Sri Lanka's Continued Attempt to Murder a Minority Culture

Is culture eradication a spoil of war?

State Sponsored Destruction and Desecration of Hindu Temples in northern Sri Lanka. Courtesy: http://hinduexistence.org

(SACRAMENTO, CA) - It apparently isn't enough that Sri Lanka's military forces committed Genocide against the minority Tamil population. The 160,000 plus murdered souls apparently aren't sufficient to quench the appetite of this government.

DMK Chief M. Karunanidhi

Now Sri Lanka is in the process of literally erasing every sign of the historic Tamil culture they can get their hands on. This should make the citizens of Tamil Nadu very concerned because it is their culture also. The Sri Lankan Tamils have maintained Tamil words long vanished in India. This is just one example of why Tamils remain determined to maintain what is rightfully theirs.

Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. (Muthuvel) Karunanidhi is the head of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu.

He sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, that carries strong words toward the current actions being carried out under the watch of Sri Lanka President Majinda Rajapaksa. He is asking them to take steps to halt the erasing of the Tamil language, culture and religion in Sri Lanka. He mentions foremost, the renaming of Tamil villages with Sinhala names.

It is the same attempt, to hang onto the historic Tamil culture, that led to the establishment of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in the first place, and the same reason launched the three-decade long civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government.

It seems Sri Lanka is missing the point. Perhaps it has been able to slide and even laugh at war crime charges, but this island nation is committing political suicide with its ridiculous and terribly overt, continuing ethnic cleansing of Tamils. People are paying attention and that includes the U.S. State Department and other agencies and entities whose support, slowly sliding away, is extremely important to Sri Lanka.

Click for larger version. Numbers on map correlate to lists posted below of the Tamil villages that have been renamed.

Karunanidhi wrote:

“

The government of Sri Lanka is now carrying out an intensive and systematic programme of erasing the Tamil language, culture, religion and diluting the concentration of Tamils in areas where they had historically been predominant.

”

He says this manifests itself in the renaming of Tamil villages, redrawing of village, district and town boundaries, demolition of Hindu temples, non-allocation of funds to resettle and rehabilitate internally displaced Tamil families, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure and promoting Sinhala settlements on Tamil land and Sinhala takeover of the economic life of Tamil areas, which impoverishes the Tamils and the deployment of army camps to intimidate Tamils etc."

This widely supported politician says there are many more tactics employed by the Sinhala government. Tamils in Sri Lanka are living in an oppressive enforcement.

Pointing to data showing the level of intrusion, destruction and intimidation the Tamils are subjected to, Karunanidhi cites:

• 89 Tamil villages have been renamed with Sinhala names,
• 367 Hindu temples have been demolished,
• There are 148 mini and 13 main army camps in the Mullaitive District alone.

Karunanidhi says the eradication of a great culture and ancient religion is, "happening in our backyard".

“

As the world's largest democracy and a country of diverse languages and religions, India has a moral obligation to stop this atrocity immediately, by using its good offices, I request suitable action on this.

”

The desire among Sinhalese Buddhist Sri Lankans to ethnically cleanse the Tamil Hindu and Christian population has led to a bitter and bloody pogrom designed to create the ideal Sinhala Buddhist state, yet religion isn't supposed to manifest as militarized government, still that is exactly what has taken place.

TamilNet wrote of Karunanidhi's effort:

“

Even while Mr. Karunanidhi was writing on Mullaith-theevu, a water-surrounded place (theevu) that gained its name from a shrub called Mullai in Tamil (an edible green peculiar to the North and not jasmine), the Sinhala media, the English media run by the Sinhalese, SL official records and other sources in the South have already started writing the name as Muladiva or Mulativu, and in their ‘interpretation’ it is a Sinhala name meaning the corner island. Ironically they are ignorant that even the word Mulla (corner) in Sinhala, a cognate of Moolai in Tamil, is a word of Dravidian etymology (DED 5044). Such is the paranoia that commits the multifaceted genocide on Eezham Tamils, and neither ‘reconciliation’ nor ‘reaching out’ could cure it, commented Tamil activists in the island*.

”

It would be wise for Singh and Gandhi to take proactive steps and use the power India possesses to force a change of tactics in Sri Lanka at minimum. It is apparent that Rajapaksa is testing the water to see what his administration can get away with. It is said that they laugh at India and ridicule its ignoring of the crimes against the Tamils that culminated in May 2009 with so many dead and permanently crippled both mentally and physically. M. Karunanidhi is right, it is time for India to take a stand.

* DMK chief lists out multifaceted structural genocide beginning from toponyms - TamilNet

Tim King's previous Salem-News.com reports on Sri Lanka:

Jan-17-2013: Special Feature: A Spark of Unity for Sri Lanka?

Jan-15-2013: Frederica Jansz Interview Reveals Shocking Danger Facing Sri Lankan Journalists

Nov-21-2012: Why Did Sri Lanka Kill So Many Children?

Sep-29-2012: Tamil Militants in Prison in Sri Lanka - Are They Still Alive?

Aug-26-2012: Shining Light on Sri Lanka's Dirty Secret: the Disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda

Jul-30-2012: Blindness Sweeps Large Parts of Sri Lanka

Jul-20-2012: Why Are Buddhists Committing Genocide Again?

Jul-17-2012: Tamil Voices Growing Louder Over Sri Lanka War Crimes and Nepotism

Jul-11-2012: US Media's Role in the Silent Death of Sri Lanka's Tamils - Political Perspective by Tim King Salem-News.com

Jul-09-2012: Significant Honor With Tamils from Around the Globe for Sri Lanka War Crime Reports

Jul-01-2012: Did a Ghost Crawl Inside My Laptop?

Jun-24-2012: Sri Lanka Can't Deny This... Disturbing Video Proves Sri Lanka Army Committed War Crimes - Tim King Salem-News.com

Jun-21-2012: New War Crime Videos Surface from Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide

Jun-10-2012: UN Targets Reporter Who Criticized Sri Lanka War Crime Suspect

Jun-08-2012: Captive, Handcuffed and Dying... 'Brutal' and 'Shocking' Describe Newly Released Sri Lanka War Crime Images

May-07-2012: Sri Lankan Buddhist Mobs Call for Mosque Demolition

Apr-27-2012: Big Trouble for Sri Lanka: UN Has Cluster Bomb Evidence from Northern Province

Apr-12-2012: Carpetbaggers in Sri Lanka: Traitors Terrorize Northern Tamils

Apr-10-2012: Sri Lanka: Genocide and Poor Toilet Training

Mar-23-2012 UN Warns Sri Lanka Against Retaliating Toward Humanitarian Activists

Mar-22-2012: White Flags, White Vans and White Lies? A Closer Look at the Death of Colonel Ramesh

Mar-18-2012: Is Google Earth Hiding Sri Lanka's Ghosts?

Mar-15-2012: Channel-4 Documentary Proves Sri Lanka Committed War Crimes

Mar-11-2012: War Crime Court and its Conflicting Interests

Mar-08-2012: Sex Abuse and Murder in Sri Lanka- New Photos Emerge

Mar-02-2012: A Very Uncivil War - Ghastly Images- Gross Detail and Denial of Sri Lanka's Genocide

Feb-28-2012: Americans Praise Sri Lankan Politicians who Orchestrated Genocide

Feb-28-2012: Tweets from Tamil Eelam

Feb-24-2012: Two of Sri Lanka's Foulest War Crimes

Feb-19-2012: Will Another Documentary on Sri Lanka's Genocide Impact the Geneva Human Rights Session?

Feb-08-2012: The Questionable Effectiveness of Lighting Yourself on Fire

Feb-03-2012: Sri Lanka's Independence Day- a Black Day for Tamil Eelam

Jan-11-2012: While UN Claims Zero Tolerance, No Discipline of Sri Lankan Abusers in Haiti

Dec-28-2011: Why Was a Red Cross Manager on Vacation from Gaza Murdered in Sri Lanka?

Nov-24-2011: Fear, Genocide and Torture in Sri Lanka

Nov-21-2011: London Calling: Time for Sri Lanka's Release of Post-Conflict Report

Nov-11-2011: Ode to a Humble Hero of Sri Lanka: Dr Brian Senewiratne

Oct-15-2011: Genocide 101: World and Media Apathy

Oct-08-2011: Sri Lanka Joins Israel in Naval Attacks on Unarmed Fishermen

Oct-05-2011: War and its Aftermath... a Real Killer for Tourism

Oct-01-2011: Sri Lanka in the Crosshairs of Canadian Parliament

Sep-13-2011: Sri Lanka Recalls Diplomat Accused of War Crimes

Aug-31-2011: 'No Song and Dance' Over Sri Lanka War Crime Admissions

Jul-25-2011: Former Sri Lanka President's Children 'Reacted With Anguish' to Tamil Genocide Program

Jul-22-2011: M.I.A. - A Beautiful Reflection of the Besieged Tamils of Sri Lanka

Jul-17-2011: 44 Prisoners Join Hunger Strike at Vavuniya Prison in Sri Lanka

Jul-14-2011: The Bush Administration's Role in Sri Lanka's Tamil Genocide

Jul-13-2011: Fields Should be for Sports, not Genocide... Sri Lanka

Jun-29-2011: Sri Lanka Continues Genocide, Thumbing Nose at UN and World

Jun-20-2011: Sri Lanka's Violence Toward Tamil Minority Continues

Jun-18-2011: 'International Day in Support of Victims of Torture'Remember the Tamil Genocide

Jun-17-2011: European Tourists Waylaid in Sri Lanka, Resurgence of 'White Van' Crime

Jun-15-2011: Tamil Genocide Explored in Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

Jun-02-2011: UN Experts: Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide Video is Real

May-31-2011: New Song 'Depression' - Graphic Truth of Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide

May-31-2011: Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide: Killing the Messenger

May-03-2011: Confronting the Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka

Apr-27-2011: Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka Emerges Into Public View

Apr-22-2011: World Ignores Genocide of Sri Lanka's Tamil Population

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Tim is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.

Tim's years as a Human Rights reporter have taken on many dimensions; he has rallied for a long list of cultures and populations and continues to every day, with a strong and direct concentration on the 2009 Genocide of Tamil Hindus and Christians in Sri Lanka. As a result of his long list of reports exposing war crimes against Tamil people, Tim was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) Conference in Baltimore, in July 2012. This is the largest annual gathering of North American Tamils; Tim addressed more than 3000 people and was presented with a traditional Sri Lanka ‘blessed garland’ and a shawl as per the tradition and custom of Tamil Nadu

In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005. Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 100 writers contribute stories from 23+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide; and maintains that the label 'terrorist' is ill placed in many cases; specifically with the LTTE Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, where it was used as an excuse to slaughter people by the tens of thousands; and in Gaza, where a trapped population lives at the mercy of Israel's destructive military war crime grinder. At the center of all of this, Tim pays extremely close attention to the safety and welfare of journalists worldwide. You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com. Visit Tim's Facebook page (facebook.com/TimKing.Reporter)