by Shenali Waduge · 19th May 2022

We have a situation. Sri Lanka ended 30 years of LTTE terrorism in 3 years on 18 May 2009 bringing to safety 294,000 Tamils among whom were close to 12,000 LTTE combatants in civilian clothing and 545 child soldiers. The civilians are now leading normal lives & LTTE combatants are rehabilitated & also getting on with their lives. Then there is an allegation that 40,000 to 200,000 have been killed, while there are commemorations titled “Mullaiwaikkal Memorials” with LTTE paraphernalia (emblems, logos, colours etc) & photos of dead LTTErs claiming them to be ‘civilians’. Canada has decided to join in declaring 18 May as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. If Canada or any other Government are not intelligent enough to link LTTE paraphernalia with LTTE commemorating their dead & realize that the ‘genocide’ claims is a lie, then we cannot help Canada becoming a laughing stock eventually when the truth comes out. But, in order not to embarrass Canada any more than they have, we would like to ask Canada’s foreign mission to provide answers to the following & pass on to the Canadian Government. If Canada or any other foreign government does not wish to appreciate the effort that saved 294,000 Tamil people and instead wishes to commemorate a number claiming to be ‘killed’ – they should at least know the names & identities of those supposed to have been killed. It looks rather silly for a foreign government to be commemorating people who may not even exist.

The war theatre had 3 players

1. The Sri Lankan Armed Forces

2. The LTTE & their families (fought in uniform & civilian clothing) & if they died during hostilities they cannot be deemed ‘civilian’ just because they wore civilian clothing.

3. Tamil civilians taken by force or voluntarily, who also engaged in hostilities & died cannot claim civilian status. Only Tamil civilians who were not engaged in hostilities and died during cross fire can claim to be ‘civilian’. If they died during a cross fire – was it by LTTE or Sri Lankan Armed Forces? To claim they died at the hands of Sri Lankan Forces has to be proved & it has to be disproportionate to the advantage aspired.

Can Canada put numbers to those engaged in hostilities

• How many LTTE in uniform …..died?
• How many LTTE in civilian clothing ….died?
• How many LTTE family members….died?
• How many Tamil civilians (forcibly or willingly)…..died?
• How many Tamil civilians not engaged in hostilities died?
• How many Tamil civilians were killed by LTTE trying to flee LTTE?
• How many Tamil civilians died of fatigue/hunger or due to old age?
• How many Tamil civilians died from Sri Lankan Armed Forces fire?

Without answering any of the above, ‘genocide’ is being freely used unfairly.

Definition of Genocide:

“the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group”.

The casualty figures by people on the ground differs to the third party figures in vogue

Claims of war crimes & genocide falls flat when Tamils voted for the Army Commander Sarath Fonseka that led the war victory eliminating LTTE.

The “genocide” allegations are based on claims that Sri Lanka killed 40,000 to 200,000 people.

For anyone to claim such a number, they must be able to provide answers

• What are the names of these “dead”, where did they live, where are their families, what is there age
• Do these ‘dead’ have an identification – birth certificate, NIC, grama sevaka certificate, school admission, marriage certificate etc
• Have a police complaint or habeas corpus been filed?
• Have 40,000 – 200,000 families or even those alleging that they are ‘dead’ provided 40,000 to 200,000 names/details to the Missing Persons Commission or even to UNHRC?
• Why are the names of these “dead” 40,000 – 200,000 not publicized?
• Where are their ‘dead’ bodies – after 13 years there has to be skeletons of 40,000 – 200,000 dead – where are the skeletons?
• Where are the graves of these 40,000 – 200,000 “dead”?
• There are numerous mobile videos taken inside the war zone – how come there is no footage of soldiers digging graves to dump 40,000 – 200,000 dead bodies! Surely, this itself is an arduous task in between firing. Doesn’t this itself look odd? Just use your imagination to even imagine such a scenario!

The situation is that Sri Lanka saved 294,000 people and official death figures hover around 7721 figure (UN Country Team)

The LTTE fronts claim 40,000-200,000 dead & this could only mean they are either throwing a bogus figure or they are enabling a scenario to allow them to annually commemorate/mourn LTTE dead. What a laugh if Canada & foreign governments are joining efforts to mourn terrorists! But who are we to stop them!

There is definitely possibility that the “genocide” claims & Memorial Day in reality is to enable the continuance of an annual event to keep alive LTTE & its money generating kitty. This is established by all of the commemorations held globally where mourning is only centred around LTTE flags, emblems, colours & photos of dead LTTE to whom everyone goes to pay homage. Its amusing to watch foreign MPs & other dignitaries not only visit these memorials but issue statements of grief!

If Canada or any other foreign government wishes to mourn terrorists, by all means go ahead but don’t justify mourning terrorists by claiming a bogus ‘genocide’ of Tamil civilians. 294,000 Tamil civilians were brought to safety not by foreign governments or the UN but by Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces. Even ICRC head declared Sri Lanka could have finished the war earlier but chose to not do so, as the lives of civilians would have been compromised. Instead lives of 6261 soldier lives were compromised to save 294,000 Tamil civilians. These soldiers deserve to be mourned.

Sri Lanka did eliminate LTTE terrorists & that is what Sri Lanka annually celebrates, but Sri Lanka did not kill Tamil civilians to be accused of ‘genocide’. Without naming 40,000-200,000 supposed to be ‘dead’ or locating their skeletons or mass graves, these allegations are just fairy tales. Mullaiwaikkal Memorials are for dead LTTE combatants whose families & LTTE fronts/supporters wish to commemorate annually – we do not wish to stop Canada & any other foreign government commemorating terrorists that are international banned still.

In Sri Lanka we celebrate the end of LTTE terrorism, the freedom for all communities to live without LTTE suicide missions and bombs & freedom for Tamil children from being kidnapped & turned into child soldiers – we owe all this to the bravery & sacrifices of Sri Lanka’s National Army that carried out a military offensive alongside a humanitarian rescue operation saving 294,000 people bring everyone under one National Flag on 18 May 2009.

Shenali D Waduge