The following article documents the Human Rights violations by the Sri Lankan Government(s) since 1948:
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/under-reported-underdogs
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The true story of the Black July 1983
1983 - Tamils in Sri Lanka were subjected to state-sponsored violence in 1983 July - known as the Black July 1983.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Child Soldiers & LTTE
Above all the accusations I have heard of LTTE recruiting child soldiers, why Sri Lankan government is recruiting child soldiers for a breakaway faction of rebels group? If the government is actually interested in the Tamils children lives should not the children be educated? Given an opportunity to thrive? Why the Sri Lankan government and Army are recruiting Tamils children soldiers to die for another group? If Sri Lankan Government and Army are so concerned about under aged children in LTTE, why not take this opportunity give education and other basic necessities of life to the children they can?
The fact is children in the North & East Tamils regions don't have choices. The Tamils children’s choices come down to pure survival. There are many orphans due to Sri Lankan Army attacks on Tamils civilians. These orphans and other children have very few choices. One of them is to join LTTE to fight for Tamils autonomy and they willingly do so.
Sri Lankan government propaganda's about child soldiers in LTTE, but they themselves have many in their Sri Lankan Army; Sri Lankan government does not give or create any opportunities for Tamils children. If they do, why would anybody under aged would want to join LTTE? If the Sri Lankan Government says that the LTTE has abducted many under aged and hard to free them, why not give opportunities to the ones you can, like the ones in the news below? Why let them die too?
LTTE did try to repair their name from having children in their military. These are orphans of the attacks of Sri Lankan government and Sri Lankan government won’t setup any orphanage to care for these children. Hence the children only felt as they can go to LTTE.
Chencholai was one of the attempts. However, only reviews the LTTE got were they are training children to become LTTE. The children were educated, fed had a shelter and were not part of the war. However the Sri Lankan Government purposefully bombed the Chencholai Children Orphanage and killed the children even though it knew all casualties would be children.
http://sthweb.bu.edu/shaw/anna-howard-shaw-center/biography?view=mediawiki&article=Chencholai_bombing
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2006/680/7821
If that would be the fate of Tamils children regardless of whether they are in LTTE or outside LTTE, why not join the LTTE and at least fight for a cause before you die? Would not you get the same mentality if you put in the same position? That’s why there are children soldiers in the LTTE.
Why the government did not attempt to capture the Chencholai Children and rehabilitate their lives? Why purposefully kill children? As far as the Sri Lankan Government concerned any Tamil’s death is not a loss, regardless of their age, it is a gain to add to their statistic of rooting out of Tamils from Sri Lanka.
As far as Sri Lankan government and Army concerned there is no distinction between Tamils and Tamils Tigers. Under aged children or elderly can be Tigers too regardless of where they are and what they do.
Tamils in Sri Lanka are not even fighting for advancement anymore. The war on Tamils civilians has come down to basic survival - just living, having food and having a shelter have come as luxuries to these Tamils and the children and there are still people out there feel obligated to criticize these Tamils civilians’ deaths with no moral responsibility.
Now to the news:
Sri Lanka army is accused of recruiting child soldiers for rebel group:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1534152/Sri-Lanka-army-is-accused-of-recruiting-child-soldiers-for-rebel-group.html
Sri Lankan army shells hit children's hospital:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/4429303/Sri-Lankan-army-shells-hit-childrens-hospital.html
The fact is children in the North & East Tamils regions don't have choices. The Tamils children’s choices come down to pure survival. There are many orphans due to Sri Lankan Army attacks on Tamils civilians. These orphans and other children have very few choices. One of them is to join LTTE to fight for Tamils autonomy and they willingly do so.
Sri Lankan government propaganda's about child soldiers in LTTE, but they themselves have many in their Sri Lankan Army; Sri Lankan government does not give or create any opportunities for Tamils children. If they do, why would anybody under aged would want to join LTTE? If the Sri Lankan Government says that the LTTE has abducted many under aged and hard to free them, why not give opportunities to the ones you can, like the ones in the news below? Why let them die too?
LTTE did try to repair their name from having children in their military. These are orphans of the attacks of Sri Lankan government and Sri Lankan government won’t setup any orphanage to care for these children. Hence the children only felt as they can go to LTTE.
Chencholai was one of the attempts. However, only reviews the LTTE got were they are training children to become LTTE. The children were educated, fed had a shelter and were not part of the war. However the Sri Lankan Government purposefully bombed the Chencholai Children Orphanage and killed the children even though it knew all casualties would be children.
http://sthweb.bu.edu/shaw/anna-howard-shaw-center/biography?view=mediawiki&article=Chencholai_bombing
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2006/680/7821
If that would be the fate of Tamils children regardless of whether they are in LTTE or outside LTTE, why not join the LTTE and at least fight for a cause before you die? Would not you get the same mentality if you put in the same position? That’s why there are children soldiers in the LTTE.
Why the government did not attempt to capture the Chencholai Children and rehabilitate their lives? Why purposefully kill children? As far as the Sri Lankan Government concerned any Tamil’s death is not a loss, regardless of their age, it is a gain to add to their statistic of rooting out of Tamils from Sri Lanka.
As far as Sri Lankan government and Army concerned there is no distinction between Tamils and Tamils Tigers. Under aged children or elderly can be Tigers too regardless of where they are and what they do.
Tamils in Sri Lanka are not even fighting for advancement anymore. The war on Tamils civilians has come down to basic survival - just living, having food and having a shelter have come as luxuries to these Tamils and the children and there are still people out there feel obligated to criticize these Tamils civilians’ deaths with no moral responsibility.
Now to the news:
Sri Lanka army is accused of recruiting child soldiers for rebel group:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1534152/Sri-Lanka-army-is-accused-of-recruiting-child-soldiers-for-rebel-group.html
Sri Lankan army shells hit children's hospital:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/4429303/Sri-Lankan-army-shells-hit-childrens-hospital.html
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
30,000 Tamils civilians have fled from the war zone to prisons.
Close to 30, 000 Tamils civilians have fled from the war zone to Vavuniya in search of refuge, but only to find that they would be detained in ‘refugee camps’ for next 3 years. Tamils civilians are being denied incentives to flee from the war zones. What would be Tamil civilians’ choice death, starvation or prison?
International communities should consider providing asylum for these Tamils civilians abroad; This might be these Tamils' only way to survival and a future.
International communities should consider providing asylum for these Tamils civilians abroad; This might be these Tamils' only way to survival and a future.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tamils Tigers are only a by product of Sri Lankan Governments marginalization and suppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Who are Tamils Tigers (LTTE) any ways?
I read many definition of Tamils Tigers in the Internet. Separatists
, Terrorists, Rebels … and many more.
But does it matter how they are defined if they are generally accepted by the Tamils civilians in Sri Lanka? I am sure it does as the terrorist categorization of Tamils Tigers got after 9/11 in USA has made a huge difference in how the war is fought in Sri Lanka right now. As the regional power house India has taken over the job to kill Tamils or Tamils Tigers alike while other countries fell silence becaues they did not want to support Tamils civilians and sound like they are supporting Tamils Tigers.
Few Tamils I have talked to in the war zones of Sri Lanka refuse to identify two groups as Tamils civilians and Tamils Tigers. An old man asked me “what will happen if I go to the ‘safety zone’? The army is continuously sending artillery shells to the so called ‘safety zone’. In a day, we got 5000 shells. Who was there for my family when the Tsunami hit? Sri Lankan government sent all the aids to Sinhalese in the south. We received nothing. Tamils Tigers established aids, food and restructuring. If all the Tamils Tigers die, why should we survive? Who would be there to look after our good or bad after that? How can I see separate them and see them die when they surrendered their lives for our survival?”.
I guess in a way it is hard to separate Tamils Tigers and Tamils civilians, because of the following reasons:
(1) First we look very much alike – you can’t help this as these are sons and daughters of many Tamils civilians
(2) We have the same goal – Tamils autonomy – we need a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka compromising the North & East as it has been before the British colony started in Sri Lanka, this arrangement provided relative stability to the country. When the British left in 1948, they left Sri Lanka as one big state, which has been a one big mistake. Sri Lankan Government and Army have long ago disqualified themselves to be the representatives of Tamils civilians in Sri Lanka. Black July 1983 is one of the examples.
(3) Sri Lankan Government and Army consider the Tamils civilians and Tamils Tigers the same. Tamils civilians are tortured, raped and killed and then identified as Tamils Tigers. Consequently, the affected family, relatives, or friends go to join Tamils Tigers as they see no other way of finding justice for what has happened or no other way for them to better their lives under Sri Lankan Government or Army.
(4) Many western countries can’t see the difference between Tamils civilians and Tamils Tigers either. The new president Mr. Obama of USA still has not made a public statement / call to stop the war in Sri Lanka; Mr. Stephen Harper of Canada has ignored all the protest and human chain demonstrations of Canadian Tamils. UK has not called to stop the war either. India’s governing party Congress and Mrs. Sonia Gandi are busy sending troops, weapons and encouragement to kill more Tamils in Sri Lanka. China and Pakistan is trying to pick up their economy by selling weapons to Sri Lankan Army.
Why USA and Canada have categorized Tamils Tigers as “terrorists” even after they have gone to extensive peace talks with the Sri Lankan Government?
There are many ways I can start to shed light on how Tamils Tigers have evolved. Tamils Tigers were not very strong before 1983 Black July. Once the anarchy of Sri Lankan Government went out the roof, many youngsters joined Tamils Tigers due to the suppression they felt. Tamils Tigers have been fighting Sri Lankan Army’s anarchy in the North and East for over 25 years now.
I vividly remember this. I believe it was in 1984. Four armies from the Point-pedro Army camp went on a shooting rampage on civilians. I was grade three at that time. I still can feel the shivers went through my spine to see the Army boots legs standing in front our gate. The shooting sounds continued. After few terrifying minutes, they started to walk away. In the event close to 15 innocent civilians were shot to dead. I remember that a Van with Tamils Tigers flag followed the Army to restrict them back to the Army camp. Tamils Tigers also came to take the wounded civilians to hospitals. This is just a tiny moment of what Tamils Tigers have done for Tamils. There are many Tamils who were helped and protected by Tamils Tigers.
Am I trying to say the Tamil Tigers are saints? Definitely NO. Tamils Tigers have made their fair share of mistakes too, however they have managed to emerge from their mistakes and align them into a solution for Tamils.
Are they the only mostly agreed representatives of Tamils now? Definitely YES.
What will happen if all Tamils Tigers are destroyed? It would be very hard to do that as Tamils Tigers are seasoned fighters. Even if they are all destroyed, the history will repeat itself. Sri Lankan Government anarchy will continue. Now that they don’t feel safe with any Tamil, even after all the Tamils Tigers die, the government or army won’t feel safe enough to accept any Tamil [except may be people like Karuna – who can trade anything for their own personal benefits. Karuna is a FORMER Tamils Tiger Colonel, but decided to sell his views and values for a handsome amount of money and rewards to the Sri Lankan Government and Army. He is the current puppet of Sri Lankan Government in the North & East areas where the government claims it has civil services restored. The main method of serving of the civil services results in at least few Tamils civilians’ deaths per day. The main method of governing is by fear.]
As in any anarchy, sooner or later, there would be a rebel force to oppose the anarchy. It will take time to converge the force to an all accepted force. Tamils Tigers have passed most of the evolving stages and mistakes. They have evolved into a group which may be able to bring Tamils civilians closer to peace.
So… why does the government who wanted to negotiate peace talks with Tamils Tigers suddenly has changed its mind to fight them? Foreign forces, especially newly found Indian ( congress )support. Sri Lankan Army by itself can never defeat Tamils Tigers.
Finally, defeating Tamils Tigers is a wrong step towards more blood shed and agony for Tamils civilians, and all others involed in the war, because Tamils Tiger posses the acceptance of most Tamils right now and they are willing to start a peacetalk for Tamil autonomy.
This is just a matter of fact, that's all.
I read many definition of Tamils Tigers in the Internet. Separatists
, Terrorists, Rebels … and many more.
But does it matter how they are defined if they are generally accepted by the Tamils civilians in Sri Lanka? I am sure it does as the terrorist categorization of Tamils Tigers got after 9/11 in USA has made a huge difference in how the war is fought in Sri Lanka right now. As the regional power house India has taken over the job to kill Tamils or Tamils Tigers alike while other countries fell silence becaues they did not want to support Tamils civilians and sound like they are supporting Tamils Tigers.
Few Tamils I have talked to in the war zones of Sri Lanka refuse to identify two groups as Tamils civilians and Tamils Tigers. An old man asked me “what will happen if I go to the ‘safety zone’? The army is continuously sending artillery shells to the so called ‘safety zone’. In a day, we got 5000 shells. Who was there for my family when the Tsunami hit? Sri Lankan government sent all the aids to Sinhalese in the south. We received nothing. Tamils Tigers established aids, food and restructuring. If all the Tamils Tigers die, why should we survive? Who would be there to look after our good or bad after that? How can I see separate them and see them die when they surrendered their lives for our survival?”.
I guess in a way it is hard to separate Tamils Tigers and Tamils civilians, because of the following reasons:
(1) First we look very much alike – you can’t help this as these are sons and daughters of many Tamils civilians
(2) We have the same goal – Tamils autonomy – we need a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka compromising the North & East as it has been before the British colony started in Sri Lanka, this arrangement provided relative stability to the country. When the British left in 1948, they left Sri Lanka as one big state, which has been a one big mistake. Sri Lankan Government and Army have long ago disqualified themselves to be the representatives of Tamils civilians in Sri Lanka. Black July 1983 is one of the examples.
(3) Sri Lankan Government and Army consider the Tamils civilians and Tamils Tigers the same. Tamils civilians are tortured, raped and killed and then identified as Tamils Tigers. Consequently, the affected family, relatives, or friends go to join Tamils Tigers as they see no other way of finding justice for what has happened or no other way for them to better their lives under Sri Lankan Government or Army.
(4) Many western countries can’t see the difference between Tamils civilians and Tamils Tigers either. The new president Mr. Obama of USA still has not made a public statement / call to stop the war in Sri Lanka; Mr. Stephen Harper of Canada has ignored all the protest and human chain demonstrations of Canadian Tamils. UK has not called to stop the war either. India’s governing party Congress and Mrs. Sonia Gandi are busy sending troops, weapons and encouragement to kill more Tamils in Sri Lanka. China and Pakistan is trying to pick up their economy by selling weapons to Sri Lankan Army.
Why USA and Canada have categorized Tamils Tigers as “terrorists” even after they have gone to extensive peace talks with the Sri Lankan Government?
There are many ways I can start to shed light on how Tamils Tigers have evolved. Tamils Tigers were not very strong before 1983 Black July. Once the anarchy of Sri Lankan Government went out the roof, many youngsters joined Tamils Tigers due to the suppression they felt. Tamils Tigers have been fighting Sri Lankan Army’s anarchy in the North and East for over 25 years now.
I vividly remember this. I believe it was in 1984. Four armies from the Point-pedro Army camp went on a shooting rampage on civilians. I was grade three at that time. I still can feel the shivers went through my spine to see the Army boots legs standing in front our gate. The shooting sounds continued. After few terrifying minutes, they started to walk away. In the event close to 15 innocent civilians were shot to dead. I remember that a Van with Tamils Tigers flag followed the Army to restrict them back to the Army camp. Tamils Tigers also came to take the wounded civilians to hospitals. This is just a tiny moment of what Tamils Tigers have done for Tamils. There are many Tamils who were helped and protected by Tamils Tigers.
Am I trying to say the Tamil Tigers are saints? Definitely NO. Tamils Tigers have made their fair share of mistakes too, however they have managed to emerge from their mistakes and align them into a solution for Tamils.
Are they the only mostly agreed representatives of Tamils now? Definitely YES.
What will happen if all Tamils Tigers are destroyed? It would be very hard to do that as Tamils Tigers are seasoned fighters. Even if they are all destroyed, the history will repeat itself. Sri Lankan Government anarchy will continue. Now that they don’t feel safe with any Tamil, even after all the Tamils Tigers die, the government or army won’t feel safe enough to accept any Tamil [except may be people like Karuna – who can trade anything for their own personal benefits. Karuna is a FORMER Tamils Tiger Colonel, but decided to sell his views and values for a handsome amount of money and rewards to the Sri Lankan Government and Army. He is the current puppet of Sri Lankan Government in the North & East areas where the government claims it has civil services restored. The main method of serving of the civil services results in at least few Tamils civilians’ deaths per day. The main method of governing is by fear.]
As in any anarchy, sooner or later, there would be a rebel force to oppose the anarchy. It will take time to converge the force to an all accepted force. Tamils Tigers have passed most of the evolving stages and mistakes. They have evolved into a group which may be able to bring Tamils civilians closer to peace.
So… why does the government who wanted to negotiate peace talks with Tamils Tigers suddenly has changed its mind to fight them? Foreign forces, especially newly found Indian ( congress )support. Sri Lankan Army by itself can never defeat Tamils Tigers.
Finally, defeating Tamils Tigers is a wrong step towards more blood shed and agony for Tamils civilians, and all others involed in the war, because Tamils Tiger posses the acceptance of most Tamils right now and they are willing to start a peacetalk for Tamil autonomy.
This is just a matter of fact, that's all.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Struggle of Tamils for last 35 years... cost 70,000 lives and still counting... When will it end? and who will care for these silenced voices?
Children, sisters, killed in Sri Lankan Army shelling in a designated 'safety zone'
Sri Lankan government and army sees every tamil as a Tamils Tiger. That's how every Tamil is treated regardless of their age, gender, and view.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
87 young Tamil Civilians arrested today by Sri Lankan Army including 15 girls. What would be their fate? Rape, torture or death? Who will care?
I phoned to talk to one of my friend in the affected area. It is a pure chaos. I could not reach anybody I know. When I talked to somebody there they were worrying that 87 young Tamils civilians including 15 girls were arrested today and nobody can get any information about them.
Sri Lankan army is well known to rape, torture and killings of innocent Tamils Civilians. Sri Lankan army have a track record for deploying violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka in every chance they get. You can get a glimse of what has happened to Tamils in custody:
Sri Lanka: Rape in custody:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA37/001/2002/en
Sri Lanka: Fear of torture / medical concern / death in custody:
Sri Lankan army is well known to rape, torture and killings of innocent Tamils Civilians. Sri Lankan army have a track record for deploying violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka in every chance they get. You can get a glimse of what has happened to Tamils in custody:
Sri Lanka: Rape in custody:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA37/001/2002/en
Sri Lanka: Fear of torture / medical concern / death in custody:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA37/015/2000/en/dom-ASA370152000en.html
What would makes us believe it would be different this time? Actually it would be worse I fear as media and monitors are totally blocked from these areas.
...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sri Lankan Governement's ways to silence independent media.
CNN Analysis how the Sir Lankan Government restricts independent media:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/01/srilanka.media/index.html?iref=newssearch
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_re_as/as_sri_lanka_media_attack
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/01/srilanka.media/index.html?iref=newssearch
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_re_as/as_sri_lanka_media_attack
Friday, February 6, 2009
Cultural genocide of Tamils
Cultural genocide of Tamils has started a while back. One event was the burning of the Jaffna Library - ".... The destruction of the Jaffna Public Library was the incident which appeared to cause the most distress to the people of Jaffna
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The history of killings, torture, rape and Genocide
There are thousands of Tamils are stranded in North East parts of
Current Sri Lankan government is systematically rooting out all the Tamils in the country. The government actually continues what its previous leaders have done to Tamils in
Many civilian people are affected without food, shelter and first aid. No foreign aid is allowed to the regions. No independent journalists or monitors are allowed to report on the situation.
Civilians are directed to so called “safe zones”, but Sri Lankan army targets the zones with artillery shells. Over 5000 shells were fired in a day to the “safe zones”. If the civilians don’t stay within the “safe zones”, then they are labeled as Tamils Tigers and shot. If the civilians somehow managed to get far away from the fighting area to a Sri Lanka Army controlled refugee camp, they are exploited morally and sexually; if a Tamil refugee dies due to starvation, denial of medicine, torture or rape, then he or she is labeled as Tamils Tigers.
What many Tamils want in the
(1) STOP THE WAR. Ceasefire in the North and East parts of
(2) Allow aids to go to the North and East regions
(3) Allow independent journalists and monitors to report on the situation
A short chronicle of how the human crisis evolved in
Please voice your support to STOP GENOCIDE in
http://www.nextcause.ca/
http://genocide.change.org/actions/view/genocide_of_tamils_taking_place_in_sri_lanka
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