The Real Truth about the Bonhomie European advances.

It was interesting to read the comments made by the visiting foreign ministers from France and the United Kingdom, after their failed mission to secure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

They claim, this was requested to help the innocent civilians but many of us know that their modus operandi.

It was definitely not to help innocent civilians still held by the terrorists but to help the trapped terrorists give more time and enough diversion to help them to escape.

Mr. Kouchner says that we pleaded with the government to allow international relief agencies and NGOs immediate access to those areas.

Mr. Miliband says that we were here not to save the terrorists but to help innocent Tamils.

But how and why only now are the questions that they failed to answer.

First, let us not forget that this terror outfit is a banded organization in many of the countries including United Kingdom, yet they still manage to operate openly and without impunity.

Secondly, many of the international aid agencies and NGOs had been operating for many years under the guise of providing humanitarian aids to civilians in those areas when they were under the control of the terrorist.

But those in the south believed that they were not helping the civilians but the terrorist by siphoning off money and also providing the necessary know how to prolong the war.

But they had no way of proving those allegations as most of the areas that they were operating were under the control of the terrorist until few months back.

Until they were driven away from those areas by the advancing Army only the suspicions of the southerners had before were proven correct.

Those so called international humanitarian agencies and NGOs have not built a single school, hospital or even dug up a drinking water well for those innocent civilians.

Those innocent people still use schools, hospitals, roads etc built by the democratically and legitimately elected government and not those bonhomie international aid agencies and NGOs.

Instead all what did they manage to build were underground bunkers for terrorist top shots and submarines, aircraft etc to wage a war against a legitimately and democratically elected government.

Those light aircraft, the terrorist used to defecate over Colombo and other areas were European built aircraft and did any one bother to inquire how such equipment ended up in terrorist’s hands?

No and then why not?

Simply because, having a war in some part of the world especially in a poor country like Sri Lanka is good for their industries and their economies.

The longer it drags, it is better for them.

With the present economic difficulties that they are in, they do not want this three decade old war to end this soon.

That is what their ulterior motive is and that is why the pair is in Sri Lanka and that is why many still desperately trying every trick in the book to come.

Surely it is not for the benefit of any but for their own good.

  

Bonhomie European advances in Sri Lankan affairs.

The latest news to hit the news wires is that The British and French Foreign Ministers are rushing to Sri Lanka to ensure an immediate ceasefire.

This move is said to ensure the safety of the trapped civilians but what I am unable to understand is how they would ensure that by having a ceasefire?

The civilians are trapped in the zone still held by the terrorist, not because of the fighting but they are held against their will by the terrorist to use them as a human shield.

The recent mass exodus witness by the rest of the world, of trapped civilians from the terrorist held area, when the Sri Lankan Army breached part of the erected earthen wall is a clear indication to prove this point.

This terrorist organization is a banned organization, all over the world which had been fighting an unjust war against democratically elected governments for the last three decades.

If any wants to gauge the backing of the people for the present government’s policies, the recent poll results of the western province election is a very good yard stick.

The ruling party had managed to secure more than 2/3 of the votes and this was not because someone held a gun at voters’ heads but they endorse the policies of the present government.

Instead of helping a terrorist organization banned even in most parts of the civilized world, France, United Kingdom and the other European nations should assist the democratically elected government to end this war as quickly as possible by forcing the few remaining terrorists to surrender unconditionally.

That is if their claims are true that they want to see democracy and social justice flourish in all parts of the world.

But with their economic might, if they are ready to twist the arms of democratically elected government of a poor nation like Sri Lanka, then who would not believe that they have some other hidden agendas to propagate.

I sincerely hope and pray two (Rajapakse) brothers to have enough resolute to deflect the latest bonhomie European advances.   

LTTE's Dream turn in to a Nightmare

A few days back, during the festival times, Sri Lankan government declared a 48 hours ceasefire to allow trapped civilians a peace of mind as well an opportunity to cross on to the safe areas.

The LTTE who ridiculed this ceasefire arrangement then has hacked and shoot during that period, many of the trapped innocent Tamil civilians, one time that they claimed that they are duty bound to protect, simply because they too want a better life has decided to crossover to the government side has suddenly decided to have an unilateral ceasefire today.

The interesting question here is why now?

Is it because that they fear the inevitable, the dream turn in to a nightmare and soon they will have to owe up to their own misdeeds?

I hope the Sri Lankan government would not easily give in to the Arms twisting tactics of some western influences, who have had many other hidden agendas in this protracted bloody war this time and finish the terrorist once and for all.

I am sure The world would be a much better place with one less who has been engaged in drug trafficking, gun running, extortions, kidnapping and killing for the last three decades.

The yesterday’s western province election results are a good indication go by that the rest of the country endorses and behind the government’s efforts to eradicate terrorist menaces this time at any cost.

 

Armchair adventures "SILENT CONQUEST"

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

April 22, 2009

Armchair adventures
Reading the exploits of Vladimir Yarets in “Silent Conquest” (Issue 318 in TheWeek, dated April 8, 2009), stirred the insatiable vagabond in me from its slumber a little. Unfortunately, it was short-lived.

I am a coward in a very broad sense and my nature of procrastination, like in the past, has gotten the better of me this time also.

I hope the guy can write, despite his other disadvantages, and one day he will put his experiences on to paper in the form of his memoirs or whatever you call it.

While wishing him good luck in his pursuit, I urge him to put pen to paper soon, so that my insatiable vagabond can be satisfied, even without having to leave my cosy reading chair to mount a monstrous-looking two-wheel contraption like that. 
Sasanka De Silva, on email

SILENT CONQUEST

It is impossible to get Vladimir Yarets, who has been travelling the world on a motorbike for nine years, to sit down and have a conversation. Not only because the irrepressible 68-year-old from Minsk, Belarus, can’t sit still even for a minute but also because he’s deaf and dumb.  Acting as our interpreter is Angelica Akenteva, manager of the Harley-Davidson shop in Al Khu-wayr, where the traveller is getting his bike serviced. Angelica, an Estonian, scribbles our question in Russian on a piece of paper and shows it to Vladimir, who then replies in sign language.  Angelica appears to understand most of it and conveys his response to us in English. But Vladimir is not helpless without an interpreter. His BMW-650 is covered with stickers and photographs that say it all. He points to a signboard in English that announces his plan of entering the Guinness World Records as the only deaf and dumb individual who has travelled all over the former Soviet Union, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas on a motorcycle. Vladimir’s current trip began in Minsk on May 27, 2000, and he has so far been to 48 countries.  According to a poster on his bike, he logged 2,86,210km till 2008. After reaching Muscat on March 28 from the UAE, he identified himself to some people with the help of his laminated signboards. He then handed over to them the contact details of Angelica, whom he had met recently at a bike show in Dubai.  He had taken her number and let her know that the sultanate would be his next stop. One week later, she could not believe her eyes when he showed up in front of her shop. So are people helpful when he lands up in strange lands? Angelica puts the question to him and relays the answer.  “According to him, 90 per cent of the people in any country are indifferent. But the remaining ten per cent are always helpful.” When it becomes too hard to get contributions to meet his expenses, he plays his guitar to attract people’s attention to his mission.  On being asked where his journey will end, he takes out his map and points to Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Is that all? He then points to his muscular arms before looking skywards implying that the journey will continue as long as there is strength in his limbs. During his tour of the US, in a small town called Peoria, he met with an accident. “There were 29 fractures in all,” he conveys, showing a mark on his forehead.  He spent seven months in a hospital but once he recovered, he was back on his bike. The first of Vladimir’s many journeys was in 1967, when he went around the former Soviet Union on a bike, that too without a valid licence, according to his web site, www.yarets.com . Apparently, the authorities had denied him a driving licence because of his disability but relented when he approached them again after the trip, armed with reports of his adventure in the local press. If Vladimir’s family thought his passion for travel was a passing fad, they were obviously mistaken.  But he keeps in touch with his two sons whenever he can. “He passed on their phone numbers to me and I told them that their father is in Muscat and in good health,” says Angelica.  Vladimir lost the ability to speak and hear after he had a fall as a one-year-old. He wasn’t outstanding as a student but one subject that fascinated him no end was geography. “I dreamt of seeing different countries,” he says. It was after retiring from his job as a mechanic that he turned to full-time travelling.  He admires Mikhail Gorbachev and believes that it was the former Russian president’s liberalisation initiatives that helped people like him travel abroad freely.  As for Lenin and Stalin, Vladimir conveys his opinion of them with a thumbs down The adventurer has but one regret – China refused him permission to include it in his epic journey.

HEROS ARE BORN INSTANTLY - PART II

This is the latest addition to my previous Blog under the heading "Heros are born instantly. Some get due recognition but others fade in to obscurity".

This are some of the pictures of the Hero, who saved the Lankan cricketers recently.

SRI LANKA'S NEW 48 HOURS CEASEFIRE.

The Sri Lankan government’s decision to have a 48 hours ceasefire is a very laudable and a brave one.

Laudable because, it will allow the trapped innocent civilians a peace of mind during the festive times and brave because I do not think that any army in the world would allow it’s enemy, who’s back is very much to the wall now and gasping for the last breath, a breather like this than going for the jugular.

It shows once again that they care more about the innocent civilians than going for the final push with all guns firing.

But I get confused when some international agencies and countries with other vested interests’ calls for a permanent cease fire to allow the trapped civilians to crossover to the other side, because they very well know that who is stopping innocent civilians doing so.

Surely, it is not the Sri Lankan army.

No innocent civilians in those areas make their job a much easier but for others having a human shield around them is the only lifeline. 

It is being reported that an earthen wall being hurriedly erected around the den to stop the advancing army but most importantly to stop the trapped innocent civilians’ fleeing from their clutches.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TAMILS IN SRI LANKA

The letter below was published in three of the widely read newspapers in Sri Lanka, Sultanate of Oman and in United Arab Emirates in April 2002 and after watching the recent agitations going on in London and other countries by the acolytes of a banned terrorist organization prompted to republish it in my own blog.

See how appropriate it is in today’s context too.

Sorry guys, your days are numbered………….!

Misconceived notion

IT IS a common misconception that some ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka took up arms against the government because of the discriminatory practices by the latter against the former. In truth, there are two types of Tamils in Sri Lanka. One is the Sri Lankan Tamils and the others the Indian Tamils. The latter were brought to the island by the British to work in tea plantations. They comprise 5.6 per cent of the population. On the other hand, the Sri Lankan Tamils, whom the LTTE terrorists claim that they are duty-bound to liberate and are calling for the Eelam, are 12.6 per cent. Out of which, 6.5 per cent live in the northern part of Sri Lanka, 2.7 per cent in the east and the rest, 3.4 per cent live in the other parts of the country.

If the discrimination against the minority were so prevalent, then the numbers would have been drastically different. Almost half of the Sri Lankan Tamils are living side by side with the majority and other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka in other parts of Sri Lanka. It is a fact none can deny.

The Tamils in Sri Lanka, or for that matter any minority, is free and entitled to live anywhere in the country, free to own properties or run business, practise their religion and customs, to have education in his own choice of language, like the majority Sinhalese.

Perhaps there may have been isolated cases of Tamils could have being denied employment opportunity in one of the key sensitive areas of employment such as National Security for that matter. Given the prevailing war scenario in the country, can anyone be blamed for such actions and it may have been done only because of the sensitivity of the issue and not because of the minority state of that person? Furthermore, there are special public holidays declared by the majority Sinhalese government on important religious and festival days to enable the minority to celebrate their cultural occasions.

Every government document is printed in all three national languages and Tamils are free to submit them in their own mother tongue, be it birth registration, school admission, or marriage certificates. All road maps are printed, and public transport service routes displayed, in the three national languages, not to mention road signs. Even if one travels to the farthest south of the island, one can find every important notification displayed in Tamil as well.

I think that this is a very unique situation, although some ethnic Tamils who have a vested interest in the conflict do not wish to accept it.

Otherwise, how would they be able to enjoy the benefits of asylum in liberal Western nations if a civil war no longer raged there? No war means no more staying there in comfort. - Sasanka De Silva, Sultanate of Oman

Kindly post your opinion.

Be prepared for "The Day after !".

It is said that, "if there is a will, then there is a way" too.

How appropriate, it is in the context of the present situation is Sri Lanka.

The bloody war has been dragging on for almost three decades due to lack of (political) will to settle the matter, militarily once and for all.

However, with the change of political scenario and the new found will to settle the issue of terrorism militarily, Sri Lanka has achieved great success recently.

 The dawn of a new era and the total annihilation of hither to label as the most dedicated, ruthless and invincible (paper) tigers, is just a few days away.

But, are we ready for “the Day after” is really a worrying issue for me.

I strongly think that we all Sri Lankans have to be prepared, both physically and mentally for that day and we cannot be complacent and Squander this great opportunity now.

So let us “Be together for all”.

PITFALLS OF GOING GREEN

This letter was published in the Week magazine, published in the sultanate of oman and i think the contents therein are applicable in sri lanka too. thus decided to put it up in my blog.  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

March 18, 2009

Shopping mall failing The norm today is to go green and use only renewable and reusable products. But be aware of the pitfalls and unwarranted troubles one invites by doing that. Recently someone gifted me a reusable jute bag. Since then I have been using it when I go for my weekly shopping to the nearest mall. The mall started selling the same jute bags, but they are only available at the checkouts and customers do not have access to their display location. If you need a bag then you have to request the person who is behind the checkout to give you one. Despite all these precautions, on every single occasion when I have approached the counter, I have been questioned as if I have committed a crime. The queue gets held up, security personnel converge on the scene and other customers start giving you dirty looks. After the latest incident, I lodged a complaint with the mall’s management and they have promised to look into it and educate their customer service people.  As a precautionary measure, I asked their security to stamp my bag once and for all and they have obliged. I hope that they will stick to their promises and I am writing this to perform a citizen’s act, so other environmentally concerned people should not have to experience such embarrassments in the future.   Please get your bag stamped at the entrance because you do not know who is sitting behind the checkouts. Sasanka De Silva, on email