Tamil Eelam - Tamil Homeland -Sri Lanka War Crimes

When the British government entrusted the fate of the Tamils to a group of Sinhala politicians when they granted the independence to Sri Lanka in 1948, the Tamil people did not clamour for freedom for themselves. They did not suspect that they would in course of time be made second class citizens of this country. But some Tamil leaders did perceptively ask for bigger representation for the Tamils in the legislature. This was justified by later events when the plantation Tamils were deprived of their franchise. What the next 25 years saw was not only the erosion of Tamil rights but also the erosion of the Tamil homeland. For 25 years, the Tamil leaders expressed their protest in Parliament and outside, adopting the principles of ahimsa and satyagraha. But what happened? In 1956 the Tamil leaders sat down to a peaceful protest on Galle Face Green. Sinhala thugs were unleashed on them. Later, in 1961, when the Tamil leaders and the Tamil people sat in peaceful satyagraha in front of the Jaffna Kacheri, the Sri Lanka army did not fail to react with inhumane violence. In which chapter of your long history of democracy are you going to incorporate these events? Not one, not two, but there have been a continuing series of thuggery and violence inflicted on the Tamil people over a period of 25 years. How many chapters will you need to record this 25 year villainy? How many Tamils have been robbed of both their lives and their material wealth? There have been Tamil women whose chastity has been offended in the very presence of their family members. Tamil cultural wealth preserved for generations has been put to flames. What a mockery to think that these could be compensated by a few lakhs of rupees! Have all these acts of hurt and humiliation made the Tamil people lose their determination? Have they gone back on their ideals? These acts of hurt and humiliation have only strengthened their resolve. We have never missed an opportunity to make the Sri Lanka government conscious of our mind. Twice in two elections the Tamil people have recently re stated their aspirations......" "...Allegations are made that we are asking for separation, that we are trying to divide the country. When were we undivided after all? Our traditional land captured by the European invaders has never been restored to us. We have not even mortgaged our land at any time to anyone in the name of one country. Our land has changed hands off and on under various regimes, and that is what has happened. We have yet to reach a stage when we can have our land for ourselves. What we ask for is not division but freedom. Why we ask this is not because of narrow thinking. What we hope to achieve is not only the emancipation of the Tamil people but the greater good of the Sinhalese people themselves. Why? Because, thereafter, the so-called Tamil problem will cease to be a livelihood for opportunist Sinhalese politicians. That will provide a chance for the Sinhalese people to free themselves from the political, social and economic shackles that bind them today and realize where their true slavery lies...." Sri Lanka is now internationally recognized as one of the the most horrific sites of genocide in human history. A former UN official who worked in Sri Lankla says close to 40,000 Tamil civilains have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured including many thousands of children in the final days of the war in May last year. The Sri Lankan armed forces widely accused of intentionally killing civilians by targeting schools and hospitals. War crimes, dire violation of humanitarian and human rights laws have systematically taken place against the Tamil minority with the direct and in-direct blessing of the Sri Lankan government. Sri Lanka so far not demonstrated it is seriuos about complying with the international norms on the issues of war crimes, violation of humanitarian and human rights laws. Sri Lanka' state terrorism well passed for the past 62 years unchecked by the world and media including Arab News, pushed into the throat of Tamils which paved the way for the arm resistance from Tamils to deter the state terrorism which killed more than 100,000 Tamil civilians for the past 62 years.

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