The current Sri Lankan gov has mobilised Sinhala Buddhist national opinion to prosecute this war

Loading...

Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon
Upgrade to the latest Flash Player for improved playback performance. Upgrade now or more info.
8,513
Loading...
Alert icon
Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon

Uploaded by on May 24, 2009

And now to Sri Lanka and two views of this week's historic declaration that the bloody 26-year civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the government is all over, bar the shouting, of course, of which we have heard plenty in the days since. But where to from here for that savagely divided subcontinental island nation? Nirmala Rajasingam is a Sri Lankan Tamil activist and writer living in exile in London. In the 1980s, she was the first woman to be detained under Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act and in 1990 her sister Rajani was assassinated by the LTTE, the notorious Tamil Tigers, for her outspoken views. Given her almost contradictory personal background to this week's momentous shift, Nirmala's reaction has been, to say the least, mixed. George Negus spoke with her from London.

GEORGE NEGUS: Nirmala, thanks for joining us on what is a momentous week - Asia's longest-running civil war, we are told, is now over. But as a former member of the LTTE, a former Tamil Tiger adherent, reading what you have written, you seem to have mixed feelings because you do not feel very affectionately towards either the Tamil Tigers or the Sri Lankan Government.

NIRMALA RAJASINGAM, TAMIL ACTIVIST, SRI LANKA DEMOCRACY FORUM: I think when I heard the news of the defeat of the LTTE, I felt a sense of relief simply because I knew that the war had come to an end and also the insistent, the continuous killings of Tamil dissenters, Tamil democracy activists would stop.

GEORGE NEGUS: Including your sister Nirmala?

Read on : http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/about/id/600046/n/Interview-with-Nirmala...

  • likes, 4 dislikes

Link to this comment:

Share to:

Uploader Comments (federalidea)

  • She seems like the right person to represent Tamils. Why can't she return to SL and run for elections

  • She like to live. She love her Life.

Top Comments

  • LTTE didnt want to surrender for constant appeal from GOSL, last appeal was15th may to lay down arms. but they didnt do. Their plan was through Diaspora and super powers to intervene for ceasefire or 3rd party surrender. What are you crying for now? Bird brained europeans helped terrorists, fed, defended while they are abide by global counter terrorism act. LTTE killed thousands civilians when they ran for life, used white flags last minute? pathetic ppl still defend LTTE. well done SL Army.

  • Sri Lanka does not need a Tamil or a Sinhala person to fill a gap, this is the problem, Sri Lanka needs a nation loving human to fill the gap not one race or other.

see all

All Comments (52)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • @avinashi07 False. The ancestors (Indo-Aryans) of Sinhalese people migrated from Bengal. Sinhalese people now have a lot in common with Tamils because of 3000 years of co-habitation.

  • Im glad I heard what she had to say. Because I know how rutheless, cold blooded and corrupt the Sinhalese nationalists and SL governement are, and how cenosored and biased the media is Ive always been cautiously sympathetic towards the LTTE. Its good to know that they are also the bad guys even if some of there members may be innocent victims of persecution or forced recruitement who only want justice

  • Any sane person can understand that the interviewer is putting words in the lady's mouth to support his pro-LTTE agenda without trying to address the real issue.

  • aioo no?

  • sri LANkan government's discrimation towards tamils from 1948,created theLTTE.

    from the first sri lanka never accepts tamil rights,they are always anti-tamils.SRI LANKA NEVER GIVE TAMIL RIGHTS UNLESS THERE IS PRESSURE!

    THATS Y NONE OF THE TAMILS SUPPORT FOR SRI LANKAN RACIST ,MAJORITY DOMINATED GOVERNMENT,WEATHER THEy SUPPORT LTTE OR NOT!

  • TAMILS ARE NOT INVADERS !!!

    Tamils have been in Sri Lanka as far back as BC . Tamils and Sinhalese were the same race before invasion by Indo-Aryans, then the Chola Kings from South India split them to separate races ..Yes, LATER some Tamils from India were brought by British as plantation workers .Moors are actually Tamil Muslims .

  • What an intelligent woman.

  • Hi brigade, my father to uncles was in the army slk from the british days to the ltte war, we need to deverlop over country now without war, they ask for a fight we gave a good one and won, now we want to show the beauty of the mother land and the people.

  • THATS SO RIGHT BROTHER.........

    THEY LAND IS INDIA .....everybody KNOW THAT ESPACIALY SIHALESS....*****

    tamils know that too........*****

    HISTORY IS HISTORY......

    PAKIS CANT claiM UK as their HOME..., turkish CANt claim GERMANY, aranbs CANT claiM FRANCE ..........

    its simple as that.....**

    BEG A "CANADAM" to whites masters if u can ...

    NEVER TRY FOR SINHALE ......HISTORY SHOW HOW SINHALESS ARE UNDEFEACTIBLE ..

    WE NEVER ACCEPTED ANY KIND OF DEFEACT....IN THE PAST ..

Loading...

Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more