Sri Lanka’s Massive War Crimes, Probably The biggest Bloodshed Of The 21st Century – Solheim
“There were massive war crimes in the last phase which were probably the biggest bloodshed of the twenty first century” said Erik Solheim.
He made above remark at the Global Tamil Forum conference yesterday. Erik Solheim was one of the key international speakers who participated at the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) third anniversary celebrations held at the Committee Room 14, Houses of Parliament in the UK yesterday.
Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and former Conservative Party Chairman Baroness Warsi however referring to de-mining process, claimed progress had been made and international community could debate Sri Lanka’s achievement in Geneva.
UK MP and former Foreign Secretary, David Miliband urged the UK and other Common-wealth members to call for a change of venue for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to be held in Colombo.
Stop The Hate Campaign Against Muslims
Harim Peiris
The above was the anguished and rather alarming cry
that emanated a few weeks ago from Cabinet Minister and Sri Lanka Muslim
Congress leaderRauff
Hakeem. That a minister, of justice at that and the leader of the
preeminent Muslim political party had to make a plea for an end to ethno
religious hate mongering in Sri Lanka was sobering enough. Coming as it does on
the heels of a sustained and systematic low intensity civil assault on the
Muslim community, that has included attacks on mosques and Muslim owned
businesses is alarming. Sri Lanka is just emerging from nearly three decades of
an ethnic based civil war and the signs are ominous that we seemed to have
learned nothing from our past and are hell bent on starting a new conflict, this
one an ethno
religious conflict, with religion thrown into the toxic mix.
1. The
hate campaign
The new
campaign is spearheaded not overtly by political parties, but
organizations led by religious leaders who seem to draw inspiration from the
ruling alliance and seemingly have the complete backing on the ground of our
politicized police force. It is led by an organization that certainly faces no
opposition from the State, which subsequent to a high profile meeting with the
nation’s head of state successfully pulled off a show of force in Maharagama,
a week ago. Going according to reports, their meeting most closely resembled in
rhetoric, atmosphere and attitude, the fascist rallies that swept parts of
Europe before the start of the second world war, complete with attacks on ethno
religious minorities for economic oppression of the majority, attacks on their
family size (as if this is not a free choice available to all), their mode of
dress and other social practices. Strangely reminiscent of exactly what
the Nazi’s
said of the Jews in the early part of the last century. Today it falls on the
Muslims, the other descendants of Abraham, to face similar accusations in Sri
Lanka.
2. The
Hallal certification
The
ostensible irritant is presented as the Hallal certification
that informs Muslim community consumers that products are compliant with their
dietary laws. In much the same way as a Rabbi in Colombo actually issues Kosher
certificates for products that are exported to Israel and before we explode with
anger, let us remember that Israeli (read Jewish) Kafir jet squadron contributed
significantly to our war victory. What is wrong with Hallal certification or
informing a certain community that products are compliant with their dietary
requirement? Such a basic and inoffensive facility, on commercial terms should
be available in any civilized society, especially one like ours which values its
antiquity and a proud historical record of tolerance and plurality. Hallal
certification should be nothing more than stating that a product is fat free or
lactose free for consumers who are calorie conscious or allergic to lactose. If
there is a fair trade issue, that matter should firstly be reported to the
Consumer Affairs Authority or the Fair Trading Commission and in the event of
unsatisfactory redress referred for judicial adjudication. It is certainly not
an issue for mob violence and street (in) justice.
3. The
Sri Lankan Muslims
The
Sri Lankan Muslim Community, a religious and linguistic minority has been an
ancient community in Sri Lanka, now predominating in the Eastern Province and
also scattered throughout the country. An integral part of Sri Lanka’s cultural
mosaic, they have contributed significantly to Sri Lanka’s national life. Led
politically by secular and moderate leaders, during the ethnic war, they were
hounded and brutalized by the Eelam Tigers, ethnically cleansed them from the
North and murdered by the LTTE while
at prayer in their mosques. Muslims have been an integral part of Sri Lanka’s
war on terror against the LTTE, playing an active part in military intelligence
and the long range reconnaissance patrols (LLRP)’s that operated deep behind
LTTE lines, their native Tamil language capability an essential requirement for
Sri Lanka’s counter intelligence and covert operations. More strategically
though, Muslim nationalism, if one may call it that, has since the rise of Tamil
militancy, generally sided with the Sri Lankan State and historically seen Tamil
nationalism as a greater threat to its own rights and freedom, than Sinhala
nationalism. It was a political judgment vindicated by the LTTE’s
atrocities against the Muslim people. It is not in the interest of Sri Lanka’s
that another minority, the Muslim community also become as alienated from the
Sri Lankan State as the Tamil community has become.
Prior
to the recent spate of attacks on Muslim mosques and businesses in Sinhala
areas, it was the LTTE in pursuit of an ethnically pure Tamil
Eelam that persecuted and harassed the Muslim community in the North
and East and indeed the Sinhalese in the South. It would now be a great pity if
the current crop of Sinhala ethno religious goon squads, in their pursuit of a
ethnically pure Sinhala Eelam in the South (as opposed to a multi ethnic, multi
religious pluralistic Sri Lanka) was to destroy the peace and create the tragedy
of a new ethno religious conflict, to replace the ethnic based civil war we
ended three years ago.
