Sri Lankan defence secretary & Army commander similar to Prabahar

An article published by, yes would you believe it, a SINHALESE FEMALE condemning the Sri lankan defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse and army commander Sarath Fonseka and comparing him to LTTE leader Prabaharan. I must say, I'm proud and impressed by how much information this lady has gathered and her willingness to voice the concerns of innocent civilians. The article itself is very long, the full version can be viewed on the following link.... I apologise for copying and pasting, but if time permits, I will shorten the article.

http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/03/post_321.html

The key discussions from the article are as follows....

The military successes against the LTTE coupled with the development of a culture of ruthless impunity can be described as the result of a mixture of very dangerous elements:

1. A military force marked by impunity and immorality.

2. A sentiment of intense ‘fear’ of the state and the military establishment

3. Rise of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism

These three factors are complemented by acts of assault, imprisonment and murder of journalists and, and a policy of zero tolerance of any dissenting voices.

Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka , Sri Lanka’s Army Commander, publicly affirms that the ethnic minority groups of Sri Lanka are not citizens enjoying equal rights as the ethnic majority (the Sinhalese: http://transcurrents.com/tc/2008/11/post_76.html accessed 15 February 2009). Not a comment one can afford to ignore, as this is the man in-charge of a military force that has been continuously accused of sexual violence against Tamil women, underage girls and young boys in the war-torn areas of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. It is known fact in Sri Lanka that the military is involved in acts of sexual exploitation in the most deplorable manner, especially in camps (i.e. ‘Welfare Centres’) meant for internally displaced persons

Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka is also the chief of an armed force that sent a UN Peacekeeping Force to Haiti – which was shipped back home on charges of sexual abuse and sexually motivated violence against women, including underage girls (related news reports at http://www.haitisolidarity.net/article.php?id=206 and http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24514&Cr=sri&Cr1=haiti accessed 21 February 2009). The military has been continuously rejecting accusations of this nature, reading them as attempts by opposed forces (especially pro-Tamil Tiger terrorist forces) to discredit the army’s best practice in the northern and eastern warfront. Some people may have given a heed to this interpretation with regards to reports of sexual violence from Sri Lanka, but when the United Nations condemns Sri Lankan peacekeepers against the same humiliating offence, one can conclude with certainty that there is indeed no smoke without a fire. Most surprisingly, neither the military establishment nor the Sri Lankan government has taken any pertinent steps to address allegations of rape by the army, widely reported internationally (for telling examples, see http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2006/sri_lankan_combatants_rape_wom.html and http://www.tamilnation.org/indictment/rape/971123terror.htm accessed 21 February 2009).

One is painfully reminded of the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy case, and sheer brutality of the Sri Lanka Army soldiers who gang-raped Krishanthi, a 16-year-old school girl and slaughtered her and her family members (More on Krishanthi’s tragedy at http://www.tamilnation.org/indictment/rape/960907krishanthi.htm accessed 21 February 2009). Equally savage was the gang rape, murder (by strangling) of Tharshini, a 19-year-old girl from Punkudithivu in 2005 (related press reports available at http://www.tamilnation.org/indictment/rape/051218tharshini.htm and http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=266&id=3688 accessed 21 February 2009).One is also reminded of little Thenuka, a 10-year-old who whose childhood was robbed by Sri Lankan army soldiers who took her to an army camp and gang raped her (related news report at: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=91&id=513 accessed 21 February 2009).

Moreover, I invite all readers to take a minute to view this video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf3dkgBtLmk&feature=related Accessed 14 February 2009

It is a footage from a local TV channel’s news bulletin covering the electoral campaign for the Central and North-Western Provincial Council Elections (held on 14 February 2009). I draw your attention to the very first scene on the video, a speech made by the Hon. Ratnasiri Wickramanayake MP, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. This is an excerpt of a speech that makes any right-minded Sinhalese extremely ashamed and embarrassed. Referring to the prospect of capturing the LTTE leader alive in northern Sri Lanka, the Hon. Premier says that he should be killed- and that the one who deserves death should be doomed to death. Furthermore, this bold political leader, the incarnation of far-right wing Sinhala nationalism whose hatred and xenophobia equals those of crude Nazism, says that if he [i.e. the LTTE leader] were a ‘girl’, they [i.e. the soldiers, or war heroes of the Sri Lankan military] could have ‘touched’ or ‘fiddled with’ her body!

sexual violence of the Sri Lankan military against Tamil women is fully tolerated by the political leadership and those heading the defence establishment. This is impunity at its highest, and the Sinhala Buddhist majority should be rendered sensitive to the sexual violence practiced by the exclusively Sinhala military. Such a rapist force will never gain the confidence and appreciation of Sri Lankan Tamils, and ought to be viewed with due contempt by all sincere Sinhala Buddhists (and Christians for that matter). The most recent rape-related press release can be read here: http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=28413 Accessed 15 February 2009.

GR: The Embodiment of Fascism

In the BBC interview, soon after the attempt at ‘giggling’, Mr GR goes on to affirm that anyone who talks or writes against the defence establishment will not be tolerated. The BBC journalist, ever so apt at coming to the point, asks if Mr. GR’s stance is similar to that of George Bush (on the war in Iraq): “Either you’re with us or not with us”. The most revealing answer follows “Exactly”. Secondly, it was an extremely carefully orchestrated murder on a major road in Colombo, a city where very tight security and constant identity checks are the norm. Here comes four masked men in motorbikes, blocks a man’s car, attacks him brutally, and once the deadly deal is done, off they fly away at swift pace – on the same Colombo roads. It was surely four Sri Lankans who committed the deed, and where can they have gone soon after? Did some supernatural force make them invisible to the world? Looking at the way the attack was carried out, it is crystal clear that the attackers came from, or were sent by, places of power, with enough power to invert and divert state defence arrangements in Colombo city. They were also a completely fearless group – who surely knew that they are only executing orders, and that they will indeed be protected by those who issued the orders.

Who, in present-day Sri Lanka, can be bold enough to issue such orders? With defence power and military might under the strict influence of one family and its close allies like the Army Commander, none other than those heading the defence establishment could have boldly issued such an order. The Sunday Leader did report that a courier was sent to the Leader office sometime before the incident, with a page from a previous edition with defence-related matter, on which the words Liyovoth maranava’ (You’ll be killed if you write) were written in red. Now who could that be I wonder? Some low-life playing a prank on a major newspaper? Or was it an informal and serious last warning against the type of journalism the Leader practised? Once again, the answer is upto the wise to determine.

In another interview with the BBC, Mr. GR affirms that no news items contradicting the work of the defence establishment will be tolerated. Later on, it was reported that he had even made threats of outright expulsion of foreign media networks including BBC and CNN on the same grounds.

Considering the case of Sri Lanka, the above-mentioned developments in the international scene have relatively little significance. Our conflict is the creation of our own leaders’ decisions to treat a segment of our own people as ‘second class citizens’. This first led to a movement of Tamil nationalism that relied on political means of achieving equality and self-determination, and secondly, due to long inaction, led to the expression of the desire to reach that goal using arms, violence and acts of terror.

Weakening the LTTE’s military might is commendable, as the latter has been an equally ruthless and violent organisation. Yet, such a strategy should be accompanied by a firm commitment to equality, and an equally strong fight against Sinhala nationalist forces, who are ruthlessly brainwashing the Sinhala community. The majority, and especially the hardline elements, must understand and affirm that in Sri Lanka, we are all equal citizens, despite ethnic, religious and linguistic differences. I do not cast all Sinhala Buddhists as the key ‘villains’ in Sri Lanka’s ethnic question. A substantial number of Sinhala Buddhists are products of the educational system I mentioned earlier, and are easily influenced by Sinhala nationalist forces. Yet, there are Sinhala Buddhists with a better understanding of our history, and the need for a discourse based on equality and self-determination. Prior to Western colonisation, our land was governed as regional protectorates, with each region managing their own affairs. The northern people have the fullest right to manage their own administration, legal system, public security structure, have their own regional anthem and live with dignity, while being part of Sri Lanka. In other words, the one and only path ahead is a quintessentially federal solution.