OK.

I will readily admit that LTTE didn’t rape Rajiv Gandhi, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Lakshman Kadiragamar, Nilan Thiruchelwam, A. Amirthalingam, Uma Maheshwaran, Kethesh Loganathan and 51 high ranking Tamil politicians. And they didn’t rape thousands of Muslims and Sinhalese people before chasing away from their home lands.

the Ltte killed many, no one disputes that, but you sir are a prime example of the result of propaganda spewing from the government sewers

Of all the atrocities the Tigers did, the one they did NOT do was to rape. i suggest that you check your facts before posting anything, because such ignorant posts would only serve to underline your lack of knowledge about the issue #151 was talking about.

peace does not come forth from ignorance, but from knowledge. unless one knows what transpired, people will make the same mistakes again and again.

such posts like yours do not even merit a reply; but i replied once for the sake of decency. take back that false claim if you are a honorable gentleman.

Say “peace” to the poor little girls and boys who has been raped / hacked / killed by the LTTE in the border villages. Say “peace” to the mothers and fathers whose partners has been separated from their familys by the LTTE and has not been seen since. say “peace” to thousands of women, girl students who have been abducted and raped / hacked / killed by the LTTE who were supposed to be fighting for them. Say “peace” to starved civilians who was in the LTTE held ares. say “peace” to the injured and the hungry civilians in the camps. Say “peace” to the thousands of civilians who have been killed and maimed by the LTTE in the last 30 years.

Much more.

Say “peace” to the Rajiv Gandhi. Say “peace” to the Ranasinghe Premadasa. Say “peace” to Lakshman Kadiragamar, Nilan Thiruchelwam, A. Amirthalingam, Uma Maheshwaran, Kethesh Loganathan and 51 high ranking Tamil politicians. Say “peace” to all the assassinated Sinhalese politicians whose name list I cant put hear. say “peace” to thousands of Muslims and Sinhalese people chased away from their home lands by rootless LTTE.
I don’t think we have enough space here.

I have 2 kids. A boy and girl. Aged 8 and 13. We need peace for them. Lets keep in our minds the lives lost.
But lets get together and work towards a end to all these things.

Yes you are correct. I know the tragedy of the people of KKS

I had been living in an European country, where everyone was white, and I was brown. But did it ever cross my mind that I was a foreigner in that country? No, it never crossed my mind. I never aimed to get just a job, but a job according to my qualifications, and these “white” people, in the company was subordinate to me. I didn’t consider them as white, or me as brown.

Interestingly, it was “they”, who insisted that I take their citizenship, while I was holding fast to my SL passport .

So, you see, I believe, if anyone has a “2nd class citizen” feeling, then it is a ONLY a state of mind.

How about getting out of that feeling? I don’t think my very prosperous Tamil friends became that rich by having that type of a state of mind.

That’s why I think, I strongly believe that Prabakaran had a feeling of inferior complex. Anyway, he could have any complex he wants, but he shouldn’t have led the innocent Tamil farmers, workers, teachers, school children,etc, etc to their death.

You see, the only thing Prabakaran achieved was a staggering amount of his own Tamil deaths and destroying of the economy of the country of his birth.

How can anyone wants to kill the country of his birth and destroy it? That’s why I think, he was not exactly a Tamil, but of some other ethnicity (Keralite?)

If he was a Tamil, then he wouldn’t have ordered another Tamil to die by suicide, would he? He was “supposed” to save the Tamils, but not to destroy them, well?

As “Native” said, I’m falling into the category of 3. Where upon I had a chance to mingle with majorities and minorities since my birth in the heart of Colombo. We all lived as a single family, be it Sinhala, Tamil or my Muslim brothers and sisters. I left my country when I was 22 years old, and now am 37, so do the math.

Those Vesak days in Pansala was cool (offering cool drinks, and lightning was fun). Sharing kokkis, Kaha bath (Yellow rice), Kiri bath (milk rice) & pol sambol with my Sinhala friends. Those days with “Kodi Naduthal” (posting high poles in every corner of the street in Colombo – Kotchikkade area during St.Anthony�s festival) was fun. Sharing my Muslim brotherhoods with foods was fun. Can you find a proper “Vattalappam� or good Briyani in Toronto? And why not Vell Vilzha in Wellawatte? Do these Tamil diasporas know how much of Tamils and Sinhala and Muslims brothers and sisters used to attend those events together?

When I was young, if I fall in sick my father used to take me to Mosques , where upon an Hajji will wrap a thread on my wrist (for free). Second step would be, my grandmother who used to take me to Armour Street Buddhist temple for a pray.

I pretty much sure, our main problem is language. We should respect languages, be it Tamil or Sinhala (in that case our Muslim brothers are escaped, as most of them can manage 2 of the major languages in SL and plus English. I know this, since I’m mingling with all of these 3 communities as of today, here in Canada)

Long ago, in Canada there was an election held against Ottawa and Quebec. Ottawa narrowly escaped by 4% majorities. That is because of multiculturalism in Canada. Even today, if you travel into the inner cities of Quebec, they will NOT respect you otherwise unless you speak French (although they can understand English). The same attitude apply to SL too. It is a best practice to shuffle the SL people across the country, thus providing some sort of mutual understating between majorities and minorities. M�sia and S�pore are better exemplar. A comment from Gopal (refer your post http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/697 @ comment #35) is a nice observance. They are our model countries.

Now the question is how we can accommodate/facilitate those innocent IDP�s?
1. Most of the IDP�s relatives are living abroad, perhaps those relatives can help them financially (It is an evident that how LTTE received so much of advanced weapons!, Sure for sure these diasporas helped the LTTE for their arm procurements, no one can deny that. Having said that, if they could have spend their hard earned money towards those innocent people, then there won�t be even a single IDP camp, period!). For me, these diasporas are really a nuisance value. They all want a separate state rather than United SL. They are dragging their own children (who are less than 5 years old, who are obviously born in Canada and who are unaware of the current SL situation. And, I know what is the reason is. That is because, police cannot use tracer gun against kids. Other opt is, they could not find a babysitter/day care for their financial situations)
2. When it comes to IDP without any supports from overseas, it is our responsibility to take care of them as a fellow human being. They are our own brothers , sisters, mothers and fathers. They have almost lost everything in their life. They need our utmost help now. Please help them. As an expatriate I could not do much toward these people.

WE ARE ONE NATION, sharing same cultures, same tradition and why do need to fight against each other?

“Key for peace is reconciliation plus awareness. Without proper awareness, any reconciliation is just a superficial effort. I think most are ready to reconcile. But there are too many who are just not aware.”

My sincerest hope is that this government would bring about success to all of us!

We should do our little bit and help it to achieve success, what do you say, dear all?

Shall we say, the opposition, whatever that is, just don’t be in opposition, but be creative and positive?

Shall we say, we the ordinary people, smile at each other, whatever our personal problems are?

For all of us, our little personal problems are so massive, but in the context of the country, these problems are just a drop of water in the ocean, so shall we say, that everyone of us find a way to be nice to the other person?

Or am I being terribly idealistic?

I take this opportunity to thank all those “Noble” present and the past human beings of Sri-Lanka for their assistance in “Peace building and reconciliation”.

Let me mention one of them, only one, otherwise my comment will be too long and I have to write other things as well:

Brigadier Larry Wijeratne –

The one and the only “Sinhalese high ranking Army officer ” ever to enjoy tremendous support and respect from the northern Tamils, especially of Point Pedro area for his Noble service.

He was indeed “Gem of a man”, who won Tamil’s “Hearts and minds” with his services.

For peace to succeed in Sri-Lanka and for Tamils to feel equal citizens, the government should immediately work on following issues:

1) The easing of the restrictions imposed on IDP camps. This will enable relief agencies as well as any one wish to help, to provide assistance to the dire needy.

2) Release the elderly, sick and women and children immediately so they can go on with their lives. When asked Dr. Kohona, he gave this answer.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8083505.stm

3)Induct Tamils in to the armed forces and the police. Diluting the armed forces will prevent them from perpetrating atrocities against the Tamil civilians and also will enable local communities to communicate effectively in their own language.

Here is an example of Navy’s brutality in Mannar in 2006

This was published in the June 14th, 2006 Morning Leader newspaper..
http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/180

As for police, it’s imperative that Tamils and Muslims should be recruited immediately. There are almost none exist in the North and the east while the majority of the population is Tamil speaking.

4)Stop the witch hunt and lets forgive and forget the past and march forward.

5)Provide incentives for the displaced persons to get back to their original places and dismantle the High Security Zones. This will not only make people to get back their lost houses in these area and also will bring back our Colombo “Fort area back to live.

Hope to see Sri-Lanka get back to “Glorious Ceylon” era in very near future, when there was ethnic harmony and Ceylon was the envy of all our neighbours with high standards of living.

Peace!

Thanks for your kind note about my mum. Sadly she is no more. She was unique in being able to find forgiveness and kindness in her heart for everyone. Bless her.

My sister that I referred to in my note is a Sinhalese lady who came to be a help in our house in Jaffna when I was still a baby. I am now sixty one years old. She stayed on and became a daughter to my parents and a sister to us. In the midst of all the troubles in Jaffna, she stayed there, she was one of us. She always protected mum, especially when they both travelled from Kayts to Colombo. She looked after mum till she died a few years ago. I can boldly say, I have a sister who is a Sinhalese by birth.

The truth is that there are very many kind and loving people in both communities. Unfortunately, they have been silenced by the noise of the guns and bombs up to now. I remember soon after the last peace accord was signed, when I visited Colombo from London, I met many ordinary people openly telling me, “Aney Mahathaya, I don’t know why we ever fought. We are like children of one mother. We could so easily live with each other”. I am sure they meant it.

The noise of the guns and bombs are now gone, hopefully for good. It is now dead quiet, except for the sound of the IDPs crying. We also hear the silent sound of the people who died in Mullaiteevu. They are crying out for justice. Should we ignore them? Should we strive for peace when that sound, that noise is still in the background?

They want to know if there were war crimes committed by the Tigers and by the GOSL. They want justice. Not revenge, but justice. When they get justice, then everyone can truly say sorry and mean it. When that happens, there will be silence. There will be peace.

Until that happens, there will be that wailing and weeping sound in the background.

JMPillai