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Both the Jaffna 1980 and Broken Palmyra have two components in
common. One is that, both books describe the Jaffna society. The other is
that two of the authors of Broken Palmyra as well as the author of Jaffna
1980 shared the Christian values of upbringing. Since Robert Holmes, an
American missionary, had lived in Jaffna for a long time, with wisdom and
experience, he also could observe the positive aspects of the Eelam Tamil
society impartially, than the tinted-eyes of inexperienced, youthful authors
of Broken Palmyra, who present a ‘We are the sinners’ message. The
practice of casteism in Jaffna has been critically commented by Holmes, but
he more or less, has moderated the tone of criticism, based on his own
upbringing in the USA, where the racism against the Blacks in the first half
of 20th century was no less demeaning than the casteism practiced in Jaffna.
Dr.Holmes had left out several Tamil personalities who contributed much to
Jaffna culture. Why I chose that book is that, it provides a ‘birds-eye-view’
of how Jaffna was like in 1980, to an American - who was not a tourist or a
journalist. He had lived in post-independent Jaffna for 12 years. That is a
sort of record for an outsider, and his work on how Jaffna was in 1980 was
commendable. We will never see the Jaffna of his descriptions. He did not
write the history of Jaffna.
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Since Kiddu has left the scene now, I reproduce in entirety his answers to
Kulatunga’s questions on the Tamil cause. He was only 26 then, and held
the position of Jaffna military commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam. In his interview, Kiddu had stated the obvious fact of the meddling
by India’s Intelligence-wallahs, without naming the organization openly.
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hands. Our cadres are very young, mostly in their late teens. All are
completely committed, all have been personally affected by the
violence. The LTTE has more than 10,000 regulars all over the
country. The whole population of Jaffna supports us.
Asiaweek: What about the other Tamil militant groups?
Kiddu: PLOT [People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam] has
ceased to exist and its Jaffna leader, Vijayapalan, is in our custody. We
are now in the process of disbanding EPRLF [Eelam People’s
Revolutionary Liberation Front], just like we did to TELO [Tamil
Eelam Liberation Organisation]. The latter was acting against the
common interests of the Tamil people to establish a state of their own
and govern it themselves. TELO was being influenced and virtually
controlled by outsiders. Secondly, it was carrying out anti-social acts
such as robbing people of money and levying taxes that were too high.
EPRLF came under the influence of the same people who controlled
TELO.
We have asked EPRLF to disband itself and turn over its weapons to
us. If it disobeys, we will have to take strong action. That’s the only
way to prevent a third party from interfering in what is purely a
problem between us and the Sinhalese. After all, we are still Sri
Lankans.
Asiaweek: Why insist on a separate state?
Kiddu: [That] is our ultimate goal. We will not lay down arms until we
achieve it. But, in the interim, we want the authorities to recognize that
we have the right to a separate state of our own and to occupy areas
where Tamils have been living for ages.
Asiaweek: Do you think the new peace proposals are sincere?
Kiddu: We think they are a farce. The government says there is
devolution of central power. But each department is ultimately
controlled by an appointee of the president. Even the chief minister
will be a presidential appointee. So what is the control we are going to
have?
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“The following are proof of what LTTE terrorism is like behind the
façade of ‘liberation’. The LTTE has so far committed over 200
massacres obviously to rid the north and east of Sinhalese and
Muslims. The following incidents selected at random are glaring
examples of LTTE terrorism.
Year 1984
The LTTE kills 127 civilians, mostly Sinhalese, in the north.
Year 1985
The LTTE kills 150 Sinhala civilians at prayer in Anuradhapura.
Year 1986
May 3: The LTTE bombs an Air Lanka plane in Colombo, killing 16
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people
May 7: bombs the Central Telegraph Office, Colombo, killing 14
people.
Year 1987
The LTTE kills 113 people in Colombo by exploding a car bomb.
June: kills 29 Buddhist monks at Arantalawa.
Year 1988
March 3: The LTTE kills 15 Sinhalese civilians in Morawewa.
March 5: blows up a truck in Trincomalee killing 24 civilians.
May 1: blows up a bus in Trincomalee killing 22 passengers.
Nov.14: kills 27 Sinhalese civilians in a bus.
Year 1989
Feb.11: the LTTE kills by hacking and shooting 34 Sinhalese civilians
in Duluwewa.
Feb.28: kills 37 Sinhalese civilians at Borawewa.
April 23: kills 51 people in Trincomalee.
Year 1990
The LTTE massacres 600-700 policemen who surrender on
government orders during the LTTE-UNP talks.
Aug.3: the LTTE uses machetes, guns and grenades to kill 40 Muslims
praying in a mosque in the eastern village of Kattankudy.
Aug.12: the LTTE massacres 122 Muslims in Eravur.
Year 1991
April 21: the LTTE kills 21 Sinhalese villagers in Moneragala.
Kills 27 civilians in Batticaloa.
Year 1992
April 29: the LTTE kills 56 Muslims at Alinchipathana.
Oct.15: explodes a bicycle bomb in Batticaloa killing 22 Muslims.
Oct.15: the LTTE massacres 166 Muslims in Palliyagodella.
Year 1993
May 1: the LTTE assassinates Sri Lankan President Ranasingha
Premadasa, together with 22 others.
Year 1994
Jan.19: the LTTE kills 15 bus passengers at Anuradhapura.
March 21; the LTTE kills 22 fishermen in Puttalam.
Nov.24: the LTTE kills Sri Lankan Opposition Leader Gamini
Dissanayake and 51 others in Colombo during the LTTE-government
talks.
Year 1995
The LTTE kills 42 Sinhalese civilians at Kallarawa.
June 4: the LTTE kills 24 Sinhalese civilians in Colombo.
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Year 1996
The LTTE bombs the Central Bank killing 82 civilians.
October: the LTTE bombs Hotel Galadari killing 18 civilians.
Year 1998
The LTTE bombs Dalada Maligawa killing 16 persons.
May: the LTTE explodes a vehicle bomb in Maradana killing over 10
civilians.
Year 1999
The LTTE explodes a bomb at the Kandy private bus station killing 2
civilians.
July: the LTTE assassinates TULF MP Dr.Neelan Tiruchelvam.
December: the LTTE makes an attempt on President Chandrika
Kumaratunga, and kills 22 civilians. The LTTE bombs a UNP election
rally, killing 10 civilians.
Year 2000
June: the LTTE kills Minister C.V.Gooneratne and 22 others.
October: the LTTE kills 6 persons opposite the Eye Hospital.
Thus could be seen the crimes the LTTE has perpetrated against
humanity – and against ‘the Tamil-speaking people’, like Muslims.”
Now, let me tabulate the number of people who had died, since 1984, due
to LTTE’s ‘terrorism’ or ‘crimes against humanity’ as the editorialist of the
Island has grandiosely implied. I leave out the “600-700 policemen” who
were “massacred following surrender on government orders” in 1990, since
this category doesn’t fall under the civilians. This issue need to be discussed
in a separate section.
The LTTE’s civilian victims since 1984, as recorded in the Island editorial
are: 127 + 150 + 16 + 14 + 113 + 29 + 15 + 24 + 22 + 27 + 34 + 37 + 51 +
40 + 122 + 21 + 27 + 56 + 22 + 166 + 23 + 15 + 22 + 52 + 42 + 24 + 82 +
18 + 16 + 10 + 2 + 1 + 22 + 10 + 23 + 6.
Though the anti-LTTE editorial stated that LTTE had committed “over 200
massacres”, the supplied information provides figures for only 36
incidents for a period of almost 17 years. Even some of the ‘massacres’
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(especially those which occurred in the Eastern zone), which have been
designated by the Island editorialist as ‘LTTE-induced’, according to some
observers, could have been perpetrated by the other militant factions, which
were tagging either the Indian army or the Sri Lankan army.
It is also obvious that, if there had been any other incidents where
non-Tamil civilians had been killed anywhere in Sri Lanka, with a casualty
list exceeding a dozen, the editorialist would certainly have added these
numbers with glee and attributed them to LTTE. In the absence of such
incidents, the above list is all what the anti-LTTE propagandists can provide
for the purported LTTE ‘massacres’. If the number of Muslims (240) who
had been reported ‘killed by the LTTE’ are subtracted from the grand total
of 1,481 then, it can be inferred that LTTE had been responsible for the
death of 1,241 Sinhalese civilians. Technically, in Sri Lanka, political
power-holders such as the President of the state, the ministers and even MPs
cannot be included in the conventional ‘civilian’ classification, since once
they elevate their status from private citizens, they become ‘non-civil’ and
do not behave like civilians. Regular civilians do not have gun-totting
personal bodyguards and bulletproof vehicles.
The above-cited statistics and the purported inference that “LTTE has
perpetrated crimes against humanity” may bring commendation, if presented
at the Cabinet meeting of Chandrika Kumaratunga. But, a speaker who
presents the same statistics, at an international scientific meeting, would be
laughed off from the podium. The obvious derision will be, ‘LTTE’s
numbers compared against what’?
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Therefore, if one equates the civil unrest which led to civil strife and
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“Death toll [is] estimated at upto 25,000 so far in the civil war. Killed
since 1983: about 3,000 security forces men; 5,000-5,500 Tigers;
2,000-2,500 other militants, and 10,000-15,000 civilians. In addition,
as many as 150,000 have been tortured. Since 1983, the army has
grown from a ceremonial force of some 14,000 soldiers to a
professional, highly motivated one of 100,000. In the same period the
military budget has risen five fold to [US]$ 433 million.” [Asiaweek,
August 14, 1992, pp.66-79]
This was, when Premadasa was the President of Sri Lanka. Lately, after what
the Sri Lankans have faced under Chandrika Kumaratunga’s seven years of
mis-rule, the Ceylon Daily News of April 21, 2001, carried a feature
entitled, ‘The human cost of the war’ which provided statistical information
on the deaths, as tabulated by the National Peace Council Publication.
Notable numbers appeared as follows.
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The estimates of the total number of deaths in the war until 1998,
ranged between 50,000 and 60,000.
Casualties among the combatants would be in the range between
25,000 and 35,000.
Until 1998, the official estimate of deaths in the Sri Lankan armed
forces and other security personnel is approximately 12,000. Until
1999, the official estimate for members of the armed forces missing in
action is 3,800.
The government estimate for deaths of LTTE cadres is approximately
18,000. But according to the estimates provided by the LTTE, it had
lost 13,603 cadres until December 1998.
Casualties among all the other organizations (not identified by name)
could be estimated at another 2,000.
The total number of claims received by the Ministry of Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction for compensation in cases of death and
disappearance in the North and East, until 1992 amounted to 17,529;
however, this estimate may have to be adjusted downwards. The total
number of civilian deaths in the North and the East for which the
government has paid compensation during the period 1994-98 is 4,663.
Civilian deaths due to Tamil militant groups, mainly the LTTE, during
1985-90 period could be estimated at about 2,000. During the period
1990-1998 alone, there were about 78 major terrorist acts in the
border areas and in Colombo city and its suburbs; the number of
civilian deaths caused by them was approximately 1,800.
Readers should note that though the numbers stated are reasonable
estimates, for obvious reasons, these are skewed against the LTTE, to project
the view that the Sri Lankan army has an exemplary human rights record.
The reality speaks otherwise.
Since the North and East of the island have remained the major theater of
the war, casualties among Tamil civilians outweighs the casualties among
Sinhalese civilians. Thus, my estimates, which can be cross-checked with
other published sources in the international press, somehow varies a little
from that of the numbers presented by the National Peace Council
publication. Two additional points need to be noticed. First, the above
numbers do not clearly demarcate the lives lost in the Eelam zone during the
Indian army’s war against the LTTE between October 1987 and March
1990. Secondly, the civilian casualties due to the actions of other Tamil
militant factions which played the roles as ‘spotters’ and ‘bucket carriers’ to
both the Indian army and the Sri Lankan army have been underestimated by
nearly 1,000.
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3. LTTE
For sake of convenience, I have not considered the role of JVP, which can
be considered as the fifth party. I omitted the JVP because its role was
mostly limited to the non-Eelam zones of the island. Also, the number of
civilian deaths due to JVP aggression (1987-1990), and counter-offensives
made by the UNP government have to be scaled altogether in a expanded
scale. For instance, the Economist magazine, in its report following the
assassination of Gamini Dissanayake in 1994 observed that,
“Only five years ago its [Sri Lanka’s] rivers and beaches were filled
with mutilated corpses, victims of government-sponsored death squads
unleashed to annihilate a Maoist-style insurrection in the Sinhalese
south. Up to 60,000 people died in that conflict – twice the number of
casualties in the ethnic war. Ranasinghe Premadasa, who presided over
the death squads and was himself killed, was believed to have
employed Tamil militants to get rid of his Sinhalese political
opponents.” [Economist, Oct.29, 1994, pp.29-30]
In my calculation, the casualty numbers in the Eelam civil war, due to the
actions of each of the four parties stand as follows, as of July 1, 2001:
Sri Lankan armed forces have caused 37,040 deaths; the Indian army
(between October 1987 and March 1990) caused 6,800 deaths; LTTE has
caused 19,800 deaths; Other Tamil militant groups have caused 2,900
deaths. Grand total of casualties, thus amount to 66,540.
LTTE’s loss of fighters, since 1982, amount to 17,240 (AFP news report,
Island, Colombo, June 24, 2001). This number of 17,240 has to be
sub-divided into three categories: LTTE cadres killed by Sri Lankan armed
forces (16,040), LTTE cadres killed by the Indian army, during its IPKF
operation (800), and LTTE cadres killed by other Tamil militant factions
(400). The casualty figures noted here, were taken from Lisa Beyer’s
commentary ‘No tears here’, in the Time magazine (Asia edition) of April 2,
1990 which summed up the failure of India’s ‘Vietnam war’.
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(1) Number of deaths due to the actions of Sri Lankan armed forces
Total = 37,040
Total = 6,800
Tamil and Muslim civilians killed = 1,000 [Tamils 760 and Muslims
240]
Total = 19,800
(4) Number of deaths due to the actions of other Tamil militant groups
(PLOTE, EPRLF, TELO, EPDP)
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Total = 2,900
I wish to note that these figures stand revision, and I will be glad to accept
correction, if anyone can provide me numbers with some authentifying,
published documentation. There exists a difference between my analysis and
that of self-nominated ‘LTTE expert’ Rohan Gunaratna. Whereas being a
scientist, I rely on published sources of information, Gunaratna mostly cites
‘Intelligence information’ from secretive, unpublished sources which need
further verification from other sources.
1995 had 8,519 suicides. 1996 had 7,367 suicides. 1997 had 6,228 suicides.
1998 had 5,869 suicides. 1999 had 5,907 suicides. Year 2000 had 5,412
suicides. A grand total of 39,302 suicides committed in the last six years.
Among this 39,302 suicides, 29,759 were men and 9,543 were women.
Thus, the suicide casualties, between the years 1995 and 2000 in the
predominantly Sinhalese regions of the island exceed the deaths caused by
LTTE actions (between 1983 and mid-2001) by 20,000. It is somewhat
hilarious, that while Pirabhakaran’s motivated Black Tigers, who function as
‘Uyir-aayutham’ (Life weapon) is much discussed by the LTTE ‘specialists’
like Rohan Gunaratna and the partisan editorialists in the media, the civilian
suicides occurring in pandemic proportions among the Sinhalese are only
whispered about and hidden out of shame.
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Patient 1: Idiot. It’s Madras you fool. We can see the moon from here, but
we cannot see Madras.
The fact that Sri Lanka now has one of the highest suicide rates in the world
for men and women has been highlighted in academic circles for the past
decade, and the Economist magazine also picked up this point in 1994 to
raise doubt on the theory that LTTE was involved in the assassination of
Gamini Dissanayake. It commented that,
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