How truth is govt. death claims?

(December, 27, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government and its military machinery is making hyped up claims of deaths of LTTE cadres in the current fighting in the north. Unprecedented numbers of deaths are being reported without any verification of the toll.

‘Whilst the NGO’s and monitoring agencies are muscled by the government, one sided claims of deaths of disproportionate numbers are questionable indeed’ said a media reporter of a leading Sri Lankan newspaper who is closely monitoring the claims.

Truth is the first casualty in a war. In the war in Sri Lanka, truth has no room to play. The war that is ravaging the country since 1983 has taken untold number of lives of combatants and innocent civilian population.

The claims by the successive governments of deaths of LTTE cadres in this conflict are highly propped up. Anyone researching into the government claims can easily establish by extracting the death claims reported in the media since 1983 that most of them are exaggerated to keep the Southern extreme Sinhala voter bank happy.

Aggregate death claims reported by the government and the military machinery once properly established, will tell a startling story and the number will surpass the Tamil population in the north and east.

The hyped news of death claims is playing its political role as the extreme JVP and the JHU are taking advantage of these claim.

LTTE though is weakened, on its part it is maintaining its usual silence on the claims.

When high number of deaths of LTTE cadres is claimed by the government and the media is preoccupied with theses news, the real daily deaths of the innocent civilian population in the north is kept under the wrap. It is estimated 5 civilians are either killed or disappeared in the north daily and the government forces remain accused of conducting these extra-judicial activities.

The frustrated LTTE break-away Mahataya group which is functioning as regular Sri Lanka army is claimed to play a leading role in the conduct of theses deaths and disappearances in the north.