A brutal attack

The LTTE claims to be the sole representative of Tamils. But a group that claims to be the guardians of the Tamil community would not even think of doing what it did in Jaffna on Thursday - killing six innocent Tamil civilians through an artillery attack aimed at Jaffna.

However, this is nothing new to the LTTE. In addition to killing Sinhala and Muslim leaders and ordinary civilians, it has killed thousands of Tamils as well. It has assassinated a considerable number of eminent Tamil leaders from Alfred Duraiappa to Lakshman Kadirgamar.

Most of the 18,000 or so LTTE cadres who had been killed on the battlefield were Tamil youth in the prime of their lives. If not for Prabhakaran and the LTTE, they would have had a chance to receive a proper eduction and pursue a vocation of their choice in a peaceful land.

In fact, the LTTE has been and still is, enemy Number One of the Tamil community in the areas it dominates. The Tigers take at least one child in each family for its baby brigades, deprive the civilians of even basic facilities, pilfer the food stocks sent to them by the Government and even use civilians as a human shield. Depriving the young children of their education and conscripting them is in itself an unpardonable crime.

This is why the Government is keen to liberate the Tamil masses from the LTTE’s terror. This noble objective has already been achieved in the East and over and above most people’s expectations, a provincial council election too has been held to reaffirm their right to universal franchise. Now they are free to decide on development and welfare projects in their own areas.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Government have vowed to liberate the remaining uncleared areas in the North in a similar manner. The Security Forces are steadily heading towards this objective on yet another humanitarian mission. The Government hopes to restore civilian rule and democracy in the North through this initiative which will necessarily see the defeat of the LTTE.

It has been shown previously as well that the LTTE literally turns its guns on civilians whenever it faces battlefield setbacks. This time it is no different. The ethnicity or religion of its victims does not matter to the LTTE. Only death and destruction counts. This is why vigilance should be stepped up.

Life on Mars ?

Are we alone in the universe ? Or is Earth just one of millions of planets supporting life ? Carl Sagan adamantly stood by the latter claim and Sir Arthur C Clarke thought it was magical either way.

Given that life has begun with a simple chemical process, it is hard to believe that life is confined to Earth. ‘Intelligent’ life could however be a rarity. But Man will not stop wondering on this score.

Man has always looked towards the planets in the solar system for any sign of life. Although the Moon is the nearest celestial object to Earth, it is rocky and barren. So attention has naturally shifted to Mars the Red Planet. Eerily similar in size and with many other common factors, mankind has always considered the possibility of life on Mars.

Now the scientific community has received yet another opportunity to look for life on Mars or at least check whether it can support life. The Phoenix Mars Lander has landed safely in the ‘Arctic’ region of Mars - this is the first time that this region is being examined in such detail.

The significance here is the availability of water, an essential ingredient for life as we know it. There already are three other spacecraft and two robotic rovers on Mars. When they complete their missions, we will be closer to unravelling the truth.

If there is any life on Mars - or on the moons of Saturn such as Titan - it is likely to be microbes. But any sign of life on Mars or elsewhere in our solar system will prove that we are not alone, at least in terms of ‘bare bones’ life. It will be the biggest scientific discovery of this century, nay, any century.

Robotic rovers and spacecraft will be mankind’s eyes and ears in the quest for life in the universe. Some of the early Pioneer spacecraft have left the solar system and are on their way ‘to places where no man has gone before’ to paraphrase Star Trek.

Will intelligent beings one day intercept these probes and ‘call’ us ? Scientists are ready for that too. The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) programme checks for any sign of intelligent communications in the vastness of space. Rest assured, mankind will not rest until this question is answered.