A taste of freedom

Our defence column, which appeared on Friday, revealed that the Tigers have been shaken to the core by the open defiance of the civilian population in uncleared areas.

According to some reports from uncleared areas, several Tiger cadres have been beaten up by civilians angered by the group’s demand for at least one child from each family.

No parent will consent to give their children to the ruthless LTTE, so conscription has become the norm. The Tigers have now abandoned ‘soft’ recruitment tactics such as propaganda drives at weekly fairs etc in favour of raiding homes to take children.

On Saturday, we published the remarkable story of a family from Mullaitivu, who could not take it anymore and made a daring sea journey under the cover of darkness to reach the cleared (Government-controlled) areas.

According to them, their bid for freedom is envied by all other families in uncleared areas in the North.

A theory has been espoused that any foray into the uncleared areas of the North by the Security Forces would lead to a humanitarian crisis and a potential case for R2P - Right to Protection - almost a euphuism for multilateral intervention.

In marked contrast to such fears, this family of five has appealed to the Government to clear the North of LTTE terrorism, as it did in the East.

They have pointed out that only such a course of action would enable them to live peacefully, without harbouring a constant fear of their children being abducted by the LTTE.

Although they were happy to come to the South, they lamented that thousands more were waiting to taste this freedom.

The Government has now fully liberated the East, giving the Easterners an opportunity to integrate themselves with the rest of the Nation.

The resettlement process is underway. The Eastern Resurgence Programme envisages a massive development drive in the province, now among the country’s poorest.

It is true that civilians suffer in any conflict. But the LTTE is oppressing the very people it claims to liberate, using them as human shields and forcibly recruiting their children.

The Government freed them from this misery in the East. It now appears that Northern civilians too want the Government to tread in that direction.

Left is Right

Today is International Lefthanders Day. It is a day dedicated to the largest minority in the world, as often described by ‘lefties’.

The aim is to raise awareness of left-handedness and the challenges caused by living in a right-handed world, educate designers and manufacturers to accommodate left-handers’ comfort and safety in new product and building design and dispel many of the superstitions that have surrounded left-handedness for hundreds of years.

No one has come up with a definitive reason as to why some people are left-handed, but about 13 per cent of the population around the world are. It is thought to be genetic as it definitely runs in families.

The medical explanation is that the brain is “cross-wired” so that the left hemisphere controls the right handed side of the body and vice-versa and hand dominance is connected with brain dominance on the opposite side. This is why left-handers claim that only they are in their ‘right’ minds.

This makes left-handers more likely than right handers to be creative and visual thinkers. Leonardo Da Vinci is one famous example.

This is supported by higher percentages of left-handers than normal in music, arts and the media. Left-handers are also said to be better at three dimensional perception and thinking.

That said, it is still not easy for left-handed persons to do their day-to-day work in a right-handed world as most products are designed for right handers.

In many cultures, the left hand is still associated with the devil and hygienic practices and hence seen as a ‘bad’ hand. Some parents actually try to ‘correct’ left-handedness by forcing children to write with their right hand.

But the time has to come to cast such prejudices aside. Being left-handed is a gift of nature, not a quirk of fate. Right-handers must try to make life easier for the lefties. It is the right choice.