Your statement on Tamil’s “Black July” commemmoration
Posted on July 29th, 2013
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mahinda GunasekeraƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Agincourt, Ontario Canada
Hon. Jason Kenney, MP, PC
Minister of Employment and Social Development
House of Commons, Ottawa
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Honorable Jason Kenney,
Your statement on TamilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Black JulyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ commemoration
I read your politically motivated statement to mark the 23rd day of July which is denoted as the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Black July DayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ by Tamils to commemorate the unfortunate events that took place 30 years back when violent reprisals took place against the members of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I too would acknowledge that mob attacks took place at the time which is a cause for shame and regret, as it besmirched the good name of the otherwise peaceful Sinhalese majority community in the island.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I have personally apologized for the ugly conduct in my writings, whilst Sri Lanka provided monetary compensation to the victims which can never satisfy the immense losses borne by them. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s President also publicly apologized to the Tamil community in parliament and at the UN General Assembly .ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ At the same time, it needs to be told that the vast majority of the Sinhala community provided protection to their fellow Tamil citizens in the face of serious risk to their own lives.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The mob comprised of many affected individuals including shanty dwellers belonging to the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities who made use of the opportunity to loot the property belonging to Tamil households and businesses.
It must also be remembered that the violence was not an unprovoked act on the part of the Sinhalese as the Tamils who were actively seeking a separate state to be carved out of the north and east of the island had earlier forcibly evicted the 27,000 Sinhalese residents of the north between 1971 and 1981 and also chased out 400 Sinhalese students and staff attending the Jaffna campus of the university in 1977.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Tamil political parties had come together to form the Tamil United Liberation Front which adopted the infamous ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Vadukkodai ResolutionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ demanding the formation of a Tamil separate stateƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and calling on the Tamil youth to resort to every means including violence to achieve this objective.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This call led to the youth gunning down Tamil public servants and police officers serving the government in the northern areas, and even killing Tamil politicians who were aligned with the ruling party.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ethnic tensions were at fever pitch, when the Indian trained Tamil Tigers blew up an army convoy using a Claymore Mine supplied to them by India killing 13 soldiers, whose funeral and last rites in Colombo triggered the ugly riots of July 1983.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
If we are to go further back, the Tamil leaders sought what they termed as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”balanced representationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in the mid-1940ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s when they sought from the Soulbury Commission that 50 percent of the seats in parliament be reserved for the minority communities who in total comprised about 25 percent of the population, whereas the 75 percent Sinhalese were required to contest an election to win places in the balance 50 percent parliamentary seats.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lord Soulbury who headed the British Commission of Inquiry stated that any attempt to make a minority of a majority is not workable, and he rejected this insidious move by the Tamil leaders.
Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s purely ceremonial armed forces numbering roughly 6-8 thousand men were unable to contain the spreading violence and were able to bring it under control only after the arrival of members of the volunteer forces who were summoned by telegram ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to beef up the regular forces.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Strangely, the Inspector General of Police who was a Tamil and six of the twelve Deputies also coming from the same community were not seen to be taking preventive measures although the Police Act empowered them to decisively act in cases where there was a breach of the peace.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ According to Mr. Sebastian Rasalingam who is also a Tamil from Toronto stated in an article he wrote in a Sri Lankan newspaper, that the Tamil Tigers who failed to collect funds from members of the Tamil community living in Colombo for their violent separatist cause were also involved directing members of the mob to Tamil homes in order to mete out punishment to those who did not provide financial assistance to them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is somewhat troubling to note that a public inquiry was not held to determine the causes and those responsible for the damaging rumors and the widespread violence that took place. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Your joining the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Black JulyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ commemoration and remembering this particular event to the exclusion of all other human failings and tragedies gives rise to questions as to your motives and disposition to world events. If it is your view that this event alone needs to be remembered, you will be doing a great disservice to all the other innocent civilians from the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities who were done to death by the Tamil Tigers over a 26 year period after 1983 by detonating claymore mines, human bombs, midnight machete attacks on remote villages, truck bombs, bus-train and shopping center bombs, and attacks on places of worship and Buddhist sacred sites aimed at provoking a backlash against Tamils which fortunately did not happen. You could get details of these criminal acts of the Tamil Tiger terrorists by clicking the following link; i.e. http://www.sinhaya.com/Massacres.htm .ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If you look back at CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s past, you will find many ugly instances where deliberate policies contributed to the abandoning of the fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, especially in the treatment meted out to the Native Canadians and others who sought to make Canada their adopted homeland.
You are no doubt making this statement in your attempt to win over the Tamil Canadians and their votes for the Conservative Party as they represent a significant number of the voters in the Greater Toronto Area.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Your irrational and biased approach is bound to turn off more Canadians than the number of Tamil votes that you hope to gain, unless you are able to sponsor more Tamil and other illegal boat people to Canada.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Your loaded statement is not only a shameful one but also un-befitting of a person of your stature called on to serve as a cabinet minister of the Federal Government of Canada.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Yours sincerely,
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mahinda Gunasekera
July 29th, 2013 at 2:12 pm
Building the Jaffna campus was a very foolish decision. It has become a hotbed of RACISM and TERRORISM. Their students are anti-SL. Their teachers particularly UTHR-J is a RACIST outfit.
Same goes for the South Eastern university. Islamic racism thrives there.
July 29th, 2013 at 4:15 pm
From what I read I gather that the Tamils have been successful in besmirching the Singhalese, have avoided international retribution for purging the northern and eastern provinces of Singhalese and have painted themselves has the “hapless victim so brutalized by the savage Singhalese” So be it. If the World has accepted this lie and will not change their minds then what is to be lost by using the same tactics that the Indian trained Tamil thugs have used with success. Start making Sri Lanka into a Singhalese Buddhist nation from Jaffna to Galle and do not relent. Every Hindu Temple must be open to every one regardless of religion or caste.
Here in the US lands are appropriated under the term of “eminent domain” or if the state or federal government needs the land then a fair market price is offered and the land is seized. Simply put if India, Tamil Nadu or the Western world continue to accuse Sri Lanka of falsehoods then make them true. Seize lands that Tamils have “stolen”. Remove offensive Hindu elements from sacred Buddhist sites and keep at it till Sri Lankan Tamils find another place to live. Then pass any regulations that Tamils seeking refugee status cannot return back as citizens.
Just look around the world and one is amazed at what governments are doing and getting away with it. Ranging from Burma to the Middle East, China to India’s Caste system millions upon millions suffer the heavy hand of human rights violations while the UN does nothing. Those nations that the UN has focused on such as Iran still continue to do what they please against any odds thrown at them. Sri Lanka will not suffer in the way Iran is because of the support China alone is giving.
As I have stated before, the military war is over but the diplomatic war has just begun and Sri Lanka better be ready to take these nations on or see Eelam created by the pen and not by the sword.
July 29th, 2013 at 4:45 pm
Why they lifted emergency in North ? Endian tamils invading and destabilizing the North.
They should re-introduce it now citing Tamil invasion from Endia.
North can be ruled by Military only. Tamils respond to the Gun only. Fight with the Tamil Semen from Endia and see how it goes. Endia will not do anything. Invasion will stop completely.
For 40 years Tamil problem could not be solved politically , peacefully. In 2 years it was solved militarily. In another 5 years tamil problem of Endia (TN) can also be solved militarily.
July 29th, 2013 at 7:35 pm
I cannot write here, the exact reason or the truth, but Lanka web will not allow my comment to appear.
July 30th, 2013 at 8:20 am
It seems Mr Jason Kenny and those like him commemorating the deaths of only the Tamils killed in 1983, are indirectly endorsing the killing and ethnic cleansing of other ethnic groups, not only in 1983, but also prior to that and for 26 years there after and up to the time the LTTE terrorists (who received funds from the Canadian Govt through LTTE Front organisations), were defeated in Sri Lanka. These Candian politicians are afraid of the LTTE funds and votes being used against them at any future election and are unashamedly dancing to the tune of the LTTE murderers and thieves, forgetting the interests and welfare of Canadian as well as Sri Lankan citizens..