The video referred to below can be seen at my video site here.
Yesterday, Al Jazeera released a video of unknown provenance that showed what appeared to be war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state against Tamil Tiger rebels and Tamil civilians during the routing of the Tigers in Sri Lanka this spring.
The Civil War in Sri Lanka is highly controversial. A good neutral overview is here.
I have always supported the just struggle of the Sri Lankan Tamils for self-determination in Sri Lanka. That doesn’t necessarily mean support for the Tamil Tigers, whose tactics were often horrible. But do not the natives have a right to resist settler-colonization, ethnic warfare, ethnic cleansing, extreme, Nazi-like fascist racism and genocide?
Sure they do.
Do we quibble about the just nature of the struggle of the Native Americans, the Black slave revolts, the various anti-colonial wars, the anti-Nazi resistance, the Allies’ war against Nazi Orcs in WW2, the Chechens, Kashmiris, Basques, Acehese, East Timorese, South Sudanese, Darfurians, Polisario Front, PKK in Kurdistan, Tibetans, Uighurs, various self-determination struggles in Burma and India, just because we disagree with their tactics?
Of course not.
And the Tamil struggle was just as valid as that of the Native Americans or any of the rest of the above.
Briefly, after Sri Lanka achieved independence, the Buddhist Sinhalese instituted a ferociously racist project against the minority Hindu Tamils that culminated in repeated pogroms. It was like Christallnact from 1947-1983. The Tamils, after decades of petitioning peacefully for change, took up arms in self-defense in 1983. For some time, they achieved great success to the point of having a near-autonomous area in the North.
In the last few years, serious errors on the part of the Tigers, including attacks on all of their Tamil political rivals, combined with huge arms purchases by the Nazi Sri Lankan state, mostly purchased from Tony Blair in the UK, allowed the government to pursue a major offensive against the Tamils.
The area controlled by the Tamils shrunk more and more, until gradually they were cornered in a small area. As the state closed in, they unleashed genocide against the Tigers and the civilians who supported them. Surrendering Tigers were bound and tied and executed in huge numbers. Soldiers and plainclothes death squads in white vans roamed the area, picking up Tamil civilians, often young men. Many disappeared and later turned up dead.
Fleeing civilians were forced back into the Tamil-held area, and then mass-shelled. Overflowing Tamil hospitals were deliberately attacked over and over. Waves of Tamil refugees moving across the land were deliberately attacked from air, land and sea.
The entire Western world and much of the developing imperialist states of the 3rd World such as India stood back and cheered. They could hardly contain their glee at this shocking mass slaughter.
By this Spring, the Tigers were defeated. They have not yet resurrected. Tamil refugees were put in concentration camps, beaten, starved and mass-raped. Gradually, many of them were released. The repression is ongoing.
Though all resistance has stopped, death squads and the Sri Lankan military continue to arrest young Tamil men. The jails are full of Tamils and Tiger fighters wanted on terrorism charges. Tigers who laid down arms and went back to civilian life are constantly hassled by death squads.
The state has moved huge numbers of Sinhalese, Tamil Muslims and other non-Hindu Tamils into the area, where they steal Tamil lands, evict Tamils from their homes, steal their property and usurp their fishing areas. It’s like Palestine with Racer’s Edge additive poured on.
It’s absolutely revolting the way the entire West lined up behind this modern-day Sinhalese Nazi regime, but it goes to show that states have no moral principles, only practical ones. But that’s what psychopaths have. Every Western state supported Sri Lanka because most states will support any state, no matter how evil or Nazi, in their fight against separatists. They are all thinking, “There but for the grace of God go I,” and “We may be next.”
Good background on the crisis from a Left, pro-Tamil POV (the only moral position to take) is in three articles by Ron Ridenour on Counterpunch. Tamilnet has excellent reporting from the Tamil POV.
The Indian Maoists were one of the few large parties in India to support the Tigers. Even the “Marxists” in power in West Bengal supported the Sri Lankan state to the hilt, as did the “Dravidian” parties in the south of India who represent Indian Tamils, among others. Talk about selling out.
I’ve met some Indian Tamils. Every one I asked said that they supported the Tigers, and there are 10’s of millions of Tamils in India.
3
20
20
20
“Do we quibble about the just nature of the struggle of the Native Americans, the Black slave revolts, the various anti – colonial wars , the anti – Nazi resistance, the Allies ’ war against Nazi Orcs in WW2 , the Chechens , Kashmiris , Basques, Acehese, East Timorese, South Sudanese , Darfurians, Polisario Front, PKK in Kurdistan , Tibetans, Uighurs , various self – determination struggles in Burma and India , just because we disagree with their tactics? Of course not .” The CHECHENS?!?! Why should Chechnya become an independent state, so they can enact Sharia law and traffic in Slavic Sex slaves again? How about the Old South? Why dont you support the Confederacy, Robert? Dont they have a right to self-determination? How about Texas? Should Texas secede? Why didnt you mention Abhkazia or South Ossetia, are you implying that they dont deserve to be free from Georgian domination and racism? Chechnya is not currently trying to become a state, it has never been a state, and its leader today is pro-Kremlin and pro-Russian and he is against Wahhabism and Islamist movements, and he is a a Muslim Chechen and proud Russian citizen who listens to Moscow. Why did you have to mention Chechnya, Robert? Why? How about Quebec, why didnt you mention the Quebec National Question? Or the Alaska Independence movement, which Sarah Palins husband was a part of? What about the Second Vermont Republic, a left-wing seccesion movement? Whats up with your infatuation with Chechens? Have you ever met a Chechen? Do you know for a fact that a majority of them want independence? Since you support indepedence movements, why dont you do a post on The League of the South? They want to bring back Dixie! Yee-haw! Do you think the South should have won the Civil War?
There are just and unjust wars of separatism. Following Lenin, actual nations have the right to self-determination. Chechens are a nation. The Old South was not a nation, and you don’t have a right to independence so you can enslave other humans. Texas is not a nation. The only nations in the US the indigenous peoples like Amerindians, Eskimos and Hawaiians. Everyone else has no right to secession.
WTF do you want with these Chechen psychos anyway? I would not want assholes like that anywhere near my country. Be gone with them!
Of course I support Abkhazian and South Ossetian self-determination, but Russia is so cynical. They are not supporting those folks on principled grounds. Georgian minorities have a right to self-determination, but Serbian and Russian minorities do not. WTF?! Fuck that. Sociopathic Realpolitik crap.
Chechens still want to become a state. I think the last poll had a majority in favor of independence. The Chechen leader is a dog. The Chechen struggle earlier under Makhadov was much more righteous. This dog opposed even that. He is still arresting the righteous Chechens who rose up in the 1990’s when they were secular and had support of 90% or so of the popular. Now they are Islamists, it is true. Chechnya needs a referendum on independence. Then can go free only under the auspices of the CIS. The people will vote for freedom. Then they can elect their own leaders, Islamist or not. I think they will elect secular leaders.
I support the right of Quebecois for self-determination. So far they do not want to go free. It is their decision.
We don’t support separatism here, we just support the right to self-determination. They can vote. If they want to leave, they can leave. If they want to stay, they can stay. Etc.
Alaska is not a nation, but the Eskimos and Amerindians are.
Vermont is not a nation.
I met a Chechen once from Jordan. He got on cam and we talked for a while. Cool guy, nice looking, very interesting phenotype. Nervous, chain-smoking. He said he had gone back to try to sneak in and fight but he was turned back because they said it was too hard to get in. At the time, it was almost impossible to infiltrate into the place due to security.
Why in the FUCK do you want these violent lunatics on your country fucking shit up all the time? I don’t get it. I would say be gone with them if it were me.
Chechens are a nation.
Chechens are not a nation they are a Republic created by Russia and an ethnic group which the Northern region of Chechnya is actually Russian given to them by Kruschev as part of his anti-Stalin/Russian program.
The Afrikaners are a nation, so do you support stuff like Orania, and Eugene TerreBlanche’s Afrikaner Front trying to carve an independent Boer state in South Africa? Chechnya is already semi-autonomous, they have their own culture and laws and everything, what else do they want? http://www.austereinsomniac.info/blog/2010/1/3/why-chechnya-cannot-be-independent.html This is why they cant be independent.
I would take this with a pinch of salt Al Jazeera and the Qatari regime is a CIA/British puppet state who churns out Al Qaeda and Bin Ladin propaganda videos cementing the myth while somehow forgetting to mention that KSM worked for the Qatari government in 96/97.
And we know from Mossad defector Victor Ostrovsky in his book that the Mossad supported Tamil separatists and the drug trade during the 80’s and surprise the Tamil leadership are exiled in London.
i do agree that the tigers were a horrendous force but as you said they killed all the other political leaders on the island and with the west and the evil assholes in india supporting sri lanka they are really the only voice that the tamils have now.