Vote for this site, please, by clicking the icon above.
| welcome | introduction | paradise | profile | fact file | land | people | places | history | buddhism | LINKS |
| wildlife | beaches | scenery | images | anuradhapura | sigiriya | kandy | tea | terrorism | update | HOME |
Vote for this site, please, by clicking the icon above.
This Homepage is Dedicated
To........... 
This homepage is dedicated to those expatriates of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) who have made their home in the UK over the last 25 years, and particularly to those who hail from the South (Ruhuna) of the Island. There are hundreds and thousands of Sri Lankans living in the UK, but still nurture a nostalgic desire for their roots in the towns and villages of Sri Lanka. This page is a meeting place for those who wish to make their presence known and express their wishes and interests.
It is a well known fact that all Sri Lankans who now live in the UK as British citizens are totally loyal to their Queen and country. They are very well integrated with the local communities in the UK, both socially and economically. This, perhaps, is due to that the Sri Lankan community in the UK has always been scattered, and they never congregated into living together in any 'pocket' or 'stereotyped' locality of London or any other city for that reason. This is all the more reason for some Sri Lankans to feel themselves isolated and thus cherish a longing for news and tidings of their 'home' whenever and wherever they meet. The more you become secure and settled in this newly adopted country, the more you begin to feel and empathize with the tumultuous upheaval taking place in their island home far away. At present the island's history is going through such a turmoil due to a bloody and savage war waged against terrorism.
It is paradoxical that despite the terror and the turmoil inflicted by one of the deadliest and most fanatical terrorist organizations in the world (the LTTE or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam), the serenity and the sanity of the majority of Sri Lankans still prevail. The undisputed natural beauty of the island and the charm and hospitality of her inhabitants attract many thousands of tourists from all over the world year in year after. There has NOT been a single incident in the history of the 14 year war that a tourist has been affected. The ballot and the power of democracy have prevailed against the bullet and the fear of terrorism. The continuity of normal life in regard to political, economic and social activities goes on in defiance of terrorism.
Let this page bring you memories of the peaceful times you enjoyed in Sri Lanka. May the most popular images of Sri Lanka, the Lion and the Lion Flag re-kindle your love and affection for the Island Paradise you left behind. It is my objective to develop this homepage into a comprehensive web site as contacts and links grow during the course of time. I intend to have a column or a 'notice board' type feature where your can express your views or comments about the current political situation in Sri Lanka.
This site makes a particular welcome to any old boys or Old Boys
Associations of Mahinda, Richmond and St. Alosius Colleges of Galle
and any old girls or Old Girls Associations of Matara Sujatha and Galle Sanghamitta Vidyalayas to
contact me so that a register of Ruhuna Old Boys and
Girls can be set up in order to maintain and strengthen their
existing contacts and, perhaps, to re-establish any long lost contacts.
| welcome | introduction | paradise | profile | fact file | land | people | places | history | buddhism | LINKS |
| wildlife | beaches | scenery | images | anuradhapura | sigiriya | kandy | tea | terrorism | update | HOME |
As a follow up to my dedication of this homepage, here are some reflections and observations concerning the most central issue facing our Paradise Island today.....
Sri Lanka and Terrorism
Terror against civilized order of the day has been there since the beginning of civilization. In fact, human beings (or for that reason animals also) have inflicted terror on their fellow creatures even before mankind emerged into the theatre of civilization from their primitive origins in the caves.
Modern day terrorism, although is a common phenomenon throughout the world, is more sinister in its content and style than what the society in general had to put up with, in the past. As the society advanced through time and became more and more sophisticated and complex, terrorism also advanced towards greater sophistication and complexity. It is tragic and unfortunate to observe that Sri Lanka has had more than her fair share of this sophisticated terrorism. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka, a very small nation in Southern Asia, with a population of just over seventeen million, has managed to contain one of the deadliest of terrorist organizations in the world, the LTTE or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and keep it at bay for over fifteen years now..
The irony of this terrorism factor in Sri Lanka is that it is a struggle without any foundation. The perpetrators of this terror are a group of individuals headed by a despot who has virtually wiped out all his enemies during the last 15 years. The leader of the LTTE (Mr Veluppillai Prabhakaran) now has neither enemies, nor critics within his immediate circle. But the resentment at grass root level within the Tamil community, which he proclaims to lead, has now reached the boiling point and is on the verge of spilling over. With the liberation of the Jaffna peninsula by the Sri Lankan army, over a million Tamil refugees have been re-settled in Jaffna. It is a well known fact to the International Red Cross Society and other human rights organizations that each day hundreds of Tamil civilians are leaving the despotic stranglehold of Prabhakaran and seeking the shelter of Sri Lankan forces in Jaffna and other locations in the North.
The international community has condemned the LTTE unequivocally for a catalogue of atrocities they have committed against the Sri Lankan people, both Sinhalese and Tamil. This condemnation has come from countries such as the USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand where there are large communities of Tamil people live. Ironically, India (home to some 70 million Tamil people) also has condemned the LTTE for their violation of human rights against both the Sinhalese and the Tamil communities.
The so-called struggle of the LTTE for a separate homeland for the Tamil people is a myth and a deception. Sri Lanka is the home of the Sri Lankan Tamils who live in Sri Lanka. If you visit Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, you will find that the Tamil business community is as much at home in Colombo as much as in Jaffna or Batticaloa or Trincomalee. It is the same if you visit any other big city like Kandy, Matale , Badulla or Nuwara Eliya. Tamil people have settled down throughout the length and breadth of the island and have made their homes wherever they live or work. Sri Lanka has assimilated over a million Indian Tamils who were brought to the island by the British to work on the tea plantations. With this influx of Indian Tamils, new Tamil communities have sprung up all over the Central and Uva Provinces in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the home for these people and if someone is trying to carve out a separate home for these people it is tantamount to the Tamil people in Malaysia or Singapore asking for separate homelands, the Irish people in Boston asking for their separate Irish state in the USA, or the people of Southall in West London, England, asking for a separate homeland.
Paradoxically, it is the Sinhalese, the native majority community of Sri Lanka, who have lost their freedom to work and live in the Jaffna peninsula or anywhere else in the North controlled by the LTTE. There is hardly any Sinhalese people who live or work in the predominantly Tamil areas of the North, except for the military. If a Sinhalese dared to go and live or work in Jaffna, his or her chances of returning home to the South alive are very remote, if not nil. The extent of ethnic cleansing carried out by the LTTE in the bordering areas could be seen if you visit the refugee camps in Anuradhapura, Amparai, Trincomalee and Colombo (to mention just a few). There are about a million Sinhalese people who have been chased out of their homes by the terror of the LTTE gangs. These are mainly poor village folk whose only crime happen to be that they were Sinhalese.The atrocities committed by the LTTE gangs against Sinhalese communities in the bordering villages between the North and the South have been listed, verified and authenticated as a catalogue of murder, arson, rape and pillage of indescribable proportions.
By and large the LTTE struggle is neither a fight for independence, nor a war of liberation, but a ruthless campaign for power and supremacy by a dictator whose profile is worse than that of Saddham Hussein of Iraq or that of Pol Phot of Cambodia.It is a struggle by a power crazy individual whose ideal is to carve out 33 % of the land of a country for a population which comprises only 13 % of the inhabitants of that land. It is a struggle for ethnic cleansing by a minority against a majority community. A devolution package which has been praised by all the world leaders is on the table for negotiation. But the LTTE under the fanatical direction of Prabhakaran, are adamant that they will win the military struggle to establish a separate Eelam for the Tamils.
Like all dictators have done in the past, Prabhakaran has cleverly engineered and manipulated the free will of a section of his people, turning them into fanatical zombies of suicide squads with their characteristic cyanide pills. He has sacrificed many thousands of young Tamils, particularly young women (some of whom are reportedly as young as 12 years) as cannon fodder in his thirst for power and glory. He has systematically emasculated and pulverized the free thinking power of these young people into believing that a free and independent Eelam is within sight. He has ruthlessly eliminated all his opponents one by one and virtually wiped off any democratic opposition within the areas under his control. His treatment of his own people, which has led to an exodus of vast numbers of young Tamils seeking asylum elsewhere, is a vindication of his own fanaticism and inability to see reason or logic in this conflict.
All tyrants have had their day. Pol Phot in Cambodia had his day. Prabhakaran, although safe in his hideout now, just like Pol Phot some years ago, will have to face the people one day. He knows that his days are numbered and that the day of reckoning will come sooner than later. His hands are stained with the blood of innocent civilians from both the Sinhalese and Tamil communities. The carnage following the bombing of Pettah market in Colombo and the massive loss of innocent lives following the bombing of Central Bank building, again in Colombo are just two of the instances captured by the world media to demonstrate the brutality and barbarism of this terrorist war conducted by the LTTE, led by Prtabhakaran, against the people of Sri Lanka.
Back To Top (Ari's Web Site at Tripod UK)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
