R.Sampanthan’s Lament

by S. L. Gunasekara

(August 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka guardian) The leader of the so “Tamil National Alliance”, R Sampanthan is reported as having bemoaned in Parliament, the plight of the Tamil People particularly in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, he said that:-

“The war is prosecuted as if it is being waged against an alien enemy in total violation of International Human Rights Laws and International Humanitarian Laws” and later sought, albeit obliquely, to justify the terrorism of the LTTE by saying that:-“The LTTE came into being on account of the lapses of the Sri Lankan State”.

What R Sampanthan calls the “war” is, no doubt, the military operations being launched by our Armed Forces with unprecedented success to redeem from the terrorists of the LTTE, the territory of Sri Lanka over which they have usurped control through force of arms, and to liberate all unfortunate citizens living in those areas from the thrall of the LTTE.

R. Sampanthan’s lament that the “war” is being “prosecuted as if it is being waged against an alien enemy” needs comment.

Where a set of people, usurp control over a part of the territory of a sovereign state, the result is identical whether that group of people are aliens or citizens, namely, that the State is `robbed’ of a part of its territory and is hence possessed of the undoubted right to evict the usurper and reclaim its territory using all the force it can muster – unless of course the usurper voluntarily and peacefully returns that territory to the lawful control of the State and surrenders all arms.

The usurper, which in this case happens to be a gang of citizens engaging in murder and destruction called the LTTE, has neither returned the territory over which they have usurped control nor surrendered the arms etc. leaving the State with no option but to forcibly reclaim such territory and disarm the LTTE – for it is only then that peace and the rule of law can be restored to our tortured land.

Is R .Sampanthan opposed to the achievement of these goals ? Does he believe that the LTTE should be permitted to continue to exercise usurped power over a portion of our territory? Does R Sampanthan believe that the LTTE should be permitted to continue in the illegal possession of arms, and to murder those whom they do not like, such as R Sampanthan’s erstwhile leader Amirthalingam and his erstwhile colleagues Thangathurai, Tiruchelvam, Yogeswaran, Thambimuttu, the heroine Sarojini Yogeswaran, Yogashangaree, Dharmalingam, Alalasunderam etc. etc.? If he does not think so, how does he think that peace and the rule of law should be restored, given the indisputable fact that the LTTE has, by their outrageous conduct, scuttled all purported `peace talks’ and made manifest the fact that they will settle for nothing short of a separate state where the Tamils will have no right of self determination since the LTTE has already proclaimed themselves to be the sole representatives of the Tamil people? Surely it behoves R Sampanthan, in the interests of `transparency’, to enlighten the people about his views/beliefs in respect of these matters.

The fact that the terrorists of the LTTE are citizens of Sri Lanka only makes their treasonous conduct all the more abhorrent, and hence deserving of a more forceful response than if they had been aliens, just as much as the conduct of a son robbing his father of his property and murdering his mother and siblings is by far a more abhorrent crime than the commission of such robbery and murders by an outsider. R Sampanthan seems oblivious to these facts.

R Sampanthan’s references to “International Human Rights Laws” and “International Humanitarian Laws” are nonsensical. Such laws do not preclude a country from using all the force at its command to reclaim its territory from the thrall of a usurper whether that usurper be a group of citizens or foreigners. Indeed he completely ignores the fact that the Republic of Sri Lanka has at all times, whether the Government was constituted by the greens or the blues fought the most humane “war” ever fought by any State. He cannot be unaware of the fact that our Governments have at all times supplied even those parts of the country over which the LTTE had usurped control with food, medicines etc., paid the salaries of public servants stationed in those areas [who obeyed the orders of the LTTE and not of the Government], maintained hospitals and all services therein, leaving the LTTE free to utilize all their resources for the grisly purposes of murdering our troops in particular, Sinhalese and Muslims because they were Sinhalese and Muslims and Tamils whom they did not like. Our Governments did so and continue to do so while knowing that much of such food, medicines and medical services paid for out of public funds were used and will continue to be used to nourish, sustain and succour terrorists of the LTTE to enable them to continue to murder our troops and loyal citizens. Has any other country, at any time fought so humane a “war”?

R Sampanthan’s sudden `devotion’ to International Human Rights Laws and International Humanitarian Laws” is indeed remarkable. Such concern on his part was not to be seen when the LTTE went on a spree of murdering loyal Tamil citizens such as the late `PLOTE’ Mohan, who supported the Government, when they murdered bus-loads of unarmed troops proceeding on leave and returning from leave , when they exploded powerful bombs in several crowded city centres, trains and buses in and around Colombo between 1986 and 2008, when they murdered 140 Muslim civilians at prayer in the Meera Jumma and Husseiniya Mosques at Kattankudy on 3.8.90, 127 at Eravur on 10.8.90, 56 at Alinchipotana on 29.4.92 and 171 at Palliyagodella and Ahamadpura on 15.10.92 or when they attempted to blow up and sink the ship Jetliner with over 700 unarmed troops aboard. I have mentioned, in particular, a few out of a large number of mass murders of Muslim civilians but not of Sinhalese because of the `touching’ purported `concern’ expressed by R Sampanthan for the plight of the “Tamil Speaking People” who include Muslims.

There can be no doubt that many Tamils in the North and East have undergone and are undergoing indescribable suffering. I myself have adverted to this undeniable fact in one of my recent articles published in the Daily Mirror. However, their plight is attributable directly to the fact of the LTTE having usurped control of a part of our country. If the LTTE surrenders arms and returns that territory peacefully, that suffering would end. R Sampanthan would doubtless be aware that there was no shelling, bombing etc. in the North or East until the LTTE and other terrorist groups [now in the democratic process] began their nonsensical treasonous exercise If, therefore, R Sampanthan was genuinely concerned about the plight of those Tamils, he could not have failed to make a public appeal to the LTTE to surrender arms and return that territory to the lawful Government. Obviously R Sampanthan has not done so. Why ?

The contention, obliquely advanced by R Sampanthan that the LTTE is fighting for the rights of the Tamils is patently ridiculous – for if such was the case why have they murdered so many Tamils and Muslims?

Far from fighting for the Tamils, the LTTE has been and continues to be the biggest `curse’ with which the Tamil people of this country have ever had to contend with at any time. Indeed by using young girls and women of child bearing age and other girls who have not even reached puberty as `Cannon Fodder’, the LTTE is endangering the continued existence of the Tamil race in Sri Lanka. Is this not genocide?

R Sampanthan, in his highly emotional and equally illogical/irrational lamentations is oblivious to these indisputable facts. However, it needs to be said that these leaders of so-called political parties which are nothing short of groups of supporters of the LTTE, have no alternative but to be oblivious to them – because they represent not the Tamil people but the LTTE to whom they owe their existence, and they know that when the puppeteer dies, the puppets too cease to have life.
- Sri Lanka Guardian