The first of a three part series on genocide, politicide and international failure in Sri Lanka.
How does one community become ‘the enemy within’ to another?
The international rules of war decree that warring parties have an obligation to protect religious sites. However, in the context of the Sri Lanka’s majoritarian drive, non-Buddhist sites have in fact been the targets and objectives of military campaigns.
Why has this conflict proven impossible to ‘resolve’?
Imagine a country whose greatest asset truly is its people. A country in which over a third of its citizens speak fluently one or more of English, French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Creole, Zulu and many more, in addition to speaking the worlds oldest living classical language, Tamil. A country with one of the highest literacy rates in the world, which has for decades exported professionals – doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers, accountants, computer programmers - as far a-field as Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, much of Africa. A country which is...
This is the moderate position on Eelam: Eelam is your right. It is not a gift, not an act of charity but something that is already yours. As with all things, you can claim it or lose it. Others can try to take it away from you but that would constitute an assault, a theft. When the founding fathers of America made the case for their nation, they did not rely on a cultural identity that had evolved over thousands of years. They did not rely on a common language, let alone a few thousand years of a shared literary heritage. They did not even rely on the concept of a traditional homeland. For,...
What has the international community been doing in Sri Lanka?
The Tamils will never have a voice in legislation that threatens their physical and political safety. For everywhere but in Eelam, they are a minority.
The cardinal issue of Tamil people’s right to self-rule must be dealt with squarely if Sri Lanka’s bitter conflict is to be ended.
For the custodians of the global economy US, EU and Japan, ensuring Sri Lanka's stability, not a just peace, is the pressing priority.