first (from lankanewspapers.com) shows a march of people deprived of water in mavil aru area about 10 days ago. march was prevented from proceeding to the sluice gates by military due to security reasons
second pic (from people for peace blog - note: pic is remotely hosted. i did not upload it to my blog, that is legal i think) shows the peacenik protest on friday. there will be another such protest today.
i call peacenik protests fake because,
contrast 1
i call peacenik protests fake because,
- they were deliberately silent during the period when water was blocked. as i asked on the day air strike started, "now that the violence has started will they come out of their cocoons to denounce government and excuse terrorists as usual? let us wait and see". well, they have come out on cue and started protesting, now that ltte is in trouble. even bloggers who are now supporting the protest did not protest the blocking of the water.
- peaceniks called for an immediate halt to hostilities on friday. at that time ltte was in control of certain sections of muttur, a stop to fighting would have allowed them to secure and reinforce those positions. resulting more or less permanent ltte presence would have prevented mostly muslim residents from returning, and would have put the government in the difficult position of having to initiate hostilities all over again to dislodge them (from newly entrenched positions). luckily there was no halt and ltte was driven away. by saturday military was in complete control of the town.
- the official document setting out the purpose of the protest only calls for negotiations to start about water; it does not call for immediate release of the same. in other words it tries to legitimatize what is in effect a war crime.
- some of the placards and promotions for the protest say things not called for in official document that stated the purpose of the protest. i find that hypocritical.
contrast 1
7 comments:
I really feel sad for these ppl...the innocents who lose out on things in life cos of a greedy power struggle between the LTTE and the GOSL! This has got to stop - no one has to put up with this and live life like this!
Keshi.
What in my opinion would have made much more sense in terms of demands for the protests:
1. the LTTE immediately and unconditionally open the Maavil Aru sluice (water is a basic human right and negotiations and water cannot be mixed)
2. the LTTE stop all attacks on Muttur and withdraw to original FDL’s
3. the SLA cease all operations once the above two conditions have been fulfilled
4. both parties ensure safety of humanitarian workers and safety of civilians, etc
5. cessation of all hostile acts and return to negotiations
Again, objectives and credibility are of outmost importance.
Pictures speak more than words! This statement is justified to the fullest, in above 2 pictures.
What these "peaceniks" are doing is, just causing traffic jam in Colombo! I think, may be the traffic police should take care of them. :-) Not the anti-riot unit.
(Or, would they cause any traffic jam at all? Would they be able to gather ENOUGH people to block the roads? I guess, the common Sri Lankans are much more advanced than these cowards)
keshi
yes, no one should be forced to such a situation.
childof25 :
i saw your excellent comment in electra's blog . i completely agree that a list of demands like your list would have made more sense and made the protest more credible.
voice_in_colombo :
what you say about sri lankan public is true. they can usually see through bullshit . given that they live in a world where almost every political actor lies they have a long practice in this.
Traditionally, the world look down upon arms merchants. The day the same will be applicable to the "peace" merchants would not be too far.
If war is big business then peace is even a bigger business. It is fashioable, it is trendy, it is becoming almost elitist.
To have a cool beer at the Echelon Pub while discussing or condeming the GOSL's "latest" hawkish stand is the in thing.
I think we should , as a nation, challenge all these peace merchants to hold a single picket-line in Kilinochchi, demanding peace!! Or perhaps hold a workshop for the LTTE cadres on importance of truly respecting Human Rights or even make an inspection visit to the LTTE "prisons" to check whethe rthe conditions are humane.
kautilya
right you are !
rajeev
i don't think international community is peacenik . usa certainly isn't
whether slmm ( or some member in it ) are, is a good question. their actions about mavil aru last sunday ( coming to an agreement contrary to government's stated position, acting on it before getting governments opinion, and then and then blaming government whan it failed) were certainly not impartial.
i am talking about slmm head in particular. i think the special norweigian envoy was taken for a ride. he at least backtracked when he was back in colombo. so international community in general are not peacenik imo.
Post a Comment