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'We do know how brutal the Sri Lankan army and the Sinhalese were to the Tamilians'

In you feature, you say: `The excuse the LTTE was waiting for came on July 10, 1990, when a Muslim villager was thrashed by a fellow villager who suspected him of having an affair with his wife. The Muslims complained that the police did not care to register his complaint. That was it...... The then justice minister, A C S Hameed flew in a helicopter to Jaffna to talk sense to the LTTE leaders and call for a cease-fire. They heard him out but did not talk. As he was about to depart for Colombo, the Tigers shot at two of his bodyguards. Tiger chief Vellupillai Pirabhakaran's message was clear...."

This is the Sri Lankan government's version of events. As a journalist, you should have also got the LTTE's version which is as follows: "One of the key agreements made between the LTTE and the Premadasa government was that the number of SLA troops will not be increased. However, both Premadasa and his Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne had other plans. They increased the number of troops, disguising them as policemen. It is these SLA troops who were disguised as policemen that the LTTE captured and killed..."

The fact that Premadasa was not sincere about a solution was evident in his attitude towards the LTTE and the peace talks. Thanks to your hatred for the LTTE, you have projected them negatively. This only goes to show that quite a few Indian journalists are not doing their job impartially.

Meenan Vishnu

Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000, 05:02:48EST +0530
Subject: The army fights back!

Who is this Mr R Menon? What is the purpose of his reporting this old story -- to justify the IPKF's presence in Lanka? Well, we do know how brutal the Sri Lankan army and the Sinhalese were to the Tamilians. Why did Menon not write more about such brutalities? Why is he harping only on the IPKF's role?

Padmanabhan

Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000, 15:42:28EST -0500
Subject: The army fights back!

What are you trying to prove with such an article? On the one hand you seem to sympathise with the Indian army for the kind of farewell they got from Lanka, then you seem to be delighted with the Sri Lankan army's success. Even though I commend your bravery to report from such a war zone, I would not rate your article with any high standards.

Facts like the Sri Lankan army rampaging the Tamil homes are written with delight. Before the Tamils were driven out of Sri Lanka, Mr Menon, an entire generation of Malayalees were thrown out of Sri Lanka by the Sinhalese. Are you aware of that fact? In case you are not, do read about the life and sufferings of MGR (ex CM, Tamil Nadu) who was from Sri Lanka.

Sivakumar Subramanian

Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000, 15:39:51EST
Subject: The army fights back!

The above article by Ramesh Menon must be confined to a history book! I am not clear of the objective in writing this article when so much water has flown under the bridge since 1990! This article does not qualify to appear on your esteemed site.

Sundar Kuppuswamy

Date: Sat, 08 Jul 2000, 15:23:19EST -0500
Subject: The army fights back!

Splendid! Touching! And so very real! I hope Rediff will publish more such articles.

Vijay

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