From Times of India:
Why the silence? In another interview Mangala Samaraveera says, ‘‘A free media is virtually non-existent in Sri Lanka today.’’
Samaraveera goes on to talk about death squads and ‘white van abductions’, which have made society ‘‘freeze with fear’’. Voices of dissent, including those of several journalists, have been abducted and assassinated. The International Federation of Journalists accuses the government of Sri Lanka of using a combination of anti-terrorism laws, disappearances and assassinations to silence journalists.
There are disturbing but unconfirmed reports that the Indian government is lending material and logistical support to the Sri Lankan government in these crimes against humanity. If this is true, it is outrageous. What of the governments of other countries? Pakistan? China? What are they doing to help, or harm the situation?
More than the article itself I found the comments section very interesting. You can see a perfect schism between the opinions of Tamils (deduced from names) who have an idea of the history of the conflict and people from the rest of India who just don't have a clue but readily lump each and every Tamil with LTTE. What is happening in SL is tragic. Between the Tamil politicians who use this tragedy for their political gain and the rest of India which does not know what is happening nor wants to know what is happening, there is not much hope for Tamil civilians in SL.
10 comments:
Unfortunately for Arundhati Roy, as for many other pseudo secular pseudo intellectuals in the country, the vilification will not and should not stop until she starts to oppose the sharia law for muslims, the terrorist attacks in the country, the delay in afzal guru's hanging and the killing of thousands of kashmiri pundits who still live on the outskirts of Delhi like refugess in their own country. unfortunately in India, plulralism and secularism only mean patronizing the minorities instead of standing for justice.
An interesting blog on Arundhati Roy: http://greatbong.net/2008/12/16/the-algebra-of-infinite-fundamentalism/
As for the SL tamils, I knwo a little about their plight, and their stand does have merit. Unfortunately, the means they chose to express it involves killing of innocents and as long as that happens, they will get little sympathy for a majority of the people of India, if at all.
Srini,
Without letting this being a debate about Arundathi, i would like to focus on the situation in SL.
I find it interesting to see all Tamils yet again being lumped with LTTE. Thats what you are saying by the phrase "the means they chose to express". What i am talking about is the innocent civilians who are being brutalized and killed just for being Tamil. That is why it has such an emotional chord with people in Tamil Nadu.
It was a situation where India could have played a leadership role to resolve the situation. Instead, it let LTTE to fill that position and even propped it once upon a time. Later it sent IPKF to fight the forces it propped up only in the earlier decade. Our response to the whole issue has been half-hearted and confused which only adds to the tragedy.
I believe that SL war is nothing special and if there are independent and brave journalists willing to risk their lives to bring the truths of the war out, the SL government should honor them and accommodate them. Now we have 2 versions of stuff happening - SL govt side and LTTE side both glorifying their side and accusing the other.
Also I second karthik in emphasizing that the general SL tamil populace and LTTE are different and it is the latter who are involved in violence.
The LTTE will shortly be defeated but what is the fate of the surviving tamils? How would the situation be if a Gandhi had evolved from the SL tamils and fought for equal rights in a non-violent manner? Perhaps the involvement of India in the issue indicates the value of SL as a strategic partner - i.e., it doesn't have much to offer?
I cannot agree with you more on this. I have seen on innumerable occasions where tamils in general are seen as LTTE supporters by people outside Tamil Nadu. It is a pity that people choose to post their comments in many websites without any knowledge of the history behind this SL war in the first place and why LTTE was formed.
As Arvind mentions above both SL govt and LTTE will glorify their causes but at what cost. Many many innocent Tamil civilians are getting killed on a daily basis for no mistake of theirs and I dont think this will stop even after the LTTE is completely vanquished. In the quest for the single man, Prabhakaran how many more lives is the SL govt going to take.
When will the Indian govt step in to stop this genocide before Rajapakse becomes the next Hitler!!!
Where does the LTTE get its support from? Who fills up the cadres? Who joins their ranks and fights against the establishment? Who sympathizes with them and protects them given a chance?
As with India's role, it should ideally have no role. Ignoring the past, from now on, India should let SriLanka deal with its own problems. Its their domestic problem and they are rooting out militants who go bombing everything. It's as simple as that.
You cannot expect every country, no matter how tiny, to be like India and let terrorism flourish. As a matter of fact, India should follow SL's footstepts and eradicate ULFA, Islamic terrorism and such.
The SL governemnt appears to be doing what it can to minimize innocent tamil loss. The SL Tamils and LTTE should choose anohter way to fight for their rights.
I wonder why TN tamils concern themselves so much about a neighboring country's problems. I know the roots of SL Tamils and TN tamils are the same, but how is this any different from being worried about hindu genocide in Pakistan or Bangladesh? If it isn't, why isn't anyone worried about that?
Genocide anywhere is wrong and must be stopped. It is not OK to turn a blind eye just because my neighbor rapes, murders and does all sorts of crime within his home.
Hitler, Stalin, Pinochet, Polpot etc., by the above logic aren't bad after all.
Well then let's see TN tamil's raise their concerns and immolate themselves about human rights abuse in Saudi Arabia, hindu genocide in Pakistan, Banglaesh and Southeast Asia.
Also, there is no genocide happening in SL so there is no question of turning a blind eye.
The SL government is making the world believe that it is trying its best to protect innocent tamil lives and treating other incidents as collateral damage.
As long as there is no proof against that, no country has the right to interfere.
"there is no genocide happening in SL " :-)
I don't know how you can make such a statement. Also, you seem to forget that a genocide closer home hits you harder. More so, when there are common roots and people are killed for being what they are. That includes the killing of innocent Sinhalese by LTTE. Just because a State does it, it CANNOT be right. Also, i don't accept the logic that i have to be Perfect to do something good. Thats what you are trying to say that if i don't protest against all genocides and crimes, i cannot protest against any.
Btw, playing a leading role (something Clinton tried with Arafat and Ehud Barak) is what i want to see from India, not some kinda IPKF style military role.
Some 1 mentioned that what if a Gandhi had emerged from SL Tamils. The violent protests by LTTE and other splinter groups began only from 83. for 30 years before that pacifist Gandhian ways were employed only to see women getting raped and young men and women getting abducted. It is rather easy to comment on someone who is affected and shouting and ask him to 'calm down'. We have been insulated against any major atrocities (like the ones that happen in North India on minorities and dalits) by the so called 'fanatical' dravidian parties for all these years that we find it odd that our brothers in a nearby island (for some one in Rameswaram Srilanka is closer than Chennai) should be suffering. The history of the struggle is a long one and SL and Indian govts are taking a short cut to solve by eliminating a recent entity which was till 2007 an entity to negotiate with!! What have the much maligned LTTE done since the talks broke down? Have they bombed Gaza? Have they caused the mayhem in Mumbai? Have they killed and raped innocent civilians in southern srilanka? For their convenience rebels have been demoted as terrorists and using the excuse our blood relations are being killed, starved and assaulted everyday in SL. Even agreeing to the fact that SL is a different country, atleast we have the right to say dont kill innocent tamils in the process of a fight with LTTE. By keeping quiet this election loving country has proved once again that it is a brothel of politicians and not a socialist sovereign republic as it claims and definitely not even an 'aspiring' superpower. That title fits more aptly with China. India has no locus standi as a nation with conscience. All it can proclaim right now is that it is the first among footlickers of USA.
I am a self respectless Thamizhan with Indian Passport helping American MNCs make more money out of cheap labor in China, Bangladesh and India.If we cant show our self respect in blogs we rather not have any opinions.
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