Am I happy that the LTTE is defeated?

Its Victoria day here in Canada and as the firecrackers are being lit my mind wanders to the elation in Sri Lanka and the military defeat the LTTE Terrorist Organization faced this weekend. Certainly there are firecrackers being lit aplenty back in Sri Lanka and the friends and family that I spoke to are all happy. Personally I don't know whether its happiness that I feel, but I know its definitely not sadness.

Unlike some of my fellow expatriate Sri Lankans here in Canada I'm not privy to the inner workings of the LTTE; as such I'm not fully aware of the depth of commitment and representation they have amongst the expatriate Tamil Community here in Canada. I always thought the LTTE Terrorist movement was a clandestine movement funded by select numbers of misguided expatiate Sri Lankans and affiliated street gangs but over the past few weeks my opinion has changed. The protests opened my eyes to another side of the LTTE: The complex face of the international diaspora that funds them.

I have seen how regular everyday expatriates I wouldn't look twice at, support the LTTE. I watched as they thonged the streets of Toronto with their families; hundreds strong at times and chanted along with students from York, Toronto and Ryerson Universities. I saw how they waved the red and yellow LTTE flag and passionately protested their cause. I feel a bit uneasy at the sight of such strong visible support for a banned Terrorist organization in the city that I call my own; but like many Canadians I understand their right to freedom of speech.

But I don't understand why they support the LTTE. I don't understand why they were protesting for a ceasefire to save civilians caught in the crossfire when it was the LTTE that was holding them hostage all along. I don't understand how they claim the LTTE is any better than the government of Sri Lanka. And I don't understand how they claim genocide when its the undeniably the LTTE that has killed and victimized all the other ethnic groups that lived in the areas they controlled including Buddhists, Muslims and Christians.

I do however understand the fear that the LTTE instilled in us Sri Lankans and the way in which they targeted civilians so as to have their demands carry weight. I remember how news of suicide bombings in Colombo sent chills down my spine and how waves of phone calls would flood the phone lines as friends, relatives, parents and children called each other. Calls to check on people, inquire on their safety and inquire after common friends. I understand the panic that the air attacks caused in the Sri Lankan capital and the pandemonium that each raid flung the city into. I understand how the war drove up our cost of living and how the average Sri Lankan struggles to make ends meet.

So do I feel happy that the Terrorist Organization which the pro-LTTE diaspora here support got defeated militarily? I don't know. But I hope this now means they will address their concerns democratically instead of through acts of terror.

Am I happy at the opportunity of re-unification that this now offers Sri Lanka? Of course. Am I looking forward to supporting a democratic solution to the underlying issues that lead to this conflict in the first place? Yes, absolutely....

Pro-LTTE Terrorist news sources

I've always been miffed by how Canadian news coverage and certain elements at York University tend to sensationalize unverified press releases by pro-LTTE sources. Doesn't it occur to them that they might be getting hoodwinked by what's accepted as one of the most ruthless Terrorist Organizations in the world?

Would you read and accept what Al Aqaeda publishes without verification? The LTTE is considered just as ruthless as Al Aqaeda, so why are members of the Canadian media and York University student groups unquestioningly accepting information from pro-LTTE sources?

Shown here is an image released by the LTTE as proof that the Sri Lankan government was shelling the No Fire Zone in Vellamullivaikkal. The uncropped image that subsequently surfaced later on clearly shows a group of individuals calmly standing next to a white mini-van and photographing the proceedings with a digital SLR.

I'm not making allegations, but the only groups who currently have access to mini-vans, fuel and digital SLR cameras in the conflict areas are the LTTE Terrorist organization and the Sri Lankan Army.

Now I don't know about you, but I for one don't think its likely that the Sri Lankan Army gathered a group of civilians together, staged this scene, photographed it, edited it and then posted it up on a pro-LTTE website in support of allegations that the LTTE Terrorists are making; do you?

I'm not saying that this should a reason to accept any press releases made by the Sri Lankan Army without verification either; for that would be just as irresponsible...wouldn't it?

Ask the LTTE to grant the civilians safe passage

I just came across this video: True, its taken by Sri Lankan government forces but what it shows can not be denied.

The video shows the LTTE blocking civilians from crossing over to cleared areas and designated no-fire safe zones by firing at them.

WHY? aren't the red-LTTE terrorist flag waving protesters demonstrating at Queens park right now not talking about this? Why are they not demanding that individuals close to the LTTE terrorist organizers in Canada address such concerns and work to free the trapped civilians?

Genocide?

Protests in Toronto by pro-LTTE groups have been the rife these days and have really jumped into media view due to the disruption being caused to our city. Most Canadians don't really understand the reason for it, but swivel around and pay attention when they hear the word "Genocide" being brandied about by a crowd that's 12,000 strong.

Genocide? By whom? Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. That's NOT what's happening in Sri Lanka although the red-LTTE terrorist flag waving individuals that are holding the city of Toronto hostage will tell you otherwise. What's happening in Sri Lankan is the entrapment of civilians in a war zone.

These civilians are unable to cross over to safe zones away from the fighting that is occurring between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE terrorists. They are trapped in-between the two groups and are caught in the cross fire.

So why aren't these civilians being allowed to leave and are escourted off the war front you ask? Why are they getting caught in the cross-fire? Well that's exactly what I want to ask the red-flag LTTE terrorist flag waving individuals that have been protesting at Queen's park all day today.

So far all fingers point to the the LTTE terrorists. The UN and other international 3rd party sources have verified that the civilians in the warzone are actively being prevented from leaving.

SO WHY?

Why doesn't the LTTE allow these civilians free passage to safer areas? Why are they actively contributing the the death of innocent civilians and why are the red LTTE flag waving protesters not demanding the Terrorist organization that they support; grant these individuals free passage to safer areas?

WHY are they clogging up our streets when in actuality its the LTTE terrorist group that is in actuality, actively causing all these civilians deaths?

LTTE !!! Let them go...!!

I'll join the protesters on parliament hill, or any of the protests currently being being staged in Canada. Heck I'll even wave one of their bloody red and yellow Terrorists flags, I'll do whatever, as long as the LTTE promise to release the poor civilians they are holding hostage...

The LTTE terrorist group are right bastards; cowering behind civilians and abusing the very people they claim to protect while accusing all and sundry of genocide. Its like lying down in front of a Toronto Transit Corp diesel-electric bus and yelling murder when the front wheels thump over one's ribcage.

The video embedded below highlights some of the suffering the civilians being held hostage by the LTTE are subjected too. Before you watch it be warned; its gruesome and has graphic pictures of injured civilians trudging their way to safety after fleeing the LTTE Terrorists.

....I'll even yell anti-government slogans and throw bottles at passing traffic like they did in France yesterday. Heck, I'll do anything just as along as the hypocritical LTTE terrorist sympathizers agree to free the civilians being held hostage, I'm down.

The Tigers do not represent anyone : Lord Naseby

Lord Naseby a Conservative peer and chairman of the all-party British-Sri Lanka group has stated that LTTE does not represent the Tamils and either they should surrender or face the risk of being wiped out.

He recently visited Sri Lanka and upon his return reported human rights abuses by the LTTE Terrorists. Embedded below is a video clip where he describes how the LTTE terrorist group has victimized Tamil people and are currently using Tamil civilians as human shields:

An excerpt from a brilliant post by David Blacker about the LTTE Terrorist and the current status quo in Sri Lanka:

As the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam grinds inexorably towards certain defeat for the self-proclaimed representatives of the Tamil nation, there seems to be no great fanfare, no glorious last stands. This revolution dies not with a bang, but with whimpers and cowardice. And lies......Now, as the world watches, a mortally wounded Tiger cowers behind the very people it claims to defend, mauling them as it dies.
Read the full article here

Red Cross (ICRC) as well as the UN confirm that the LTTE are using civilians as human shields

An excerpt that was taken from the "Situation Report" at http://actlanka.com/2009/

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as the UN confirm that the LTTE are using civilians as human shields.

With only 28km of land area currently controlled by the LTTE, anyone of a fighting age is forcibly recruited into the LTTE and civilians attempting to flee are being shot, chased and often killed.

Only those that are of no use to the LTTE, the severely injured, the children and the elderly are allowed to leave and even then, only when they have managed to flee and reach the ICRC boat loading area.

Before being loaded onto a boat, a medical decision (Triage) is made as to whether each civilian can survive the journey. Those that are determined high risk are left to die.

The ICRC are, under instruction of the State, now bringing boats ashore in Pulmoddai, from the conflict zone. These boats arrive every few days and carry approximately 480 civilians.

Of those civilians arriving via ICRC boats, a third are seriously injured, a third have relatively minor injuries and the remaining third are bystanders accompanying the injured.

Civilian arrivals are registered, tagged and treated by the Indian & Sri Lankan doctors at Pulmodai Field Hospital. Later, some patients (with bystanders) are transferred to Padaviya Hospital and some stay overnight and then transferred. Those that arrive with no injury and not accompanying any injured are transferred to Padaviya for overnight stay.

Once emergency medical treatment is provided and patients are stabilized, the injured fit enough for travel are then dispatched to Vavuniya Hospital.

Medical supplies to hospitals in the warzone

ACT Sri Lanka is an organization providing relief to Sri Lankan civilians affected by the war. They recently returned after delivering medical supplies such as:

SURGICAL GLOVES

BANDAGES - COTTON & CREPE

SPLINTS

PAINKILLERS

* Morphine
* Pethadine
* Dichlofenac (Volteron)
* Tramadol

ANTI-BIOTICS

* Ciprofloxocin
* Co-Amoxiclav

SALINE

DEXTROSE

SYRINGES + NEEDLES

ORAL REHYDRATION SALTS

as well as non-medical supplies such as roll out mattresses, crutches etc to Vavuniya Hospital while is lies adjacent to the war front in Sri Lanka and is the main hospital where civilian casualties are sent.

More details are available via their website.

Shame on you: Liberal MP's Gurbax Singh Malhi and Derek Lee

The National Post raises a great point and since its a relatively short article I've reporduced it below:

Terrorism double-standard

National Post Published: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
As members of this editorial board watched tens of thousands of Tamil Canadians throng downtown Toronto on Monday, we couldn't help but be struck by a curious double-standard that afflicts Canadian ethnopolitics. To wit: Why are Canadian Tamils permitted to express support for terrorism in a manner that would be considered outrageous if the demonstrators were Arab or Muslim?

The rally that took place in Toronto on Monday was not just, as organizers claimed, an expression of support for Tamil civilians in war-torn Sri Lanka. Many of the participants carried flags of the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist group that practices suicide bombings and abducts children to use as soldiers. (In 2006, Canada's federal government officially designated the Tamil Tigers a terrorist group, a move that criminalized the group's fundraising efforts in this country.) Some of the banners displayed on Monday also depicted Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, a wanted mass murderer who personally authorizes the acts of terrorism the group has committed over the last three decades.

Yet there was little outrage. To our knowledge, no politicians at any level of government have come forward to denounce this open demonstration of support for a banned terrorist group. In fact, Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi recently appeared personally at a similar rally in Ottawa, and another Liberal MP, Derek Lee, has urged other MPs to join in, too.

Imagine for a moment, if the protestors had instead been Arab or Muslim. Would Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Dalton McGuinty and David Miller be silent if 120,000 supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah paralyzed downtown Toronto as they chanted slogans and waved flags praising groups that slaughter Jews?

To his great credit, Mr. Ignatieff recently denounced "Israel Apartheid Week" when he saw that it was being used as a cover for poisonous attacks against the Jewish state. Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, has lashed out against the Canadian Arab Federation for its leader's unhinged attacks in the same vein. This zero-tolerance attitude toward terror-apologism is praiseworthy -- but we would like to see it applied across the board. The Sinhalese Sri Lankan victims of Tamil Tiger terrorism are no less deserving of support than the Jewish residents of Ashkelon or Sderot.

The reason for this double standard is obvious: There are more than 200,000 Canadians of Sri Lankan Tamil descent in Canada, enough to comprise a swing vote in suburban Toronto-area ridings. This is the reason that the Liberals were too scared to ban the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization when they were in power -- even with an (otherwise) principled anti-terror activist, Irwin Cotler, ensconced as Justice Minister. It was only when the Conservatives took power that the Tamils were added to the list of banned terrorist groups.

That move was a welcome one: Tamil bagmen can now no longer operate with impunity, extorting "contributions" from Tamil-owned businesses to fund the war back in Sri Lanka. And the police have since busted up a number of fundraising fronts tied to the Tigers. But public figures must also speak out when supporters of the Tigers make a spectacle of themselves, as they did in Toronto.

The message must be: Terrorism is a criminal affront to Canadian values, wherever it is practiced. Just because Canadians don't pay as much attention to Sri Lanka as they do to Israel doesn't change that fact.

LTTE Terrorist Organization attacks a civillian gathering

The LTTE have attacked another civillian gathering in the south region of Akuressa on Tuesday the 10th of March 2009.

A sucide bomber attacked a procession to mark a Muslim festival at around 10.30am. The residents of the area along with government officals and school children were gathered to commemorate the prophet Mohammed's birthday when they were attacked by a LTTE suicide bomber. The suicide bomber rode into their midst on a bicycle from the rear of the procession, which was making its way to the mosque and triggered the detonation upon reaching the midst of them. Two ministers who were attending the function were evactuated from the blast zone with superficial injuries but a dozen civilians are reported to have died and another 45 were evacuated to hospital with serious injuries.

A video from a news agency that was covering the event which shows people being evactuated and footage of the bomb blast is listed below. Please veiw with caution, the footage shows injured civilians, blood human body parts as well as the actual explosion.

Read the full story as listed on Yahoo news, 10th March 2009.

Attack on Sri Lankan village by armed insurgents

Armed insurgents have randomly attacked a village in Sri Lanka. The reports currently published indicate that it was an attack that was carried out by the LTTE on unarmed civilians who were tending to their crop.

York University sanctions its Tamil Students Association

Well York University known for its leniency towards student groups and free speech finally made a gesture; albeit a feeble one, but a gesture none the less towards indicating its dissent over the protest taken by the Tamil Students Association.

The Association was fined $500 and had to suspend their activities (meaning they were denied accessed to University resources) for 15 days.

A pretty pathetic slap on the wrist in my opinion. I really think more attention should be paid to these pro-LTTE student groups. I agree with York University's policy of free speech and I certainly agree that student groups should be allowed to promote awareness about issue important to them and society, why should that extent to turning a blind eye towards association with illegal groups and terrorist organizations?

The the LTTE is a recognized terrorist organization. Affiliation, promotion and fundraising activities for them are outlawed in Canada. So why is the University of York allowing a student groups to represent itself via the use of the LTTE flag?

I don't understanding and to me its inconceivable that a student group should be allowed to do so. The LTTE just like Al Qaeda is a recognised terrorist organization that is outlawed and banned in Canada. The LTTE just like Al Qaeda has terrorized Sri Lankan citizens in Sri Lanka and all over the world. They (the LTTE terrorist group) have violated human rights within territory controlled by them and have victimized civilians including members of the ethic population they claim to represent for over two decades. I really don't see much difference between Al Qaeda and the LTTE.

I'd like to know whether the Chancellor of York University, Roy McMurtry, would allow a student group to affiliate themselves with Al Qaeda, promote their ideology on campus and display paraphernalia known to be associated with Al Qaeda on campus. Obviously not. So why the double standard when it comes to the LTTE terrorist group?

Civilian abuse by the LTTE

Human Rights Watch one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights released a comprehensive report in December outlining how the LTTE terrorist group abuses civilians in the areas under their control. Read the complete report here.

Toronto's Tamil diaspora protest against 'genocide'.

Genocide? Well if that's the case then its the LTTE committing genocide.

The Government of Sri Lanka has not prevented civilians form leaving the conflict areas in fact the Sri Lankan army is actively trying to extract the remaining civilian population, despite the Terrorist best efforts to disrupt that process by firing on civilians trying leave conflict zones and orchestrating a suicide bomb attack at a camp for displaced civilians.

So why would a Terror group claiming to represent Tamil rights in northern Sri Lanka deny parts of very population they claim to protect, gaining access to medicine, food and shelter? I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine, but logic states that the civilians are being used as a human shield by the LTTE.

Accusations of genocide in Sri Lanka

Enough Already with the Genocide Talk: By John Thompson the President of the Mackenzie Institute which studies political instability and terrorism. He can be reached at: mackenzieinstitute@bellnet.ca

The accusations of genocide in Sri Lanka are getting annoying... and not in the usual ways. Anybody who takes the charge seriously betrays a highly annoying ignorance about the state of affairs between Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Genocide is not happening in Sri Lanka. Plenty of other nasty things are; but genocide is not one of them.

The LTTE and its supporters in the international Tamil Diaspora they dominate would like us to slap the label of 'genocide' onto the Sri Lankan government. Ignore this campaign.

Forget the 'black hat' vs. 'white hat' morality play. In fact, forget this when looking at any civil war in any country. Where human beings are involved, nothing is ever simple.

It seems that everyone knows that in Sri Lanka, some 75% or so of the population are Sinhalese and therefore mostly Buddhist; some 15% are Tamil and mostly Hindu; and the rest are Muslim, Burghers, Malays, etc. But things still aren't that simple.

The Tamils alone have numerous cleavages based on the antiquity of their community in Sri Lanka, their caste, the main local occupation; etc, etc. Moreover, in many rural communities, telling these Dravidian people apart is impossible, especially as intermarriage and all the other little human connections come into play.

Yet the LTTE claims to represent all Tamils on the Island; and murdered tens of thousands of them to underscore the point. They've killed Tamils from rival insurgent movements, from federalist parties, schoolteachers who wouldn't let them recruit children from their classrooms, people who wouldn't pay extorted 'war taxes', and many more.

When engaged in 'Ethnic Cleansing' (a favorite LTTE activity a few years back), it was hard to segregate Sinhalese from Tamils from Muslims when walloping machetes into panicked villagers in the middle of the night. Grenades tossed in crowded cellars aren't discriminating either. Truck bombs rammed into office towers and time bombs on crowded buses also couldn't differentiate between Sinhalese and Tamils.

Many observers who pay close attention to the 35 year history of the LTTE believe that the Tigers have killed more Tamils than the government. It's also true that the government has killed more Sinhalese than the Tamil Tigers ever managed: In the past 40 years two uprisings by Maoist Sinhalese were suppressed with extreme ruthlessness and tens of thousands died. Sri Lanka has been far more discriminating in fighting the Tamil Tigers.

The Sri Lankan government is certainly guilty of human rights abuses, and the current government's behaviour can be very troubling. Yet genocide is one crime that they cannot be accused of; no matter how shrill the wailing from Tiger's propaganda outlets.

Lately, those outlets have been shrill indeed. After 25 years of guerrilla warfare and 35 years of terrorism, the Tigers are finally being crushed. Whole regions of the country have been quiet for months, the Tiger air force has vanished, their artillery has been captured, and their founder and leader has apparently deserted his remaining forces.

But like Hitler or Saddam Hussein; Vellupillai Prabhakaran is not above sacrificing anybody his followers can compel into service. As the last guerrilla forces retreated into their final sanctuary, they dragged in every Tamil civilian they could find as a human shield.

Now, the Tigers are screaming that genocide is being perpetrated on their human shields... Well, this could be easily solved by laying down their arms and surrendering; but instead they seem determined to fight to the death.

The Tigers under siege are screaming for food and medical aid to be sent to their hostages. The Sri Lankan Army doesn't share this misplaced compassion.

The Tigers are screaming for a cease-fire. Every ceasefire that occurred in the past 25 years was used as an opportunity to re-arm and re-fit, before the Tigers ended it with a new offensive. The Sri Lankan government can be forgiven for preferring surrender to a cease-fire.

Wars are terrible things, and it is best that they be ended - not be prolonged. The Sri Lankan Civil War, after over 70,000 dead and 25 years of ruin and expense, is finally coming to an end. Let it end.

Canada should retract its call for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka, and instead call on the Tigers to surrender. As for those people busy pressing the 'genocide' button; leave it alone. It won't work if it keeps being misused.

The Mackenzie Institute

The Institute was formed in 1986 to provide research and comment on such diverse subjects as terrorism, organized crime, political extremism, propaganda, conflict and other such matters. It does not shy away from controversy.

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