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Dear Abbot:
Why should Canada ban the LTTE [aka “Tamil Tigers”]? LTTE is fighting for the rights of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. The Tamil people started the armed struggle around 1983 after failing to win their basic rights by non-violent means from 1948-1983. Banning a group fighting for the rights of an oppressed group means sending a go ahead signal for the state-terrorist.
Anonymous
Dear An:
Thanks for asking. The distinction is between goals and methods. As I wrote, opposing the Tamil Tigers does not mean opposing Tamil aspirations. But regardless of your cause, blowing up women and children, or shooting politicians opposed to your views, is not permissible or morally justifiable. And most especially not justifiable in a democracy, as Sri Lanka has been, albeit with flaws, since independence.
I say this as a Canadian of primarily Irish extraction, who would love to see Ireland reunited, but who nevertheless condemns the modern IRA as a terrorist organization.
Abbot
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2 comments:
Dear Abbot,
Which attack do you have in mind? To the best of my knowledge, all the attacks by the LTTE have been legitimate military or economic targets.
Dear An:
The following is from the officially non-partisan Council on Foreign Relations:
"Since the late 1980s, the group has conducted some 200 suicide bombings—far more than any other terrorist group. LTTE suicide bombers have attacked civilians on mass transit, at Buddhist shrines, and in office buildings. In October 1997, a suicide truck bomb killed 18 people at the 39-story World Trade Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital.
Beyond suicide bombings, the LTTE have used conventional bombs against political and civilian targets and have gunned down both Sri Lankan officials and civilians.
LTTE suicide attacks have targeted political leaders in Sri Lanka and India, including:
the May 1991 assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at a campaign rally in India;
the May 1993 assassination of Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa;
the July 1999 assassination of a Sri Lankan member of parliament, Neelan Thiruchelvam, an ethnic Tamil involved in a government-sponsored peace initiative;
a pair of December 1999 suicide bombings in Colombo that wounded Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga; and
the June 2000 assassination of Sri Lankan Industry Minister C.V. Goonaratne."
Abbot
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