ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By Darmitha-Kotte | The news media around the world has been reporting the horror and brutality wreaked on unsuspecting citizens, tourists, businessmen & buildings in Mumbai during the last week. As a country that has suffered terrorist brutality for nearly 30 years, we Sri Lankans offer our condolences to the families of all victims be they Indians or foreigners; be they injured or dead it does not matter.

Our sympathies are with the Central Government of India while it is now attempting to recover from the carnage . On 6th December,2008 we see reports that a bomb was blasted in Peshawar, Pakistan killing 29 Muslims near a Shiite Mosque and many more wounded and shocked. The loss of life, the sadness of the bereaved and families of the wounded, can be expressed only by those who have been victims of such carnage and inhuman behaviour.

Whether acts of terrorism are committed in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Britain or USA the results are the same- misery, blood shed, shock & sadness created for the entire country that is affected. What we fail to realize is that terrorism does not breed within any country without external involvement which is usually for political, religious or economic reasons. It is sad to note that the terrorist violence which took place in Mumbai has created a feeling of suspicion in the Indian leadership that Pakistan was behind it & the bomb blast in Peshawar might point a finger at Indian involvement or to Taliban Muslim extremists. The LTTE terrorist movement in Sri Lanka has the involvement of many stakeholders includes the Catholic Church as well as India as is reported in the news media.

Big powers in the western world, will definitely not want peace and goodwill to prevail in the Indian Sub-continent because that might mean a threat to their supremacy as well as attempts to control the internal affairs of countries like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It is only when developing countries are in turmoil, that western countries can thrive through sale of arms to our countries.

Therefore, it is always a great possibility that they will conspire with dissident groups within each country and add fuel to the fire and watch the results from a far. These are things that the leaders of our countries must be alert to, and be careful not to aggravate situations of maintaining goodwill between nations in the Asian region.

America has, for a number of years in the recent past, been attempting to create a wedge between India and Pakistan. At the same time, America is also not too happy with India and Russia resuming their bilateral relations and negotiating agreements on nuclear arms deals. The recent bomb attacks in Mumbai could very well have some involvement of America on the one hand trying to show goodwill to India while at the same time, they will attempt to destabilize the sub-continent. No country which is involved in large scale manufacture of arms and ammunition, will want developing countries to be at peace and harmony with each other because their major income earner is through the sale of arms. Therefore, it is nothing but natural for them to use varied methods to create rifts within countries as well as between countries or between communities within the territorial waters of their own.

Developing countries must be alert to "wolves in sheep’s clothing" that come knocking on our doors promoting "peace and goodwill" because those western powers will do absolutely nothing if in return, they themselves do not benefit many fold! This is the reality of international politics in today’s context of globalization. Leaders of countries in the Indian, Asian & South-East Asian region must think of finding ways and means to consolidate good relations with our own neighbouring countries and strengthen the unity between us for there to be stability in these regions.

All the theories on human rights, child rights, democracy, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and equality are theories doled out by western powers to destroy & remove the peace and harmony that exists in our region so that they can enter with "excellent proposals" which will destabilize the very culture and heritage of our region and individual countries. Who divided India & Pakistan-this is an open secret. Who divided the Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka is yet another open secret for which Britain needs to take responsibility. Who created the untold misery brought on Iraq & Afghanistan is something for America to answer. What happened to the Palestinian- Israeli peace pact signed at the famous Camp David Talks under the watchful eye of President Bush (Snr) in the late 1980s, early 1990s? Has it brought peace to Palestine? 18 years later, these two countries are still at war with each other because there is partiality towards Israeli aggression in the region.