Unfortunately the author of the article has provided ‘misinformation
as a weapon of war’ to the readership which often happens in conflict
situations as adverse false propaganda is a weapon used by most terrorist
organizations.
The said article makes various unfounded allegations against the
democratically elected government of The Democratic Socialist Republic of
Sri Lanka. The carnage created and carried out by the world famous and
utterly ruthless terrorist organisation known as The Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) over a three decade long armed conflict in Sri Lanka is
only too well known to the international world. This organisation is
currently banned in most Western Countries including US, UK, EU and Canada http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=70&id=4137 , http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/LTTE_ban_extended_by_two_more_y...
.
The author states that the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces
have systematically blocked the provision of clean water, shelter, food,
and medicines. There is no truth whatsoever in the statement that the
government of Sri Lanka ever used health as a weapon of war at any time
against the unfortunate people of the North and the East of the country.
For the last 30 years of the conflict, the people in the affected areas
including the terrorists were fed by the government and the UN/WFP and
medicines supplied by the government of Sri Lanka through the ICRC. http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=%E2%80%98LTTE+steali....
It is on record how the LTTE plundered these supplies to their own
advantage on numerous occasions and deprived the populace of the region
the benefits of health care. http://www.uthr.org/Reports/Report5/chapter4.htm
The Hospitals were supplied and managed by government doctors who
were paid by government. The ICRC also was also involved in the process. http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/sri-lanka-update-170309. It
was the LTTE that restarted the war in 2006 during the ceasefire when the
main Mavil Aru annicut sluice gates were forcibly closed by the LTTE. This
activity deprived about 60,000 people and 30,000 ripe paddy land for
irrigation. Col R Hariharan (retd.), South Asia Analysis Group SRI LANKA:
MAVIL ARU OPERATION & AFTER - An Analysis. http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper1908.html.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavil_Aru
The author also states “the Sri Lankan authorities denied access to
the north east for long term relief and rehabilitation projects” during
the Tsunami, which is also untrue, since the then Sri Lankan President
Chandrika Kumaratunga's bold decision to push through a deal to share
international tsunami aid has restored hopes of a negotiated settlement to
the island's ethnic conflict”. Instead the LTTE robbed the Tamil people
who received funds after the Tsunami. Asia Tribune: http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:yYtRxYalHMIJ:www.asiantribune.com/o...
-a
The statement in the article that the government prevented foreign
donors from meeting the LTTE is also false since “The LTTE chief, V.
Prabhakaran raised the issue of direct aid with the Norwegian Foreign
Minister, Jan Peterson, who called on him in his Killinochchi headquarters
on January 28.” India News Online: http://news.indiamart.com/newsanalysis/sri-lanka-govt-ltte--8775.html.
Even the LTTE terrorists website mentions “Mr Akashi (the Japanese special
envoy) met the LTTE delegation at the Kilinochchi LTTE Peace
Secretariat..” which contradicts the author’s statement. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=14895
The author mentions several statements that are hearsay
undocumented statements that amount to propaganda such as “According to
local NGOs, the sick are allowed to seek limited medical help...” and “I
have heard from colleagues in the area that Tamil doctors from other
regions of Sri Lanka who came forward to serve these people have been
refused access. The readers of a prestigious Journal would expect evidence
based information. The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians has arranged
for a roster of specialists to work in these areas including Tamil
doctors. Of course, we asked all members of the College and some
Tamil doctors responded while some refused for personal reasons. So far,
many Tamil doctors have and are still working in the IDP camps.
It is on record, quite contrary to the impressions generated by the
article in the BMJ, how countless numbers of Tamil doctors refused to
serve in these areas over the last three decades. In those circumstances,
many Sri Lankan doctors from the South did go and work selflessly in those
areas, leaving their families and relatives behind in the South of the
country. The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians is proud to record that
many young and even experienced paediatricians did go and work in these
areas over the last three decades. They did their best even under those
appalling conditions created by the LTTE.
Admittedly, there are quite significant problems in the camps of the
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the present time. The government of
Sri Lanka in general and The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians in
particular, have taken steps to provide medical assistance and from our
point of view, paediatric care, to these, our very own people, of our own
country. As befits a renowned academic organisation, The Sri Lanka College
of Paediatricians, looks at these children just as children and quite
unlike the LTTE, not as Tamils or children of any other community. For us,
children are the same, wherever they come from. Teams of paediatricians
and other doctors have been visiting these camps, for days on end, at
great personal sacrifice, to try and provide the best possible care for
these children. Some of the more recently trained paediatricians have even
elected to serve on a long-term basis in the hospitals of these areas. We
are doing our best to try to cope with a situation that was originally
created by the LTTE itself. The government of Sri Lanka is determined to
sort out the problems of these IDPs as fast as is humanly possible and re-
settle them back in their own homes within a period of six months or so.
It is most unfortunate that, such biased and adverse articles as the
one referred to, do create a completely erroneous impression of the goings
-on in our country. Many of the professionals of Tamil origin, who have
elected to desert their motherland in its gravest hour of need, under the
guise of “asylum seekers” and “refugees”, to secure a beneficial haven in
the Western world, have now started a campaign of misinformation and
journalistic terror to discredit the government and professional
organisations of Sri Lanka. It is worthy of note that even the Tamil
doctors, listed by name in the article, have now explained to the
authorities how they were forced and coerced by the LTTE to provide
erroneous and damaging information to the international media. They had no
alternative but to accede to these coercions as they literally had several
guns pointed at their heads during those intensely stressful encounters.
We are sure that the government is quite cognizant of the facts of these
cases and will be sympathetic to their plight. There is no reason
whatsoever to doubt their safety.
Hopefully, the terrible war of the last three decades is over in Sri
Lanka. It had taken a dreadful toll of the people of our country. We need
to regroup and rise like the proverbial phoenix, from the ashes. The need
of the hour in Sri Lanka is not to mull over the past, shed crocodile
tears about the plight of some sections of Sri Lankans, but to take steps
to help all Sri Lankans to live in peace and harmony right throughout our
beautiful country. As our own President of the country eloquently extolled
recently, we should not think of our own people by any sort of segregation
of ethnicity, culture, creed or religion. He said categorically that there
are only two types of Sri Lankans, one which loves and feels for the
country and the other, quite the opposite. It is blatantly obvious to
which of these groups, the members of the Tamil diaspora that disseminate
misinformation belong to.
Dr. H.T Wickramasinghe
President
On behalf of the Council of Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians.
Competing interests:
This article seems to be written to mislead readers by providing misinformation and unfounded allegations against a democratically elected government of a country.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
30 June 2009
H.T Wickramasinghe
President. Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians
On behalf of the Council of Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians
Rapid Response:
A response from The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians to “Sri Lanka: health as a weapon of war ?”
VIEWS & REVIEWS
A response from The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians to “Sri
Lanka: health as a weapon of war ?”
The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians
(http://www.srilankacollegeofpaediatricians.com/index.php) wishes to
respond to the above named article, which appeared in the BMJ of 13th June
2009.
Unfortunately the author of the article has provided ‘misinformation
as a weapon of war’ to the readership which often happens in conflict
situations as adverse false propaganda is a weapon used by most terrorist
organizations.
The said article makes various unfounded allegations against the
democratically elected government of The Democratic Socialist Republic of
Sri Lanka. The carnage created and carried out by the world famous and
utterly ruthless terrorist organisation known as The Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) over a three decade long armed conflict in Sri Lanka is
only too well known to the international world. This organisation is
currently banned in most Western Countries including US, UK, EU and Canada
http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=70&id=4137 ,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/LTTE_ban_extended_by_two_more_y...
.
These so-called “freedom fighters” not only killed and maimed tens of
thousands of Sri Lankans in the South of the country but also perpetrated
numerous atrocities against the Tamil people in the North and East of the
country http://canadiancoalition.com/LTTE/Massacres.html . During their
last days, they even shot, killed and maimed, not only their so-called
“own people” but children as well, who attempted to escape from the human
shield and seek refuge in the safety of the government authorities.
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/5100-civilians-ltte-human-shield ,
http://www.groundviews.org/2006/12/17/human-shields-in-the-battle-of-sri-
lanka/
The author states that the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces
have systematically blocked the provision of clean water, shelter, food,
and medicines. There is no truth whatsoever in the statement that the
government of Sri Lanka ever used health as a weapon of war at any time
against the unfortunate people of the North and the East of the country.
For the last 30 years of the conflict, the people in the affected areas
including the terrorists were fed by the government and the UN/WFP and
medicines supplied by the government of Sri Lanka through the ICRC.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=%E2%80%98LTTE+steali....
It is on record how the LTTE plundered these supplies to their own
advantage on numerous occasions and deprived the populace of the region
the benefits of health care.
http://www.uthr.org/Reports/Report5/chapter4.htm
The Hospitals were supplied and managed by government doctors who
were paid by government. The ICRC also was also involved in the process.
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/sri-lanka-update-170309. It
was the LTTE that restarted the war in 2006 during the ceasefire when the
main Mavil Aru annicut sluice gates were forcibly closed by the LTTE. This
activity deprived about 60,000 people and 30,000 ripe paddy land for
irrigation. Col R Hariharan (retd.), South Asia Analysis Group SRI LANKA:
MAVIL ARU OPERATION & AFTER - An Analysis.
http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper1908.html.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavil_Aru
The author also states “the Sri Lankan authorities denied access to
the north east for long term relief and rehabilitation projects” during
the Tsunami, which is also untrue, since the then Sri Lankan President
Chandrika Kumaratunga's bold decision to push through a deal to share
international tsunami aid has restored hopes of a negotiated settlement to
the island's ethnic conflict”. Instead the LTTE robbed the Tamil people
who received funds after the Tsunami. Asia Tribune:
http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:yYtRxYalHMIJ:www.asiantribune.com/o...
-a
The statement in the article that the government prevented foreign
donors from meeting the LTTE is also false since “The LTTE chief, V.
Prabhakaran raised the issue of direct aid with the Norwegian Foreign
Minister, Jan Peterson, who called on him in his Killinochchi headquarters
on January 28.” India News Online:
http://news.indiamart.com/newsanalysis/sri-lanka-govt-ltte--8775.html.
Even the LTTE terrorists website mentions “Mr Akashi (the Japanese special
envoy) met the LTTE delegation at the Kilinochchi LTTE Peace
Secretariat..” which contradicts the author’s statement.
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=14895
The author mentions several statements that are hearsay
undocumented statements that amount to propaganda such as “According to
local NGOs, the sick are allowed to seek limited medical help...” and “I
have heard from colleagues in the area that Tamil doctors from other
regions of Sri Lanka who came forward to serve these people have been
refused access. The readers of a prestigious Journal would expect evidence
based information. The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians has arranged
for a roster of specialists to work in these areas including Tamil
doctors. Of course, we asked all members of the College and some
Tamil doctors responded while some refused for personal reasons. So far,
many Tamil doctors have and are still working in the IDP camps.
It is on record, quite contrary to the impressions generated by the
article in the BMJ, how countless numbers of Tamil doctors refused to
serve in these areas over the last three decades. In those circumstances,
many Sri Lankan doctors from the South did go and work selflessly in those
areas, leaving their families and relatives behind in the South of the
country. The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians is proud to record that
many young and even experienced paediatricians did go and work in these
areas over the last three decades. They did their best even under those
appalling conditions created by the LTTE.
Admittedly, there are quite significant problems in the camps of the
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the present time. The government of
Sri Lanka in general and The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians in
particular, have taken steps to provide medical assistance and from our
point of view, paediatric care, to these, our very own people, of our own
country. As befits a renowned academic organisation, The Sri Lanka College
of Paediatricians, looks at these children just as children and quite
unlike the LTTE, not as Tamils or children of any other community. For us,
children are the same, wherever they come from. Teams of paediatricians
and other doctors have been visiting these camps, for days on end, at
great personal sacrifice, to try and provide the best possible care for
these children. Some of the more recently trained paediatricians have even
elected to serve on a long-term basis in the hospitals of these areas. We
are doing our best to try to cope with a situation that was originally
created by the LTTE itself. The government of Sri Lanka is determined to
sort out the problems of these IDPs as fast as is humanly possible and re-
settle them back in their own homes within a period of six months or so.
It is most unfortunate that, such biased and adverse articles as the
one referred to, do create a completely erroneous impression of the goings
-on in our country. Many of the professionals of Tamil origin, who have
elected to desert their motherland in its gravest hour of need, under the
guise of “asylum seekers” and “refugees”, to secure a beneficial haven in
the Western world, have now started a campaign of misinformation and
journalistic terror to discredit the government and professional
organisations of Sri Lanka. It is worthy of note that even the Tamil
doctors, listed by name in the article, have now explained to the
authorities how they were forced and coerced by the LTTE to provide
erroneous and damaging information to the international media. They had no
alternative but to accede to these coercions as they literally had several
guns pointed at their heads during those intensely stressful encounters.
We are sure that the government is quite cognizant of the facts of these
cases and will be sympathetic to their plight. There is no reason
whatsoever to doubt their safety.
Hopefully, the terrible war of the last three decades is over in Sri
Lanka. It had taken a dreadful toll of the people of our country. We need
to regroup and rise like the proverbial phoenix, from the ashes. The need
of the hour in Sri Lanka is not to mull over the past, shed crocodile
tears about the plight of some sections of Sri Lankans, but to take steps
to help all Sri Lankans to live in peace and harmony right throughout our
beautiful country. As our own President of the country eloquently extolled
recently, we should not think of our own people by any sort of segregation
of ethnicity, culture, creed or religion. He said categorically that there
are only two types of Sri Lankans, one which loves and feels for the
country and the other, quite the opposite. It is blatantly obvious to
which of these groups, the members of the Tamil diaspora that disseminate
misinformation belong to.
Dr. H.T Wickramasinghe
President
On behalf of the Council of Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians.
Competing interests:
This article seems to be written to mislead readers by providing misinformation and unfounded allegations against a democratically elected government of a country.
Competing interests: No competing interests