The Thamil people continue to suffer under the jackboot of a foreign army

V.Thangavelu

The Pongu Thamil festival held in Vavuniya on September 23, 2003 drew thousands of Tamil men, women and students from all walks of life. Processions led by Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians poured into the urban council   grounds in Vavuniya from the five corners of the town.  People carried banners, placards, Thamileelam national flags and cutouts of the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr.V. Pirapaharan.

By all accounts the Pongu Thamil festival was a tremendous success surpassing the expectations of the organizers themselves. But as usual a section of the Sinhala owned press tried to belittle the event. One newspaper carried the news under the heading  ‘Mass support evaporates at Pongu Thamil.’

Like the Pongu Thamil festival held in Jaffna a few months earlier,  the Pongu Thamil declaration called upon “the armed forces to go back to their homes so that the Thamil people could go back to their own homes.”  However, there are no signs the armed forces will vacate Northeast any time soon. On the contrary the armed forces, especially in the North, are tightening their grip further by constructing new camps, roads etc. 

In other parts of the world, the national armed forces are considered valuable armour against external aggression. They are also  trained to have a deep commitment to the Geneva Convention on International Humanitarian Law (IHL).  The Geneva Convention, among the most universally ratified treaties, restricts the means and methods of warfare and protects the defenseless in armed conflicts.

People always feel proud of their country’s armed forces considering it as a valuable and hallowed institution.

But in Sri Lanka the army is a racist outfit from head to foot. Since 1958 every successive government has used the Sinhala army as:

(1) An instrument of state terrorism to subjugate the Tamils;

(2) A tool to create, assist and provide security to state sponsored Sinhalese settlements in Tamil Homeland- the so-called border villages. Manal Aru (renamed Weli Oya) Sinhalese settlement is a good example.

Surprisingly very little effort is made to hide this fact.  Before the ceasefire rape, murder, extra-judicial executions, disappearances, cordon-and-search operations and retaliatory attacks against civilians have been the stock-in-trade of the SLA. The Sri Lanka ranked only second to Iraq in the number of involuntary disappearances.

Now  daily reports from Northeast indicate the armed forces continue to harass, intimidate and ride roughshod over the civilian population in Northeast, especially in the North.

Here are some random headline news as reported by TamilNet

SLA threatens to demolish refugee’s home  (September 30, 2003)
 

SLA rejects IDP's resettlement in Jaffna HSZ (September 30, 2003)

SLA bars Halo Trust from de-mining HSZ paddy fields (September 16, 2003)
 

Valvettithurai fishermen to defy SLA order (September 28, 2003)
 

Farmers await SLA's permission to clear mines  (August 24, 2003)
 

Compensation sought for plantations destroyed by SLA (August 08, 2003)

The above is just the tip of the iceberg. The behaviour and attitude of the Sinhala armed forces have not changed a wee bit despite the ceasefire. The Thamil people continue to suffer under the jackboot of a foreign army.

A War Criminal as Diplomat? And  Why  Foreign Minister Downer wants to  pay the price for Kadirgamar’s  sin?

V.Thangavelu

Is Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer paying the price for the sins of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Kadirgamar? That is the question  people  are asking not just inside Australia, but around the world.

Despite the heat turned against Mr. Downer by the media, AI  and  Tamils he still insists  that  Minister Kadirgamar  has assured him over the phone that Major-General Perera, "is a suitable and worthy appointment."  Mr. Downer’s  explanation is not only  in bad taste,  it also reveals that he is insensitive to the massive human rights abuses committed by Janaka Perera. 

When  Sri Lankan government  named  Janaka Perera as High Commissioner for Australia, it was following a long laid policy of rewarding army  officers  with diplomatic assignments for  killing  and terrorising Tamils. 

In 1986  J.R. Jayawardene appointed  his nephew Brigadier (Bull) Weeratunga as  Sri Lankan  High Commissioner  to Canada.  After  declaring a state of emergency on  July 11,1979  Jayawardene despatched Brigadier Weeratunga  to Jaffna with orders  in Nazi style to “destroy terrorism in all it form.”  This task was accomplished  by summarily executing  scores of Tamil youths  and  dumping  their mutilated bodies  along  main thoroughfares.  Following protest by  Tamil Canadians against  accepting a war criminal, an enlightened  Prime Minister Brian Mulroney  sent  Weeratunga  back home with his bag and baggage. Unfortunately  in regard  to Janaka Perera, instead of hauling him over the coal  for human rights abuses an arrogant  Australian Foreign Minister refuses  to see reason  and insist on  persisting in his folly.

Brigadier Weeratunga’s record of human rights abuse pales into insignificance  compared to Janaka Perera. As  army commander of  Jaffna  peninsula during 1995/96,  he  was directly responsible for the disappearances of more than 700 Tamil youths. It was soldiers under his  who raped and killed  Krishanthi Kumaraswamy and her mother. He was also the army commander responsible for ethnically cleansing Manal  Aru of Tamils and settling convicted Sinhalese criminals in their place.   

Some have argued  that the appointment of  war criminals like Janaka Perera is a blessing in disguise. It had  exposed  Sri Lanka as a country that rewards and not punishes  human rights violators. That 60,000 Tamils have been killed by the Sinhala army is a terrible indictment against that government and smacks of genocide.  So one feels pity  for the Australian government whose fair  name has been unnecessarily dragged into the mud  because  of  Sri Lanka! 

Not just Australasian Tamils, but the entire Tamil Diaspora should continue to exert pressure on the Australian government to reject Janaka Perera’s nomination as High Commissioner till further investigation into his past. Janaka Perera’s appointment is a challenge  to all those who value human rights, justice and freedom. A butcher like him should be jailed and not  allowed to move in civilized society as a diplomat.

The possibility of arraigning Janaka Perera  on charges of genocide  before the  International Court of Justice should be explored. He should be hounded till justice is done to the dead. We invite Tamil Canadian surfers to send in your comments.