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Ever be quality and light of life for others.
சரணடைதலுக்காக பேசுமாறு புலிகள் என்னிடம் கோரினார்கள்: சன்டே ரைம்ஸ் செய்தியாளர் மேரி கொல்வின் |
[ திங்கட்கிழமை, 25 மே 2009, 10:46.48 AM GMT +05:30 ] |
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“அது ஒரு அவசரமான தொலைபேசி அழைப்பு ஆனால் மணித்தியாலங்களுக்குள் இறக்கக்கப் போகும் ஒருவரின் அழைப்பு மாதிரி அது இருக்கவில்லை. அரசியல் துறைப் பொறுப்பாளர், பாலசிங்கம் நடேசன், திரும்புவதற்கு ஒரு இடமும் இருக்கவில்லை போலும்.” என சன்டே ரைம்ஸ் செய்தியில் இன்று மேரி கொல்வின், நடேசன் மற்றும் விடுதலைப் புலிகளின் சமாதானச் செயலகப் பொறுப்பாளர் புலித்தேவன் அவர்களின் கடைசி மணித்தியாலங்களுக்குள் அவர்களோடு தான் வைத்திருந்த தொடர்பை விபரமாகக் கூறியுள்ளார். இயந்திரத் துப்பாக்கிச் சத்தங்களைப் பின்புறத்தில் என்னால் கேட்க முடிந்தது. அன்று மாலை, சிறிலங்கா இராணுவம் அவர்களது உடல்களைக் காட்டியிருந்தார்கள். சரணடைதலின் போது பிழையாகப் போனது என்ன? விரைவில் நான் கண்டுபிடிப்பேன். கொலையிடத்தில் இருந்து தப்பித்த கூட்டத்துக்குள் இருந்த ஒரு தமிழர் அதன்பின் என்ன நடந்தது என்றதை விவரித்தார். இவர் பின்பு ஒரு உதவிப் பணியாளரோடு கதைக்கும்போது கூறினார், “நடேசனும் புலித்தேவனும், ஆண்களும் பெண்களுமுள்ள கூட்டத்தோடு, வெள்ளைக் கொடியோடு சிறிலங்கா இராணுவத்தை நோக்கி நடந்து வந்தார்கள். இராணுவம் அவர்களை நோக்கி இயந்திரத் துப்பாக்கியால் சுட ஆரம்பித்தார்கள்”. ஜனாதிபதியாலும் அவர் சகோதரராலும் விரட்டப்பட்டதால் சந்திர நேரு இப்போது நாட்டைவிட்டு வெளியேறியுள்ளார். |
The next time you buy some lingerie, a T-shirt or a pair of rubber gloves, you may want to reflect on this: they were probably made in Sri Lanka. And, like it or not, your purchase plays a role in the debate over how to respond to the Sri Lankan Government's successful but brutal military campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels, which reached its bloody climax this week.
Since 2005 Sri Lanka has been allowed to sell garments to the European Union without import tax as part of a scheme designed to help it to recover from the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. That means its clothes are 10 per cent cheaper than those from China and other competitors – helping the island to earn at least $2.9 billion (£1.9 billion) from the EU annually. Britain accounts for much of that.
Britain has also helped to rebuild Sri Lanka's tourist industry: Britons accounted for 18.5 per cent of the foreigners who visited the former colony's famous beaches, wildlife parks, tea plantations and Buddhist temples last year. Only India sends more tourists. Many Britons also own property there, especially around the southern city of Galle, not far from where Arthur C.Clarke, the British science fiction writer who settled in Sri Lanka, used to love to scuba dive.
So the question facing British shoppers and holidaymakers is this: should they continue to support Sri Lanka's garment and tourist industries? Sadly, the answer must be no.
Britain should welcome the defeat of the Tigers, a ruthless terrorist organisation that forcibly recruited children, pioneered the use of the suicide bomb and killed thousands of innocent people. But Britain must also condemn the Sri Lankan Government's conduct of the war – and take punitive action against it both to discourage other states from using similar methods, and to encourage proper reconciliation between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities. With the UN paralysed, economic sanctions is the only practical option left.
Many will ask why they should care: there are bigger conflicts in the world, and Sri Lanka's is mercifully confined to its own shores, with no risk that British troops might be deployed.
The response to that is simple: what about next time? Sri Lanka's war has been discrete only because it is an island; many other conflicts have spilt across borders, forcing military intervention to prevent a humanitarian disaster or a greater conflagration. Consider the break-up of Yugoslavia or Sierra Leone.
Britain may have, in the eyes of the world, ceded much of the moral high ground over human rights when it shed civilian blood during the invasion and occupation of Iraq. But that does not mean that it should abandon its role in defending international law that protects civilians in conflicts and holds governments accountable for their actions during war.
Yes, international humanitarian law is based largely on Western values, and enforced imperfectly, but the world would be a much more violent, unjust place without it. Put simply, every war might look like Sri Lanka's.
In an ideal world the UN, not the EU, would take the lead. But the UN, even in the face of a clear humanitarian disaster and blatant war crimes by both sides, has been compromised. By cosying up to China, Russia and other countries facing their own separatist problems, Sri Lanka managed to keep its own war off the formal agenda of the UN Security Council until the last minute. Without the UN Security Council's backing, an independent war crimes investigation will struggle to get off the ground.
Thus it is once again up to the democratic world to take action – even if that means muddling the issues of trade and human rights.
A key point to bear in mind is that human rights are an explicit part of GSP Plus, the EU's scheme that gives preferential trading rights to 16 developing nations, from Guatemala to Mongolia. These nations must comply with 27 international conventions covering environmental, labour and human rights standards. Many have gone to great lengths to adhere to them.
That may sound like excessive EU bureaucracy, but the system is designed to ensure the products we import meet EU standards – no child labour, for example. It is also designed to give developing countries an incentive to improve their own standards to the benefit of their own people.
That is where Sri Lanka has let itself down. Last year the EU expressed grave concerns about human rights abuses committed during the conflict and said that it might not renew the GSP Plus deal after it expired in December.
Sri Lanka's response was to dismiss the EU out of hand, accusing it of violating Sri Lankan sovereignty. The EU then announced that it was launching an investigation into possible rights abuses, pending the results of which GSP Plus remains in place. Sri Lanka has so far refused to co-operate, banking on EU inaction.
Since then, the situation has deteriorated dramatically. Sri Lankan armed forces are now suspected of repeatedly shelling civilian targets including hospitals, and of shooting dead at least two Tiger leaders as they were surrendering. They have also herded more than 200,000 Tamils into internment camps, splitting up families. These squalid places have insufficient water or medical supplies, and aid workers have been blocked from helping in these camps. Even the Red Cross has been forced to suspend its operations in the barbed-wire facilities, which the Sri Lankan Government calls “welfare villages” but Tamil activists liken to concentration camps.
Renewing GSP Plus in these circumstances would make a mockery of human rights and set an awful precedent for other nations. Withdrawing it could cost Sri Lanka 2 per cent of its GDP and thousands of jobs, which will hit many innocent civilians. But the fault, if this happens, will lie with its Government for failing to address the EU's concerns.
As to whether Britons should visit Sri Lanka as tourists, well that's a matter of personal choice – just as it is whether to visit Burma. But until the international community pulls together and formulates its own robust response, there is no clearer way for individuals to register their disapproval for the actions of Sri Lanka's Government than simply to stay away.
Jeremy Page is South Asia correspondent
பிரபாவின் இறந்த உடல்: பல சந்தேகங்கள் |
[ செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை, 19 மே 2009, 11:16.45 AM GMT +05:30 ] |
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இலங்கைத் தொலைக்காட்சியில் காட்டப்பட்ட படம் இரண்டாவதாக உள்ளது. அதற்கு மேல் முதலாவதாக உள்ள படம் 2004 கார்த்திகை 26 எடுக்கப் பட்டது. 4 வருடங்களுக்கு மேலாகிய பின்பு அவர் 2009 இளமையாகத் தோற்றம் அளிப்பது எப்படி? அந்த படத்தில் 35 தொடக்கம் 40 வயதான தோற்றத்தையே அளிக்கிறது. அம்புலன்ஸ் வண்டியில் தப்பி செல்லும் போது சூட்டுக்கு பலியாகியாத அறிவித்த இராணுவம் இன்று மதியம் 12 மணியளவில் முல்லைத்தீவு நந்திக்கடலுக்குள் இருந்து உடலை கண்டு பிடித்துள்ளதாக அறிவித்துள்ளது.
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President Barack Obama said "urgent action" is needed to keep a humanitarian crisis there from becoming a catastrophe he said he is "increasingly saddened" by continued violence in Sri Lanka.
In his remarks outside the White House, Mr Obama acknowledged that with all the big issues going on, Sri Lanka hasn't received much attention.
He called on Sri Lankan government to take a number of steps to address the strife. He said first the government should stop indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several (in) hospitals and live up to its commitment not to use heavy weapons. He said the government should give the United Nations access to suffering civilians in harms way, and give the UN and Red Cross access to nearly 190,000 displaced people in Sri Lanka.
THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary_______________________________________________________For Immediate Release May 13, 2009STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENTON THE SITUATION IN SRI LANKAAND DETAINEE PHOTOGRAPHSSouth Drive4:12 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Good to see you. I want to take a few moments at the top to talk about something that, with all the big issues going on, hasn't received much attention, but I think is worth talking about briefly.As some of you know, we have a humanitarian crisis that's taking place in Sri Lanka, and I've been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape, little access to food, water, shelter and medicine. This has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.Without urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe. Now is the time, I believe, to put aside some of the political issues that are involved and to put the lives of the men and women and children who are innocently caught in the crossfire, to put them first.So I urge the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and let civilians go. Their forced recruitment of civilians and their use of civilians as human shields is deplorable. These tactics will only serve to alienate all those who carry them out.I'm also calling on the Sri Lankan government to take several steps to alleviate this humanitarian crisis. First, the government should stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several hospitals, and the government should live up to its commitment to not use heavy weapons in the conflict zone.Second, the government should give United Nations humanitarian teams access to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties so that they can receive the immediate assistance necessary to save lives.Third, the government should also allow the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross access to nearly 190,000 displaced people within Sri Lanka so that they can receive additional support that they need.The United States stands ready to work with the international community to support the people of Sri Lanka in this time of suffering. I don't believe that we can delay. Now is the time for all of us to work together to avert further humanitarian suffering.Going forward, Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure and lasting, and grounded in respect for all of its citizens. More civilian casualties and inadequate care for those caught in resettlement camps will only make it more difficult to achieve the peace that the people of Sri Lanka deserve.News edited by Tamilnational [ editor@tamilnational.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]
CNN கருத்துக்கணிப்பு ஒவ்வொரு தமிழரும் கட்டாயம் வாக்களியுங்கள் |
பிரசுரித்த திகதி : 11 May 2009 |
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BREAKING NEWS |
இன்று நடைபெற்ற அகோரத் தாக்குதலின் வீடியோ காட்சிகள் (இணைப்பு 4) |
பிரசுரித்த திகதி : 10 May 2009 |
![]() ![]() மேலும் வாசிக்க இடுகையை வெளியிடு |
சனிக்கிழமை இரவு முதல் ஞாயிறு காலை வரை நடந்த சிறிலங்கா இராணுவத்தின் மக்கள்மீதான தாக்குதலில் 2000க்கும் மேற்பட்ட அப்பாவிப்பொது மக்கள் கொல்லப்பட்டிருப்பதாக வன்னி மருத்துவ வட்டாரங்களில் இருந்து வந்த செய்தியில் தெரியவருகிறது.
பலதரப்பட்ட, தடைசெய்யப்பட்ட ஆயுதங்களை பாவித்து மக்கள் வலயத்துக்குள் தொடர்ந்து நடாத்திய கண்மூடித்தனமான தாக்குதலால் சடலங்கள் எங்கும் பரவிக்கிடப்பதாகவும் இதில் 814 பேர் வரையில் வைத்தியசாலைக்கு எடுத்துவரப்பட்டதாகவும், வார்த்தையில் சொல்லிவிடமுடியாத அவலத்தை சாமாளிக்கமுடியாமல் தாம் உள்ளதாகவும் முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் பாடசாலையில் இயங்கும் தற்காலிக வைத்தியசாலையின் மருத்துவர்கள் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளனர்.
அனைத்துலக சமுதாயத்தின் கவனிப்பைக்குறைப்பதற்காக சிறிலங்கா இராணுவமானது தனது கூட்டுக்கொலைகளை விடுமுறை நாட்களில் அரங்கேற்றுவது வழமை.
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