The Construction Equipment Industry In Sri Lanka: Fill & Download for Free

The Belt and Road Initiative projects have been injecting new vitality into Sri Lanka's economic development. In recent years, the Sri Lanka-China Belt and Road cooperation projects have organically integrated into Sri Lanka's economic development and benefited the local people.The Moleghakanda Reservoir Project undertaken by a Chinese company is the largest water conservancy project in Sri Lanka. After the reservoir was completed and put into use, the irrigation capacity of central Sri Lanka has been greatly improved, and the efficiency of agricultural production has risen sharply, and many local farmers have lifted themselves out of poverty.Another major cooperation project between the two countries, the Puttalam Coal-fired Power Station, effectively solved the problem The problem of insufficient hydropower in the dry season in the region; in April, 2019, the first phase of Sri Lanka's southern railway extension was officially opened to traffic, which greatly improved the traffic conditions between the capital Colombo and the southern cities.The pragmatic cooperation between Sri Lanka and China has a long history. Today, with the continuous deepening of the Belt and Road construction, the cooperation between the two countries has covered many fields such as infrastructure construction and agriculture.Especially in the field of ports, Sri Lanka-China cooperation is helping Sri Lanka to become a shipping center in the Indian Ocean. The Colombo International Container Terminal jointly operated by Sri Lanka and China has driven the Port of Colombo to become one of the fastest growing ports in the world. In southern Sri Lanka, the two countries are cooperating with Hambantota Port as a starting point to drive the development of southern Sri Lanka as a whole.The Colombo Port City project is currently being jointly built by Sri Lanka and China, At present, the port city has provided thousands of job opportunities for the local area. When it is put into use in the future, it will drive the economic development of the Colombo region and even the entire country of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka will continue to cooperate with China in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative programs. Sri Lanka and China are expected to strengthen cooperation in agricultural products processing, solar energy, light industry and other fields in the future to benefit more local small and medium enterprises.Textiles and raw materials, plant products and plastic rubber are Sri Lanka’s main export products. In 2018, exports were 5.46 billion U.S. dollars, 2.01 billion U.S. dollars and 980 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 46.9%, 17.3% and 8.4% of Sri Lanka's total exports. Among them, exports of textiles and raw materials, plastics and rubber increased by 5.6% and 3.7% respectively, while exports of plant products fell by 7.9%.Mineral products, textiles and raw materials, and mechanical and electrical products are the top three products imported by Sri Lanka. In 2018, imports totaled 10.38 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 46.8% of Sri Lanka’s total imports. In addition, transportation equipment is also its main imported commodity, accounting for 11.4% of imports. Compared with its exports, Sri Lanka's overall import growth rate was 2.2% higher, and its foreign trade imports and exports showed a steady growth overall.That is a partial view of the imports and exports in Sri Lanka in 2018.

Relations between India and Sri LankaThe relationship between India and Sri Lanka is more than 2500 years old. Both countries have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction. In recent years, the relationship has been characterized by close contacts at all levels. Trade and investment have grown and there is cooperation in development, education, culture and defense. Both countries share a broad understanding of the most important topics of international importance. In recent years, significant progress in implementing development aid projects for internally displaced persons and disadvantaged populations in Sri Lanka has further strengthened the bonds of friendship between the two countries.The conflict between the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE that armed for almost three decades ended in May 2009. During the conflict, India supported the right of the Sri Lankan government to act against terrorist forces. At the same time, he expressed deep concern about the plight of the mainly Tamil civilian population, stressing that their rights and well-being should not be entangled in hostilities against the LTTE.India has reiterated the need for national reconciliation through a political agreement on the ethnic issue at the highest levels. India's coherent position favors a negotiated political agreement that is acceptable to all communities in the context of a united Sri Lanka and that is consistent with democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights.Political relationsPresident Maithripala Sirisena was elected as the new President of Sri Lanka in the presidential elections on January 8, 2015. He succeeded former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Following the parliamentary elections of August 17, 2015, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe was re-elected as Prime Minister by President Sirisena on August 21, 2015.Political relations between the two countries are characterized by regular exchanges of high-level visits.President Sirisena visited India during a four-day visit from 15 February 2015. President Sirisena visited India from 13 to 14 May 2016 during a working visit. During the visit he visited New Delhi, Ujjain and Sanchi. President Sirisena traveled to India from 19 to 21 August 2016 for a private visit. President Sirisena traveled to India from 15 to 17 October 2016 to attend the BRICSBIMSTEC Reach Summit. President Sirisena traveled to India from 6 to 7 November 2016 to attend the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (CMCT) of the World Health Organization (WIE) in New Delhi. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited India in September 2015, his first visit abroad after being appointed Prime Minister. President Sirisena and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also met on the sidelines of the 70th session of UNGA in New York in September 2015 and at COP21 in Paris in November 2015. Premier Wickremesinghe traveled from India to India 4-6 October 2016 for the economic summit of India. He again paid a working visit to India from 25 to 29 April 2017 and during the visit a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in economic projects was signed. Periodic ministerial visits from Sri Lanka to India are made. Few are listed below; The minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera, visited New Delhi in January 2015 during her first official visit abroad. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya visited India to participate in the 5th International Buddhist Conclave in New Delhi on October 2, 2016. He also visited the South Asian Speaker Summit on the achievement of sustainable development goals organized by the Parliament of India and the interparliamentary union in Indore on 18-20 February 2017. Former Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake visited India during his first visit abroad from 6 to 7 June 2017. The newly appointed Foreign Minister, Tilak Marapana, visited India from 8 to 10 September 2017. This is his first official visit abroad after he took the lead.Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka from 13 to 14 March 2015. He traveled to Anuradhapura, Talaimannar and Jaffna. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka again from 11 to 12 May 2017 as the main guest to attend the celebration of the International Vesak Day in Sri Lanka. During the visit, he opened Dickoya Hospital, attended a meeting at the Norwood site, and received blessings at the Sri Dalada Maligawa Temple in Kandy. M.p. Sumithra Mahajan, spokesperson for Lok Sabha, visited Sri Lanka from 2 to 7 October 2017 to attend a special parliamentary session to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Sri Lankan Parliament on 3 October 2017 and at the 8th at Conference of the Association of Speakers of SAARC and MPs held from 4 to 6 October 2017 in Colombo. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Smt. Sushma Swaraj led an interministerial delegation to Colombo from 5 to 6 February 2016 for the ninth session of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Committee. Earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Smt. Sushma Swaraj was in Colombo from 6 to 7 March 2015 to prepare for the Prime Minister's visit. M.p. Sushma Swaraj led a 12-member parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka in April 2012 as the then opposition leader in Lok Sabha. EAM visited from 31 August to 1 September 2017 to attend the second Indian Ocean Conference organized in Colombo. Minister for Trade and Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman visited Sri Lanka on 26 and 27 September 2016. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, General V.K. Singh (Retd) visited Colombo from 24 to 26 August 2016 to participate in the fifth ministerial meeting of the Colombo process. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar, visited Sri Lanka from January 12-13, 2016 to hold bilateral talks with Sri Lanka's leaders. Dr. S. Jaishankar, accompanied by a trade delegation, visited Sri Lanka from 22 to 24 October 2016. The Foreign Minister visited Sri Lanka again from 18 to 20 February 2017, from 4 to 6 April, 2017 and from 31 August to 1 September 2017 .On 18 June 2016, the Prime Minister and President Maithripala Sirisena jointly opened the newly renovated Duraiappah stadium in Jaffna via video conference from New Delhi. A mega-yoga event in the Duraiappah stadium launched the week-long yoga celebrations for 2016 in Sri Lanka. The event was a performance of 'Surya Namaskar' by almost 11,000 school-going children. On July 28, the Prime Minister gave a video message during a ceremony to launch the Emergency Ambulance Service in Colombo, created with Indian financial assistance. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe launched the services in Colombo. Andhra Pradesh Prime Minister Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu participated in the celebration of the second birthday of the President of Sri Lanka on 7 and 8 January 2017. On 5 May 2017, President Sirisena joined other leaders of the SAARC countries via the video conference the launch of SAARC Satellite, given by India to the SAARC countries.Business relationsSri Lanka has long been a priority destination for direct investment from India. Sri Lanka is one of India's largest trading partners in SAARC. India, in turn, is Sri Lanka's largest trading partner worldwide. Trade between the two countries grew particularly fast after the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement between India and Sri Lanka in March 2000. According to the Sri Lankan customs, bilateral trade in 2016 amounted to $ 4.38 billion. Exports from India to Sri Lanka in 2016 amounted to US $ 3.83 billion, while exports from Sri Lanka to India amounted to US $ 551 million.India has been among the top four investors in Sri Lanka since 2003 with cumulative investments of more than a billion dollars. Tourism, banking and food processing. (tea and fruit juices), metal industry, tires, cement, glass production and infrastructure development (rail, energy, water supply).A series of new investments from Indian companies is currently being implemented or implemented. These include the proposals from South City, Kolkota for real estate development in Colombo (US $ 400 million), the Tata Housing Slave Island development project together with the Sri Lankan Urban Development Authority (US $ 430 million) and the 'Colombo One' project from ITC Ltd . (ITC has committed an investment of US $ 300 million, which has increased the previously committed US $ 140 million). Dabur established a fruit juice production plant (US $ 17 million) in May 2013.On the other hand, recent years have also witnessed a growing trend of Sri Lankan investments in India. Important examples are Brandix (around US $ 1 billion to establish a clothing city in Vishakapatnam), participations of MAS, John Keels, Hayleys and Aitken Spence (Hotels), as well as other investments in the freight service sector and logistics.Development cooperationAt the end of the armed conflict, a major humanitarian challenge arose, with nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians housed in camps for internally displaced persons. The Indian government has set up a solid tool to help internally displaced people return to normal life as quickly as possible.The main impetus to intensify India's development assistance came from the commitments made during the visit of the President of Sri Lanka to India in June 2010. This included the construction of 50,000 residential units, the restoration of the lines of the Northern Railway, removal of remains and restoration of the port of KKS, creation of vocational training centers, construction of a cultural center in Jaffna, restoration of the Thiruketheeswaram temple, establishment of an agricultural research institute in the northern province, extension of the scholarship program for Sri Lankan students to their higher education in India. Training centers in English and technical assistance for the national action plan for a trilingual Sri Lanka.The housing project, with a general commitment of more than INR 1372 in grants, is the flagship project of the Indian government's assistance to Sri Lanka. The first phase of the construction of 1,000 houses in the northern province was completed in July 2012. The second phase of the construction or repair of 45,000 houses in the northern and eastern provinces is being carried out. This phase was launched on 2 October 2012 and has made excellent progress. Today approximately 15,500 houses have been delivered. The third phase, to build 4,000 homes in the central and Uva provinces through an innovative community-driven approach, was launched in April 2016. During the Prime Minister's visit to Norwood on May 12, 2017, they were announced 10,000 more homes in the interior of the country.Sri Lanka is one of the most important recipients of development loans granted by the Indian government, with a total commitment of around US $ 2.63 billion, including US $ 458 million in donations. Under a credit limit of $ 167.4 million, the Colombo-Matara rail link damaged by the tsunami has been repaired and improved. Another $ 800 million credit line is already operational for the laying of tracks and the delivery of rolling stock to support the construction of railways in northern Sri Lanka. The reconstructed Pallai-Jaffna rail and signaling system was inaugurated in October 2014, re-connecting Jaffna to Colombo by rail. The Emergency Ambulance Service was launched on July 28, 2016 in Sri Lanka under the Indian Grant Assistance of US $ 7.55 million. The project includes the deployment of 88 ambulances in the western and southern provinces, the establishment of an Emergency Response Center and the first operational year. During PM's visit to Sri Lanka from 11 to 12 May 2017, the free ambulance service was extended to all other provinces with subsidies.On March 8, 2016, the Export and Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) concluded buyer credit agreements, under the National Export Insurance Account (BC-NEIA), for an amount of US $ 403.01 million with the National Water Supply and Drainage Board ( NWSDB) from Sri Lanka in Colombo, to finance three water supply projects. As part of the buyer's loan portfolio, EXIM Bank has already provided loans worth nearly US $ 185 million to Sri Lanka for water supply and other projects.ndia also continues to help a large number of smaller development projects in areas such as education, healthcare, transport connectivity, development and training of small and medium-sized enterprises in many parts of the country through grant financing. To reduce the recent drought in Sri Lanka, India donated 08 water-powered water boats to Sri Lanka on March 21, 2017, as well as 100 tons of rice in May 2017. During the devastation devastation at the end of In May 2017, India responded immediately by send three ships with auxiliary equipment, including food, water, inflatable boats, diving equipment and medical equipment for flood assistance.Cultural relationshipsThe cultural cooperation agreement signed by the Indian government and The Sri Lankan government in New Delhi on November 29, 1977 forms the basis for periodic publicationCultural exchange programs between the two countries. The Indian Cultural Center in Colombo actively promotes awareness of Indian culture by offering classes in Indian music, dance, Hindi and yoga. On June 21, 2015, the first international yoga day was celebrated on the iconic promenade Galle Face Green. The event was attended by two thousand yoga enthusiasts. A similar event was organized in 2016 at Mahavihara Devi Park to celebrate the international yoga day. The celebrations of the 3rd International Yoga Day have already begun in Sri Lanka through an event to lift the curtain and various traveling shows in different cities of Sri Lanka. Every year, cultural groups from both countries exchange visits. According to an announcement by the prime minister during his visit to Sri Lanka, an Indian festival was launched in Sri Lanka in November 2015, with 'Nrityarupa', a sparkling dance medley from different parts of India in Colombo, Kandy and Galle. . The theme of the festival is "Sangam": a confluence of cultures from India and Sri Lanka.India and Sri Lanka commemorated the year 2600 of achieving enlightenment through Lord Buddha (Sambuddhatva Jayanthi) through joint activities. These include the Sacred Relics of Kapilavastu exhibition in Sri Lanka, which took place in August - September 2012. During the exhibition, approximately three million people of Sri Lanka (nearly 15 percent of the total population of Sri Lanka) paid tribute to the holy relics. The Indian gallery at the International Buddhist Museum, Sri Dalada Maligawa, was opened in December 2013. The two governments jointly celebrated the 150th anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala in 2014. The Prime Minister during his visit to Kandy on May 12, 2017, cared for the foundation stone from the Dance Academy. .The India-Sri Lanka Foundation, established in December 1998 as an intergovernmental initiative, also aims to improve scientific, technical, educational and cultural cooperation through exchanges of civil society and contact between the younger generations of the two countries.Education is an important area of ​​cooperation. India now offers around 290 annual scholarship quotas for Sri Lankan students. Moreover, according to the Indian technical and economic cooperation arrangement and the Colombo plan, India offers 370 annual spaces for the residents of Sri Lanka.Tourism is also an important link between India and Sri Lanka. The Indian government formally launched the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) program for Sri Lankan tourists on 14 April 2015. The visa costs for eTV were then drastically reduced in a gesture of goodwill. In 2016, 357,000 of the total of 2 million tourists arriving in Sri Lanka came from India, representing 14% of the total number of tourists arriving in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan tourists are also among the top ten sources for the Indian tourist market. In 2016, the High Commission and other posts in Sri Lanka issued approximately 215,000 visas to facilitate travel between India and Sri Lanka.Fisherman's problemGiven the proximity of the territorial waters of both countries, particularly in Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, incidents involving loss of fishermen are common. Both countries have agreed on certain practical arrangements to address the problem of fishermen in good faith on both sides crossing the international maritime border. These arrangements have made it possible to address the issue of fishery detention in a humane manner. India and Sri Lanka have agreed to establish a joint working group (JWG) between the Ministry of Agriculture and Welfare of Farmers in India and the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources of Sri Lanka as the mechanism to help find a solution The Fishermen issue and the first meeting took place in December 2016 in New Delhi and the second meeting in Colombo on 7 April 2017. The Minister of Agriculture and Welfare of Farmers, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, visited Colombo on 2 January 2017 to participate to the ministerial meeting on the issue of fishermen. The second GTC meeting took place in April 2017 in Colombo. The next round of discussions at ministerial level and JWG meetings took place in October 2017 in New Delhi.Indian communityPeople of Indian descent (IOP) include Sindhis, Borahs, Gujaratis, Memons, Parsis, Malayalis and Telugu-speaking people who have settled in Sri Lanka (most after distribution) and who deal with different companies. Although their number (around 10,000) is much smaller compared to Tamils ​​of Indian descent (IOT), they are economically prosperous and well located. Each of these communities has its organization that organizes festivals and cultural events. According to unofficial statistics, an estimated 14,000 expats live in Sri Lanka.IOTs are mainly used in tea or rubber plantations in the provinces of Central, Uva and Sabragamuwa, although the younger generation has migrated to Colombo in the last decade in search of work. A large number of IOTs that live in Colombo are active. According to government figures (2011), the population of IOT is around 1.6 million.

This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.Terrorist is a propaganda term that has no consistent definition and is used arbitrarily by nation states according to what benefits or harms their geopolitical interests. Other than its emotional appeal, it has no substance and automatically excludes state actors from its definitions.“The international community has never succeeded in developing an accepted comprehensive definition of terrorism. During the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations attempts to define the term floundered mainly due to differences of opinion between various members about the use of violence in the context of conflicts over national liberation and self-determination.”[1]Furthermore,“It is not only individual agencies within the same governmental apparatus that cannot agree on a single definition of terrorism. Experts and other long-established scholars in the field are equally incapable of reaching a consensus. In the first edition of his magisterial survey, 'Political Terrorism: A Research Guide,' Alex Schmid devoted more than a hundred pages to examining more than a hundred different definitions of terrorism in an effort to discover a broadly acceptable, reasonably comprehensive explication of the word. Four years and a second edition later, Schmid was no closer to the goal of his quest, conceding in the first sentence of the revised volume that the "search for an adequate definition is still on". Walter Laqueur despaired of defining terrorism in both editions of his monumental work on the subject, maintaining that it is neither possible to do so nor worthwhile to make the attempt.”[2]Even Nelson Mandela fighting against racist apartheid was labelled a terrorist by Western countries and was only delisted in 2008 by US government. Israeli politician Menachem Begin was regarded as "leader of the notorious terrorist organisation Irgun" by the British Government, yet he went onto become the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel.Several years ago the US government delisted Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) of Iran from its list of foreign terrorist groups after having it banned for the last two decades and using it as one of the example of terrorist groups sheltered by Iraq to justify its invasion of that country. Now the US government is accused of training the same terror group to destabilise its enemy state of Iran.Journalist Glenn Greenwald explains the logic behind what determines who is or isn’t a terrorist for a state like US:“a country or group goes on the list when they use violence to impede US interests, and they are then taken off the list when they start to use exactly the same violence to advance US interests. The terrorist list is not a list of terrorists; it's a list of states and groups which use their power to defy US dictates rather than adhere to them.”[3]It must be noted the term has a pro-state bias despite the fact it’s the state that has the capacity and technologies to inflict destruction on an industrial scale as proven by the millions of victims of democide in the last century alone.“An analysis of more than a hundred academic texts on terrorism, many by established ‘terrorism experts’, reveals that state terrorism is noticeable mainly for its absence. In some cases, state terrorism is simply defined out of the analysis by the employment of an actor‐based definition: terrorism, it is argued, is a kind of violence performed solely by non‐state actors. In other cases, the possibility of state terrorism is acknowledged but is then given a cursory treatment or simply ignored as a serious subject of research. … the absence of state terrorism is criticized for its illogical actor‐based definition of terrorism, its politically biased research focus and its failure to acknowledge the empirical evidence of the extent and nature of state terrorism, particularly that practiced by Western liberal states and their allies. … It is argued that the absence of state terrorism from academic discourse functions to promote particular kinds of state hegemonic projects, construct a legitimizing public discourse for foreign and domestic policy, and deflect attention from the terroristic practices by Western states and their allies.”[4]Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence website acknowledges the meaningless of the term but decides to give its own arbitrary definition that includes anyone who supports LTTE!“When terrorists do not have an internationally accepted definition and neither do journalists we arrive at a very tricky scenario of who and who are not terrorists/journalists. Despite terrorism not having a definition we are well aware that the LTTE has been identified by 32 nations as a terrorist outfit and if an organization is declared terrorist its members must be also terrorists. Therefore the majority of the ‘journalists’ names featured by CPJ unfortunately belong to the category of ‘terrorist’ … Moreover, ‘journalist’ No. 2 Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy by virtue of being a supporter of the LTTE puts him into the category of terrorist too.”[5]By this logic, if you support LTTE, you’re a terrorist, even if you aren’t an active combatant. Such is the twisted logic this government source uses to justify the murder of journalists. This can be extended to justify the mass murder of an entire nation because most Tamils supported LTTE. Therefore the pretext of war on terrorism can be co-opted for genocidal ambitions.The Sri Lankan government first banned LTTE as terrorist group in 1978 but the first attack on civilians attributed to LTTE happened years later on 14 May 1985, therefore even if LTTE had never attacked civilians it would have still been considered a terrorist organisation because the state has a vested interest in criminalising and discrediting any force that challenges its monopoly on power. Hence the state-centric definitions of terrorism are not restricted to the popular perception of it as violence against defenceless civilians.Therefore repressive regimes could co-opt this term to silence legitimate dissent.Like the US government, the GoSL had no problem collaborating with the ‘terrorists’ when they proved be useful to their interests:Ranasinghe Premadasa, then the country’s president, ordered clandestine supply of arms to LTTE in order to force IPKF to leave the island as their presence was unpopular. These same weapons were later alleged to have been used by the LTTE to massacre police officers.When the LTTE commander Karuna Amman defected, he joined the Rajapaksa government and helped to capture the Eastern province from LTTE control; he was later given positions in the government despite being accused of involvements in massacres when he was in LTTE.There are allegations about Rajapaksa funding LTTE with money to force boycott the 2005 election in the Northern Province as his opponent UNP candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe had a good response in the North.Moreover, Pakistan, the state which has been accused of sponsoring terrorism, assisted the GoSL in its war against the LTTE.Hence, the Government of Sri Lanka, by virtue of being collaborators and abetters of terrorists put them into the category of terrorist too.These were the views of the LTTE leader, V. Prabhakaran, on ‘terrorism’:“We are freedom fighters. The Sinhala state terrorists, who have failed in their efforts to crush our freedom movement for the last two decades, branded our liberation struggle as terrorism. Misguided by the false and malicious propaganda of the Sri Lanka state some of the world governments have included our liberation movement in their list of international terrorist organisations. This is regrettable and disappointing. These decisions have a negative impact. They have been made in haste, without deep insight into the historicity and legitimacy of our struggle for self-determination. It sends a wrong message to the Sinhala racist rulers. It will further harden their hard-line, intransigent attitude. It will encourage their policy of military repression. On the whole, the actions of some of the Western governments will seriously impede a political solution through peaceful means and further complicate the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. All the member countries of the United Nations have joined the alliance in the war against terrorism spearheaded by the Western powers. Some of the repressive states with a notorious history of racist oppression and gross human rights violations have joined this global alliance against terror. In this context we wish to confine our remarks only to the Sri Lanka state. This government, holding one of the highest records of human rights violations amounting to genocide, has now joined the international alliance against terrorism. This is a dangerous trend in the emerging new world order. This new trend is also posing a threat to the legitimate political struggles of the oppressed humanity subjected to state terror. … it is crucial that the Western democratic nations should provide a clear and comprehensive definition of the concept of terrorism that would distinguish between freedom struggles based on the right to self-determination and blind terrorist acts based on fanaticism.”[6]Later on, he reiterated,“We are disappointed and sad to note that some international governments, having been influenced by this false propaganda, continue to retain our organisation on their terrorist list. Biased positions taken by powerful nations acting as guardians of the peace process, in excluding and alienating our liberation organisation as a ‘terrorist outfit’ and supporting the interests of the Sri Lankan state, severely affected the balance of power relations between the parties in conflict at the peace negotiations. This pro-state bias constrained our liberty to choose our own political status. This partiality finally became one of the causes for the collapse of the peace talks. There is no clear, coherent, globally acceptable definition of the concept of terrorism. As such, just and reasonable political struggles fought for righteous causes are also branded as terrorism. Even authentic liberation movements struggling against racist oppression are denounced as terrorist outfits. In the current global campaign against terror, state terrorism always finds its escape route and those who fight against state terror are condemned as terrorists. Our liberation organisation is also facing a similar plight.”[7]That is not to say LTTE did not carry out attacks on civilians but to call for consistency and impartial treatment of all parties. If LTTE was terrorist for attacking civilians, so too is every nation state that has killed civilians. If LTTE weren’t freedom fighters because they attacked civilians, then there never existed any national liberation movement as it’s“well nigh impossible to find a twentieth-century national liberation or partisan resistance struggle in which there has been no use of systematic terrorism by at least one faction in the struggle.”[8]PLO, IRA, Viet Cong, ANC, etc., were all branded terrorist by various governments but the more powerful imperialist occupying forces were not. Since the government of Sri Lanka is not condemned by the international community for its state terrorism against its own citizens it’s difficult to take the terrorist label seriously.Furthermore, any allegation by the Government of Sri Lanka must not be taken at face value, after all this is the same government that insisted on the ridiculous lie of “zero civilian casualties” since the end of the war. There were other Tamil militant groups (who later became pro-government paramilitaries) that must be taken into account and the Sri Lankan military sometimes blamed their own attacks on Tamil civilians on LTTE. Without an impartial international investigation, allegations must be taken with a grain of salt.Some who were included in the list of civilian population attacked by LTTE were not ordinary civilians at all but armed home guards and convicts backed by the government to establish Sinhala settlements in Tamil areas by ethnically cleansing the villages of native Tamil population. Massacres, harassment and rape were used to drive out the Tamil villagers. LTTE retaliated by attacking these criminals.Stephen Heynes recounts in his book, ‘The Bleeding Island: Scars and Wounds’, the events the precipitated the “Manal Aaru Massacre”:“Manal Aaru was strategically situated on the borders of three districts of Tamils majority Mullaitivu and Trincomalee and Sinhalese majority Anuradhapura. It was also sitting on the sole gateway between the Tamils majority North and the Eastern parts of the island. About a total of 13,288 Tamil families were living in 42 villages in that area, for generations. The name of the place was recently changed to Sinhalese ‘Weli Oya’ (meaning sandy river, in Sinhalese) and an elaborate schemes was laid to colonize the area with Sinhalese population, mostly with ex convicts, convicts on parole, reformed criminals and landless Sinhalese.The Military went around these villages in armoured trucks and made loud announcements over public address systems mounted on the trucks that, all the Tamils residing in Kokkulai Grama Sevakar division (1516 families), Kokku Thoduvai Grama Sevakar division (3306 families), Vavunia North Grama Sevakar division (1342 families), Naiyaru and Kumulamunai divisions in Mullaithivu district (2011 families) must vacate their homes where they lived and farm lands where they work, within 48 hours, or they will be forcefully (!) evicted by the Military. It was also announced that, the government had canceled the 99 years lease in respect of the lands, including Kent Farm and Dollar farm, given to 14 Tamil entrepreneurs is canceled.The Sri Lankan army, as they had announced, forcefully evicted the hapless Tamils on the third day. Thousands of Tamil villagers, some of them Hill country Tamil refugees and victims of the recent Sinhalese violence of ‘Black July’, were driven out or fled in terror. Many who were more unfortunate were murdered by the army. One night alone 29 Tamil villagers were killed at Othaiyamalai, a hamlet situated north of Weli Oya colony. Now Srilankan Army was playing terrorists, justifying LTTE violence or inviting a violent response from them. ...The LTTE has to do something at this juncture, to sustain the confidence of the Tamils. They chose to strike at Manal Aaru.”[9]I’m not exactly sure what makes a “true warrior” but waging an asymmetrical struggle against a more powerful enemy backed by major nation states takes some guts! At one point, the LTTE had to battle not only the Sri Lankan forces, but also the IPKF and pro-government Tamil paramilitaries and it still managed to prevail. Under Prabhakaran’s leadership, the LTTE grew from being a clandestine guerrilla group to a conventional military, the only group of its kind to have air and sea forces. Not only that it went onto control large parts of the territory it was fighting for and establish a de facto state running its own administration.These are the views on Prabhakaran and his forces from his enemies and foreign observers…Major General Prasanna Dahanayake of the Sri Lanka Army:“Pirabaharan is a 'military genius' and his political power has given him an advantage to combat our political and military leaders. He has often outwitted, outmanoeuvred and outclassed our military and political leaders. Why is this so? Today after 18 years of battle, most of the victories, sadly, belong to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and we are continuing to fool ourselves... the man behind the weapon is always more important than the weapon itself and that this has been repeatedly proved by the LTTE forces....Pirabaharan has virtually beaten our forces on land and sea....”[10]Source: Major General Prasanna Dahanayake in an interview reported in the Sinhala owned Sunday Leader, 6 December 1998Major General Kamal Gunaratne of the Sri Lanka Army:“People of this country, the governments and even our own soldiers thought that the LTTE was a superior fighting force. … I even don’t think that the LTTE will make a comeback with the same magnitude as Prabhakaran … He may have been uneducated but he maintained strict discipline among himself and also within the outfit. ... There is no evidence to show that he abused those female cadres in the LTTE. ... He was a loving family man. The SLA recovered over 10,000 photographs of Prabhakaran, his family and LTTE functions but we never found a picture of Prabhakaran with a glass of alcohol. He was a disciplined leader and he maintained a law deadlier than Sharia law. ... He was a different kind of a man and he had some good characteristics for someone to learn.”[11]Lieutenant General Depinder Singh, Overall Force Commander of the Indian Peace Keeping Force:“Numerous questions were to be asked as to why the IPKF could not capture or kill Pirabakaran; another equally wild allegation was that the IPKF had orders not to kill Pirabakaran. Apart from the impossibility of singling out an individual target for destruction or protection in such an environment, we must remember that by virtue of the fact that the LTTE had an effective junior leadership, the loss of Pirabakaran could never have resulted in the disintegration of the LTTE.. This (book) is a left handed salute to the LTTE whose deviousness cannot overshadow their incredible motivation and magnificent fighting prowess, for which the Indian armed forces will always have a healthy respect.”[12]Lieutenant General S.C. Sardesh Pande, IPKF Divisional Commander, Jaffna:“I have a high regard for the LTTE for its discipline, dedication, determination, motivation and technical expertise... I was left with the impression that the LTTE was the expression of popular Tamil sentiment and could not be destroyed, so long as that sentiment remained. … One formation commander was relating vividly how the LTTE cadres - including their women - fought so bravely, killed our soldiers in fierce combat and proved to be our bane in early October '87 in the Jaffna University Campus.”[13]Jyotindra Dixit, India's Foreign Secretary in Assignment in Colombo:“The LTTE's emergence as the most dominant and effective politico-military force representing Tamil interests was due to the following factors:First, the character and personality of its leader V Prabhakaran who is disciplined, austere and passionately committed to the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils' liberation. Whatever he may be criticised for, it cannot be denied that the man has an inner fire and dedication and he is endowed with natural military abilities, both strategic and tactical. He has also proved that he is a keen observer of the nature of competitive and critical politics. He has proved his abilities in judging political events and his adroitness in responding to them.Secondly, he has created a highly disciplined, and dedicated cadres, a manifestation of which is inherent in what is called the 'cyanide cult.' Each regular member of the LTTE carries a cyanide pill and is pledged to committing suicide rather than being captured by the enemy.The third factor is the cult and creed of honesty in the disbursement and utilisation of resources. Despite long years spent in struggle, the LTTE cadres were known for their simple living, lack of any tendency to exploit the people and their operational preparedness.The fourth factor has been the LTTE's ability to upgrade its political and military capacities including technological inputs despite the constraints imposed on it by Sri Lankan forces and later by India.The fifth factor is a totally amoral and deadly violent approach in dealing with those the LTTE considers as enemies.The sixth factor is Prabhakaran's success in gathering around him senior advisers with diverse political, administrative and technological capacities, which contributed to effective training of his cadres, optimum utilisation of the military equipment which he had, and the structuring of an efficient command and control system.”[14]Marshall R Singer, Ph. D. Professor of International and Intercultural Affairs, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs - University of Pittsburgh:“The Tigers are ruthless and authoritarian but they are not corrupt - they don't tolerate stealing, bribery or rape, things other armies are famous for. In fact they are perceived as being single minded in their defence of Tamils. They are so disciplined that when captured, they swallow cyanide capsules that they carry with them at all times, rather than risk revealing anything under torture.”[15]Jane's Sentinel, World Defence & Intelligence Information Resource:“(LTTE's) 43-year old charismatic leader and military commander, Velupillai Pirabaharan (whose nom de guerre is Karikalan), is a highly disciplined, dedicated, self-taught, military genius...In the LTTE, all members are fighting cadres and do not receive remuneration. The exceptions, only a handful, play an advisory or supportive role...Cadres are given responsibility not according to seniority but strictly on performance. Cadres are not promoted to a rank but only responsibilities of command. Cadres are ranked only posthumously by taking into account their service, as well as the circumstances of their death...”[16]From a review of Paul Moorcraft’s ‘Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers: The Rare Victory of Sri Lanka’s Long War’, 2012:Prabhakaran “built up probably the most effective and disciplined insurgent force to appear in the world since 1945” (page 91). Towards the end of their campaign against the Tigers, the Indians had 160,000 soldiers (page 24), and their failure was “a major humiliation for a power which had one of the world’s largest armies” (page 22). The “attack-defence ratio is reckoned to be 3:1” but during what is known as the Second Eelam War (1990-95), a maximum of 5,000 insurgents almost defeated a defending force of 10,000 (page 31). Small units of female Tigers are said to have driven away army units “ten times their size” (page 37). Tiger boats were “a triumph of ingenuity, often built in jungle workshops using off-the-shelf materials” (page 97). The same can be said of the planes they assembled. Prabhakaran refused the offer to send his wife and two younger children to a safe western country (page 145), insisting they share the common lot.[17]Since you didn’t define what makes a “true warrior” I would argue that a true warrior fights for a just cause, since it’s Che who is a global icon and not Uncle Sam.What is virtuous and admirable about fighting for imperialist interests to dominate others? True warriors, I’d say, fight for freedom, justice and liberation.In this regard, Prabhakaran was a true warrior, as he was not fighting to conquer and dominate another nation but to liberate his own nation from oppression. As he said,“We recognise the Sinhala nation. We accord a place of dignity for the culture and heritage of the Sinhala people. We have no desire to interfere in any way with the national life of the Sinhala people or with their freedom and independence. We, the Tamil people, desire to live in our own historic homeland as an independent nation, in peace, in freedom and with dignity.”[18]The Sinhala government, on the other hand, was fighting to preserve the territorial unity born out of colonial project by subduing an unwilling nation that desired self-determination. The Sinhala-Buddhist state was acting like the imperialist regimes and even got assistance from them, adopting their strategies, while the LTTE was influenced by anti-imperialist struggle.Self-determination is a human right, according to the UN resolution:“All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”[19]Resolution 2621 (XXV) Reaffirms, "the inherent right of colonial peoples to struggle by all necessary means at their disposal against colonial Powers which suppress their aspiration for freedom and independence."[20]These were the demands of the LTTE, known as the ‘Thimpu Principles’:Recognition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka as a nation.Recognition of the existence of an identified homeland for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.Recognition of the right of self-determination of the Tamil nation.The LTTE struggle for independence was born out of decades of peaceful yet futile struggle for power-sharing and against discrimination, as anti-Tamil violence and colonisation of Tamil lands intensified.Prabhakaran explained his recourse to armed struggle and justified it as the only solution thus:"The democratic parliamentary system, or what you refer to as the conventional political system in Sri Lanka, has always tried to impose the will of the majority on the minority. This system not only failed to solve the basic problems of our people but, in fact, aggravated our plight. For decades, the repression by the state has made the life of our people miserable. The non-violent democratic struggles of our people were met with military repression. Our just demands were totally ignored, and the oppression continued on such a scale as to threaten the very survival of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. It was these circumstances which led me to form our liberation movement. I felt that an armed struggle was the only alternative left to our people, not only to ensure our survival but ultimately to free our selves from the Sinhala oppression. ... The shocking events of the 1958 racial riots had a profound impact on me when I was a schoolboy. I heard of horrifying incidents of how our people had been mercilessly and brutally put to death by Sinhala racists. Once I met a widowed mother, a friend of my family, who related to me her agonising personal experience of this racial holocaust. During the riots a Sinhala mob attacked her house in Colombo. The rioters set fire to the house and murdered her husband. She and her children escaped with severe burn injuries. I was deeply shocked when I saw the scars on her body. I also heard stories of how young babies were roasted alive in boiling tar. When I heard such stories of cruelty I felt a deep sense of sympathy and love for my people. A great passion overwhelmed me to redeem my people from this racist system. I strongly felt that armed struggle was the only way to confront a system which employs armed might against unarmed, innocent people."[21]Footnotes[1] The Right of Self-Defence under International Law[2] Inside Terrorism[3] Five lessons from the de-listing of MEK as a terrorist group | Glenn Greenwald[4] https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/departmental/interpol/csrv/ghost-of-state-terror-richard-5.pdf[5] Sri Lanka : Most of the 19 ‘Journalists’ killed were LTTE or killed by LTTE[6] Maha Veerar Naal Address, மாவீரர் நாள் 2001[7] LTTE to intensify struggle for self-determination if reasonable political solution is not offered soon[8] The Morality of Terrorism[9] The Bleeding Island[10] As others see him[11] Road to Nandikadal[12] Lost Victory[13] Assignment Jaffna[14] https://books.google.com/books?id=gThuAAAAMAAJ&q=The+LTTE%27s+emergence+as+the+most+dominant+and+effective+politico-military+force+representing+Tamil+interests+was+due+to+the+following+factors:&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y[15] Lost Victory[16] Jane Sentinel on LTTE[17] Total Destruction Of The Tamil Tigers: The Rare Victory Of Sri Lanka’s Long War[18] The Charge is Genocide ... the Struggle is for Freedom- Selected Writings by Nadesan Satyendra[19] The United Nations and Decolonization[20] Key Resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly 1946-1996[21] EelamWeb� - Interviews -