Crush Rejuvenated Tamil Armed Resistance Militarily without Denying It

The writing is on the wall. Tamil armed groups are back. There is no denying that. However, for political reasons government and the Ministry of Defence refuse to admit it. Living in denial is very dangerous. Four months ago three Sinhala traders were stabbed and seriously wounded in Jaffna. Just a few weeks ago a Hindu priest and his sons were shot in Jaffna and now the deputy zonal education director of Jaffna has been shot dead. It is the same clear pattern of violence that was seen in the 1970s. For political reasons the then Sirima Bandaranaike government refused to take action after her government was blamed for excesses in putting down the 1971 insurrection. Delay costed the country dearly. When open war started it was far too late.

What are the real reasons behind these incidents?

Attacking Sinhala traders was part of a big plan to keep Sinhalese out of Jaffna. It’s the same thing that happened in the 1970s. There were more than 25,000 Sinhalese in Jaffna in 1971 but by 1981 more than 20,000 of them were chased away bringing their number down to a mere 4,000.

Shooting a Hindu priest and his sons just a few weeks ago is a definite eye opener. Pro-LTTE elements prepared to celebrate what they call Maveerar Nal. They instructed all Hindu temples in the Jaffna peninsular to toll the bells on November 27 at a given time. However, Sri Lanka Army took timely action to cripple this plan. The particular Hindu priest, like others, refrained from following instructions of pro-LTTE groups earning their wrath. He and his sons were attacked which was seen as a warning against anyone not obeying orders of pro-LTTE groups.

Tsunami remembrance was held in Jaffna on December 26. Tamil students in the north were required to sing the National Anthem in Sinhala. Education department personnel were under pressure from pro-LTTE elements not to comply with this requirement. However, they refused to take up the matter and complied with the instructions from the government. The result was revenge from pro-LTTE groups killing the deputy zonal education director.

Blaming the government while achieving their goal

The other part of their actions is to blame the government for their crimes. It is totally absurd to blame the security forces for these heinous crimes. Old records show this was how they did things in the 1970s when violent incidents including the assassination of Alfred Duraiappa were blamed on the government. Blame for LTTE leader’s first victim was laid on SLFP internal politics in Jaffna. While these rubbish claims are used to fool the unsuspecting public, terrorists achieve their goal of terrorising the people in the north to submission. Terrorising and getting the people in the north to take instructions from the LTTE is the ultimate goal. Once people stop resisting the LTTE, its cadres are going to use them as a cover to attack security forces.

It is worthwhile to note that there were no direct attacks on security forces in the north during 1970s. First it was Tamils associated with the government who became victims of LTTE terror. Once people were subjugated, Tigers moved to harass and attack the army.

We are back to the days when Tigers were growing. Unless they are stopped in their tracks using military means, there will be no end to this.

The third ingredient - extortionists at work

Terrorists don’t aim to engage in an all out war. What they want is to exert enough pressure on the government so that separatists and pro-Tamil racist politicians can extort various favours from the government. It took less than a day for this to happen after the latest attack in the north. Tamil United Liberation Front (the party that took up the creation of Tamil Elam at the 1977 election) leader - V Anandasangaree - making good use of the attack started making race based demands. Clearly the pattern of pressure, terror and extortion is established.

Soon TNA and other Tamil racist political groups will jump in the bandwagon and make many Tamil-only demands making good use of the pressure created by pro-LTTE murderers. If the government yields to pressure, it becomes a habit for these groups to secretly collude and openly criticise each other while benefiting both ways. Soon people in the north too will be convinced that ‘a little bit of pressure using violence’ is the way to win demands. When things deteriorate to that level, it is far too late.

The trap the government is in   

Unlike during the war, the government cannot go all out and destroy these terror elements. Firstly, because they function stealthily from within the people. Secondly because it is embarrassing and humiliating to accept that the LTTE threat is still there. Thirdly, the propaganda effect is pushing the government for a less aggressive response. LTTE groups around the world made a huge noise against the humanitarian operation that ended in remarkable success in 2009. Due to international pressure, the government is reluctant to use force against remaining LTTE elements in the north for the fear of further arousing the LTTE Diaspora. All these reasons combined have created a very dangerous atmosphere which is exploited by the LTTE.

Counter Insurgency (CI) strategy as specified in textbooks clearly indicate what needs to be done under these circumstances. Though unpleasant and unpopular in the areas they are applied, these tried and tested CI strategies must be applied to contain LTTE terror. In all fairness General Sarath Fonseka when serving in the army was quite good at CI strategy and the absence of his expertise is also going to cost the nation badly. The absence of his CI expertise must be overcome by tapping into the expertise of many other competent CI strategists in the army. Appropriate retaliatory measures must be taken without delay. Failing to do so will convince the northerners that LTTE is gaining control. Once these splinter groups show they can ‘deliver the goods’, the LTTE Diaspora is going to reward them with millions of dollars of money.

Sadly Sri Lankan leaders rarely recognize threats in time. By the time they decide to take action it is far too late costing lives, money and public support. If the guarding lights of the nation are awake 24/7 as it is believed, they must not keep silent on current developments; nor should they deny the resurgence of the LTTE threat. It is important to eliminate it using whatever means that work before the LTTE cancer spreads again. Tough cancers call for hard medicine and tough therapy. The duty of patriots is not to immerse in victory celebrations but to keep eyes and ears open to emerging threats all the time and force national leaders to take timely action.

A Poem of I, My and Me Repeating 102 Times by Sarath Fonseka

Exactly one year after that infamous interview where Fonseka alleged that “Gota ordered them to be shot” published in the Sunday Leader, (http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2009/12/13/%E2%80%9Cgota-ordered-them-to-be-shot%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-general-sarath-fonseka/), he has come up with another tall tale of lies and self pity.    http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/12/sri_lankan_president_is_behavi.html

This masterpiece of self elevation consisting of 102 times the words “I”, “my” and “me”, contains hilarious contradictions. Very unlikely conduct of a leader of the people. Instead of identifying real enemies, his limitless anger is aimed at the President and the Defence Secretary. Though no right thinking person takes what he talks seriously, looking into what he has to say further reveals him.

The following statements from the appeal indicate how misled he is and how far he would go to make a mockery of himself.

1. “The Rajapaksa regime probably feels victorious after illegally removing my General rank, gallantry medals and retirement benefits. This is to be expected, especially from an ungrateful man suffering from an inferiority complex.”

Inferiority complex! Nice phrase not to describe the President but the person who is making it. Unable to be satisfied with the position he held following the war, he thought he could do better than the political leader who led the nation to victory. Unfortunately for Fonseka, people thought otherwise. If he needs proof, he only needs to read the next sentence made by him.

2. “He got junior officers previously cashiered from the army, to sit in a court martial jury. This contravenes all norms, ethics and traditions of any military. A shameful act that has insulted both the military and the country it serves.”

Can distinguished persons from the Sri Lanka Army be cashiered as such? May be some who got rich with hundreds of thousands of US Dollars in their safes, but not the others. Is it not an insult to the very army he served?

3. “Having said that, I must point out that I never served the country expecting promotions or medals.”

Although Fonseka was a brilliant infantryman, the above statement is factually incorrect. Despite decades of service, Sarath Fonseka failed to win the Vishishta Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV) medal even after he reached 55. When he became the army commander, he proposed his name (and only his name) for the VSV and got it!

However, for contradictions, look no further than his very own statement!

4. “He cannot take away my rank and medals, as he cannot give back what I have given for the nation.”

There you go.

5.  “If he wanted to erase what I did, then he has to give life to Prabhakaran too. Our ungrateful leader will never do any good for the country.”

Now this is very interesting. If so, why did Fonseka give this credit to the Defence Secretary one year ago? If the credit for taking the life of Prabhakaran (who surrendered according to some reports) belongs to Fonseka, why didn’t he claim so when he said, “Gota ordered them to be shot”?

6. “This government does not consider the youth of Sri Lanka as future rulers. Only Namal Rajapaksa is deemed the single worthwhile youth in this country.”

President’s love and fondness of the youth and children is well known and documented. On the other hand none other than his own party (former) MP for Trincomalee Jayantha Wijesekara stated that he wouldn’t support Fonseka at the election because “90% of the JVP youth of the district were killed in 1987-89 era as Sarath Fonseka was the commander of the Army Sinha regiment camp in Trincomalee”.  

7. “The Secretary of Defense wanted to get one of his supporters to build a house for me while I was Commander, but I refused, saying accepting such gifts was not my way of life and was against my conscience and principles. Then they tried to cajole my wife into accepting the house, that didn't work either. This would no doubt give you an idea of why the case cooked up against my son-in-law, saying I was involved in corrupt arms deals is entirely untrue.”

The Defence Secretary was driven by noble intentions to build a house for Fonseka not knowing he had plans to settle down in USA. Anyway the answer to this is provided by Fonseka himself in the statement! “When I left the army, I only had a three bedroom house. Even my soldiers had much larger houses than me.” The brilliant serviceman Sarath Fonseka very much deserved it. That’s not all the Defence Secretary through legitimate means ensured that Fonseka’s daughters are assisted with their studies. Only an insane person could see such generosity as an evil act.

8. “My son-in-law's company has only worked with another company in Sri Lanka that supplied some non-weapons items to the military. Even the court martial and prosecuting councils agreed on July 28 that these were not weapons and that I had never favored or given any support to this company. Apparently the only allegation they put against me was the position I held as the President of the Tender Board. Now everyone can clearly see that I am not guilty or even accused of any corrupt deals.”

Does it matter the materials were weapons or not? Various military branches purchase millions of dollars of goods and services every year and not everything is weapons. Corruption can happen in any purchase unless honest persons handle it within a robust environment of internal controls. The first area of internal control is segregation of duties. If the President of the Tender Board is the father-in-law of the supplier, there is no segregation of duties in the proper sense. However, that was not the only reason for the judgement and Fonseka knows it. 

Many heroes, close to 27,000 to be precise sacrificed their lives and over 15,000 lost limbs serving the country. Fonseka is not alone. However, they never alleged security forces or its officers of any illegal or immoral act to please the anti-Sri Lankan sections of the international community. Of course they never came to agreements with the separatist Vadukodai crowd either, just to win an election.

Channel 4 video exposed- Prabakaran or Isaippiriya?

Channel 4 network has released another alleged "Sri Lanka war crimes video" This new video is an extended version of the infamous first video. The LTTE lobby has identified one female"victim" in the video as "journalist Isaippiriya". A still photo of this video footage showing the exact same "victim" was identified in Lankanewsweb and many other web sites as LTTE supremo's daughter, Miss Dwarka Prabakaran, in the December of 2009. It is apparent that two images show exactly the same person, at one particular time, no description is even necessary. The dresses wounds and even the environment matches faultlessly.

This image first appeared in Lankanewsweb, an anonymous site supposedly maintained by a Sri Lankan opposition supporter with alleged LTTE ties. When it first appeared it gained a wide publicity, as the web site alleged that the photo might be of Prabakarans daughter.
Tamilnet.com reports the current image was identified as Miss Isaippiriya by a Tamilnet "Vanni correspondant" now living in a western country. If the photos are indeed of LTTE "journalist" Miss Isaippiriya it is puzzling why the first and much clearer photo, was not identified correctly, given the wide publicity the photos attracted and Miss Isaippiriya being a widely known "media" personnel.

Therefor it is clear that the channel 4 video is a fabrication, formulated to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka and generate an undue agitation around the Sri Lankan presidents recent visit to the Oxford University.

It was reported the LTTE lobby in Britain was inquiring about the possibility of arresting the Sri Lankan President during his current visit. Infuriated by their own failure, it is plausible that they would have manufactured a new war crimes video to disrupt the visit. In their haste they might have forgotten that they already released some of the "new" content of the video in 2009 December.

It is the responsibility of the channel 4 networks journalists to assure the authenticity of the material, they present as evidence of a serious crime. As professional journalists, reporting on Sri Lankan conflict, they are sure to have encountered the first photographs of this alleged victim, and would have questioned the authenticity of the video. Therefor it is clear that the "journalists" in channel 4 network are aiding the LTTE lobby in their dishonest agenda ,and have a deep rooted hatred towards Sri Lanka and its people

Massive Tamil Colonization of Colombo Threatens Security and Sustainability - a Response to Those Who Cry Sinhala Colonization of Jaffna

Colombo was known as the garden city sometime back. However all that splendour was lost within a few decades as massive Tamil colonization rapidly changed the city. To make matters worse they settled down mainly in the Greater Colombo area which was already crowded. In order to house this massive Tamil population that flocked to the city suddenly, many unplanned dwellings were built. However, the drains, roads, garbage collection and other infrastructure could not handle this sudden influx. Greater Colombo area gradually degenerated into something similar to a South Indian city.

Having done so, shameless racist elements within the Tamil community protest when Sinhalese and Muslims settle down in the north. This is outright racism and must be condemned by all. If the Sinhalese and Muslims cannot settle in their hundreds of thousands in the north, Tamils have no right whatsoever to settle down in Colombo. It is time to end this racism and aggressively create multi ethnic peace communities in the war ravaged north. Otherwise it is a matter of time since the Tamil Homeland struggle restarted.

Recently a prominent Tamil news website published an article alleging military fortresses and colonization in Jaffna choke Tamils, Threaten India. [http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=33025]. This article is in response to that rubbish claim. These false allegations by Tamil homeland theorists are an attempt to cover up the truth.

People must learn to live in multicultural districts right throughout the island nation. Those who cannot do so should find alternative places of adobe abroad. The purpose of this article is not to arouse any communal feelings but to highlight the hypocrisy of Tamil racists and their apparently innocent supporters (including some members of the clergy) who cry over alleged “Sinhala colonization” of the north. They must first take a hard long look at Colombo - the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. Here it goes, if you have not seen it before. 

Tamil Colonization in Colombo and Security Issues

All entry points to the Colombo City are choked-up by Tamil colonization. Peliyagoda/Wattala from the north, Dehiwala from the south and Wellampitiya/Kolonnawa from the east are colonized by Tamils within the last two and a half decades according to people living and lived in these areas. That is however, is only part of the story. All strategic locations within the City are also colonized by Tamils. The Colombo harbour stretches from Fort (Colombo-1) to Mattakkuliya (Colombo-15), through Pettah (Colombo-11), Kochchikadde/Kotahena (Colombo-13) and Hettiyawatta/Modara (Colombo-15). Except for Colombo-1, all the other areas bordering the Colombo harbour are occupied by Tamils making more than 90% of the population in these areas. During the war, this posed a huge security threat. LTTE made good use of this very high Tamil concentration to conceal suicide bombers especially in Colombo-13 and 15. Armed forces were deployed only in entry points to the harbour and the other 4km were saved only by a wall running alongside the harbour. Tigers twice attacked the Colombo port in 1998 and 2007 but both failed to cause any major damage.

Now is the time to plan the City to meet future national security threats. LTTE is still active in the Diaspora. Small scale subversive activity against economically important places by frustrated Tamil Elamist elements is still a possibility.

Bridges over the Kelani River were also targeted by the LTTE. However, stringent security measures saved these. The high Tamil resident population sympathetic towards the Tigers around this area was a decisive factor in harbouring terrorists.

Oil refineries and storage tanks in the outskirts of Colombo and in Colombo-15 became the targets of terrorist activities. Once again it was the large Tamil population around these areas that proved valuable to the LTTE to spy on these installations, hide sleepers in the vicinity and eventually attack.

Huge Tamil colonization of Colombo meant LTTE could very successfully maintain sleeper cells in the heart of the City! No other capital city of a nation faced such a huge terror threat from within. LTTE used it to the maximum by carrying out close to fifty bomb attacks within Colombo. The Central Bank attack (1996) showed how easily strategic economic targets could be reached by terrorists as they were residing just a few kilometres from the target for a while awaiting instructions.

Security establishments within the Colombo City limits must stay contrary to myopic thinking of a few. Colombo faced grave security threats time to time. A resident army is many times more effective than an army that could be deployed in the city from outside. In the last century Colombo faced dire security challenges coincidentally every 18 or so years. When Elam War-4 broke out in 2006, threat to the Colombo infrastructure was most threatening in 2007. By 2008 and 2009 it gradually reduced with the decline of LTTE’s capabilities. In 1989 JVP terror brought the City to a standstill. JVP carried out a number of assassinations within Colombo. Another 18 years ago JVP’s first insurgency threatened Colombo security. Insurgents unsuccessfully planned to abduct the Prime Minister in Colombo. A further 18 years ago there was a major strike in 1953 when the army had to be called in resulting in a number of casualties. Before that in 1939 and 1915, there were riots in upcountry that threatened to spread to multicultural Colombo. Going by these events, it is only prudent to retain security establishments within the City.

Further National Security Issues of Tamil Colonization of Colombo

Tamil colonization of Colombo had far worse long term national security threats. Since 1994, Mano Ganesan was elected from Colombo to parliament at every election. In 2004 another pro-Tamil Elamist MP by the name T Maheswaran was elected. These two individuals stood in the way of many security operations in Colombo. They did everything they could to stop search operations and counter insurgency operations. One of them made a rowdy display of thuggery in parliament against inspection of lodges. The other admitted to keeping LTTE cadres at his residence during the ceasefire. He was indeed the contact point of the LTTE.

The ability to elect two MPs to parliament with pro-Tamil Elamist tendencies shows the damaging long term impact of Tamil colonization of Colombo.

To cater to the huge Tamil population in Colombo, a number of Tamil TV stations, Tamil radio stations and Tamil newspapers emerged. Most of these including a very prominent TV/radio station owned by a business tycoon, openly supported the LTTE. Had there not been so much Tamil colonization in Colombo, it would have been unprofitable to run these, especially when they had no access to the north. The Eastern and Upcountry segments were not very lucrative financially.

Wholesale and retail trade of the City came to be dominated by Tamil merchants. Some of them paid scant regard to price control and were powerful enough to arbitrarily increase the price of imported goods and blame it on the war. Today

Dam Street

,

Moor Street

,

Armour Street

and Bodhiraja Mawatha which are considered areas of high business concentration are totally dominated by Tamils and are Tamil only.

Cultural Changes

Unseen to many, a massive process of cultural degeneration has taken place in Colombo. Old Sinhala, Moor and Burger names have been changed to Tamil. Sinhala place names have been turned to Tamil. Examples include Wellawatta (meaning sandy gardens) has been turned to Wella’wat’tai. Kotahena has been turned to Kottan’chennai; Kollupitiya to Kollu’piddi; Bambalapitiya to Bamblapiddi; Hettiyawatta to Chettiyawattai and Mattakkuliya to Mat’tak’kooli. As happens in the north, self styles Tamil Elamists ‘scholars’ will soon find creative etymological evidence in these new names to claim ancient Tamil homelands.

Buddhist and

Catholic street

processions that were unique in the past have drastically gone down giving way to Tamil Nadu style Hindu processions. Ancient Buddhist temples in the City dating back to over 200 years have reduced in grandeur and attendance. In 2003 there were even attempts to hold Pongu Tamil in Colombo! Such is the degeneration of Colombo’s rich cultural heritage. Overcrowded apartments and flats in the City are heavily occupied by Tamils. Surrounding these crowded complexes, a Tamil Nadu style subculture has developed. Severe lack of social discipline, every imaginable pollution, immoral activities including prostitution, smuggle in of South Indian pornographic materials, drug use and other social cancers thrive in the vicinity of these overcrowded apartments. 

Colombo has become the venue of choice of Tamil Elamists and other highly anti-national elements to hold their functions and events. None of this could have been possible if not for the massive Tamil colonization in Colombo.  

Severe Setback to Sustainability

Sudden and massive influx of Tamils into the Colombo City had a huge impact on sustainability. Flood control, water supply, drainage and sewage systems, electricity and telephone infrastructure, the road network, recreational and sports facilities, waterways, schools, Hindu places of worship and hospitals are some of the structures that stretched beyond their sustainable limits. These structures simply could not keep up with the influx and growth. Today there is very little scope for expanding these facilities.

Water shortages are a regular occurrence in many parts of Colombo. This is solely due to the massive influx of people and unplanned apartments. Roads are overcrowded and there is no room for expansion.

Massive Tamil colonization had another longer term impacts. CMC elections returned municipal councillors who were sympathetic to the Tamil Elam cause instead of competent persons. They turned a blind eye to sustainability concerns, illegal constructions and cheap apartments. Improving the drainage system was certainly not in their agenda at all. Instead they would blame the government in power.

It is in this context Tamil racist elements cry Sinhala colonization of Jaffna when a handful of Sinhala families evicted from their homes in Jaffna try to return home after more than 30 years. Hypocrisy and racism are a very lethal combination and unfortunately they go hand in hand in northern politics. The only way to change this is to change the ethnic composition of the north not letting racist political parties any hiding place in the island. The good news is it is sustainable and economically immensely productive! What should happen is to encourage more multiculturalism in Colombo and Jaffna while maintaining sustainability, not the opposite.

A Lying Racist -by දේශපාලුවා

"A lying racist", is what African American politicians call Mr. Bobby DeLaughter, the Mississippi prosecutor who prosecuted Mr. Byron De La Beckwith a former Klan member for the murder of civili rights activist Medgar Evers. But Mr DeLaughter was not lying nor was he a racist, he managed to secure a conviction of a white man for the murder of a black leader, which the state of Missipii failed to do for several decades. Elegantly depicted in the movie Ghost of Mississippi.



J. S. Tissainayagam the "journalist" who was sentence for inciting communal violence , has provided an interview for "Reporters Without Borders" (RSF), and the term used to initially describe Mr DeLaughter came to my mind.

In December of 2006 Mr. Tissainayagam writes in his "North Eastern Monthly" " Such offensives against the civilians are accompanied by attempts to starve the population by refusing them food as well as medicines and fuel, with the hope of driving out the people of Vaharai and depopulating it."

When the army secured Vakarai in January of 2007 they found stock piles of medicines in the Vaharai hospital and sacks of rice being used to reinforce LTTE bunkers.

The Island newspaper reported, the deputy chairman of the Human Rights Council called as a witness by the defense lawyers of Mr. Tissainayagam in his defense stated that " he had been visiting the Vakarai area and meeting the divisional secretary for the area and that the World Food Programmer had been distributing food through this divisional secretary and that there were government hospitals and governments doctors even though it was an LTTE controlled area in 2006". So the defense attorneys themselves have proven that Mr. Tissainayagam has lied. When shown what Tissanayagam had written about Vakarai, this defense witness had agreed that the statements were indeed incendiary.

Incarcerating journalist for not abiding by the law is not unheard of. In 2005 New York Times journalist Judith Miller was sentence to Jail for refusing to testify in a grad jury investigation. Many other examples can be provided.

Journalists should use their privileges responsibly and above all truthfully, it has been several years since it was revealed that Mr. Tissainayagam lied about the situation in Vakarai , but he is yet to issue an apology to the public. Mr. Tissainayagam's writing, as his own defense witness accepted, clearly and indubitably, had the tendency to stir racial tension and violence. It is the responsibility of the governmnet to secure peace and harmony in the country, where possible when a war was raging.

Mr. Tissainayagam received the Peter Mackler Award for journalistic courage and integrity in October 2009. The hypocrisy and hidden agenda of these awards have been reviewed elsewhere.

Many Sri Lankans are distrustful of NGOs and INGOs, and with good reason. It is clear to any laymen that Mr. Tissainayagam was factually incorrect in his reporting and would have incited racial violence. Yet in this interview with RSF, the interviewer fails to question Mr. Tissainayagam about the factuality of his writings.

The NGOs and INGOs failure to acknowledge the true facts and their rewarding of irresponsible behavior adds to the public mistrust of those organizations.

Poddala Jayantha and The Transparency International Award- By දේශපාලුවා

Poddala Jayantha a journalist for the Associated Newspapers (Lake House) was abducted and brutally assaulted by an unidentified gang in June of 2009. Later he was given asylum in USA and now lives in USA.

Poddala has been awarded the integrity award by Transparency international, and it is befitting.

A similar award was given to Mr. Mano Ganeshan by US ambassador to Sri Lanka. Ganeshan was a front line speaker at the LTTE rallies, a group classified as one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world by FBI along with HAMAS Hezbollah and al Qaeda. What kind of an award will USA send to a speaker in rallies of the latter three groups? Supposedly nothing short of a visit by a predator drone. Such is the hypocrisy of such international awards.

Poddala had an ideology and he used his journalistic privileges to steer governments towards his ideology.

A letter he co-authored titled "Mahinda" published during the 2005 election is a good example, it is everything that Mahinda Rajapaksha is not, it defines Rajapaksha as a liberal progressive and attempts to steer Rajapaksha towards that viewpoint.

When he failed, he used his journalistic privileges to the political disadvantage of Mahinda Rajapaksha administration.

All governments are corrupt, and its the same government officials who continue even when the ruling political party changes.

How many exposes has he done on the previous governments, which aligned with is ideological view point?

Why did his exposes on government corruption rapidly increase with surge of war and when the LTTE seemed to be vulnerable?

Is it heresy to ask those questions?

It is clear that Poddala used his journalism for his ideological interests but not for the benefit of the people.

It becomes glaringly clear by him aligning with Lankanewsweb.com, a political hack job run with complete secrecy of the owners, believed to be assisted by an opposition politician in Sri Lanka. Lankanewsweb is famous for its utterly false, wild accusations of Gotabaya Rajapaksha buying Apollo Hospital and Basil Rajapaksha buying Swarnawahini TV station, and carried out vile attacks with false accusations against journalists like Manoj Abedeera of Divaina news paper and Iqbal Athas of Sunday Times.

What is the integrity of a man , who writes to a political hack job of a web site, run by a group in secrecy, supposedly controlled by an opposition party politician, openly supports the United National Party, publishes utter lies about government officials and carries out vile attacks against fellow journalists?

Poddala was an office barer of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists association, an NGO funded by other NGOs and foreign governments . SLWJA does not want to reveal their donors to the SL public instead want to keep it in secrecy.

SLWJA is in the cabal of Sri Lankan NGOs who try to steer Sri Lanka towards a liberal ideology. A small group of people control all these NGOs, many are officials of many NGOs, and draw salaries from most of them.

NGOs are the most corrupt institutes in Sri Lanka, C.A. Chandraprema of the Island exposed how money is being used for personal benefit of NGO officials in transparency international Sri Lanka, the watch dog agency that is supposed to watch over corruption in Sri Lanka. The Editor of Ravaya Victor Ivan exposed how this tightly bound group of NGO officials misuse their funds and prevelages as NGO officials to achive their personal goals.

The head of Transparency International Sri Lanka J.C. Weliamuna is not a neutral man, he is the attorney for the Editor of Lanka Irida Chandana Sirimalwatta, the unofficial newspaper of Marxist political party JVP.

And what is the response by the amnesty international head office on those allegations? They promote Mr. Weliamuna. Reminiscent of Mr. J.R Jayawardana promoting IP Udugampola after the Gatambe Temple Fiasco.

Such is the hypocrisy in NGOs and INGOs

It is natural for Poddala's friends in Transparency International Sri Lanka to nominate him to this award, so he can write a favorable review on them, or help them with their "liberal cause", or with their personal ambitions.

Poddala's integrity is not towards truth, but towards his ideology, he has proven that however vile the path that he would have to take to achieve his ideological ambitions he will take it.

And the NGOs and INGOs operating in Sri Lanka and their funding governments have repeatedly shown that however naked and ugly the path they would have to take to steer Sri Lanka to a liberal , pro separatist government, they would take it.

The Island newspaper reported that US government attempted to evacuate Prabakaran during the final phases of the war, apparently they couldn't get to him, but they got to Poddala.

Open Letter to Editor, AsiaTimes

Simon Gnanapiyasena

Dear Editor AsiaTimes:

I earnestly bring to your notice the concerns I have around the one-sided, racist article titled “Vandalism at library frightens Tamils” by your writer Sudha Ramachandran.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LK06Df01.html

Clearly, this writer’s intent appears to be to the arousal of communal hatreds between the majority Sinhalas and the minority Tamils of Sri Lanka and ensure that Sri Lanka will never achieve ethnic-reconciliation between these two main communities and move the nation forward after the horrific civil war that ended last year – after 30 long years of immense death and destruction.

What is concerning here is the fact that this writer’s apparent goal appears to be completely in-alignment with the goal of the internationally banned terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was the main protagonist against the state of Sri Lank in that ugly civil war.

Clearly this writer’s anti-Sinhela racist, baseless ranting is evident when s/he uses such terms as “Sinhalese-Buddhist supremacists” to attck carte-blanc the Sinhala community and amusingly quotes even unnamed “a professor at the Jaffna University” and pick on alleged quotes only from well known Sri Lanka bashers such as Tisaranee Gunasekera (an avowed racist-communalist from Sri Lanka).

It is truly pathetic to see the writer’s credibility being blown sky-high when, while dabbling in Sri Lanka’s ancient history which the writer appears to have zilch knowledge of, when s/he said
“Both the Tamils and Sinhalese came from different parts of India at roughly the same time – 2,500 years ago.” !!!  

Even the ancient Hindu Mahabharata literature refers to the “Sinhala Kingdom” being the island of Sri Lanka and a simple Google of “ancient Indian kingdoms” will bring up enough academic material to show the incredulity of this writer’s falsehood.

However, what is more concerning here is the well known fact that the vast sums of money the LTTE amassed, through narcotics dealing, smuggling weapons for other terrorist groups, Bank frauds in the west, extortion of Tamil Diaspora, etc. that ran into multi-$Billions, are today being used lavishly by LTTE agents to “ink the pen” of many a self-professed “journalist’ or “researcher” and that this, too, could be the case whereas your AsiaTimes is concerned?

Sincerely,
Simon Gnanapiyasena

Originally published in Lankaweb.

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2010/11/07/open-letter-to-editor-asiatimes/