A senior official in the Defence Ministry speaks of Sri Lanka’s Tamil separatist conflict
Posted on January 27th, 2012
Asoka WeerasingheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Kings Grove Crescent. Gloucester. Ontario. K1J 6G1 Canada
26 January 2012
Hon. Peter MacKay, MP, PC, Minister of National Defence, House of Commons, Ottawa
Dear Peter MacKay:
Re: A senior official in Defence Minister Peter MacKayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s office told The Canadian Press ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦The LTTE had fought for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.
This is amazing stuff coming out of your office.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ How wrong you guys are.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If you donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t know then you ask, and you will find out.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Kindly pass this to that senior staff member, that he could use me, a Sinhalese, as a quick fact information person, at no fee, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ on this conflict, as well as a Tamil of his choice if he so wishes to.
For your information as well as that senior staff member, these Tamils have been since the 1940s, (10% of the population), have tried every sneaky way to see whether they can govern the majority Sinhalese people (75% of the population).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is political history of Sri Lanka (Ceylon).
To talk of a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Tamil homelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, this is too much to swallow as these Tamils can claim no rights ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ historically, geographically, ethnologically nor ethnographical for their mythical ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Tamil homelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Not a snowball chance in hell.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If you donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t know, then you ask.
Is there a Tamil homeland that they can rightfully claim and return to?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Of course, there is.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is Tamil Nadu in Southern India where the Sri Lankan Tamils came from, and where 61 million of their kith and kin live.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And it is that simple.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As you may have noticed at every hiccup, the Tamil political leaders run to Chennai or New Delhi in India crying, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-MummyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦mummyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦Sri Lanka wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t allow us to play in the sand box alone when we know it is ours.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They say that we have to share itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ with the rest of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the communities, Sinhalese, Muslims and Burghers and others.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t want them in our sand box!ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
The question that you and your senior staff member would want to ask is, then why did this ethnic war go on for 27 bloody years killing over 100,000 innocent peoples?
I fault the incumbent Sri Lankan government for that.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They should have adopted the Canadian policy to nip in the bud for such claim and insurrection like what Pierre Trudeau did in October 1970. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Declare a War Measure Act and bring out the armed forces and rein in every Kalashnikov carryingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and hand grenade throwing Tamil Tiger before they started to multiply like vermin.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is what went wrong.
I happened to be in Ottawa when the WAR MEASURES ACT was invoked but was a bit surprised as after all what the FLQ had as weapons to claim their separate state.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I hasten to add that Canada had an unfair handicap over Sri Lanka, as Sri Lanka had no WAR MEASURES ACT with draconian powers in the early 70s to nip the bud of the Tamil Tiger terrorists. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But then Canada had only to deal with a FLQ separatist armoury of a grand total of 33 firearms, and 21 other offensive weapons, including 3 smoke grenades, 9 hand knives and 1 saber.
Because of CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s surreptitious support of the Tamil Tiger terrorist separatists by letting the Tamil Diaspora stuff two million dollars a month for 13 long years into the Tamil Tiger War chest to buy sophisticated weapons, the Government of Sri Lanka armed forces had to deal with an armoury of thousands of M-16s, AK-47, RPGs, land mines, hand grenades, SAMs andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ millions of rifle shells.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You better believe it Minister, that was the ground reality then, before the Tamil Tigers were annihilated on 19 May, 2009.
Sri Lanka is at peace now with no bombs going off willy-nilly at every street corner and public transport vehicles, where you, your senior staff member and I could walk the streets in the south and the north without looking over our shoulders to see whether a Tamil Tiger is coming after us cradling a Kalashnikov,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ or pulling a pin of a hand grenade, or a suspicious Tamil Tigress suicide bomber approaching us.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is the ground realty now.
The bottom line is,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Canadian government officials shouldƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ stop encouraging the LTTE rump to do their nasty little acts still dreaming of their mono-ethnic, separate Tamil state, Eelam, as Sri Lanka is the legitimate home for all Sri Lankans, Sinhalese, Tamils, Malays, Burgers and every otherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ minor ethnic community.
And I hope your senior staff member will educate himself/herself when speaking out of thisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ rather complexƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lankan ethnic issue asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ an expert, whenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ he/she knows very little of the reality.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If they are not sure, then they should ask.
Sincerely,
Asoka Weerasinghe (C11255047)
January 28th, 2012 at 9:48 am
excellent article
January 28th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Thank you Asoka. Your are our “AMBASSADOR PAR EXCELLENCE”.
January 28th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
I second Douglas’s comments.
Asoka we are indebted to you for all these articles.
It is time the GOSL ban the TNA is Sri Lanka. They should enshrine in the constitution a clause to make it a criminal offense, any organisation or person even talking of dividing the country and threatening its sovereignty.
Also it is time the GOSL tell India to get their back yard clean and stop poking their fingers in the affairs of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka must raise the caste issue in India and focus on violation of basic human rights in India and send a delegation to fix that issue in India. They should demand India that all Indians are given equal rights irrespective of CASTE.
Do we have politicians in Sri Lanka with “balls” to raise these issues with India????
Also these issue should be addressed by the GOSL as soon as possible :
) N/E tamils do not ask for 13th Amendment.
2) Probable discrimination towards sinhala/muslims in those areas.
3) It was with police powers granted that Perumal conscripted tamils by force and engaged in looting – we don’t want it happening again.
4) In Batticoloa name boards are only in Tamil. This is an injustice towards the Sinhala and Muslims living in and visiting that area. No Sinhala officers todate.
5) There are plenty of Kovils in Sinhala areas, so why not have more Buddhist temples in N/E? It is justified to build more.
6) Burning of the Jaffna Library can not be condoned. But 6,000 books of a some person collected were burnt and buried by Prabhakaran’s cronies under his instructions. This person complained to the parliament, so they killed this person!!!!
7) Devolvement of powers isn’t appropriate to a small country like SL.
8) Would the tamils ask for police powers in Canada & Britain because of the numbers present there?
9) The sinhalese must have the same freedom in Jaffna that the Tamils have at Wellawatte.
10) It is we who must decide our governance, not India.
It is time that this is done now.
January 29th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Proof of the pudding that some politicians in Canada are appointed to ministerial level with hardly a command of the nature and responsibilities of the Ministry assigned to them simply because they might have an associate degree or less and was a party member. Many Canadian’s know the goofups involving Peter Mckay and certain comical situations he has got himself into in the past and how he has been shifted between ministries and for someone of his limited scope relative to the Defence of a Nation to make statements of the nature he has under review or even corroborate such on behalf of a Ministry official sounds like a joke!
Canada should first ascertain the realities of the Tamil Tiger insurgency as an internal armed conflict involving terrorists of a minority ethnic group who were continually funded by supportive Tamil Diaspora based in countries like Canada ad infinitum until the Sri Lanka Armed Forces overwhelmed them. Mr Weerasinghe’s insight is truly brilliant and accurate towards the true realities involved.