it is revealing how sri lankan blogosphere reacted to kebettigollawa bus bomb that has by now killed more than 67 people including 15 children. to link blog posts individually would be tiresome but if you go to kottu.org for june 2006 and browse through you would not have any trouble finding several. this moju post entitled enough by one 'mala' is typical. very similar posts were occasionally posted even before in response to other attacks.
what most of them have in common is their lack of clarity. they all abhor violence but then who doesn't. if they limit themselves to expression of personal anguish brought on by the violence i would not be writing this but most want to go beyond that. they cry 'enough' and want others to cry 'enough' too, and do 'something'.
what is wrong with that? you might ask.
that is where lack of clarity comes in. 'enough' of what? do what exactly? enough of 'violence'? protest against 'violence'? is it that simple? is all violence same? what about self defense? or fight against 'occupiers'? against terrorists?
do they believe anybody really want mindless violence to continue? is someone a megalomaniac? who? who are we to protest?
we are to protest against 'authorities'? against 'politicians'? against war profiteers? against 'old generation that fucked up their lives '? in lipton circus? outside temple trees? in wanni?
what is the outcome they want as a result of these vague actions? peace? peace talks? peace of their mind? what kind of 'peace'? the kind that ensure justice and freedom to all? or the kind that merely stops bombs exploding? the kind where they do not have to see ugly pics in the news? the kind that makes those checkpoints disappear? the kind of peace that gives amnesty and more power to people who exploded bombs in the first place?
read as much as you like, you won't find any details about any of that in their posts.
that is the problem with them. they deal with vague ghosts. they are too cowardly to make moral judgments against anyone or anything. they are afraid to have firm convictions or clear principles. expression of any such conviction or judgment smells of extremism to them.
in the real world people do not act against vague ghosts. that is why so called peace activism is so unsuccessful here. they cannot muster any sizable amount of people for any 'peace' event because they fail to define what 'peace' is.
in other countries people march, protest, petition, etc. against wars and violence because they know what they want and protest against specifically.
even here jvp/jhu warmongers were able to call up people against p-toms etc. because they are specific and clear in their moral judgment. unp was able to successfully stage jana bala meheyuma last year because they too were clear about their objective and people participating or supporting knew that. same thing is true of any mass protest whether they are ultimately successful or not.
on the other hand, these bloggers are as i said too cowardly to make a detailed moral case against anyone (buffalo, big pussy, or whatever) based on their convictions and principles. details make them sick. they find substantiating their evidence too much hard work, while unsubstantiated rumors (preferably received through mobile text/sms) are always credible.
saying 'enough;' and expecting others to say so is not enough, if they want to 'change' anything even a little. they should judge and make a case to convince others. if they cannot or if they do not want to do that, they should stop after expressing their anguish. leave action to others who can and want. other's moral judgments and resulting actions however may mean more violence. whose fault is that?
--
ps i was of course not speaking about peacenik posts like this, whose pathetic attempt to accommodate ('incomprehensible' according to author) bus bomb attack with standard ltte biased peacenik position is telling. the bomb (not a unique event btw) and its intent is perfectly comprehensible to anyone watching the ltte's actions since end of last year but then one cannot expect a peacenik like that to accept even such horrifically real evidence for what it really is: latest terrorist attempt to provoke a backlash and thus blame government for restarting the war, ltte desire so much. to him and his ilk it will always remain incomprehensible, at least in public.
what most of them have in common is their lack of clarity. they all abhor violence but then who doesn't. if they limit themselves to expression of personal anguish brought on by the violence i would not be writing this but most want to go beyond that. they cry 'enough' and want others to cry 'enough' too, and do 'something'.
what is wrong with that? you might ask.
that is where lack of clarity comes in. 'enough' of what? do what exactly? enough of 'violence'? protest against 'violence'? is it that simple? is all violence same? what about self defense? or fight against 'occupiers'? against terrorists?
do they believe anybody really want mindless violence to continue? is someone a megalomaniac? who? who are we to protest?
we are to protest against 'authorities'? against 'politicians'? against war profiteers? against 'old generation that fucked up their lives '? in lipton circus? outside temple trees? in wanni?
what is the outcome they want as a result of these vague actions? peace? peace talks? peace of their mind? what kind of 'peace'? the kind that ensure justice and freedom to all? or the kind that merely stops bombs exploding? the kind where they do not have to see ugly pics in the news? the kind that makes those checkpoints disappear? the kind of peace that gives amnesty and more power to people who exploded bombs in the first place?
read as much as you like, you won't find any details about any of that in their posts.
that is the problem with them. they deal with vague ghosts. they are too cowardly to make moral judgments against anyone or anything. they are afraid to have firm convictions or clear principles. expression of any such conviction or judgment smells of extremism to them.
in the real world people do not act against vague ghosts. that is why so called peace activism is so unsuccessful here. they cannot muster any sizable amount of people for any 'peace' event because they fail to define what 'peace' is.
in other countries people march, protest, petition, etc. against wars and violence because they know what they want and protest against specifically.
even here jvp/jhu warmongers were able to call up people against p-toms etc. because they are specific and clear in their moral judgment. unp was able to successfully stage jana bala meheyuma last year because they too were clear about their objective and people participating or supporting knew that. same thing is true of any mass protest whether they are ultimately successful or not.
on the other hand, these bloggers are as i said too cowardly to make a detailed moral case against anyone (buffalo, big pussy, or whatever) based on their convictions and principles. details make them sick. they find substantiating their evidence too much hard work, while unsubstantiated rumors (preferably received through mobile text/sms) are always credible.
saying 'enough;' and expecting others to say so is not enough, if they want to 'change' anything even a little. they should judge and make a case to convince others. if they cannot or if they do not want to do that, they should stop after expressing their anguish. leave action to others who can and want. other's moral judgments and resulting actions however may mean more violence. whose fault is that?
--
ps i was of course not speaking about peacenik posts like this, whose pathetic attempt to accommodate ('incomprehensible' according to author) bus bomb attack with standard ltte biased peacenik position is telling. the bomb (not a unique event btw) and its intent is perfectly comprehensible to anyone watching the ltte's actions since end of last year but then one cannot expect a peacenik like that to accept even such horrifically real evidence for what it really is: latest terrorist attempt to provoke a backlash and thus blame government for restarting the war, ltte desire so much. to him and his ilk it will always remain incomprehensible, at least in public.
15 comments:
I dun read Kottu but I can smell whats going on just by reading ur post.
**that is where lack of clarity comes in.
its a known nature in many who discuss the SL probs. They just r too afraid to clarify but know just how to sit, cry and ask to do that 'something' no one is sure of.
**they are too cowardly to make moral judgments against anyone or anything.
Spot on! Afraid to even admit that evil is evil.
**they cannot muster any sizable amount of people for any 'peace' event because they fail to define what 'peace' is.
Exactly! All we Sri Lankans know is just to sit n complain..no action at all.
Keshi.
people are entitled to their opinions i guess :)
keshi:
heyy mate!
yes, they are afraid to be honest or denounce whatever they consider to be evil. they just moan and say they must do 'something'.
and even their complaints are not clear.
who are they complaining against exactly? they take refuge behind generalizations and vague pronouncements. make detailed complaints i say.
savi3
hello :-)
yes ppl are entitled to their opinions, but what is their opinion exactly?
pikinini :
i have given my stance in this blog
see here for instance.
Violence coming from all angles: government, LTTE, government-sponsored paramilitaries, breakaway groups.
if you want to equate all that as the same, do so. but say so clearly.
Would you like to simplify the situation and offer a clear banner to rally around? If you did I think you'd solve the problems of the country.
in the fireplace i do not say i can solve anything. but if anybody wants to do 'something', anything at all, they should first state clearly where they stand.
i have. now where do you stand?
We kill the terrorists. Hurrah! And then let another 50 years of minority abuse continue. Where is the federal solution? Is that what you guys are proposing, because I'm not hearing it from you. All I'm infering is bash the terrorists, not help the minorities or stop government sponsored violence against civilians.
are you equating terrorists with minorities? as i said be clear.
are you saying without terrorists government abuse minorities? be clear
and are you implying minorities are better off bc of terror?
do muslims and up-country tamils subscribe to your view? do most tamils subscribe to your view? do any minority ? what do you think? be clear. and give evidence
as for federal solution and what i think about them read previous posts. i have clearly stated my stand.
What do you want to stop exactly? Maybe YOU are the ones who need to be clearer.
read the posts( at least the one linked above). :-) bc you haven't
that is clear from what you say next
childof25 is not a peacenik. a peacenik is a person who will accept 'peace' at any cost. see the link above. and he is clearly not one of them, that is also clear from the comment you cite and his blog, if you read that.
and the quotation you you cite clearly state something similar to what i said
if you missed here it is . he says
We need someone to elucidate clearly what the objectives of the grassroots movement that is being discussed here should be. Wishy washy protests for peace will not achieve anything.
and this post is not about peaceniks, except for the at ps section. it is about ppl who bemoan 'violence' and say they want to do 'something' but fails to clarify for what and where exactly they stand and want to do.
and it seems except for your rather vague attempt to confuse minorities with terrorists, you do not say where your stand either.
if you have stated yor stand anyhere,(blog, comment, whatever) pl. point out
Pikinini hii..
**Afraid to admit that evil is evil? What is evil in your books? Could you clarify this since you seem so confident?
It seems that my confidence bothers u or u want to make a mockery of my confidence. Why so? This is not abt me or my confidence Pikinini, it's abt what we TOGETHER need to do to bring real peace to SL. Dont take things so personally. This is the whole problem with many of us Sri Lankans - taking things personally.
To me Evil is something that is morally bad or wrong. To me Terrorism is evil. To me LTTE are terrorists. To me all SL probs started with Terrorism. But I dunno how u wud see it. It may be very different from my point of view. Thats ok. But my question is what do we really do abt this, w.o. continuously blaming the govt/LTTE and other parties? It's no point blaming anyone now. And pushing the SL govt to do anything at all hasnt proven anything over the years, has it? What do you really want the SL govt to do?
What must be done resides in the hands of ALL SRI LANKANS. Not just the govt or the LTTE. It's in ALL of us Sinahlese, Tamils, Muslims, the common man. If the govt doesnt care and if the LTTE wanna continue to spill blood, then people of SL need to GET UP and protest for peace w.o. going abt their daily lives just cos it doesnt affect them! Think abt it...what is the difference between a war-torn country like SL and a peaceful country like say, Aus. People over here are so INVOLVED with the decisions made by the govt. No one, not even the PM can go unscathed if something wrong is done. Cos people here wont tolerate and put up with corruption and evil, in the way we Sri Lankans do. I say all Sri Lankans should WAKE UP now and work together to abolish corruption and evil. It doesnt matter that it's a govt ur dealing with or the LTTE ur gonna have to face..All Sri Lankans PROTEST for PEACE until u get it.
Keshi.
Sittingnut I agree with ya. Unclear complaints with blame and blame only isnt gonna help anyone.
Keshi.
I just read Mala's post Sittingnut.
**Let’s do something
?? wuts that something? lol!
Keshi.
keshi:
hey!
thanks for the comments
you are right. we as citizen here should pressure government, but we must tell them specifically what we want, we have to be clear. if we want 'peace' we must tell what kind of peace, whether we want to appease the ltte or to defeat it if it doesn't adhere to agreements and doesn't come to peace talks.
pikinini:
so now you accept that what mala and co are saying is vague ? :-)
i see you fail to answer the points i about minorities above in response to you.
and SL's problems didn't start with it's ethnically driven progroms against minorities, only the terrorists who popped up out of nowhere?
again you fail to be clear.
do you approve of terrorists? whether they supposedly fight for 'minorities' or not? do you believe their actions are justified ? are they not the problem now?
btw do you think any 'minority' support ltte ?
be clear
Yes sittingnut, it is all the same. Killing unarmed civilians is the same crime, whether you are an 18 year old army guy backed by corrupt, self serving politicians who indulge in political assasinations as a matter of course, or if your are a 19 year old LTTE-er who is driven by a crazed Tiger agenda. What is the god damn difference?
well thank you .but still not clear enough
what political assassinations did army guy commit? be clear.
are you saying that occasional civilian killed by army is deliberate policy? not some idiot going berserk after fellow soldiers are killed or just plain murder with criminal intent (for which they should be punished after proper investigation according to law as have happened in the past)? this sort of thing happens in conflict situations all over the world, it is a question of discipline. not deliberate policy
are you saying ltte targeting of civilians is not deliberate policy ? are you saying ltte punishes those who carry out such attacks after a investigation? are you saying if police start an investigation they will hand over the cadres responsible(as army and police itself have done before)?
here is quote from what i said in a previous post.
to accuse the government of same oppressions is besides the point. rest of sri lanka enjoy most fundamental rights and when they are taken away citizens have recourse to courts, there is an active political opposition, a large proportion of population belong to various minorities and are politically influential, children's rights are legally protected, and political leadership is democratically elected. atrocities committed are investigated and as practically possible under limitation imposed by law of evidence and proper procedure perpetrators convicted. all this is not perfect but vastly better than anything under ltte.
that is the difference.
Pikinini I will refrain from trying to put anymore sense into your empty and rather angry head. Keep it with you as it is and hopefully you'll recover some day :)
Sittingnut that's what I meant. ALL citizens should work on it..not just few protestors every now and then. ALL citizens (including ppl like Mala and Pikinini who dunno what in the world is going on ard them) should get together - from even the tiniest village and appeal for PEACE together as one. SL's educated/heads should start this campaign and get every single person activated on this and not stop till it's done.
Keshi.
Pikinini if ur angry u can vent it out privately...not on me. Thanks.
Keshi.
keshi:
:-)
don't mind pikinini here. he seem to insult everyone who does not agree with his excuses for terrorism. and while not clearly stating his stand (since that will reveal his support for ltte) incoherently attack anyone who does take a stand..
pikinini:
do you believe gosl is engaged in targeting civilians as a policy?
that is what i asked before, you have failed to give a clear answer.
all the reports you cite point to occasional killings by some members of military either from going berserk after an attack on fellows or resulting from criminal activity. as i said it is a disciplinary matter. this sort of thing do happen in every conflict situation around the world ( and to a lessor extent even in peacetime near military installations), perpetrators should be punished according to law under proper procedure. and this has happened in the past. ppl have been charged and some convicted.
if there is systematic and widespread killing of tamils why is it that you are reduced to citing these few incidents? doesn't the military face attacks from ltte every day ? and doesn't military personnel get killed every day? doesn't large numbers of tamils live under military and in gosl controlled areas?but in vast majority of cases no such killings or crimes take place.
few idiots lose it and they should be punished and where there is evidence will be. in fact the one of the reports you cite say exactly this. that there is no systematic killing of tamil civilians but that killings that have happened should be investigated and those responsible punished. i say the same thing.
difference is ltte target civilians as a policy . in fact for the express purpose of provoking the military or sinhalese.
they have thankfully failed to provoke either the military or the sinhalese. in vast majority of cases militray and sinhalese have acted with commendable restraint.
ltte rewards and honor those who carry out these attacks.they have never handed over or punished anyone who carry them out . how can they? the orders come direct from the top. in fact big pussy was convicted with evidence.
that is the difference.
you may shout as much as you like that gosl and ltte are both equally evil, but facts speak otherwise. and sri lankans as well as international community have recognized this.
if you have facts (as opposed to assertions in upper case letters :-) ) to contradict the above advance them.
-
do not confuse minorities or even ne tamils with ltte. if you subsribe to the mistaken belief that minorities support terrorists, say so clearly.
instead you try to hide your ltte sympathy while implying that ltte is fighting for and is supported by 'minorities' . do not hide behind words if you believe ltte terrorism is excusable and help advance 'minority' rights, say so clearly.
your failure to grasp the above difference, and your tendency to excuse the terror acts by ltte , show clearly that you do support ltte and its terrorism.
-
in answer to keshi you say you are not venting your anger on her as a person, but in the comment you go on to make silly personal attacks against her and me. that only shows what kind of a pathetic person you are personally.
my criticism of vague peace activism still stands, as i said to keshi in my last comment(which you seem to have not read) we must be specific in our demands and our ideas. as far as i can see you have not stated your position clearly (except as i said to confuse minorities with ltte in an effort to hide your sympathy for ltte ). how do you answer the questions posed in the post? why not answer them clearly .
keshi has here and elsewhere in this blog has clearly stated her stand. nor had she proposed any plan but a request that all sri lankan work on one. which is different from mala's moju post and similar others in sl blogs. they propose that 'something' must be done without clarifying what or on what basis. if you read the thread there you will see that after later requests by others to clarify the position, they are going to hold some meeting. and as i have said there i hope that at least then they will clarify their position and come to a coherent morally defensible position that answers the above questions,which may serve as a basis for action.
you of course fail to get that, in your desire to insult anyone who fail to agree with your excuses for terrorists.
:) Have a good wknd Sittingnut!
Keshi.
keshi:
you too :-)
pikinini :
you again fail to answer the questions raised or state your stand.
instead you persist in excusing ltte terrorism by confusing them with 'minorities' same mistake that some warmongers in the south do.
The government does not care about its minorities. And it is happy to see them expended.
you fail to establish the fact there is systematic killing of 'minorities' by government or it 'expends' them with any evidence whatever. you only assert that. please put forward any evidence if you have any.
When a bus of sinhalese civilians are killed we have an attempted minute's silence in parliament, presedential visits to the funeral. When tamil civilians are killed day in and day out the government fails completely to investigate these deaths and does not waste any air time condemning their murder.
you forget that even when sinhalese civilians too are killed ('day in and day out' is an exaggeration for civilians deaths both tamil and or otherwise, only military get killed daily) and government does not hold minute's silences ,presidential visits. did it do so for those 12 killed in welikanda or elsewhere in the past month? no. are you denying that ?
if you think bus bomb that killed 67 ppl too should be treated in the same way, you are free. i don't .
government has condemned the murders(including the ones that you cite). are you denying that ?
as for investigations, they are taking place, are you denying that ?
and as you know there are military in prison for some atrocities committed earlier. do you want ppl to be put in prison without any investigations, court cases etc? if be clear.
Where is the public outcry from the government - they have denied all responsibility.
again are you denying that government has started investigations and condemned all murders. but don't expect them to accept responsibility to crimes before investigations.
The government is allowing the SLN/SLA to do this unchecked.
do what ? are you saying there is systematic killing of civilians? if so give evidence. evidence you cite only indicate occasional killing of civilians by some military personnel going berserk. and they are being investigated . and as i said above this sort of thing happens in all conflicts do you deny that?
People living in the tamil areas of colombo are scared out of their wits due to police harrassment and have seen neighbours being dragged away in the middle of the night.
as you may or may not know i have written posts here about that condemning them. but are we not in a conflict situation? has there not been bombs in the city ? is police not entitled to conduct investigations? are you saying that systematic harassment of all tamils is the objective? and not investigations to prevent ltte infiltration ? if so give evidence.
When the army kills civilians you explain it as one or two people going beserk. Why do you think most tamil people are terrified of the army, because of the odd individual? Or because they know that it is government policy to not give a crap about them.
are you telling me that army kills everyone as a systematic policy? that jaffna tamils live permanently in fear and in refugee camps? that everyday life do not take place there ? that government does not do anything to help ordinary civilians? that government departments do not operate ? get your facts straight.
yes ppl take refuge when fighting take place(and they are given material help when that happens) but once it stops they resume their life. in other words they are doing the best they can in a conflict situation.
and why is it that tamil ppl almost alway take refuge in government controlled areas? and in case of kayts incident it required threats from ltte to get some of them to wanni(who have since returned btw)?
tamils and others in ne and to a degree everyone in sl do live in fear but it is the fear that comes conflict.
What answer can you offer to these people? Sittingnut, tell me who a fisherman in Mannar, as a sri lankan citizen, can trust. What is your solution for people like that.
when crimes are committed they are investigated and perpetrators punished. that is what happens. there is nothing else that can be done in the short term .that is reality. what else do you propose ? perhaps you prefer handing over of mannar to ltte? do yo think tamils there prefer that? i don't think so
fact is ppl in mannar live in a conflict situation. and navy in mannar face routine ltte attacks. so the security of anyone is not guaranteed . that is nature of war.
only solution in the long term is to resolve the conflict. so what exactly do you propose? details please including what to do with ltte? that is the intention of the post above. do you get it now at least?
Would you stop crapping on about people making excuses for terrorism, I'm not, I'm saying the LTTE = Bad. I'm not interested in them, I'm interested in Sinhala people standing up for tamils who are being battered by the government and the LTTE, because if they don't ever show the tamil people that there is some hope for them in this country, you are leaving them in a desolate position and this conflict is going on for ever. The government's best tactic would be to develop tamil areas, invest in schools, job development and fostering a sense of security for tamil people in sri lanka so that they would rally behind the government. but now they are scared and no body is on their side.
fact is none of that can be effectively carried out in a conflict situation. you are again dealing with vague platitudes similar to what mala did in her post. we have to deal with concrete facts not wishy washy fantasy . ppl live in fear bc there is a conflict and ltte engage in terrorism and military has to face them. how do you deal with ltte in reality ? ignoring them wont work. but you avoid the specifics and deal in (false) generalities. you equate government with ltte and you deliberately excuse ltte by confusing them with 'minorities'.
so why don't you first answer the questions i raised in the post and state clearly how to deal with ltte. here are two to start with; do you you agree that unless it stops attacks and does not come to talks aimed at creating a really free society (as opposed to fascist ltte one) ltte should be defeated ? do you accept that that may result in unintentional deaths of innocents? answer.
ashanthi:
when did i not respond? i always do in the earliest moment when time and personal commitments permit. check the times.
so do not leave false comments like the above. :-(
let us hope others too respond to specific questions too
why dont you answer the qestions i raised yourself.
Keshi,
*** "All Sri Lankans PROTEST for PEACE until u get it."
Protest, where? At the Lipton circle?
Do you seriously think the tiger terrorists care what some protestors with banners would say ?
Are you in favour of a federal system to solve the current problem ?
Do you think that maximum devolution within a unitary state would be a better option ?
Do you think that the current proportional representation system gives adequate representation in parliament to all sections of society, or do you favour a return to the first past the post system?
how pathetic can these ppl be. :-)
unable to answer the questions posed by me they resort to anon questioning of my friends. anon bc they well know that questions are not the relevant ones and that if they posted them in their own names they will first have to answer the ones i posed.
anyway since keshi is on holiday and will not be back for a week or so. i will explain why they are irrelevant .
Protest, where? At the Lipton circle?
Do you seriously think the tiger terrorists care what some protestors with banners would say ?
this i what keshi said,
ALL citizens should work on it..not just few protestors every now and then. ALL citizens (including ppl like Mala and Pikinini who dunno what in the world is going on ard them) should get together - from even the tiniest village and appeal for PEACE together as one. SL's educated/heads should start this campaign and get every single person activated on this and not stop till it's done
lipton circus is irrelevant to that kind of protest.
and if there is a genuine mass protest (as opposed to small groups with vague objectives ) against violence with specific objectives (clearly and specifically spelling out what to do if ltte ignores peace moves etc) worked out with the mass contribution (from ' tiniest village' up, as opposed to isolated pecaenik blogs )government at least will listen and will know under what conditions it needs to act to bring about real peace.
as for the rest,
Are you in favour of a federal system to solve the current problem ?
Do you think that maximum devolution within a unitary state would be a better option ?
Do you think that the current proportional representation system gives adequate representation in parliament to all sections of society, or do you favour a return to the first past the post system?
this is a typical peacenik set of questions marked as usual by their irrelevancy to the actual reality . as long as there is no legitimate tamil representative to put their imput, any solution (federal or otherwise with whatever electoral system) will be irrelevant. of course other parties can discuss one. they should, but that wont get us anywhere with regard to the violence or peace. as long as ltte remains what it is even it comes to the table, there will not be any progress with actual solution. as i explained in a previous post .
a scurrilous anon comment attacking me and keshi was left in this thread at 6/28/2006 10:10:30 pm
after checking the log records and other data it is clear that the comment was left by morquendi who later on (6/29/2006 2:10 am) left another comment in my 'sports and i' post though he had another ip address then, data shows that the pc was the same. so either somebody else is using his pc, leaving anon comments or he is so insecure to post comments by his usual name.
ip addresses used were 222.165.178.242 and 222.165.171.58 but the computer used on both occasions were the same.
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