Corbyn and the Tamil Tigers
by Michael Patrick O'Leary
A shorter version of this article appeared in Ceylon Today on Thursday September 1 2016.That article was written for a Sri Lankan audience which did not need to have the awfulness of the Tamil Tigers explained to them. This version for a foreign audience gives more illustrations of Tiger crimes. Presumably Corbyn is aware of those crimes, just as he must have been aware of the atrocities being perpetrated on children in his constituency.
https://www.ceylontoday.lk/print20160701CT20161030.php?id=4912
Part of the dissatisfaction with Corbyn arises from his tendency to espouse causes which have little to do with the reality of practical politics in the UK itself in 2016. As recently as April 2016, Jeremy Corbyn said he fully supports Tamils in their struggle to achieve self-determination in Sri Lanka.
Corbyn Supports Freedom Fighters
To a certain western mind-set everything is black or white, minorities are always oppressed and discriminated against, governments must be bad, and rebels must be romantic freedom fighters. I recall that in the 1970s, my own trade union in the UK was contributing funds to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, known as the Tamil Tigers) because they were obviously “freedom fighters” defending the oppressed Tamil minority.
In 1983, Jeremy Corbyn became an MP. In Sri Lanka, 1983 is remembered with horror for the pogrom known as “Black July”. Thirteen soldiers were killed by the LTTE. Anti-Tamil riots ensued and lasted for ten days with property being destroyed and up to 3,000 people being killed and 200,000 displaced.
Action and Reaction
Over many years before 1983, there had been incidents where ill-disciplined police or military had carried out savage reprisals, rather in the manner of the Black and Tans in Ireland, on innocent Tamils after atrocities by the Tigers – action and reaction. July 1983 was a paradigm shift in terror.
These horrific events left an indelible mark on the Tamil psyche. Atrocities were perpetrated on innocent Tamils all over the country and many fled to the north for refuge. Those who could afford to fled abroad, from where they provided ongoing financial support for the LTTE.
Michael Roberts, a Sri Lankan historian and anthropologist looked back on these events:” The militant movement for separation gathered thousands of new Tamil recruits and a rejuvenation of commitment among most SL Tamils, as well a wave of support in international quarters. Sri Lanka also received pariah status on the world stage.”
Many SL Tamils fled to Tamil Nadu, where those of a militant tendency were trained and armed by the Indian government. Many who might not want to engage in violence themselves fled to Canada, Australia and Europe. Many of them prospered and supported the armed struggle vicariously by providing funding. Many Tamils who remained in Sri Lanka were disillusioned at the futility of trying to defend their interests by peaceful means within the existing state apparatus.
http://www.sangam.org/2011/01/Tamil_Question_4.php
Tiger Atrocities
The LTTE was guilty of many crimes over the thirty years of the conflict. They assassinated former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lanka President Premadasa in 1993. An attempt on the life of President Kumaratunga in 1999 failed but she lost an eye. In that attempt, 23 civilians were killed.
In 1985, LTTE gunmen shot dead 146 Sinhalese civilians and injured 85 others as they were praying at a sacred Buddhist shrine in Anuradhapura. A further 18 people fleeing from that massacre were shot dead in Wilpattu forest. Later in the same year, in Dehiwatta village, 100 LTTE men hacked to death 15 women and children as they were sleeping.
In 1986, an LTTE bomb exploded aboard an Air Lanka flight carrying mainly French, British and Japanese tourists killing 21 (including 13 foreigners –2 British, 2 German, 3 French, 2 Japanese, 1 Maldivian and 1 Pakistani) and injuring 41.
Throughout 1988 and 1989, there seemed to be an LTTE massacre of innocent villagers every day. In June 1990, the LTTE marked the breakdown of ceasefire talks by overrunning police stations throughout the north east of Sri Lanka. The LTTE killed 600 police officers who had surrendered. On June 10, over 400 unarmed police officers were shot dead in police stations across eastern Sri Lanka.
On August 3, 1990, 30 Tigers attacked four mosques in the Kattankudy area, where 300 Muslims were prostrate in prayer. The Tigers sprayed automatic fire and hurled hand grenades at the worshipers. Most of the victims were shot in the back or side. Speaking to the New York Times, Mohammed Ibrahim, a 40-year-old businessman said, “I was kneeling down and praying when the rebels started shooting. The firing went on for 15 minutes. I escaped without being hit and found myself among bodies all over the place.” Mohammed Arif, a 17-year-old student who also survived the massacre said: “Before I escaped from a side door and scaled a wall, I saw a Tiger rebel put a gun into the mouth of a small Muslim boy and pull the trigger.” I do not want to post disturbing pictures of these atrocities but they are available on the internet. https://mbinm.wordpress.com/kattankudy-mosque-massacre/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kattankudi_mosque_massacre
Killings continued on a daily basis over the years. In 1994, presidential candidate and opposition leader Gamini Dissanayake (we know his son-in-law) was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber who exploded herself at a campaign rally in Colombo. Fifty others were killed in the blast and a further 75 were seriously injured.
The deadliest LTTE attack on a civilian target in the history of the group’s operations occurred in 1996. The Central Bank (located in the twin towers of the Colombo World Trade Centre) was bombed and 90 people were killed and 1,400 injured. In 1997, another bombing at the WTC killed 13 and injured hundreds.
In 1998, a Black Tiger squad drove an explosives-laden truck into the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, a major Buddhist shrine, killing seven and injuring 25. The attack took place just days before foreign dignitaries were expected to attend celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of Sri Lankan independence at the temple.
Later that year the LTTE shot down a plane with 55 passengers (including 48 Tamils) and crew while it was flying over LTTE held territory. Everyone onboard was killed.
In 1999, Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam, a Tamil, who was working on a constitutional package aimed at ending the decades-long conflict, was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber.
In May 2000, the LTTE celebrated the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar, Vesak Poya, by detonating a bomb hidden inside an ice-cream box on a bicycle killing 20 people and injuring 75.
In 2001, a 14-man suicide squad attacked an air force base and the adjoining international airport. They destroyed many aircraft, crippling the country’s economy and reducing tourism.
In 2006, the award-winning author Nihal de Silva and seven Sri Lankan tourists were killed by an LTTE land mine in Wilpattu National Park.
In the same year, The LTTE bombed a bus carrying 140 civilians in the north east. The blast killed 68 civilians including 15 school children, and injured 78 others. It was caused by two claymore mines placed side by side which sprayed the packed bus with millions of ball bearings upon manual detonation. Survivors, including school children, of the blast were shot as they ran away.
In the same year, several civilians were killed in an attempt on the life of defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. A suicide bomber in a truck killed 103 sailors on buses going or returning from leave at a transit point and wounded 150 other sailors. Two people passing the site were killed and 14 others wounded, mostly civilians.
There are many more instances of LTTE cadres hacking to death unsuspecting villagers at home or at prayer, or on buses or trains (often using multiple bombs in several carriages) on the way to work or school.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_attributed_to_the_LTTE
The LTTE proved efficient at destroying any other Tamil groups that threatened to undermine their dominance. Elements of the “international community” were able to build a false picture of the LTTE as romantic freedom fighters. That is far from reality. The LTTE had always employed forcible recruitment; every family had to sacrifice a child to the cause of Eelam. This gained pace as defeat loomed in 2009 when Corbyn was trying to save the LTTE. Children under twelve were recruited. Civilians who resisted were executed.
https://pcolman.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/the-tamil-question-in-sri-lanka-part-2/
No Ban
As far back as 1998, Jeremy Corbyn was offering support to these butchers. At a pro-LTTE rally in London on February 1, 1998, Corbyn was one of the keynote speakers from the British Parliament and delivered a strong condemnation of the Sri Lankan government. The rally was led by a life-sized poster of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran and was followed by LTTE flags and people shouting pro-LTTE slogans.
In 2001, Corbyn was one of only 17 MPs who voted against banning Al Qaeda from Britain just six months before 9/11. Corbyn, then a backbencher, voted against banning 21 militant groups from entering Britain. The Tamil Tigers were on the list as well as Hamas and Hezbollah.
In 2005 Jeremy Corbyn helped create a petition aimed at lifting the proscription of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. “The Sri Lanka government is carrying out an undeclared war against the Tamil people who have been struggling for more than two decades for the legitimate right to self-rule.” Corbyn was guilty of a conflation here that was also indulged by the BBC, the Independent, the Irish Times, the New Statesman and Le monde diplomatique. The Sri Lankan government was not fighting “the Tamils” it was fighting a brutal terrorist organisation that was oppressing Tamils.
Cease Fires
In 2002, I came to live in Sri Lanka. We had decided it was safe because a cease-fire was in operation. As today, there was a prime minister from the United National Party and an executive president from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. The prime minister then was Ranil Wickremesinghe and the president was Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Today Ranil Wickremesinghe is once again prime minister. The peace in 2002 was an uneasy one – there were checkpoints, soldiers and armed police everywhere. Norway was invited to help with the peace process.
Corbyn explained himself thus: “Twenty-one organisations are due to be banned from operating in this country, causing a great deal of disquiet in the Islamic, Turkish and Tamil communities. That is not because people support terrorism, but because they want to encourage a peace process. They recognise that some of the organisations are currently engaged in ceasefires in their own countries, and are actively engaged in the search for long-lasting peace that will bring about the resolution to conflict.”
The LTTE constantly broke the cease fire. They used the “peace process” to regroup and re-arm. Sections of the Tamil community abroad funded the terrorism.
Constructive Ambiguity
Martin McGuinness made a less than helpful intervention in Sri Lankan affairs when he came here in 2006 and talked with LTTE leaders. McGuinness told Sri Lanka: “The reality is that, just as in Ireland, there can be no military victory and that the only alternative to endless conflict is dialogue, negotiations and accommodation”. Despite the efforts of Corbyn and McGuinness and other members of the international community there was a resounding military victory. Peace still prevails. There has not been a single terrorist incident since May 2009.
To cut a convoluted story short, peace was achieved in Northern Ireland because of exhaustion on all sides and through a process of constructive ambiguity, which allowed all actors to say they had not surrendered. Talks resumed in 1993, after Bill Clinton listened to Sinn Féin. On April 10, 1998, the British and Irish governments formulated the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement.
No Surrender
Prabhakaran never had any intention of compromising. The LTTE fought for 30 years for a separate Tamil nation. A separate state was Prabhakaran’s bottom line which Corbyn still supports today. In May 2011, Jeremy Corbyn addressed a rally that also featured Tamil Diaspora organisations. Also present were Father SJ Emmanuel of the Global Tamil Forum, Ravi Kumar of the British Tamils Forum, Bairavi Ratnabal of the Tamil Youth Organisation and Jan Jananayagam of Tamils Against Genocide. The rally featured swathes of LTTE flags and condemned the Sri Lanka government. Corbyn’s current enemy, John Mann MP, also attended the rally.
There were accusations of war crimes against the Sri Lankan Army.The army claimed that civilian casualties occurred because the LTTE were using them as human shields.
Lobbyists for and against Sri Lanka
It is interesting to read the Hansard record of a debate in the House of Commons on 8 Jan 2013. All the usual anti-Sri Lankan suspects were there – Siobhain McDonagh, Paul Burstow, Barry Gardiner, Gareth Thomas, Lee Scott and Robert Halfon.
However, there were some interventions more supportive of Sri Lanka. Aidan Burley questioned McDonagh’s knowledge: “… when did she last visit Sri Lanka and see for herself—at first hand—some of the things that she is alleging are happening there?” She had to admit that she had never been to Sri Lanka: “Just as I have not been to Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and—it has to be said—most countries in the world”.
Ian Paisley Jr told the House: “I have visited Sri Lanka on a number of occasions, both as a private individual and with constituents who had business there, as well as on a cross-party parliamentary trip. My experience was very different from what I have heard from propagandists not in Sri Lanka”. Paisley continued: “I have met both Tamil and Sinhalese families, and their united wish was to present a picture of hope for their country, not a picture of division. It was a community that wanted to move forward.” Paisley described how his Sinhalese and Tamil guides embraced each other and spoke about how they were now new brothers in a new land. “In many aspects, Sri Lanka has made more measurable gains post-conflict than Northern Ireland.”
Adrian Burley had, unlike McDonagh and Scott, actually visited Sri Lanka: “British politicians should understand Sri Lanka’s reconciliation and help it to demine, so that communities can move back to their own lands. I saw that happening with my own eyes; I saw the minefields being cleared through the HALO Trust, and I saw houses being rebuilt and crops being grown on the old minefields.”
James Wharton agreed with Paisley that people he had met in Sri Lanka did not want to talk about the horrors of the past but were more interested in securing their future. “The tone of debate in the House too often worries me, because we focus on what we can do to punish the Government of Sri Lanka…Such things will not damage the Government of Sri Lanka; they will damage progress towards peace and the prosperity of the people who live in Sri Lanka. The tone of the debate here needs to change. We need to work constructively with the Government of Sri Lanka to put pressure where it is due and, where we can, to deliver improvement.”
Corbyn was not interested in the future. He has never been to Sri Lanka and preferred to reminisce about demonstrations he had taken part in thirty years previously. Burley chastised Corbyn and McDonagh and urged them to talk to people living in Sri Lanka rather than their own constituents: “I found a country at peace with itself. That is what we should be debating and supporting: helping Sri Lanka to build a better future for itself, rather than letting extremists in the UK divide it.”
This wedding took place at Kilinochchi on January 27, 2012, The groom was EMD Sandaruwan, a former member of the Gajaba Regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. He had participated in the defeat of the LTTE .The bride was, Chandrasekaran Sharmila, an ex-LTTE child soldier, who had since been a participant in a government rehabilitation programme. There are many such stories to tell. It is not easy to get the western media to listen to them.
Regime Change
Stressing that human rights abuses have not been fully addressed in Sri Lanka despite regime change, Corbyn announced as recently as April 2016: “We as a party, are very committed to the issues of human rights and justice. We are very committed to the rights of peoples, the Tamil people in this case to achieve their self-expression and their self-determination.”
https://pcolman.wordpress.com/2015/01/15/partisan-people-and-fissiparous-parties/
Jeremy Corbyn is proud to have participated in the London rallies in May 2009, demanding that the international community intervene to end the war. “I remember to this date and I am still angry about the utter silence of the majority of the British and world’s media to the demonstration as well as the cause and the issue.”
Child Brothels in Corbyn’s Constituency
Corbyn did not feel interested enough to take action when he was told that children were being cruelly sexually abused in his own constituency of Islington North. In fact, he made a complaint to the Speaker in 1986 when another MP tried to draw attention to the abuse. In his Spartist agit-prop fantasy world, it seemed more important to him to interfere in the way sovereign state thousands of miles away was dealing (successfully) with its domestic terrorist problem. Unlike the UK Labour government, Sri Lanka did not invade other countries.
Padraig Colman 
Corbyn also opposed the expulsion of the Militants and their offshoots when Kinnock became Labour leader in the 1980/90’s. He now sees labour as a ‘social movement’ that will presumably eventually sieze the means of production and proclaim a Socialist nirvana’ . He also pals with lots of gay and women hating groups . Really he belongs in the Socialist Worker Party
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Well – your article has exposed my total ignorance on subject of Tamil Tigers. Had thought of them as freedom fighters, not realising (or hearing about) atrocities in which they’d been involved. Involvement of McGuinness & Corbyn a surprise as was news of Corbyn’s refusal to sign GF agreement. Did he say why? Had initially been optimistic about his ascendancy in Labour Party but hopes have been dashed …
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The Tamil Tigers were freedom fighters for the Tamil people. They were our sole legitimate representatives and our only resistance against genocide.
Yes they have committed atrocities, but the scale of which pale in comparison to the Sri Lankan Government. The ratio of civilian dead is over 10 to 1. The vast majority of Tigers did not target civilians or commit atrocities and were fighting a war of liberation against the occupying Sinhala army.
To demonise the whole of our legitimate resistance because of the tic for tac killings they committed is a grave injustice to the oppressed Tamils.
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I disagree. Sri Lankan Tamils had legitimate grievances but the Tiger’s brutal methods were disproportionate to those grievances.They were the sole representatives of the Tamil people because they slaughtered all their competitors.It should also be noted that most of the surviving rank and file cadres were re-habilitated by the government and senior Tigers such as KP, Karuna, Pillayan and Daya Master soon went on to work with the government. Karuna actually achieved a senior position in the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party as well as being a minister in the Rajapaksa government
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Bollocks. They were the sole representatives of the Tamil people because they killed all their rivals.
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Karan I completely agree with you. They were the only people fighting for the Tamil people. Nobody else cared. The rest of the world did nothing really to help. I read these articles and its unbelievably biased. Nothing about the SL Army and their cruelty during the war. It’s all very one-sided.
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You are welcome to your view which I consider to be totally misguided.
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I agree Karan. You raised some good points. The article is very one-sided and very biased as well. The horrible acts by the SL Army were not even addressed, just glossed over.
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Firstly, I am not lecturing anyone, just pointing out that your article is very one-sided. Even in your last response you keep talking about the Tigers but make no reference to the actions of the SL Army. I may not have lived in SL through the war, but I know of the people’s suffering because my family went through it. So yes my loved ones matter to me, and their sufferings matter to me too. It’s your arrogance to assume that you know more about this situation than me, just because you live there. You know nothing about me or my family, and our situation. You mention that you are Irish, I would never comment on the situation in Ireland and belittle someone else, because purely and simply, I am an ‘outsider’ to it so cannot fully understand what people went through there. You may live in Sri Lanka but you view things from a very different perspective to what the actual Tamil and Sinhalese people live through and their reality. So please don’t lecture me.
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I have allowed you to have your say. i have nothing more to say to you.
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OK Ram. Sorry to be arrogant but when anybody says anything like “They were the only people fighting for the Tamil people. Nobody else cared”, it is like a red rag to a bull.
People have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved in one article. This was not an article about the brutality of the SLA. It was not an article about the grievances of Tamils in Sri Lanka (I have dealt with that elsewhere and been accused of being pro-LTTE and “regurgitating terrorist propaganda”). It was an article about Jeremy Corbyn. If Corbyn had his way the bloodshed would resume. Is that what you want?
This is my own personal blog and I have no obligation to be “balanced”. I am not the BBC; I am a private individual. I have allowed you the space to disagree with me.
I have written many long and detailed articles about Tamil separatism and Tamil grievances. I have written about Black July 1983.
The Tigers were the “sole representatives” of Tamils in Sri Lanka because they killed off anybody who opposed them. They forced Tamil children into armed service. They terrorised Tamil families. Tamils actually living in Sri Lanka rejoiced when the Tigers were defeated. It is now coming up to twelve years since they were defeated, twelve years of peace and improvements in infrastructure and the quality of life. I recall doing business with a Tamil called Prabhakaran who described his namesake as ”Hitler”.
The Tigers did nothing for the welfare their people in the north and east. The central government continued to fund the health service in the north and east out of funds provide by taxpayers in Sri Lanka as a whole. The central government provided pensions and medical aid to Prabhakaran’s parents. Even during the war, when Daya Master had heart problems he was taken to the Apollo hospital in Colombo under military escort. After his treatment he returned to Kilinochchi, escorted by the Sri Lankan military. The widow of Colonel Soosai, leader of the Sea Tigers, was captured along with her children, by the Sri Lankan Navy in May 2009. She said: “The Sri Lanka armed forces have treated us very well and afforded us all the facilities we never had before that. Today we are living happily with my children who are continuing their education well. My parents are also living with me. The story about certain LTTE leaders coming to surrender raising white flags is a fairy tale.”
There were seminars at the Marga Institute about reconciliation and atonement. I attended them and wrote about them. Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah made many negative comments. Dr Sri-Skanda-Rajah has long lived in Toronto but claims to speak for those Tamils who lived in Sri Lanka under the brutal rule of Prabhakaran. She continues to campaign for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka. She describes herself as “Senator Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam”. She resisted attempts by Amar Gunatillake of the Marga Institute to have a conversation about how to make a difference in the lives of those affected by the war. Amar said, “I will find peace and joy in my life by being involved with such group.” The senator said, ““there are gaping holes in your offer”.
A Tamil living in the north commented, “I am really fed up, as a Tamil, to be told by those of you who live in the west in your comfy postcodes that you represent me. None of you do, because during the war when you all left, it was the poor Tamils without exit options who died…and it was their sons and daughters, who were either conscripted by force or went willingly, who died. During the final days of the war, in the west, it was quite the rage to walk around with wrist bands and banners saying ‘free Tamil Eelam’ …but no one among them sent their children back to fight…oh no, it was all OK for some poor mother’s son to die, but not their precious offspring…. Let us turn away from calls for separation, but instead look for ways to ensure equal rights for Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers and please help us celebrate our diversity instead of going behind pipe dreams.”
A Tamil who calls himself “Fed Up” commented: “Please understand Usha, that I would love to see Tamil activists committed to ensuring our rights within a unified country. My concern about this separate state is that even if you get it, how will Tamils treat fellow Tamils, let alone those of other ethnicities? The caste system is alive and well in the north, so will low caste people be allowed into top positions? If you are fighting against racism, will you allow a Muslim or Sinhalese into top positions in Tamil Eelam? Usha, practically speaking, why don’t the TGTE conduct a survey amongst the Tamils who live in Sri Lanka, to find out what we really want….don’t claim that you speak for all of us without finding out what we who live here, really want.”
David Blacker said, “do you not see the TNA as a voice of Tamil dissent? Or do you believe that your unelected so-called government in exile is the sole representative of the Tamils now?” David continued, “the Tamils need to take a good look at what has led them to the place they are in and stop repeating the mistakes that got them there and disassociate themselves from people who got them there; people who do not have their best interests in mind. The waving of Tiger flags in international capitals was directly instrumental in preventing foreign governments from interfering. So why do the very same damaging things and think that now it’ll be different? That self-examination is not happening.”
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Padraig – you have your thoughts and I have mine. That is how the world works. I was under the impression this was a blog about the issues in Sri Lanka, and was intended to be a balanced take on it. Clearly I was wrong. My mistake for commenting on it. I see now it is just your very one-sided opinion on the situation, and frankly I do not care to waste my time arguing with you on this. You think what you like, and I wish you all the best. All I will say is the army were representing the Government, the same one that were meant to protect ALL of the people of the land, not just the majority. They shelled so called ‘safe zones’ including schools and hospitals in the north, so excuse my skepticism when it comes to thinking they were looking after ‘everyone’. What I said was not incorrect; the tigers were the only people fighting for the tamil people. I am sure it won’t matter to you, but who else was fighting for them sorry? The Irish? We are not going to agree here, so maybe its best to draw a line in the sand on this one.
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Ram, have you read any of the articles that I have cited for you? The army was indeed representing the nation and the nation was truly grateful for their victory. Tamils also were grateful. Sri Lanka is a much better place without the LTTE. That is not just my opinion. I have no problem with you expressing your opinions on my blog. I have allowed you to do so. It matters to me a great deal that the Tamil diaspora is so dismissive of the views of Tamils who actually live in Sri Lanka. None of those Tamils actually living in Sri Lanka celebrate the LTTE or are nostalgic about them. There was a similar problem with Irish-Americans and the Provos. People actually living in Ireland did not want
a gang of thugs blowing children to giblets in their name. No-one wants a return to that horror. Your idea of bias seems to mean that anyone who has a different view from you is somehow morally compromised. I do strongly believe that I am right. Is that bias? I have given you the room to disagree with me and express view which I believe to be misguided. I think that is a civilized approach on my behalf.
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Another article you should read Ram. https://island.lk/a-german-analysts-view-on-the-eelam-war-in-sri-lanka/
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Padraig – I actually did not read those articles, but thank you nevertheless for sharing them. I really think we agree to disagree on this subject. Maybe I am stuck on my view because it hits close to home. But that happens – if it did not the whole world would never having differing views. I respect your right to your view, but I somewhat disagree. I am basing this on my own family experiences so that may be why. Anyway we could go around in circles on this subject I feel. All the best.
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Correction there Pat. I now understand that Corbyn did support the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. He voted against the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985.Perhaps if he had supported that fewer people might have died?
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I would disagree. I do not condone the horrible acts carried out by the tigers, but I also am more than aware of the horrible acts carried out by the SL Army (the same army that was meant to b protecting ALL of the people in that country but did not). Horrible acts were carried out by them against Tamil women and children, and your article glosses over that. I think that is because you have a very one-sided and biased view on this whole situation. Whilst this article highlights the barbaric acts carried out by one involved party, it should include the acts by the other as well. That is if you want it to be impartial (which is probably not the case).
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I respect your entitlement to your opinion. It would be surprising if horrible acts were not committed by both sides in a brutal war.Ii have no special information about the conduct of the SLA. My only qualification to write about these matters is as an impartial observer who has lived in Sri Lanka for nearly 20 years, living among Tamils with many dear Tamil friends. I have never me a single person who is sad that the Tigers were defeated.
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I would be interested to know where you live Ram.
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I am from the UK, but am Tamil. I have family in SL, and who were really affected by the war. I completely understand that horrible acts were carried out on both sides. I just felt that the article focused primarily on one group’s actions, but did not highlight the actions of the other.
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OK Ram, you presume to lecture to me, someone who actually lived in Sr Lanka during the conflict and mixed with Tamils every day when you were comfortably ensconced in the UK. I have written a great deal about Tamil grievances but this was not the space to deal with that subject. There is a limit to how much editors will allow one to cram into a single article.The actions of the LTTE were indefensible so I cannot take seriously anyone who defends them.
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Corbyn supports ‘Freedom Fighters’ aka ‘Tamil Tiger Terrorists’ in Sri Lanka, but calls ‘Freedom Fighters’ In England ‘Terrorists’!
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padraigcolman: ‘Karuna actually achieved a senior position in the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party as well as being a minister in the Rajapaksa government’
– Karuna planned and executed the Kattankudy massacre (without VP’s consent). Karuna was also the one that recruited child soldiers and committed most of the ‘atrocities’ that have been attributed to the LTTE. His morals did not even align with LTTE’s morals (he did betray them in the end). Yet, it is interesting to see that this Karuna is not only being celebrated by the Sri Lankan community, but he even enjoys power in the Sri Lanka government. Did the Sri Lankan government really care about the innocent child soldiers or killed Muslims? Clearly not, as they have empowered the very person responsible for those. Where is Karuna’s punishment?
This shows that not only is the Sri Lankan government dismissive of minority lives, but they actually commemorate the ones that horrifically take away those minority lives.
As someone of Sri Lankan descent, it is disheartening to see people of European descent trying to rewrite our history (as if they haven’t done enough of that already!). Please do not leverage your privilege to spread misinformation.
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What kind of privilege do I have?
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https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really
Educate yourself; or remain ignorant and obnoxious.
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I enjoy a good debate and welcome it when people disagree with me in a civil manner. If someone corrects a factual error that I have made I am grateful. It does annoy me when people assume things about me that are mistaken or attribute to me positions that I do not hold. It annoys me even more when people impugn my integrity while hiding under a cloak of anonymity. You can read all about me on my blog. I know nothing about you because you give yourself a silly name. What are you scared of? Come out and fight like a man (or a woman). What is your name FFS?
What exactly are you getting your knickers in a knot about? You quote a phrase that does not actually appear in the article. It appears in one of my replies. I am responding to someone who defended the Tigers. My actual article describes in great detail the crimes of the Tigers. I am well aware of the crimes committed by Karuna. The government probably would not have won the war without him so they rewarded him rather than punishing him.
So what point are you trying to make? “it is disheartening to see people of European descent trying to rewrite our history (as if they haven’t done enough of that already!). Please do not leverage your privilege to spread misinformation.” What misinformation? What privilege? Have you even read the article?
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‘You can read all about me on my blog. I know nothing about you because you give yourself a silly name. What are you scared of? Come out and fight like a man (or a woman). What is your name FFS?’ The fact that you cannot come up with a sound argument for a comment, without trying to gauge my personal information, for personal attacks or even threats says a lot about you. Why is my name or identity important to you, so you can discriminate against me? I am of Sri Lankan descent, and colonizers like yourself have not only looted the island but also rewritten our history. You are lucky (read: privileged), that many Asians love white skin and thus tolerate you, no matter how badly you may treat them. But the Sri Lankan sun sure will not forgive you and will seek petty vengeance in the form of sunburn. After all this war on the island, the least we need is for some colonizer to start stirring shit again.
‘I am well aware of the crimes committed by Karuna. The government probably would not have won the war without him so they rewarded him rather than punishing him.’ You speak of child solider recruitment, as if it is a unforgivable crime (which it is). However, you celebrate the main person responsible for the child recruitment. This shows that you never cared about the children like at all (much like Rajapaksha’s regime). Human deaths are mere collateral damage when the Government is behind it, but when it is rebel forces, it is a terrorist attack. Sick double standards. Both the Rajapaksha regime and the LTTE have been accused of war crimes (https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/un-rights-body-grants-sri-lanka-two-more-years-for-war-crimes-probe/article26606101.ece). But you gloss over the crimes committed by one – the state which unlike the rebel forces had duty to protect its civilians. The whole civil war occurred because of the British Empire, who favoured the Tamils, educated them and granted them civil service jobs! Quit trying to instigate hatred amongst the different communities of Sri Lanka.
Divide and rule..that’s what the colonizers believed in. We will not let you divide us!
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“You celebrate the main person responsible for the child recruitment.”
Where do I do that?
“The whole civil war occurred because of the British Empire, who favoured the Tamils, educated them and granted them civil service jobs!”
I agree, but surely Sri Lankan politicians must accept their share of the blame for their acts of commission or omission. I am thinking of SWRDB and Sinhala only and Dicky Jayewardene and July 1983.
“Divide and rule..that’s what the colonizers believed in. “
I have said exactly the same thing in countless articles so why are you fighting with me? I have not colonized you. I am a citizen of the Republic of Ireland. Ireland was England’s first colony.
Generally speaking, you seem to be mistaking me for someone else and attributing to me views that I have never expressed and do not hold.
What’s wrong with you?
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I am not a colonizer. I am an Irish citizen. My people were the first to be exploited by the English.
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