Tamil Tigers (3 Viewers)

[iniv]

coz

no you.

 

[mastermind666]

Let's start at the beginning, when the British conquered Sri Lanka in the 1800's.

To rule Sri Lanka, the British applied a 'divide and conquer' tactic - they favoured the minority Tamils against the Sinhalese majority to get the two parties fighting each other instead of the British.

After independence, the Sinhalese felt annoyed that the Tamils were given preferences. They then proceeded to somewhat oppress the Tamils.

The LTTE started as an organisation to divide the country, but over time it's agenda changed. Prabhakaran only wanted POWER - he was not representing the Tamils.

What we need to get our heads around is that the LTTE did NOT represent the Tamils, they only represented themselves. If they represented the Tamil people, they would not CONSCRIPT women and 4-year-olds into the army under death threats, nor would they attack their own people.

What we don't know is that what we have been informed (that the Sinhalese are committing genocide) is based on LTTE propaganda. In reality, its the LTTE who are killing their civilians (then blaming it on the Sri Lankan Army) to gain international support. When they were in hiding, they used Tamil civilians as human shields, and brutally shot them when they tried to escape.

Certain (not all) Tamils are campaigning for the prosecution of the SLA, because they are angry that the LTTE were defeated, because they were providing money and funds to the LTTE. Also, some Tamil refugees are campaigning for the LTTE, as their stay in Australia is conditional to the war in Sri Lanka. If the war ends, the refugee Tamils haveto go back to Sri Lanka.

I implore you, be extremely careful when you deal with the situation in Sri Lanka, because the LTTE's propaganda can cunningly manipulate you.

I also hope the the Sri Lankan government treats Tamil people with more respect in the future.

I am a Sinhalese Sri Lankan, and I have numerous Tamil friends. In my eyes though (and I hope this applies to most Sri Lankans), there are no Tamils, there are no Sinhalese - there are only Sri Lankans.

The LTTE was the worst thing to happen in Sri Lanka.

 

[kingbigboyjames]

I dont give a fuck tbh, go kill your self like animals.

im apathetic to the Tamil cause.

why the fuck does our government give 2 shits about them anyway? oh wait. they need VOTES>

 

[sam04u]

I disagree. Who is to determine who the 'bad guys' are?

The 'bad guys' are those which bring about the most human suffering. The case for a Tamil break-away state in Sri Lanka is rubbish, much like the Albanian one in Serbia. Whereas the case for the Palestinian state is rock solid.

How can you justify the endeavors of Hamas

They were democratically elected as a whole by the Palestinian people. Whilst the Tamil Tigers were not. Hamas were selected by the Palestinian people to represent them and bring about a Palestinian state and reverse the injustices perpetrated by the Israeli sate. Whereas the Tamil Tigers have done the opposite, in many cases refer to mastermind666 who is much more eloquent than I in this regard.

who want independence over the Tamil Tigers who want independence?

You are ridiculous. I really am not going to make the entire case for the Palestinians state now and then comparing it to a ethnic minority terrorist groups case for a break-away state.

Justify your claims.

Again it comes down to the case for the state. The case of the Tamils in general is pretty bad, but where the Tamil Tigers are not their representatives it becomes impossible for them to be an agent of the Tamils in seeking to create a state carved out of Sri Lanka.

Whereas the Palestinians already have a country. Although part of it is being occupied illegally. They're not asking for anything that isn't already theres.

 

[iniv]

Let's start at the beginning, when the British conquered Sri Lanka in the 1800's.

To rule Sri Lanka, the British applied a 'divide and conquer' tactic - they favoured the minority Tamils against the Sinhalese majority to get the two parties fighting each other instead of the British.

After independence, the Sinhalese felt annoyed that the Tamils were given preferences. They then proceeded to somewhat oppress the Tamils.

true, but many it would argue it was a lot more than "somewhat oppressing the Tamils"
Tamils were, and continue to be denied many basic rights

The LTTE started as an organisation to divide the country, but over time it's agenda changed. Prabhakaran only wanted POWER - he was not representing the Tamils.

What we need to get our heads around is that the LTTE did NOT represent the Tamils, they only represented themselves. If they represented the Tamil people, they would not CONSCRIPT women and 4-year-olds into the army under death threats, nor would they attack their own people..

i agree that the LTTE are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and amongst the Tamil population many would disagree with their tactics. However I believe most Tamils, if not all Tamils, would support the LTTE in the regard to the belief that they were being unfairly treated by the government, and deserved a right to self determination.

What we don't know is that what we have been informed (that the Sinhalese are committing genocide) is based on LTTE propaganda. In reality, its the LTTE who are killing their civilians (then blaming it on the Sri Lankan Army) to gain international support. When they were in hiding, they used Tamil civilians as human shields, and brutally shot them when they tried to escape. .

definitely agree that some of the tactics of the LTTE were despicable- in particular the use of children. however the SLA did not fight a fare war either. there have been numerous reports of the SLA using chemical weapons, bombing declared "civilian safe zones" and hospitals. these are not only reports from the LTTE, but from UN and foreign media (eg :Patients killed in cluster bomb attack on Sri Lankan hospital | Weather | guardian.co.uk)

don't think for a second that the sri lankan government isn't issuing its own propaganda.
why do you think Sri Lanka is refusing to allow foregin media into the warzone?
Further the Government has a history of issuing propaganda, and turning its back on the welfare of Tamil civilians (take for example their lack of response and silence during the 1983 riots)

Certain (not all) Tamils are campaigning for the prosecution of the SLA, because they are angry that the LTTE were defeated, because they were providing money and funds to the LTTE. Also, some Tamil refugees are campaigning for the LTTE, as their stay in Australia is conditional to the war in Sri Lanka. If the war ends, the refugee Tamils haveto go back to Sri Lanka.

umm no.
the refugee claim is absolutely absurd. for a start the majority (if not all?) of the Sri Lankan community who fled here after the 83 riots, came to Australia here as skilled migrants NOT refugees (Sri Lankans who were not able the emmigrate, mostly gained refugee status in countries such as Canada, and Germany, not Australia). A lot of the older generation here would also gladly return to Sri Lanka in the event of a political solution, though that is neither here nor there. but, certainly no body here is getting deported back as soon as the war ends :/

Tamil people, here in Australia, were protesting to end the senseless mass killing of the civilian populations that had been escalating over the last few months.

personally, I do not (/did not) support many LTTE's tactics, but had been protesting for a ceasefire, and right to Tamil self determination. While your belief that Sri Lanka should no be divided into Sinhalese and Tamils is an admirable one, sadly I don't know how realistic that idea is

 

[Nicholas727]

I clearly am. Why is it ridiculous? Justify your point please, I don't see how it is ridiculous at all. I think the Israel-Hamas conflict bears many similarities to the Sri Lanka-Tamil conflict.

What I think is ridiculous is that those who cried murder at Israel during the Gaza conflict are now remaining silent in the face of a similar conflict. Their silence not only represents hypocrisy on their part, but also blatant bias which I believe they can no longer hide from as a result of their silence on this issue. It is a brazen act for those critics of Israel to hold Israel to a higher account than any other country that claims to be a Western democracy. I would go so far as to say that those who criticize Israel but cannot legitimize critique of Sri Lanka as covering up their antisemitism with anti-Israel rhetoric.

I would really like to hear a response from one of those BoS individuals who was so vocal on Israel and remains silent on other situations like the Sri Lankan one.

The tamil tigers have plagued sri lanka for 25 years, and at one point controlled 1/3 of the country. How could you compare this kind of potency with hamas, who barely register as a threat?

Plus, the eradication of the tamil tigers could bring this destructive conflict to a close. The sporiadic bombing of the gaza strip does not accomplish a thing, it merely perpertuates the conflict. Sometimes the ends justifies the means, this conflict will ultimately save lives.

 

[sam04u]

While your belief that Sri Lanka should no be divided into Sinhalese and Tamils is an admirable one, sadly I don't know how realistic that idea is

It's not really all that complicated at all. It's more a matter of inaction rather than action. I must say though the attempt at the Sri Lankan government to just "eradicate" the Tamil Tigers has been proven time and time again to be an ineffective method.

You can not destroy an idea with brute force, the fact that we in Australia are discussing this issue the issue of a Tamil state is proof of that. Even if every Tamil in Sri Lanka were killed there would still be a case, using the refugees who fled the country.

So an immediate cease fire would be the first option. Secondly would be having the Tamil communities in Sri Lanka stating what they would like to see changed, as institutional racism can be a trigger for radicalisation.

 

[iniv]

The tamil tigers have plagued sri lanka for 25 years, and at one point controlled 1/3 of the country. How could you compare this kind of potency with hamas, who barely register as a threat?

Plus, the eradication of the tamil tigers could bring this destructive conflict to a close. The sporiadic bombing of the gaza strip does not accomplish a thing, it merely perpertuates the conflict. Sometimes the ends justifies the means, this conflict will ultimately save lives.

oh yeah and to eradicate the Tamil Tigers and thus save these lives, the Sri Lanka government can kill 40,000 Tamil civilians wooo. thats not ethic cleansing, its just "collateral damage" hey?
means justified :/

 

[u-borat]

hey guys

china gave 1.2 billion in aid to the sinhalese government

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE GUYS

 

[iniv]

It's not really all that complicated at all. It's more a matter of inaction rather than action. I must say though the attempt at the Sri Lankan government to just "eradicate" the Tamil Tigers has been proven time and time again to be an ineffective method.

You can not destroy an idea with brute force, the fact that we in Australia are discussing this issue the issue of a Tamil state is proof of that. Even if every Tamil in Sri Lanka were killed there would still be a case, using the refugees who fled the country.

agreed.

So an immediate cease fire would be the first option. Secondly would be having the Tamil communities in Sri Lanka stating what they would like to see changed, as institutional racism can be a trigger for radicalisation.

sure ok- technically now there will be an end to conflict for at least some time- the Tigers have been defeated. and say the Tamil Tigers can't resurect themselves from this defeat, the situation returns in Sri Lanka to what is was before they emerged- sure there will be no violence and this good, but the Tamil people will still be denied equal status. They are a minority, politically how are going to change the situation? lobby for international support? do the international community care enough to do anything?

....tbh i don't really no what my argument is/the solution is...

 

[MaNiElla]

During the Gaza war The Age newspaper in Victoria ran a number of front page, graphic stories on the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, numerous editorials criticizing Israel and yet it has had barely acceptable coverage of the Sri Lankan conflict, both in the 'front page' sensationalist sense and in its editorial sense. Even the usually vocal opinion section of The Age is largely quiet on the Sri Lankan conflict.

Discuss. Justify yourselves.

Why dont you rant about that to The Age newspaper?

....and the way you're comparing both is just pathetic.

Both are suffering, comparing it in the way you did was totally unnecessary, and if you really gave two shits about what the fuck is going on, then you probably should have made the thread earlier.

 

[JonathanM]

They were democratically elected as a whole by the Palestinian people. Whilst the Tamil Tigers were not. Hamas were selected by the Palestinian people to represent them and bring about a Palestinian state and reverse the injustices perpetrated by the Israeli sate. Whereas the Tamil Tigers have done the opposite, in many cases refer to mastermind666 who is much more eloquent than I in this regard.

Democratically elected? I don't see how a 'government' which exiled and terrorised its opposition leaders (Fatah) prior to the elections and is actually a puppet Government being run by unelected leaders in Damascus can be classified as 'democratically elected.' This in no way justifies Israeli attacks or Fatah coup attempts following the 'election,' but I believe it is a valid point.

You are ridiculous. I really am not going to make the entire case for the Palestinians state now and then comparing it to a ethnic minority terrorist groups case for a break-away state.

The Tamil Tigers are not any more/are just as much terrorists as Hamas in the opinions of those concerned with the Sri Lankan conflict as is being seen by those concerned with the conflcit arguing in this thread..

 

[JonathanM]

Both are suffering, comparing it in the way you did was totally unnecessary, and if you really gave two shits about what the fuck is going on, then you probably should have made the thread earlier.

Both are suffering, my point exactly, and yet those who were vocal on the point of suffering on the Palestinains are remaining quiet on the plight of the Tamil Tigers civilian population. Double standards?

I don't give a fuck*, but that is also my point. I did not loudly and vocally criticize Israel or Hamas during the Gaza conflict, so I can't be held to account for having double standards as I am holding to account those who criticized Israel.


* I do actually always 'care' about the plight of other humans in situations like this, I just don't care enough to take a position

 

[sam04u]

Democratically elected?

I must admit I chuckled quite hard. Yes, Hamas was democratically elected.

I don't see how a 'government' which exiled and terrorised its opposition leaders (Fatah)

You really are oblivious to the happenings within Palestine and probably should not spout this garbage here in the presence of those with a somewhat deeper understanding.

Fatah's credibility as a viable option for the liberation of the Palestinian state lied almost solely with it's leader Yasser Arafat. Upon his death and the succession of Mahmoud Abbas alot of the credibility had gone. The circumstances surrounding Hamas' election were not as you claim. Fatah lost popular support and began to be seen as working in collusion with the Israeli state and so the more militant Hamas which demonstrated it's militancy was the more obvious choice. The fact is they were democractically elected, whereas the Tamil Tigers never have been.

prior to the elections and is actually a puppet Government being run by unelected leaders in Damascus

You're delusional if you believe that Hamas is working for outside influences. It is working for it's own national interests, the fact that their interests coincides with that of their neighbours is merely a coincidence and not a fact. They want to see a liberated Palestine as do many others.

This in no way justifies Israeli attacks or Fatah coup attempts following the 'election,' but I believe it is a valid point.

Well, I do not.

 

[Lentern]

Jonathan I do agree that the circumstances in Sri Lanka have been pretty horrible for far too long and they don't really get coverage proportional to the Arab Israeli conflict. I would say however this isn't just the case for Sri Lanka but in many of the worlds darker corners and I would probably cite the extraordinary circumstances under which the AI conflict began as the reason. Correct me if I'm wrong but nowhere in the world except perhaps for the East Timor/Indonesia crisis has a conflict been born out of such extraordinary circumstances.

 

[MaNiElla]

Both are suffering, my point exactly, and yet those who were vocal on the point of suffering on the Palestinains are remaining quiet on the plight of the Tamil Tigers civilian population. Double standards?

I don't give a fuck*, but that is also my point. I did not loudly and vocally criticize Israel or Hamas during the Gaza conflict, so I can't be held to account for having double standards as I am holding to account those who criticized Israel.


* I do actually always 'care' about the plight of other humans in situations like this, I just don't care enough to take a position

Rubbish. What's it to you whether people have double standards or not. Its none of your fucking business. and who the bloody hell do you think you are, to "hold account those who criticize Israel", wtf?


Stop making a fool out of yourself ffs.

 

[sydmed2010]

The Sri Lankan government must definitely be charged with war crime. And to the people who say bad things about 2nd generations Tamils' action in Australia, they should imagine how would they feel if their relatives and family gets killed, injured of live in areas where basic human necessities such as access to clean water doesn't exist.

 

[Fext]

Rubbish. What's it to you whether people have double standards or not. Its none of your fucking business. and who the bloody hell do you think you are, to "hold account those who criticize Israel", wtf?


Stop making a fool out of yourself ffs.

you need to chill the fuck out tbh.

 

[Fext]

The Sri Lankan government must definitely be charged with war crime. And to the people who say bad things about 2nd generations Tamils' action in Australia, they should imagine how would they feel if their relatives and family gets killed, injured of live in areas where basic human necessities such as access to clean water doesn't exist.

let me pillage your house and throw some acid in your face then.

can't see how anyone would condone this.

 

[MaNiElla]

you need to chill the fuck out tbh.

i'm cool