Sri Lanka Accountability: Investigate LTTE-TNA allegiance

– by Shenali D Waduge –

We agree with the US, UK, EU, UN and UNHRC head. There are serious allegations to be investigated. The onus is on the Government of Sri Lanka to immediately INVESTIGATE – how the LTTE emerged, who trained, armed and financially sponsored them and the most important link between a terrorist organization and a political entity such as the TNA. In our eyes both LTTE and TNA are one and the same – the Sri Lankan public now demand that this evil nexus be investigated and the criminality of these entities be exposed and charged under the country’s laws and regulations.

LTTE-TNA links (lethal combination of Terrorists and Politicians)

Attempts at Separatism

1. Creation of Tamil ethnic political party – All Ceylon Tamil Congress during British rule

2. Creation of the ITAK (Federal Party) by Chelvanayagam in 1949 (year after independence)

3. Vaddukoddai Resolution 1972 calling for youth to take up arms (Prabakaran was just 18years)

4. Creation of Tamil New Tigers on 22 May 1972 by Prabakaran

5. Tamil New Tigers rechristened as LTTE on 5 May 1976

Collective Responsibility – Guilty by Association

• Did Prabakaran hijack what the Tamil politicians wanted or were both following the same objective by different route?
• Did it serve both Prabakaran and elements of the Tamil political set up to annihilate all moderate Tamil politicians who were for peacefully living with other communities?
• How many Tamil civilians do not wish to make their stand about the LTTE or the TNA and to negate the false assumption that Tamils wish to live separate from the other communities in Sri Lanka?
• Why do Tamils not come out to say that most Tamils in reality live outside of the ‘Tamil Homeland’ thus putting to rest the charade and lies? Does the Tamil civil population not hold the key to silencing all critics and nullifying separatist claims on the grounds that Tamils cannot live with Sinhalese.

TNA-LTTE

TNA is an unregistered alliance formed in 2001.

TNA comprises ACTC (All Ceylon Tamil Congress) / EPRLF (Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front) / TELO (Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization) / TULF (Tamil United Liberation Front)

LTTE’s influence over voters enabled TNA politicians to enter Parliament – Investigate this.

TNA and LTTE are making the identical demands. The only factor that differentiates the 2 is LTTE had arms.

Now with the LTTE factor removed TNA is continuing the same demands.

LTTE-TNA alliance

2001 TNA election manifesto

TNA announced that the LTTE was the ‘sole Tamil National Entity’ in 2001. TNA claimed LTTE was the SOLE REPRESENTATIVE of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka and LTTE had a right to negotiate on behalf of the Tamil people. Investigate!

a) Recognition of Tamils as a distinct nationality

b) Recognition of a Tamil Homeland with guaranteed territorial integrity

c) Recognition of the inalienable right of self-determination of the Tamil nation.

d) Recognition of the right to full citizenship and fundamental democratic rights of all Tamils.

2004 TNA election manifesto

“Accepting the LTTE’s leadership as the national leadership of ‘Tamil Eelam’ Tamils and the Liberation Tigers as the sole and authentic representative of the Tamil people, let us devote our full cooperation for the ideals of the Liberation Tigers’ struggle with honesty and steadfastness. Let us endeavour determinedly, collectively as one group, one nation, one country, transcending race and religious differences, under the leadership of the LTTE, for a life of liberty, honour and justice for the Tamil people.”

Investigate:

• TNA Parliamentarians attending pro-LTTE events abroad and locally throughout 30 years
• TNA Parliamentarians speaking atop LTTE stages, delivering speeches that echo separatist sentiment.
• TNA Parliamentarians paying homage to dead LTTE suicide cadres
• TNA Parliamentarians communicating and liaising with LTTE fronts overseas
• Foreign mission briefings/country data on Sri Lanka that describes ‘TNA as a pro-LTTE party’ while international media too carry the same description
• 2004 EU Election Observation Mission Chief John Cushnahan released the EU report on 17 June 2004 clearly establishing the LTTE-TNA alliance: Quote: Firstly, the LTTE intended that no other rival Tamil party (or Tamil candidate from the mainstream political alliances) to the TNA would be able to claim to represent Tamil interests. A chilling message to this effect was sent early in the campaign when a UNP candidate and an EPDP activist were murdered. Incidents such as this seriously restricted the right of the parties other than the TNA to campaign freely in the Northern and Eastern Districts. During the 2004 elections, the major incidences of violence was perpetrated by the LTTE, whereas at the earlier elections, the primary source of the violence (although not all), were the two largest political parties. Unquote
• 2009 statement by Anandasangaree (President/Secretary of TULF) to the President of Sri Lanka: “Democratic Tamil National Alliance considers the TNA, as the first and the worst enemy of the Tamil People. They should take full responsibility, among many other matters, for the loss of several thousands of lives and for causing injuries for many more.…. All have become paupers now. They will find hardly anything left when they return to their homes one day. All these or atleast 90 % of these could have been saved and total displacement could have been avoided if only the TNA had the forethought to advise the LTTE to release the people from their grip, to go anywhere they liked. The TNA is blamed for this because, when everyone, every organization, every country, the EU, the UN etc. had made this request specifically, only the TNA kept on asking for the war to stop. When the 8000 students who sat for the G.C.E(O/L) exam were taken away for compulsory training by the LTTE the TNA kept mum. Some of them are now dead and others are under detention by the Government. Where are the children and grand-children of the TNA MPs. Will the TNA at least now tell the world as to what happened to the students at Sencholai. …. “Who are these gentleman of the TNA now wanting to form an alliance with the DTNA. They are the people whom the LTTE elected to represent them in parliament fraudulently and it is they who unashamedly claimed the LTTE as the sole representatives of the people. The LTTE is no more and hence they do not need any representation in Parliament. Under the Present circumstances the most honourable action the TNA can take or must do is to quit parliament without clinging on to that office. Neither the PLOTE nor the EPRLF (Pathmanabha) gave any indication to Mr. Srikantha who met me by appointment and the other two by accident. As for me I will not touch the TNA even with a “pole”. The dead, the injured and those living in the IDP camps deprived of all their rights will not pardon us if we have any deal with them. The TNA should not under-estimate our alliance partners who cannot be bought over with a mayor-ship or with any membership in Parliament as they sold themselves in April 2004. …. “For five years I fought a lone battle, amidst threat to my life, unbearable humiliations etc. I was also christened as a “traitor”. I now feel exonerated. Let the souls of the dead haunting our homes bless me and not curse me.” V. Anandasangaree, has signed the statement as President – TULF & Secretary – DTNA/2009. Incidentally, Anandasangaree had to eat his own words because he has now joined the TNA alliance which he accused in 2009.

Guilty by Association

In investigating and establishing the links with LTTE-TNA every killing and act of crime committed by the LTTE automatically incriminates the TNA as being guilty by association.

LTTE’s crimes include suicide missions, destruction of civilian property, premeditated targeting of civilians, denying fundamental rights under the UN Charter to Tamil men, women and even children by forcibly recruiting them as terrorists, denying children their right to life, right to live with parents, right to education and right to freedom of movement, banks heists, political assassinations, narcotic trade, human smuggling and a host of other crimes which TNA by association with LTTE becomes culpable. Investigate!

COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY – COLLECTIVE GUILT

Allied Forces Denazified Germany – LTTE/TNA need to be denazified as well

When Germany was denazified by the Allied Forces with the objective to totally eliminate any ideology associated with Nazism.

Sri Lanka must totally eliminate ideology associated with SEPARATISM.

• Germans could not decry against foreign occupation (The Sri Lankan Army is the National Army of Sri Lanka and the GOSL has every right to position its troops wherever they like and their numbers cannot be questioned by any nation or group)
• Germans could not object to foreign military presence which remained for 13 years in Germany
• Denazification is a legal term coined by Pentagon in 1943 (Denazification Directives)
• The Allies thus removed all physical symbols associated with Nazi regime.
• The Nazi Party was abolished (TNA is the political arm of the LTTE)
• Nazi links to cultural, social, intellectual, economic or even politics was abolished.
• Everyone who supported Hitler or the Nazis were held accountable and charged with war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials. (WE DEMAND INVESTIGATION TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED LTTE/TNA IN THEIR CRIMES FROM 1980S TO DATE)
• The Nuremberg Trials aimed to purge all elements of Nazism – even the Swastika was removed
• German and Austrian refugees had to fill a questionnaire that categorized them – 1.5million Germans were categorized as hard-core Nazis
• US took over German media and 37 German newspapers, 6 radio stations, 314 theatres, 642 cinemas, 101 magazines, 237 book publishers, 7384 book dealers and printers made sure there was NO CRITICISM of Allied occupation or its troops.\
• More than 30,000 book titles ranging from school textbooks to poetry were banned, those who possessed these books were punished
• All artwork related to Nazism was prohibited
• If denial of holocaust is considered a CRIME and is BANNED. The denial of LTTE crimes must be equally considered a CRIME and should be BANNED. 30 years of suffering LTTE put Sri Lanka through cannot be forgotten. Each of us are victims in our own way. We need to differentiate who made merry by LTTE terror and who suffered because of LTTE terror. Investigate.
• Allied forces ran posters in German which read ‘YOU ARE GUILTY OF THIS’ or “THESE ATROCITIES : YOUR GUILT” photos of dead humans carried headings with “WHO IS GUILTY” or “THIS TOWN IS GUILTY”.
• Germans were forced to see rotting corpses and made to feel guilty in an Allied program to make ALL GERMANS feel ‘collectively responsible’ and ‘collectively guilty’ for the crimes of the Nazis. This was how US, UK and FRANCE treated ACCOUNTABILITY. Sri Lanka went about a totally different path and for that these same countries find fault.

YES WE WANT ACCOUNTABILITY:

• We want the world to know that India first mobilized groups of unemployed Tamil youth from Sri Lanka and trained them in India by Indian intelligence and retired army officers.
• We want the world to know that these trainings began far before the July 1983 riots which makes us wonder whether this was a created incident to bring out the LTTE into the open.
• We want the world to know that the majority of Tamils live outside their propaganda suited “Tamil Homeland” and amongst the very Sinhalese they say they cannot live with.
• We want the world to know that in countries where minorities like Tamils making just 10% of the population can never hold positions as Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Inspector General of Police, Chairman of the Central Bank, Chairman of State TV, Heads of Government Departments, University Professors and Vice-Chancellors, Ambassadors and High Commissioners and the person tipped to be the first Tamil PM was gunned down by the LTTE as was the Mayor of Jaffna who became the 1st killing of the LTTE.

The public have been demanding that the GOSL INVESTIGATE the LTTE and its links to the TNA.

This investigation must commence now. The Public must be invited to send all evidence of such ties and the State must bring criminal charges against all the men behind these two movements having proven their guilt by association for the bulk of LTTE crimes were meted upon civilians and under Geneva Conventions and all other customary international laws civilians are non-combatants and anyone targeting them in the pre-meditated manner the LTTE had using suicide bombers becomes a war crime and if TNA is guilty by association all TNA members must be brought to trial using all the country laws already in place to facilitate this.

WE DEMAND AN INVESTIGATION INTO LTTE-TNA ALLIANCE without delay.