[maddy42]

Well steer that was a real touching story. Am really disgusted with the state of affairs in our own country at times that stories like these make you feel that if you need change you got to be the change.
5* for sharing this story with us.

[tsk1979]

Freedom of speech is under attack all over the world, all under the garb of combating terrorism. Its a sad sad world!

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Freedom of speech is under attack all over the world

You can say that again. In more ways than one.

This can turn into a dangerous political discussion involving terrorism, amongst other things. So perhaps we should lock this thread.

[maverick030581]

Very poignant, touching and moving. Had goosebumps just reading this, I can only imagine the emotions going through the man when he wrote this. Not a trace of self-pity. It brought back so many naive memories for me, when I used to think of journalism as the noblest profession and the one with the biggest burden of responsibility. Freedom of speech now is nothing more than an ideal, unfortunately. Thanks for sharing this Steeroid.

[travelwriter]

Originally Posted by kutlee

chilling chilling..how the hell he knew this for sure. and how did he not protect himself. that's against basic biology/instinct....

It is something we proudly profess but sadly lack. It is called courage. True courage.

Hats off to Lasantha.

[pranava999]

Another important loss for the cause. Journalists like him are a rare breed and I hope we have a few in our country.I am proud to know that such people existed and hopefully newer ones will emerge to carry forward the torch.

Its disgusting to see what the world is coming to...corruption and power! I guess for these politicians and their associates, its never enough!

Its such an honest and frank obituary. The only way one can do justice to it is by taking up the cause and thinking beyond ourselves.

Makes me wonder at times if we even need borders and governments, as the world just seems to breed the same kind of species of politicians, who will stop at nothing and use money,ignorance, coercion and religion to get what they want.

Thanks for sharing it steer. At least gets us to think beyond ourselves.

[muni]

Had a big lump in my throat as i was reading it. Sometimes i wonder that some people are real lucky to be born in countries where there is relatively better law and order which atleast ensures you are not part of some ethnic cleanising/ discrimination exercise.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Not sure if this deserves a new thread. The LTTE has conceded defeat.

The Hindu Business Line : LTTE concedes defeat

According to the Mathrubhumi, V. Prabhakaran is dead. (Malayalam content)

Mathrubhumi

[deetee]

And our mighty nation, didn't stop our tiny neighbor from resorting to these crimes. Don't our top leaders and veterans know that these kind of crimes are imminent as the war ends? Anyone who has known about a single war can foresee these things. For that matter, what has UN and US or so called other super powers doing at the time these crimes are being commited? Prevention is better than cure, is not it common sense? God, curse these leaders who knowingly let this happen. Now after everything has happened and people have suffered, the nations are voting whether to sanction SriLanka. What good is it going to do to people who suffered or who still are going to suffer in that country? If not for the media that dig up the graves to bring this mater to justice, would they ever have thought about this? Shame, that our government didn't express its stand till the last day.

Yes, we are dangerously close to that line- I can see that since these war crimes are what any warring nation knows its army ultimately does, the hypocrite world governments didn't bother back then to prevent the atrocities and now are not standing strong together to act upon the culprits. Shame that some of our other neighbors voted in favor of the culprit nation. I shiver to imagine what kind of crimes these demonic governments will commit if they get into a war, especially the red dragon.

Is it so difficult to maintain armies without yielding to the itch to war? To hell with the education that teaches man to build weapons.

[lobojames9]

Just saw this thread. The War Crimes in Sri Lanka are absolutely appalling. The International Community could do nothing. The U.N had to back out and even now the employees of U.N who were working there before the crackdown on LTTE started wished they could have been there and stopped the massacre (As expressed in the Documentary "Sri Lankan Killing Fields".

The threat to journalists and people who raise a voice in Sri Lanka is very real. We had a documentary director from Sri Lanka visit us in our College last year. He was urging the Indian authorities to extend his visa in India so that he would not have to go back to Sri Lanka. He claimed that if he did he would be killed by 'unidentified gunmen'.

I shiver to imagine what kind of crimes these demonic governments will commit if they get into a war, especially the red dragon.

Please team-bhpians, take this in good stead. We do not have to look outside India to look for war crimes. We are governed by draconian laws like AFSPA that give such liberties to the army. I know it hurts, when we hear of one's own nation indulging in such atrocious behaviour. But, when we hear of stories from the Northeast of India (Manipur) and also Kashmir, it surely hurts to know what is happening in our own country.

NOTE: Moderators please do delete the post if not appropriate. I do not mean to start a flame in this thread. But sometimes truth is harsh and I thought i would share my view. Thank you.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by lobojames9

We do not have to look outside India to look for war crimes. We are governed by draconian laws like AFSPA that give such liberties to the army. I know it hurts, when we hear of one's own nation indulging in such atrocious behaviour. But, when we hear of stories from the Northeast of India (Manipur) and also Kashmir, it surely hurts to know what is happening in our own country.

I agree to that. It not only has happened in north east,but almost everywhere in some part of the country. Only thing is they are not called war crimes. They are nicely termed 'human rights violation'. I am sorry but I feel bad that education is helpless when man is threatened by authority and greed.
Atrocities were reported from even parts of northern Andhra, but subsequent action was not realized and media forgot to follow up. Because they call them 'one and off' cases. But what I fear is these 'one and off' cases are what brings out the demonic nature of armed humans and these 'one and off' cases occuring close to one another in a warzone rapidly become hideous war crimes.