Sri Lanka's civil war and its Tamil populace

By Nivedita Louis | Arab News
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More than 100,000 people have been killed and though international media and the Tamil Diaspora have been raising their voices, the Sri Lankan government vehemently denies any atrocities against the minority Tamils.

A recent article published in Arab News, with video link to Al Jazeera, clearly shows the audacity and madness with which innocent unarmed Tamil civilians were killed during the last few days of the ethnic conflict. The photos are graphic, some showing naked bodies piled up on trucks and many with hands tied behind, eyes blindfolded and shot at. The Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), formed by the Sri Lankan government, has so far “not come across” any evidence of Sri Lankan military’s excesses. The very next day of publishing this video by Al Jazeera, the Sri Lankan government denied visas to Al Jazeera’s news correspondents in Colombo.

It is now very clear the government is rewriting history by razing down all Tamil landmarks in Jaffna and the northeast and by installing Buddha statues and marks of military victory over the Tamils.

If President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government are not at fault, why is Al Jazeera being denied visas? Why is Gen. Sarath Fonseka behind bars now?

Denying basic human rights to all Tamils, fighting in a “no-fire” civilian zone and consistently denying access to the media to the Tamil areas have made even the common man suspicious of the intentions of the government in Colombo. Anyone with conscience can please see the link to Al Jazeera’s video http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia/2010/11/2010111010021857352.html and decide for themselves.

The media and the world community must step up pressure on the Sri Lankan government to allow an independent probe by the UN into allegations of atrocities against the Tamils. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch should be included in the LLRC if it is to have any credibility.

The government must release all 35,000 innocent Tamil civilians still held in army camps with scant amenities. Above all, the government must take responsibility for the 30,000 Tamils it killed during the last days of the war and all those thousands of people who are refugees in India and scattered across the world.

The Sri Lankan government is trying to uproot an entire race from its soil.

© Arab News