<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Monday, 14 August 2006
<b>Fight for heartland</b>
Colombo - Tamil Tiger rebels mounted a fierce offensive to retake Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna Peninsula, heartland of the island's Tamil minority, the military and rebels said, amid the heaviest fighting since the two sides signed a 2002 ceasefire.
Thousands of civilians were reported to be trapped by fighting, much of it focused around the village of Muhamalai, a dividing line between territories controlled by the Government and the rebels - and a strategic spot along the only highway that heads into the core of the peninsula.
More than 200 rebels and 27 Government soldiers were killed on Saturday, military spokesman Brigadier Athula Jayawardana said. Eighty more soldiers were injured, he said.
A senior peace co-ordinating official in Sri Lanka's Government was shot dead in his home in a suburb of Colombo, police said.
Ketheesh Loganathan, was deputy head of the Government's Peace Secretariat, which has co-ordinated a Norway-brokered peace process between the sides since 2002.
The Jaffna Peninsula is considered the traditional home of Sri Lanka's 3.2 million <i>ethnic</i> Tamils.
- AP<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->The final statement is wrong, it should be:
The Jaffna Peninsula is considered the traditional home of Sri Lanka's <b>Hindus</b>.
And in the past, Jaffna had no problem with Buddhism in its region, as Buddhist schools and temples were allowed, just like Hindu schools and temples were allowed in Buddhist-dominated regions of Sri Lanka.
I hope the <i>Hindus</i> get Jaffna again and that they form lasting peace with the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and fight the LTTE together.
Remarkable how the international media changes the issue. This is not really <i>ethnic</i> strife, though they and the LTTE would like to make it that. It's not Tamil Hindus versus Sinhala Buddhists either - as many Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka have no problem with the Sinhala Buddhists.
This is a war between terrorists (lovingly dubbed as 'rebels', probably to make them sound more acceptable) and the legitimate government of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is a Buddhist majority, it does not have a history of oppression or of hostility to the Hindus, and vice-versa. The terrorists identify themselves as 'Tamils' not as Hindus. They probably have more sympathies with the 'Dravidian' movement of Tamil Nadu than with any Hindu Tamil-speakers in the world.
The Sri Lankan issue is taken out of context every time it is presented to the international audience. <i>And why does no one in the media ever focus on the Christian angle:</i>
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.c...jectID=10388749
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Wednesday June 28, 2006
<b>Tamil Tiger apology for Gandhi assassination</b>
In an unexpected move, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels today apologised for the assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1991.
It was <b>the first time the Tigers have directly admitted responsibility for the death of Gandhi</b>, who was killed by a suicide bomber.
"I would say it is <b>a great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy for which we deeply regret," the Tigers' chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham</b>, said in an interview with India's NDTV.
<b>"We call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind." </b>The apology comes at a time when Sri Lanka is on the brink of a return to civil war between government forces and the Tamil Tigers.
<b>It also comes as India is actively engaging in Sri Lanka for the first time in many years.</b>
Gandhi was killed by a female suicide bomber who rushed up to him, ostensibly to greet him, as he was campaigning for elections in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Comments:
(1) Why does no one mention that the terrorist outfit <b>LTTE's suicide bomber who assassinated Rajiv Gandhi was a <i>Christian</i></b>?
(2) It was a planned operation, they wanted Rajiv executed. Why did it take the LTTE 15 years to finally admit to the murder let alone apologise for what they now see as a "great tragedy, a monumental historic tragedy"? Terrorists always speak like this. They only see the 'error' of their past ways when it doesn't suit their immediate (or near-future) politics. Until then, there's not even an admission of guilt.
(3) "We call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind" - No, terrorist Christian <i>Anton</i> Balasingham, as an Indian I will not forgive you for your Christian terrorist activities in India (nor for the fact that because of Rajiv's murder, we're stuck with Sonia-"Yes, Pope"-Gandhi). As a Hindu I will not forgive you for your terror against Sri Lankan Hindus and Buddhists.
Why should they ask us to put the past behind? So we can forget they're terrorists?
Fat chance. I think I'll keep reminding everyone about what the LTTE exactly is: a terrorist organisation that has got even Buddhists fighting back and that is despised by all the Sri Lankan Hindus I know (all Tamil). Now <i>that</i> summarises everything.
<b>Fight for heartland</b>
Colombo - Tamil Tiger rebels mounted a fierce offensive to retake Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna Peninsula, heartland of the island's Tamil minority, the military and rebels said, amid the heaviest fighting since the two sides signed a 2002 ceasefire.
Thousands of civilians were reported to be trapped by fighting, much of it focused around the village of Muhamalai, a dividing line between territories controlled by the Government and the rebels - and a strategic spot along the only highway that heads into the core of the peninsula.
More than 200 rebels and 27 Government soldiers were killed on Saturday, military spokesman Brigadier Athula Jayawardana said. Eighty more soldiers were injured, he said.
A senior peace co-ordinating official in Sri Lanka's Government was shot dead in his home in a suburb of Colombo, police said.
Ketheesh Loganathan, was deputy head of the Government's Peace Secretariat, which has co-ordinated a Norway-brokered peace process between the sides since 2002.
The Jaffna Peninsula is considered the traditional home of Sri Lanka's 3.2 million <i>ethnic</i> Tamils.
- AP<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->The final statement is wrong, it should be:
The Jaffna Peninsula is considered the traditional home of Sri Lanka's <b>Hindus</b>.
And in the past, Jaffna had no problem with Buddhism in its region, as Buddhist schools and temples were allowed, just like Hindu schools and temples were allowed in Buddhist-dominated regions of Sri Lanka.
I hope the <i>Hindus</i> get Jaffna again and that they form lasting peace with the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and fight the LTTE together.
Remarkable how the international media changes the issue. This is not really <i>ethnic</i> strife, though they and the LTTE would like to make it that. It's not Tamil Hindus versus Sinhala Buddhists either - as many Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka have no problem with the Sinhala Buddhists.
This is a war between terrorists (lovingly dubbed as 'rebels', probably to make them sound more acceptable) and the legitimate government of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is a Buddhist majority, it does not have a history of oppression or of hostility to the Hindus, and vice-versa. The terrorists identify themselves as 'Tamils' not as Hindus. They probably have more sympathies with the 'Dravidian' movement of Tamil Nadu than with any Hindu Tamil-speakers in the world.
The Sri Lankan issue is taken out of context every time it is presented to the international audience. <i>And why does no one in the media ever focus on the Christian angle:</i>
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.c...jectID=10388749
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Wednesday June 28, 2006
<b>Tamil Tiger apology for Gandhi assassination</b>
In an unexpected move, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels today apologised for the assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1991.
It was <b>the first time the Tigers have directly admitted responsibility for the death of Gandhi</b>, who was killed by a suicide bomber.
"I would say it is <b>a great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy for which we deeply regret," the Tigers' chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham</b>, said in an interview with India's NDTV.
<b>"We call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind." </b>The apology comes at a time when Sri Lanka is on the brink of a return to civil war between government forces and the Tamil Tigers.
<b>It also comes as India is actively engaging in Sri Lanka for the first time in many years.</b>
Gandhi was killed by a female suicide bomber who rushed up to him, ostensibly to greet him, as he was campaigning for elections in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Comments:
(1) Why does no one mention that the terrorist outfit <b>LTTE's suicide bomber who assassinated Rajiv Gandhi was a <i>Christian</i></b>?
(2) It was a planned operation, they wanted Rajiv executed. Why did it take the LTTE 15 years to finally admit to the murder let alone apologise for what they now see as a "great tragedy, a monumental historic tragedy"? Terrorists always speak like this. They only see the 'error' of their past ways when it doesn't suit their immediate (or near-future) politics. Until then, there's not even an admission of guilt.
(3) "We call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind" - No, terrorist Christian <i>Anton</i> Balasingham, as an Indian I will not forgive you for your Christian terrorist activities in India (nor for the fact that because of Rajiv's murder, we're stuck with Sonia-"Yes, Pope"-Gandhi). As a Hindu I will not forgive you for your terror against Sri Lankan Hindus and Buddhists.
Why should they ask us to put the past behind? So we can forget they're terrorists?
Fat chance. I think I'll keep reminding everyone about what the LTTE exactly is: a terrorist organisation that has got even Buddhists fighting back and that is despised by all the Sri Lankan Hindus I know (all Tamil). Now <i>that</i> summarises everything.