பிரித்தானிய சனல் 4 தொலைக்காட்சியில் நேற்று – 14.03.2010 – வெளியான ஆவணப்படத்தில் மகிந்த ராஜபக்ச, கோதாபாய ராஜபக்ச, சரத் போன்சேகா, சவேந்திர சில்வா உட்பட பலர் போர்க்குற்றங்களுக்கு உட்பட்டுத்தப்பட்டுவதற்கான சாத்தியங்கள் உள்ளதாகத் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது. சனல் 4 இன் ஆவணப்படங்கள் இனப்படுகொலை நிகழ்த்தப்பட்டதற்கான உத்தியோகபூர்வ ஆதாரங்களாக திகழ்கின்றன. மிகவும் நீண்ட காலத்தின் பின்னரும் தெற்காசிய நாடொன்றில் இனப்படுகொலை நிகழ்ந்ததற்கான ஆதரமாக ஆவணப்படங்கள் காணப்படும். இதேவேளை இந்த ஆவணப்படம் பிரித்தானியாவிலும் ஏனைய நாடுகளிலும் பொதுமக்கள் கருத்தை உருவாக்கவல்ல ஜனநாய முற்போகு சக்திகள் மத்தியில் எடுத்துச் செல்லப்பட வேண்டும்.
ஈராக்கின் மீது பொய்க் குற்றச்சாட்டுக்களைச் சுமத்திப் படையெடுத்த ரொனி பிளேர் பிரித்தானியப் பிரதமர்களுள் அதிக செல்வாக்கற்றவராக பதவியிழந்தமைக்கு இவ்வாறான மக்கள் கருத்தே காரணமாக அமைந்தது. அதிகாரத்திலிருக்கும் அரசியல் வியாபாரிகளோடும், கொலைகாரர்களோடும் கூட்டுவைத்துக்கொள்ளும் புலம் பெயர் தமிழர்கள் மத்தியிலிருக்கும் பிழைப்பு வாதிகள் இலங்கை அரசிற்கு எதிரான பொதுமக்கள் கருத்து உருவாவதற்குத் தடையானவர்களாக இருக்கின்றனர். தமிழ்ப் பேசும் மக்கள் ஏகாதிபத்தியத்தையும் சமூக விரோத அரசியல் வாதிகளையும் சார்ந்தவர்கள் என்ற தவறான விம்பத்தை இவர்கள் உருவாக்குகிறார்கள். இன்னமும் மக்கள் உலக மத்தியிலிருந்து அன்னியமான குறுகிய எல்லைகளை தமது பிழைப்பிற்காக வகுத்துக்கொள்கிறார்கள்.
இவற்றிற்கு அப்பால் தமிழ்ப் பேசும் மக்களின் போராட்டத்தின் நியாயம் சனல் 4 ஆவணப்படம் போன்றவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்தி உலக மக்கள் மத்தியில் எடுத்துச் செல்லப்பட வேண்டும்.
மகிந்த ராஜாபக்சவும் அவரைச் சுற்றியிருக்கும் இனக் கொலையாளிகளும் தண்டிக்கப்படாவிட்டல் உலகின் எந்தப்பகுதியிலும் சாட்சியின்றிய கொலைகள் நிகழ்த்தப்படலாம் என்ற உண்மை உலக மக்களுக்கு அறிவிக்கப்பட வேண்டும்.
சனல் 4 ஆவணப்படம் பிழைப்பு வாதிகளைத் தாண்டி உலக மக்கள் மத்தியில் எடுத்துச் செல்லப்பட வேண்டும்
‘I don’t understand why champions of Tamil Eelam are supporting US Resolution on Sri Lanka at UNHRC’- ‘Thuglak’ Editor ‘Cho’
18 March 2012, 5:51 pm
Cho S. Ramaswamy
by R. Bhagwan Singh
Cho S. Ramaswamy, the redoubtable editor of the Tamil weekly Thuglak, and a former Rajya Sabha member, tells R. Bhagwan Singh that the hue and cry in Tamil Nadu in support of a US resolution on human rights against Sri Lanka is uncalled for
QUESTION:
Tamil parties here and across the world are demanding that India support the US resolution against Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). What do you think?
ANSWER:
I doubt these people realise that the US resolution does not condemn Sri Lanka as such. The resolution says that recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Com-mission (LLRC) appointed by Colombo, which was something like the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, should be implemented. The US resolution also insists that there must be a settlement of the Tamil problem. I cannot understand what the champions of the Eelam cause see in it.
Q:
They are demanding an international investigation into “war crimes” by Sri Lanka.?
A:
The US resolution does not speak of war crimes. It speaks of human rights violations.
Even the rights activists in Sri Lanka have expressed disappointment with it. I don’t know whether they have read it, but there’s nothing in it to demand such vehement support here.
What happened when the UNHRC spoke about (alleged violations by) Israel? The US attacked it and said that this is becoming political. Why target Israel when there are violations all over the world? You are doing all this country-specific thing and that won’t do, the US had said. And that’s what India says. Perhaps, the US has come up with this resolution just to show that there are human rights violations elsewhere, too, in order to divert the world’s attention from Israel. Why should India be interested in it? Why should the Tamil champions be interested in it?
Q:
What do you think should be done to bring to book the perpetrators of war crimes?
A:
There was no war. Is there a war between the Naxallites and the Indian government? Is there a war between the Islamic militants and the Indian state?
There is no war; there is terrorism; there is internal insurgency. The government puts it down with a firm hand, with the use of the military if necessary. Was there a war in the Golden Temple when Bhindranwale was shot down? Would you call that war because the military was there?
Q:
But there were thousands of civilians killed in this war, or whatever you call it, in Sri Lanka?.
A:
Because the civilians were used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as shields. Nobody speaks of that now. They can use civilians; they can use children as shields and as suicide bombers.
Q:
Do you think Tamil nationalism is going overboard?
A:
There is no doubt about that. It has been doing that persistently for many years. The insurgents need not follow any rules but the state should always be mindful of international law or rules of war etc. How is that possible? In that case no state can put down terrorism. It is as if we are asking the state not to act against terrorism.
Q:
If we look back, this terrorism itself was the result of discrimination against the Tamils by the Sri Lankan state.
A:
I entirely agree with you. But that alone does not justify what the LTTE did. They did something worse than what the Sri Lankan government did. They wiped out the entire Tamil leadership, Amirthalingam downwards. The Sri Lankan government did not do that. The LTTE massacred Muslims in mosques, alienating them totally. They eliminated other Tamil militant organisations, too. At one point, they clearly said that the Sinhalese and we (Sri Lankan Tamils) are brothers, and that India, an alien country, has no business in our affairs. The LTTE had made that statement. And we here have no sense of shame even after that.
Q:
So, the LTTE was anti-India?
A:
They were definitely anti-India, and that’s why they maligned the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) there and made that operation a total failure. Let me ask, are all the Tamils in Sri Lanka united? Are the Tamils in Colombo and the Tamils in the north united? Are the Tamils in the east and those in Jaffna united? The Tamil diaspora are also not united.
Of course, the Sri Lankan government has been behaving unfairly towards the Tamils — their rights are being denied; they are not equal citizens there.This must be addressed by Sri Lanka, but militancy is not the solution.
Suppose the US or some other country sponsors a similar resolution tomorrow on Kashmir. Are we going to honour it? We will say that the UN has no right to do this. The LTTE was the most powerful and ruthless terrorist group. They even had submarines and warplanes, apart from rocket launchers. The LTTE killed thousands of Tamils and executed them, calling them betrayers. And they decimated the entire Tamil leadership so that there could be no other representation for the Tamils except them. [Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle]
Related – Cho Ramaswamy Interviewed by BBC Tamil Service, Oct 7, 2008:
Cho Ramaswamy says Tamil Nadu campaigns are just political posturing
mp3 Audio in Tamil:
Veteran Indian Political Commentator Cho Ramaswamy speaking to BBC Tamil Service on Tuesday October 7th said the present campaigns by all Tamil Nadu (TN) parties on Sri Lanka Tamils is nothing but ‘just talk’.
Replying to a question, if the activities mounted by the Indian parties appear to be “critical of the appearance of India helping Sri Lanka on the military drive”, he said a meaningful stand is any of the party truly coming forward to contest the election on this issue.
Several Tamil Nadu political parties have ratcheted up their campaigns, calling for a halt to military campaign by Sri Lanka and seek a political settlement.
Commenting on the fast organized by the State Communist Party of India (CPI) on October 2nd, Cho Ramaswamy stated this party never raised the Tamil issue with any seriousness with the Indian Government while they were in a position to do so. He added CPI raised several other critical matters time to time with the centre while they were influential. But CPI never talked about Sri Lankan Tamils during that period, he pointed out.
Cho S. Ramaswamy is best known for his political comments that irk all Indian parties, particularly of those Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu. His popular satirical magazine ‘Thuglak’ celebrated 38th anniversary of publication in January 2008.
Not only the Dravidian parties, he quipped even the recent Bharathiya Janatha Party (BJP) statements on the Sri Lankan issue too are just ‘pure talk’, geared to appear as ‘pro-Tamil’ amidst similar chorus.
Cho Ramaswamy however asserted there is “full support among the people (of Tamil Nadu) for Tamils to live with equal rights like the Sinhalese (within a united Sri Lanka)”.