2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Chronicle
Freedom fighters are really global terror group
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Opinions
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Jared Mogenson's article about the artist M.I.A. was interesting, but contained some statements that are woefully untrue.
Maya Arulpragasm's father is not a founding member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the LTTE or Tamil Tigers), nor is the LTTE a "freedom fighting organization." This characterization is poorly researched to say the least.
The Tamil Tigers are internationally recognized as a terrorist organization. They have waged a bloody war of secession against the Sri Lankan government for over three decades and their inhuman disregard for the lives of others has killed literally tens of thousands of innocent people.
Their tactics include bombings, assassination, massacre and the use of child soldiers. Just last year, LTTE forces used mines to blow up a bus filled with ordinary men, women and children, killing 60 of them.
On many occasions, the Tamil Tigers have massacred entire villages, targeting them by ethnicity or religion. Also credited to them is the invention of the suicide bomber's vest, which they used in 1991 to assassinate the prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. These crimes, regardless of motivation, purpose or ideology, are unjustifiable.
The people of Sri Lanka have faced more than their fair share of hardships, such as colonial exploitation, poverty, decades of civil war and more recently, the deaths of more than 30,000 Sri Lankans in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Calling the Tamil Tigers "freedom fighters" doesn't help.
Jaren Jagaraj
Third-year student
Political science majo
Maya Arulpragasm's father is not a founding member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the LTTE or Tamil Tigers), nor is the LTTE a "freedom fighting organization." This characterization is poorly researched to say the least.
The Tamil Tigers are internationally recognized as a terrorist organization. They have waged a bloody war of secession against the Sri Lankan government for over three decades and their inhuman disregard for the lives of others has killed literally tens of thousands of innocent people.
Their tactics include bombings, assassination, massacre and the use of child soldiers. Just last year, LTTE forces used mines to blow up a bus filled with ordinary men, women and children, killing 60 of them.
On many occasions, the Tamil Tigers have massacred entire villages, targeting them by ethnicity or religion. Also credited to them is the invention of the suicide bomber's vest, which they used in 1991 to assassinate the prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. These crimes, regardless of motivation, purpose or ideology, are unjustifiable.
The people of Sri Lanka have faced more than their fair share of hardships, such as colonial exploitation, poverty, decades of civil war and more recently, the deaths of more than 30,000 Sri Lankans in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Calling the Tamil Tigers "freedom fighters" doesn't help.
Jaren Jagaraj
Third-year student
Political science majo