The Bloodied Sri Lanka; Atrocity No More!

          Sri Lanka; is the land, according to the Hinduism’s holy scripture, Bhagavad Gita, where Rama, the avatar of Lord Vishnu, defeated and vanquished the evil Ravanan. This brought light to the land’s inhabitants, made them thinking that the evil and darkness will no longer persist. But, they were wrong.

WE WERE WRONG!

            Mahinda Rajapakse, in the eyes of the international masses might be a political leader or a statesman from Sri Lanka. Yet, from the perspective of the Tamil ethnic groups, not only in Ceylon but also from the entire globe, coupled with human rights activists, this man is a war criminal; having his hands bloodied in the genocide of the Tamil minority population in Sri Lanka.  

            The Sri Lanka civil war started in 1983, perhaps even earlier, when the country’s military force was sent to “cleanse” any form of insurgency movements by the minority Tamil ethnic group. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) headed by Velllupillai Prabhakaran who is still highly-respected even after his demise, struck against the Government, demanding an independent state for the Tamils in the northern and eastern region of Ceylon.

            As anticipated, the demand was met with severe opposition from the authority and aggressive reactions from the Sri Lankan government ensued. This translated into the LTTE retaliating back, resulting in a civil war that lasted for 25 years, until 2009 when the final stand-off between the insurgents and the military took place. Capt. Prabhakaran and his unit were surrounded and attacked in a massive combat, in which Vellupillay Prabhakaran was killed and the war was officially declared over. What took place in reality is more horrible than what you have just read. Throughout these 25 years, the Tamil minority was persecuted in every possible manner. Their rights were violated, plus the children and incapable elders were physically and mentally tormented. Innocent women were sexually-harassed by the military personnel and raped one after another, to satisfy their lust. Countless Tamils died in genocide attempt by the state. You want the statistics on how many died? Well, no one can actually predict how many Tamils died and were displaced in the devastating war.

            And to our horror, recently photos of slain Balachandran Prabhakaran, the son of Capt. Prabhakaran circulated in mass media globally. The lad, previously seen with his late father, laid lifeless with several gunshots on his body. This has made numerous news reports to highlight the Sri Lankan government’s outrage by savagely killing an innocent child.

            But, you may ask, what did the entire world was doing when all these happened? If people can give much attention to what had happened in Palestine and Bosnia-Herzegovina, why not Sri Lanka?!

            Actually, ranging from various nations around the globe to the United Nations, many peace-negotiations and international intervention have taken place but to no avail. The civil war persisted with no clear end with statistics claiming, hundreds of thousands of lives might have lost in the conflict.

            Headed by Navi Pillay, the chief of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a meeting shall take place in a sooner time to create a resolution on the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan government throughout the civil war. Already, recently the Unites States has issued a warning to Mahinda Rajapakse, compelling him to address his government’s atrocities in the civil war and to provide freedom to the persecuted minority group.

            But, so far, Mahinda Rajapakse, the President of Sri Lanka does not seem to bow to any international pressure whilst defending his government’s actions prior to this. United Nations and other countries should be more vocal in denouncing the inhumane and callous actions of Sri Lanka.

            We waited long enough and many are now DEAD! LET’S NOT WAIT ANYMORE!