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Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA
Response to Reuters Article on Prabakaran Turning 50
Media Bias is hurting the peace process between Sri Lanka and Tamils
Nowadays, when you read news supplied by international news wires, one automatically looks for the other side of the story. Such is the one-sided nature of news reports. The old adage that there are two sides to a story has really come into the fore now. International media seem to be keen to promote their opinion rather than the accuracy of a report. A similar one-sided story about our national leader Mr Prabakaran by Reuters was published in the ‘The San Diego Union-Tribune’ on the 26th of November, to coincide with his birthday. I have reproduced some paragraphs of this article and added my comments underneath each paragraph.
‘S.Lanka Tamil Tiger boss turns 50, going strong-
November 26, 2004 -ReutersVALVEDDITTURAI, Sri Lanka – The shadowy leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels turned 50 Friday, but he will have to miss his own party – Velupillai Prabhakaran is the government's nemesis and has lived in hiding for decades.
My comment: The adjective ‘shadowy’ is deliberately put their to denigrate Mr Prabakaran and Tamils. It is not a news. In the last general election 95% of the people living in Tamil Eelam areas voted for parties supporting Mr Prabakaran’s policies. Support for Mr. Prabakaran among Tamil diasporas is a well-known fact. He is not a shadowy figure as said in the report.
They fondly remember a quiet, unassuming boy who liked reading comics.
My Comment: " liked reading comics" is a clever way of doing a character assassination. Actually Mr Prabakaran liked to read about freedom fighters and Tamil leaders. No mention was made of his main reading passion..
But Prabhakaran left home at age 14 and by 18 was honing his bomb-making skills. He went on to found the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, whose bloody struggle for autonomy killed at least 64,000 people and was only halted two years ago by a truce.
.My comment: This is a typical example of giving half truths. Mr Prabakaran was seeing that the oppressive conditions for Tamil people were growing. The state aided and mob violence of Singhalese were increasing, discrimination in jobs, education and other public matters were getting worse. Tamils were being humiliated as a whole. Mr Prabakaran also saw that the Singhalese leaders and people disregard non-violent protests. He left home early because of the brutal collective reprisal by the Singhalese security forces. He did not want his parents suffer for his action. Out of the 64000 people killed majority were unarmed Tamil civilians brutally murdered by Sri Lankan armed forces. This fact was also not mentioned
Ratnam sacrificed her son Sundara for Prabhakaran's cause, one of thousands of young Tamils who joined his fight against successive Sri Lankan governments for a separate state. Sundara ran away to join Prabhakaran at the age of 16.
My comments: ‘-Prabhakaran’s cause’..’ This way of reporting implies that Tamil youths joined the liberation movement without any reason. It is state oppression and state-aided violence against them which pushed Tamil youth, including Mr Prabakaran, towards armed struggle. These youth decided to take up arms because they felt it was the only way.
Prabhakaran is revered like an idol by his Tiger cadres, and was a pioneer in the art of training suicide bombers, whom he would treat to a last supper on the eve of their attacks. He is a big fan of spaghetti westerns, and based his from-the-hip shooting style on his own personal hero – Clint Eastwood.
My comments: Facts are incorrect in this report. Like any other youth of that time he may have enjoyed a Clint Eastwood movie. Clint Eastwood became world famous by acting in those movies because most youth liked them. Prabakaran made a remark to some reporter in the 1980s that he enjoyed the spirit of Clint Eastwood movies in which good wins over evil. The LTTE are virtually self-taught fighters. They may have learned a few things about weapons by watching these movies, I think, but as for shooting style - learning from a movie would be suicidal!
Photographs of him in trademark tiger-striped military fatigues are pinned above doorways of the rebels' administrative offices in the group's northern stronghold of Kilinochchi.
My Comment: This is another derogatory comment. Obviously Tamil people will revere their protector. All the people all over the world will do that.
He rarely appears in public or speaks in public, save for his annual national address, due to be read over the radio in the rebel-dominated north and east of Sri Lanka Saturday – the day the Tigers pay homage to their fallen cadres.
My Comment: He is not an ordinary politician. He is a freedom fighter. Friend and foes and others eagerly await his annual address because what he says is what he does, unlike the Singhalese leaders who don’t even respect their own words.
Prabhakaran was convicted in absentia in 2002 to 200 years' jail for his role in the 1996 suicide bombing of the Central Bank in Colombo, in which 100 people were killed. But since the Tigers agreed to a cease-fire with the government in 2002, police and military officials say they are not sure what they would do in the unlikely event they were to corner him.
My Comment: Unnecessary importance has been given to an unimportant news item. The sentencing judge was corrupt and chauvinistic. Nelson Mandela and Xanana Gusmao were also condemned by the courts of their oppressors. They are now statesmen. On the other hand, the Singhalese are guilty of genocide and the murder of Tamil people. To this reporter murder by oppressors is acceptable. Killing in self-defense is not acceptable.
Under the truce, Prabhakaran has been left to his own devices in his hideout in the rebel-held north, where the Tigers already have defacto rule, with their own courts, taxation system and even police force.
My comments: This is another attempt to twist the truth. A large part Tamil Eelam area came under Tamil control because Mr Prabakaran’s LTTE defeated the Singhalese armed forces and chased them out of that area. In fact, the truce was forced on the Singhalese by their military defeat
The Norwegian-brokered cease-fire is holding, but the Tigers pulled out of peace talks last year, leaving hopes of sealing permanent peace in limbo. Prabhakaran has softened his demands for a breakaway state, and the government and the Tigers are now deadlocked over the rebels' central demand for interim self-rule in parts of the north and east that they control.
My comment: This is another attempt to twist the truth. Singhalese leaders who negotiated the peace process clearly stated that everything else except a separate state is negotiable. The LTTE has clearly explained why the ISGA is important. The JVP and SLFP won election by condemning the peace process. This information seems to have been left out to give a false picture.
"I think Mr. Prabhakaran does not want to give up his call for a separate state," President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who survived a Tamil Tiger suicide bomb attack in 1999 but lost an eye, told Reuters in a recent interview. "It could be a long haul unless his organization persuades him to do otherwise," she added.
My comments: This is a deliberate quarter truth. Its aim is to blame the Tamils for the stalling of peace talks. These comments were made without verifying facts. Some of these facts go like this. Chandrika came to power by condemning the peace process. Her partner in government JVP is still against the peace process. They are also against a neutral party like Norway facilitating the peace process. Chandrika is also inconsistent and will change her position day by day. Her quest for continued power is another well-known factor affecting the peace process. These facts, and the Singhalese propaganda against the peace process, are ignored in this report.
In conclusion, I wish to state that this is an un-researched report produced by a lazy reporter. Reports like these will cause great harm to the peace process. Already Tamil people are worried by the attitude of Singhalese leadership and Singhalese media. I hope Reuters will improve its reporting about Sri Lanka and the Tamils.
Yours Sincerely,
R Shanmugananthan
Australia
| POSTED NOVEMBER 28, 2004 | The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA, Inc., its members, or its affiliates. |
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