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Sri Lanka team targeted by protests over Govts Tamil policies

by lalith | June 3, 2009 at 12:06 pm

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Sri Lanka team targeted by protests over government’s Tamil policies

June 3, 2009 11:03 pm

Not for the first time, Lord’s has become the scene of a political protest. Sri Lankan protesters have been picketing the ground, calling for the country’s cricket team to return home and for other nations to boycott matches against the side.

About 50 London-based Sri Lankans gathered outside the Wellington Roadentrance, armed with placards condemning the Sri Lankan government’s “human rights abuses”. One read, “Sri Lanka’s latest score: 20,000 dead, 300,000 displaced”.

Inside the ground the Sri Lanka team were playing South Africa in a warm-up match for the world Twenty20 tournament, which starts on Friday. The tour has already been beset by difficulties, with members of the team withdrawing from a scheduled appearance at the Oxford Union, because of security concerns about a possible backlash against the team in protest against the military campaign by their country’s government against the Tamil Tigers. The protestors at Lord’s were noisy but peaceful, though there was a strong police presence in place. The group was composed mainly, but not wholly, of Tamils.

Now that their 'Sun God' Prabhakaran is dead and with him the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world, the LTTE supporters have started a new ruse to play games with the world.

The numbers these protesters are using have to be confirmed yet. These are numbers spat out by pro LTTE media who are at a loss for work after the LTTE got totally and utterly wiped out.

Although the news item states, "The group was composed mainly, but not wholly, of Tamils". I wonder what the composition was. Bobbies cannot be counted.

I often wonder why these protesters cannot leave the luxuries of foreign lands and come back to Sri Lanka and help the IDPs if they really care. They will give out a thousand excuses if asked. If in so much of doubt, why can't they even give some of their money to ICRC or any other international organization to be spent on the IDPs?

If these people are too cheap to buy a ticket, gain entry to the venue and then protest, I then doubt that they will contribute anything towards the welfare of the IDPs they are shouting for.

I wonder whether Adele Balasingham, the foreigner whom all the LTTE supporters look up to was the mastermind behind this protest too.

Please see more details in pic.

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sathyajith

at 12:45 on June 3rd, 2009

They (die as poras) are in the deepest sorrow and furious about the lost of sun goat

Hiranya Malwatta

at 13:02 on June 3rd, 2009

Holmes said the 20,000 figure during the final phase was based on an unconfirmed U.N. estimate of around 7,000 civilian deaths through the end of April and added roughly 1,000 more per day after that.

Holmes said the initial figure of 7,000 deaths had been deemed far too questionable for official publication because the world body was not in a position to calculate a reliable death count. It was not really present in the battle zone, he said.

Ban expanded on this point in his speech to the General Assembly, insisting that the "final total is not yet known."

"Most of these figures do not emanate from the U.N. and most are not consistent with the information at our disposal," he said.

The United Nations believes that anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 people died in what was one of Asia's longest modern wars, erupting in earnest in 1983 when the LTTE began to fight for a separate state for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils.

These protests are Sick. Nothing else. Over and over again it was revealed what the real reason behind the shouts, protests and large scale propaganda and by whom - yet here we are, doing it again to a team of Sportsmen. Great.

LongWhiteCloud

at 03:57 on June 4th, 2009

It is sad to see these kids, so full of hatred, screaming themselves hoarse, based on a misguided and empty dream of a separate homeland, even after the LTTE victimised civilians have physically run away from the so called homeland. Do they expect those who suffered through this war to return to such a homeland to be governed by something like the LTTE, if that was even remotely possible? Would they return to such a homeland, having given up their safe heavens and greener pastures? Ah, the sweetness of hypocricy!

lalith

at 04:06 on June 4th, 2009

How many of these people would be able to talk in the first person?

senthil5000

at 18:31 on June 4th, 2009

Sri Lanka’s latest score: 20,000 dead, 300,000 displaced

lalith

at 09:56 on June 7th, 2009

Hey Senthil,

What happened to my invitation to you to come down to Sri Lanka? Once again, be my guest. Let's go together and see what is really going on. Board, Lodging and transport on me.

What say you?