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The ongoing conflict with the LTTE branded as the most ruthless and
wealthiest terrorist organisation in the world.
The damages caused to magnificent buildings, airports, oil
installations, the Dalada Maligawa and other places of worship need no
elaboration. The majority of the Tamil population did not endorse these
actions of Prabhakaran but they had to comply with his decisions for
fear of their lives.
An agreement was signed which was arranged by the Norwegian
Government between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka for a
ceasefire, but this served no purpose as he wanted to establish his own
Government consisting of his own Army, police, navy, courts and public
administration which no Government with a sense of dignity will ever
accept. In the course of time, many leading learned Tamil politicians
including Sinhalese who disagreed with Prabhakaran's policies were
killed.
Prabhakaran can carry on the war for many more years with the massive
financial support he obtains from abroad. It is time Prabhakaran
realises that Sri Lanka belongs to all its citizens. There is no
traditional homeland.
The terrorists are gradually experiencing the sufferings they are
undergoing behind the iron curtain. Some of them who had escaped are
being rehabilitated at a centre in Jaffna for counselling and measures
have been taken to induct them into a livelihood which would enable them
to enter society and subsequently be accepted as worthy citizens.
There may be others who are waiting for an opportunity to break away
from the clutches of Prabhakaran.
The recent spate of defections by child soldiers is a clear
indication of the life they lead.
These unfortunate youth had no say or choice of their predicament, as
they were compelled to act according to the dictates of the terrorist
leaders under pain of death. It is time for all peace loving people of
our beloved land even now to speak with one voice and strive together
and arrange for an early settlement and subsequent peace.
We have been losing for many years a large number of our learned
politicians, both Sinhalese and Tamil, and we should all call out in one
voice 'enough is enough'.
This land belongs to all of us Let's live in harmony
One Island - One Sri Lanka.
J. C. PERERA,
Nugegoda
Ravi Perera's interesting account in the Daily News of May 10
(Saturday) of the Allied defeat at Dunkirk in Northern France in 1940
prompts me to add a postscript on some of the kudos and consequences
faced by Adolf Hitler's top field commanders in their victories and
failures in the Western and Eastern theatres of war.
The Western Front: Consequent upon the success of that blitzkreig
recounted by Ravi Perera in which almost all Europe was overrun by the
Germans, one is inevitably reminded of Adolf Hitler's Reichstag speech
on the evening of July 19, 1940.
In that landmark speech, Hitler made his final peace offer to
Britain, arguably the highpoint of his chequered career, having issued
Directive No. 16 three days earlier seeking to prepare for a landing
operation in England by mid-August, to be launched as Operation Sea
Lion.
American historian, William L. Shirer in his 1,436-page masterpiece
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960) at p-904 writes a footnote
thus: "There was a colourful scene and one unprecedented in German
history when Hitler suddenly broke off his speech in the middle to award
field-marshals' batons to twelve Generals and a special king-size one to
Goering, who was given the newly created rank of Reich Marshal of the
Greater German Reich, which put him above all the others.
He was also awarded the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, the only one
given during the entire war. ...Nine Army Generals were promoted to
field-marshal: Brauchitsch, Keitel, Rundstedt, Bock, Leeb, List, Kluge,
Witzleben and Reichenau; and three Luftwaffe officers: Milch, Kesselring
and Sperrle." Franz Halder, Chief of the Army General Staff, was passed
over in only being promoted one grade from General to Colonel-General (Generalobersten).
The sequel to Dunkirk was evidently Operation Overlord, the massive
Allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944 globally known as D-Day, and
fought tenaciously on Normandy's beaches in Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and
Sword.
The title of author Cornelius Ryan's book, The Longest Day, was
reportedly picked from a quote by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who
foreboded the first twenty four hours of the impending invasion on the
North-Western regions of France. Daryl F Zanuck's 1962-movie of the same
title is now legion.
The Eastern Front: Notwithstanding the German-Soviet non-aggression
pact entered into days before WWII began, it was ironical the two
dictators, Marshal Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler, reportedly never met.
However, almost sixteen months into the pact, the Fuehrer issued Top
Secret Directive No.21 dated Dec-18, 1940, referring to the proposed
attack on Russia, to be launched on May-15 as Operation Barbarossa.
As fate would have it, a coup in Belgrade caused Hitler to make a
catastrophic decision to raze Yugoslavia and also subdue Greece, and
thereby postpone the Russian campaign which effectively began on
June-22. The loss of those four vital weeks changed the course of
history.
Almost six months later, the tide turned against the Wehrmacht, and
December 6, 1941 was considered as a fateful turning point in the
history of the Third Reich. In the Eastern Front, amidst sub-zero
temperatures, Hitler retired some top commanders in late 1941/early1942.
They included field marshals Brauchitsch, von Runstedt, von Bock, von
Leeb, von Reichenau who died of a stroke. Also Colonel-General Heinz
Guderian the panzer corps genius. Lieut. Gen. Udet of the Luftwaffe had
shot himself to death on November 17, 1941. Shirer states that,
"Moreover, some thirty-five corps and divisional commanders were
replaced during the winter retreat."
Worst case scenarios on the Eastern Front were depicted where
Colonel-General Erich Hoepner, a brilliant tank commander of the 4th
Armoured Group within sight of Moscow from the north, pushed back. He
was dismissed, stripped of his rank and forbidden to wear a uniform.
Gen. Hoepner, a member of the July 20 plot, was tried and executed in
August 1944 as recounted in-depth in The July Plot by Roger Manvell and
Heinrich Fraenkel (1964).
General Hans Count von Sponeck, Ritterkreuz holder for the airborne
landings in The Hague in 1940, pulled back one division of his corps in
the Crimea on December 29, 1941, after Russian troops landed by sea
behind his lines.
He was stripped of his rank and imprisoned, court-martialed and at
the insistence of Hitler, sentenced to death. He was executed after the
July 1944 plot to kill Hitler in which he was not involved.
A contrast is seen on the fates of two field marshals: Friedrich
Paulus and the monocled Walter Model, Hitler's Fireman. Paulus
surrendered his ill-fated 6th Army at Stalingrad to the Russians one day
after the Fuehrer promoted him field marshal on January 30, 1943, while
Model, on April 21, 1945 when his Army Group B got isolated in the Ruhr
pocket, shot himself in the head.
Summary: Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein, considered as the most
brilliant Field Commander in WWII, testifying at Nuremberg, as recounted
by Shirer on page-1078, told the tribunal that, "Of seventeen field
marshals ten were sent home during the war, and three lost their lives
as a result of July 20, 1944 (the abortive plot to assassinate Hitler: a
Hollywood movie titled Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise is scheduled for
release in 2009). Only one field-marshal managed to get through the war
and keep his position.
Of thirty-six full Generals (Generalobersten) eighteen were sent home
and five died as a result of July 20 or were dishonourably discharged.
Only three full Generals survived the war in their positions."
FIROZE SAMEER
The City Traffic Police should focus its attention without delay on
the Nugegoda, Karagampitiya and Dehiwela 176 bus stop at Sri
Sumanathissa Mawatha Armour Street junction.
The Colombo Municipality had erected the 176 bus stop opposite
premises No. 49, but the 176 buses stop at the junction opposite
premises No. 19, which blocks the right of way for other vehicles coming
from Jethavanaramaya Road towards Panchikawatta and other, 176 buses
coming from Kotahena. When one or two 176 buses stop at the junction on
a out of halt would result in a traffic block.
When the 176 buses stop opposite premises No. 19 and when the
passengers start to board the bus, the driver slowly pulls away when the
bus at the rear toots the horn. As a result, passengers get injured.
The law enforcing officials appear to turn a blind eye to this danger
and unlawful action of the bus crew.
The police should be deployed by 6 a.m. daily at the colour lights
opposite the Armour Street Police guard room, as the drivers of the
vehicles do not pay any attention to the red light signal and when
people cross the road.
The drivers of these vehicles do not respect the red light and stop.
I have noticed this on many occasions. The police should act quickly
before innocent lives are lost due to irresponsible drivers.
M.M.M. SALMAN,
Armour Street
There was a news item that there is a move to give a 'near pass'
grade for children who have not got even 35 marks in Maths in order to
make them enter university.
Nothing can be more disastrous as already we are taking in less than
the best to the university because of the z score and we are churning
out graduates who are ending up as unemployed frustrated youth, for they
are not competent to face interviews, not proficient in English and
let's not add another dimension to this sorry lot.
On the other hand, knowledge of Maths is essential not only for the
intelligent functioning of the brain but also for day-to-day life.
Sri Lanka must be the only country which prevents students from using
calculators. The students sitting for London exams use calculators
whereas the local examinees are still using their fingers to calculate.
Why? In this computer yugaya, it is absurd making life harder for our
children unnecessarily.
The calculator is a useful tool which has come to stay for good. In
this present day, watches, mobile phones and even rulers have
calculators.
It makes life easier and for most students the failure in the exams
may be a matter of calculations and not a matter of lack of knowledge of
Maths per se. It is true the brain develops certain aspects of
calculations when one does not use the calculator.
I am not a calculator person, I watch with amusement as the shop
assistants try to add 100 and 21 on calculator whereas we can add up 10
odd 4 figure numbers in our mind before they add them up on the
calculator. But at a time where calculations are so mechanised, we need
not depend on them to sharpen the brain; there are other ways.
Give the children freedom to use calculators at exams and I am sure
we will have more passing in Maths with due knowledge.
DR. MAREENA THAHA REFFAI,
Dehiwela
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