10) THE BLOODBATH IN SRI LANKA

(The following article is from the May 16-30, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

People's Voice Editorial

The bloodbath continues in Sri Lanka, where the death toll of non-combatants in the brutal civil war keeps mounting. As of mid-May, an estimated 50,000 civilians were trapped in the last pocket of rebel territory, with another 200,000 in overcrowded refugee camps. Many more civilians will die needlessly during and after the last days of the war. The Red Cross, which rarely issues public statements, calls the situation "catastrophic". Protests by the Tamil population in Canada have increased pressures on Parliament to take diplomatic and political action.

     This conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil nationalist LTTE has a long and sorry history, dating back to the denial of equal rights for the minority Tamil population and the subsequent armed struggle to form a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka. Short periods of ceasefire have repeatedly ended with new outbreaks of extremist violence from both sides, making a political solution to the conflict harder to achieve.

     But such a political solution remains the only realistic option for Sri Lanka. Attempts to impose military victory can only harm the civilian population of the country, and the cause of peace in the entire region. Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka must find ways to overcome the tragic record of this conflict. The warring parties must be pressed to cease hostilities, so that comprehensive and transparent negotiations can begin, involving all the social and political organizations representing the Tamil people, the Government of Sri Lanka, and the leading civil and social forces throughout the country. Such negotiations should aim to bring a definitive end to the armed conflict, and to address the legitimate national rights of the Tamil minority.