CONTENTS
OF THIS SECTION
14/06/09 |
Letter from
Teaching Staff of Jaffna University, 27 January 1996 |
Reply by UTHR(J) to Letter by
Teaching Staff of Jaffna University - The Hypocrisy of the Uncommitted
Mind, 25th February 1996 |
UTHR Credibility Under
Attack
Human Rights Group Linked to Sri Lankan Government - South Asia Media
Services, Chennai, 11 January 1997 |
Mugunthan on the UTHR - Ignorance
Costs Lives, Tamil Circle, 14 January 1997 |
UTHR(J)
Reports, Special Reports,
Bulletins & Statements
[see also
http://www.uthr.org
]
|
A Marred Victory and a Defeat Pregnant with Foreboding
- Sri Lanka Special Report No. 32, 10 June 2009
|
|
The curse of Impunity Part I - Bindunuwewa, the Thin End of the
Wedge of Impunity - Special Report 19 Part I, 12 June 2005 |
Political Killings and Rituals of Unreality - No. 38
- 21st July 2005 |
A Tale of two Disasters and the Fickleness of Terror Politics
Bulletin No. 37, 10th January 2005 |
The Batticaloa Fiasco & the Tragedy of Missed Opportunities
Bulletin No. 36, 29th May 2004 |
The Worm Turns and Elections Where the People Will Not Count
Bulletin No. 35, 8th March 2004 |
Rewarding Tyranny: Undermining Democratic Potential for Peace - Special
Report No.17, 7 October 2003
|
The Murder of T. Subathiran : Sri Lanka’s End Game - UTHR
Statement, 15 June 2003
|
North – East: Democracy on Death Row - Bulletin No.32, 2 May 2003
|
Child Conscription and Peace: A Tragedy of Contradictions - Special
Report No.16, 18 March 2003
|
Gathering Storm in the East - Bulletin No.31, 13th January, 2003
|
Cost of 'Peace' and Dividends of Terror - Bulletin No.30,3
December 2002
|
Meaning of "People's Action" and Consequences of Prolonged Negotiations
- Bulletin No.29, 26 October 2002
|
In the Shadows of Sattahip : Many Faces of Peace - Special Report No.15,
4 October 2002
|
Plight of Child Conscripts, Social Degradation
& Anti-Muslim Frenzy - Special Report No.14, 20 July 2002
|
Towards Totalitarian Peace: The Human Rights Dilemma - Bulletin
No.13, 9 May 2002
|
Failing the test: LTTE extortion continues unchecked - UTHR
Statement, 20 April 2002
|
In the Name of "Peace": Terror stalks the North-East - Bulletin No.28,1
February 2002
|
Peace activism, suicidal politics and civil society - Briefing No.4,
4 December 2001
|
A Response to President Kumaratunge’s CNN Interview -UTHR Statement,
12 November 2001
|
The LTTE, Child Soldiers and Serial Disasters : A
Challenge Without an Answer? Bulletin No.27,
19 October 2001
|
The Vanishing Young and the silent agony of Sun Set shore (Paduvankarai)
- Bulletin No.26, 20 September 2001
|
The Fatal Conjunction:Women, Continuing Violations & Accountablity:
Bulletin No.25 11 July 2001
|
The Ordeal of Civilians in Thenmaratchy: - Bulletin No.24, 7
September 2000
|
The Sun God’s Children & The Big Lie - Bulletin No.23, 11 July 2000
|
The Scent Of Danger - Bulletin No.22,30 January 2000
|
Disturbing Drift in the Vanni - the Lost Civilian Dimension -
Bulletin No.21, 21 July 1999
|
Issues Of Peace & The Primacy of the Political Thrust - Briefing
No.3, 17 June 1999
|
The Tragedy Of Vanni Civilians &Total Militarisation - Bulletin No.20,19
May 1999
|
Krishanthy Kumarasamy Case: Disappearances & Accountability - Special
Report No.12, 28 April 1999
|
Lion Air Flight 602 From Jaffna: Crossing The Bar Into The Twilight OF
Silence - Bulletin No.19, 16 October 1998
|
A Tamil Heroine Unmourned & the Sociology of Obfuscation -
Special Report No.11, 15 September 1998
|
Drift In Jaffna: Urgency Of
Political Settlement & Importance of Larry Wijetatne’s Legacy -
Bulletin No.18, 8 July 1998
|
Countdown in the Vanni - Looking Beyond the Tigers - Bulletin No.17,
27 May 1998
|
Living Through Jaffna’s Sultry Sunset - Special Report No.10,
9 April 1998
|
The Outrage at Thampalakamam - The hidden reality - Bulletin No.16,
5 February 1998
|
The Vanni: Behind the war of words
- Bulletin No.15 -
Bulletin No.15, 4 November 1997
|
The Murder Of Rev. Arulpalan And The Government’s Denial - UTHR
Statement, 11 October 1997
|
Jaffna: Current Situation & Prospects - Bulletin: No.14, 24 August
1997
|
Jaffna: A vision skewed - Special Report No.9, 7 June 1997
|
Trincomalee: Politics of Fear - Special Report No.8, 7 March 1997
|
Appraisal of New Trends in Jaffna - Bulletin No.13
- Bulletin No.13, 27 December 1996
|
The Vanni: A People Crushed - Bulletin No.12, 22 October 1996
|
Jaffna: Contest Between Man & Beast - Special Report No:7, 29 August
1996
|
Economic Survival & Human Dignity: Batticaloa & Amparai - Bulletin No.11,
9 July 1996
|
Kumarapuram Massacre, Trincomalee District - Bulletin No.10, 2
March 1996
|
Civilians and Armed Forces - Batticaloa District - Bulletin No.9, 30
December 1995
|
The Exodus from Jaffna - Special Report No.6 , 6 December 1995
|
Civilians & the Jaffna offensive - Bulletin No.8, 8 November 1995
|
Sri Lanka : Civilian well being in a time of war : A lost hope? -
UTHR Statement, 10 October 1995
|
The Military Operation & its after effects - Bulletin No.7, 4
September 1995
|
Children in the North - East war: 1985-1995 -Briefing No.2, 20 June
1995
|
Report on the situation in the Batticaloa & Amparai Districts - Bulletin
No.6, 9 June 1995
|
Renewal of hostilities : Keeping issues in perspective - UTHR
Statement, 8 May 1995
|
Women prisoners of the LTTE - Bulletin No.5, 8 March1995
|
Padaviya-Welioya:Bearing the burden of Ideology - Bulletin No.4, 13
February 1995
|
The Peace Process & the Incident near S .Sebastian's, Mannar - Bulletin
No.3, 15 October 1994
|
Frozen Minds & The Violence of Attrition - Report No.13, 15 June
1994
|
The Sullen Hills, The Saga of Up Country Tamils - Special Report No.4, January 1994
|
A Sovereign Will to Self-Destruct-The ContinuingSaga of Dislocation &
Disintegration - Report No.12, 15 November 1993
|
From Manal Aru To Weli Oya and The spirit of July 1983 - Special
Report No.5, 15 September 1993
|
Land, Human Rights & Eastern Predicament. - Report No.11, 15 April
1993
|
Human rights and The Issues of War and Peace - Briefing No.1, August
1992
|
The Trapped People among Peacemakers and Warmongers - Report No.9,
18 February 1992
|
Rays of Hope Amidst Deepening Gloom - Report No.10, 15 January 1992
|
The Debasement of Law and of Humanity and the Drift Towards Total War. -
Report No.8, 28 August 1991
|
Continuing Tragedy in Batticaloa & Amparai Districts - Report No.7,
8 May 1991
|
The Politics of Destruction and the Human Tragedy - Report No.6, 4
February 1991
|
The War and its Consequences in the Amparai District. - Special Report No.3, 16 October 1990
|
August: A Bloody Stalemate. - Report No.5, 10 September 1990
|
"Operation Major" - The Sri Lankan Military Operation in the
Islands off Jaffna - Special Report No.2, August/September 1990
|
The Bombing in Jaffna - Special Report No.1, 25 August 1990
|
The War of June 1990 - Report No.4, August 1990
|
January/August 1989 - Report No. 3, November 1989
|
March end, 1989 - Report No.2
|
January 1989 - Report No.1
|
|
University Teachers
for Human Rights
(Jaffna Branch)
Whatever may be said, who ever may say it - to
determine the truth of it, is wisdom -
Thirukural
The Reports by the University
Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna Branch) have often attracted
controversy.
On the one hand, the
criticism has been
made that the writers of the reports are no longer attached to the
Jaffna University and that their continued use of the description UTHR
(Jaffna Branch) is not only misleading but is also an attempt to give
the reports a legitimacy and 'status' that they lack. The further point
has also been made that the Sri Lanka government and the Sinhala media
have often given inordinate prominence to the UTHR reports, and
exploited these reports to undermine the
Tamil struggle for self
determination. Here, the comments of the
South Asia Media Services
and Mugunthan are not without
relevance.
On the other hand, UTHR
(Jaffna Branch) reply that the writers of the reports were unable to
continue to work in Jaffna because their lives were endangered, that the
termination of their employment by the Jaffna University is being
contested, and that in any event the reports should be judged on their
instrinsic value and content. This latter contention is not without
merit.
The struggle of the Tamil people for self determination is rooted in
that which is right and just - and will be strengthened, not weakened by
an open examination of the issues that confront it. The Tamil struggle
for freedom has no need for a 'media censorship' of the kind imposed by
the Sinhala dominated Sri Lankan government from time to time - a
media censorship which has served as a cloak for
genocidal attacks by the Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka government
against the Tamil people.
An armed resistance movement is not an afternoon tea party. At the
same time, the means adopted by a struggle for freedom and the ends that
it seeks to achieve are inseparable. Furthermore, 'humanising the armed
conflict' is a necessary objective (and should be honestly supported).
But the good faith of those who question some of the means adopted by
the armed resistance of the Tamil people will be less open to question,
if at the same time they do not deny the justice of the ends that the
Tamils, as a people, are struggling to achieve.
Martin Luther King's words in April 1963
are not without relevance:
"Over the past few years ....I have tried to make clear that it
is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must
affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use
moral means to preserve immoral ends."
Those who deny the
right of the people of Tamil Eelam to freedom from alien Sinhala
rule and the
legitimacy of the armed resistance movement, may end up by making
impotent pleas for 'human rights' and 'justice' from Sinhala
dominated Sri Lanka governments who have
systematically
oppressed the Tamil people during the past several decades.
The Sri Lanka government then uses these 'pleas' and 'reports' to
undermine the legitimacy of the Tamil struggle for freedom - and
continue
its
genocidal attacks on the Tamil people with increased vigour.
Furthermore, given the use to which the UTHR reports have been put by
Sri Lanka, the 'sources' (often unnamed) on whose information the
reports are based, become suspect - suspect as being agents of the Sri
Lanka government. Having said that, it will be wrong to dismiss
the UTHR reports out of hand and without careful examination -
because in the end -
Whatever may be said, who ever may say it - to
determine the truth of it, is wisdom -
Thirukural
|
Letter from Teaching Staff of Jaffna University, 27 January 1996
University of Jaffna,
Sri Lanka Faculty of Agriculture,
Killinochchi.
27 January 1996
To whom it may concern
Dear Sirs,
UTHR (Jaffna) and its activities
We the members of the teaching staff of the University of Jaffna wish to
express our anger and resentment at the reports published by the so called
University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) regarding the recent happenings in
the Jaffna peninsula.
The information contained in these reports are based on hearsay and
authenticity of the sources from which they are supposed to have been obtained
is open to question. The information does not give a true or complete picture of
the events preceding and following the exodus of people from the Valigamam and
Jaffna town areas of the peninsula and seems to be intended to serve only one
goal, namely to discredit the LTTE.
The authors of these reports under the pseudonym UTHR (Jaffna) with a view to
winning respect and credibility from its readers by misleading them into
believing that the Jaffna University Teachers are associated with their reports.
We wish to deny categorically, once again, that any teachers of the
University of Jaffna other than these two ex-staff members are in any way
connected directly or indirectly with this organisation called UTHR (Jaffna) and
we challenge the organisation to disprove our assertion.
The authors of the report have not even visited the North ever since
they ceased to be members of the University staff five years ago. They have
taken up residence in an area outside the theatre of war and have no first hand
knowledge of the conditions here. Whatever they publish has to be based on
information supplied to them either by the government or the people travelling
to Colombo from the North and such information and the inferences the authors
have made from them are highly selective and suited to their goal of
vilification of the LTTE.
The people living in the North, including ourselves, have suffered infinitely
more hardships due to military action by the Sri Lankan security forces and the
oppressive administrative actions of the Sri Lankan government than due to any
human rights violations of the LTTE.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in a gruesome manner and thousands
have suffered serious injuries as a result to the
indiscriminate artillery shelling and aerial bombing of thickly populated
civilian areas by the security forces.
A large number of houses have also been completely damaged due to the same
reasons. Under these circumstances the people living in the war torn area needed
no encouragement or coercion from the LTTE or any other sources to leave the
area and seek shelter elsewhere when there was a sudden worsening of the
security situation. In fact, people who valued their lives more than their
properties quickly sought shelter elsewhere as they did during the previous
military operations in the peninsula, the islands and the eastern province.
Heavier civilian casualties were avoided not because of the sympathy and concern
shown by the security forces to the safety of civilians but due to the timely
evacuation of the civilians from the area of conflict. Perhaps the authors of
the report are not aware that people are still leaving the Vadamaratchchi due to
intense artillery shelling which has claimed more than fifteen lives during the
last two months and caused serious injuries to several more.
Incidentally, the appeal by the government to the civilians to return to the
"liberated area" sounds hollow under these circumstances.
The above
human rights violations by the security forces and those of the government
in preventing free flow of food, medicine, liquid cash and other essential items
to the North, detaining mails and postal articles destined to the North in
Colombo for several months, indiscriminate arrest and harassment of Tamil people
in the South and detaining Tamils who travelled to Colombo in transit camps in
Vavuniya irrespective of their age, sex or status, do not apparently seem to the
authors as serious human rights violations as those purported to have been
committed by the LTTE. If these matters are referred to at all, they find only
casual mention in the reports and their inclusion seems to be intended to give a
semblance of impartiality with a view of hiding the real purpose of the reports.
We are surprised that even the BBC and particularly its Tamil service which
has been one of the few dependable sources of news for the Tamil people in
Northern Sri Lanka has come under attack by this so called human rights
organisation. It appears that the popularity of the BBC among the Tamil people
seems to be a cause of worry for the authors of the report. We would like to
congratulate the BBC and urge them to continue their impartial reporting without
being deterred by the comments or criticism by organisations like the UTHR
(Jaffna)
It is not clear on whose behalf or for whose benefit the authors have been
preparing these reports but it is obvious that the reports will not serve the
cause of the Tamils who have been struggling for over four decades to liberate
themselves from the tyranny of an ethnic majority, first peacefully, and having
failed in their peaceful attempts, now militarily.
Yours truly,
Dr. A. Navaratnarajah, Senior Lecturer in Animal Science
Mr. R. Vijayaratnam, Senior Lecturer in Agrucultural Engineering
Mr. S. Rajadurai, Senior Lecturer in Agronomy
Dr. S. Mohanadhas, Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Chemistry
Prof. S.V. Parameswaran, Senior Professor of Physiology
Prof. K. Kunaratnam, Senior Professor of Physics
|
Reply by UTHR(J) to Letter
by Teaching Staff of Jaffna University
The Hypocrisy of the Uncommitted Mind
Published in the Sinhala owned Sri Lanka
Sunday Island, 25th February 1996
"Anybody who wanted to recognize the full extent of the
terror had to keep his eyes open. One would think that the intellectual
class of people would have seen this; but this was by no means true as
whole. At that time I had to learn to revise my ideas about the role of
education and intelligence in political matters. The fact is that the
intelligent person has at his disposal enough arguments and associations to
prove to himself that what he fears isn't true at all. He is also much
smarter at assessing the opportunistic chances of getting ahead than naive
spirits. Thus precisely in the intellectual class one could observe
lamentable examples of character failure and delusion. In times which demand
the utmost of men, intellectual enlightenment is of very little help. The
uncommitted mind, though it has been highly trained and perhaps has even
achieved the eminence of a renowned academic chair, all too easily succumbs
to the law of least resistance. The person who insists upon maintaining his
self-respect in the midst of the terror or refuses to become an object of
contempt in the face of the hunger and dread of a concentration camp does
not need to be an 'educated' man; " but he must have inner reserves and
commitments. -
Helmut Thielicke, Between Heaven & Earth
"We have now been living under the long shadow of the gun for more than
a decade and a half, holding hope against hope for the survival of our
children who are dominated by violence from all directions without purpose
or meaning. But, on the other hand, we also note the glazed faces of people
accepting it all with a sense of resignation. Under these circumstances, to
be objective or analytical seems to be a major effort, like trying to do
something physical in the midst of a debilitating illness. Whenever we write
we are dogged by this reality, fearing our losing the tread to sanity and
the community submerging without resistance into this slime of terror and
violence. The community is bereft of all its human potential. Every "sane"
person is fleeing this burning country.... If our earlier account had
appeared to be "plugging a line", as some would want to put it, it was
because it was important for us to arrive at a synthesis in analysis, seek
an understanding, find spaces to organise, and revitalise a community that
was sinking into a state of resignation. Objectivity was not solely an
academic exercise for us. Objectivity, the pursuit of truth and the
propagation of critical and honest positions, was crucial for the community.
But they could also cost many of us our lives. Any involvement with them was
undertaken only as a survival task...."
Dr. Rajani
Thiranagama , Broken Palmyra
The first of the two quotations above was taken from a response by the German
theologian Helmut Thielicke to a question from an American audience on how
Germany which produced men like Beethoven and made great contributions to
civilisation, also produced Hitler and the Nazi regime? The second is from
Dr.Rajani Thiranagama, who was killed in 1989 while she was an active member
of the UTHR(J). The two bring out the present reality in Jaffna and the role
of the intellectuals.
It is in this context that we have the statement questioning the activities of
the UTHR(J) which appeared in the press, signed by 27 members of the staff
from the University of Jaffna. This is about the sixth in a series of
statements over the last four years intended to discredit the University
Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna).
The tone has now risen to a shrill cry of 'anger and resentment' along with
claims about us phrased in severe adjectives. Despite the quantitative rise
of excoriations there has been no specific criticism of our facts or
analyses.
The recent attack again is mainly personal. The facts presented in our recent
report 'The Exodus from Jaffna;
October - November 1995' are very specific. This is now available in
print along with other bulletins and statements pertaining to military
operations in Jaffna.
We have tried to present a fairly comprehensive picture of the suffering and
the evacuation of civilians caught between the LTTE and the government
forces. We said very specifically that the people who had moved into refugee
centres in and around Jaffna were forcibly evacuated causing them and their
animals enormous pain and suffering. To this end the LTTE used rumours,
terror, shelling, and the forced closure of Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
This is not disputed in the statement in question. We have been very clear in
our reports that people had been displaced from outlying areas by bombing
and shelling that was callous and inexcusable. The point of the statement
and of the 'anger and resentment' are not at all clear.
It is quite apparent from the contents of the statement that none of the
signatories had actually read our report, but are rather responding to the
commentary based on it broadcast by BBC Tamil Osai, and the effect it was
likely to have on people. The commentary was a translation of the original
written by the BBC correspondent in Colombo.
The LTTE for their part had been very clear about the reasons for the forced
exodus. For one, they did not want to 'lose their grip on the future
generation'. Refugees at St. John's were told that they must leave because
once the army enters they would let loose poison gas all over the city area.
They have always maintained that they would never allow a rival Tamil group
to run the civil administration in Jaffna.
Our assertions are based on wide- ranging testimony from those who went through
the exodus experience, and also from facts collected by those in Jaffna who
with all the odds against them value our work as a means to counter the
politics of suicide imposed on them. They also include persons from the
University. In doing this, they risk their life.
Rationalisations of the LTTE's behaviour are invariably the work of
'intellectuals'. To the ordinary people, however, it was as though fate had
decreed that they too should suffer the indignity and tragedy of this
exodus, which was very similar to what had been inflicted by the LTTE on the
Muslims, 5 years ago, on the identical date of the same month, while others
remained silent.
Spurious legality
A questionable argument that has been trotted out repeatedly to assert the
non-existence of the UTHR(J) is based on spurious legality. The reports are
said to be the work of two staff members who ceased to be members of the
university five years ago, who therefore use the name of the University of
Jaffna in vain.
They (the signatories to the statement) are understandably silent on why the
two academics ceased to be on the staff of the University of Jaffna.
Several of those who expressed their 'anger and resentment' in the statement
under reference were members of the university council that made the
decision to discontinue them. It is not an event that they could be proud of
and they certainly did not do it because the LTTE pointed the gun at them.
While the authorities in the University of Jaffna were going through the
motions of discontinuing them, senior officials visiting Colombo kept on
telling Prof. Aluvihare, who was then UGC Chairman, that owing to their
association with human rights work, it was dangerous for them to report at
the university.
A former chairman of the Jaffna University Council was questioned about their
dismissal in Colombo in the presence of Prof. Aluvihare. The chairman of the
council in Jaffna maintained that the dismissal was wrong, and had indeed
reminded the council that one of the two had to flee Jaffna(he had narrowly
escaped arrest by the LTTE and had first to go underground). But he had
failed to record his dissent on the final decision.
When pressed further, he said, "A councillor said at the meeting that they
(those openly active in the UTHR(J)) cannot come here because they will be
killed. Another councillor shouted that they must be sacked. In the sequel
the decision to dismiss was taken. As for me I go with the majority. I
believe in consensus".
He then asked Prof. Aluvihare to give him a letter requesting the Jaffna
university council to reconsider the decision, and went away. After the next
meeting the Council replied, "The former decision stands". The reasons were
not given and remain as mysterious as those for the original dismissal.
Prof. Aluvihare urged the two of us concerned to write appeals to the
university council and in turn wanted the council to allow the UGC to handle
the issue. The Council did no more than repeat, "The decision....stands".
Such abuse of academic power in a supposedly 'autonomous' institution surely
belongs to one of the darkest chapters. Legally, our case is still being
contested by the Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA)
which agrees with our position.
Although University Teachers Association (Jaffna) is also a constituent member
of FUTA, it never contested the FUTA's stand. Without going into details, we
would like to point out that a large number of teachers in schools and some
staff members of the Eastern University had not been vacated when they were
forced to leave.
In comparison with the understanding shown to them, our treatment was extremely
ungenerous and utterly anomalous. Like some of us were five years ago, the
statement's signatories too are now in a position where their (forced) shift
out of Jaffna has no legal standing and are effectively debarred by the LTTE
from returning to the main university premises in Thinnavely.
Even if the government were to be vindictive and deprive them of legal
standing, they would still earn the right to call themselves the University
of Jaffna, and the world would recognise them as such, if they determinedly
remain a credible voice of academics in service of the community. That has
little to do with spurious legality. It is in this very sense that we
continue to remain the UTHR(Jaffna), by keeping to the original aims and
principles which we adopted at our foundation nearly eight years ago. That
was when Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, one of our moving spirits who was since
assassinated, was with us.
Again no one has accused us of being untrue to the aims and principles
reflected in our early reports. So far we have published 13 reports, 6
special reports and 9 Bulletins. The first seven reports and 3 special
reports were published when the two of us who continue to be openly
identified with UTHR(J) were `legally' attached to the University.
Credibility & academic integrity
It is here that the question of credibility and the academic integrity of the
signatories arises. What they have revealed about the UTHR(J) is more an
exercise in concealment. The same could be said at best about their
statement's allusions to the
Exodus.
A senior signatory proclaimed thus in an earlier statement faxed all around the
world from a suburb of London:
"We from the University left Jaffna on 30th October 1995 with hardly anything
in our hands. Such was the fear and panic caused by the shelling of the
approaching army... We have walked and cycled many miles in the pouring
rains on that memorable night of 30th October 1995 and have taken refuge in
Thenmaratchy..."
He had actually left by car when the LTTE made the exodus order, and turned
back when the roads were blocked by the large crowds. He continued to
criticize the LTTE in Jaffna for several more days before again leaving by
car.
Another signatory and senior professor is a leading official of the university.
At 10.00 in the morning he was very firm that he would remain defying the
LTTE's exodus order. By about 3.00 p.m. the same day, he had been forced to
leave for the Vanni. Privately he was cursing the LTTE, accusing them of a
big let-down. But a few days later both these gentlemen were associated in
pro-LTTE statements addressed to such persons as Boutros Ghali and John
Major, often around the theme of genocide!
Responsibility
While attacking the work of the UTHR(J) as one-sided we could safely assert
that few, if any, of the signatories had read our reports, not even the
recent one on the Exodus. The general attitude to our reports among our
erstwhile academic colleagues is a fear that even touching them would be
taken amiss by the LTTE.
Our reports on the East have dealt mainly with the role of the State. We have
had problems with getting these into the local press. Only one paper used
our recent report on the Batticaloa District. Two earlier ones dealing with
Jaffna were largely mutilated by the government censor. We have tried to
offset these difficulties by going to sections of the foreign media and by
posting several hundred printed copies.
Several leading human rights organisations have valued our reports not because
we are members of the University of Jaffna, but owing to their contents and
analyses. We have a continual dialogue with such organisations that includes
sympathetic criticism. One of our earlier reports on the East was, we think,
rightly criticised for its handling of Muslim-Tamil relations, both by
Muslims here as well as by others concerned with human rights. It is
unfortunate that relatively a few people read our reports and the media had
meanwhile made selective use of them. In this situation it is all too easy
to slander our work.
While we are being accused of discrediting the LTTE with some dark motives and
acting contrary to the interests of the Tamils, the statements about us
themselves offer no defence of the LTTE. There is no discussion of the LTTE
beyond a reference to 'violations purported to have been committed by the
LTTE'. Their silence on the all-important role of the LTTE says much that is
readily understandable. It is the very reason for which their 'anger and
resentment' of the UTHR(J) is all-the- more misplaced.
We would readily sympathise with a young boy or girl led to join the LTTE
because of alienation resulting from the conduct of the State and falling
victim to the seemingly alluring alternative offered by the LTTE. But in the
very defence of the Tamil community, the academics are duty-bound to ask
questions on a broader level.
If they cannot do this, their actions supposedly in the defence of the Tamil
community are only a self-serving game. Their repeatedly accusing the
government of bombing, shelling, genocide and harassment of Tamils in the
South is not defending the Tamils. The problems of Tamils they mention are
serious problems. But they do not happen in isolation of the broader context
- that of paralysis of the political and intellectual life of Tamils.
It is for example important to ask: Why did the LTTE continuously choose the
course war without giving other options a chance? Why does the LTTE massacre
Sinhalese peasants, including women and children? Why are we trapped in a
political environment that drives the people through the same tragedy and
trauma again and again? Is not the open discussion of such questions key to
the survival of Tamils?
Once more on the question of responsibility, those issuing the statements on
behalf of the University of Jaffna pass them on immediately to LTTE agents.
Within a short time these are splashed in the LTTE media and are faxed and
E-mailed to their agents all over the world. The statements themselves stop
short of the explicit - "It is not clear on whose behalf or for whose
benefit the authors have been preparing these reports?".
The LTTE media and propagandists extrapolate without restraint as is most often
characteristic of the perverted minds of 'long distance nationalists.' The
UTHR(J), these nationalists assert, are fakes and traitors in the pay of the
Sri Lankan government. These statements and commentaries on them are further
used to campaign against us among the Tamil people and among the youth -
'the future generation must decide the fate of these traitors'. Such is
their sense of responsibility, that these academics have been happy to issue
statements and let this go on.
Some realities
There is a level at which the authors of the statement deserve understanding,
if not sympathy. Hardly any of those who have signed are genuine
sympathisers of the LTTE. The LTTE know that. Like with other institutions,
the university too is run by influential individuals, several of whom used
the LTTE for personal ends.
We must understand the utter hopelessness and despair resulting to a person
living in Jaffna if he is to look at the situation straight in the eye.
Hence he has to avoid seeing it straight and has to repress the truth. Such
has been the conditioning that people at a meeting would automatically
perform the ritual of praising the LTTE and delivering a scathing attack on
the government. Today they are all effectively trapped. The majority would
be happy to get out if the whole family is given a pass to Colombo or to go
back to their homes in Valikamam if there is a semblance of normalcy.
If those who signed the statement believe that our work does not serve the
cause of the Tamils, do they believe that the LTTE's politics serves the
Tamil cause? If so would they take responsibility for the resumption of
hostilities in April last year and its consequence? would they
wholeheartedly support the present exodus? Would it not be more worthwhile
for the Tamil `cause' for them to explore the ways and means out of the
present predicament rather than issuing statements and venting their anger
on scapegoats? Can they not help the people to go back to their homes by
talking to the opposing parties and creating a climate conducive to that
end?
Why do we continue with the work of the UTHR(J)?
The tragedy is that many of us have avenues to send our children away to safe
places, or have the influence to save them from LTTE recruitment through
connivance with the organisation.But what options are there for the
suffering masses who have no avenues, but get further trapped in to the
politics of collective suicide?
We may make the point here that our criticism has never been directed against
ordinary LTTE cadre or their families, whom we have always regarded as
victims. But much, if not most, of our criticism has been directed against
intellectuals and religious leaders whose opportunism and failings of
character did much to cast the entire Tamil community into the grip of a
terrible fate.
Again, Helmut Thielcke, reflecting on the Nazi regime that brought so much
tragedy both within and outside his country, had this to say:
"As bitter folk humour expressed it at that time, of the three qualities,
namely, being a Nazi, being intelligent and having character, one can have
only two. Either one can be a Nazi and be intelligent, in which case one has
no character; or one can be a Nazi and have character, in which case one is
not intelligent; or one can be intelligent and have character, in which case
one is not a Nazi."
We believe that by being true to ourselves, we could influence the
international community and even the ordinary Sinhalese people. Only thus
could we make the Government and the security forces accountable to the
Tamil civilians and bring sanity into the drift.
We in the UTHR(J), which includes those who share our ideals and help us, but
cannot, and indeed need not, associate themselves with us publicly, felt
that this was the minimum we could do. With this aim, and the change in our
situation which followed the murder of our colleague Rajani Thiranagama, we
have gone along as events carried us, with no lack of help from friends. We
had no illusions of being popular. Obviously, we have stirred too many
emotions, both favourably and unfavourably, for there to be an objective
consensus about our work. That will come in retrospect.
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UTHR
Credibility Under Attack
Human Rights Group Linked to Sri Lankan Government
South Asia Media Services,
Chennai, 11 January 1997
Analysts long believed that the Sri Lankan government has engaged both
internal and external agents to carryout its smear campaign against the
Tamil struggle and LTTE. The internal agents include the government's own
media and its support staff, some individuals within the Sinhala and Tamil
communities and a few front organizations. Invariably, all these agents are
either directly or indirectly funded by the Sri Lankan government. This
practice of government sponsored smear campaign is reminiscent of the
tactics used against East Timorean struggle and the African National
Conference(ANC).
The South Asia Media Services(SAMS), an independent non profit media
services with reporters in all South Asian countries has undertaken to write
on the different propaganda sources used by the Sri Lankan government. As a
first topic, the SAMS has chosen to review the activities of one of the
internal front organizations, the Jaffna University Teachers Human
Rights(UTHR) group, based in Colombo.
The UTHR is headed by Mr. Rajan Hoole and his brother Jeevan Hoole.
Although the Hoole brothers use the name, "Jaffna University Teachers", they
have no affiliation to the University of Jaffna ... The Hoole brothers have
not set foot in Jaffna since their expulsion, but they continue to publish
their reports under the UTHR title from the capital Colombo, Sri Lanka. Our
Colombo correspondent reports that the major source of information .... for
the UTHR is the Sri Lankan government.
The Jaffna University Teachers Association and the Vice Chancellors, both
Professors Thurairajah and Kunaratnam, of the Jaffna University have
repeatedly written
to the press and to the international human rights organizations indicating
that UTHR is not affiliated to the Jaffna University and its source of
information is a suspect. Furthermore, they added that the university
administration has no responsibility to the contents of the "UTHR Reports"
and they asked the Hoole brothers not to use the university's name in any of
their reports.
A professor who was contacted by phone, insisting on his anonymity for fear
of reprisals by the Sri Lankan government, told SAMS, "Hoole brothers have
not visited Jaffna since their expulsion in 1988, and they have no way of
gathering first hand information about the events in Jaffna". He went on to
say that the " Hoole's UTHR reports are biased in favor of the Sri Lankan
government. It is not an independent human rights group, but a front
organization for the Sri Lankan government".
He added that a recent UTHR report even published a letter from the army
commander in Jaffna apologizing for the
gang rape
of Miss Rajani Velayuthapillai in Kondavil. "Do you think that a human
rights group can defend the army when the case involving this poor girl has
not even come to the court", "Who will bring the dead girl back", asked the
professor.
There are
many rapes of young girls and murders of innocent civilians going on a
daily basis in the army occupied areas of the Jaffna peninsula, and UTHR is
helping the status quo by praising the army. In a recent report, the UTHR
said that the ten year old,
Miss Renuka
Selvarajah of Pathaimany "may
have been molested but not raped as reported by the LTTE. The entire
Tamil community is outraged" said a prominent Tamil activist. "This
statement clearly shows that UTHR is trying to please the Sri Lankan
government and its armed forces. The UTHR has no credibility what so ever in
the eyes of the Tamil people", said the human right activist.
The UTHR report has
recently praised an army officer, General Janaka Perera, for his role in
Jaffna. The report said that many Tamil civilians commended the officer for
being more humane and easily approachable by the people of Jaffna. It is the
same officer, General Janaka Perera, who took some 20 Sinhala prisoners from
Nikaweratiya, who were later tortured, clubbed with iron bars and killed at
the army camp.
A leading expert on human rights organizations said, "it is unprecedented
that any human rights group will pay tribute to an army officer who was
accused of killing innocent civilians". The expert observed that UTHR has
consistently violated the norms of any human rights groups. One of the
recent UTHR reports concluded that,".. a great deal would finally depend
whether the army could successfully transform itself from being the
conscious instrument of a populist ethno-nationalism that is synonymous with
indiscipline, or into a truly national army. This conclusion by the UTHR is
more like a report on how to improve the image of the army rather than a
report on human rights issue", said the expert.
Experts on Sri Lanka pointed out that the mounting human rights violation by
Sri Lankan army in the recently captured territory in the North has severely
tarnished the image of Chandrika's regime abroad and organizations such as
the UTHR are being used to soften the outrages human rights violations by
the armed forces in the North-East of Sri Lanka.
The Tamils are fighting for a homeland in the north and east of the island
nation, claiming that they are discriminated against by the majority
Sinhalese, who control the government and military. More than 78,000 people
most Tamil civilians have been killed in the conflict.
Copyright 1997 South Asian Media Services
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Mugunthan on the
UTHR - Ignorance Costs Lives
Tamil Circle, 14 January 1997
It is interesting to read that an army officer who would not mind killing his
own people was praised by UTHR in its last report. My belief is that UTHR
blatantly ignores the facts. UTHR reports goes on praising the Sri Lankan
army all over its report. Then again it also lists all the atrocities
committed by the army. How can an army which rapes and kills people be
called a well behaved army?...
Are these people (two brothers) just confused? Most of our
problems are probably from within. If it is hard to convince our fellow
Tamils that we have
a problem, it would be much much harder to convince the international
community we have a problem.
Only the toughest will survive in this world. It looks like
there nothing is going to stop the death of the Sri Lankan Tamil nation with
the help of Devananda and UTHR. I would like to point out that UTHR was
completely silent during the Sri Lankan army early consolidation period in
Jaffna... Is it not possible to take UTHR to court for running something in
the name of Jaffna university without any representation or whatsoever from
current Jaffna university people.
If you are reading this mail Mr. Jeevan Hoole, why do not you
publish who are the members of UTHR? Given that no one I know from Jaffna
University ever claimed to be a member of UTHR how can you call yourselves
human rights group of Jaffna university? It makes me wonder whether you have
personal problems with LTTE which makes you write supporting Sri Lankan
army? If we do not solve our personal problems and short sightedness then
the Sri Lankan aggressors will demolish us.
We have to look at the whole picture and what are the
consequences of what we are doing.
If our former politicians just thought once about Tamils
rather than themselves we would have had less problems now. I ask UTHR to
think about the Tamils future. I do not have any problems pointing the
finger at LTTE for some problems. However, please do not write poems
admiring Sinhala generals who simply murdered their brothers and sisters
without any regard for humanity.
I would like to point something else out here. If we look at
the 1987 Liberation Operation by Sri Lankan army, we will find that Sri
Lankan government waited till all the rebel groups fought each other and
loose their strength. LTTE demolished TELO, PLOTE to EPRLF without thinking
about the consequences. What they got eventually is Liberation Operation and
the Indian army. Pirabaharan made a big mistake by attacking his brothers
and sisters...
... We all are perhaps too personally ambitious to do something
together as a community.. I just want to ask all the people who can make a
difference in Sri Lankan Tamils to just to consider their plight and please
could you stop fighting over small minded personal problems. anbin
Mugunthan
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