US embassy cable - 02COLOMBO2018

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002018 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR SA/FO ROCCA, CAMP 
ALSO FOR SA/INS (FOR JWALLER); SA/PAB SA/RA (FOR SCENSNY) 
ALSO FOR SA/PD LJIRWIN, WREINCKENS, SHOVANEC 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, SL, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  LTTE launches Sinhala monthly 
 
Ref:  Colombo 1828 
 
1.  In recent weeks rumors have circulated in Colombo and 
elsewhere on the Island regarding a Sinhala newspaper to 
be published by the LTTE.  The purpose of the 
publication:  to tell the Tigers' story to Sri Lanka's 
Sinhalese publics.  Its name:  DEDUNNA (or "Rainbow"). 
 
2.  Although DEDUNNA appears to have begun publication in 
August 2002, we were unable to obtain a copy until last 
week when we received the September issue.  According to 
its masthead, DEDUNNA is an "official Sinhala monthly 
publication of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
(LTTE)."  It is printed by Neela Printers in 
Killinochchi (a village on the Jaffna Peninsula). 
 
3.  The September issue gives front-page prominence to 
Prabhakaran's Heroes Day message under the headline "We 
are committed to peace."  It also carries a back-page 
editorial, "Concept of Motherland ... foundation of 
living collectively," a translation of which appears at 
para. 7 below. 
 
4.  Articles in the September issue include: 
 
- "Praise for De-mining Team in Vanni" (which says that 
the USG-funded QRDF project has removed 90,000 landmines 
from the Jaffna Peninsula). 
 
- "Batticaloa fishermen on a protest march requesting 
removal of sanctions ... and return of fishing gear." 
 
- "Allow the returnees to Mannar' requests Monitoring 
Committee." 
 
- "Parents of disappeared persons in Jaffna to take legal 
action." 
 
5.  The issue also carries a "News Untold" section, 
featuring pieces such as "Navy attacks citizens of 
Karainagar," "Ban on fishing to fishermen of 
Thondamanaru area," "Army obstructs civil life in 
Vadamaarachchi," "20% of students in Vanni are suffering 
from mental stress, "Felling of Palmyrah trees in 
Thoppukadu area," "400 acres of cultivable land 
neglected," and "Obstructions to returnees of Madagal." 
 
6.  Comment.  According to its publishers, DEDUNNA's 
purpose is to share the LTTE opinions and policies with 
Sri Lanka's Sinhalese-speaking majority.  Specifically, 
it wants to explain LTTE activities, to nudge forward the 
"normalization of relationships between two major ethnic 
groups," and, when necessary, to "highlight lapses on 
the part of the governments past and present."  The 
September -- and, perhaps, the August -- issue attempts 
to highlight the Tigers' story.  Unfortunately, DEDUNNA 
is circulated so inefficiently that even a major foreign 
mission such as our own finds it difficult to obtain 
copies.  How much less likely must it be for the average 
Sinhalese reader -- not to mention the Island's large 
anti-LTTE element -- to read DUDUNNA.  End Comment. 
 
7.  Block excerpts from editorial:  "Concept of 
Motherland.  Foundation of living collectively": 
 
... What do Tamils mean when they talk about their 
motherland?  Why do they need such a motherland?  Is a 
Tamilese motherland against the rights of the Sinhalese? 
Answers are required to set aside misunderstanding and 
clear minds ... 
 
It is true that this island belongs to everyone, but 
Sinhalese culture has been preserved and nurtured in the 
South and Tamil culture in the Northeast.  Likewise 
Veddahs (aborigines) live in Dambana and Bintenna as 
suits their culture...  When people of different 
ethnicity live in different places ... how can their 
right to a motherland be denied? 
 
Tamils have lived in North and East for centuries.  They 
like to be tied to the nature and environment of their 
birthplace.  Our concept of motherland is a birthplace 
with such ties.  Such ties can be neither made nor 
denied. 
 
The connection between birthplace and culture, language 
and lifestyle is unbreakable.  When others want to 
encroach upon their lifestyle people fight against it. 
Veediya Bandara (Sinhala King) and King Sangiliyan (Tamil 
King) fought against Portuguese, Veera Puran Appu 
(Sinhalese), and Bandara Vanniyan (Tamil) fought against 
British, all to safeguard their birthplace (or 
motherland). 
Why do Sinhalese people demonstrate against airport 
expansion and the development of highways.  Why do their 
farmers protest against the sale of phosphate deposits in 
Eppawala?  It is to protect their birthplace and the 
lifestyle that they love.  Tamil people think the same 
way.  When 27 Grama Seva Niladhari divisions (administrative 
units ... managed by government officials) are brought under 
the Palali Army Complex, do not the farmers of that area, 
whose cultivation, land, lifestyle is lost, have the right 
to protest?  Don't people who lose their property, churches, 
schools, etc., have the right to fight against such losses? 
 
The birthplace of one ethnic group is not a no-go-zone 
for another.  Motherland (birthplace) is the land where 
ancestors toiled and died, a land fertilized by the sweat 
of ancestors, where one likes to live with his/her kith 
and kin and die in peace.  Don't environmentalists fight 
for the rights of animals when their habitats are 
destroyed?  Shouldn't the Tamil-speaking people of North 
and East enjoy the same liberty?  Is that a denial of 
other peoples' rights?  How can the struggle for one's 
rights be terrorism? 
 
Anger between Tamils and Sinhalese is a very recent 
thing; their friendship has a long history...  That 
friendship was safe because diversity was safeguarded. 
The fisher folk of Negombo fished the seas of Mullaitivu, 
not under government sponsorship or under the security of 
defense forces but through trust and friendship.  Once 
the defense forces came in ... the friendship was broken. 
Aren't your doors open to your brother?  But will you 
accept those who enter your house forcibly? 
 
A lasting solution will require new political thinking 
and new political structures.  Their basis should be 
equality and diversity.  Accepting the rights of a Tamil 
motherland means accepting equality and diversity.  It is 
not something to be afraid of.  Rather, it is an 
experiment in coexistence. 
 
WILLS