Tigers do not represent anyone ..... certainly not the Tamil people' says Lord Naseby

Lord Naseby, a veteran Sri Lankan monitor provides an insight to the country's war on terrorism

Lord Naseby, a veteran Sri Lankan monitor provides an insight to the country's war on terrorism
"The A9 road to Jaffna was reopened after 10 years. The only sinister element is that the Tigers have forced the Tamil civilians to go with them to provide a human shield. The UN estimates the numbers at 250,000 but other state 100,000, however nearly 50,000 have got out, despite the Tigers shooting some.


Appeals have been made by the UN, the four Co- Chairs, the Red Cross and the civilians to leave as the area of jungle held by the Tigers gets smaller and smaller - but to no avail", states veteran monitor of Sri Lankan Affairs, Chair of All Party Parliamentarian Group Lord Naseby.

"People ask why there can't be a cease fire; the answer is that this terrorist group has held Sri Lanka to ransom for 25 years. They can surrender or be wiped out. The Tigers do not represent anyone - certainly not the Tamil people" he further asserted in a special report provided on Sri Lanka in The House Magazine titled, 'Ransomed in the last redoubt', on March.

Full text of Lord Naseby's report of the Sri Lankan issue.
I have known Sri Lankan since 1963 when I worked there. The purpose of my visit in January was to assess the political situation and to do some private touring to revisit places I had not seen for 45 years.

One has to remember that tension between the minority Tamil community (18 per cent) and the other ethnic groups goes back to British rule when the civil service was purposely recruited from the minority on a sort of divide rule strategy. One could go back to the first century AD and right through the centuries as the peoples of the South India invaded, destroying what are the World heritage sites at Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. I visited them both and what a wonderful job of restoration has been done by the Sri Lanka department of Culture and UNESCO.

Post independence, the tension increased under the two Bandaranayake government in the 50s and 60s, when Sinhalalese was made the only official language. Gradually it eased until today when both Sinhalese and Tamil are official; indeed I noted many road and other government, signs in both languages. Moreover it is requirement of peoples entering the civil service to be able to write and speak both languages. The languages issue has now virtually been solved, but it caused today's problems.
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