War is over?

dittedi,

Wadiwadiman is a regular on here and has contacts in Kandy who were fundraising to sent items to the help the ' displaced persons ' .

I guess he will see this posting and contact you. He may be able to suggest ways to help.

However there is very limited access to the camps, even for official ngo's. I don't see how a lorry with a load of supplies organised by concerned people in Kandy will get through to its destination.

The whole thing is a tragic mess but it is really positive that good human nature is being revealed in yourself and many of the decent, caring Sri Lankans who make up the vast majority of the population.

The evil side of human nature is shown in the uncaring, triumphalistic attitude and behaviour of the tiny minority who see things differently and wield the power of life and death over their subjects.

On a separate note I see that former LTTE cadres discovered in the camps are being murdered.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/21/sri-lanka-tamil-tigers-ltte-tamil-refugees-in-camp

Ian

Three doctors in the fighting area who reported that both sides were shelling the no-fire zone have been arrested.
So free speech is still far away for the Rajapakshe regime.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090523/ap_on_re_as/as_sri_lanka_war_doctors_1

My wife is singhalese, so i found out how heavily the media brainwashing is going on in Sri Lanka.
Noone there seems to know that the army killed at least a few thousand civilians in the last 6 months.
Noone knows about threats to and killings of journalists. Abductions and slayings of tamil civilians by the special police forces. Atrocious conditions in camps for the displaced. You name it, it's not reported.
Her (wife's) family knows only about the government organized destruction of the Sirasa TV (main private TV), that too only because sister in law was an employee and she explained straight away that the day before the attack, there was a warning call from the defense ministry.

We're lucky not to live in a nazi-like regime, let's not forget it.

Let's hope the extremists from the south of the island who run the country, have a change of heart.

An interesting article:
Tigers begged me to broker surrender - As the Sri Lankan army closed in, rebels made a desperate plea to a Sunday Times correspondent to help stave off annihilation

excerpt:

Chandra Nehru said Basil, the president’s brother, called him. “He said, ‘They will be safe. They have to hoist a white flag.’ And he gave me the route they should follow.”

The MP got through to Nadesan at about 6.20am local time on Monday. The sound of gunfire was louder than ever.

“We are ready,” Nadesan told him. “I’m going to walk out and hoist the white flag.”

“I told him: ‘Hoist it high, brother – they need to see it. I will see you in the evening’,” said Chandra Nehru.

A Tamil who was in a group that managed to escape the killing zone described what happened. This source, who later spoke to an aid worker, said Nadesan and Puleedevan walked towards Sri Lankan army lines with a white flag in a group of about a dozen men and women. He said the army started firing machineguns at them.

Nadesan’s wife, a Sinhalese, yelled in Sinhala at the soldiers: “He is trying to surrender and you are shooting him.” She was also shot down.

The source said all in the group were killed. He is now in hiding, fearful for his life. Chandra Nehru has fled the country after being threatened, the MP says, by the president and his brother.

Thanks Ian, I have contacted Ditte. If anyone else wants contact details of my friend in Kandy send me a PM please. I have been "off air" for a few days - laptop was in for repair.One of the main monks from the Temple of the Tooth went up to Vavuniya at the weekend with a truck of supplies. He was not allowed into the camp, not allowed to take photos or to speak to any of the "inmates." He did get to hand over the supplies thank goodness. He told my friend how shocked he was to realise these are prison camps and he is apparently furious now he has seen for himself what is happening.

I am sending UK newspaper cuttings over to Kandy and asking my friends to pass them around so they can learn the truth. At last, after speaking with the monk, Saminda believes what I have been telling him.

I am in despair at the moment.

Yes, I also imagine that it will be difficult to get into the camps, that doesn't off course mean you shouldn't try. Of course, if my presence (as a foreign person) makes it more difficult to deliver the collected items, I would be glad just to be able to help collect the food, clothes and so on. I've had contact with a few others by myself, and it seems there's some small projects runned by small groups throughout the country. The one I've met lived in Colombo, but she was mainly "just" collecting clothes for the IDP-camps through her church, and she didn't seem to have much more to do with it than that.
It is a tragic mess, but luckily (if you can call it that) it is only the small minority that has an triumphalistic attitude towards what has happened - and is happening. The most tragic must be that a great part of the population doesn't seem know what is really going on in the camps. And still - or maybe because some of them have somewhat a clue - that some collect funds for foods, clothes etc. to the people in the camps - I think that is really amazing.

Also when I read what Kris has written, it easily seems a little hopeless at this point. But the good thing is that all the time there's greater og minor initiatives, like Steve sending articles to spread out to the people, the part of the Sri Lankan people that are collecting funds. And that the UN and some Western governments and also - at least for now - the medias have their eyes on Sri Lanka - I guess this must give the Sri Lankans some clue that something not good is going on, despite that the Sri Lankan media mostly tell the stories from another point of view.

I can imagine it must be really hard to watch these things going on from afar, if you have such a close relationship to the country and some of the people in it - and harder if you're a citizen of the country and aware of some of the things that is going on in the camps. Or maybe I can't even begin to imagine. But thanks again Steve for the contact details and info - I think it'll help me a lot.

In the end, I must say though that when I talk with the people about the war and the conflict, almost all of them - either in despite or maybe because they don't know so much of what is going on in the camps - really seem to believe that the different ethnic groups that live in Sri Lanka are equals and should be (and are) treated as such. I think that gives a little hope. Off course the hope would seem more 'realistic' if you knew that the people knew what was going on and still could say that.