Hue and cry over Human Rights:

Where were they when innocents got butchered?

By K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga

Many people and a section of the international community seem to have forgotten how the LTTE carried out massive bomb explosions, targeting innocent civilians and brutally killing them.

A Buddhist monk was among the dead

The human rights organisations and international bodies such as the UN did little or nothing to save these innocent civilians. Most of them were even reluctant to issue a statement condemning these indiscriminate killings.

But those who project themselves as the champions of human rights and turned blind eye when the LTTE was at its peak of terror, now try to preach Sri Lanka on human rights and national reconciliation. None of those who made a big hue and cry over human rights in Sri Lanka at the recent UNHRC sessions in Geneva were there when Sri Lanka was at the receiving end.

The Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka appeared to be so much worried about human rights of Premakumar Gunaratnam alias Noel Mudalige, a JVP dissident who has breached immigrations laws of both Sri Lanka and Australia. If they had shown half of that concern on innocent civilians subjected to LTTE terror, thousands of lives would have been saved.

The same goes to the US, which brought a resolution at the last UNHRC on human rights activities in Sri Lanka. If the Americans are so concerned about human rights of Sri Lanka, they would have made a better and active contribution in Sri Lanka's battle against terror. Had that happened, we would have crushed LTTE much earlier, saving thousands of more lives.

We are not accusing the finger on particular country or an organisation but would like to point out that all those who now project as champions of human rights and leaders of the worldwide battle against terror were fast asleep when LTTE terrorists were playing with lives of innocent civilians. Had they supported Sri Lanka in its legitimate battle against terror and saved lives of hapless civilians, they would have well proved their sincerity.

A school girl who was injured

The LTTE which projected itself as the sole representative of the Tamils did little or nothing for its own community, save the assassination of many eminent Tamil scholars, political, social and religious leaders. It was the LTTE which put a spoke in Sinhala-Tamil harmony to achieve its political goals. With the country united, the Government has created a conducive atmosphere for all communities to live in peace and harmony.

It is still fresh in our memories how the LTTE carried out massive bomb explosions on a regular basis during its three decades of terror. They showed no mercy on civilians, irrespective of their ethnicity.

Their thirst for blood did not end until Sri Lanka's valiant Security Forces rescued the country and its civilians from the jaws of the LTTE terror.

Where were those people who now shed crocodile tears on human rights and the countries which show an undue concern about people of the North and the East, when Sri Lanka was at the receiving end? If not for that fearless political leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and those immense sacrifices of the true sons of our soil who vanquished the Tiger power, we would still have been subjected to LTTE bombs. We could never forget the 2009 great humanitarian operation, successfully conducted by Sri Lanka's valiant Security Forces, which rescued over 600,000 people trapped in the North and the East. These hapless civilians who were forcibly held as a human shield by LTTE terrorists, were subjected to untold misery under the LTTE's terror.

It is exactly a year before the humanitarian operation that the LTTE staged yet another inhuman act of theirs by exploding a bomb inside a public passenger bus in Piliyandala main bus stand.

Twenty four persons returning home after a hard day's work were killed and over 40 including schoolchildren were injured when a fully packed bus bound for Kahapola was caught in an explosion at 6.45 p.m. at the Piliyandala bus terminal on April 25, 2008.

The bus belonging to Kesbewa CTB Depot was about to leave Piliyandala stand when the bomb ripped through it.

Piliyandala bus bomb explosion

Over 53 persons were initially admitted to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital. Some were in a critical condition. Among the dead were a 12-year-old child and a Buddhist monk.

Students returning from tuition classes were also caught in this attack. The bus was badly damaged and the buildings in the vicinity were also partly damaged, several passers-by had also suffered injuries.

The Piliyandala explosion was the third bus bomb exploded by the LTTE during the first quarter of 2008. Over 60 people, mostly pilgrims, were killed in Dambulla in an Anuradhapura bound bus from Kandy in February when a powerful bomb exploded during the first three months of 2008. Another bomb exploded in a bus in Mount Lavinia, though casualties were much lower as the driver evacuated passengers after being notified of a suspicious object by an alert passenger.

That was only one of those many devastations by the LTTE terrorists. Until they were crushed by the Security Forces at the Nandikadal lagoon almost four years ago, lives of all Sri Lankans were in danger.

Though some people here, certain countries and organisations seem to have conveniently forgotten the risk the country and its people faced during that time, all patriotic and peace-loving people, belonging to all races and religions, will never forget those supreme sacrifices made by the Security Forces to offer the peace and freedom we all enjoy today.

The Security Forces took incalculable risks and liberated these innocent civilians from the impending jaws of death. Had it not been for those great sacrifices by the true sons of our soil, those civilians would still have been languishing under the LTTE.

Regrettably, certain countries and a section of the international community are still attempting to project a dismal picture on Sri Lanka.

Some countries not only poke their snouts in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, but also pontificate on the type of governing system that we should adopt. They should mind their own business without meddling with the internal affairs of a sovereign State.