An old Tactic of a thief is to shout “Thief, Thief” and run with the mob pointing to some one else!
“Apparently, Eelamist activists intent on covering the real facts have availed themselves of this old tactic. They are trying to heap blame on the Sri Lankan government to further the objectives of the Trans national Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE). They have urged the Trudeau government to act on “disappearances in Sri Lanka” (see the report in the Toronto Star, 14-Sept-2020).
Amnesty International claims that at least 60,000 people have disappeared in Sri Lanka since the late 1980s, with most of the victims being Tamil. In fact, there is a similar number of Sinhalese who also lost their lives due to the conflict. Given a war that lasted 35 years, if we use the Amnesty International figure, on the average some 4 or 5 people have disappeared each day. We also know that most of these people were victims of the LTTE itself.
Mr. Anandasangaree, then General Secretary of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) of Sri Lanka, addressing the annual general meeting of the party on 29th December 2008 drew attention to the large scale killing of Tamils by the LTTE as the Tigers regarded the weak and the wounded as a liability. Of course no records were kept. Aren’t they part of the “unaccounted disappeared”?.
Right from the start, the LTTE executed all those who dissented, declaring them to be traitors (thurogi). Well known Tamil journalists like D. B. S, Jeyraj, and Sebastian Rasalingam have stated that the LTTE has killed more Tamils than all the Government forces put together, going all the way back to King Dutugemunu! (see http://federalidea.com/focus/archives/201)
So, it is the LTTE and its supporters, and NOT the Sri Lankan government, who have to primarily answer for the disappearances of Tamils. The LTTE ran a de facto government in the North and East for three decades, and the disappearances happened there.
Furthermore, many of the “disappeared” are “refugees” who have taken new identities and are living in the West. This is a conclusion that can be supported using data available not only at intelligence agencies, but even on various public websites (e.g., https://thuppahis.com/2016/10/31/returned-tamil-asylum-seekers-today-a-jaundiced-and-gullible-australian-reporters-view/).
Chandre Dharma-wardana
About Author
More Stories
Sri Lankan President Engages in Historic Talks with Global Tamil Forum, Buddhist Monastics
A Pivotal Day at the Appeal Court: Examining the Proceedings on the Tamil Genocide Education Week Act
Open letter to PM: Divisive Imported Diaspora Politics is pitting communities against each other and damaging the Canadian multicultural fabric!