The LTTE is a terrorist organization as such it has no legal right to any territory in a sovereign nation. They may have demanded 30%, 35% or even more & may have controlled that amount at some point in time by means of the gun - however, even if they did control these areas = the areas DO NOT BELONG TO THEM. The land mass & coastal stretch that falls within the jurisdiction of Sovereign Sri Lanka belongs to Sri Lanka & not the LTTE. Therefore, no one can measure what the LTTE wants or what the LTTE held & even if they did it is not legally binding at all. The fact remains that Sri Lanka's territory belongs to Sri Lankans & not the LTTE.

Once again, in a country that has over 25 years of conflict very little data can be realistic even those of the Govt - that is why I continue to emphasize that most of these data are questionable especially those of NGOs - numbering 3000.
May be we can continue this debate once the LTTE is faced with the reality that they need to give up their armed struggle & the Govt can realistically carry out a proper consensus in an environment of peace.

roverover:

The dynamics of conflicts are not as simple as we like to make it out to be. Immersed in the problem of Sri Lanka is something much more complicated than the battle of the supposed hate between Sinhalese & Tamils. In essence it is actually not so.

The Tamils as a race follows the caste – the caste system is a very dominant issue for them. Those who live in the North of Sri Lanka (those belonging to the high caste) look down upon those of lower castes even more on those who are non-Hindu. The Tamils of the East are looked down more by the Northern Tamils. Thus one of the main reasons for the LTTE to break up & its Eastern Commander known as Karuna to leave the LTTE & eventually LTTE lost the entire area to the armed forces last year. Many of the LTTE in the early 80s were young men & women who came together mostly as a result of deprivations within their Tamil society - & most of these youth were non-Hindus. Using the caste problem a group cannot internationalise themselves unless they include an “ethnic” element & that is what the LTTE did. It all started by killing Tamil public servants saying that they were unpatriotic to their cause. The LTTE’s first assassination was the Mayor of Jaffna – Alfred Durraiappah.

To your question “why do they hate the Sinhalese” – you see the Tamils don’t hate the Sinhalese. Why did the White Americans treat the blacks as slaves, denied them even a seat on a bus, water from a fountain, education – is there a single answer you can provide? What really happened in Rwanda & why, why does the US aerial bomb Afghanistan & kill children & simply apologize, is what happened in Kosovo really what the Americans want us to believe?

I am firmly committed to the notion that there is no ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. There are only 3 instances of attacks (1958, 1977 & 1983) & all three attacks have not had more than 1500 deaths in total – is this the genocide that takes place in parts of the world where genocide actually goes into thousands – US sanctions, US bombing has killed 1 million Iraqi – would you call this genocide?

Whether people like it or not the truth is that there are 2.4million Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Of this number 800,000 are in foreign countries which leaves 1.6million. Half of this number live outside the North & East of Sri Lanka & amongst the Sinhalese which barely leaves 800,000 in the North & East of Sri Lanka. If there were discrimination & ethnic rivalries of any kind would not the 800,000 living amongst the Sinhalese scamper to go reside with the LTTE in the North of Sri Lanka? Instead, the Tamil people are trying to flee & run away from LTTE controlled areas. If you were living in Sri Lanka & in Colombo you will see that the Tamils are economically prospering more than the Sinhalese who are 74% of the population. Once again I would like to reiterate that there is no disharmony amongst the races because whether it is in the public sector or the private sector we all get about our work & there is none of the oft promoted violence. If you can send me examples if you disagree then we can discuss this further at length.

Many enjoy saying there is discrimination – my answer is, give them in writing, point them out one by one. Even the Sinahalese & Muslims will have much to write. There is no country on this planet where the people do not have some sort of problem, but can Govts solve all of them – let us be a little more practical.

All Sri Lankans have a National Identity Card – it gives the name of the person, his address, a photo of the person, date of birth, profession & gender.

The LTTE name is thus – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelaam, that is why they are called Tamil Tigers, it is not anything coined by the Govt.

Can you please give examples of these victimizations instead of vaguely stating so. Are the Sri Lankan prisons not housing any Sinhalese, are there no court cases against the Sinhalese, do the Sinhalese live like Kings? this does not happen & it is very wrong to infer so.

I live in a vicinity where there is 99% Tamil residence – I have no problem whatsoever, we all live very harmoniously, we share our different festivities, we exchange food & even at a loss of a dear one, all the neighbors come & help out in whatever way. This is the harmony that exists in many other places also.

There are many who enjoy creating this scenario of unrest – the media can sell their papers, air time, get sponsorships etc, the NGOs/INGOs will have plenty of funds flowing in, will get more risk insurance, will get to travel around – please come & see what a luxurious life some of these NGOs enjoy in Sri Lanka.

Can you also look & see how many children, pregnant women the LTTE have cut to death & then sympathize with these Sinhalese familes too.

If anyone has done any wrong – I believe they should be punished – that is without a doubt whatever ethnicity they belong to. I am all for that & I do believe that a few undesirable figures are tarnishing the image of the Sinhalese as well as that of the Tamils for their selfserving ends.

A poll conducted in the East following the liberation by the armed forces found out that the Tamil people there did not want a separate homeland, they didn’t even want devolution of powers – all they wanted were better roads, better infrastructure & better educational facilities. This is what all the masses actually want – it is what I think that all successive Governments have denied us & I too question this. It does not take much to put up a road, build a school & provide good infrastructure – it is a will that is needed.

I do maintain that it was mob riots but the Govt of the day was responsible for it. However, you will be surprised to learn that the mobs were made up of Sinhalese, Muslims & even Tamils – gangsters who were only too ready to make a day for themselves in the turmoil. If you recall the Texas hurricane the US Govt had to impose a curfew because the houses were being looted – ours is a third world nation, but the US is a developed one & for looting to occur if was rather a surprise to me especially to have curfew imposed.

I am not a Sinhalese – I am a Sri Lankan & I will not stoop to the level of calling names, because I am very confident that the Tamils & the Sinhalese can live happily as they did without the LTTE presence. The LTTE was turned from an insurgent into a terrorist group by the Indians to realize their objective of destabilizing Sri Lanka. Once internationalized the LTTE is now making over USD200million annually (Jane’s Intelligence) & it is believed that their running cost is merely USD8million. What are the LTTE doing with the rest of the USD192million – paying bribes to all those who enjoy portraying the Sinhalese as discriminating the Tamils.

If the US says that the military can defeat Al Qaeda & Taliban why is it difficult when the Sri Lankan Government says it can destroy the Tigers in Sri Lanka.

The East was cleared of LTTE, elections held & a Chief Minister appointed – even a new police DIG has been appointed to report directly to the Chief Minister. Vast development projects have been also set up – even the UN has commended the Govt on same. If the Government used the military to rid the LTTE from the east & established democratic rule – why is it so difficult for people to accept that the Govt would do the same in the North. Please remember that the LTTE only holds control of small parts of the North & even its capital Jaffna is in Govt control & when the LTTE attacked ships carrying food for the Tamil people, all the shops in Jaffna closed to show their anger at the LTTE. LTTE’s days are numbered & those supporting this terrorist group may have to look elsewhere to continue their income flows. An LTTE that kills Tamils & anyone else coming in their way, an LTTE banned in 32 countries & wanted by Interpol – can it ever be the representative of the Tamil people. Let this farce finally conclude.

Thank you for commenting on the above - favorable or otherwise, it is the right that everyone has to express oneself.

I dont think anyone can compare suicide terrorists in the Islam dominated countries & Sri Lanka because of cultural differences.

Most of these suicide cadres have never lived in areas where Sinhalese are - how can they then hate the Sinhalese so much? They hate because they are made to hate, brainwashed into hating & drugged into maintaining that hate. Is it not so? They come or are sent on the "mission" to kill & they are like robots - the mobile phone has been a great facilitator for their target - the latest suicide mission, a girl was waiting near the shrubs with phone in hand until her informant gave the red light to jump infront of the ministerial convoy.

I cannot understand how anyone can blow up their bodies like this.
If anyone wishes to learn about our country i am very open for comment even criticism.