9/25/2013 10:44:00 PM
NIRMANUSAN
Mahinda Rajapaksa @PresRajapaksa:
This is the first time we are doing this. There may have been
technical lapses. Lalith Weeratunga
Sep 25, 2013
My Question and the President’s Silence
Sep 21, 2013
Respect and Democracy in Our Hearts
My mum (72) got discharged from Jaffna hospital this morning, immediately traveled nearly 35KM and then took tuktuk/auto to cast her vote before coming home, despite I don't believe either Sri Lanka constitution or provincial council system due to the denial of Tamils rights and repressive policies. Though, I respect mum's decision and admire her continuing commitment to the cause.
Northern Elections: A litmus test for democracy or Tamil national aspirations?
Just a few hours after the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon announced the forthcoming provincial elections in Sri Lanka to be an important opportunity for political reconciliation in the country, a terrifying attack took place against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate, Mrs Ananthi Sasitharan at Chuzhipuram in Jaffna at approximately 12:45 am.
Midnight Terror
According to Mrs Sasitharan, members of the Sri Lankan armed forces and the government backed paramilitary group, Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) were behind this murder attempt. The national organizer of independent election monitoring committee Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) confirmed the military’s involvement in this attack. Soldiers reportedly also blocked independent election monitors from reaching the site of the crime .
The incident was firstly reported via twitter by the Jaffna Press Club
Midnight terror: Attempt to assassinate #TNA Candidate #AnathySasitharan #NPC #Election
Jaffna Press Club further reported that nearly 20 military personnel, military intelligence operatives and EPDP members arrived with guns, swords, knives and poles to attack Mrs Sasistharan. Though, the rapid response of her supporters prevented her and her three daughters from any physical harm.
Twelve of Mrs Sasitharan’s supporters and an election observer attached to People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) were injured by the military and members of their armed gang, with eight of them 12 injured requiring hospitalization. The incident has left the wounded traumatized and extremely frightened about the incident and their future safety, refusing to be photographed for fear of consequences. Mrs Sasitharan and her daughters are in a state of shock, though Mrs Sasitharan has courageously chosen to be interviewed about the incident despite being threatened by the attackers that death would ensue if anyone spoke out it.
I did not think that they (Sri Lankan army) would carry out an attack on a woman in the middle of the night, given the international community is closely observing the election process, but now, everything has been turned upside down, said Mrs Sasitharan. She further said, the police did not answer her calls when she contacted the authorities on the Emergency number 119 to complain about the attack against her, pointing out that the election commissioner in fact came and performed his duty well before the arrival of the police to the crime scene.
Mrs Sasitharan said the attackers along with unleashing physical violence, also shouted out, “You speak of Tamil nationalism? You want the Northern Provincial Council?” when they attacked the victims, later threating, “If you leak any news about the attack, we will kill you within four days.”
This was not the first murder attempt on Mrs Ananthi Sasitharan. There have already been two explicit attempts to assassinate Mrs Sasistharan during her current election campaign, both of which she narrowly escaped. She has also reported noticing her vehicle being followed on various occasions by ‘unidentified men’.
A Witness of the Mullivaaykkaal ‘Surrender’
Mrs Ananthi Sasitharan is a mother to three daughters and the wife of former head of Trincomalee political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE), Sinnathurai Sasitharan alias Ezhizhan. Ezhizhan’s fate is yet unknown since he surrendered to the Sri Lanka army on 18 May 2009. Mrs Sasitharan, a direct eye witness to the surrender of the LTTE’s senior political officers, along with a Catholic priest, to the Sri Lankan army in Vadduvaakal in Mullivaaykkaal, is the only female candidate of the TNA.
She is an outspoken candidate who has never hesitated to speak out about the genocidal acts of the Sri Lankan regime or criticize the internal politics of the TNA.
A day before the attack, she said in an interview to the Tamil Guardian:
Our homeland is completely occupied by the military…
In the final stages of the war, there was a large-scale surrender, which the government completely denies any knowledge of. But the UN knew about this surrender; American officials knew and even the Indian government knew how many people surrendered – I don’t know why they are all silent…
The issue of missing people, or people unaccounted for after the war, is a really pressing matter for us. On top of those that are missing, there are Tamil political prisoners that have been in captivity for many years and there have been no meaningful steps taken towards their release. If there is something called hell, it is in the Sri Lankan state prisons.
The TNA is seeking a 2/3 majority in the upcoming elections. Mrs Sasitharan, who has been publicly advocating for over four years for the whereabouts of her husband and has become a bold voice for families of the disappeared, has a strong chance of winning in these elections. She has repeatedly stated that regardless of whether she wins or loses, her struggle on behalf of disappeared and their families will continue.
The TNA is seeking a 2/3 majority in the upcoming elections. Mrs Sasitharan, who has been publicly advocating for over four years for the whereabouts of her husband and has become a bold voice for families of the disappeared, has a strong chance of winning in these elections. She has repeatedly stated that regardless of whether she wins or loses, her struggle on behalf of disappeared and their families will continue.
De ja vu: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields
Mr. Sugash Kanagaratnam, an election monitor attached to PAFFREL and Attorney-at-Law, who is currently hospitalized due the attack last night described the events of the attack: They broke open the doors and got about five of us to come out of the house and forced us to kneel down in a nearby field used for banana cultivation. The army personnel pointed guns from the behind and even loaded them. I instantly remembered the scenes from the Channel 4 ‘Killing Fields’ documentary and thought that we all were going to be murdered. They wanted to give us the worst possible fear of death.
Fear among the Tamil people continues to rise as the culture of impunity in the island of Sri Lanka continues to mount. Given such brutal violence already, there is a strong potential for planned post-election violence. The military intelligence operatives have reportedly already collected information about supporters of certain TNA candidates. They have also obtained recordings of speeches made by certain TNA candidates and certain TNA politicians at the rallies. BBC correspondent Charles Haviland has described the situation in Jaffna as an atmosphere of bitterness and violence in the area .
Democracy, Reconciliation and Self-Determination
The attack on democracy in Sri Lanka began long before the violent assault on Mrs Sasitharan and her supporters, and arguably the island has backslid a long way from democracy. Considering the ongoing records of the genocidal process by the Sri Lankan state against the Tamil nation, suppression on press freedom, freedom of expression, intervention on independence of the judiciary, rule of law and good governance indicates the severe attack on democracy.
The latest attack on Mrs Sasitharan shows not only the lack of respect for democracy by Sri Lanka armed forces and the government, but also their hatred towards the Tamil nation. Rather than repeatedly finding faults or accusing the Tamils, concerned stake-holders should ask themselves why the right to self-determination and the ideology of nationhood is so powerful among the Tamil people even four and half years after the destruction of the LTTE.
In a statement condemning the attack on Mrs Sasitharan, the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) said:
These incidents only reaffirm that in order to cease the continuation of such attacks, the Tamil nation needs to be freed from the domination of the Sinhala nation, with the recognition of Tamil sovereignty through the creation of a solution whereby a sovereign Tamil nation exists together alongside a Sinhala nation.
It should be noted that at a rally in Kilinochchi, the former administrative capital of the LTTE, TNA MP, Mr.M.A.Sumanthiran said:
The international community wants to know whether Tamils support nationhood and self-determination and the people’s verdict at the election can endorse this position.
‘Moderate’ TNA MPs cannot be found at fault for making election campaign speeches dominated by phrases such as Tamil nationalism, self-determination, self-rule and nationhood, as they are merely pressured to do so by the people who are suffering in a sickening and pathetic situation further detailed below.
The national question of the Tamil people remains yet unanswered. The root causes of the conflict have yet not been addressed. The current Sri Lankan regime, as previous regimes, is far away from any meaningful political solution to the Tamil national question. The survivors and victims of genocide continue to tirelessly seek justice. Structural genocide has reached its high peak through accelerated military occupation and Sinhala settlements in the Tamil nation, while oppression of the Tamil people and the culture of impunity continue. For decades Tamil rights have been denied and today the Tamil people are unable to experience normalcy. The current regime is still flaunting in a mood of triumphalism though the direct war came to an end almost four and half years ago.
The increasingly widening gulf between the repressive policies of an ethnocratic state and the ongoing abstract ‘reconciliation discourse’ is not a false projection of the ‘Tiger propagandists’ but an undeniable ground reality. The northern election will not be a litmus test for Sri Lanka’s dysfunctional democracy, as many would like to believe. But it will certainly be a testing ground that would prove Tamil people’s undying resilience and collective will to be free.
Image courtesy: Tamilnet.com
May 4, 2013
Is the Tamil Diaspora Against Unity in Sri Lanka?
“The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
The Tamil Diaspora is a diverse ethnic group. Amongst it, the majority are strongly connected to their kith and kin in the island of Sri Lanka.
Arguably, the Tamil Diaspora is also a very powerful body. It reflects the aspirations and the grievances of the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka who continue to live under severe suppression, in an open prison. Considering the Sri Lankan state’s oppression of the Tamil people on the ground, the interaction between them and the Tamil Diaspora, though invisible, is very efficient and effective.
Since May 2009’s Tamil genocide, the role of the Tamil Diaspora has reshaped to rebuild the lives, and social, economic, cultural and political structures of their beloved ones.
This is no easy task, given a powerful section of the Tamil Diaspora chooses not to send any financial contributions to their loved ones through the Sri Lankan government, the very agent which carried out the genocidal war against the Tamil nation and one which is accelerating the Sinhalisation process under the banner of ’development‘ and ’reconstruction‘.
Furthermore, while no genuine attempts are being made by the Sri Lankan state for a political solution to the Tamil national question, the Tamil Diaspora views engagement with the Sri Lankan state as legitimising Sri Lanka’s genocide against the Tamil nation and permitting its time-buying strategy to continue the structural genocide of the Tamil people.
Yet, the Tamil Diaspora continues through other means to empower their brethren. Keeping in mind the safety, security, survival and well-being of the Tamil people, these approaches and methods used to rebuild the Tamil people’s lives in their nation cannot be further elaborated on.
Despite the many positive interventions by them, on many occasions, these are neglected and the Tamil Diaspora purposely labelled as spoilers by the Sri Lankan state and a section of the International Community.
I have co-authored a paper[1] and written an article[2] about the Tamil Diaspora in the past two years. Two very recent developments have made me once again see the need to record the observations from the Tamil Diaspora’s point of view.
I wish to note firstly that I am completely opposed to all forms of racist and hateful actions being carried out against the Muslim people by Sinhala Buddhist chauvinists such as the Bodu Bala Sena. This is similar to the position I have taken when the Sinhala state executed atrocities against the Tamil nation. I support all anti-racist campaigns. My Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil friends are also aware of this.
Photo credit: Colombo Telegraph
Having clarified this, a photograph from the recently held “Rally for Unity” event where former Sri Lankan diplomat Dr. Dayan Jayatillake was present, provoked my thoughts. Dr. Jayatillake was Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva during and after the war in 2009. When a special session, requested by Germany on behalf of 17 member states, at the UN Human Rights Council in late May that year attempted through a resolution to bring accountability to grave human rights violations committed during the final stages of the war, it was defeated under the leadership of Dr. Jayatillake. In essence, Dr. Jayatillake misled and deceived a section of the international community, justifying the Sri Lanka state’s violation of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law. Now, he no longer holds a diplomatic post. Yet, to date he has neither apologised for his past wrong-doings nor acknowledged the mass atrocities carried out by the Sri Lankan state he once represented. While his participation at “Hate Has No Place in Sri Lanka – Rally For Unity” may have been appreciated or welcomed if his attendance had followed an acceptance of past wrong doings, in light of his unwillingness to do so, it not only allows his actions to be criticised but also makes the intention of the rally questionable.
My second disturbing observation is that of Sri Lanka’s former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka’s attendance at the World Press Freedom Day celebrations in Colombo on 3 May 2013. Sarath Fonseka is an alleged war criminal. There are also reports which implicate his involvement in the assassinations of several journalists, in particular the murder of prominent journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga.
Photo credit : Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
The idea of a man involved in the very activities which suppress and obstruct freedom of expression, being allowed to participate in an event that celebrates media freedom, is more than simply ironic. Far more ominous though is the fact that he was invited to light candles while Sandya Eknalygoda, wife of cartoonist Prageeth Eknalygoda who disappeared in January 2010, was not invited to do so despite her presence at the event.
These types of disturbing trends not only demotivate like-minded people but question the aim of legitimate causes. Personally, I hope my Sri Lankan brothers and sisters take this into consideration.
Yet, when these genuine concerns were also raised by members of the Tamil Diaspora, they were seen as acts of stirring disharmony.
The Tamil Diaspora also originated from the island. The large majority have at least one family member or relative residing in the island. The members of the Tamil Diaspora are also against hate; they too love peace. They are not against unity and as long there are genuine efforts to create a just and peaceful environment in the island they will support, if not at least appreciate it, along with their struggle for justice for their brethren.
This is a lesson I have learnt from the Tamil Diaspora throughout the last four years.
Of course there are shortcomings in the Tamil Diaspora, as in all other communities, that need to be overcome swiftly. Yet, that does not justify referring to them as spoilers.
A section of the International Community once saw the LTTE as the problem to resolving the conflict, believing the Sri Lanka state that elimination of the LTTE would create a space for a political solution and national reconciliation. However, evolving developments are clear evidence that past assumptions were incorrect. The same section of the International Community and the Sri Lankan state now see the Tamil Diaspora as trouble-makers.
The false lesson once taught by the Sri Lankan state has today forced all stakeholders of the ethno-political conflict of Sri Lanka to endure the consequences. Now exists a new opportunity to either fall into another trap laid out by the Sri Lankan state or to utilise the opportunity for course correction.
The world has already learnt a bitter lesson from Sri Lanka. The question now is: Will the concerned actors grab the opportunity and walk in the right direction? If yes, the Tamil Diaspora will march alongside with them.
May 3, 2013
Sri Lanka: The intentions behind the land grabbing process
Introduction
In the so-called ‘post-war’ Sri Lanka context, land grabbing, Sinhalization and military occupation of the Tamil nation have become pivotal points in the political development discourse. The deep concerns that exist amongst the majority of the Tamils, which are directed towards their present and future existence, are these same issues.
The political discourse within the international community is unable to keep pace with the real-time implementation and effects on the ground. The international community continues to talk about reconciliation and the Sri Lankan state seems keener on Sinhala settlements and militarization in the Tamil nation. All three actors have not only different aspects but their own interests as well. For the Tamil people living in the Northeast of the island, the apparent predominant concern is the ability to retain a dignified life; now and into the future. Having said so, this article analyses the real intention behind the land grabbing process being accelerated by the Sri Lankan State, particularly since the end of Eelam War IV in May 2009.
Interpretation
When the brutal war on the island came to end in May 2009, over 146,679 Tamil people, were still unaccounted. Crucial stakeholders of the ethno-political conflict of Sri Lanka thought that it heralded an opportunity for reconciliation between the polarized communities to build durable peace on the island.
In contrast, the Sri Lankan regime began building military bases, Sinhala settlements, Buddhist statues and stupas in the North East of the island. The Government that brought in the disastrous Sinhala Only Act in 1956 seemed to believe that the time for full level implementation and reactivation of the Act had arrived after nearly a four-decade hiatus. Thereby deliberately targeting the Northeast. Out of a total land mass of 65,619 sq km, the Tamils inhabited 18,880 sq km of land in the north and east, but after May 2009, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces have come to occupy more than 7,000 sq km of Tamil land.1
Latest data reveals that at least 6,069 acres of public and private lands are occupied by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF) for the purpose of opening up Sinhala colonies in the Vanni region. It is worth noting that this excludes already occupied lands in Jaffna region and the ‘Eastern province’.2 There is an official process, which indicates that 6,400 acres of civilian land will be seized for military purposes in Jaffna HSZ.3 People also complain that Sinhala Buddhist archaeologists are engaged in nefarious activities of Sinhalization. They are said to be visiting Tamil areas and 'excavating' Buddha statues that they themselves had planted earlier. The purpose of this exercise is allegedly to claim that the territory in question had been a Sinhala Buddhist area. The Sri Lankan regime has proclaimed that they ‘liberated’ the Tamil people through a so-called ‘humanitarian operation’. If indeed that is the case, the question arises as to why they believe there is a need to deploy the notorious military throughout the Northeast in such a large scale and appoint war criminals as governors of the region? 85,000-86,000 soldiers are at present in the North and East.4
This number does not include the separate deployment of a Task Force in the East, and of the Navy and the Air Force. The Sri Lankan Army is comprised entirely of Sinhalese, and the people of the North are almost entirely Tamil.5 The military’s increasing control of administrative decisions in the North and East, including distribution and use of land, has turned the issue of land ownership into a deeply politicized and ethnically-charged one. Administrative and developmental decisions in North-East Sri Lanka are frequently taken by the military in consultation with the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security (PTF) and the military is involved in various committees set up as a result of the September 2011 government policy regarding land in the North East. Furthermore, the military continues to impose restrictions on humanitarian, developmental and psychiatric social work, accentuating existing resentments and impeding quick recovery of the civilian residents. The presence of large numbers of army personnel, particularly in the north, has increased the vulnerability of women to violence and other forms of abuse including rape.6
To counter the increasing international pressure, the regime is building roads and bridges under the banner of reconstruction and developments. Hon. Christine Robichon, the French Ambassador to Sri Lanka said in an interview, “Healing the wounds of the war is not limited to reconstructing roads and bridges.”7 The reconstruction and development process has not focused on the basic human needs such survival, well being, freedom and identity or interests of the Tamils. Rather efforts and priority has been given to the interests of Sinhala businessmen, settlers and the military. Tamil aspirations are being ignored, grievances are being denied and the current expectations regarding reconstruction and development in Tamil areas are not being heard. The State instead continues with its long-term agenda with specific intentions.
Intentions
Soon after the war came to an end, Sri Lanka's Buddhist nationalist party the Jathika Hela Urumaya [JHU], which backs the Sri Lankan government, said: “each road in the liberated areas in the North should be named for the war heroes who sacrificed their lives for the nation's liberty”.8 The genocidal war on the Tamil nation has been depicted as the Sri Lankan nation’s liberation and perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity have been extolled as war heroes.
The mindset of the Sinhala chauvinists is that the entire island belongs only to Sinhala Buddhists. This entrenched mentality encourages the destruction of any identity that seems to be a counter or a threat to Sinhala Buddhist domination. This mindset has emerged from a chauvinistic interpretation of the Mahavamsa, which states that Buddhism needs to be preserved for a period of 5000 years in the island until the next arrival/reincarnation of Buddha.9 This idea has led to the Sinhala Buddhists believing they are of racial superiority with the island belonging to them alone as they were the chosen ones.10 The extreme form of this ideology has led to the belief that other communities in the island are invaders or mere visitors with no entitlement to the same privileges as the Sinhala Buddhist.
The Jathika Chintanaya, a concept originated by Dr. Gunadasa Amaresekera in the 1980s, buttresses this Sinhala Buddhist majority mindset. Jathika Chintanaya which transalates loosely to mean ‘National Thought/ National Conciousness’ seeks to create a common national polity, economy and culture irrespective of religious and ethnic divides.11 It seeks to promote Sinhala nationalism to reassert the dominance of the Sinhala community and the protection of Sinhala rights, which it believes diminished during colonial rule.12 The Chintanaya promotes the fact that all communities in Sri Lanka belong to one culture and hence refers to Sri Lanka as ‘one nation’. This alienates other communities because it attempts to subsume their identity within the most dominant Sinhala Buddhist identity.
This mindset supported by the Jathika Chintanaya has led to the adoption of a cruel attitude, which assists their acts of annihilation of the Tamil nation through the process of genocide of the Tamil people. Twelve days [11 July 1983] before the 1983 pogrom, which was considered the first mass level genocidal attempt against the Tamil people, the Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene said in an interview to the UK based Daily Telegraph, “I am not worried about the opinion of the Tamil people..… now we cannot think of them, not about their lives or their opinion ... Really if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy”.
After a quarter century, former Sri Lankan Army Commander and 2010 presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka said; “I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people...We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country... They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things.”13
The statements of the Sinhala leaders clearly articulate their intention to eliminate the Tamil people from the island. This deliberate process has been executed through either mass level slaughters or the eradication of the ethnic and cultural identity of the Tamil people. The forcing of the Tamil people to assimilate into Sinhala identity is also part of this agenda. The statements and actions across Sinhalese party lines validate the view that a change in leaders or regime will not be a change in policy of the Sri Lankan state, the prime architect of genocide of the Tamil people.
Strong evidence of this notion can be ascertained from statements made as early as the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, D.S.Senanayake in his address to colonists in Padaviya (an area linking the Northern and Eastern provinces): “Today you are brought here and given a plot of land. You have been uprooted from your village. You are like a piece of driftwood in the ocean; but remember that one day the whole country will look up to you. The final battle for the Sinhala people will be fought on the plains of Padaviya. You are men and women who will carry this island’s destiny on your shoulders. Those who are attempting to divide this country will have to reckon with you. The country may forget you for a few years, but one day very soon they will look up to you as the last bastion of the Sinhala.”14
Fundamentally, the Sinhala chauvinist belief is that the entire island belongs to Sinhala Buddhists only and the Tamil existence in the island is to be considered a major threat against them. Therefore, following the Mu'l'livaaykkaal mass atrocities, the present post-war period is deemed to be the ideal stage to grab the Tamil lands through militarization and Sinhalization. The next step will inevitably be an attempt to erase the Tamil ethnic and cultural identity completely. This development will lead to the annihilation of the Tamil nation from the island. Hence, it can be concluded that ethnic cleansing and Sinhalization is thus a vital component of the genocidal agenda of the Sinhala state.
© JDS
Nirmanusan Balasundaram is an exiled journalist and a human rights defender. He holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European University Center for Peace Studies in Austria.
Notes:
6. Chatham House, Asia Programme Paper ASP PP 2011/05, Sri Lanka: Prospects for Reform and Reconciliation, Charu Lata Hogg, October 2011.
9. See L. Marasinghe, The British colonial contribution to disunity in Sri Lanka, 6 Sri Lanka J. Int'l L. 81 (1994); also see J.L. Devananda, The Mahavamsa mindset: Re-Visiting political Buddhism in Sri Lanka, http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/1886
10. See Charles R.A. Hoole, A Reassessment of Sinhalese Utopia: Explorative Essay on the Sri Lankan Political Crisis, 33 J. Church & St. 95 (1991)
11. Kanishka Goonewardena, ‘National ideology’ in a Buddhist state, October 2007,http://himalmag.com/component/content/article/1333-‘National-ideology’-in-a-Buddhist-state.html
12. ibd.
13. Interview with Stewart Bell of the National Post newspaper of Canada, 23 September 2008
14. The excerpt quoted by M.H. Gunaratna was related to him by Davinda Senanayake, D.S’s grandson. (p.201 of ‘For a Sovereign State’, by M.H.Guna¬ratna).
The article first published in http://www.jdslanka.org/index.php/2012-01-30-09-31-17/politics-a-economy/314-sri-lanka-the-intentions-behind-the-land-grabbing-process
Jan 8, 2013
Remembering Lasantha: Now they come for “everyone”
Now more than ever with the current state of affairs in Sri Lanka, the vacuum left by Lasantha’s death and his importance can be felt by anyone who is concerned about human rights, democracy, rule of law, and, of course, the independence of the judiciary. The Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunge , better known as Lasantha, was brutally assassinated four years ago. The cold- blooded murder took place on 8 January 2009 in a High Security Zone [HSZ] area of the Colombo suburbs.
Lasantha addressed the Sri Lankan President in his last editorial, which was published posthumously, “You will never be allowed to forget that my death took place under your watch. As anguished as I know you will be, I also know that you will have no choice but to protect my killers: you will see to it that the guilty one is never convicted. You have no choice.” As he precisely said, the killers continue to enjoy the culture of impunity. It was not just a murder, but also a persisting strong message to dissident journalists who oppose the regime’s non-democratic actions.
Missing professionalism
The murder contains serious consequences in relation to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. The commanders of the assassination are not just ‘powerful people’, but ‘smart people’, too. This was what made them decide to kill Lasantha at that specific time, as they knew that from a long-term perspective his existence would be a serious obstacle to their wrongdoings.
Now, we are not just remembering Lasantha as a courageous human being, but also the absence of the professionalism he showed. He wanted to tell the truth, even after he knew the price that he would have to pay for it, Once again in January, four years after Lasantha was assassinated, Sri Lanka is in turmoil as the country’s reigning ruler elongates his grip of terror and oppression on the supreme power of the Judiciary.
Words of prophecy
It is noteworthy that the present Cabinet Minister of Higher Education, S.B. Dissanayake was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment by a five Judge Supreme Court Bench headed by the then Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva on 7 December 2004 for defaming the Supreme Court during a speech he made at a function in Habaraduwa. An irony in this is that, eight years later, under the direction of Sri Lankan President, the parliament is in the process to move an impeachment against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As Lasantha wrote in his last editorial, “Indeed, murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges.”
Here is where, again, we perceive the contribution of Lasantha and the motive of those who directed the killers. At the time Lasantha was killed, ‘Sri Lanka was united as they fought against a common enemy to defend their national sovereignty and security’. However, unbowed and unafraid, Lasantha did not want to be part of the ‘united elements’, because Lasantha knew their ulterior intentions. Based on his analysis and decisions, he warned Sri Lankans and sent the message to the international community about the government’s motives. This he did even in his last editorial, which became known as his self-obituary.
Unfortunately the response from the receiver’s end was a mode of deafening silence and Lasantha paid his life as the price. Prior to assassinating Lasantha, the Sri Lankan regime waged a stern campaign and low intensity war alongside its psychological warfare against the Tamil nation. In this stage Tamil journalists, media workers, intellectuals, human rights activists, humanitarian workers and civil society activists became prime targets under the banner of ‘war on terror’. It was a time where it was quite normal for me to wake up to messages of killings and to go to bed after attending funerals.
Following conscience
Until the third week of April 2006, I was mostly based in Jaffna and informed Colombo based journalists and human rights organizations / activists about grave human rights violations with the aim of either preventing the killings or to seek justice for the victims and survivors. However, the response was not effective or efficient. Nevertheless, at least a few people acted with responsibility and moral obligation, but their fate was cut short as either they were killed, imprisoned or compelled to leave the country. Even after the threatening killings, imprisonment of journalists and a considerable number of journalists’ decision to function in exile, Lasantha remained in the soil where he was born, and decided to continue his fight bravely. Lasantha followed his conscience despite of state treachery. Ultimately, he stood and died for what he believed in.
In his last editorial he precisely pointed out that “violating the rights of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames the Sinhalese, whose claim to be custodians of the Dhamma is for ever called into question by this savagery - much of it unknown to the public because of censorship. What is more, a military occupation of the country's north and east will require the Tamil people of those regions to live eternally as second-class citizens, deprived of all self-respect. Do not imagine you can placate them by showering "development" and "reconstruction" on them in the postwar era. The wounds of war will scar them for ever, and you will have an even more bitter and hateful diaspora to contend with.”
Sinhalese as victims
Today, Sri Lanka’s national sovereignty and security has turned counterproductive against those who were ‘united to fight against the common enemy to defend their national sovereignty’. The newly emerging direct and imminent victims of the Sri Lankan state system are Sinhalese, including those who in a way remained silent or supported the genocidal war against Tamils. Time heals, history records, but this is where Lasantha distinguished himself from others. It is common opinion now, that, the present disastrous development would not have happened, if the majority of the Sinhala community had in the past stood for the Tamils’ dignity, freedom and other rights.
Yet, there is no strong opposition in the south against ongoing genocide in the Tamil nation. The Sri Lankan regime is tightening its terror grip step by step on different ethnic groups in diverse forms. The failure to recognize and stop it, will lead to a formation of Sri Lanka’s Iron Gate. If anyone is serious about respecting and honoring Lasantha, then it is their moral obligation to lend their voice against the injustice and oppression that is taking place in the island, in particular against the ongoing genocide of the Tamil nation. Otherwise, their “Sri Lanka Matha” will not only cry, but will die inch by inch and then the entire island will be a curse of Asia. This was not what Lasantha scarified his life for.
Lasantha's inspiration
Lasantha noted in his last editorial, “I hope my murder will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration”. I would like close this piece with a few words mentioned by me in London, in January 2010, at the first year commemoration ceremony of Lasantha. We, the journalists have a moral responsibility to speak the oblivious truth about the injustice and non-democratic actions, which we have witnessed. Our fidelity to our ambition is consolidated. Our aspiration is to bring to life the aspirations of oppressed people. We know the path and its consequences, which we have chosen, but we are confident to continue our struggle, despite the risks that we encounter.
First published
