http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/02/10/main_Editorial.asp

Exposing the true face of terror

The international community has to be constantly reminded
about the LTTE's ruthlessness and what it cost Sri Lanka. This is necessitated
by the barrage of anti-Lanka propaganda being spewed by the enemies of Sri Lanka
worldwide, including, of course, the Tiger rump and those forces of subversion
which have been voraciously gnawing away at this country's best interests over
the years.
The state has marked its proactive engagement in this all-important task by
launching the DVD titled 'RUTHLESS - LTTE's Final Crimes Against Humanity',
under the aegis of the Media Centre for National Security, headed by its
Director General Lakshman Hulugalle, and it is hoped that every sinew and nerve
would be exerted by the authorities to take the content and the message in this
DVD far and wide.
This is basically a battle for the hearts and minds of the world and it is to
the extent to which the state succeeds in this offensive that those sections of
the world which are against Sri Lanka would know the error of their ways.
Accordingly, putting the record straight as regards the atrocities of the LTTE
and the unconscionable crimes committed by it for the sake of an unrealizable
abstract idea, is a task of the first magnitude and is something which cannot be
procrastinated, come what may.
We hardly need point out that the backdrop to this latest expose by the state
of LTTE savagery are the continuing efforts by Sri Lanka's critics abroad and
locally to pillory this country on nebulous allegations, in the 'Councils of the
World.' Their seeming case is based mainly on the Darusman Report and it should
be considered a bounden duty by the Sri Lankan state and its allies to expose
the Report as a monumental falsehood which has no basis in reality.
In the manner in which the infamous Channel 4 video footage was rubbished by
Sri Lanka's defense authorities, all unfounded allegations that are being
brought against this country must be systematically demolished and very
vigorously too. Putting the record straight on the Tigers is part of this
process and we suggest that no metropolis of particularly the West be excluded
from this awareness-raising exercise.
While doing so, care must also be taken to indicate to the country's critics
the blatant double standards being used by them in their appraisals of the state
of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. The pronouncements of Deputy Minister Dr. Sudarshani
Fernandopulle which we highlighted on our front page yesterday, on the
assassination of her husband, former Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, by the
LTTE, are most important in this respect.
While, Sri Lanka's critics swoop on any opportunity to defame her in the
context of issues arising from the closing stages of the conflict in particular,
they are mutely silent on LTTE atrocities.
The senseless killing of her husband was a case in point. This was the
principal point made by Ms. Fernandopulle and we hope her comments would lead to
some soul-searching on the part of Sri Lanka's critics.
The point is being brazenly ignored by Sri Lanka's critics that the LTTE was
steeped in brutality. Tens of thousands of innocent lives were taken by the LTTE
to mainly feed the megalomaniacal conceit of the Tiger leadership. Only a peek
needs to be taken into the history of social strife in this country over the
past 30 years to realize the truth of this proposition. Grievances in some
quarters were only a cover for ineffable brutality and mindless violence.
Those sections unleashing criticisms of the harshest kind against Sri Lanka
must face up to these realities. No worthy cause would be served by them by
unconscionably using double standards in assessing the conduct of any party to
the conflict. Criminality is usually universally condemned and the civilized
world thinks it incumbent on itself to bring mass murderers in particular to
justice.
If so, the LTTE must be seen for what it is and condemned. Those sections of
the Western world which lay claim to civilized living are duty bound to
disassociate themselves completely from the Tigers and take up the cause of the
Lankan state which symbolizes law and order. Accordingly, Sri Lanka must be
given ample space to grow and prosper.