Tamil Sri Lanka British royal empire divide & conquer

Sceala Clann T.D. Location: Canada

Just reading about Sri Lanka and how the division and terrorism was as a direct consequence of past British empire terrorism and divide and conquer. Shocking

2015 Bicentennial of the ‘Kandyan Convention’A time to expose BRITISH DUPLICITY AND ATROCITIES in Sri Lanka Ranjith Soysa The neo-colonial arrogance of the British political and media establishment is becoming increasingly apparent during the past few months. Prior to the recent CHOGM event in Sri Lanka, British Prime Minister Cameron signalled to the Tamil Tiger (LTTE) fronts in the UK that he would convey a ‘tough message’ to Sri Lanka. Under the facade of independent observation, he and his media lap-dogs went about their pre-determined strategy of denigrating Sri Lanka at every opportunity. The British Labour party, which has a number of MPs with a strongly anti Sri Lankan agenda, took Cameron to task for attending the CHOGM and being too soft on Sri Lanka. Nothing different could be expected from the Labour Leader Ed Miliband, whose brother David attempted a last ditch intervention that would have saved the LTTE and its leadership in 2009, but was unceremoniously rebuffed by the Government of Sri Lanka.

For years, the law enforcement authorities in Britain have identified that the country’s LTTE network is a source terrorist funding. However, their political masters turned a blind eye, allowing the Tiger diaspora to operate freely in spite of a token ban under UN Security Council Resolution 1373. Tamil diaspora David Miliband Thus, British Tamil hooligans carrying LTTE flags were allowed to disrupt London traffic, invade international cricket matches and assault Sri Lankan fans. In December 2010, the British establishment, which preaches freedom of expression to the third world, utterly failed to meet its own yardstick when it forced the Oxford Union to cancel an address by the President of Sri Lanka due to Tamil Tiger pressure. Not surprisingly, WikiLeaks revealed that a May 2009 cable from the US embassy in London had quoted a Foreign Office team leader as having said that “ministerial attention to Sri Lanka is due to the ‘very vocal’ Tamil diaspora in the UK, numbering over 300,000” and that “with UK elections on the horizon and many Tamils living in Labour constituencies with slim majorities, the government is paying particular attention to Sri Lanka”. The then Foreign Secretary David Miliband was quoted as saying that he was spending 60 per cent of his time on Sri Lanka.

Britain was also a country that continued to harbour key LTTE leaders. Former Tamil Tiger spokesman Anton Balasingham operated freely from England. His wife Adele, who as a leader of the LTTE women’s wing trained and indoctrinated conscripted Tamil girls to become ruthless killers and suicide bombers, now lives freely in Surrey instead of facing war crimes charges. It is debatable whether some British politicians have become captives of the Tamil Tiger diaspora or indeed Britain is using trumped-up allegations of ‘Tamil Human Rights violations’ as a trigger for regime change in Sri Lanka, a former colony which dared to assert its right to protect its own territorial integrity.

However, what is not in doubt is the cosy relationship between the Tamil Tiger separatist and sections of the British political establishment and media. Given this background, the world must now focus on the duplicity of the British and their horrendous past that included subjugation, plunder and atrocities committed on the people of numerous nations.

The worst British war crimes include their ‘scorched earth policy’ during the Boer wars of 1899 to 1901 which killed nearly 30,000 women and children in South Africa and the merciless fire-bombing of the German city of Dresden in 1945. The British government orchestrated ‘Bengal famine’ in India killed several million people in 1943 while the brutal suppression of the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya in the 1950s led to the slaughter of 100,000 people. Regime change Between 1968 and 1973, the British carried out the genocidal expulsion of the entire 2,000 strong Chagossian population of Diego Garcia to create a military base on the island. What is more, the British steadfastly continue to deny justice to the vast majority of their victims. It is only recently that their official guilt in the ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre of unarmed Irish civilians in Belfast has been acknowledged. To this day, British interference and manipulation of other countries continues through chaotic attempts at regime change under the facade of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ which has brought untold misery to the people of Africa and Asia.

With the approaching 2015 Bicentennial of the infamous ‘Kandyan Convention’ imposed on the people of Sri Lanka, it is time for the country to seriously examine the damage done by British Colonial rule and seek justice and reparations.

Though not an exhaustive list, some of the British war crimes and atrocities in Sri Lanka are:

* The Madulla Massacre (December 9, 1817) – where twenty Sinhala Buddhist Kandyan civilians including a woman and a child were shot and killed in cold blood by British troops,.

* The Uva-Wellassa Rebellion (1817) - in which the Sinhala rebels were brutally massacred by the British, who confiscated the properties of those involved in the uprising under a gazette notification, killed cattle and other animals, burnt homes, property and paddy fields in the Wellassa area (rice-bowl of Sri Lanka) were systematically destroyed. The British also massacred the male population above the age of 18 years. David Cameron

* The reign of terror under Torrington (1848) - the slaughter and execution under martial law of Sinhala people in the Matale, Kurunegala, Dambulla and Digamadulla regions for rebelling against new and unfair taxes imposed on them to support colonial rule.

* The execution in 1915 of Captain Duenuge Edward Henry Pedris, the first Sinhalese officer of the Colombo Town Guard, by British officials based on treason charges which were later proven to be false. What was meant to be a warning to Sri Lankan Independence leaders backfired on the British and galvanised the nation in its determination to liberate themselves from the colonial oppressor.

* The transportation of several hundred thousand impoverished Indian Tamils under unimaginably harsh conditions, marching them on foot from the coast of Mannar to coffee and tea plantations in the highlands of Sri Lanka and confining them as slave labour in ‘line rooms’ without medical, educational and sanitation facilities.

* The large scale misappropriation of Kandyan Sinhala lands under the infamous ‘Wastelands Ordinance’ and the expulsion of Sinhala people from their traditional villages and farmlands for the purpose of setting up British owned plantations. The ‘Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance’ of 1889 was also used to weaken Buddhism and misappropriate temple lands for other uses.

* The desecration of Buddhist and Hindu temples and the stealing of precious Sri Lankan artefacts, some of which were taken away to be housed in English Museums. The plunder of the Matale Aluviharaya and the Saman Devale in Sabaragamuwa are well known examples. The duplicity of the British Government in calling for accountability in Sri Lanka is exposed by its own handling of the ‘Chilcot Inquiry’ into the decisions taken by the UK government and military in relation to the invasion of Iraq. It ran from November 2009 until February 2011 and cost approximately £7.5 million but the word report is being withheld from the UK public and the world. In conclusion, SPUR calls on the Government of Sri Lanka to immediately appoint a commission to investigate British atrocities, seek evidence from the public and then launch appropriate legal action on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka to seek reparations from the government of Britain for the damage caused to the country, along with an unconditional apology that is long overdue.

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Tamil Sri Lanka British royal empire divide & conquer