Ramblings In Search Of Tigers Foot Prints- Part II

| by Tamizh Prabakaran Translated by : L. Annadoure -February 4, 2014

[ The indictment levelled against Tamizh Prabakaran, the reporter of Junior Vikkaden is that he has taken photos of Sri Lankan Arm camps and he has been found talking to !omen on !hom forcible sterilisation operation have been done" The #ember of Parliament #r"Sridharan and the Provincial $ouncil members !ho happened to be !ith the reporter came to be arrested b the Arm and the have been handed over to Ja apuram Police station !here the #ember of Parliament and other Provincial $ouncil members !ho after having been interrogated as to the accusation have been released" The %eporter has been sub&ected to a gruesome interrogation both b the Arm and the Police" Thereafter the reporter has been taken to 'ourth 'loor !here he has been sub&ected to interrogation throughout the night and !hen he re(uested !ater the interrogators !ho instead of giving !ater &ust pointed at a bottle containing petrol and !hen the &ib of his pant failed to &ib the have refused to procure him another pant to !ear"

The reporter has stated in part ) that there are *,++,+++ Arm personnel stationed in the ,orth" %everend 'ather %a appu Joseph has stated that there are *+,+++ troops in Jaffana alone" #ahinda %a&apakshe has lied b stating that there has been an e-tensive reduction in the strength of troops stationed in the ,orth and that there are onl ./,+++ arm personnel at

present but his secretar Lalith 0eeratunge has contradicted him as to the number of troops deplo ed in the ,orthern Province and he !ould sa that there are 1+,+++ Arm personnel in the ,orth as of 2ctober /+.3"0h should the be afraid of photos being taken of arm camps even if such allegation of having taken photos be true and if their version happened to be correct then the themselves should have led the reporter and #ember of Parliament to the camps to see for themselves the actual strength of troops" Tamils are al!a s tolerant of other religious faiths and the not religious bigots like some belligerent monks !ho recentl led a violent mob of 3++ to demolish the Assemblies of 4od and $alvar $hurches in 5ikkadu!a, 4alle 6istrict" And in fact //7 #uslim places of !orship,.+3 $hristian churches have come under attack in /+.3 alone and as man as 387 5indu temples have been demolished so for" Lord 9uddha did not preach his disciples and follo!ers that the have to demolish 5indu temples, #uslim and $hristian places of !orship and he did not inculcate that 5indu deities should be replaced !ith his image and the /+,+++ 9uddha statues !hich have been donated b Thailand have been used either to replace the 5indu deities !hich are alread e-isting in 5indu temples or install statues ane! in places !here there are no follo!ers and that is the Sri Lankan !a of converting people to 9uddhist faith" 0e ma recall to mind as to !hat #ahinda %a&apakshe has laid do!n in his #ahinda $hintana in the ear /++:"5e has assured that; <action !ould be taken to ensure that places of 5indu !orship !ith cultural values !ould be preserved and declared as national places of !orship=" 5e has avo!edl stated that he !ould create a virtuous state, a disciplined societ and he has categoricall stated that steps !ould be taken to prohibit consumption of alcohol and drugs and no! it is ver much apparent that the persons !ho are ver close to him are engaged in smuggling drugs into Sri Lanka and import ethanol" A !ord about ,orochcholai po!er station" )t is being reported that second hand machineries have been installed b the $hinese contractor and the po!er plant broke do!n /8 times bet!een the time of inception to the end of /+.3 and once again it has no! come to a standstill and it has been decided b 4overnment to seek re(uisite assistance from )ndia to make the plant operative and functional" ,o! !e !ill see !hat #r"Tamizh Prabakaran has got to sa "> ( February 4, 2014, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka is an earthly paradise. Human race may live a contented life in that beautiful place. But it is not a fit place to live in at present. Racist policies and racist tendencies have altered that aradisiacal land into a desolate place! a burial "round. A #ournalist once observed that a self respectin" man cannot live there $ith di"nity and humaneness in him% &hat has been stated above not alone applies to the Tamils but to the Sinhalese as $ell. ' set my foot on such a beautiful land in the mornin" of (eepavali festival day. $e are celebratin" (eepavali since the mythical vicious demon )ara"asuran came to be *uelled and destroyed. 't is ironic that ' should "o there to kno$ about the pli"ht of +elam Tamils. ' disembarked at the Bandaranaike 'nternational Airport.

Sri Lanka e,empts ta, on "ems like ruby and allo$s free flo$ of forei"n currencies and so for the forei"n tourists $ho visit Sri Lankan are concerned ta, e,emptions are "iven in order to boost Tourism. -nder the "arb of Tourism the Sri Lankan .overnment protects itself from bein" pried into by the international community. Since ' hold an 'ndian assport and since ' am visitin" Sri Lanka for the first time ' have not been sub#ected to a throu"h immi"ration checks. &ith a Tamil friend $elcomin" me!' have come out of the airport. ' see a $hite statue of Lord Buddha. The statues of Lord Buddha could be found installed in every street. /After the $ar! Thailand has donated 01!111 Statues of Lord Buddha $hich have been installed all over Sri Lanka2! said my friend. The distance bet$een the Air port and 3olombo is 45 klms. ' $ent to a bookstore at 3olombo fort in search of availability of books on 6ahavamsa and on the history of Buddhism and ' made en*uires about those books to the Sinhalese lady $ho has been in char"e of the book store and she told me that some books are available. She then has started en*uirin" about me $ith suspiciousness and she *uestioned me /$hether ' am attached to Red 3ross and $hich country ' have come from2. +veryone is en*uirin" about every other. /The Army men $ill come and en*uire as to $ho are all the persons $ho have purchased books here. That is $hy she is en*uirin" about you2! said my friend. Here in Sri Lanka every one is taken for a ti"er. A Tamilian $ho dissents and speaks a"ainst .overnment is said to be a Tamil Ti"er and if the person $ho opposes the .overnment happens to be a Sinhalese then he is said to a Sinhalese ti"er. /Apt e,amples of persons $ho have been branded as Sinhalese Ti"ers are the #ournalists like Bashna Abivartne and 7redrica 8ones $ho have escaped from threat of dire conse*uences to their life and person and they are livin" in self e,ile abroad for havin" criticised the fascist policies of the .overnment.That is $hy they see every one suspiciously and $ith mistrust. /'s not 'ndia friendly nation to Sri Lanka and $hether those comin" from there $ould be treated $ith respect 92! ' put the *uestion to my friend. / erhaps 'ndia may say that Sri Lanka is its friendly )ation. But the real position is not so. ' tell you one e,ample. Sri Lanka is "oin" to create a hurdle in the importation of cars from the 'ndian manufacturers. At present! the price of simple )A): car is ;< Lakhs in Sri Lankan Rupee. (o not "asp in surprise and "ulp your saliva% 'n Sri Lanka ta, on imported 'ndian cars is 011=.They are "oin" to raise ta, especially on 'ndian manufactured cars.

And on the contrary they are "oin" to reduce the ta, on imported cars $hich are manufactured in 8apan. The Sri Lankan .overnment in itself has brou"ht about a car manufacturin" unit there. As a conse*uence of $hich a heavy blo$ is "oin" to land commercially on 'ndian car 6anufacturers and on 'ndian .overnment. The friendly Sri Lanka is "oin" to act in this $ay%2 said my friend2. ' am $alkin" on the 3olombo fort road. ' have taken some photos. ' tried to cross a movin" bus. 'ts conductor ordered me to stop in Tamil. ' blinked. /'t is a city! here you should not take photos! forei"ners and #ournalists alone are allo$ed to take photos in the areas $here people con"re"ate in lar"e numbers2! said he. ' have been to the beach on the ne,t day mornin". :n the $ay! there are the old parliament and the residence of 6ahinda Ra#apakshe. :n either side of the road there are sand ba"s piled in a stack to some hei"ht. ' thou"ht at first that these sand ba"s are meant as a precautionary steps a"ainst Tsunami. Later ' learnt that these sand ba"s have been placed there preparatory to a car race. 6ahinda Ra#apaksh2s son )amal Ra#apakshe $ho has been a$arded by 'ndia as the best 'nternational youth for the year 01;0! has introduced the car race there and he is takin" part in such car race. ' am $alkin" on the .alle Road $hich is situate in Hi"h Security >one. 3onstruction activities are "oin" on in respect of Shrilin"a star Hotel $hich is situate near the old parliament. The Hotel Shrilin"a has Hon" ?on" back"round and the Hotel is about to be declared open in 01;@ and it has a political importance! they say. .enerally speakin" of Sri Lanka and more particularly of 3olombo it is slo$ly fallin" into hands of 3hina and comin" under its control and under the "arb of investments in trade and commerce 'ndia2s rival! the :ctopus 3hina is sendin" its tentacles deep into Sri Lanka. The said Hotel is bein" constructed in an area of ;1 acres and the land has been purchased from Sri Lanka in the year 01;;. A 3hinese business concern has invested 51A 6illion (ollars for constructin" the said lu,ury hotel. Like$ise they are about to open a "uest house $hich is constructed in an area of ;;@ acres in Ambanthotta and ;01 6illion (ollars have been allocated for it. These apart! the Sri Lankan .overnment has sold a$ay a "reat e,panse of its territorial $aters to 3hinese .overnment. 3hinese $orkers are alone en"a"ed in all these construction activities. Sri Lankan labourers are not at all employed in such construction activities. Soon Sri Lanka $ill metamorphose into a little 3hina. 't is bein" said that 3hina has made all arran"ements in that re"ard.

Sri Lankan #ournalist $ho met me at the 3olombo sea shore has informed me about it in detail. The $ar $ith the Ti"ers is over and done $ith in 011B. The pli"ht of Tamils $ho havin" been bereft of their basic ri"hts and orphaned as they are no$ ! does not concern Sri Lanka or bothers it in any $ay. But! $ithin a fe$ years there is "oin" to be $a"ed a "reat $ar. That $ill be a commercial $ar. There $ill not be any loss in human lives. Such a $ar cannot be prevented or averted and no body can prevent Sri Lanka from slippin" a$ay from the hands of Sinhalese themselves. 3hina standin" on one side and America on the other are poised to cause destruction to Sri Lanka. Recently 3hina has entered into as many as ;< commercial and business a"reements $ith Sri Lanka. Already 3hina is en"a"ed in the construction of Ambanthotta Air ort! Sea port! )orochcholai po$er station! 3olombo port e,tension $ork! revampin" $orks of rail$ays. &hen 'ndia ob#ected to these #obs bein" "iven to 3hina and $hen it came for$ard to undertake to do those #obs! some other $orks have been assi"ned and entrusted in its hands. 3onstruction of Sampoor po$er station! ?ana"esanthurai ort! alali Air port and some development $ork in )orthern Sri Lanka are some of the $orks done by 'ndia. Sri Lanka is fleecin" money from 3hina under the "arb of doin" development $ork at one time by fei"nin" that it is ali"ned $ith 'ndia and then at another time fleecin" money from 'ndia by sho$in" that it is ali"ned $ith 3hina. At this #uncture! America is tryin" hectically to enter into Sri Lanka. To do oil e,ploration in Sri Lanka! America is "oin" to enter into Sri Lanka soon. &hen that proposal or decision materialises then there $ould be direct confrontation bet$een 3hina and America. The very purport of brin"in" resolutions a"ainst Sri Lanka in -nited )ations Human Ri"hts 3ouncil by America is to threaten Sri Lanka. Althou"h Sri Lanka $ould boast of havin" destroyed Liberation Ti"ers of Tamil +elam and installed triumphal monuments it seems it has not yet realised of the immanent dan"ers that are to befall it. /As a conse*uence of enterin" into the aforesaid international contracts! a family very close to the Sri Lankan president has been "iven kick backs to a tune of many thousand 3rores and $ithout realisin" the dan"er they are noddin" their head in assent and are assi"nin" these $orks2 ! said my friend. &hoever *uestions or criticises the .overnment is branded as enemy of the state and the Sri Lankan .overnment does not discriminate bet$een the accusers and critici>ers $hether he is a Sinhalese or Tamil and 6a$bima 8anatha arty2s president Hemakumar )anayakkara once said! /The State Terrorism $hich $as let loose in the time of erst$hile resident remadasa is bein" let loose no$ in the present rei"n of resident Ra#apaskhe. A"ainst the persons $ho criticise and mount pressure on the .overnment the State

is terrori>in" them and youths in the )orth and people in the 8udiciary are sub#ected to state repression. remadasa $ho durin" his president ship used to say repeatedly that he did not kno$ anythin" of the acts and alle"ations of State Terrorism. 6y friend said to himself concernedly /$hether Ra#apakshe himself is "oin" to say the same thin"9. These are the realities of the present day Sri Lanka. +verythin" is subservient to the State. The State is subservient to Ra#apakshe and this is the only current policy of the .overnment. Since the 8udiciary is not found amenable to such a policy of the .overnment the Sri Lankan state has no$ resorted to acts of brin"in" the 8udiciary under its control so as to make it to act at its beck and call. Ra#apakshe is takin" staunchest steps to brin" 8udiciary under the control of parliament. 'f that happens then the Sri Lankan 8udiciary $ill be vulnerable to undue influence and control by politicians. &hile speakin" about political influence on the 8udiciary! the .eneral Secretary of 8C 6r. Tilvin Silva has said the follo$in"! D Sri Lankan people have not "iven 0E4rd ma#ority to Ra#apakshe in the parliament and the present .overnment has purchased 0E4rd ma#ority by payin" sumptuous price. And it is true that if the .overnment uses the 8udiciary to suit its schemes and desi"ns then the international community $ill not be a silent spectatorF. This is an e,ample to indicate that the Sinhalese people themselves are very an"ry $ith the .overnment. :n the ne,t day mornin"! ' started my #ourney by boardin" a bus bound for 8affna. As the midni"ht is fast approachin"! ' see the picture of 6ahinda Ra#apakshe depicted on a bill board on the $ay $ith a red turban draped about his neck $hich seemed to $elcome me by sayin" /6ay you live lon"2%