"We are deeply sad and puzzled at the attitude of the apex institution of humanity, the United Nations, in not taking effective measures to protect the life, security and interests of innocent Tamil civilians," said LTTE’s Political Head B. Nadesan on Tuesday. "Instead, the UN is engaged in fruitless exercises of accusing the wrong side, without coming and seeing what is happening by themselves," he said. When stopping the war is the need of the hour, allowing it and lamenting civilian sufferings is a faulty policy, Mr. Nadesan said, adding that indicting the defensive LTTE and exploiting the plight of civilians for the agenda of those who are waging the war will not bring in any positive results.
Mr. Nadesan’s response, when contacted on recent statements of UN Colombo office and the UNICEF, follows:
The ongoing war is the cause for all evils and human sufferings about which all sane human beings are concerned of.
Therefore, the war has to be stopped immediately, paving way for negotiations.
The LTTE has not started the war and is always prepared for negotiations.
The International agencies and world governments, concerned about the plight of civilians should therefore pressurise the Sri Lankan government to stop the war.
Unfortunately, the International Community is adopting a line of allowing the war and at the same time worried about the plight of the civilians.
The Colombo government verbally says that their war is against the LTTE, but in truth it is fighting a war for complete Tamil subjugation.
LTTE has to respond defensively to protect Tamil interests.
The policy of double standards of justifying Colombo’s war and worrying about civilian casualties is fundamentally flawed.
The UN should work hard to change this faulty equation that will help immensely to human life, dignity and assertion of human rights, not only in the conflict zone, but in the entire island.
The immediate concerns of the civilians in Vanni are freedom from the fear of attack, medicine, food, potable water and freedom to get back to their villages and homes without fear.
The LTTE is in no way acting against these concerns.
The UN is very well aware that Colombo is not heeding to the demand of even a temporary truce.
It is not allowing the supply of food and medicine. It is herding people to a land where potable water is a scarcity and it is planning to keep the people in concentration camps rather than creating a situation for their return to their villages.
Therefore, the UN is accusing the wrong side in addressing the concerns of the people.
Another important concern raised by international agencies is the plight of children. LTTE has been always favorably responding to the international concerns in desisting from child-recruitment. We categorically deny recruitment of anyone below 18-year limit.
The ground situation at the moment is death and disabling injury to thousands of children. Malnutrition is another. Above all, the most serious threat is that anyone in the teens to be suspected by the Sri Lanka Army and either getting killed or tortured and imprisoned.
There is no protection or guarantee from any international agency for the children who get into the hands of hostile Sri Lankan army. Already we come to know that even small children who are admitted in the hospitals are separated from their parents or guardians.
If this brutal war and the war psychosis are allowed to prevail upon the people, there could be a situation tragically forcing everyone in the society to respond in order to save themselves. The International Community should act immediately with responsibility and with judicious decisions in arresting the ongoing catastrophe to the civilians of Vanni.
All concerned are very well aware that the civilians stay in our territory at their own will.
This is what pinches the Colombo government which undertakes every effort to terrorise, inflict death and injury, deny essentials of life in order to capture them.
The international agencies and media also adopt a faulty diplomatic policy that whenever they want to come with criticism of Colombo government, they first attack the LTTE at length and finally come up with the point of criticism on the Colombo government. This doesn’t work well in handling the ongoing crisis and the international community has to come out with no uncertain terms in the indictments of the Colombo government.
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