The devils with the Scriptures!

By I. P. C. Mendis

(June 25, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Westminster style of government and the democratic ideals it represented, the system of dispensation of justice, the ‘audi alteram partem’ rule, fair trials, humanitarian aspects and consolidation of high standards, are all ingredients for the cake of five-star democracy which the West, particularly the Americans and the British, baked for others to taste.

They were the self-appointed watch dogs in this respect for the rest of the world. Alas, all this degenerated into a scenario where the original proponents gradually transformed themselves into gangsters with scant regard to the ideals they stood for but retained for themselves and their powerful allies, the authority to twist the arm of other nations to fall in line. The decades following the post World War II saw all the world being a stage as per Shakespearean thought, for powerful gangsters to be players on the principle of survival of the fittest. Their humanitarian concerns became secondary in Hiroshima and Nagasaki through decisions made on the basis of the end justifying the means.

The American, the British and the French have not taken kindly to the loss of their grip on their former colonies, which they exploited to the fullest and thought they did the exploited a great favour. It is good for them to develop their nuclear arsenal but a grave crime if others even attempt it either for defence or peaceful purposes. They are very careful in not starting any war on their soil but will go all out to have it out elsewhere with wanton destruction. Inter alia, Vietnam, Falkland Islands, Afghanistan and Iraq come to mind.

The Lucifers

The veritable exploiters who masqueraded as angels and did not hide their self-acclaimed generosity towards the ‘natives’, did see the intrinsic value of a policy of divide and rule, cultivating more often than not minorities, most of whom were ever-willing to do their bidding and receive favours, aping their customs and conduct, more than ready to repay the masters even with their souls. And so does history record the great betrayals in Sri Lanka which tend to continue even today in various forms. The colonial powers who have ruled us for centuries in the past, know it too well and readily exploit the trait to the maximum in much the same way as they did in exploiting the wealth of this country. We are not in want of ‘cry-babies’ who run to them with tales of woe, somehow to get them involved in the internal affairs of the country. Yes indeed, they were compelled by circumstance to grant independence, but if anyone forgets or tends to ignore the fact they have not severed all connections and interests, he or she is in cuckoo land! Yet, there are a few colonially indoctrinated, servile types who still entertain dreams of the British being our best ally and can be depended on to back us or save us in any predicament.

. One cannot ignore the attempts of these Lucifers, together with the aid-group to compel us to acknowledge the invincibility of the LTTE, its sole representative status (acquired at the point of the gun) and to concede territory and power to this terrorist group masquerading as the saviour of not only Tamils but all the Tamil-speaking people (to wit the Muslims), whom they chased out of Jaffna in the most ruthless manner in their policy of ethnic cleansing.

The territorial claim had been sanctified through the CFA entered into by Ranil W and extra territorial gains obtained through muscle and condonation by the Ranil government through sheer fear and desire for retention of power at any cost. The international community had perforce to start at the point of the CFA, a governmental document, which, of course, had the dubious reputation of being signed by the Prime Minister without the knowledge of the Executive President who was endowed by the constitution to declare war or peace.

Parliament too was none the wiser. The intelligentsia among the Tamil community had been eliminated and so were others who refused to toe the line hanged on lamp posts. The South was similarly terrorized with a spate of killings and suicide attacks while the Indians were thoroughly humiliated with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on their own soil. These humanitarian angels have completely forgotten the Muslims still languishing in refugee camps. They too have to be considered for immediate re-settlement along with IDPs in Mullaitivu as should the Sinhalese who were displaced by the LTTE.

War crimes

The angels-turned Lucifers were at their satanic best when they did an about-turn on the democratic principles they themselves had formulated centuries ago for organized conduct. Their bona fides were suspect ab initio when they carved Israel out of Palestine territory and later permitted it to be the gangster of the region, even violating resolutions passed by the august body (the UN) and insulated against any punitive action by the USA by the exercise of its veto. If present day governments and politicians engage the underworld to do their bidding, the USA has its own in Israel to carry out its dirty work by proxy. Criticism from any quarter is taboo as we experienced recently when it is reported to have complained against Ambassador Dayan Jayatille who nearly had to pack his bags.

Its human rights record can be described as atrocious, but yet had the gumption to demand a probe into the Sri Lanka scene at the recent WHO assembly. They are so thick-skinned as not to observe the ridiculous aspect of it, not to speak of the comic side. Here, if not anything else, is a state which trained both the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE at the same time and sold Kfirs to us – certainly not as ornaments! Germany too, as a powerful member of the EU, has conveniently forgotten the ‘holocaust’ and is shamelessly pontificating to us on human rights. The double-dealing of Norway stinks to high heaven. And so it was that Lucifers in the USA and Britain found Saddam Hussain of Iraq much too inconvenient and decided on a ploy to eliminate him. WMD was the magic word which George W. Bush and Tony Blair used to decimate that sovereign country.

WMD are yet to be found! These fallen angels in the cloak of Daniels in judgment, trapped Saddam Hussein, produced him before a kangaroo court and hanged him – yet not before he was humiliated in video footage in ugly display of the process of identification etc. He is believed to have been hanged twice over as he did not die at the first time of asking. A ‘staged’ court does not confer sanctity of justice to a victim who was relentlessly pursued and pilloried unjustifiably. Apart from the procedure, the verdict itself was questionable, his lawyers murdered. If these were not war crimes, what could they be? They are still displacing and murdering civilians in Afghanistan in the quest for Osama Bin Laden and the desire to tame the Taliban. An attempt at containing or suppressing an insurgency within a country cannot be interpreted as "War".

Most countries have blacklisted the LTTE as a terrorist organization and therefore, an illegal outfit. How can the normal conventions apply in any case? An illegal outfit is not entitled to claim privileges under legal provisions and internal conflicts cannot be classified as ‘war’. The concept is definitely misplaced in the context of the recent humanitarian exercise in evacuating the people held hostage or as human shields to protect the terrorists themselves. There were no bombings or shell fire when civilians were thought to be in danger. If there were, the end would have been much earlier. It was precisely because of the human concerns that it was protracted, resulting in more casualties among the forces. It is a dangerous move by interested Western interests as any rebel or terrorist group will hold this as a precedent and use innocent people as human shields, which could be quite a successful way of winning their demands. Could this humanitarian exercise in Sri Lanka be even remotely compared with the displacement of millions in the Swat Valley which these Lucifers have chosen to ensure through Pakistan by compulsion. Are they being looked after half as well compared to the IDPs in Mullaitivu? What seems to be the justification in attempting to save Prabhakaran and his cronies when they observed stoic silence in the cold-blooded murder of 700 policemen who surrendered to the LTTE, believing the assurances given by it and that too reportedly after drawing their blood?

NGOs/INGOs

The decimation of the LTTE, inter alia, brought little or no evidence of the humanitarian work undertaken by NGOs and INGOS. The inputs have largely gone into the hands of the LTTE to build bunkers, construct luxury buildings, for their war effort and their own comfort – not to alleviate the suffering of the Tamil people. Yet, these cowards did not raise a whimper. This was evident from the bags of rice, dhal and other grain that had been used replacing sand bags. A similar situation was prevalent in regard to the annual funds voted for the relevant district administrations where Government Agents had no alternative but to toe the line. In effect the rest of the country was subsidizing those in the uncleared areas from where there was no revenue being collected for decades. If at all, the LTTE had benfited with food and funds and taxes they arbitrarily imposed on their victims. Omanthai barrier collections were openly taken. Human rights activities were strangely silent. On the contrary, some employees of NGOs and INGOs had been detected being engaged in clandestine operations for the LTTE.

The situation was accepted by these organizations as something which the doctor ordered and many of them twisted and distorted the picture favouring the LTTE and, of course, ensuring their continued presence and monetary benefits. Most of the international community, despite the incessant pounding of foreign territory in the quest for Bin Laden and Al Queda, thought the LTTE was invincible, though they discounted the contribution made by the LTTE to other terrorist organizations through their innovations, such as the suicide jacket.

Little wonder that the international community became soft on the LTTE considering what had been conceded through the CFA, the military being confined virtually to barracks and public servants being compelled to virtually crawl on their bellies, (sometimes carrying hospitality goodies) till they became white! The West need to accept the decimation of the LTTE as a bonus for them in the fight against Al Queda and other terrorist outfits as the inputs from the LTTE will no longer be available for these outfits. Similarly, India should be thankful that a major threat to it has been removed and at the same time repent that it had originally contributed in no small measure to a three-decade woe in Sri Lanka. Its conscience should prick to make amends now in whatever way it could to compensate in the development of Sri Lanka.

Last minute bid

The "save Prabhakaran" moves and pressures are a manifestation of the double standards of the West. The banning of the LTTE as a terrorist organization was limited to sweet declarations while LTTE supporters were free to function and demonstrate at will in their countries. The government does not accept that the LTTE made a bid for surrender. Even so, it was definitely too late considering the ultimatums issued earlier by government. Nevertheless, the LTTE is not an outfit that could be trusted. They had earlier sent a so-called pregnant woman to join the queue of the IDPs who blasted herself resulting in many casualties. So did a child who came running with the IDPs and blasted herself. Even if anyone did come with a white flag as speculated, there was nothing to prevent a calamitous situation notwithstanding the white flag. If the curse of terrorism was to be eradicated, the battle cannot be fought according to Queensbury Rules. Sri Lanka has been decent enough to avoid the unruly conduct of the West as recorded in history as well as those on display elsewhere even today.

Ban ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General himself needs to recognise the parameters within which he should work and not run with the hare and hunt with the hound. He came on invitation to see the conditions in IDP locations and did not see any adverse conditions as reported in pro-LTTE media. He need not have camouflaged his sincere emotions with extraneous references to the removal of barriers, endorsing the sentiments of Ranil W, who is obsessed with a political agenda to embarrass the government at every stage at the cost of national consciousness. Barriers is a matter directly related to the security of the state and necessarily an internal one.

-Sri Lanka Guardian