TNS Corner
OPINION: The real story on Sri Lanka

Jan 7, 2009, 04:31

By Manjula Selvarajah

I heard a funny quote on the radio today by a journalist about “shiny ball” stories. These are stories that she and her colleagues love running after, seem exciting and give great sound bites, but divert your attention from more pressing matters.
 
And lo and behold, on Monday morning, leafing through the National Post, I came upon an editorial on how Canada should address a potential onslaught of Tamils Tigers landing on Canadian shores to seek refugee status, should they lose the war against the Sri Lankan government. Was that a collective “huh??” I heard voiced by the Canadian Tamil diaspora as they read the same article?
 
The shiny ball story, if it is even plausible, is the improbable escape of Tamils Tigers to Canada but behind that lies the many sad and very real issues happening today that better merit the focus of the intelligent National Post Editorial Team.
 
For a start, the Sri Lankan government has been heavily funded by countries that may not be as concerned as Canadians are about human rights violations. In 2007, Iran contributed over $1 billion, earmarked with a personal visit from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. With no fear of retribution from such parties and using the war on terror as a propaganda shield against concerned western bodies, they are able to continue their bombing campaigns against the Tamils in the north. In addition, with the Sri Lankan economy in dire straits, living conditions miserable for all poor Sri Lankans and the rupee recently at lowest level ever, the government is trying to focus the attention of its Singhalese citizens on the war.
 
It seems that the Sri Lankan government has become adept at creating these shiny balls. They have undertaken intense and heavily funded lobbying to ally themselves with the right side on the “war on terror”, in an effort to divert international government and media scrutiny away from their actions and towards the deeds of the Tamil Tigers.
 
Unfortunately for them, a repressed Tamil population in Sri Lankan may be silent, but their concerned family and friends that live in free countries like Canada cannot be silenced.  There have been various reports in international media and by NGOS, that were asked to leave the country by the Sri Lankan government, on the unjust treatment of Tamils in the northern provinces, the indiscriminate bombing of these areas by the Sri Lankan army, the over 300,000 Tamils that have been displaced within the last few months alone, most of whom are living in primitive conditions in the war torn region.
 
In 2008, the National Post was instrumental in keeping the debate on the issues in Sri Lanka alive. However there are several items in this editorial that are simply unsubstantiated.  No agency has ever blamed the Tigers for misusing Tsunami funds. In actuality, a post-tsunami mechanical structure was created for equitable distribution of the Tsunami funds between Tamils and the Singhalese due to pressure from the international community, but it was the Sri Lankan government who stopped the plan. To this day, there are affected Tamils who are yet to see a dime from these donations. There is also an unfounded allegation that expatriate Tamils are paying a war tax to free their relatives from Tigers custody; the real story is quite the opposite – the National Post even printed an interview in 2008 with a Canadian Tamil man whose in-law was said to have been kidnapped and held for ransom by the Sri Lankan paramilitary forces.
 
Sri Lankan Tamils have faced all forms of oppression from unfair language laws though to cruel violence due to the successive chauvinistic policies of the Sri Lankan government long before the LTTE took up arms, which happened in 1980. If the LTTE is to be dismantled, as the Sri Lankan army predicts, Canadian Tamils fear that the conditions of their brethren in Sri Lanka will worsen. Without addressing the root causes of the issue, this military victory will bring little peace to the country, let alone the Tamils.
 
For the last several years, several international governments, including the government of Canada, have asked the Sri Lankan government to pursue a political solution. This has however fallen on deaf ears.
 
It is the hope and plea of the Canadian Tamils that in 2009 the National Post continues to lead the way in holding both parties of the war accountable, pushes the Sri Lankan government to stop their repression of their Tamil citizens and advocates for political solution to end this crisis.