TAMIL TIGERS OR FREEDOM FIGHTERS?



Way across in Sri Lanka - formerly known as Ceylon
The government warns of Tamil "Tigers",
And the media unthinkingly follows suite
But the Ceylonese call them freedom fighters.

Are they terrorists?   Or freedom fighters?
At this stage, I do not pretend to know,
But I'm not prepared to call them "tigers"
Just on the federal government's say so.

I wonder why so many intelligent people
Unthinkingly accept the constant lies,
That governments worldwide tell us
How can intelligent people be so blind?

The Tamils may indeed be terrorists
But then again ... they may not,
But we'll never get to learn the truth
If Sri Lanka gets to murder the lot.

We must not allow the terrorists
Who are ruling our countries today,
Tell us what we are allowed to believe
Or what we are allowed to say.

Sri Lankan terrorists rule the government
And may rule the Tamils as well,
But before we let them wipe all Tamils out
We must ask, "How can we possibly tell?"

How can we tell which terrorists
Are the ones who should concern us more?
The ones we're told are lawbreakers?
Or the terrorists who make the laws?

Still, the Tamils will be slaughtered soon
They are going to massacre the lot,
We'll see blood flowing in Sri Lankan streets
Unless this brutality can somehow be stopped.

We must dare to question the government
And attempt to discover the truth,
Before they slaughter the Tamils en masse
Can they give us a shred of proof?

And if indeed some proof does exist
Why hasn't it been tendered by now?
We need to know if proof really exists
Before freedom fighters are all mown down.

Remember governments will always lie
If only you will allow them to,
So before you let them start killing people
Be sure that you demand to see proof.

Lying comes easily to most politicians
Just as easily as breathing air,
So never believe a single word that they say
Without substantiation from elsewhere!

THE END
© Copyright 2021 Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

About this poem

Over a number of decades the Sri Lankan government demonised the Tamils, so that when the government slaughtered them en masse a dozen years back no-one even raised an eyebrow. However, Ceylonese people living in Australia swear the Sri Lankan government is an evil regime and the Tamils were the freedom fighters, fighting for democracy. With them brutally slaughtered, I guess we'll never know for sure now. But shame on the world news media for never questioning the use of the term "Tamil Tigers" and never asking questions about their mass slaughter!

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Written on March 16, 2009

Submitted by PHIL_ROBERTS on July 19, 2021

Modified on March 10, 2023

1:46 min read
19

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA ABAB CXXX DEFE DGXG HIXI DXAX XEXX HFXJ XXXX XXCJ XKGK XXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,927
Words 348
Stanzas 13
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

Phil Roberts

I turn 65 on the 31st of January 2022. I love cats, rock music, and horror fiction and poetry more…

All Phil Roberts poems | Phil Roberts Books

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