Sri Lanka: Canada's attention is overdue
By Kshama Ranawana
If the declared purpose of successive Sri Lankan governments has been to ensure the unity of the island nation, then recent events seem to aim at achieving just the opposite.
[Kshama Ranawana]
On Sunday, September 21, ethnic minority Tamils hailing from the north and east of the country and living in the South Western region were required to register themselves with the police. The ruling this time was specific to those who had lived in the South during a five year period or less and was described by police as a census of Tamils living in the western region.
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s comments on the exercise were more candid. He was quoted in The Nation: “Anyone remaining in Colombo without a proper reason should head back to the north and east, since it will create a threat to the security situation.” Certainly, this is a contradiction of the country’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of movement.
Police estimated at least a 100,000 people of Tamil origin had moved to the south of the country in the past five years, most fleeing the economic deprivations and excesses of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the war zones. A total of 10,820 registered themselves that Sunday. With the government forces reported to be knocking on the LTTE stronghold known as the Vanni, authorities claim LTTE cadres could move south along with the civilians and carry out retaliatory attacks.
Registration of Tamils visiting the south and its environs has been in practice for nearly a decade, in a nation which has been battling a war with the LTTE who seek an independent state, Eelam in the north of the country where a majority of the Tamils live. Despite the practice, the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse has begun a more aggressive sweep and search of areas populated by Tamils outside the north and the east of the country, as well as in places termed “High Security Zones”. Those suspected of having links with the LTTE or whose identification does not satisfy the authorities are often kept in detention.
In June 2007, scores of Tamils living in lodges in the capital of Colombo to attend to business, medical or personal matters were rounded up and bussed back to a border point, an act which drew the ire of civil society groups and others calling for a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict. It resulted in the Supreme Court issuing a directive that such arbitrary actions be stopped.
In a country where the best of facilities are available in the Western region, where the administrative and commercial capitals are located, it has become a necessity for its citizens to travel to Colombo to attend to most of their personal or business needs. To suggest that Tamils visiting the capital should return to their respective homes in a bid to ensure the safety of the rest, would then necessarily mean that the government accede to the demand of a Tamil homeland.
As Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, of the independent think-tank The Centre for Policy Alternatives, told the Washington Post newspaper, "At the end of the day, you are only instilling some sense of second-class citizenship and deepening a perception of discrimination."
This perception was underlined by the Sri Lankan Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka when he told the National Post recently that he does not believe minorities have a right to make demands. "I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese (majority) but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people," he said.
"We being the majority of the country, 75 per cent, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country. We are also a strong nation. They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things."
The conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils began nearly 25 years ago and stems from agitations that have been simmering for more than five decades for parity of status between the two communities. The mostly Buddhist Sinhalese make up nearly 75 per cent of the 21 million people. Tamils make up around 18 per cent. Following the conflict scores of Tamils have left the country, many moving to Canada.
The situation has been cynically exploited by leaders of both groups and ordinary people, whether they be Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim, have been the worst affected.
The LTTE, who claim to be the chosen liberators of the Tamil people, expect them to conform to their regulations; children are abducted and used as cannon fodder, while even the elderly are often pressed into battle. Those wishing to even temporarily travel outside the area require a pass from the LTTE, and if a family needs to travel, at least one member must remain at home. Funds sent in by relations living outside are almost always taxed to fatten the LTTE war chests.
On the other hand, civilians from the north and the east are also required to obtain travel permits from government forces, produce police reports and register themselves; carrying such valid documentation, though is in no way a guarantee of being above suspicion.
The recent escalation of the war has resulted in nearly 200,000 Tamil civilians being trapped in the conflict zone, easy prey for the LTTE who even on earlier occasions had no compunction in using them as human shields. And could Tamils trust a regime where comments of its Army Commander and Defence Secretary reveal its ideological beliefs?
While Canada and many other nations have banned the LTTE and somewhat blunted its power over the Tamil diaspora, the international community’s attempts to raise the issue of human rights with the government of Sri Lanka has only resulted in its snubbing them and aligning itself with Iran and China.
Perhaps Canada, which is home to the largest Tamil community in the West, could give serious thought to Liberal Party Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae, who states on his website that Canada’s aid and diplomacy “need to be focused on a renewed push for a ceasefire, for a demobilization of the conflict and a commitment to parliament democracy, the rule of law and human rights.” Rae wants Canada more engaged, not “a Canada on the sidelines or a Canada wagging its finger 10,000 kilometers away.” [courtesy: Rable News]
6 Comments
Another Somalia in the making, with the help of international community.
:-)
Canada's attention has been given to Sri Lanka after successive failures of the Liberals in doing so. The Liberal Party never gave a dime about Sri Lanka's well being, they cared about the number of votes that were potentially theirs from around the Greater Toronto Area. With a majority Tamil, mostly LTTE supporting, Sri Lankan diaspora in Toronto, they had nothing to lose.
Mr. Stephen Harper is the only Canadian PM to have taken suitable action against the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world. They are banned and should remain banned. If you are suggesting a process of lifting this ban, what good can out of this? Only an increased flow of funds to the Tigers. It will in no way faacilitate peace talks (even though no such thing exists in reality with the LTTE).
I can send you photographs of Liberal MP's standing on-stage at the LTTE Heroes Day (anniversary marked by first suicide bombing), celebrating with the LTTE flag flying behind him, fishing for votes from the Tamil diaspora. It's disgusting and that's the only way to describe it. "A renewed push for ceasefire" does not, and will not exist with the LTTE. It's a mistake we made in the past and it should not be made again.
I do not agree with the Tamils having to register themselves, or having to provide reason for being in Colombo, since it is as much their city as it is everyone else's. I also agree that Gen. Fonseka's comments are quite inflammatory and uncalled for. HOWEVER, I strongly disagree with you on the way Canada should react to this.
CANADA HAS REACTED, AND REACTED WELL. If you are any good at studying the traces of the past, it should be more than evident to you that a peace process of negotiation process are completely unfruitful with the Tigers. It is simply an act of buying time and strengthening their arsenal for future assaults. They call upon it, and make their voices heard for it, when they are weakened militarily, as is the case now. It's happened in history, and if a forgiving attitude is directed towards them, it will happen again.
There can be no negotiations with terrorists. The solution is to BE FAIR to the Tamil people. This DOES NOT involve slackening the international community's/ Canada's stance against parties that use extortion, terrorism, and downright deception as a means of achieving their political gains. They are two different things. In this regard, the manner in which Tamils are treated in Sri Lanka vs. Canada's view and actions regarding the LTTE are two different things. They have SEPARATE solutions. One is fair and considerate treatment of citizens, the other is refusing to beleive an organization that has fooled the IC for 25 years.
Bob Rae...you can't be serious..
The solution is quite simple.
Those that have taken up arms against the state and challenge the democratically elected governments from 1970s MUST disarm and return to normal living.
Then everything will return to normal.
The most people are killed because there is fighting between the ARMY and the TERRORISTS (previously --before 9/11/01 known as rebels/guerillas)....
The whole country belongs to ALL the people in Sri Lankan the citizens of Sri Lanka. There are NO homelands in Sri Lanka for Tamils.
The Sinhalese who ONLY live indigenously ONLY in Sri Lanka regard WHOLE of Sri Lanka as their HOMELAND. Not any parts or sections of it ...as the Tamils would like the whole world to believe......
Yes Canada the international power broker!!
Seems like an inflated sense of self importance from a ex-lankan living in Canada.
Decolonisation of Ceylon, initiated seriously by the UN, but handled shabbily by Britain from 1948 to 1972, was intended to abolish colonial “master- servant” syndrome. The belief that all human beings in this world are born equal, was the reason for it. The idea was never to replace colonialism with ethnic “master-slave” syndrome but to have free countries with dignity for all, equality and justice.
But decolonisation was used as a right by the Sinhalese to collectively gravitate in greed, selfishness, pride and superiority and to create an ethnic “master-slave” culture in the island.
Envy against Tamils ensued and the rights and freedoms of Tamils were vandalised. Political, social, economic and legislative discriminatory practices followed this discourse.
Adolf Hitler played the same dirty game of “Aryan Supremacy” and envy against the Jews to carry out genocide in Germany. Similar attitudes of supremacy and envy caused genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia.
In a recently held interview, the army commander in Sri Lanka(SL), a Sinhalese, answering like a television series mafia boss, claimed that 75 percent of Sinhalese living in the island would determine the destiny of Tamils in the North East(NE).
Democracy is not about numbers but is about equality, freedom and justice for all. One often talks of numbers to claim supremacy. The affirmation by Fonseka was that the ethnic Sinhalese master would decide what rights and freedoms to give to the ethnic Tamil slaves in the island.
Tamils believe the Statistics of 75% to be faked with an intent to claim supremacy. Sinhalese were only about 60 percent when Britain did the last census before independence. If true, the acts of genocide have caused Tamils to decrease in number.
This week, Sarath de Silva, the Chief Justice, a Sinhalese, said in Batticaloa that he gave a judicial verdict to separate the joined Eastern provincial council from the North because he felt that the Tamils in the East had a different culture. The democratic decision of 1977, the present desires of ethnic Tamils and even the Indo Lanka Accord of 1987 was irrelevant to the “ethnic master”, let alone the common Tamil culture.
Obviously, the judicial “master” failed to bring the Sinhala soldiers who committed gross human rights violations to justice, as “slaves” have no right to justice against the “master” !
Genocide in no two countries were alike because the cultures, habbits and circumsatnces were different. For this reason, the genocide of Tamils in SL cannot be expected to be exactly the same as in Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan.
However, in all instances of genocide, the criminal acts of killing, disappearing, rape, expulsion, displacement and causing bodily or mental harm had a common ethnic dimension and an ethnic intention to harm and destroy ethnic groups.
When there is a strong case that something is genocide one should not be afarid to use the word and say so. The government sponsored atrocities against the ethnic Tamils in SL should be called by their rightful word - genocide.
Genocide is crime against humanity. In SL it is the culmination of a process including discrimination, dehumanisation and destruction of ethnic Tamils.
The UN should address the discernable reality. The reality is that decolonisation of the island was not done meticulously with utmost care. Genocide of Tamils is occuring because of this reason.
The UN should therefore, appoint a Genocide Tribunal for SL immediately and decolonise the island properly, to abolish the existing ethnic “master-slave” culture.
It is a shame another LTTE lobiest writing like a Sri Lankan in Canada. She trying to pour unrealistic liberal idealogy in the heads already battered Sri Lankan heads by LTTE suside bombs and unending deaths and distruction created while trying to realize two dacades of Prabakaran's bloddy dream.
Isn't she came to Canada to escape from that distruction? And why now she speaks like a fairy from heaven who doesen't have any knoledge on this realistic world. Of cause she is trying to get some kind of support for vote hunting Liberals in Toronto such as Bob Rae.
What Canada need to be done on Sri Lankan issue has already done by Conservatives. Without that action Canada still the direct supplier of arms funding to a terrorist group. What Sri Lankans in Canada needs to doen now is to find and sue those who support directly or indirectly to the terrorist group LTTE for the distructin they cause in Sri Lanka.
A citizen of other country has no right to wage war against another country. Canada has to stop this shame.