Sri Lanka rejects West 'lectures' - Lesson for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal

[Goodperson]

Stop trolling just because you dislike India.

Let us salute the great nations that genuinely helped us fight terrorism

Sri Lanka is about to conclude her war against terror. The ordeal that about 19 million people have been living with for more than quarter of a century is about to be over. It would never be too early to express our gratitude to all the great nations who genuinely helped us to come this far in this historic battle. Because, the value of a sincere friend would never be so felt, as when one is beset by a group of hypocrites.

On April 30 it was reported that the UN Security Council has no interest in punishing Sri Lanka, by withholding funds that she needs at this moment. Before that decision was taken, some countries that portray themselves as the global guardians of human rights, had made several shameless attempts to recommend punitive action against this poor third world country, struggling to rid itself of terrorism.

Ironically, these so-called human rights champs tried to justify their claims saying that they were doing it for the safety of civilians, held at hostage by terrorists in island's North. Moreover, they put a number of ridiculous demands on the Sri Lanka government, such as offering amnesty to the terrorists, allowing a third party to rescue the terrorist leaders, go for a ceasefire, etc. Never did history unmask the hypocrisy and the sanctimony of the Western Powers than their behaviour towards Sri Lanka during recent times.

In this context, the people of Sri Lanka are grateful for the wholehearted support given to them by India, Pakistan and the rest of the South Asian countries, China, Russia, Pakistan, Japan, Iran, Libya, Vietnam, Mid-East, African and Southeast Asian countries. But for their understanding on our plight and the trust they placed on us, we would never be able to come this far in our battle against terrorism. It seems the international community has become more independent and therefore safer for poor countries like Sri Lanka to stand up for their rights. At least, the people living in poor war affected countries like ours can now have hopes for achieving peace if their leaders are genuine enough to take appropriate action.

It is worthwhile recalling how the civilians, whose safety the Western powers are so worried about, were driven to their current situation. It was the LTTE terrorists who took hold of these civilians at gunpoint and held them as a protective shield during the last three years. As troops gradually liberated the territory held by the LTTE, the terrorists forcibly took most of these civilians with them in order to protect their leaders. All the human rights champions now blaming the government were brazenly silent on this blatant atrocity against our citizens, despite the government's untiring efforts to convince them about the looming humanitarian situation. All they did was trying to corner Sri Lanka in the international community, with their usual "warnings", "urges" "concerns", etc.

They always asked us to stop fighting and start negotiations for a political settlement. Yet, they could not tell us how to stop the continuing atrocities of the LTTE against Sri Lankan citizens. They neglected to see that a political solution is needed for a political problem but not for a terrorist problem.

Human sufferings are the main weapon the LTTE has been using for its survival. It is no secret that the LTTE has been engineering the most brutal crimes against civilians and cunningly manipulates them to its advantage. From their first village massacre in 1984, the terrorists have been mastering this art for earning sympathy for the crimes they themselves committed. The LTTE leadership has been so obsessed with his strategy of cowering among the civilians and increasing their sufferings to win international sympathy.

Therefore, anyone who refuses to accept this realty and asks us to stop fighting against terror, serves the exact purpose of the terror leadership. In other words, it is their response that inspires the terror leadership to continue these crimes. Therefore, all those diplomats, politicians, human rights organizations that dance to the tune of LTTE propaganda are equally responsible of the plight of the civilians under the clutches of terror.

Let us salute our friends who accepted the truth and are bold enough to stand by us at our moment of need.

Let us salute the great nations that genuinely helped us fight terrorism

 

[idune]

Commitment to free my people remain - President
President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the visiting Special Envoy from Japan , Yasushi Akashi, that he was firm in his own commitment and that of his Government to free the Sri Lankan Tamil citizens who remained being held as hostages by the LTTE.

At a breakfast meeting at Janadhipathi Mandiraya on Saturday, there was a wide ranging discussion of the humanitarian situation in the North, especially regarding the continuing presence of Tamil civilians held as hostages by the LTTE in the No Fire Zone, and the many thousands of civilians who had escaped from the LTTE to the cleared areas of the Government.

The President also stressed the need to defeat the LTTE and its leader Prabhakaran and bring terrorism to an end in the country.

The arrangements made for these IDPs who had already come over were discussed, with Akashi appreciating the measures taken by the Government to provide food, shelter, medicine and other essentials under trying circumstances due to the sudden influx of such a large number of people.

President Rajapaksa reiterated the Government’s duty to free the Tamil civilians, all of them Si Lanka citizens, still being held by the LTTE, and said he would carry out this responsibility on behalf of these people.

He welcomed assistance from friendly countries that appreciated the need to eradicate terrorism from Sri Lanka, for infrastructure development and other such needs to resettle these people, which he said would be done in the shortest possible time.

Among the constraints on speedy resettlement was the need for the clearing of mines laid by the LTTE, and the provision of resettlement facilities in keeping with international standards.

The Japanese envoy assured the President of his country’s assistance in this regard.

Norway , one of the Co-Chairs, was told by Sri Lanka that its role as facilitator of the peace process was not necessary, after pro-LTTE groups attacked the Sri Lanka Embassy in Oslo last month, with no protection provided to the embassy by the Norwegian authorities.

Sri Lanka News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers

 

[idune]

India loses the Sri Lanka plot
M.J. Akbar | Arab News

Lesson of the week: It is perfectly possible to simultaneously fool the United Nations, P. Chidambaram, much of the media and M. Karunanidhi with the same ploy, and within the same 24 hours. The outbreak of self-congratulation in Delhi when Colombo announced that it would cease using heavy artillery and air power against the trapped LTTE was not really self-delusion, it was a desperate attempt by ruling coalition politicians to chalk up talking points for the elections in Tamil Nadu. Typically, Karunanidhi overegged the pudding by undertaking a fast. The fastest thing about the fast was how fast it ended.

The only union ministers from Tamil Nadu not in electoral trouble are those who defected to Jayalalitha. The others, whether from Congress, DMK or smaller parties, are anxiously shopping for any fig leaf to hide their impotence. Delhi’s spin doctors even tried to hype up the “heavy artillery” announcement as a cease-fire. This spin stopped turning when Colombo clarified that it would never agree to any cease-fire. Why would it cease— fire when it has Prabhakaran in its crosshairs? The Sri Lanka government and army have not fought its most difficult war in order to make Chidambaram home minister or Karunanidhi chief minister.

Colombo has measured Delhi’s impotence carefully, and knows that Delhi will swallow any fudge it hands out, because there is nothing else it can do. The rest of the world can make the perfunctory noise, but that is about it.

Colombo’s “concession” is meaningless because the war has entered a phase when heavy artillery is useless and aerial strikes counterproductive.

The combat zone, at the moment of writing, has been reduced to about five square kilometers of beachfront on the northeastern coast, in which perhaps 50,000 civilians have become double-hostages. Prabhakaran, leading the rump of the once-fabled LTTE forces, is using them as his last shield against the victorious Sri Lankan armed forces. The war has entered the close-combat stage, where each LTTE post and boat will be identified and eliminated through a process of attrition, even as efforts continue to offer civilians a route out of the trap.

Why would Colombo stop a war at the very moment when it has drained the growl out of the Tigers? Prabhakaran must be ruing the day when arrogance, or misjudgment, stopped him from accepting a deal through negotiations. Both Colombo and the world community gave him this chance, the former under compulsion, but nevertheless agreeable. Prabhakaran now faces the option that made his Tigers, and Tigresses, an object study in asymmetrical warfare, with their trademark use of the poison pill. We cannot say what he will do next, or indeed what realistic options exist for him. How long will the human shield of terrified civilians hold? Will the trapped Lanka Tamilians revolt against the person who was once a demigod? The armed forces surrounding the last battlefield have time, and morale, on their side.

It was perhaps bad luck for Delhi that this war came to a climax at just the moment when India’s long general elections are also heading toward theirs. I suppose the Election Commission did not factor in events across the Palk Straits when it decided that Tamil Nadu would be among the last states to vote. Delhi is busy formulating, and discarding, plans. In one of them, Prabhakaran would escape and then be forced to negotiate with Colombo. But such a scenario is riven with difficulties. Would escape be possible when the Lanka Navy is keeping a 24-hour vigil on the waters? If he did escape, would the assassin of Rajiv Gandhi receive a warm welcome from a Congress-led union government? Open arms? I think not.

I hope not.

Delhi lost the Lanka plot some time ago. Rip Van Winkle would not make a good foreign minister. You cannot wake up suddenly after a long sleep, and imagine that last-minute hysterics are an adequate substitute for two years of lazy drift. Foreign policy is a continuous pursuit. A crisis needs to be monitored on a regular basis. Foreign policy means shaping events toward the national interest long before denouement.

Chidambaram’s recent statement on China’s role in Sri Lanka was mystifying. Is this the first time that he has heard about this? Then he has not even been reading the daily newspapers properly. China has been arming Sri Lanka for many years. Colombo played it brilliantly: It got arms from China even as it persuaded the UPA government to give it a favorable trade status. India nourished Sri Lanka’s war-starved economy. Perhaps Delhi never expected the LTTE to collapse before the Lanka forces. Did Delhi become a victim of LTTE propaganda?

The price of miscalculation in a game-changing crisis is very high. You have to be extraordinarily lucky to escape payment. The Chidambaram-Karunanidhi partnership may have run out of its share of luck.

India loses the Sri Lanka plot

 

[samv]

Imagine if Sri Lanka had listened to the lectures of the west...

The war would still be going on.

Kudos to the government for going forward with the war effort and taking out the LTTE.

It has done the country and the region a world of good.