and at least two of them will be protected by elite Special Forces regiment soldiers else where in the country.
Major General Santh Karunartne, has been appointed as the Overall Operation Commander for the District of Anuradhapura hours after the attack, undoubtedly the worst ever set back military had in the undeclared Eelam War IV.
(http://defencewire.blogspot.com/)
Air Force commander met the journalists at weekly press briefing today in Colombo just 04 days after the devastating attack on one of the country’s main air base, by the Black Tiger suicide squad of the LTTE with the help of Tiger air wing.
Gunathilake said that at least 70% of the installation of the air defence system is now in place covering all strategically important areas, with out identifying covered and uncovered areas.
He said that Air Force was able to protect the camp by killing all the infiltrated tiger suicide cadres in the Anuradhapura air base early on Monday 22.
Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickremanayake admitted in the parliament after two days of the attack that the air force had lost 08 air craft in the attack, the number which LTTE claimed even before the attack ends.
Independent sources confirmed at least another dozen of air crafts have had considerable damages and are out of operation at the movement.
Air Force commander denied the media reports and said only US$ 15 million were lost due to the attack, but sources close to defence establishment confirmed that the amount is little shorter than three times of the official figure.
Government has made sudden changes in command and operational structure of the armed forces, after the Anuradhapura attack which is considered as the island’s biggest ever lost in a single incident in financial terms.
Outer parameter security of all the air bases in the country with airports, have been assigned to army and at least two of them will be protected by elite Special Forces regiment soldiers else where in the country.
Major General Santh Karunartne, has been appointed as the Overall Operation Commander for the District of Anuradhapura hours after the attack, undoubtedly the worst ever set back military had in the undeclared Eelam War IV.
(http://defencewire.blogspot.com/)
Norwegian support terrorism
01)It is possible to trace fundraising and bank accounts to the LTTE organisations the last 20 years. Bank accounts in Den norske Creditbank, Bergenbank and Sparebanken Midt-Norge was found before the 1990. Aftenposten, a major Norwegian newspaper, revealed in an article in 2001 that Norwegian authorities have been allowing transfer of funds to the Tamil Tigers, Hamas, ETA and other person organisations. "Those missing were apparently overlooked on the UN list, and Norwegian authorities have been reluctant to add them for fear of unfairly exposing innocent bank customers, and risking damage claims." Even in 2004 there are no restrictions of transfers of funds to the LTTE from Norway. According to LTTE they have six offices in Norway.
The LTTE is hiding under more legitimate organisation like the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) and The Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC). Fifty persons works in the TCC network in Norway. The LTTE also has a significant Norwegian support structure for fundraising and propaganda activities. LTTE fundraising in Norway is estimated that more than 5 million US dollars. The increasing Tamil community (10.000 ++) in Norway is paying fees to LTTE and LTTE is involved in business activities in Norway. The LTTE propaganda activities have been successful in Norway. It is quite obvious the LTTE have been able to sell "their story" to the Norwegians and received the support of the Norwegian government and military. With more than 10.000 Tamils in Norway, LTTE has become a political important partner for Norwegian political parties. LTTE front organisations in Norway have received millions of Norwegian Kroner from the Norwegian Government and Municipalities, allegedly to support their cultural and integration activities.
02)Norway is supporting the person group LTTE in the conflict in Sri Lanka. Norway has supported LTTE financially, with equipment and made every effort to make this person organisation a "legitimate" negotiation partner.
Norway has participated in smuggling of high-tech communication equipment to the person organisation. Norwegian generals have also given sensitive information to the LTTE person leaders. General Trygve Tellefsen leaked information about the Navy's pursuit of a LTTE arms smuggling ship to the Tamil rebel group allowing them to escape. After the incident President Chandrika Kumaratunga wrote to the Norwegian Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik to remove the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Retired Major General Trygve Tellefsen. The Norwegian generals Trygve Tellefsen and Trond Furuhovde have been involved in the conflict in Sri Lanka and favoured the LTTE.
Norway has also invited the Tamil tigers to Norwegian military camps to see Norwegian military demonstrate their skills and equipment. Telephone wiretaps has revealed the close cooperation between the Norway and the LTTE person leaders. Wiretap 1. Norwegian ambbuttador Jon Westborg and Duleep from the person organisation LTTE. In this wiretap the ambbuttador gives information about the communication equipment and inform that the Norwegian's will pay for the added costs. The reveals a discussion with the Norwegian Ambbuttador who speaks to Duleep of LTTE about the transmission equipment that has been "dealt with and explained and arranged with Mr. Bradman Weerakoon." A total of six tons of electronic equipment was delivered to the LTTE in 2002, including V-Sat equipment used in satellite communications. The conversation also revolves around a document that has been signed by Tamilchelvam and another is requested to be mailed to the ambbuttador's residence and not to the embbutty. The equipment received from Norway is according to Indian intelligence sources contacted by the Asiantribune is used actively in the terror against their political opposition:http://www.asiantribune.com-shownews.php/?id=10493 In a meeting with the WAPS organisation the 23rd August Erik Solheim could not confirm that the "peace process" gift from Norway now is used for these purposes. He said " I am not an electronic expert, so I do not know".
The Norwegian consbreastutional committee should immediately start an investigation into this matter. If the Indian report is found correct, Norway should do as Libya, admit responsibility and pay the victims compensation. Wiretap 2. Norwegian general Trond Furuhovde and LTTE political leader Puleedevan. General Trond Furuhovde Sensitive information is given to the person leader and the Norwegian general are coaching the person leader to give the blame on the latest person action to a "third party" with stolen uniforms! The general also states, "I'm using all their resources to calm down the Sinhalese part of the population" and requests Puleedevan to order his people to do the same, whereupon Prabhakaran agrees, but states that the "Tamil people are always on the receiving end." The general advises Puleedevan to "protect himself."
At the end of the conversation, Puleedevan requests the Norwegian to "please be involved continuously in this..." and he is thereby buttured. Col. Karuna is also mentioned during the conversation. Both wiretaps are made in the autumn 2002. After these wiretaps nobody can be in doubt of the illegal Norwegian support of the LTTE persons. It's a tragedy that Norway is giving one of the worst person organisations legitimacy as a negotiation partner.
(http://www.barossa-region.org/)
The LTTE is hiding under more legitimate organisation like the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) and The Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC). Fifty persons works in the TCC network in Norway. The LTTE also has a significant Norwegian support structure for fundraising and propaganda activities. LTTE fundraising in Norway is estimated that more than 5 million US dollars. The increasing Tamil community (10.000 ++) in Norway is paying fees to LTTE and LTTE is involved in business activities in Norway. The LTTE propaganda activities have been successful in Norway. It is quite obvious the LTTE have been able to sell "their story" to the Norwegians and received the support of the Norwegian government and military. With more than 10.000 Tamils in Norway, LTTE has become a political important partner for Norwegian political parties. LTTE front organisations in Norway have received millions of Norwegian Kroner from the Norwegian Government and Municipalities, allegedly to support their cultural and integration activities.
02)Norway is supporting the person group LTTE in the conflict in Sri Lanka. Norway has supported LTTE financially, with equipment and made every effort to make this person organisation a "legitimate" negotiation partner.
Norway has participated in smuggling of high-tech communication equipment to the person organisation. Norwegian generals have also given sensitive information to the LTTE person leaders. General Trygve Tellefsen leaked information about the Navy's pursuit of a LTTE arms smuggling ship to the Tamil rebel group allowing them to escape. After the incident President Chandrika Kumaratunga wrote to the Norwegian Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik to remove the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Retired Major General Trygve Tellefsen. The Norwegian generals Trygve Tellefsen and Trond Furuhovde have been involved in the conflict in Sri Lanka and favoured the LTTE.
Norway has also invited the Tamil tigers to Norwegian military camps to see Norwegian military demonstrate their skills and equipment. Telephone wiretaps has revealed the close cooperation between the Norway and the LTTE person leaders. Wiretap 1. Norwegian ambbuttador Jon Westborg and Duleep from the person organisation LTTE. In this wiretap the ambbuttador gives information about the communication equipment and inform that the Norwegian's will pay for the added costs. The reveals a discussion with the Norwegian Ambbuttador who speaks to Duleep of LTTE about the transmission equipment that has been "dealt with and explained and arranged with Mr. Bradman Weerakoon." A total of six tons of electronic equipment was delivered to the LTTE in 2002, including V-Sat equipment used in satellite communications. The conversation also revolves around a document that has been signed by Tamilchelvam and another is requested to be mailed to the ambbuttador's residence and not to the embbutty. The equipment received from Norway is according to Indian intelligence sources contacted by the Asiantribune is used actively in the terror against their political opposition:http://www.asiantribune.com-shownews.php/?id=10493 In a meeting with the WAPS organisation the 23rd August Erik Solheim could not confirm that the "peace process" gift from Norway now is used for these purposes. He said " I am not an electronic expert, so I do not know".
The Norwegian consbreastutional committee should immediately start an investigation into this matter. If the Indian report is found correct, Norway should do as Libya, admit responsibility and pay the victims compensation. Wiretap 2. Norwegian general Trond Furuhovde and LTTE political leader Puleedevan. General Trond Furuhovde Sensitive information is given to the person leader and the Norwegian general are coaching the person leader to give the blame on the latest person action to a "third party" with stolen uniforms! The general also states, "I'm using all their resources to calm down the Sinhalese part of the population" and requests Puleedevan to order his people to do the same, whereupon Prabhakaran agrees, but states that the "Tamil people are always on the receiving end." The general advises Puleedevan to "protect himself."
At the end of the conversation, Puleedevan requests the Norwegian to "please be involved continuously in this..." and he is thereby buttured. Col. Karuna is also mentioned during the conversation. Both wiretaps are made in the autumn 2002. After these wiretaps nobody can be in doubt of the illegal Norwegian support of the LTTE persons. It's a tragedy that Norway is giving one of the worst person organisations legitimacy as a negotiation partner.
(http://www.barossa-region.org/)
LTTE continually making full use of child soldiers
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are continually making full use of young male and female child soldiers to defend their Front-Lines from the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. Why the LTTE cries out to the International Community and accuses the Government of Sri Lanka of Human Rights Abuses I do not know when the LTTE themselves are abusing the Human Rights of young teenagers who deserve a better quality of life free from the very high possibility of a very short life-span by being forced out on the battlefield. More and more, young Sri Lankan Tamils are fleeing Sri Lanka, our motherland because they fear being recruited by the LTTE.
This is fact! The declaration of Eelam War (IV) is the biggest mistake the LTTE leader Prabhakaran could have made and has cost the lives of over 4,000 people. Human life to the LTTE means nothing, Human Rights, Freedom of Speech, Democracy and Pluralism means nothing. They make full use of their front Human Rights organisations worldwide for their own propaganda purposes to fuel their campaign and support amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking Diaspora which is fast dwindling.
The LTTE have always waved the Human Rights issue when they have been near military and political defeat. It is entirely hypocritical of them to have appointed a Human Rights Spokesperson Ms N. Selvi, a female soldier, a champion of Human Rights for Terrorist Fascists who has no understanding whatsoever of the pain and anguish of a mother who has either lost her son or daughter in the battlefield after being recruited by the LTTE.
There are tens of thousands of our people starving in Sri Lanka because of the LTTE's military campaign; many thousands of civilians are displaced from their home villages. There is a lack of sanitation and basic facilities for our people in the refugee camps. All these unbearable sufferings, because of the LTTE's, plight to achieve Eelam. Prabhakaran knows only too well that neither he or the LTTE will never deliver Eelam.
The fact of the matter is that he is not man enough to admit this and on the same token will never settle for anything less that Eelam. Therefore any solution between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka would always be deemed “interim”. The LTTE has been deceiving the Sri Lankan Diaspora for decades now. These sufferings’, being faced is definitely not what our community wants and the other communities of Sri Lanka.
This is why we as an organisation are actively working in Sri Lanka once again and abroad for our people and to help protect the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking community.EROS urges the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking community to open their eyes wide and observe what is really going on in Sri Lanka. The LTTE have transitioned from a movement of freedom fighters to a movement of Fascists.
The LTTE will never achieve their goal in delivering Eelam to the Tamil speaking people, they will only bring tens of thousands of more deaths and bloodshed. Is this what we really want? What will be left of our community’s population in our motherland I do not know for it has plundered to ridiculous levels ever since the LTTE embarked on their journey of killing off rival democratic politicians, political groups and claiming to be the sole representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking people.
EROS has always advocated that all Tamil speaking people are Eelavar's. Eelam is our traditional homeland, there is no question about it, but that’s all in the past now. This does not mean to say that we do not recognise the North-East as our traditional homeland, we do but we must learn to live amongst one another in peace. The Sri Lankan Tamil speaking community do deserve to have regional autonomy, but it should not be at the price of death and destruction in our homeland. This can be achieved through constructive political dialogue with the Government of Sri Lanka.The only barrier to this is that the LTTE must admit political defeat and will never hand over its arms.
It is the LTTE that has alienated the Sri Lankan Muslim community from the Tamil community by acts of sheer Genocide and ethnic cleansing. EROS is working towards addressing the grievances of the Muslim community and re-integrating the Tamil speaking Muslims back into our community and encouraging reconciliation.We need your support and encouragement.
We are an independent organisation and political party with a good name and reputation amongst our community. We will do what’s right for our community and help bridge the gap between other communities in Sri Lanka. We must learn to be Sri Lankan first and our ethnicity, religion etc should come secondary. Secularism must be encouraged and promoted in Sri Lanka.
There can never be peace in Sri Lanka if the LTTE remains as a military outfit and continues to fight for a separate state. They will always come in the way of true and ever lasting peace in Sri Lanka.
(http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/)
This is fact! The declaration of Eelam War (IV) is the biggest mistake the LTTE leader Prabhakaran could have made and has cost the lives of over 4,000 people. Human life to the LTTE means nothing, Human Rights, Freedom of Speech, Democracy and Pluralism means nothing. They make full use of their front Human Rights organisations worldwide for their own propaganda purposes to fuel their campaign and support amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking Diaspora which is fast dwindling.
The LTTE have always waved the Human Rights issue when they have been near military and political defeat. It is entirely hypocritical of them to have appointed a Human Rights Spokesperson Ms N. Selvi, a female soldier, a champion of Human Rights for Terrorist Fascists who has no understanding whatsoever of the pain and anguish of a mother who has either lost her son or daughter in the battlefield after being recruited by the LTTE.
There are tens of thousands of our people starving in Sri Lanka because of the LTTE's military campaign; many thousands of civilians are displaced from their home villages. There is a lack of sanitation and basic facilities for our people in the refugee camps. All these unbearable sufferings, because of the LTTE's, plight to achieve Eelam. Prabhakaran knows only too well that neither he or the LTTE will never deliver Eelam.
The fact of the matter is that he is not man enough to admit this and on the same token will never settle for anything less that Eelam. Therefore any solution between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka would always be deemed “interim”. The LTTE has been deceiving the Sri Lankan Diaspora for decades now. These sufferings’, being faced is definitely not what our community wants and the other communities of Sri Lanka.
This is why we as an organisation are actively working in Sri Lanka once again and abroad for our people and to help protect the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking community.EROS urges the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking community to open their eyes wide and observe what is really going on in Sri Lanka. The LTTE have transitioned from a movement of freedom fighters to a movement of Fascists.
The LTTE will never achieve their goal in delivering Eelam to the Tamil speaking people, they will only bring tens of thousands of more deaths and bloodshed. Is this what we really want? What will be left of our community’s population in our motherland I do not know for it has plundered to ridiculous levels ever since the LTTE embarked on their journey of killing off rival democratic politicians, political groups and claiming to be the sole representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking people.
EROS has always advocated that all Tamil speaking people are Eelavar's. Eelam is our traditional homeland, there is no question about it, but that’s all in the past now. This does not mean to say that we do not recognise the North-East as our traditional homeland, we do but we must learn to live amongst one another in peace. The Sri Lankan Tamil speaking community do deserve to have regional autonomy, but it should not be at the price of death and destruction in our homeland. This can be achieved through constructive political dialogue with the Government of Sri Lanka.The only barrier to this is that the LTTE must admit political defeat and will never hand over its arms.
It is the LTTE that has alienated the Sri Lankan Muslim community from the Tamil community by acts of sheer Genocide and ethnic cleansing. EROS is working towards addressing the grievances of the Muslim community and re-integrating the Tamil speaking Muslims back into our community and encouraging reconciliation.We need your support and encouragement.
We are an independent organisation and political party with a good name and reputation amongst our community. We will do what’s right for our community and help bridge the gap between other communities in Sri Lanka. We must learn to be Sri Lankan first and our ethnicity, religion etc should come secondary. Secularism must be encouraged and promoted in Sri Lanka.
There can never be peace in Sri Lanka if the LTTE remains as a military outfit and continues to fight for a separate state. They will always come in the way of true and ever lasting peace in Sri Lanka.
(http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/)
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