Comments on: For Tamils, UN mea culpa is meaningless without action

By: Senior Ardneham

Senior Ardneham — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 16:26:37 +0000

I will deal with your last paragraph which relates to hidden genocidal activities of the Regime.
In Jany. 2011 the Ministry of Defence under which the subject of Citizenship comes, put on hold unilatteraly the granting of “Dual-citizenship”. This has not been reversed or amended yet. This ofcourse took place immediately after the Presidents debacle on his “Oxford Univarsity visit”.
It is well known that 95% of the applicants are diaspora
Tamils. Such a stoppage prevents Tamils who yearn to
invest in their home-towns and villages, thereby making
their relatives etc economically poorer and the community
further sinking into despair. This is a form of
structured genocide and will have long term effect. Their
future generations will not have any hold on their home
villages etc.
No one appears to have studied this aspect, as a further
step arising from this “on hold” is the regulations under
Legislative Act No. 18 of 1948 - Citizenship,which provides for the registration of all children born overseas to Sri Lankan parents at their respective Embassies, is not fully
implemented. They are not provided with the Certificate
of a Registered Citizen, however the application is
accepted, compulsorily when Birth Registration is made at the Emabssies. For the sake of the revenue it gives, the
Application & Fee is accepted. The back-log of non-issued Certificates may have reached over 90,000 (?) The Controller of Immigration - Overseas Mission Dept. may reveal the truth I guess, for the periof Jany.2011 to-date?.

By: Hugh (Charlie) McColl

Hugh (Charlie) McColl — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 04:39:37 +0000

CML, while I’m at it, you demonstrate a serious ignorance of Sri Lankan history if you really meant to describe Sri Lankan Tamils as “interlopers” and “coming from India originally?”. Didn’t all of us come from Africa “originally”? Do a tiny bit of research - like, read Wikipedia or something simple and straightforward so that at least you understand the 2-3000 year history of kingdoms and customs involving Tamils in the island culture of Sri Lanka. Get to know that before the British knocked over India and Ceylon the Dutch and Portuguese had a fair crack at Sri Lanka too. And before them there were several series of cultural exchanges that embedded Tamil languages and religion in the culture of Sri Lanka going back before Christ. You see things in black and white when it is quite clear there’s a whole lot of grey. That’s global cultural history. You can’t just dismiss it as some 21st century “war” that people should just get over.

By: Hugh (Charlie) McColl

Hugh (Charlie) McColl — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 23:45:58 +0000

CML, there is a distinct possibility that the writer, like many migrants, has been a resident of Australia for longer than you or your forebears have. You may have noticed that almost all Anglo-Australians of the first 150 years of settlement subscribed to and enlisted to participate in any and every war that our European forebears initiated. Australia’s modern history, right up to today and continuing tomorrow, is one of continuing other people’s wars in this country. Our governments are ready to have a view about every war from Israel to Syria and Libya, will enter Iraq, Vietnam or Afghanistan at the drop of a hat and will try to pick winners from Irian Jaya to Sri Lanka to Cambodia. Thousands of successful migrants from those countries have traditionally joined the previous thousands from Europe in investigating, resourcing and potentially participating in political struggles, both social and military, emanating from within Australia. Australia is not a land of peace, love and vegetables and you well and truly know it. Why pretend otherwise?

By: Gerry Hatrick, OAP

Gerry Hatrick, OAP — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 06:39:02 +0000

“Tamils, Whoops guys, sorry” ~ White Men

By: CML

CML — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 06:02:03 +0000

Sam - Didn’t your lot (LTTE) start the war in the first place? And didn’t most Tamils come from India originally? While nothing excuses the excesses of the Sri Lankan armed forces, they could probably argue that they were just protecting their country from “interlopers”, who wanted to annexe a large portion of it.
I don’t know why you are surprised that things turned out this way. There may be lots of nice sounding documents to protect civilians and others in war, but it hardly ever turns out that way anywhere in the world. Just look at the abuse of power that is going on in the middle-east. Far, far worse than anything that is happening in Sri Lanka. There is a saying about war: “To the victor go the spoils”. History shows that this is exactly what happens to the defeated in all wars. Best not to start one!
I am also somewhat disturbed that as an “Australian Tamil”, you are seeking to bring the conflict from your homeland into our country. I believe that we have both Tamils and Sinhalese migrants in Australia, so perhaps you could all learn to “get along” if you are going to stay here. We DO NOT WANT other people’s wars continued in this country. That kind of behaviour will not win you many friends in Australia. The war is over - just get on with your life.