LTTE village & a Sri Lankan Military Officer show the world what Reconciliation & Peaceful Coexistence is all about.

By Shenali D Waduge

It was a farewell that has shocked & left plenty of critics speechless. It has put to rest & completely nullified the lies that have been spread against Sri Lanka’s Army. The culprits include foreign governments/envoys, INGOs/NGOs, UN & even the present government in particular the Tamil leadership & the LTTE diaspora who must be startled at the pictures emerging of an entire village weeping as they bid farewell to a military officer who had played the role of their mentor, their father, their brother, their advisor & virtually their leader. Col. Rathnapriya Bandu has done what Prabakaran, Wigneswaran, Sivajilingam, Sumbanthiran, Sambanthan or even Tamil Nadu politicians could not do & do not want to do. In a world that plays divisive politics of divide & rule he has shown that it takes a hero to unite & Col. Bandu is one hero that we must all salute. No former LTTE village would ever carry a Sri Lankan Military officer on their shoulders & weep as he bid goodbye if he was no hero in their eyes.

Lesson 1: No Caste difference

Vishwamadu was an one time tiger den. Many LTTErs cadres were enlisted from Vishwamadu. It was also a village of only low caste & impoverished Tamils. They were virtually outcastes of their own Tamil people. No Tamil politician desired to look into their needs. They were good enough only to be fighters & have their dead bodies exhibited in photos across the world for political gain. To Col. Ratnapriya these villagers were not low caste or poor. They were people & he opened up to them & they in turn opened up to him. These images can fill the rest of the story. These pictures have shattered the myths & lies that have been floated.

Lesson 2: Sinhalese & Tamil do not need to live separately

No TNA politician has been honored by LTTErs in this manner. No TNA politician has been carried by the people of any Tamil village in the North but these Tamil villagers not only carried Col. Rathnapriya they were all seen crying. It is a sight that has stupefied all of us because it has completely negated the lies that the Tamils & Sinhalese cannot live together, it has completely dislodged the argument that a new constitution is needed with an asymmetrical federated state separately for Tamils. When an entire LTTE village showers love & affection for a military officer the incident must surely shake the entire world in particular the foreign governments & the UN.

Lesson 3: Artificial barriers

We are drilled day in and day out that the Sinhalese cannot live with Tamils & Tamils do not want to live with Sinhalese. We are brainwashed to think the soldiers are cruel & mean to Tamils & the military should be removed from the North. But then, we have an entire LTTE village carrying a soldier on their shoulders, crying as each line up to bid farewell. What the hell is going on, we all are now asking. Well, the pictures tell the story & we really just need to look at the tearing eyes of these Tamil villagers & in digesting the love & affection that has taken place to realize that we have been fed lies & fake news & distortions & these are all artificial barriers created for political agendas. When one soldier has won an entire village, no wonder the TNA & the present government together with the lying machines want him transferred & away from the people.

Lesson 4: Third Parties & Foreign Templates useless

The third parties sitting either across the world, in some hotel or AC room in Colombo, or UN rapporteurs arriving on business class with files & folders of temples on reconciliation & peaceful coexistence should not waste their time, money or our time because one soldier & an entire LTTE village have shown the rest of the country that we don’t need external parties, we don’t need foreign paid NGOs, we don’t need damn rocket science to live in peace with mutual respect & sharing ups & downs together. Let everyone remember that this one officer changed an entire village of hardcore LTTErs. No foregin document can have the answers that! Without these international community & other meddling parties the LTTE families & the Sri Lankan Military have shown that they have mended & bonded & the trust & harmony that has been cemented must be a shocker to all the critics. The incident has shown that reconciliation doesn’t need foreign interference, doesn’t need foreign templates, doesn’t need NGOs, INGOs, foreign envoys & it has shown that reconciliation is easy & is very much possible without the external interferences & interventions.

Lesson 5: TNA / Tamil high castes / LTTE Diaspora don’t fool your own people

Vishwamadu is just one village with virtually a 100% low caste & poor Tamil populace. They were used and good enough only to be enlisted to take a gun & die for a cause that would benefit the Tamil higher castes. They had no voice, they had no one to care for them. TNA, the Tamil high castes & the LTTE diaspora must feel ashamed just as they must be reeling with envy & jealousy seeing how these low caste & poor Tamils are treating with honor a Sri Lankan military officer. They have given a strong message to the TNA/the Tamil high castes & the LTTE diaspora – they no longer wish to kill. They only wish to live. So be it & we must reach out & make many more Vishmadu villages where the hearts & minds have opened to reconcile & usher peaceful coexistence that we were made to believe was never possible. What lies we have all been fed by the same parties that wish to keep us divided promoting bogus reconciliation templates.

Col. Rathnapriya Bandu has completely shattered the lies & myths that have been floating.

The Tamils of Vishwamadu a village that produced hard core LTTE cadres are crying as they bid farewell to a Sri Lankan Military Officer. The message is very clear – remove all interfering parties, remove racist TNA politicos, remove the Sinhalese/Muslim racist politicos, remove Tamil caste system & do not allow LTTE diaspora to divide any further & the Tamils & Sinhalese will be at peace, will be living in peace & harmony as they have done for centuries.

If Vishwamadu had to elect a chief minister it would not be Wigneswaran or the TNA, Col. Rathnapriya would win hands down!

We salute this gallant officer who has silenced all, shattered the lies & myths & shown what true reconciliation, peace & harmony are all about.