LTTE wields the human shield

by Deshaputra

The LTTE's concerns on humanitarian issues is now open for question. It spoke deeply about such concerns at the recently concluded Geneva talks. A river of crocodile tears were shed about the plight of the Jaffna people by S. P. Tamilselvam. He swam in that self created river demanding for the reopening of the A-9 Road. But, the government knew the ploy of Tamilselvam. The A-9, the Tigers need for no love of the people but, for the existence of the LTTE for fund raising to launch brutality. Thus, the Government could not give into that demand.

From time to time the LTTE uses the human shield to aggravate the problem and thereby discredit the government. This has happened over a period of time. The incident in Vakarai is the latest. Until evidence surfaced, the LTTE was trying to put the blame on the troops claiming there was indiscriminate shelling on the two refugee camps. The cat came out of the bag on Friday when a Tamil woman spilt the beans. She claimed that it was the Tigers who fired the first shot to force the troops to retaliate. At times of fighting, it is an obvious fact that fighters miss targets. But in this instance, the LTTE used the direction of the refugee camps to fire the first salvo knowing well that if troops retalitated, innocent refugees would fall victims. Hence, this provocation by the LTTE could be described as a deliberate act to use the human shield.

No regard

The LTTE is a body which has no regard for human beings. It is clear from all its actions. It even does not value the lives of its own cadres. Those who disobey are brutally killed. Some are trained as suicide bombers. Even pregnant women are not spared for that purpose. Leaders within the LTTE are eliminated irrespective of their positions. Why? Because such men after sometime realise that the Tigers are fighting a futile war at the expense of human lives. When frustrated cadres make an exit from the organisation, they are hunted and gunned down. These are facts that prove that the LTTE is the most brutal terrorist organisation in the world.

The Tamil community is held to ransom by these brutal terrorists. They are not free to leave areas where violence erupts. The Tigers hold them back. Civilian movements are being restricted by the LTTE and not by the armed forces. Why is the LTTE using such methods? Yes ... if the civilians leave them, they have no cover. Then they have no reason to blame the troops. These civilians become the human shield. When they are killed or wounded in crossfire, the incidents are used to internationalise the Tamil problem and bring the government into disrepute. These are the low tactics of the so called 'liberation' of the Tigers.

The international community should focus on these brutal tactics of these so called 'liberators' of the Tamils in this country. The world cannot just ignore the LTTE. It is now evident that the LTTE is working closely with other international terrorist organisations. If not how could they purchase arms for the so called armed struggle. Such actions have been detected in many countries.

The latest detection was made in the United States. Several LTTE cadres were arrested and imprisoned. The LTTE is a terrorist body that spreads its wings to commit murder and mayhem not only here. They did it in South India when they killed the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Of course Sri Lanka has lost many leaders and promising leaders who were LTTE targets.

Victims

Be that as it may, how many Tamil leaders have been killed? As we said last week, the LTTE has no regard for human life. How many Tamil youth, men, women have children have become victims of the landmines buried by the LTTE over the years? Some escaped those buried mines losing a limb or two only to be added to the disabled community of the country. The LTTE on the other hand claims to be a disciplined outfit. How many women LTTE cadres have been raped by male cadres in the past? What action has Prabakaran taken against the perpetrators? Like in many a such outfit, he has turned a blind eye.

Recently, a LTTE leader in Batticaloa raped a Tamil woman. What did Prabakaran do? The only punishment meted out was to deprive the offender from the trip to Geneva.

If Prabakaran and his gang talks of human concerns, what about child conscription? Isn't he depriving such children of their education? The open question is whether only Prabakaran's son and daughter are eligible to pursue education abroad.

Certainly, Tamil parents in Jaffna also like to educate their children and send them abroad for higher education as it happened before.

Prabakaran's terrorism has deprived his community of educationists, historians, professionals and intellects who could have emerged during the past twenty-five years.

The question is how long will the peace loving Tamils tolerate this barbaric organisation called the "Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Elaam" which is now gradually eliminating the Tamil community using them as human shields.