It is pertinent, in this regard to hark back to the terrorism of the JVP of 1971 and 1987 to 1990. They were almost as bloodthirsty, sadistic and ruthless in their terrorism as the LTTE. I say “almost” because they were `selective’ in those whom they murdered. They murdered almost exclusively Sinhalese – hardly any Tamils, Muslims, or Burghers; and no Indians although they plastered the country with posters which read “Indian Forces Get Out” and also murdered small Sinhalese traders who sold Indian goods !!!.
___________________
by S. L. Gunasekara
(June 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is reported that a high powered delegation of the Indian Government had visited Sri Lanka and had the temerity to give our Government some pontifical and unsolicited advice that there is no military solution to the on-going conflict and that the Goverment should submit a viable devolution package “within a united Sri Lanka” to resolve the “ethnic crisis”.
What, if any, these insolent Indians conceived as being the `devolution package’ which would cause the LTTE to surrender their arms and enter the democratic process they naturally failed to mention for good reason – for no such devolution package exists. Similarly, they did not expand on what they meant by the “ethnic crisis” for the identical reason – for none exists.
It is now a notorious fact which admits of no doubt that our supposedly good neighbour India, provided a `safe haven’ for, and trained and armed the LTTE as well as other separatist gangs that were operating on our soil. It is self-evident that India did not then advise those bloodthirsty criminals whom they armed and trained that `there is no military solution to the conflict’ as they now have the audacity to `advise’ our Government.
When India armed and trained those criminals, they intentionally trained and armed them to murder members of our armed forces and police, Tamils who were loyal to the Government or did not lick the boots of those criminals [as the so called TNA does] as well as Sinhalese and Muslim civilians for the `crime’ of being Sinhalese and Muslims.
India is, therefore, undeniably an accessory and/or co-conspirator with those criminals in the commission of high treason against little Sri Lanka; as well as in causing the tens of thousands of violent deaths, disfigurements and losses of limbs suffered by our citizens of all races and religions as a result of separatist terrorism.
It is pertinent, in this regard to hark back to the terrorism of the JVP of 1971 and 1987 to 1990. They were almost as bloodthirsty, sadistic and ruthless in their terrorism as the LTTE. I say “almost” because they were `selective’ in those whom they murdered. They murdered almost exclusively Sinhalese – hardly any Tamils, Muslims, or Burghers; and no Indians although they plastered the country with posters which read “Indian Forces Get Out” and also murdered small Sinhalese traders who sold Indian goods !!!.
Thus, while exhorting the IPKF to get out, they murdered Sinhalese bus drivers, conductors, Grama Niladaris, small shop keepers etc. to secure compliance but didn’t harm even a hair on the head of a single member of the IPKF !!! It was perhaps to ensure that they murdered only selected Sinhalese that they didn’t explode bombs in buses, trains and crowded city centres as the LTTE does. India neither armed the JVP, trained them nor `advised’ our Government that there was no “military solution” to the conflict with the JVP but only a “political solution”.
On the contrary, they assisted our Government to crush them militarily – whether they gave such assistance in 1987-90 I know not, but they certainly did so in 1971.
The result was that the Governments of the day were able to crush JVP terrorism [which was fast bringing the country to a standstill] by purely military means [including `extra judicial executions’ – (i.e. murders); abductions – (i.e disappearances) etc.] which, in turn compelled the JVP to enter the democratic mainstream. It would be unbelievably stupid to even imagine that the JVP would have entered the democratic mainstream if they were not so crushed.
Evidently India objects to the LTTE being brought into the democratic mainstream by the only means by which it could be done.
The only conceivable reason for the Indian Government adopting one attitude to JVP terrorism on the one hand and a different attitude to LTTE terrorism on the other, is clearly the fact that while there are millions of Tamil voters in India, there are no Sinhalese voters or only a handful. Thus, they are now interfering in our internal affairs purely to win the votes of the Tamils in India. Had the situation been different and there were millions of Sinhalese voters instead of Tamil voters and only a handful of Tamil voters in India , there could be no doubt whatever that India would not have trained and armed the LTTE and other separatist terrorists but that it would, on the contrary, have given our Government all the assistance, military and otherwise that it required to crush the LTTE militarily.
Indeed the conflict with the LTTE would have ended in 1987, 21 years ago but for Indian interference. That was when India overtly prevented the LTTE from being wiped out in “Operation Liberation” launched under the command of the late Generals Denzil Kobbekaduwa and Vijaya Wimalaratne. This is expressly admitted by the then Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka J N Dixit in his book “Assignment Colombo”.
Thus, had India behaved in a civilized fashion with even a modicum of decency and refrained from aiding and abetting underworld gangs of Sri Lanka such as the LTTE and other separatist thugs of the time, by training and arming them to murder Sri Lankans n Sri Lankan soil, and also refrained from thereafter taking affirmative action in violation of our sovereignty to prevent our own forces from destroying the LTTE 21 years ago, a colossal number of lives and limbs of our citizens would have been saved; there would now have been no disappearances, child recruitment, mass scale destruction of property and expenditure of colossal sums on arms and ammunition which could have been used for development.
India, therefore stands guilty of having caused countless deaths and mutilations of our citizens, the mass scale destruction of our property, retarding our development and bringing us to the brink of bankruptcy – all because their political leaders wanted to gain some votes to stay in or gain political power !! An election in India is now fast approaching and this high powered delegation has come to `advise’ us once again !!!
Having, therefore, been the virtual cause of the continuing terrorist conflict, India has no right to give us their pontifical and equally ridiculous advice about how to end it. It is rather for the Government of India, if it has even an infinitesimal trace of a conscience to say, “mea culpa”, and give us all the assistance, both military and otherwise, that we require to end the problem they nurtured, nourished and fostered, so as to make amends, however small, for all the death and destruction they have caused to our citizens and our country while pretending to be a conscientious “big brother”.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
___________________
by S. L. Gunasekara
(June 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is reported that a high powered delegation of the Indian Government had visited Sri Lanka and had the temerity to give our Government some pontifical and unsolicited advice that there is no military solution to the on-going conflict and that the Goverment should submit a viable devolution package “within a united Sri Lanka” to resolve the “ethnic crisis”.
What, if any, these insolent Indians conceived as being the `devolution package’ which would cause the LTTE to surrender their arms and enter the democratic process they naturally failed to mention for good reason – for no such devolution package exists. Similarly, they did not expand on what they meant by the “ethnic crisis” for the identical reason – for none exists.
It is now a notorious fact which admits of no doubt that our supposedly good neighbour India, provided a `safe haven’ for, and trained and armed the LTTE as well as other separatist gangs that were operating on our soil. It is self-evident that India did not then advise those bloodthirsty criminals whom they armed and trained that `there is no military solution to the conflict’ as they now have the audacity to `advise’ our Government.
When India armed and trained those criminals, they intentionally trained and armed them to murder members of our armed forces and police, Tamils who were loyal to the Government or did not lick the boots of those criminals [as the so called TNA does] as well as Sinhalese and Muslim civilians for the `crime’ of being Sinhalese and Muslims.
India is, therefore, undeniably an accessory and/or co-conspirator with those criminals in the commission of high treason against little Sri Lanka; as well as in causing the tens of thousands of violent deaths, disfigurements and losses of limbs suffered by our citizens of all races and religions as a result of separatist terrorism.
It is pertinent, in this regard to hark back to the terrorism of the JVP of 1971 and 1987 to 1990. They were almost as bloodthirsty, sadistic and ruthless in their terrorism as the LTTE. I say “almost” because they were `selective’ in those whom they murdered. They murdered almost exclusively Sinhalese – hardly any Tamils, Muslims, or Burghers; and no Indians although they plastered the country with posters which read “Indian Forces Get Out” and also murdered small Sinhalese traders who sold Indian goods !!!.
Thus, while exhorting the IPKF to get out, they murdered Sinhalese bus drivers, conductors, Grama Niladaris, small shop keepers etc. to secure compliance but didn’t harm even a hair on the head of a single member of the IPKF !!! It was perhaps to ensure that they murdered only selected Sinhalese that they didn’t explode bombs in buses, trains and crowded city centres as the LTTE does. India neither armed the JVP, trained them nor `advised’ our Government that there was no “military solution” to the conflict with the JVP but only a “political solution”.
On the contrary, they assisted our Government to crush them militarily – whether they gave such assistance in 1987-90 I know not, but they certainly did so in 1971.
The result was that the Governments of the day were able to crush JVP terrorism [which was fast bringing the country to a standstill] by purely military means [including `extra judicial executions’ – (i.e. murders); abductions – (i.e disappearances) etc.] which, in turn compelled the JVP to enter the democratic mainstream. It would be unbelievably stupid to even imagine that the JVP would have entered the democratic mainstream if they were not so crushed.
Evidently India objects to the LTTE being brought into the democratic mainstream by the only means by which it could be done.
The only conceivable reason for the Indian Government adopting one attitude to JVP terrorism on the one hand and a different attitude to LTTE terrorism on the other, is clearly the fact that while there are millions of Tamil voters in India, there are no Sinhalese voters or only a handful. Thus, they are now interfering in our internal affairs purely to win the votes of the Tamils in India. Had the situation been different and there were millions of Sinhalese voters instead of Tamil voters and only a handful of Tamil voters in India , there could be no doubt whatever that India would not have trained and armed the LTTE and other separatist terrorists but that it would, on the contrary, have given our Government all the assistance, military and otherwise that it required to crush the LTTE militarily.
Indeed the conflict with the LTTE would have ended in 1987, 21 years ago but for Indian interference. That was when India overtly prevented the LTTE from being wiped out in “Operation Liberation” launched under the command of the late Generals Denzil Kobbekaduwa and Vijaya Wimalaratne. This is expressly admitted by the then Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka J N Dixit in his book “Assignment Colombo”.
Thus, had India behaved in a civilized fashion with even a modicum of decency and refrained from aiding and abetting underworld gangs of Sri Lanka such as the LTTE and other separatist thugs of the time, by training and arming them to murder Sri Lankans n Sri Lankan soil, and also refrained from thereafter taking affirmative action in violation of our sovereignty to prevent our own forces from destroying the LTTE 21 years ago, a colossal number of lives and limbs of our citizens would have been saved; there would now have been no disappearances, child recruitment, mass scale destruction of property and expenditure of colossal sums on arms and ammunition which could have been used for development.
India, therefore stands guilty of having caused countless deaths and mutilations of our citizens, the mass scale destruction of our property, retarding our development and bringing us to the brink of bankruptcy – all because their political leaders wanted to gain some votes to stay in or gain political power !! An election in India is now fast approaching and this high powered delegation has come to `advise’ us once again !!!
Having, therefore, been the virtual cause of the continuing terrorist conflict, India has no right to give us their pontifical and equally ridiculous advice about how to end it. It is rather for the Government of India, if it has even an infinitesimal trace of a conscience to say, “mea culpa”, and give us all the assistance, both military and otherwise, that we require to end the problem they nurtured, nourished and fostered, so as to make amends, however small, for all the death and destruction they have caused to our citizens and our country while pretending to be a conscientious “big brother”.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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