Your charge of Sri Lanka for a Holocaust
Posted on June 19th, 2010
Asoka WeerasingheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada
June 19, 2010
Mr. KofiƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A. AnnanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (past Secretary-General of the UnitedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Nations)
c/o InternationalƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Herald Tribune
France
Dear Mr. Annan:
I have read with great interest your Opinion Editorial, The Myth of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Never AgainƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in the International Herald Tribune of June 17, 2010.
With my on-going interest in the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ I was a bit taken back with your observation:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Holocaust remains unique in its combination of sophisticated technical and organizational means with the most ruthlessly vicious ends, but instances of genocide and large-scale, merciless brutality have continued to multiply ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” from Cambodia to the Congo, from Bosnia to Rwanda, from Sri Lanka to Sudan.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was your reference to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ which jarred me.
HereƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s my problem and try to follow my thread which, in my eyes, you have exposed yourself to be an unfair critic of Sri Lanka which has fought a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”merciless brutal warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for 27 years, just not the last few ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-vicious endsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ months that most observers are talking of allegedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ war crimes by the Sri Lankan government, before the culmination of the war on May 19, 2009, and the extinction of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) aka Tamil Tigers, the most ruthless terrorists operating around the world then.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You were a witness of this merciless and brutal war while you occupied the chair of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for ten long years and didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t do much about it, so why this sudden revelation that it was a merciless and brutal war only during the last vicious ending months of the war?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This I donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t understand.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t add up to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”honestyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ but certainly adds up to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”mendacious deceitƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ on your part.
Just donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t pull wool over our eyes Mr. Annan, the first 26 years and 7 months of this 27-year war was not a game of happy 10-year olds playing a game of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”cops and robbersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ fighting with fake rolled- paper batons and paper-ball bullets. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was 26 years and 7 months of shooting with Kalashnikovs and 2ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ mortars, blasting innocent Sinhalese and Muslim civilians by the Tamil Tigers with claymore mines which snuffed the lives of over 100,000 innocent civilians of all ethnic groups.
When Tamil Tigers plucked a young Sinhalese motherƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s infant from her cradling arms who was sucking on her nipple and bashed the infantƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s head on a rock and celebrated watching the blood oozing like from a broken bottle of ketchup, wasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t that a merciless and a brutal killing?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This did not happen during the last few vicious ending months of the war Mr. Annan which you have tagged the word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ blaming the Sri Lankan government;
When the Tamil Tigers pulled out 33 novice Buddhist monks from a bus and shot them dead at point blank range, wasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t that a merciless and a brutal killing Mr. Annan?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t happen during the last vicious ending months of the war which you have labelled a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and blamed the Sri Lankan Government for that.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This incident happened on 2 June 1987;
When the Tamil Tigers crept in the indigo dark morning into farm adobe huts and shot and hacked to death 62 unarmed men, women, children and infants at Dollar and Kent Farms, wasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t this not a merciless and a brutal killing Mr. Annan?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This incident didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t happen during the last few vicious ending months of the war which you labelled the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Holocaust in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and slapping the blame tag on the Sri Lankan government.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This incident happened on 30 November 1984.
Mr. Annan, unfortunately it does seem that you have become another disingenuous observer ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ joining the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”We Gotch Ya Sri Lanka, nasty gangƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of UN Commissions, INGOs and foreign country officials ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ like DavidƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Miliband, Bernard Koucher,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lawrence Cannon, Garath Evans, Chris Patten, Louise Arbour, Ban ki-Moon, Navi Pillay and Eric Solheim.
With all what I had to tell you, you stand corrected Mr. Annan, you are just wrong when you include Sri Lanka in the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ definition.
You began your Op-Ed by saying, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Many countries in Europe and North America now require all high-school pupils to learn about the Holocaust.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I cannot quibble with that.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But what I will quibble, however, is when you try to teach the students the distorted version of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ by trivializing the usage of that word.
But I am afraid that I have to point out to you, the man who held the highest position in the United Nation, that you are just wrong, wrong, wrong when you include Sri Lanka as a country that practiced the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in the true Nuremburg sense of the word thus upsetting the Jews by trivializing the word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ which was defined in historical terms for the mass murder by the Nazis of the Jews of continental Europe between 1940 and 1945. It was a mass murder of six million people.
WellƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦arenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you confusing the high-school students by including Sri Lanka to explain to them what ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Holocaust ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”was all about?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ArenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you vying for the crown of the biggest ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Holocaust FraudsterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ identifying countries that were not involved in premeditated mass murder to exterminate a group of its citizens? ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I hope you are following my thread.
How could you juxtapose and validate the clinical explanation to high school students the word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ which has a Greek root ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”holokaustosƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”holosƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ meaning ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-wholeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”kaustosƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ meaning ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- burntƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ By the Nuremburg definition the word portrays the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ However, the last five months of the Eelam War ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that most international observers point out was the period when alleged war crimes occurred, was not a period of systematic state sponsored extermination of Tamils by the Sri Lankan government as the armed forces liberated 300,000 Tamils during that period who were held as a human shield by the Tamil Tigers for 30 months and herded ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ them like cattle from the west of the island to the east.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ what was amazing was that the majority Sinhalese cooked a million meals a day to feed the rescued Tamils three hearty meals a day, housed them in temporary camps and within eleven months sent 250,000 of them back to their original homes having been restored and rebuilt by the government, together with supplies to sustain themselves for the next six months and 50 thousand rupees for each family as seed money to kick start their new lives which were held back while kept hostage by the Tamil Tigers. These are the facts no one could deny nor erase them.
How indeed could you explain to the high school students the above two events which according to your distorted mind-set and formula are equal to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢? ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Well, let these high school students be judge and jury of the two scenarios and whether Sri Lanka should rightfully be accused of a Holocaust, as you have figured out that indeed it is.
You are stretching your point arenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you, just to get at Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You are walking on a precarious fault line Mr. Annan which will swallow you up pretty soon, if you are not being honest and truthful and admit that you have been admitted as a member to the inner circle of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We Gotch Ya, Sri Lanka, nasty gangƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
Any explanation that you would try to prove that the last few months of the Eelam War was indeed a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and not a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Humanitarian and a Liberation WarƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, will only paint yourself as a disingenuous fraud and a liar trying to get at the Sri Lankan government unfairly as War ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Criminals.
Nor should you try to redefine the word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ having left out the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld invasion of Iraq where over a million people were killed, and 4 million made into IDPs.
You certainly smell a nasty rat here Mr. Kofi Annan, explain yourself to me and others who have a genuine interest to understand the history of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and how and why you fitted Sri Lanka into your definition.
You know what, Mr. Annan, which ever way ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ you twist and turn yourself into a pretzel to get out of this mess, I can bet my last dollar that you will be exposed as a lurid partner of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”We Gotch Ya Sri Lanka, nasty gangƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that you are on a mission to destroy Sri Lanka and her good name.
Well, donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Just donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t trivialize the word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by including Sri Lanka into the working definition and insult the Jews along the way, and of course, confuse the high school students by introducing your deceptive and perverted definition of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HolocaustƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ into the school curricula.
Sincerely,
Asoka Weerasinghe
(a student of the Holocaust)
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
June 19th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Oh ! Is this the Kofi Annan, the IMPOSTER, whose son was involved in some International Financial Fraud, relating to Oil for Food program, while he was Secretary General ? If so, his credibility on the evaluation of the HOLOCAST is pernicious, and questionable. This man is misleading the younger generation, and should be held responsible. I believe he will retract on his phraseology, and delete Sri Lanka, with an apology to boot.
June 20th, 2010 at 1:03 am
We need to understand where Mr. Annan is coming from before we criticize him. Mr. Annan was obviously one of the highest paid employees by a ‘public’ organization and perhaps we are taking about a six or even seven figure salary. When people of this social standing eventually step down, their income also steps down in a significant way irrespective of how many investments he would have made during his career. Unlike people who actually produce or manufacture goods/services, paper pushers like Mr. Annan tend to very quickly fade into oblivion after retirement. So, in his retirement with dwindling income and fame, any offer from anyone is something that is hard to refuse. All one has to do is to say what the person sending the cheque wants him to say and suddenly that holiday villa in the Bahamas which was not within ones reach becomes a reality and after all who cares what’s going on in Sri Lanka anyway. The CIA is happy, Mr. Annan is now able to buy his holiday villa, Milliband is happy, Krouchner is happy – what else do we want??
I am just sad that it seems only a bunch of pathetic spineless morons always seem to be able to fill the top jobs of organizations which are supposed to look after the interests of the ordinary people of this world. No wonder the majority believes that the UN is a corrupt organization serving the needs of the neo-colonial masters.
June 20th, 2010 at 7:28 am
If Annan is correct to include the elimination of a bunch of Tamil terorists in SriLanka under his Holocaust definition then, why on earth are the Jews making such a hue and cry for the holocaust of Jews by Hitler’s Nazi gangs? What happened in Sri Lanka was the defeat of a brutal terrorist movement that committed genocide of non-tamils living in areas selected by them and their overseas masters for a new state called Tamil Elam and the simultaneous colonisation of these areas with Tamils from India and other places for nearly three decades. Annan says the elimination of these mindless brutes in human form was the same as what Hitler’s Nazi gangs did to Jews. As a matter of fact it is a gross insult to the Jewish victims for Annan to belittle what happened to them by equating the Holocaust to the elimination of the bunch of LTTE terrorists by the SriLankan Army. With people such as Coffi Annan, Navi Pillai, Richard Alston, Louis Arbour, Radhi Coomaraswamy and those of similar qualities able to hold high office in the UN but do the dirty work to suit the agendas of weallthy and powerful nations & NGOs, what credibility has UN agencies got to perform a useful service? Can we believe any more the statements issued by current or past UN officials?
June 21st, 2010 at 12:40 am
The Secretary General of the United Nations is considered, by definition as it were, to be a diplomat of the highest order. And it is unbelievable that someone who once occupied that position could write this sort of rubbish. I imagine the man simply signed something someone else had prepared for him, without reading it carefully. How disappointing, how very disappointing.