The question is, could adverse decisions be reached in places like Sri Lanka 'in lieu' of fears of terrorist violence within the borders of The West?
I can understand how Tamils in The West that enjoy 'civilization' and the 'idea' of longevity be concerned for family in Sri Lanka and the issue of human shields. But, how can they protest an end to an attempt by the Sri Lankan government to stop the violence by ending the 'Tigers' regime? I find a 'void' of authority in these instances.
Sri Lanka was a victim to the 2004 Tsunami and was supposed to be receiving aid to 'restore and invigorate' the country and its people.
Mahinda Samarasinghe , Sri Lanka's human rights minister. The government offensive drew protests in Toronto.
Canadian Tamils lead protest march (click here)
TORONTO - Thousands of Canadian Tamils formed a human chain through Toronto's downtown yesterday to protest a Sri Lankan government offensive aimed at crushing the separatist Tamil Tigers.
The greater Toronto area is home to 200,000 Tamils, one of the largest Tamil population outside Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent. A number of protests have been staged in recent weeks.
The protesters are angry over the military offensive, which has ousted the rebels from all major towns after heavy battles in recent months.
The rebels are now cornered in a 115-square-mile area of jungle and villages where 250,000 civilians are trapped, according to the Red Cross. The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils since 1983, and were declared a terrorist organization by the United States in 1997 and by Canada in 2006.
- AP
There has been a long struggle in Sri Lanka to end the reign of a group considered to be terrorist in nature. It might be the current initiative by the Sri Lankan government could actually bring about the end to the violence.
This is an article regarding the Sri Lankan military from 2007:
Tamil Tigers vow to take revenge on army (click here)
By Tom Farrell in Killinochchi
Last Updated: 2:04AM BST 18 Jul 2007
...Speaking at his office in Killinochchi, the de facto rebel capital in the north of the island, SP Thamilselvan told The Daily Telegraph that the Tigers would now switch to guerrilla tactics to recapture territory lost in the east....
Bomb blast kills policeman in Sri Lanka (click title to entry - thank you)
6:00PM Wednesday Jan 21, 2009
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A bomb blamed on ethnic Tamil rebels exploded this afternoon (NZ time) outside a police station in eastern Sri Lanka, killing a police officer and a civilian and wounding 11 other people, authorities said.
The attack came as the military pushes ahead with an offensive in the north aimed at defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels and ending the country's 25-year-old civil war.
The bomb was attached to a bicycle left near a petrol storage facility outside a police station in the eastern city of Batticaloa, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said....
Sri Lanka deadline for civilian safe passage ends (click here)
By VIJAY JOSHI – 6 hours ago
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan government deadline for Tamil Tiger rebels to let civilians leave the northern conflict zone ended Saturday with only about a hundred reaching safe areas. The government accused the insurgents of holding the civilians as human shields.
According to the Red Cross, some 250,000 civilians are trapped in the 115-square mile (300-square kilometer) area where the rebels have been boxed in by advancing troops. The government puts the number at about 120,000.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement that more than 100 civilians including 16 children fled the war zone and "sought protection with security forces" on Saturday.
They included 63 people who arrived in Visuamadu town, while 43 others made their way in two boats across the choppy waters off Mullaittivu toward Pulmoddai town, it said.
"We gave a chance to the Tigers to release the civilians during the 48 hours but the terrorists are not allowing innocent civilians to get out. They are using them as human shields," said Lakshman Hulugalla, a government spokesman....
With next election in mind, Karunanidhi strikes (click here)
...He also got the Tamil Nadu Asembly to pass a resolution condemning the killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka. He followed all this by calling UPA Chairman Sonia Gandhi to explain why something should be done.
The government seized upon it as a way to further Indian policy: 'exercising decisive influence without direct involvement' although they knew this was an empty threat because it was simply not tenable: if he had withdrawn support from the centre, the government would have gone into a minority; but if the Congress had withdrawn support to the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, it would have fallen, a risk the Chief Minister was obviously unprepared for.
Significantly, the government of India - and the government of Tamil Nadu - did not at any point voice the demand for a ceasefire in northern Sri Lanka. What they sought was an end to the killing of civilians....
