The modern definition of democracy is “Form of government, where a constitution guarantees basic personal and political rights, fair and free elections, and independent courts of law.”
Therefore the key elements of a Democracy are:
Guarantee of basic Human Rights to every individual person vis-à-vis the state and its authorities as well as vis-à-vis any social groups (especially religious institutions) and vis-à-vis other persons.
Separation of Powers between the institutions of the state:
Government [Executive Power],
Parliament [Legislative Power] and
Courts of Law [Judicial Power]
Freedom of opinion, speech, press and mass media
Religious liberty
General and equal right to vote (one person, one vote)
Good Governance (focus on public interest and absence of corruption)
The U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) defined democracy as: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The Sri Lankan style democracy can be defined as “Form of government appointed by the people, where a constitution is just a piece of paper, governing body decides the rule of the country as the ignorant people are duped to accept all that is dished out to them by the anointed governing body”.
Unfortunately for Sri Lanka even the governing body is ignorant of the meaning of a democracy…the country is somewhat a monarchical oligarchy…!
The whole senario of a long war coming to an end is indeed a cause for celebration, however thinking of the civilians and soldiers that were killed in the process of achieving this rather “premature” victory is daunting. Although I do not mean to disrupt the whole festive atmosphere and attitude, true peace can only be achieved when all Sri Lankans can live together without any discrimination on ethnic, racial or religious grounds.
It is hard to celebrate while fellow Sri Lankans are displaced from their homes, living in camps under very harsh conditions without adequate food, medicine and other basic essentials. While we celebrate we should also make this triumph of the soldiers worthwhile by extending a generous hand of help towards the displaced fellow Sri Lankans. To achieve peace one needs to change the perceptions and attitudes towards the “other”. What better way is there than extending a helping hand to those in need and proving not to anyone but ourselves that Sri Lankans are capable of taking care of their own. Through our actions we can change the perceptions and slowly contribute to the healing of all wounds and pave way to a lasting peace in the country. This effort needs to be supported by proper political solutions and actions of politicians. All the while effort must be taken to talk to the diaspora as well.
So we are at the brink of a decisive moment in time where everything depends on our actions and perceptions. As political beings humans can shape, change and transform the future.
The conspired decision of the Sri Lankan government through the foreign ministry to deny entry visa to the Swedish foreign minister at this crucial hour will tarnish the humanitarian image the government is trying so hard to portray. This image has been tested so many times over the last few weeks and months. For example, after denying the use of heavy weapons for so long the government recently announced it had given orders to the army to stop using heavy weapons from now on – which suggest that the army did use these weapons amidst the vehement denials. The initial count of people trapped in the “Safe zone” has been proven wrong by the numbers that crossed over. These are subtle things that point fingers at the negligent behaviour of a responsible sovereign state government. The latest issue of denying entry visa to the Swedish foreign minister only casts doubt at the government further. There is a lot at stake here which the government needs to reconsider. The government has so far been successful in rescuing those innocent people amidst the cries of the diaspora and to prove the capability and determination of the government to protect and safeguard its citizens. Why put all the efforts at risk?
Given the conflict management and resolution expertise vested in the Swedish foreign minister it is definitely worthwhile to lend an ear to his suggestions. There is no hard and fast rule that the government of Sri Lanka need to exercise these suggestions as these are merely “suggestions”. Even if the government did invite the Swedish foreign minister for a different function in May, considering the prominence of getting an opinion as well as showing representatives of the international community the efforts the government has put in place to accommodate the IDPs, it is a smart move to extend an invitation to the Swedes together with the British and French delegation.
After all if the government can give these delegates as well as a few international media personnel access to the IDP camps and the battle field(I know it is pushing it a bit what with the governments no outside media policy) it might actually support the governments image rather than tarnish it. If what we see and hear on National TV where the rescued people talk about the atrocities they suffered at the hands of the LTTE and the negligence of human life by the LTTE is in fact true then the government should indeed let some of these delegates and international media in and let them talk to these people. They should witness the rest of the country pulling together to support their fellow citizens. This might help not only to depict that the government is not trying to commit genocide etc that the diaspora are portraying but that it is actually doing it’s duty to it’s people as a responsible state government.
By extending a grant to visit the country to the Swedes or any other country does not necessarily mean the government is bowing down to the international community or that the government needs to implement whatever they are suggesting. It is merely to show that the government is open for suggestions. Note “suggestions”. In a globalised world a country cannot be an island.Instead of pointing fingers at other international media outlets and leaders for being supporters of the LTTE why not prove the point by granting some of these international leaders and media access to the country and showing them the truth.
After all it is a wise move to keep the international community at hand now that we are close to phase ii, development and rehabilitation which is a costly affair by itself.
The frenzied demonstrations have begun only when the military defeat of the LTTE appears a real prospect. Again, the confusion between humanitarian protest and political solidarity with the LTTE is evident. But this still leaves open the question: what explains the widespread support that the LTTE enjoys in the diaspora despite its declining fortunes in Sri Lanka, and the atrocities it commits against ordinary Tamil people there?
…”
Tamil diaspora demonstrating political solidarity with the LTTE while hundreds and thousands of innocent Tamil people in the Wanni are being forcefully kept as human shields is just appalling. As this blog noted earlier the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora seem to have conveniently forgotten that saving the lives of the innocent is far more important than saving the life of a leader who has brought nothing but grief, death and suffering to these fellow Sri Lankans. The uproar in the streets of Paris, London and Toronto displays the reality of a dream being lost for the Tamil diaspora and ironically the diaspora lived this dream on the expense of the thousands of fellow Sri Lankan Tamil citizens forcefully trapped by the LTTE.
The brutality of the LTTE is out in the open as this video footage shows the civilians being bashed and shot at when trying to escape from their clutches. Why are the diaspora still shouting for the safety of Prabhakaran? Would they trade their lives for the ones seen here beaten and shot at by the so called liberators of the Tamil people? I don’t think so.
We all have to get together now to help these civilians. All Sri Lankans together can help these people.
Labour member of Parliament in London, Jeremy Corbyn was the moderator of the “Forum” show broadcast by Press TV of Iran. The show discussed the situation of Sri Lanka and the current war. The panel involved conservative member of Parliament and member of the House of Lords, Lord Naseby, nominee to the Sri Lanka Embassy London, Mr Douglas Wikramaratne, Labour member of the European Parliament for London, Mr Robert Evans and spokesman of the British Tamil Forum, Suren Surendran. A live audience contributed with questions and it was a gut wrenching 47 minutes and 55 seconds. Several excerpts of this show appeared in several newspapers over the last couple of days as well.
The obviously organised demonstrations carried out in London, Norway, Paris and Sydney by the Tamil diaspora is somewhat disheartening and guile. You see placards of “Let our people remain in our homeland” and yet they seem oblivious to the fact that the people trapped in the war stricken pocket of land are in their homeland as hostages or as shrapnel sponges of the LTTE leadership. What seem to be dished out is their anger that the “homeland” they sponsored all this time was only an illusion as most of the money seem to have gone into killing machines of all sorts. These guns that they so funded are today used to shoot down any relative of theirs who try to escape the clutches of the LTTE. So how can these people cry for the dead and wounded when they have no idea of the suffering of the people still trapped in war stricken areas. There is no visible evidence of a homeland that the LTTE has built for these people what is evident is that these innocent civilians has become a mere human blanket for the egotist terrorist leader to hide in.
These diaspora seem not to realise that the flag they so proudly raise advocates terror. This flag depicts guns and bullets and the diaspora is willing to stand by and support terror while their relatives, friends and fellow citizens are dying every single day. They do not shout to help the people displaced or the people who are held against their will by the LTTE. The diaspora shouts to save their leader! They have definitely shown the will power to stand behind a megalomaniac leader and not their own people. It is easy to do that when they are in their own comfort zone while the fellow citizens in Wanni struggle to survive.
Protest in Sydney
It is a disgrace to quote from the nonviolent move of Gandhi when they are holding placards of a egotist with a revolver in his belt and a cyanide capsule hanging from his neck. Where is the non-violence in the flags and placards they are waving? When did glorifying a leader who preaches and advocates violence justified non-violent? The Tamil diaspora needs to evaluate their decision to support war from their comfortable adopted countries as opposed to extending a helping hand to the civilians who are at the receiving end of this war in Sri Lanka. It is high time they stopped this nonsensical rantings and got their act together to pressure the LTTE to release these civilians.
Why can not the diaspora organise means to help the people who have escaped the clutches of these terrorists? Rather than waving a flag that depicts weapons which can kill people why not wave a flag of hope and extend a hand to their fellow citizens in need at this timely hour. The people already displaced in their own homeland does not have the money to organise massive rallies around the globe to ask for assistance. The diaspora should consider taking a step back to open their eyes and ears to see and listen to the pleas of their brothers and sisters in the Wanni and lend a hand to help them live. At least that is what the people in the “homeland” we call Sri Lanka are trying to do at the moment.
“This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love
And will at last break out into a flame.”
- William Shakespeare
It boils down to the end now, this war of almost thirty years. Yet the end seem to be very decisive. The soldiers have a grave task ahead, what with the last of the terrorists hiding among the civilians and turning their weapons against the poor people trying to escape these clutches of madness. There is no easy way at least that is certain. Given the use of civilians as protection in the past there is a possibility that the sadist terrorist leader might attempt to pull off an eleventh hour battle amidst the innocent civilians.
Although it is easier said than done and most people have doubts whether a theory of dissent can be realised in a situation as such. It is apparent however that there are traces of dissent among the civilians who have gone through atrocities that none of the other Sri Lankans have gone through. The stories of the people who escaped from the reigns of terror hints of dissent. These ashes kindled to a soft flame can burn bright when the time is right. An uprising combined with the brave effort of the soldiers will give the innocent civilians as well as all Sri Lankans hope that this war could end soon.
“To sum up then: On the part of the Tamils, the choice is whether they opt for a moderate leadership which the Sinhalese will be willing to share power with, on a basis that the Sinhalese are willing to accept, or whether they wish to live in permamnt confrontation by choosing a leadership whose immoderate demands will be unacceptable to the Sinhala majority.”
If Dayan is referring to the current leadership in Sri Lanka to be the “moderate”leadership to govern this country in a post-war scenario, I wonder if we will have the backing of a majority of Tamils let alone the “moderate” Sri Lankans (Note In the use of “Sri Lankans” here I refer to the rest of the population in Sri Lanka eg Sinhala, Muslim etc). Although we do agree that the initiative to stop this war instead of milking it is one of the greatest deeds of this government simultaneously we need to observe the rest of its character record as well. The government propaganda spells out nationalism without doubt. The killing of prominent media personnel, mysterious disappearances and abductions of numerous other journalists and the iron hand over the rights of not of just those trapped in IDP camps but also of the general population who are frankly in my humble opinion brainwashed by the government propaganda. This is why people end up dumping media reports like the recent SBS report “Hunting the Tigers” as pro-LTTE. Frankly the reaction of the Defence Secretary in this clip is very disturbing. It leaves us to the conclusion that he is taking the business of securing the country to a personal level!
Then there is the question of whether the Tamil people who are being harassed daily on the streets as well as in the IDP camps and war stricken areas would be able to work or live freely under this sort of government attitude, where imho all Tamils are seen as LTTE? Of course there needs to be a compromise between the Sinhalese and the Tamils but for it to happen we need to first give reassurance to the Tamil people that the Sinhalese are willing to go one step further and drop the nationalist agenda as should the Tamils who need to stop feeding terrorist leadership like that of Prabhakaran and realise that there is a possibility of finding a solution without killing lives of innocent Tamils and Sinhalese. It all comes down to an issue of trust and good leadership.
This is where we get disappointed by the likes of Dayan and Rajiva who are two great intellectuals with the capability of opening avenues to enlighten and inform the Sri Lankan expatriates, specifically the Tamil diaspora that are being misled by LTTE propaganda. We need good leaders to close the gap between the Tamil-Sinhala divide not those who further separate it.
Today I address the diaspora in these articles:
Excerpt: More than 25,000 Tamils, especially youth, across the Europe took to the streets of Brussels on Monday demanding EU to de-proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to allow medicine and food to the civilians besieged by its military in all fronts and to demand the Sri Lankan military to pull out from the Tamil homeland. 40,000 Tamils stage protests in front of EU, UN in Europe
Excerpt: More than 200 expatriate Tamils protested in front of the Office of the United States Mission to the United Nations Monday, urging the United States and United Nations stop Sri Lanka military from firing into the ‘safe zone’ on the Tamil civilians. Demonstrators shouted slogans calling upon US Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Susan Rice, to ensure that refugees fleeing the war zone are given shelter and basic facilities, and not confined to internment camps without any freedom to lead a normal life.
Excerpt: More than 100,000 expatriate Tamils crowded downtown Toronto between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday to raise the plight of the more than 250,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the war in Vanni, and subjected to continuous artillery attacks and aerial bombardment by Sri Lanka military.
My question to the ranting diaspora on the streets of Toronto, Brussels and New York is why would you want to help save Prabhakaran and not the fellow Tamil citizens who are living in IDP camps and those that are being used as shrapnel guards for the LTTE!?! They keep on shouting genocide and to recognise Tamil Eelam from their safe havens in the European countries whereas the Tamil citizens being imprisoned by their so-called liberators in Sri Lanka are going through unspeakable atrocities as we speak at the hands of the LTTE. Have we seen even a single one of these diaspora willing to help these fellow citizens? Have they tried to reach out to those that escaped the clutches of LTTE? What is visible is their selfish demand for a Tamil Eelam on the expense of the poor souls who are left in the Wanni and the war stricken areas.
The diaspora need to clarify facts from fiction. If they have stepped in to the country at least once after leaving it some twenty years ago they would realise what is going on. This is where I think the government needs to act wisely. If we are to enlighten not only the diaspora but also the international community of the plight of the war stricken civilians the government needs to open up the doors to an independent media. It needs to create a media space for the benefit of all instead of the false propaganda stations they allow at the moment. People need to realise that not only are brave soldiers sacrificing their lives for the betterment of ours but the government is doing an injustice to their slain lives by blindfolding the general population. Certain government top guns have taken matters to their own hands and personalised this war which is quite evident by the out lash in the recent SBS video documentary “Hunting the Tigers”.The extent of the government propaganda stunt is quite visible in most of the comments left on this article by fellow Sri Lankans. Emulating the Bush propaganda the current government propaganda screams “either you are with us or against us” in all it’s media rantings creating a “good vs evil” scenario. This is reason enough for people to see even SBS as a pro-LTTE site, and who knows people who are brave enough to read this article to the end might be thinking that I am pro-LTTE as well just because I love my country and want to be able to point out the wrongs from the rights and make the government who ever and which ever is in power a better one at providing guidance to the betterment of the country.
Unfortunately for most of the people in Sri Lanka they have no freedom to express their views in the current situation. Everyone is talking about the human rights of the people indisplaced by or in the midst of the conflict. This has quite ironically shrouded the fact that the state of human rights in the whole country is appalling. Abductions, killings, threats and misery lies at all corners aiming people in the media to ordinary dwellers and bloggers. What more do you need to understand that the government needs to pave way for an independent source of information not only to educate the diaspora but also the international community. By restricting this the government is backing in to a corner which ends in totalitarianism.
We are all patriots and as Mark Twain once said “Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.” True we salute thegovernment for its efforts to stop the war but that does not mean that the all that the government does in the pretext of war is justified. Think my fellow Sri Lankan citizens what more do you need?
Posted by principalamzy 
