Tamil Diaspora to Blame?!

Really?!

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

Channel 4 screened this last night. At 23:05. Way past the watershed because the scenes were too distressing and some quite gruesome. For those outside of the UK – it can be watched on 4OD here.

My FB , texts, emails and Twitter were bombarded with reminders and pleas urging friends and families to watch it. To spread the word and help raise the profile of it. I did the same.

Tamils in the Diaspora are labelled as “terrorist sympathisers” because they want to see people brought to justice for the death of innocent Tamil civilians.

The short documentary shows footage from civilian recordings and from military personnel (trophy videos I call them!). I cannot even begin to explain how I felt seeing this stuff.

Let’s face it – the end of the civil war in SL was a bloody one. I mean wars usually are. And the defeat of the LTTE signifies hope and peace for the beautiful island but it was at a big cost to the civilians that were caught in the no fire safety zone.

The no fire safety zone – created by the GOSL and its military powers so that civilians leaving the north would be able to be safe. Encouraged to stay there for their own safety only to be bombarded by shelling and artillery fire. By both sides. I don’t doubt that the LTTE didn’t have some part to play in the deaths of civilians by using them not only as human shields but their own shelling in retaliation to the attack by the military forces in the “no fire safety zone” (they might even have instigated it – but without independent reporting, we’ll never know).

The report calls for an independent war crime investigation. The UN published a report in April 2011 that as many as 40000 people died in the final weeks of the civil war and the report states that Ban Ki-Moon refuses to call for an independent inquiry.
The UN is a complete and utter joke. How can it be taken seriously when it talks of war crimes in Libya but Ban-Ki Moon ignores them elsewhere? Are civilian casualties not important when they are in the third world?! Or when there is a lack of oil profits available? How disheartening is it that a human life is worth so much less than the commodity that is oil?!

Look at the similarities between Ratko Mladic, Bosnian Serb army chief and what happened in Srebrenica and what has happened in SL. Will the world need to wait an excess amount of years before someone is to answer for the deaths?

It will be said that this is LTTE propaganda and in all fairness the documentary does not present a balanced view (in my humble opinion). Both sides are to blame and both should face the consequences. But the GoSL should hand over the captured LTTE members (if in fact they are still alive) so that they can also face charges against them for war crimes.

You judge a person by the company they keep. SL allies itself with China, Russia, Iran and Israel – all countries with questionable human rights and still the UN stands by and does nothing. The worst thing is - SL gets it weapons from these countries but these countries get it from the USA/UK. It's a joke!

I don’t live in SL. I never have. I will never know what it’s like to experience being a Tamil in SL first hand. Nor will I never know what it is like questioning whether I would have able to board a bus safely in the Colombo without fearing for my life. So my writings here are a reflection of what I have seen, heard and do know.

What I do know is that it is not our place to take peoples’ lives.

It’s not a question of LTTE vs. GoSL. It’s not a question of Tamils vs. Sinhalese. It’s a question of how were tens of thousands of innocent Tamil civilians were allowed to die and nobody did anything to stop it. And now nobody is doing anything to question it.

Bloody Hell!!

Is this true?!

Forgive me for my ignorance but what does this mean for the people of SL?

And this is a serious question - but what incentives were there to vote for him?

Screening

Just exactly how are they doing it at Menik Farm?*


*Serious question I swear...

The Same Record!

I am sick and tired of having to defend the Tamil Diaspora! Seriously! I am a member of the Tamil Diaspora so why are people tarring me with the same brush?! You don't know what my feelings are! Like by association is not acceptable (in my humble opinion) but what to do. Before I joined the gospel of all blogs Sri Lankan(!) - I was much more optimistic in my approach to the views of Tamils by the majority Sinhalese but reading some blogs, I wonder if maybe I was being too kind? But then how does that make me any different to them?! Good job then that I know that the views that I read are not of the majority of the population of SL but maybe that's (thankfully) due to my Tamil Diaspora mentality - being able to differentiate between opinions!

*rant over*

On a side note - as I was travelling on the underground the other day, the man sitting next to me (around 40 years old) took a camera out of his bag. Whilst pretending that he was "looking" through his photos, he discreetly took a photo of the woman who was sitting opposite him. Now this woman was not provocatively dressed, nor was she stunning - she was an attractive, moderately dressed woman aged about 26 ish.

My dilemma was if I should tell her. Quick text to A to ask for his opinion as I was coming up to my stop. "YES." comes the reply. So just as I was about to get off, I said to her that the man opposite her had taken a photo of her. She questioned him and he replied saying that he hadn't taken a photo of her but of the scenery behind her! Oh really?! Come on - as the tube is whizzing past, there's not much you might be able to get in to a photo AND I saw the picture - there's no scenery - just the woman.

Did I do the right thing? What are the laws (if any) about this? It's a bit worrying that this can happen and that most people just sit and not say anything to avoid confrontations!

And on a complete and utter side note I am meeting Pseudo tomorrow. SO NER - take that the regular meet up people at open mic nights or in and around Colombo (you know who you are)!! Hater? Me?! Never! :-P

Can You Blame Them?!

Following the recent events in SL, the Tamil Diaspora have been labelled a lot of things and many have been unsympathetic towards the actions of the GoSL but what do they expect when they do this?

It is said that actions speak louder than words and despite the cargo of the ship having been confirmed, yet by turning back this aid, what message are the GoSL sending to the Tamil Diaspora or indeed the Tamils that require this aid in the IDP camps?

Every day I see campaign after campaign from aid agencies asking for donations to help solve the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka. Surely every little bit should help?!

I understand that the maybe the correct measures were not taken in order to receive the vessel but surely any and all the help should be accepted and embraced? That is, if their primary concern is for the safety of those in the IDP camps.....

The 5 Word Taggy

I was tagged by Pseudo (bless her heart!) and basically we have to write 5 words about how we feel about the recent events in Sri Lanka so here goes!

1. Anger

2. Relief

3. Disheartened

4. Hope

5. Concern

I'm not going to follow the rules and tag 5 other people because everyone has pretty much been tagged. I'm also not doing what a majority of people have done and give an explanation of why they've chosen their words but am willing to do so if anyone really wants to know! :)