Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

PAST TENSE, FUTURE IMPERFECT:

The first assertion that because they are presently living safely in the south amongst the Sinhalese the Tamils have nothing to fear is plainly challenged by the histories of communal violence in numerous places - including Sri Lanka, itself.

Here are a just few instances where once apparently peaceful neighbours have turned on neighbours:

- India/Pakistan: Hindus and Muslims lived amongst one another under centuries of British rule, but the imminent formation of the independent states of India and Pakistan resulted in both mass movement and widespread communal violence between them

- Yugoslavia: In post WW2 Yugoslavia, Serbs, Croats and Muslims lived amongst each other without major communal violence until the end of the Cold War. But ethnic and religious violence on a massive scale erupted within a couple of years (resulting, ultimately, in the formation sometimes peacefully - of several new ethnically-defined independent states)

- Rwanda: In 1994, the Hutu majority turned on the Tutsi minority in genocidal violence notably, shortly after a power-sharing pact had been signed

- Iraq: Sunnis and Shiites lived peacefully together under Saddam Hussein s dictatorship even though his Sunni-dominated regime was persecuting Shiites along with the (Sunni) ethnic Kurds. It didn t take much, after the US invasion, for whole slaughter between Sunnis and Shiites to erupt, resulting in the present ethnic enclaves across the country. (Moreover, the present peace has involved the US arming the Sunnis militia while the Shiites - and Kurds - dominate the new armed forces.)

- Kenya: earlier this year, simmering ethnic animosities erupted into violence that resulted several deaths (and ultimately required forceful international intervention to fashion even the present fragile accommodation)

- Tibet: China sent in the military this year to quell rioting by Tibetans. Their mobs target? Not the Chinese state apparatus, but ethnic Han Chinese who have been increasingly settling in Tibet over decades

- South Africa: also in 2008, ethnic riots between South Africans and migrant workers erupted on a scale that has embarrassed the self-styled Rainbow nation .

- Germany: large numbers of Jews opted to remain amongst the Germans even as the Nazis assumed power and formalized their persecution.

Whilst all these instances of communal bloodletting of course have different contexts and dynamics, on what basis of distinction can it be guaranteed mass violence against Tamils will not happen in Sri Lanka?

ten years ago the Sinhala Veera Sooarayas who ran away leaving their sarongs behind in Elephant pass are back there with the support of every major power on earth-thivya

For further info, please see Thivya's LNP page :))) LOL

http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2008/8/30968_space.html

Oh well.. I am not smart enough to argue with these intelligent folks like Thivya.

The war is not over yet. Why are you in a hurry to write the Tamils off? I told you as long as we Tamils are with the LTTE, no one can defeat them

You talking about tamils being harassed, discriminated, violated etc etc? This stupid sinhala even have tamil ralatives (by marriages).