| by Pearl Thevanayagam
(May 31, 2014, Bradford UK, Sri Lanka Guardian) UK media is outraged that the government would only publish the details of the gist of talks between Blair and Bush before Iraq invasion and not transcripts and full notes of conversations although Chilcot inquiry is in possession of these.
David Cameron’s government is going along with this charade since if the invasion of Iraq was proven to be a grave injustice UK could be hauled up for war crimes.
It is not as though UK lies but it keeps mum on sensitive information. The silence on Iraq invasion at the behest of US amounts to not just lying but gross violation of the rights of Iraqi people who are still reeling from the mayhem caused by two super-powers who took it upon themselves the mantle as defenders of human rights. Whichever government is in power British stiff upper-lip believes what Britain does in the name of national security should be kept private and should not come out in the open.Its strategy worked when it was the colonial power but not any longer. Nations, particularly third world nations, are not taking its arrogance lying down.
Which brings us closer home to the actions of the government on resurrecting the LTTE to retain its hold on the North and East and justify its militarising these zones. Jesus, a refugee, who was crucified on the cross and left to die in front of witnesses, resurrected himself on the third day and even his disciples showed disbelief. LTTE leader Pirabkaran was killed along with his many cadres and tens of thousands of civilians by government security forces and their bodies exhibited to prove their annihilation and thus an end to the rebel outfit.
But unlike Jesus, Pirabakaran is not coming back in life form nor are those who perished in Mullivaikkal.
Unearthing buried cache of LTTE weapons, arresting innocent youth who may or may not have links with the remnants of the LTTE is akin to US style of maintaining Al Quaeda is lurking round the corner despite the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
US needs the Bin Ladens and Saddam Husseins to justify its invasions into countries which have oil supplies and minerals to protect its own economic interests and to hell with the rights of those citizens. Wherever US set foot in the name of peace it left destruction and human miseries. Its actions are reverberating in that those affected by the wars instigated by the US are converging on US and European shores seeking asylum.
There is no doubt the LTTE left behind its arms and ammunition plundered from the military but just because they were found in private properties does not prove the occupants are resurrecting the LTTE.
Leaders need fresh impetus to sustain their power. The propaganda machinery of the government is aided and abetted by scare-mongers such as sycophant Tamil websites, the editors of which are handsomely rewarded who plug in fabricated details and who have an axe to grind lend flimsy evidence the LTTE are re-grouping. It is ironic these website editors are spongers on western governments while bartering their own kith and kin to the Sri Lankan government to feed their debauchery and idle lifestyle.
Their revelations are going viral with India and Malaysia while the hard-core LTTE arms procurer Kumar Pathmanathan aka KP is kept in relative luxury and comfort by the government. The three hapless Sri Lankan Tamils would certainly have claimed they were either targeted by the government as LTTE activists or pursued by the now defunct LTTE for defecting.
The recent upsurge in cordon and search operations in the North East terrorising civilians, the continuous presence of the armed forces, the appointment of military hierarchy as governors and emissaries, procuring lands of Tamils and fortifying military cantonments proves the government is bent on embarking on a genocidal mission.
Victory parades are celebrated with the exhibition of war machinery for all and sundry to see and it is quite contradictory to the government’s declaration the war is over. It is also flouting war paraphernalia in Mullivaikkal to promote war tourism not unlike Auschwitz camp where Jews were tortured and gassed by Hitler’s Nazis which is now attracting tourists.
Propagandising LTTE resurgence could become a reality if the government carries on its vile campaign.
(The writer has been a journalist for 25 years and worked in national newspapers as sub-editor, news reporter and news editor. She was Colombo Correspondent for Times of India and has contributed to Wall Street Journal where she was on work experience from The Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley, California. Currently residing in UK she is also co-founder of EJN (Exiled Journalists Network) UK in 2005 the membership of which is 200 from 40 countries. She can be reached at pearltheva@hotmail.com)
 UK media is outraged that the government would only publis...){kind=link}