5 years post-LTTE defeat those who ‘counted’ the 40,000-125,000 ‘dead’ are yet to name them
Posted on August 31st, 2014
Shenali D Waduge
Its been 5 years now and while there’s no shortage of people coming forward to make their predictions on the number of dead during the last stages of Sri Lanka’s war on terror, what they have failed to do is to find a single name for the dead. If they can count them, surely they should be able to name them! The accusations are endless and made with such viciousness using every form of media channel and all we can do is to re-quote US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Congressman Eni F H Falemavaega who posed a question to former envoy Robert Blake why are we picking on a little country like Sri Lanka”, going on to ask why US was ‘focusing only on the last few months of the war and failing to acknowledge…almost 30 years, the Tamil tigers hacked to death innocent men, women and children in Sri Lanka and carried out some 378 suicide attacks more than any other terrorist organization in the world’.
We have absolutely no issues in Gordon Weiss initially quoting 7000 civilian casualties during the last phase but to boost his book sales inflaming numbers and placing 40,000 as dead but changing the figure to 10,000 when challenged but the simple logic should be anyone quoting numbers of the scale that is being quoted must be responsible enough to make accusations aligned to proof and evidence.
In other words, if anyone is accusing the Sri Lankan troops of killing 40,000, 60,000, 80,000, 100,000, 125,000 or even more, they must collaborate their accusations with some solid proof. These evidence need to include
- names of the dead
- locating the relations of the dead
- where did the dead live
- if they didn’t have death certificates they must surely have birth certificates/NICs or some other form of identification, where are these?
The most important thing is the accusations were made immediately following the defeat of the LTTE so there was hardly room for skeletons which means there would have had to be bodies with flesh and we know that the American Association for the Advancement of Science identified ONLY 3 graveyards one of which belonged to the LTTE and showed 960 burials. How in the world could 40000-125,000 dead bodies with flesh be placed one on top of the other without it being caught on the satellite imagery?
The next question is with so many people claiming to be ‘eyewitnesses’ with trendy phones able to take first hand accounts of supposed ‘extra-judicial executions’ and ‘deliberate killings’ why have in 5 years the infamous documentaries winning global awards not produced a single footage of armed troops digging graves and shoving dead bodies inside? It has to take more than a few hours and days to dig graves while gunfire is taking place but how many graves does it take to dig to put 40,000 or 125,000 and why has the satellite images failed to pick up such graves. Another question, that should also be answered is exactly how many bodies with flesh can actually fit into a grave. A standard grave is 2 ½ feet wide and 8 feet in length and 4 feet deep. Exactly how many adult bodies can fit into such a grave and why has no ‘eyewitness’ mobile phone taken any shots of troops digging these graves, placing the dead inside the graves or at least killing the supposed dead?
These are important questions which remain unanswered 5 years on but there are plenty of people ever ready to take the podium and shed crocodile tears about counting the dead and even writing books on the subject.
We have absolutely no issues with anyone quoting numbers of civilian casualties but this is not a game they are playing on who can quote the highest number. Those quoting numbers may not realize the dangerous repercussions of distortions to which they are party to. These lies and distortions are likely to impact a nation of 20million people and the story does not end with the handful of targeted leaders being declared guilty of war crimes. Every decision being taken to target them will impact on every citizen of the nation and this is what should alarm and wake up the people of Sri Lanka. The country’s future is at stake and so too is the future of the people of Sri Lanka.
August 31st, 2014 at 1:49 pm
Ask Rayappu. At one time, he said that it was 140,000 or so. Now, he says that it is 176,000
August 31st, 2014 at 1:54 pm
IF this war crimes witch hunt continues Tamils will have to cry 1,000,000+ casualties.
The sensible thing to do is BURY THE PAST AND MOVE ON.
August 31st, 2014 at 4:36 pm
“A standard grave is 2 ½ feet wide and 8 feet in length and 4 feet deep. Exactly how many adult bodies can fit into such a grave and why has no ‘eyewitness’ mobile phone taken any shots of troops digging these graves, placing the dead inside the graves or at least killing the supposed dead?”
– Americunts should have satellite photos.
August 31st, 2014 at 7:53 pm
I believe Rayappu is a Roman Catholic Priest. Has this man also got into the numbers game. He is a Disgrace to the Catholic Church and should be kicked out for his lies. Lying is a sin in the Catholic Church. Maybe he went to confession after telling all these lies. When Pope Francis visits Sri Lanka next year he should have a chat with this fellow and remind him that telling lies with a malicious intent will send him to hell.
September 1st, 2014 at 12:04 am
Sirih,
This is why Pope is coming. He can tough his head and dissolve all the sins.
Lying is a sin in all the religions.
September 1st, 2014 at 10:33 am
I think the missing persons,some have sought asylum in the West with bogus names.No one seems to talk about the Sinhalese youth that went missing in late eighties because we Sinhalese have no effective lobby speaking for us in those countries.
September 1st, 2014 at 12:37 pm
There is a saying “The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic”. An example is the Nazi Holaucast where it is claimed that 6 million Jews were killed in various ways but mainly in the death camps. The Jewish dominated media has hammered in that number that the death of “6 million Jews” is synonymous with “Nazi Germany”. Mind you it is not “6 million 100 thousand 3 hundred and 12 people”. It is not even “6 million and 1”. The number just freezes at 6 million leaving the reader to believe the Nazis killed exactly 6 million Jews then told everyone to wrap things up and the job is done.
We are supposed to feel the “horror of it all” while avoiding the callousness of that claim. It could have been 5 million 9 hundred thousand and 67 Jews” but for expediency and to take the issue at hand the writers want the absolute sympathy of so many dead while ignoring the callousness of the reported number. Yes every single person life does count in those death camps and every effort should be made to find out the closest number they killed. It is terrible example for that is not what happened in Sri Lanka but it is an excellent example of propaganda.
The deaths just in the death camps are “estimated” to be around 14 million. Again I too am rounding up the number and am asking the forgiveness of those souls who have been left out. out of that 14 Million killed 6 million “estimated” were Jews. It was “NOT” a Jewish Holocaust. It was a holocaust. More Christians of Russian, Slavic, Poles, Germans, Catholics, homosexuals, the disabled Christians, those who resisted the Regime who were Christian to the soldiers who defeated the regime were Christian. If one adds that number up of both civilians and Soldiers killed due to that regime the number is many times more than 6 million. Millions upon millions of Christians died due to that regime but the world media paints it as a Jewish issue.
That is what the Tamil propagandist machine world wide is doing. It is even more vicious for they are using this to continue to justify a claim to divide Sri Lanka. As in Nazi Germany more Tamils were killed by the Tamil LTTE and by the Sri Lankan army. More Tamil children were abducted and used as child soldiers and child suicide bombers against the wishes of Tamil parents. The horror of that war was the carnage the Tamils did to other Tamils and now the Tamils continue to use the deaths of Tamils to justify any claim.
Tamils did die at the end of that war for the Tamils people including men women and children were used in one of mankind’s largest human shields. That Tamil human shield was in the hundreds of thousands. Enough to populate a city. They were shot at by both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army and many died, but many were saved. That carnage and the cold blooded act of the Tamil Prabhakaran has been erased from the collective minds of the Tamil Expats, who now use these same victims to justify another attempt at Elam.
That war turned out to be one of the most suicidal and horrible acts Tamils have ever done to other Tamils let alone the nation of Sri Lanka. That must be made very clear to all the Sri Lankan Tamils who think the enemy speaks Sinhalese and is Buddhist. NO the enemy is a Tamil who speaks Tamil, is a Hindu and is just like them. Those who are now living in peace as they did during the war outside of the war zone must speak out against the relentless propaganda machine from Jayalalithaa, Chennai, and the Tamil expats in trying to push amendment 13 as a prelude to Elam. For if that ever does happen the down fall of the Sri Lankan Tamil will only occur again.
September 1st, 2014 at 12:42 pm
” As in Nazi Germany more Tamils were killed by the Tamil LTTE and by the Sri Lankan army.”
That should have read “As in Nazi Germany more Tamils were killed by the Tamil LTTE THAN by the Sri Lankan army. Sorry about that.