A Tamil state on the island of Sri Lanka would be similar to Kosova.

From the Editor’s Desk (Mon 21 June)
People’s Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT) is one of the registered political parties in the UK.
http://registers.electoralcommission.org.uk

PFLT Constitution says, “ Tamil people are a nation without a state in the island of Sri Lanka. The contiguous north-east part of the island is the historical and traditional homeland of the Tamil people. For more than sixty years, the Sri Lankan governments have attempted to oppress and suppress this ethnic community that has the right to nationhood and self determination. In this attempt it has confiscated their land and committed genocidal attacks on this community. Because of this state of affairs, the natural resistance to the oppression, suppression and subjugation have, made liberation as the key or the buss word of the Tamils legitimate struggle for independence. Further the Tiger emblem of the Cholas naturally inspired the name and hence the emblem of the Tamil liberation movement.

“ “If the Sinhala nation and those countries that support it consider that the Tamil people’s freedom struggle has been defeated through the capture of historical homeland areas of the Tamil people and the massacre of thousands of Tamil civilians, we shall shatter that illusion.

Let us demonstrate to the world through our actions that the fire of freedom awakened by our great leaders continues to burn in the hearts of all Tamils, and that only a free Tamil Nation has the power to extinguish it.”

Further, the Tamils know well that the chauvinist Sri Lankan leaders today are firm believers in militaristic triumphalism and are openly engaging in ethnic cleansing and in changing the demographics of traditional Tamil areas. This is an evil combination that spells death and annihilation for freedom-aspiring Tamils of Sri Lanka.”

“Like all of us, Tamils around the world, are trying to do their duty in the process of building their nation, especially when their kith and kin, back in Sri Lanka have not even the human rights and freedom even to speak their mind. Further, it is well known that a nation is built through the resources and support of its concerned and literate citizens. We have to tell the world around the truth thousand times for it to be believed, the justification for the state of Eelam, its people and its land. The time has come when we have to liberate ourselves from the siege of chauvinism and the yoke of repression and subjugation and the international community should take full responsibility for this problem of the Tamil question which will constantly keep appearing at their doorstep for years to come.

With the unprecedented sufferings heaped on the (Ceylon Tamil) Sri Lankan Tamil people as never before, the resolution of the Tamils for their right to independence and self- determination will be irrevocable and ever more hardened.”

Sadly, during the past year, most of us got mislead and wasted our time and resources in appeasing politicians, who are seasonal, opportunists, and seasoned and trained to tell half truths.
It is high time we learnt to work with the correct and right people. They are our friends.

Here SHADE introduces Vheadline.com commentarist Kenneth T. Tellis.
He lived in Sri Lanka during the fifties.

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Published: Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Bylined to: Kenneth T. Tellis
VHeadline’s Kenneth T. Tellis asks: Is, rather, Eva Golinger a ‘Bride of Tyranny’?
VHeadline.com commentarist Kenneth T. Tellis writes: When I read the article on Sri Lanka by Eva Golinger I was non-plussed to say the least. Having spent a lot of time in Ceylon before it became Sri Lanka and also after that, I was really surprised at her statements vis-a-vis the LTTE and the militant Sinhalese Buddhist political clique that has made that beautiful Island long ago know as Serendeep into a veritable prison camp.
President Mahinda Rajapaske is a dictator and brooks no interference from any quarter. If he had former General Sarath Fonseka arrested it was without any proof and the charges were trumped up and could not be backed with proof.

What do I remember of Ceylon/Sri Lanka? In 1955, the Sinhalese Buddhist Monks stirred up trouble for the Tamils in Colombo the capital, and riots broke out in which there was a whole-sale slaughter of Tamils who were a minority and destruction of their homes and businesses, the Sinhalese were given police support in these crimes, because the police were also Sinhalese. A London-based British shipping company offered to use there empty cargo ships to transport Tamils from Colombo to Trincomalee and safety, which they did.

In 1958, there was unrest in Ceylon/Sri Lanka and the Tamils minority were picked upon and suffered. Finally the Tamils had had their fill of Sinhalese atrocities and began the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam as a defence organization to protect themselves from the Sinhalese. It was to be expected that at some point in time that the Tamils would have to take up arms to protect their own people as the Sinhalese government was violating all norms of civilized behaviour towards the Tamil minority which mainly composed of Hindus and Christians.

But as things further deteriorated in Sri Lanka the idea of a Tamil State took root. We have seen this very thing happen in Cyprus and Nigeria. So it was not the Tamil minority to blame, but the Sinhalese majority who were misusing their power.

If you are an outsider to a country in turmoil … such as Eva Golinger, undoubtedly is … you should first find out the facts before passing judgment. But at no point has Eva Golinger done that.
Of course, she has not spent time in Sri Lanka to find out what was being done to the Tamil minority by the Sinhala majority and yet she has the passed judgment on the Tamils without having any facts, but only the say-so of the Sri Lankan Government, which even the UN accuses of being in violation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter of December 10, 1948.


Kenneth T. Tellis
kenneth.tellis@vheadline.com
http://www.vheadline.com/tellis

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VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. Our stance is decidedly pro-governance (defined as being contrary to anarchy) and pro-government to the extent that we support all and any government policies aimed at consolidating and improving the living conditions and future prosperity of ALLVenezuelans, regardless of race, color or creed. We also seek to shed an international spotlight on nefarious practices and corruption which, for decades, has strangled this South American nation’s development and progress. In every respect VHeadline Venezuela’s declared editorial bias is most definitely pro-Constitutional, pro-Democracy and pro-VENEZUELA.
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VHeadline’s Kenneth T. Tellis writes , “ A Tamil state on the island of Sri Lanka would be similar to Kosova.” ( Jan. 2009, 3 months before the Massacre)
http://www.albasrah.net/maqalat/english/kenneth_17012004.htm
www.albasrah.net

By Kenneth T. Tellis

If one has to draw a parallel in history it is this. The Iraqi patriots fighting the illegal occupation of their country are no different to the American patriots fighting the British occupation of the 13 American colonies in 1775. Thus no Iraqi who kills a member of the foreign occupying forces is a criminal, rather he is a patriot dedicated to their removal, in much the same way as that great Swiss patriot Wilhelm Tell from the canton of Uri, who fought to remove the Austrian occupiers of his country in the 14th century.
AYESTERDAY=S TERRORISTS, TODAY AND TOMORROW=S POLITICIANS

Is it not odd, that yesterday’s terrorists are the leaders of today and tomorrow. Does one remember that Menachim Begin and Ariel Sharon of Israel were both terrorists, yet no one brings it up. Achmed Soekarno of Indonesia; Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus; Eamonn De Valera of Ireland; Pundit Nehru of India; Yasser Arafat of Palestine; Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; Thabo Mbeki of South Africa; and even the patriots who fought in the American revolution, such as George Washington; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamin Franklin; and many other people were all called terrorists in the past, but some of them became world leaders. Yet no one sees fit to single out these former terrorists. I wonder if there is a laundry where they send former terrorists for cleaning?

Today Vellupillai Prabhakaran, head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, is being called a terrorist by the Sinhalese government of Sri Lanka and many countries who support their viewpoint. Who knows, that sometime in the future Vellupillai Prabhakaran will no longer be called a terrorist, but will be hailed as leader of a Tamil state on the island of Sri Lanka by the world.

At the present time talks are taking place in Northern Ireland between Sinn Fein and its military wing the I.R.A., which has been called a terrorist organization, and the Ulster Unionists to bring about a peaceful solution to the Northern Ireland question. Who knows, tomorrow that the future government of Northern Ireland might comprise of these very same people branded as I.R.A. terrorists today, and who will dare call the I.R.A. members of a Northern Ireland unified government, terrorists? Once more we can see, how the terrorists of yesterday, may become the laundered politicians of today.
One must at least respect the intentions of these so-called terrorists. The patriots of many countries under foreign domination have used different methods to rid their country of a foreign occupier. In 1795, Austria, Prussia and Russia decided to do away with Poland. They partitioned Poland between themselves. Each annexing an agreed upon section of Poland, thinking that in time the Polish national identity would disappear. But their dastardly plans went awry. Even during her time of suffering, the Polish nation gave to the American revolutionary cause two of her sons. One a Polish engineer named Tadeusz Kosciuszko who brought about the surrender of British General ‘Gentleman Johnny’ Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York on October 17, 1777. The other was Polish Count Kazimierz Pulaski, who joined the American revolutionary forces in 1777, and was killed fighting for America on October 11, 1779 in Savannah, Georgia. From the ashes of World War I, the Phoenix of Poland arose once again, it was something which they could not destroy. Again in the 1930’s, the Soviets and the Nazis devised a new plan to wipe Poland off the map. In fact it was this plan that ushered in World War II, and once again, it went awry. After World War II, Poland once more tried to re-establish her nationhood, only to be sold to the Soviet Union by the United States, which allowed it to establish a puppet Polish government in Lublin, Poland in 1944. To buttress the Soviets the US arranged the assassination of General Sikorsky President of Poland in exile in Gibraltar the same year. So the stories of annexation and occupation are not new. Thus Kashmir and Tibet are in fact a replay of Poland in a modern setting. But a Tamil state on the island of Sri Lanka would be similar to Kosovo. They are both based on ethnic cleansing, and only a Kosovo type U.N. operation would stabilize the issue.

All things being equal, these men who are today being branded terrorists might one day in the not too distant future become the political leaders of three free countries, called Kashmir, Tibet and Tamil Eelam. It is very wrong today to call freedom fighters of Kashmir, Tibet and Sri Lanka terrorists, any more than one would dare call the freedom fighters of the Hungarian uprising against the Soviet occupation of their country in 1956, terrorist. Today even the US trained Afghan Mujahideen (Taliban) freedom fighters who defeated the Soviet army in Afghanistan are being called terrorists. As usual, we have two names for the same people. In the eyes of the foreign occupying forces, they are terrorists. But, in the eyes of the people of the land under occupation, they are freedom fighters. In reality it is all a question of perception.

Remember that these freedom fighters are doing exactly what Wilhelm Tell did with the Austrian occupiers of Switzerland centuries ago. No one in history ever referred to Wilhelm Tell as a terrorist, did they? So why then should Kashmiri, Tibetan or Tamil freedom fighters be singled out and called terrorists?

Kashmir, Tibet and Tamil Eelam have a right to self-determination. No matter what the great powers and their lackeys say. This is an absolute, and we should accept it for what its worth. So far, some 46,000 innocent Kashmiri men, women and children have been tortured, murdered and raped by Indian occupation forces, which now number some 546,000 In Tibet the number of Tibetan men, women and children killed by the Chinese occupation forces has lost count. In Sri Lanka the slaughter is still going on. At the same time China calls the Tibetan Khamba tribesmen who fight the Chinese occupation forces there, terrorists. But they are no less patriots in the real sense of that word. For they have fought against overwhelming odds and superior weapons that the Chinese occupiers of their country possess. Today the war in Sri Lanka, shows how the forces of a people seeking freedom, however small, can hold an army 20 times its size at bay. The world has stood by and watched the forces of neo-colonialism rape and murder in territories they now occupy.

A typical example of neo-colonialism is Christian East Timor, which was occupied for 25 years by the military forces of Indonesia, which maimed and murdered East Timorese at will. The only saving grace, was the East Timorese Liberation Army under Xanana Gusmao that fought against the Indonesian occupation of their country, and who were dubbed terrorists by Indonesia. Only recently have the East Timorese people been set free from their Indonesian oppressors by the United Nations. Christian West New Guinea was handed over to Indonesia in 1964 as part of the Kennedy administration deal of 1963, against the wishes of the National Assembly of West New Guinea, which the U.S. government refused to recognize. New Guinea was never part of Indonesia, and as such has a God given right to uphold its sovereignty, since it became a country on December 1, 1963. Thus the leader of the pro-independence group Theys Eluay is dead right in reiterating his country=s sovereignty as an independent nation. Finally the Christian Moluccas Islands have yet to be freed from their Indonesian oppressors. But bye and bye that day will come.

We cannot demand for ourselves, that, which we are unwilling to give others. Hypocrisy and double standards are in vogue today, because of behind-the-scenes deals by the big powers. But there is no one on earth who can broker someone else=s freedom. Because, that which they demand as a democratic right for themselves, applies equally to everyone without any exceptions.

The Kashmir, Tibet and Tamil Eelam issues can be solved very quickly, by the withdrawal of all foreign occupying troops. That is, China should be willing to immediately withdraw her occupation forces from Tibet and part of Kashmir; India and Pakistan should do likewise in Kashmir, and Sri Lanka follow the same pattern, by withdrawing their forces from Tamil areas on the island. Leaving, Tibetans, Kashmiris and Tamils to solve their own problems, we can have a peaceful world. China=s claims on Tibet and part of Kashmir; India and Pakistan=s claims on Kashmir and Sri Lanka=s claims are based on expansionist greed and military power, having no legal basis under law, unless it is the law of the jungle that we are alluding to. Tibet should be for Tibetans, Kashmir for Kashmiris and Tamil Eeelam for Tamils alone. No foreign power should dictate to these countries how they should rule themselves, since that is an internal affair.

Very recently the US called the Kashmiri Freedom Fighters terrorists. For the record the US should first refer to the Americans (terrorists) who were and killed at the Alamo in Texas, like Colonel (US Senator) Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie because they were fighting for the very same things that the Kashmiri patriots are fighting for today, freedom. It is the one thing that was not negotiable for the Texans of 1836, nor is it negotiable for the Kashmiris of today. And what about the Cubans the US trained, armed and funded in the early 1960’s to invade Cuba, which ended in the Bay of Pigs debacle? Were they not also terrorists? Not leaving out the US training of the Nicaraguan exiles (Contras) in Honduras and Suriname by US Special Forces to invade the sovereign territory of the Republic of Nicaragua. By the US arguments of today, on terrorism, the US is itself guilty of international terrorism. And taking into consideration the US and NATO Airforces’ bombing of Serbian civilians without a declaration of war, which violated every known charter of the United Nations and the Vienna Convention on consular and diplomatic immunity, by knowingly and willfully bombing the embassy of the People’s Republic of China. So, the real question is who are the real terrorists? Again it is all a question of perception. Depending on which side of the spectrum one stands.

The US government’s attempts to equate the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i in 1941, with the September 11TH terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, NYC; the Pentagon, Washington, DC and Somerset, Pennsylvania, just doesn’t hold water. Recently it was disclosed that the US government was well aware of the impending Japanese attack. That it is why the newer ships and aircraft carriers of the US Navy put out to sea long before December 7th. Day of Infamy, is pure baloney. Trying to get the most mileage out of a story does no one credit. It is a sorry state for a country to use propaganda for better effects, when credibility becomes a victim.

In the final analysis, at what point does a terrorist become a patriot or vice versa? And who will be the judge of that? Certainly not politicians, who put forward their own slanted viewpoint, as we have seen.
In writing this article, I have taken into consideration the issues from every angle to reach an honest and just conclusion, by telling it as it really is, without prejudice. If for telling the truth one is condemned, then so be it. For the truth cannot be changed to suit anyone’s political agenda.

Kenneth T. Tellis
2755 Andorra Circle
Mississauga, Ontario

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