Sri Lanka has been accused of setting a ‘precedent for an internationally acceptable genocide model’, TamilNet reports.
Kolathur T S Mani, president of Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, made the accusation during a conference at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi entitled ‘Unspoken Genocide: Convention on War Crimes and Genocide in Sri Lanka,’ held at the Speaker Hall, Constitution Club last Thursday.
Mani said that Sri Lanka has presented to the world a viable model of genocide by successfully killing ‘hundreds of thousands of civilians without any witness’ and not eliciting international or national censure or condemnation.
Rajinder Sachar, former chief justice of High Court of New Delhi, a member of the Dublin War Crimes Tribunal; Justice V R Krishna Iyer, former judge of the Supreme Court of India; and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC), Kashmir; participated in the event among others.
The Tamil translation of the final report issued by the Dublin War Crimes Tribunal, conducted by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) based in Milan, was distributed at the beginning of the New Delhi conference.
In his speech, Mani said: ‘A war without witness is what Sri Lanka has presented before the world as a model.
‘This model has now given strength to the rest of the oppressing governments of the world and shown ways of how to oppress in a more brutal way without having to worry about international or national criticisms.
‘This model can very well be executed by India in Kashmir or the Punjab or the North East or in the “Red corridor”.
‘Name it “War against terror” or “War for peace” and execute anything brutally. Nobody will question you.
‘Genocide does not only mean killing. And the Sri Lankan government did not only take the lives away.
‘The genocide against the Tamils in Sri Lanka did not start very recently. It has been systematically implemented in various forms from time to time.
‘It is that systematic implementation which reached its peak in 2009.
‘When dealing with war crimes, the international community is focusing only on a few of the issues, especially at the end of Eelam War 4, at Mullivaaykkaal in May 2009.
‘But, there has been an ongoing record of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, for a long time in the island of Sri Lanka, and the pattern of this long record has to be analysed by anyone investigating the war crimes.
‘My view is that the war crimes, carried out by the Sri Lankan military with direct and indirect help from various actors of the international community, are part of a systematic programme and should also be investigated for the context of the patterns rather than singled-out events. . .
‘The second reason why this brutality of Sri Lanka is of more concern to us as “Indians”, is because, our hands are soaked in that blood.
‘It’s our tax money that went as arms and ammunition to commit those war crimes.
‘It is with our money and on our soil, that those Sri Lankan military officials who committed the war crimes were given training.
‘One could say, how can India be responsible just because it sold arms and provided training? You may add to that by saying how can India control the affairs of another country.
‘This was what the Indian high commands were saying all through. Even the Dublin report, which talks about the role of Western countries hasn’t said anything about India.
‘From the early 1980s, more than 300 Tamil Nadu fishermen were killed by the Sri Lankan Navy.
‘Thousands have been abducted and tortured by them. The whereabouts of many such abducted fishermen are not known for years. . .
‘This is continuing even today, though the Sri Lankan government has declared that the so-called “war against terrorism” is over.
‘Aren’t the Tamil Nadu fishermen Indians? Isn’t the Indian Government with its Navy responsible for their safety?
‘Aren’t the Indian media and Indian politicians concerned about a foreign navy crossing our borders and killing our people?
‘If the Indian fishermen are abducted or arrested by the Pakistan Navy, it becomes a national issue. But even if the Sri Lankan Navy kills Indian fishermen it’s nothing. . .
‘As added evidence on how the Indian government is prejudiced and biased with regards to Sri Lankan Tamils, I would like to bring to your notice the plight of the Sri Lankan refugees in India, concentrated in Tamil Nadu.
‘There has been a flow of refugees from Sri Lanka from time to time. During the early and the mid 80s the flow was very high. Those people who came here then are still in India.
‘Most of them live in the government sponsored refugee camps located in various parts of the state. A few others live outside the camps along with the local people.
‘The Sri Lankan refugee camps in India are no better than the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps in SriLanka, with very poor living conditions, lacking proper sanitary systems and medical aid. We can even keep that aside. But the restrictions imposed on them raise doubt on whether we are in a democratic nation or not.
‘They are not allowed to possess mobile phones. No free movement outside the camps. There is no proper medical aid provided inside the camps. Hence, if anybody is sick they need to go outside the camp to get treatment. But even for this, they need to obtain permission. They are given very meagre amounts as daily compensation. . .
The worst is yet to come, there is one another category called “Special Camps”.
‘As and when the refugees arrive by sea at Rameshwaram, the coastal town closest by sea route to Sri Lanka, men and women are separated and interrogated.
‘Of those, youth are once again separated and taken away by the Tamil Nadu Police intelligence wing, the “Q” branch police. The Q branch police say that the youth are separated to find if they are militarily trained.
‘It is at the will and wish of the Q branch to decide on whom to be freed to the camps and whom to retain. If any person resists, or even shows a slightest gesture of resistance, then the family has to forget that person.
‘They are taken away for more intensive interrogation and then they are branded as militants and are kept in “Special Camps”, apart from those directly from the refugee camps.
Others who are arrested outside the camps on various charges, even if they have a valid passport and visa, are detained in these “Special Camps” . . .
‘Friends, these “Special Camps” are nothing but illegal prisons under the control of the Tamil Nadu Intelligence. . . As soon as one enters the “Special Camp”, all his documents, including his passport and educational certificates etc, are taken away from them. . .
‘False charges are laid on them. But no trials are conducted. Even if they are not remanded or convicted by the court, the Q branch says that until the case is over they must remain in the “Special Camps”. . .
‘We have filed cases against these illegal prisons. But the cases are still pending in the courts. . .’
