Sri Lankan Tamils and Tamil Eelam - I
by Thamizhchelvan on 14 Sep 2013 5 Comments

Present scenario: It is more than four years since the LTTE was crushed, and it is sad and unfortunate that the Sri Lankan Tamils are yet to see a lasting solution to their continuing problems. President Rajapakse has not lived up to the commitments he made during his victory speech; Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) and the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) which control the Sri Lankan Diaspora are trying to revive Tamil militancy; the UPA government is inadequate and has no idea how to go about the issue; Tamil Nadu political parties including the ruling party are not interested in anything constructive but are continuing their political dramas; the separatist outfits keep harping on a separate Tamil Eelam.

 

The United States is moving against Sri Lanka through the UNHRC, not in the interests of the Island Tamils but as a check against China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka and to facilitate the Church’s agenda for a secessionist Tamil state. 

 

This scenario serves as another great opportunity for the Generic Church to play its divisive game to achieve its long time agenda of creating a Tamil Christian Nation. In the absence of the LTTE, the Generic Church has unleashed all its forces such as human rights organizations, NGOs, Tamil separatist outfits, Dravidian parties, writers and columnists to achieve its objective.

 

Human rights organizations focus on the ‘war crimes’ and ‘human rights abuses’ allegedly perpetrated by the SL Army; the NGOs work over time in evangelical activities and convert the vulnerable war torn people in the guise of service; Dravidian parties (ruling and opposition) and separatist outfits keep the Eelam agenda alive in Tamil Nadu besides exerting pressure on the UPA government at the center; writers and columnists use the media, print as well as web, to build mass opinion in favour of a separate Tamil Eelam. 

 

While Tamil Nadu and the SL Diaspora are attempting to give life to the Eelam cause, the Sri Lankan government and Buddhist clergy are trying to Sinhala-ise the Island. As a result, the poor hapless Tamils in the island nation are bearing the brunt of Sinhala chauvinism. After suffering for more than three decades and losing everything, they have developed hatred for war and the separate Eelam demand, and yearn for a peaceful life in their own land. They desire only a political solution without affecting the sovereignty of a united Sri Lanka. Any sensible government would ensure this and take the war-torn country on the path of progress. Rajapaksa’s government has miserably failed, but the responsibility must be shared by the Indian government and the State of Tamil Nadu.

 

Sri Lanka’s missed opportunity

 

There cannot be two opinions on Rajapaksa’s decisive action against LTTE; it deserved to be decimated. But regarding the rehabilitation of the Tamils, his government should have gone on a war footing for rehabilitation and ensured a peaceful livelihood for the Tamils. He had a great opportunity to implement the 13th amendment, which could have thwarted the attempts of the US and UNHRC to act against SL. He could have earned the respect and admiration of the Tamil community and ensured a united Sri Lanka in the real sense, after almost six decades. Had he attempted to implement the 13th amendment immediately after winning the war against LTTE, he would not have faced opposition from the Sinhala people as they saw him as a hero then. But he wasted more than three years and gave more than enough time to Sinhala chauvinists and the Buddhist clergy who are now bent upon scuttling the implementation of the 13th amendment.  

 

On the contrary, his subsequent actions have dismayed the Tamils:

-        He bifurcated the NE province to make separate entities of North and East;

-        He banned singing the national anthem in Tamil;

-        He dragged his feet on the rehabilitation process;

-        He gave permission only to Christian organizations like Caritas to serve the internally displaced Tamils in the army controlled camps;

-        He ignored India and flirted with Pakistan and China;

-        Internally within the country, he earned the wrath of a section of the populace by insulting and harassing former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka who had made a major contribution to the nation during his tenure in the military;

-        He impeached the first woman Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Shirani Bandaranaike, for ruling against the government, particularly the two bills (Town and Country Planning Amendment Bill and Divi Neguma Bill) proposed by minister Basil Rajapaksa, the President’s brother;

-        He encouraged corruption and nepotism.

 

India’s missed opportunities

 

The Tamil civilian protests started only after the “Sinhala Only Act” was introduced by Prime Minister Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike in 1956. Repeated protests by Tamils and suppression by the regime slowly snowballed into civilian riots. The first major riots took place in May 1958 (“1958 Riots”).     

 

Although there were incidents of civilian riots intermittently between the 1950s and ‘60s, India never felt the need to interfere as successive SL governments exercised control over the prevailing situation. However, as the situation deteriorated and led to the formation of extremist militant groups and armed struggle in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi felt it appropriate to support and train the nascent Tamil militant groups - a huge blunder by the Government of India.

 

Indira Gandhi encouraged and trained Tamil militant organizations to gain the support of MG Ramachandran. This worsened the situation in both Sri Lanka and India, as it turned out to be a case of catching a tiger by its tail. Both MGR and Indira Gandhi passed away in the mid-1980s, but their blunder caused heavy damage to both nations in general and Sri Lankan Tamils in particular.

 

Rajiv Gandhi, who took up the mantle with the sole qualification of being the Prime Minister’s son, signed the Indo Sri Lankan Accord in July 1987 in an attempt to put an end to the armed conflict and control the migration of Tamil refugees into India. As mandated under the Accord and also on the request of Junius Richard Jayewardene, Rajiv Gandhi sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force to disarm all militant organizations and make them participate in the administration of the northeast. As the LTTE wanted to dominate the Interim Administrative Council, it refused to cooperate and this led to repeated skirmishes between the LTTE and the IPKF. The Tigers were actually not interested in peace and indulged in attacks on Sri Lankans and waged guerilla warfare against the IPKF.

 

At this juncture, it must be clarified that Rajiv Gandhi didn’t order the execution of Prabhakaran when he came to meet Maj-Gen Harkirat Singh in September 1987. At that time, the IPKF had no plans of fighting the LTTE. Reliable sources within the IPKF say that the decision to fight the LTTE was taken only after the insurgency escalated and 12 LTTE leaders captured by the SL Army took cyanide pills and died, and subsequently the Government of India announced a reward on Prabhakaran dead or alive.

                                                      

It is reliably learnt that the para-commandos missed Prabhakaran by a whisker once when they raided his camp. The Government of India, acting in the national interest, ordered the Indian Army to get Prabhakaran, dead or alive. The LTTE led by Prabhakaran was liquidating leaders of other Sri Lankan Tamil political parties besides killing thousands of innocent civilians, both Tamil and Sinhala. It had eliminated hundreds of soldiers of the IPKF, and was recruiting Tamil children into the terrorist outfit to train into future LTTE terrorists. 

 

Meanwhile, Ranasinghe Premadasa, son of Richard Ranasinghe, became the third President of Sri Lanka; in India, Rajiv Gandhi lost the elections and VP Singh became Prime Minister. The LTTE had a tacit understanding with Premadasa and continued the fight against the IPKF. In 1989, Premadasa asked India to withdraw the IPKF and VP Singh obliged under pressure from Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. By March 1990, the IPKF completely withdrew from Sri Lanka and within three months the LTTE turned against Premadasa and assassinated him in May 1993. It previously eliminated Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991. Thus, the move of sending the IPKF proved disastrous with the loss of 1255 soldiers. It was a disaster because New Delhi did not have an end objective in sight when it sent in the IPKF and therefore had no well-defined exit plan or time frame for their exit.  

 

New Delhi should have resisted the pressure from both Colombo and Fort St. George and mandated the IPKF to crush the LTTE and should have withdrawn the IPKF from Sri Lanka only after compelling the Sri Lankan government to implement the 13th amendment. This would have checked the influence of China over Sri Lanka and brought a lasting solution to the civil war and asserted Indian supremacy in South Asia. But this did not happen.

 

Later, although the Jayalalithaa government in the state and the Narasimha Rao government at the center checked and controlled LTTE activities in the country to a large extent, the Indo Sri Lanka relationship could not see marked improvement as Eelam War III erupted in the island nation. Both Sri Lanka and India blundered by allowing western forces to play a role in the ethnic crisis in the name of mediation.

 

Only after the BJP-led government came to power did the SL Tamils issue receive some kind of attention. Ranil Wickremasinghe, second son of Esmond and Nalini Wickremasinghe and nephew of Lakshman Wickremasinghe, Bishop, Church of Sri Lanka, was Prime Minister. He cooperated well and the peace process brokered by Norway was supervised by the NDA government. In February 2002, Prabhakaran signed the cease fire agreement (CFA), as did Ranil Wickremasinghe. However, both prime ministers lost their respective elections, which caused a set back to the peace process.

 

The UPA government failed to rise to the occasion, and in Sri Lanka, Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa went on the offensive during the Eelam War IV and finally decimated the LTTE by May 2009, with maximum help from China and Pakistan. Even after the decimation of the LTTE, the UPA government was not proactive on the issue, and as it was mired in corruption and scams internally, it failed miserably in external affairs due to policy paralysis. This led to Sri Lanka moving closer to China and Pakistan, and India yielding to pressure from western countries to go along with them against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. Any sensible government would have acted pro-actively, not only in the interests of the hapless Tamils of Sri Lanka but also in the national interest. The UPA gave scant regard to both.

 

Dravidian parties and their dramas

 

Ever since civil war broke out in Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, the Dravidian parties have been playing politics and have done absolutely nothing constructive in the interests of Sri Lankan Tamils. They have used the issue only to gain political benefits here in Tamil Nadu.

 

Though initiated by MG Ramachandran, Karunanidhi was the main culprit in taking up the separatist agenda of Tamil Eelam set by external forces. He allowed the LTTE to gain foothold in Tamil Nadu and to roam around freely with weapons. His party was even indicted by the Jain Commission for its role in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Even as the Vajpayee government was proceeding in the right direction, he and Vaiko’s MDMK and Dr Ramadoss’ PMK, ditched the NDA in 2003 for selfish reasons. Later, after joining the UPA, the DMK continued its dramas, totally ignoring the interests and aspirations of the SL Tamils.

 

On the other hand, the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK shifted its stand on the ethnic issue and started supporting the agenda of “Separate Tamil Eelam”, calling the LTTE “fighters” instead of “terrorists”. After regaining power in 2011, she facilitated the passing of a resolution in the state assembly calling for amnesty for Rajiv Gandhi’s killers and for a “public referendum” on Tamil Eelam, knowing well that such resolutions passed in state assemblies have no use.

 

She allowed pro-Eelam parties like MDMK (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi), VCK (Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi), etc., to campaign in favour of revival of LTTE though it is officially banned in India. She gave a free hand to separatist outfits like Nedumaran’s Tamil Nationalist Movement (TNM), Sebastian Seeman’s Nam Thamizhar Katchi (NTK), Kolathur Mani’s Dravida Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK), etc.

 

In May 2013, when NTK leader Seeman brought Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik to Tamil Nadu to talk in favour of a separate Tamil Eelam, supporting the revival of an armed group like LTTE in a public meeting, Jayalalithaa remained a mute spectator and allowed him to get back to Kashmir. While soft pedaling the Church sponsored protests against the commissioning of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, she also allowed the PMANE (People’s Movement against Nuclear Energy) leader SP Udayakumar to launch the “Tamil Students Movement” backed by the Church, for separate Tamil Eelam, from the premises of Loyola College.

 

The few hundred strong “Tamil Students Movement” boycotted classes and unleashed violent protests on the streets. Instead of taking stern action, the Jayalalithaa regime knowing well that the majority of the student community was not interested in the so-called Eelam cause, facilitated the TSM to carry on with their protests for several days across the state by closing down students hostels attached to colleges. 

 

While the TSM was an attempt by the Church sponsored separatist forces to bring the student community to the streets a la 1983, the fishermen community has been perennially used to create confrontation between India and Sri Lanka. As observed by Radha Rajan, editor, Vigil Online, traditional fishermen have a very sound knowledge about the seas and know the ocean boundaries of both Sri Lanka and India. They are not crossing over to Sri Lankan waters without knowledge and out of innocence, but they are pushed from behind by vested interests from Western countries who want to create confrontations between India and Sri Lanka and keep the issue alive.

 

While incidents of Sri Lankan fishermen crossing into Indian waters are very rare, why are Indian fishermen sneaking into SL waters so often? The fact that Tamil fishermen used to help the LTTE by ferrying them and smuggling arms, ammunition and fuel during the conflict must not be forgotten. All political parties in Tamil Nadu indulge in sordid politics of one-upmanship on this issue.    

 

As Jayalalithaa continued with her separatist pro-Eelam politics, despite being Chief Minister, Karunanidhi developed cold feet and feared he would lose his “Leader of Tamil Race” status. To reassert his status, he revived the dead and forgotten Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Organisation (TESO) to ‘show’ that he and his party has not lost their focus on the SL Tamils issue.

 

In such a confused scenario, the Sri Lankan Tamils remain a hapless lot with no solution in sight. 

 

(To be continued …)

User Comments Post a Comment
Tamil propaganda led by the christian churches have a hidden agenda. Destabilise SL and then destabilise India. Conversion and violence is their modus operandi. 60% 0f the tamils live in sinhala areas quite peacefully. The tamil populace is only 5% now of the total population. The long and short of it is due to the naivety of the SL govt/indian govt the churches are gradually ruling the roost.The Buddhists and hindus are being converted and the economy of SL is highjacked by the christians whilst propagating a Tamil Sinhala conflict not allowing the bogey to die and peace to prevail. Before long a second vatican will be established in the sub continent.
vas
September 14, 2013
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Can't understand what this author is trying to say, except that he wants to co-opt SriLankan Hindus in his hate game. Rajapakshe himself is a half-christian, so what is the point?

Religion can never be the basis of nationhood, unless you want to be like Pakistan or the middle-east sheikhdoms or Iran, which I take is the ardent wish of fundamentalists like this author.
varghese
September 14, 2013
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The Tamils are 15.6% of the population of Sri Lanka as per the 2012 census despite what Vas claims in his comment above.

Tamizhchelvam has written a very good piece. The Sinhalese despite their public stance of being Buddhists actually have a Christian leadership. Sri Lanka's first head of Government was Don Stephen Senanayake, a Buddhist married to a Christian. Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, who introduce the Sinhala Only Legislation in 1956, was born an Anglican Christian and was buried like an Anglican (not cremated as per Buddhism) despite his 'conversion' to Buddhism. Juniusm Richard Jayewardene was also born an Anglican although he 'converted' to Buddhism. Premadasa's wife and children are now Christian. Rajapakse is married to a devout Roman Catholic. As long as the Sinhalese lack a genuine Buddhist leadership, their problems will continue.

The Tamil issue is merely a symptom of the deeper colonial era penetration into Sinhalese society. The Buddhists have no one else to blame except themselves in not knowing who their actual contender is!

4 years after the crushing of the LTTE, the Tamil problem continues to reverberate in the international corridors of power. Why couldn't the Buddhist clergy negotiate a deal with the Tamil Hindus to de-internationalize the Sri Lankan issue?
Karikalan
September 14, 2013
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An excellent article ! It described accurately the complexities of the situation. There is, ofcourse, no doubt that the Church is fishing and has always been fishing in troubled waters.

Rajiv Malhotra's book Breaking India gives a detailed account of the activities of the Church in trying to create a Tamil Elam which would be a Christian one.

While on the topic of breaking India, there is a detailed comprehensive account of jihadi destruction in South India :

The Southern Jihad by Aravindan Neelakandan (Haindava Keralam.com).
Dr.Vijaya Rajiva
September 14, 2013
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PANUN KASHMIR
H.NO. 172,Sec 3,EWS Colony,
Lower Roop Nagar-13.
Tele 0191-2593166
PRESS RELEASE
• Panun Kashmir observes 24th Martyr’s Day( Kashmiri Hindu balidaan Diwas)
• Panun Kashmir says minorities in the state are in the cusp of the communal forces
• Panun Kashmir condemns Kishtwar violence
• Panun Kashmir says when genocide is neglected ,it duplicates
• Panun Kashmir reaffirms that Homeland with the Union territory status is the only solution to reverse the Kashmiri Pandit genocide and Holocaust.

Panun Kashmir today observed the 24th Martyr’s Day to pay rich tributes to all the Martyr’s of the Kashmiri Pandit community who were brutally killed by the Islamic communalists in Kashmir as it was on this day 24 years ago , the prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader and social activist Sh Tika Lal Taploo was assassinated by the Kashmiri Muslim separatists. Rich tributes were paid to security forces who have laid down their lives while upholding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Indian nation in frontline Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and the victims of the Kishtwar who have recently faced persecution at the hands of the communal forces.
To introspect and analyse the challenges before the minorities of the Jammu and Kashmir and the threats to their survival and human rights Panun Kashmir organized a seminar on the eve of the Martyr’s Day(Kashmiri Pandit Balidaan Diwas) on the topic “ Battle of Survival against growing fundamentalism in J & K”
A galaxy of prominent socio-political and security experts participated in the seminar and expressed their views. Various speakers who expressed their opinions regarding the fragile security conditions and fate of minorities in the state included Dr.Ajay Chrungoo,Chairman,Panun Kashmir,Prof.(Dr)M.K.Teng, eminent political scientist and Chairman Advisory, Panun Kashmir, Prof.M.L. Kaul, renowned scholar and writer, Sh.M.M.Khajooria, retired DIG and security expert. Dr.K.L.Choudhary,eminent physician,writer and thinker, Sh.Shailendra Aima,Vice- Chairman,Panun Kashmir and eminent educationist.
While speaking on the occasion,Dr. Ajay Chrungoo said,”The state of Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing the consolidation of the regressive forces who are fed by the religious theo fascism meant to dismantle the edifice of the Indian nation in the state.The direct outcome of this evil machination is the targeting of the non Muslim minorities who are being subjected to the continuous holocaust and genocide. The recent violence in Kishtwar was outcome of the consolidation of the fanatic forces who are heel bent to religiously cleanse the minorities from their habitat so that the secular nation building is compromised to suit the separatist agenda of the exclusivist forces.”
Paying rich tributes to the Martyr’s of the Kashmiri Pandit community and the security forces who laid down their lives to uphold the civilisational values of the Indian nation,he said,” On the Martyr’s Day we pledge ourselves to remember what we were, what has happened to us and what we are.
Today we dedicate ourselves to Collective Memory as the highest value to be preserved and perpetuated so that we are able to improve our present and endeavor to create a new future without a sense of fear or failure.
All these years in exile we have stood up to the forces of exclusion and persecution. Despite odds we have pursued dignity, honour and excellence in exile. We have created a vision to reverse our exile completely and permanently.”
Reiterating the demand for the Homeland with the union territoty status,Dr.Chrungoo said,” It is now beyond doubt to everybody that Panun Kashmir is our politics. Struggle for reclaiming our homeland is the life blood of our survival. It has given us purpose in exile. It has given us respect in exile. It has forced the establishment to provide us sustenance in exile.
Panun Kashmir is a response to Jihad and fundamentalism of any nature. Panun Kashmir is a response to exclusivism. It is a response of a civilisation under assault to stand on its own. Panun Kashmir is a caution to the nation that if a genocide is ignored it only duplicates. The answer to the genocide of a community is not to ignore it or fudge it or trivialize it. The answer to genocide is to reverse it.”

Panun Kashmir is a clarion call to the nation of India to desist from abandoning its civilisational and political frontiers. Panun Kashmir is a movement to stop the nation state from the pursuit of compromises with communalism in the hope of peace.”
Expressing his expert opinion.Dr.M.K.Teng said,”Jammu and Kashmir is the civilisational bulwark of the Indian nation. We are in a state of perpetual war since the partition and what we are witnessing in J and K is the conspiracy to wrest the state from India in the garb of so called freedom struggle in the name of Islami and communal forces have waged war or jihad against the upholders of the Indian nation. The bitter truth is that Pakistan launched an offensive right from the time the partition plan was accepted to balkanize India and recommence the process of a second partition of India by seeking to support Muslim separatism in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Speaking on the human rights violation of the non Muslim minorities in J and K,Dr.teng said,” Four of the 10 million people living in Jammu and Kashmir on the Indian side of the Line of Control are Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. They have as sacrosanct a right on every inch of their land as the six million Muslims have. They are not “bereft of souls”, they also have aspirations, feelings and memories of wrongs. They have been living in the enslavement of a situation created by Pakistan and those who seek freedom for J&K from “Indian occupation.The main agenda of the separatist forces and Pakistan is to open the way for Pakistan to reach the Shivalik plains situated to the west of the river Ravi in the south and the Sanskrit Himalayas in the north. It is a continuous process of the De –Sanskritisation of the Himalayas to dismantle the Northern Frontiers and demolish the Indian nation.”
Prof.M.L.Kaul said,” we are being subjected to communal onslaught and held under siege so that our lifelines are choked and a situation is created like 1990 when the state apparatus failed to safeguard the minorities in Kashmir and religious cleansing was inflicted on the Kashmiri Pandit community,basically its seeds were sown in 1931 when a non state subject Abdul Qadeer from the Frontier region instigated the rebellion and sedition and invoking the majority community of Kashmir to take revenge by persecuting the Hindus of Kashmir and the rest is history.
Our lands ,our habitat has been snatched and we have been rendered homeless foe being the upholders of the ancient Sanskrit civilisation as it acted as the road block for the Semitic religion that thrives on persecution and holocaust of the infidels. The need is to identify the enemy and call spade a spade.”

Sh.M .M.Khajooria said,” We are in a peculiar state as far as the security scenario is concerned.We are witnessing the symptoms of the situation that will unfold when the US forces will exit from the Af-Pak region.The recent spurt in the targeting and killing of the security forces in Kashmir besides infiltration from across the border should make the policy makers wake up and devise the mechanism that nips the evil in the bud.The secessionist forces are getting activated due to the active support of the ISI and Pakistani establishment who are diverting the terrorists into the conflict zone of Jammu and Kashmir to up the ante and shift the focus from the fragile Pakistani locale into this state.There is threat to the security and well being of the nationalist people in Kashmir as has been witnessed recently.Pakistan is working in tandem with its all weather friend China to violate the territorial integrity of India.”
Dr.K.L.Choudhary said,” the social structure of the valley has witnessed tremendous transformation and the radicalization has become the cardinal principle to propagate the communal politics meant to threaten and erase the human and cultural values.The recent incidents of coercion of the minority communities brings to the fore the ruptured social structure. There is no space for the freedom of human and cultural values that are hall marks of the progressive human societies. The minorities in the state have been rendered hostages of the communal forces at the cost of the democracy and secularism.”
Sh.Shailendra Aima said,” we are witnessing a serious challenge to the democratic values as enshrined in the Indian constitution. Secessionist forces are posing a grave challenge to the secular nation building in J and K by subjecting the minorities to gross human rights violations in terms of their right to life and dignity. Subjecting the original inhabitants to genocide and holocaust has become the underlying principle of the communal forces to shrink the nationalist space.There is a premium on separatism and humiliation for Indian nationalism in J & K .Himalaya is in the cusp of the forces who want to dismantle the frontiers of India and the minorities in J and K being the anchors of the Civilisational continuity of the India nation are bearing the brunt of the Islamic jihad and the Chinese imperialism. Indian state is in conflict with the Indian nation and the Indian civilization that has Sanskrit moorings.”
The seminar was ably conducted by Sh.Pyare Lal Raina,well known social activist and educationist from TRT,Muthi.
Sd/-
M.K.Dhar,
Secretary Press,
9906084385
M K Dhar
September 15, 2013
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