Its not that no one actually realized that the rains would be affecting these IDP’s. In fact there had been a Technical Working Group (TWG) contingency plan held on the 22nd of July 2009 in Vavuniya in relation to formulating a contingency plan for winds and rains affecting IDP shelters. The TWG “recognized that there were a very limited range of feasible options to temporarily relocate IDP’s inside and outside the existing camps in case of large scale damage to tents, shelters or flooding, therefore strengthening existing temporary shelters and the completion of drains is an absolute necessity”. This was in July 22nd 2009, now it is August 18th 2009 and the IDP camps have been affected by flooding.

It’s actually a surprise that the government have not denied the allegations that the camps have been affected by flooding this time. Either the Government is slipping in the propaganda war or the large collection of pictures available online and in selected ‘none centralized’ media showing the extent of flooding in IDP camps cannot be denied. Nevertheless, the Government did the second best thing to a denial; it blamed the United Nation’s for not building adequate sewage.
The United Nations in turn, blamed the Government of Sri Lanka for not attending to the drainage work.

It was then turned into a media fiasco in which both sides played the blame game.

This is what is so disappointing. While the Tamil people living in camps underwent immense hardships during the war, after the war the Government of Sri Lanka and UN Agencies had a opportunity to reach out to these people by treating them like proper citizens of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the Government and Aid Agencies are too busy pointing fingers at each other without actually doing something about it. The GOSL and Aid Agencies could:

1. Move IDP’s into areas and structures which would not be affected by flooding (such as schools or other government buildings).
2. Initiate an accelerated program to improve drainage and sewage systems in the camps.
3. Release IDP’s who have been security screened and whose areas are free of mine’s’ and build better shelters for the remaining IDP’s.

The Government should also understand that the people of the South have also been affected by floods, leaving a very slim chance that the people of the South would start understand the sufferings of the people of the North.

While the Government and Aid Agencies ponder all this, please bear in mind that the IDP’s are swimming in shit.

“It was them, they did it” is what this youth seems to be saying about the Angulana police
[Thank you Kithsiri De Mel]

On the 12th of August 2009 police officers from the Lunawa Police Station took 2 youths into custody. On the 13th of August 2009 the bodies of Dinesh Tharanga and Dhanushka Aponsu were found on a beach in Ratmalana and under a bridge in Lunawa. The people of Angulana reacted by stoning the police station and attacking police officers attached to the Angulana Police Post. A few hours later the OIC of the Lunawa Police station was transferred out of that police station under a hail of stones, these stones of public justice did what the rule of law could not do, they reflected the anger of ordinary people towards Sri Lanka’s distorted and politicized system of justice. These are the events that transpired in the Angulana area in the last few days, from the 12th to the 13th of August 2009. We should pay attention to the deeper ramifications of the Angulana police killing.

The first thing we have to bear in mind is that a large number of Angulana residents live below the official Sri Lankan poverty line. A large number of them are unemployed. Hence, Angulana is plagued with a high rate of crime including drug dealing and underworld activities. Angulana was a social powder keg waiting to explode and a small spark was all that it needed to explode. This situation is visible through in urban and sub urban areas where large concentrations of economically ‘poorer’ Sri Lankan citizens reside. With the Cost of Living rising and the Sri Lankan economy not showing a sharp rise, it seems this will continue. While many citizens complain about the high crime rate in these areas and they actively support extra judicial killings by police officers, they must also understand that the reason that crime is so high in these areas is because people do not have money and no social mobility in these areas. They see no hope and no future, so they turn to a life of crime in order to either survive or get the better things in life.
Secondly, a recent trend has appeared in Sri Lanka where certain groups carry out extra judicial killings. Underworld figures from various areas in Sri Lanka either go missing and are found dead the next day or they are killed by the police officers who take them into custody while either trying to ‘escape’ or ‘attack’ the officers who are supposed to be responsible for their custody. During the initial stages various intellectuals and academics warned that this trend of extra judicial killings would eventually lead to a stage in which normal everyday people would be killed ‘for the greater good’. Unaccountability and a lack of transparency in investigations into these deaths have only ensured that the officers who have committed these ‘crimes’ are not dealt with under the rule of law. Some even see the extra judicial or vigilante killing of these underworld figures as a positive development. However, the brutal killing of two youths from the Angulana area cannot be considered as an attack on the underworld. It is an attack on the youth and the people of Sri Lanka. It is a crime against humanity by state officials who don’t understand that their actions reflect a Frankenstein Sri Lankan state apparatus being used by corrupt autocratic individuals to rule the motherland with an iron fist.

We the people of Sri Lanka demand that the Sri Lankan State brings the killers of Dinesh Tharanga and Dhanushka Aponsu to justice and try them under a court of law. Merely transferring them to other police stations is not enough. Can the blood, sweat and tears shed of these children be ‘transferred’ to another police station?

We the people of Sri Lanka demand that there is a transparent judicial system in which police officers and state justice officials are held accountable for any violations of state law.

We the people of Sri Lanka demand justice.

By

‘We the People’

මනුෂ්යපයෙකු ලෙස ජීවිතයේ විඳිය හැකි කටුකතම අත්දැකීම් වලට ඔවුන් අද මුහුණ දෙමින් සිටි. කිලිනොච්චියේ පාසැලක නැටුම් ගුරුවරියක් අපට හමුවිය. ඇයගේ අනාගතය කෙතරම් අඳුරුද යන්න අපට පසක් වූයේ ෂෙල් වෙඩි ප්රැහාරයකට ලක්ව ඇයට එක් පාදයක් අහිමිවී ඇති බව දුටුවිටය. එමෙන්ම ඉතා කුඩා වයසේ දරුවන් රැසකටම එක් පාදයක් හෝ අහිමිව ඇත. එසේත් නැතිනම් බරපතල තුවාල ලබා ඇත. එල්ටීටී ඊ සංවිධාන‍යේ පාලනයෙන් මිදී පලා ආ බොහෝ දෙනෙකුට තම පවුලේ අනෙකුත් සාමාජිකයින් අහිමිවී ඇත. එලෙස තම පවුලේ සාමාජිකයින් මග හැරුනු අක්ක නගෝ දෙපලක් අපට හමුවිය. වැඩිමහල් සහෝදරිය උපතින්ම අන්ධ වන අතර පලායාමට තැත් කිරීමේදී එල්ටීටී සමාජිකයින් විසින් ඔවුන් දෙදෙනාගේම පාද වලට වෙඩි තබා ඇත. තාමත් හිරිමල් වියේ පසුවන මොවුන්ගේ අනාගතය සැබැවින්ම අවිනිශ්චිතය. මේ ඉතා සුළු කාරණා කිහිපයක් පමණි. ඔවුන්ගේ වත්මන් ඛේදජනක තත්ත්වය විදහා දැක්වීමට අවැසි නම් තව උදාහරණ බො‍හෝය. නමුත් යුද්ධය පිළිබඳ තරමක් හෝ සංවේදී ඕනෑම අයෙකුට ඔවුන්ගේ අසරණ තත්ත්වය වටහා ගැනීමට අපහසු නොවේ යැයි සිතමි.

අද වන විට සරණාගතයින්ගේ තත්ත්වයට පත්වී සිටියත් මොවුන්ගෙන් බොහෝ දෙනෙකු සුඛෝපභෝගී ‍නොවුනත් කරදරයකින් තොර සාමාන්යත දිවිපෙවෙතක් ගත කර ඇති බැව් ඔවුන් හා වැඩිදුරටත් කතාබහ කිරීමේදී අපට අවබෝධ විය.

“මම B.A. ගත්තේ යාපනේ කැම්පස් එකෙන්, M.A. ගත්තේ පේරාදෙණිය කැම්පස් එකෙන්. මුලතිව් ඉස්කෝලෙක ඉගැන්නුවේ. මගේ නංගිත් ගුරුවරියක් , එයා උපාධිය ගත්තේ පේරාදෙනිය කැම්පස් එකෙන් 2005 දි. අපි කරදරයක් නැතිව ජීවත් වුණා. යුද්ධෙ නිසා තමයි අද අපිට මෙහෙම වෙලා තියෙන්නේ…………..”

ඒ මුලතිව්හි රජයේ පාසැලක ගුරුවරයෙකුගේ දුක්මුසු හඬය. දකුනේ බොහෝ දෙනෙකුගේ අදහස යුධ ජයග්රතහණයත් සමඟ, එ‍සේත් නැතිනම් කොටි සංවිධානයේ විනාශයත් සමඟ සියළු ප්රජශ්ණ අවසන් බවය. සැබැවින්ම එය මුලාවකි. කොටි සංවිධානය ඕපපාතිකව බිහිවුණු සංවිධානයක් නොවේ. එය විවිධ වූ හේතු කාරණාවන් නිසා මිනිසුන් තුලින්ම බිහිවුණු සංවිධානයකි. එවැනි සංවිධානයක් නැවත බිහිවීම වැලැක්වීමට නම් එය ඇතිවීමට තුඩුදුන් හේතුකාරණා මුලිනුපුටා දැමිය යුතුය. ඒ සඳහා දකුනේ ජනමනස තවමත් සැකසී නොමැතිවීම කණගාටුවට කරුණකි. අප ලද අත්දැකීමක් ඒ සදහා කදිම උදාහරණයක් යැයි සිතමි.

නැවත කොළඹ බලා පැමිනීමේදී අග්බෝ‍පුර පොලිස් මුරපොලේදී අපව නවතා පිරික්සන්නට විය. එහිදී එක් පොලිස් මහතෙකු (?) “හරි හරි ප්රලශ්ණයක් නැහැ, ඒත් ඔයාලා අතරේ දෙමළ කවුරුහරි ඉන්නවද?” යි විමසා සිටියේය. එයින් ගම්යත වන්නේ දෙමළ මිනිසුන්ටර සියයට සියයක ආරක්ෂාවක් ශ්රීා ලංකා ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ තවමත් නොලැබෙන බව නොවේද? මෙය එක් හුදෙකලා සිදුවීමක් පමණක් නම් බහුශ්රැකත උදවිය අල්පශ්රැතත මා හට කමා කරත්වා! නමුත් රක්වාන කෝවිලක ඇතිවූ සිද්ධියද ඉහත කී අදහසට රුකුල් දෙන්නක් බැව් මාගේ වැටහීමයි.

භූමියේ ත්රෙස්තවාදය අප සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පාහේ ජයගෙන ඇත. එය සතුටට කරුණකි. නමුත් අප අමතක නොකළ යුතු කරුණ නම් ත්රදස්තවාදය භූමියට පෙර ඇති ව‍න්නේ පුද්ගල මනස තුළය. එබැවින් අපට සැබැවින්ම සතුටු විය හැක්කේ මිනිස් සන්තානයේ ඇති ත්රනස්තවාදයද ජයගැනීමෙන් පමණි. එය “බර අවි” භාවිතයෙන් නොව දේශපාලනික අවි භාවිතයෙන් පමණක් කළ හැකි දෙයක් බැව්ද අවධාරණය කළ යුතුය.

අවතැන් ජනයාට ආධාර එකතු කිරීමේදී අපට බොහෝ අයගෙන් විරොධතා එල්ල විය. ඔවුන් සියල්ලන්ම පාහේ ප්ර්කාශ කර සිටියේ “ඔය තුවාල වෙලා ඉන්න, අවතැන් වෙලා ඉන්න හැමෝම කොටි, එහෙම නැත්තම් කොටින්ට උදව් කරපු අය, බෞද්ධයින්ගේ මුදුන්මල් කඩ බඳු දළදා මාළිගාවට, ජයශ්රිට මහා බෝධියට ප්ර්හාර එල්ල කරපු, අරන්තලාවේදී භීක්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා ඝාතනය කරපු………. උන්. එවුන්ට අපි මොකටද උදව් කරන්නේ?” කියාය. නමුත් එකී ‍ම්ලේච්ඡ ඝාතන සැලසුම් කළ හා ඒවා මෙහෙයවපු කොටි නායකයින් අද රජයේ ඇමති තනතුරු, ප්ර්භූ ගෞරව යටතේ සුඛෝපභෝගී ජීවිත ගත කරන බව එකී පුද්ගලයින්ට අමතක වීඇත. එසේත් නැතිනම් හිතාමතා අමතක කර ඇත. එකී පුද්ගලයින්ම, බරපතල තුවාල ලබා තම මූලික අවශ්යඇතාවයන් පවා අහිමිව සිටින අවතැන් ජනයාට උදව් කිරීමට ඔවුන් කොටි සංවිධානයට සම්බන්ධ වී සිටියාය යන්න බාධකයක් කරගනිති. මෙය සැබැවින්ම කුහකකමක් නොවේද?

තවද, කොටි සංවිධානය බලහත්කාරයෙන් ළමයින් හා මිනිසුන් බඳවා ගත්තා යැයි ඉහත විරෝධතාකරුවන්ම චෝදනා කරයි. එසේනම් වර්තමානයේ දී තුවාල ලබා උන් හිටිතැන් අහිමිව සිටිනවුන් අතර තම මනාපයකින් තොරව කොටින් විසින් බලහත්කාරයෙන් බඳවා ගත් අය නොමැතිද? එවිට ඔවුන්ගේ ම තර්කයට අනුව අවතැන් වී සිටින සියළු දෙනා කොටි විය හැකිද? මෙවැනි පටු ජාතිවාදී මානසිකත්වයන් පරාජය කිරීමේ “මානුෂික මෙහෙයුමක්” ද රජය විසින් ඇරඹිය යුතුය.

වර්තමානය වන විට භූමියේ යුද්ධය සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පාහේ අප ජයගෙන ඇත. නමුත් දිගුකාලීන සාමයක් උදාවිය හැක්කේ අපට මෙන්ම අනෙකුත් ජාතීන්ටද පූර්ණ නිවහල් ජාතීන් ලෙස ජීවත් විමට ඇති අයිතිය පිලිගෙන එය ප්රාපයෝගික තත්ත්වයට ගෙන ඒමට අප විසින් දක්වන උනන්දුව හා සැළකිල්ල මතය. ( වෙනම රාජ්යෙයක් ලබාදීම‍ක් මෙයින් අදහස් නොවේ) ඒ වෙනුවෙන් මේ වන විට කඩා වැටී ඇති උතුරේ ජන ජීවිතය හැකි ඉක්මණින් යථා තත්ත්වයට‍ ගෙන ඒමට අපට කළ හැකි උපරිමය කිරීමට නොපමාව පෙරට ආ යුතු බැව් අවසන් වශයෙන් සනිටුහන් කර තබමි. එසේ නොවෙතොත් එහි ප්ර්තිඵල අතිබිහිසුණු වීම නොවැළැක්විය හැක.

“යුද්ධය විසින් තීරණය කරනු ලබන්නේ නිවැරැදි කවුරුන්ද යන්න නොව, පරාජිතයා කවුරුන්ද යන්න පමණි”
-බර්ට්ර න්ඩ් රසල්-

Almost six hours the bodies have remained in the same place without any removal. I was able to observe with the death enquiry officer, as there were no proper facilities available to care the elders in the welfare centers. More death tolls have been registered due to lack of the maintenance and caring mechanisms.

An English language translation of the entire document is reproduced below.

District Magistrate Court, Vavuniya,
Justice A. K. Alexraja, (in front of)
Case no. B/827/9

27/04/2009

ORDER

From the observations in the mortuary – in the hospital, from the examinations done in front of me and upon the report reasoning, lead me to conclude that the death was caused by starvation.

As up to date there were 30 cases, the senior citizens have passed away due to the starvation & malnutrition and without any special care for the senior citizens. As like the same there are more than five deaths on daily basis in the internally displaced peoples’ welfare canters due to starvation and malnutrition. Yesterday alone there were 14 death of elders registered. Today registered 14 deaths of senior citizens in the Chittikulam welfare centre. Yesterday 26/04/2009 Sunday Kathirkamam town three senior citizens passed away, almost six hours the bodies have remained in the same place without any removal. I was able to observe with the death enquiry officer, as there were no proper facilities available to care the elders in the welfare centers. More death tolls have been registered due to lack of the maintenance and caring mechanisms.

As there were no proper caring mechanisms for elders, they were dying, and the bodies were not timely removed, the surrounding is highly subject to the threat of diseases in the area. Instead of caring for the elders – More expenses are incurred in transporting the bodies to the hospital, and conducting the examinations and for their funeral. The laws of the senior citizens and the laws under the humanitarian grounds have to care for the elders, females, children’s and has to be safe guarded specially caring for the facilities of the elders. Based on the facts for safeguarding the rights the followings are the orders:-

1. All the necessary details about the elders who are above 60 has to collected and made available with the Grama Sevakar (GS) in the concern welfare centers.
2. All those who are above 60, without any relations in the welfare centers and who are ill are ordered to be sent to the elder’s home and to be taken care of.
3. Anyone who is ready to receive the elders, who are above 60 is here by ordered to release from the welfare centers.

The above said orders is to be conveyed immediately to the District Secretary and to report to the courts through concern officers how this order is implemented and concern officers report to court 04/05/2009. The registrar is ordered to issue this order of the courts to the District Secretary.

Sgd.
Justice
Vavuniya.

Sgd.
Registrar
District Magistrate’s Court
Vavuniya.

How can white people (“suddan”) who come from abroad have feelings of concern (“kekkumak”) about the people of this country that I don’t have? The protection of my people is my responsibility.” — President Mahinda Rajapakse, Embilipitiya, April 30, 2009, quoted in the Divaina of May 1, 2009.

The President’s statement possesses an amazing logic and a wonderful honesty, made more powerful because neither the structure of the argument nor the nature of its substance is intended. The sentiments expressed, moreover, are deplorable and shocking, both for their callous majoritarian ethnocentrism and for their megalomaniacal arrogance.

In effect, he asks majestically, speaking from Embilipitiya on April 29th, ‘if I do not feel in this way for the people of the north (who are my own), how can foreigners feel for them?’ I believe the point he is making is that the concern of these vocal foreigners, ostensibly on behalf of the IDPs and civilians trapped in the war zone, is false and contrived.

He alleges that these outsiders are agitating on behalf of the civilians to fulfill ulterior motives and on the basis of hidden agendas. The proof he adduces is that if he cannot and does not feel such concern for these civilians, who are his own, how can outsiders have any real feelings for these people? The expression “my people” takes on an ominous sense of ownership here, as if they are property to be disposed of at will.

Need to examine

There are a number of admissions, assumptions and implications in the President’s statement that need to be examined. First and most importantly, is his admission that he feels no concern for these civilians. The President of Sri Lanka, the Head of State for the whole country and not merely a part of it, has gone on record in words of one syllable – so there can be no confusion or misunderstanding – that he feels nothing for the welfare of a significant section of the population that he represents and leads. A section of the population, moreover, that he claims (sole) responsibility over.

Very telling, indeed. No, more than this. It is more spine-chilling than a vintage Hitchcock film, because this truth, now in the open, has threatened the very foundations of our unitary state. Not only is he stating that he does not feel concern for these civilians himself, he is denying the validity of anyone else feeling for them either.

The argument goes like this: I (as the most legitimate person) do not have the kind of feelings that these foreigners claim to have, and therefore these feelings that they claim to have cannot be real or legitimate.

This is not a surprise, of course, since the past actions of this government have demonstrated, unequivocally and repeatedly, that it does not care a hoot about the lives and safety of the civilians trapped in the conflict area. What is surprising is the blatant, unequivocal expression of this callous lack of concern, which cannot be accepted from a head of state, even from a godforsaken country such as this.

Propaganda

During the past week or so we have been deluged by media propaganda of “rescued” and “grateful” IDPs and other civilians, demonstrating government concern and military humanitarianism. Now the cat is out of the bag, and we know that this is a sham: by a simple extension of the President’s argument, all the President’s men cannot feel legitimate concern for these people, when he himself doesn’t.

In order to establish the mala fide nature of foreign agitation on behalf of the displaced and injured, the President has exposed his own views on this vexed and vexing subject. In his exasperation and anger at the persistence of these foreign “busy bodies,” he has thrown caution to the winds, laid down his guard, giving voice to the unsayable: the Head of State does not really care for the people that he claims to be liberating from the yoke of LTTE tyranny.

Oops, the truth is out. It’s a slip, unintentional, unfortunate, undeniable now, and, from a Head of State, alas, unforgiveable.

The President has made it irrevocably clear that he does not treat or feel for all the citizens of this country in equal measure. He goes even further by denying the validity of others to feel for a group of people trapped and traumatised by the way he dismisses the feelings of all foreigners who do so. He invokes the crudest nationalist demagoguery and xenophobia in ridiculing the legitimate concerns of international humanitarian organisations and UN bodies for the safety and security of a section of the population of this country.

No concern

Yet, over these people for whom he does not care, he claims ownership, and pulls rank. He admits responsibility over them, but negates the validity of concerns for their wellbeing. As pointed out in this column in previous weeks, he has expressed no concern himself for the civilians, and now we know exactly why: he has no concern to express.

These are not new ideas at all, but rather a more blunt sledgehammer way of saying aloud hate speech of a kind that even the most diehard of Sinhala chauvinists dare not utter. Among the worst kinds of discrimination is this utter lack of concern, this complete lack of feeling, especially as it is directed against those who have no recourse to any other form of power or alternate hegemony.

The Emperor’s new rhetoric, like Macbeth’s clothes, cleave not to their mould, even seem strange now because they do not have the aid of use. They may appear to most to be ill-fitting for a ruler, but, more dangerously, to this writer they are manifestly well-tailored to justify the present actions of the state as well as to point to a longer-term future where the new robes will sit easier than the old, exposing Tamils in the north to naked discrimination at its worst.

5th Grade Math

Over the past 3-4 months we’ve been “bombarded” with news articles, press releases, official statements, etc., etc., one of the many things we were told quite repetitively was that the “The U.N. estimates 150,000 to 190,000 people are trapped in the zone, with dozens dying each day. But the government says more than 23,000 civilians escaped last month and 30,000 to 40,000 still remain.” – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30056151

However, come April, all that has been fed to us over the months is forgotten and all of a sudden we find ourselves “slap, bang” in the middle of the “World’s largest HOSTAGE rescue mission”! Now, how in the world did we go from a “relative” hand full of civilians, to 115,735??? – http://defence.lk/hm/hm.asp You’d think this unbelievable spectacle of the Governments appalling knowledge of basic 5th Grade Math should tell us something right? Apparently not.

5th Grade Life Science

We are given an assured by our Government in January this year, “With Sri Lanka Army soldiers are continuing to uphold the zero civilian casualties (ZCC) policy in their counter terrorist operations in Wanni, LTTE has reportedly lost its influence over the people completely.” – http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090111_04 They even had an acronym for it….wow! Everyone lets out a sigh of relief, no innocents are being killed and everyone’s happy.

A couple of months go by in this blissful euphoria and then we happen to stumble upon reports like this (of course, completely by accident, as it’s not news that’s readily available) “Sri Lankan Army brought in large bulldozers to dig out 7 massive burial grounds for Tamils civilians, Wanni sources confirmed.” – http://www.nowpublic.com/world/sri-lanka-preparing-massive-burial-plots-tamils-civilians Now, how could this be true, if there was a “ZCC” underway??? Something’s got to be wrong somewhere right? But, I just can’t seem to pin point what exactly it is. But, please do give me some time, I’m quite certain it’ll come to me in time! Really.

5th Grade History

In a recent statement issued by the LTTE HQ in Vanni they claim that “The community that has been fighting for justice over its treatment and unequal status will now never forget the deep wounds left by the innumerable deaths of their kith and kin directly caused by the actions of the Sri Lankan Government.” – http://tamilnational.com/news-flash/703-political-head-quarters-20th-april-2009.html Now, I find this quite amusing coming from a group of people who are holding their “own” people as hostages, or should I use the more politically correct term “human shields”? “In violation of the laws of war, the LTTE has refused to allow civilians to flee the fighting, repeatedly fired on those trying to reach government-held territory, and deployed forces near densely populated areas. The civilians who remain under LTTE control, including children, are subject to forced recruitment into LTTE forces and hazardous forced labor on the battlefield.” – http://www.hrw.org/en/node/80899/section/3

So if I were to summarise this scenario in one sentence, it would read something like this. The LTTE condemns the Governments’ killing of Tamil civilians in the supposed “No-Fire Zone,” but, they have absolutely no qualms in “bumping” them off themselves??? Someone please enlighten me on how this makes any sense?

5th Grade Introduction to the Basics of Machines

Ah…now we come to my favourite subject, Basics of Machines, now there’s a subject you can really sink your claws into. Many months ago, possibly at around the time we were told about the “ZCC,” we were also told by the State that “We are more concerned than anybody else, in fact that is why our soldiers are not using any heavy artillery, any heavy guns, rather they have been subject to really a hazardous situation because their prime objective is to rescue the civilians,” – http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-22-voa7.cfm Once again that same sense of relief and light-heartedness returns, and the world is all good again! But, of course the bubble must burst right? And oh my, what a “pop” it was!

This statement by the President himself made just last week said, “Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy calibre guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties,” the statement said. – http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=47234 Last week??? So, how could the President order for something to be stopped that was never used in the first place? I think all this is just beyond me; souring over my head as it were! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh….

5th Grade Social Studies

The Defence Secretary “fondly” referred to as “Gota” is very clear on the role of the media in a time of war. Look, if you take two words – “Media Freedom,” it’s very beautiful, very nice. Who can object that? I love it! President loves it! We will support it! Free Media. Take two words. Nice two words. But, remember, when you act in a, you have to think of the situation we’re facing. In that situation when you take media, the rest, they have a different role to play. They should act responsibly. They must take the country first! Not these two words – Free Media.” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zr6d22FMxU (20:49/22:37)

Even though “situations” like this require the media to be “responsible” and “put the country first,” somehow, footage of the war front has been got. Not only has it been got, there was even a DVD of the ‘Conquest of Killinochchi’ being sold in buses! Somehow, Rupavahini and other State media have had access to the North, and need not act in the manner so clearly stipulated by our dear “Gota”. What I found far more hilarious though, was the tag “Exclusive” on some of these video clips – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meJr9ZtW_7E&feature=related Isn’t that sort of a given when you’re the sole media institution with access?

5th Grade Probability

Last but not least was the abduction cum arrest of the Chief Editor of the Sudaroli Newspaper – Mr. N. Vidyatharan. So, he’s taken away in the middle of a family funeral, in a rather “infamous” white van. Initially thought to be abducted and later realised to be arrested. Why was he taken in? Well, in the rather “eloquent” words of our “beloved” Defence Secretary “I’m telling you with responsibility, he’s a terrorist! He was in charge of, he’s responsible for things coordinating air attacks in Colombo. I will arrest…we have arrested him, and it’s the thing, the right thing to do!” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8f4FE8fiAc (19:12/22:37)

58 days later, this “terrorist” NOT “suspect terrorist” mind you, is “miraculously” released, all charges against him DROPPED! – http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=47014 No wonder we’re called “a land like no other!”

Say it with me now…“I’m a (state age) year old Sri Lankan, and I am NOT smarter than a Fifth Grader!”

The doctors said bombardments from the army had killed 64 people on Saturday, including patients, their relatives and bystanders in Mullivaikal.

About 87 people were injured. Another 27 people reportedly died on Friday.

The army has denied bombing the hospital, saying that Tamil Tiger rebels carried out suicide attacks.

A spokesman for the Sri Lankan army said that although soldiers had heard explosions in the area, they had not fired any shells.

The army had not used heavy weapons for some days, he said, since the government announced on Monday that it was halting its use of heavy weapons in the conflict zone.

The army spokesman said Tamil Tiger rebels had launched eight suicide attacks in the space of two days.

A doctor working within the zone has e-mailed the BBC a number of photographs which, he says, show the aftermath of recent shelling at the hospital in Mullivaikal.

One image appears to show a father and son killed as they slept, says the BBC’s Charles Havilland in Colombo.

The hospital lies within a government-designated safe zone set up to protect civilians.

In contrast, the defence ministry has put on its website video clips which, it says, show the rebels moving an artillery piece through the zone they control, our correspondent says.

Journalists are not allowed near the conflict zone, so the conflicting accounts cannot be independently verified.

Original story can be seen here.

The admission follows the leak of satellite images taken by the UN which show signs of aerial bombing inside the ‘no fire zone’.

The government insists that no civilians were in danger, that the bombing was targeted at Tamil fighters in the area and not civilians.

Al Jazeera talks to Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary.

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqC8Bcoym5Q]

He also said that 36 people have died since coming to the IDP camps. Two children had died in a stampede to receive cooked food in the camps. He asked as to why the Trinco GA (a former military general) and the army is given more of a role in the administration of the camps and as to why the Killinochchi and Mullaitivu GA’s are sidelined.

The forum is a good development. It can be a good pressure group and a focal point for referencing on a common non – LTTE view point on whats happening in the country. One hopes this forum evolves to encompass broader issues. But given past experiences one is not very hopeful.

Over the last few months the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) have both been playing a ‘numbers game’ when it comes to the amount of civilians trapped in LTTE controlled areas / Safe Zone. Estimates on the amount of civilians who are trapped due to fighting vary from 50,000 to 300,000 based on who makes the statement and what their military and political agendas entail. Sadly, the lives of non combatant civilians have been reduced to a bartering tool in the LTTE’s political and military survival and the GOSL’s final victory in what has been dubbed the ‘final phase’ of the Sri Lankan Government’s War on Terrorism / Humanitarian Mission to Liberate the Tamil Population in the North. Sri Lanka stands upon the precipice of a humanitarian disaster in which the GOSL, the LTTE, the International Community and the Citizens of Sri Lanka must act together to save civilians. If we fail, if these civilians are killed in the course of operations then all these parties will have blood on their hands. The lives of these non combatant civilians do not merely lie in the hands of LTTE and GOSL combatants, but they are in your hands as well. This issue must not be politicized because it involves life and death of a large civilian population.  

Arguing about the amount of civilians trapped in this area does not help the humanitarian plight of these civilians and arguing about which party is responsible for putting these civilians in their present predicament does not help either. What does matter is that everyone; Sri Lankan citizens, political parties, non – governmental organizations, religious groups and the international community come together in a unified voice to tell both parties to the Sri Lankan conflict that when it comes to the lives of displaced civilians there can be no numbers game. Both sides must come together and resolve the problems that keep a large number of Sri Lankan citizen’s trapped in a inadequate square kilo meter defined ‘Safe Zone’ which lacks adequate food, water, sanitation facilities and shelter. 

The plight of the displaced is not about their quantity in numbers, but about the quality of their lives. Right now, the LTTE wants to strategically keep these citizens in these areas so that the SLA cannot advance any further and take over the LTTE’s remaining areas. The LTTE argues that the people trapped in these areas stay willingly, that they fear to go into government controlled areas for fear of harassment and that due to the fighting itself it is impossible for people to leave this area. LTTE sources highlight deteriorating conditions and civilians deaths within the safe zone to vilify the Sri Lankan security forces and the GOSL. The GOSL wants to get these civilians out of this area, in one way or the other, so that they can wipe out the LTTE. The GOSL argues that the LTTE forcibly detains civilians in these areas, they continue to portray in the media that a large number of civilians are leaving this area and some elements within the government even argue that a large number of civilians trapped in this consist of pro LTTE ‘Mahaveera’ families. The GOSL has asked for the LTTE to release these civilians and lay down their arms. The Sri Lankan war has come to a classic stalemate scenario in which both sides cannot move and the wrong move will end in a blood bath.  

If the situation is so bad then why is nothing happening. Well things are happening and in fact as you read this article there are two things that are happening concerning the humanitarian plight:

Action 1: The GOSL, the UN and the LTTE are engaged in some sort of dialogue to resolve this situation in some sort of manner.  

Action 2: The Sri Lankan forces are engaging in operational manoeuvres in order to somehow release civilians trapped in fighting.   

The first scenario is an ideal scenario in which the lives of civilians will be saved through a mutually agreed transformation to the current humanitarian crisis. Sri Lankan has already seen too much blood split and a negotiated settlement in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster will be an ‘ideal solution’. However, the Sri Lankan conflict has not created conditions for ‘ideal solutions’. In the ‘seeds’ of the Sri Lankan conflict lie chaotic political and ethnic complexities that have resulted in numerous atrocities like the riots of July 1983, the Aranthalawa Massacre and the Muttur ACF massacre. It is in the second scenario that the ‘numbers game’ will come into prominence. Due to the actions of both sides, impartial independent observers have not been allowed to go into the safe zone to verify civilian numbers and any numbers released by any group has been disregarded as being false by one side or the other. Hence, if the second scenario unfolds someone will have to ‘prove’ how many civilians were actually in the safe zone when operations started, how many left and how many were killed. This creates a dangerous dynamic for both sides to engage in a game of Devil’s Arithmetic with the lives of civilians. What is obvious is that there are an ‘unaccountable’ number of civilians. Unaccountable civilians during military operations generally spell disaster, in this case a humanitarian disaster. The LTTE and the GOSL have already engaged in a numbers game in which they did not release the correct amount of combatants that have lost their lives due to fighting. Hence, anyone not engaged in direct hostilities did not know the direct human cost of the conflict so far, or more disgustingly; they did not want to know about the human cost. If both sides are once again starting to play a numbers game with the amount of civilians trapped in the safe zone, it should be stopped immediately. It was argued that revealing casualty figures during operations would dampen the moral of combatants during war. Not revealing civilians deaths and causing civilians deaths are both war crimes. If Sri Lanka lets this happen, then no matter your ethnicity and no matter what your political beliefs are; all Sri Lankans will be held accountable for the crimes of a few.      

What is lost to all groups engaged in this conflict is that these are ‘people’. They are families; with the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters of someone trapped in a desperate situation. This is not about politics; it’s not about liberating the traditional Tamil homeland or about protecting the territorial integrity of the Sri Lankan State. This is about stopping our own citizens from suffering in what has been described by some to be “a piece of hell in Sri Lanka” and stopping a bloodbath which will be worse than Srebrenica. If Sri Lanka does not do anything about her own citizens in this; an hour of dire humanitarian concerns, then the future bodes a very dark and tainted condemnation of Sri Lanka as a failed state.  

If you do not believe that this crisis is very real then please see the satellite images taken from UNOSAT below.  

UNOSAT_LKA_IDP_Density_Map_CSZ_19February2009_Lowres_v1.pdf (1.6MB)

UNOSAT_LKA_CSZ_IDP_Assessment_6Mar09_lowres.pdf (837.5Kb), 

[Based on connection speeds, loading and downloading make take some time]