"Tigers Shoot A Hindu Priest"- Can They Be Representatives of Majority Tamils?

By Darmitha-Kotte

The Sinhala newspaper 'Lakbima" of 24th October 2006 carried a news item by Sanath Priyantha from Vavuniya "Tigers Shoot a Hindu Priest" where it is stated that the LTTE pistol gang shot and killed a Hindu Priest on 22nd October 2006. The victim was the Pusari (Hindu Priest) of Sri Nagar Aiyyar Kovil,Punthottam. According to the news item the residence of the Pusari is situated beside the Kovil and the LTTE terrorists who charged into the Pusari's residence around 9.00 pm, shot at him and fled the scene. The Pusari who sustained serious injuries was rushed to the Vavuniya hospital but according to medical officers on duty at the time who examined the victim on arrival, explained that he had passed away even before admission to the hospital.

Majority of the Tamil community in this country are Hindu Tamils who are an extremely religious and pious community. A Hindu Kovil is a sacred place of worship to them and they gain moral support and peace of mind from visiting such Kovils. The Pusari (Hindu Priest) is treated with utmost respect by Hindu Tamils. The last thing a Hindu believer will do, is to kill their own Pusari! Only a LTTE terrorist with church backing will dare to shoot or harm a religious dignitary of another religion and this incident is ample evidence of that.

Under the circumstances, isn't it obvious to anyone who understands the Hindu culture that the LTTE terrorists cannot be considered to be the "sole representatives " of the Tamil community when they even dare to shoot down in cold blood, a Pusari who is held in high esteem by the Hindu Tamil community? Whatever the reason for shooting this Pusari, it is obvious that the LTTE does not respect the Hindu culture or their places of worship. If they cannot respect the religion of the majority Tamils, then they cannot claim "sole representative "status of the majority Tamils community of Sri Lanka! Christian Tamils (to which group Prabhakaran belongs) are an extremely small minority of the Tamil population of Sri Lanka. No one kills a person through "love" or "mercy" but through a highly emotional feeling of hatred -to hate a religious leader of your community is the height of insensitivity! Can such a group bring peace, prosperity and harmony to their own community is a question all those pro-LTTE lobbyists and "peace mongers" must try to find an answer to? Is this not a blatant case of killing one's own community?

Was it the Armed Forces who got the LTTE pistol gang to shoot this Pusari at his own residence? This question is asked because pro-terrorist supporters only know to point a finger at the government and the Armed Forces even when the atrocities are committed by the terrorists themselves!

No religious minded Hindu or Buddhist will condone such cruelties and there should be no excuse whatsoever, for hurting a religious leader. Let us hope that the perpetrators will be brought to book and due punishment meted out according to the law of this land- not the terrorist law of the LTTE. Let this incidence also expose to the world, that LTTE terrorists are not representatives of Hindu Tamils in this country- if they were, they would never raise a hand against a Hindu Pusari, let alone murdering him in cold blood.