Archive for July, 2007
by J.B. Muller
The Island of Sri Lanka in South Asia is inhabited by many different communities of people. These differences range from ethnicity to language spoken to religious affiliation to culture and a broad spectrum of other intangibles.
These differences all contribute to a cosmopolitan society and that means that it is multi- this, that, and the other in a bewildering mixture of ‘markers’ as identities merge and re-emerge.
As numbers go, the largest community is known as the ‘Sinhalese’ and they generally speak Sinhala and follow the Buddhist way-of-life. They are generally divided into Low-country Sinhalese and Kandyan Sinhalese. They also adhere to the caste system especially when it comes to marriage and the latter group more than the former.
Education, political favour, the adoption of Christianity [in one of its several forms], and opportunity worked together to create a class system that made an uneasy bedfellow with the ancient caste hierarchy. As Dr. Kumari Jayawardena puts it so succinctly, ‘Nobodies became Somebodies’ in the 19th Century during the heyday of the Colonial Era.
The Sinhalese are a generally peaceful, unaggressive people with a settled way-of-life. Their social intercourse and religious life are governed by rites and rituals, customs and traditions, and superstitious beliefs as old as Time itself.
Nothing important is done without consulting astrologers, soothsayers, and diviners who would dictate the exact time that anything important should be done, especially marriage. When a child is born, an astrologer is consulted and a horoscope cast that is supposed to foretell the child’s future in detail.
Those things being so, everyone comments favourably on the ever-smiling disposition of the Sinhalese. They are welcoming and hospitable, extremely tolerant [up to a point]. Upper caste Sinhalese are courteous but distant and give the distinct impression that they aren’t as friendly and hospitable as the so-called ‘lower’ castes.
Since Colonial times, they are also very ‘class’ conscious considering themselves to be of the ‘upper crust’ of local society and members of the upper class.
Long association with the Sinhalese reveals another facet of the Sinhalese character: Their lives are weighed down with an unspoken grief, of unrelieved sorrow and a constant fear of the future-tomorrow just might mean sudden death and destruction! This morose or gloomy outlook colours everything they do or say.
Underlying this generally pessimistic outlook is their belief in the Hindu-Buddhist doctrine of Karma or fate and the endless cycle of rebirths it postulates.
That belief is also grounded in the cardinal Buddhist principle that birth is sorrow, life is sorrow, and that death is sorrow-in effect, that life itself is sorrow and the sole endeavour of the human being is to seek escape in Nirvana or nothingness. This system of belief goes to create a melancholic character that finds itself unable to produce spontaneous, ebullient joy.
Indisposed to expressing any form of real happiness, any feeling of satisfaction is controlled by a seriousness of manner that at most, becomes a smile.
Traditionally, their songs are religious; their dancing is homage to either the Buddha or to the innumerable gods they worship, and their music is dedicated to the same purpose.
The entire gamut of what is known as ‘Kandyan,’ ‘Sabaragamuva,’ and ‘Ruhunu-rata’ dancing is religious, much of it to propitiate various gods, evil spirits and demons.
The popular songs of today are a recent phenomenon drawing its inspiration from the secular music and songs of the West, and here again, the melancholic preoccupation with unhappiness and sadness come through strongly: Love, it seems is a tragedy full of sighs and regrets, moans and groans, as this miserable life uncoils painfully in Samsara.
Then, they are extremely artistic and its expression in something as temporary as tender coconut fronds (go- kola) or something more enduring as granite. Whether it is wood carving, textile weaving, terra cotta ware, ivory, bone, horn, silver or gold, the artifacts turned out are beautiful to behold-some exquisitely so. The mind, the eye, and the hand work together in harmony to bring forth rare delicacy in conception and form.
They have painted delicate frescoes of rare attractiveness and composed elegant poetry. The script of the Sinhala language is, perhaps, the most beautiful in the world and it is phonetic in that it could express almost every sound known to man.
Do the Sinhalese possess a sense of humour? Do they crack jokes? Do they play practical jokes on each other? By and large the answer to all three questions is ‘No,’ they are much too serious and take life too seriously for that, usually misunderstanding any humour as a subtle attack on their innate dignity and also as pointless frivolity.
They do not possess restless, peripatetic spirits given to wandering. On the contrary, they are very settled both in their villages and in their ways. Though occupying an island athwart the major shipping routes from ancient times there are no records that witness to the fact that they became a seafaring nation. Their experience of the ocean has always been restricted to coastal fishing. They generally make hopeless employees abroad with their constant sighing for home and family.
The ties of home, family, and the extended family of uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews is very strong and binding and especially those social markers of a birth, of a girl coming of age, of marriage, and death and overlaying all this, that of the self-respect from generation to generation personified in the family name that fixes an individual’s ‘place’ in society.
My good friends, the Sinhalese, have been rudely torn from their age-old moorings by time, circumstance and the relentless march of history. Much like the decline and fall of the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Mayurans, and the Han Chinese, their ancient civilisation was driven into the wilderness by the repeated invasions of the aggressive South Indian dynasties contending for territory, command, and control over potential rivals.
The destruction of the Heartland and the drift to the southwest disrupted the way-of-life that had developed over many centuries. Insular by nature they withdrew into themselves even more and to such an extent that when the Europeans arrived this Island was ruled by many petty princes each claiming to be supreme overlord over the entire Island.
That arrival is the most pivotal event in the modern history of Sri Lanka and it had a profound effect upon all the Sinhalese. Indeed, five hundred years of European domination, each power more dominant than the earlier one has had a telling impact on the life and lifestyle of my good friends, the Sinhalese. Indeed, they have found adjusting to the new order painful and complicated, even onerous in many respects.
The New Order imposed from outside and from above (with the use of force or the threat of force for non-compliance) paid scant respect to their beliefs, rites, rituals, ceremonies, customs, and traditions, all of which were most unceremoniously relegated to the past to be forgotten.
Alien languages, methods of instruction, and new vocations quite foreign to their nature were introduced. Everything from architecture, administration, attire, military structure, land administration, religion, introduction of exotic varieties of flora, cuisine, furniture, dance, drama, lyrics, songs, literature, and system of justice, was introduced and modified where necessary to suit both rulers and ruled.
If anything, the tragedy that has befallen Sri Lanka has awoken them to the ground realities that now obtain and that is that Sri Lanka is irreversibly a multicultural, multireligious, and multilingual polity moving gradually towards a mature, secular democracy that respects human rights.
Though we call ourselves the ‘Democratic, Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,’ my good friends, the Sinhalese prevented this country from truly being that. It could in no wise be called ‘democratic’ if it denies 30 per cent of its population their fundamental human rights. Many segments of that 30 per cent are not represented and their voice is not heard in any forum. It is certainly far from ’socialist’ if we mean the welfare and wellbeing of its entire people.
My good friends, the Sinhalese, should take a long hard look at both their strengths and weaknesses. They should place Mother Lanka first above all narrow, parochial concerns and work to clean up this almighty mess.
When they join all communities to unitedly march to the rhythm of ONE drumbeat, then we’d love to stand, shoulder-to-shoulder with my good friends, the Sinhalese, sing our beautiful National Anthem with resonant voices and really make this ‘that other Eden,’ a ‘land like no other’ in which we could live, love, and die peacefully.
July 31st, 2007
By Major -Gen A. M. U. Seneviratne (Rtd)
It is encouraging to note several articles by professionals as well as journalists appearing on the above subject in the aftermath of the successes in the Eastern Province. If anyone proclaims that the East is devoid of terrorists, it is a wrong assumption. The Karuna fraction which supports the government directly or indirectly is not yet a total political entity that has given up arms. Celebrating successes in battles is not uncommon in Sri Lanka. This euphoria is temporary and will not last long.
Terrorists of all Tamil Eelam groups such as, TELO, EPRLF, LTTE etc. had their tentacles spread all over the Eastern Province. The Tamil population has been sympathizing, supporting and sustaining these small groups for a long period. The LTTE gradually and systematically eliminated their EPRLF and TELO colleagues or won them over. Some of their sympathizers thus became the supporters of the LTTE. Those supporters who opposed the LTTE were either eliminated or went into hiding and supported the Security Forces by providing intelligence.
If you study in detail the composition of the population in the Eastern Province, it is obvious that all those who were oppressed by the LTTE, and who suffered for two decades, including the Muslim population are no doubt now supporting the Government and Security Forces. It is quite obvious that the Government and Security Forces have, already won them over, but not their hearts and minds yet.
Just now winning their hearts and minds is much easier as the Security Forces have won many battles continuously in the East. What the people require is early and positive rehabilitation and meeting of their basic needs to engage in their traditional vocations and industries such as agriculture and fishing. These require the assurance of general security for their villages and for their movement, without being subjected to harassment by the Security Forces or by the remaining pockets of LTTE terrorists.
Past experience in the North and East has proved that the Security Forces who had defeated the LTTE in many major battles were overburdened with the responsibility of providing the essential services required for the population liberated by the Security Forces for protracted periods. This could be done to a certain extent till supply, transport, health and trade areas of the civil administration have safe functional access to the affected areas, but not for long periods as being done now in Jaffna. This task is easier in the East due to much easier access available by road, rail and sea, unlike in the North.
All Civil Administrative Departments of the Centre and the Provinces must mobilize and deploy their men and material immediately in the Eastern Province to give relief to the population affected during the past two decades. The Government may have to do this at the expense of the rest of the country, who should understand the urgency of the requirement and fall in line. Those affected worse may be the people who were with the LTTE in some areas in the Eastern Province. Their children were forcibly recruited; they were taxed to the maximum, their labour forcibly utilized for LTTE logistics. To be free from these burdens and assured that they are now safe from the clutches of the LTTE will definitely turn them towards the Government and Security Forces. The Government must never fail to win them over without pushing them back to the same status as they were under the LTTE.
Some say that the government should not engage combat troops in civil administrative work which is the responsibility of the civil administration. This however, does not mean that they should totally withdraw the troops from the Eastern Province. This could never be done, and I am sure it will never be done.
The top brass are experienced enough to decide on the quantum of troops required for the Eastern Province to meet the exigencies and maintain and consolidate the areas liberated in the recent past. The intelligence and surveillance aspects cannot be over-emphasized.
The government servants in the East who have been working under the LTTE for two decades too have to be won over. They cannot be categorized totally as LTTE sympathizers, since they had no choice but to work under the LTTE in the absence of control of the Government. I am aware under the barrel of the LTTE, surgeons of the government hospitals operated on LTTE casualties, the fisheries officials distributed boats and nets supplied by the Government only to pro-LTTE fisher folk. Government officers often did only work allocated to them by the LTTE; using government funds. Of course, many such government officers also, would have benefited personally. Sorting out the past mess is time consuming and is not meant to penalize, and further alienate those errant officers. Treat them impartially and be fair in all dealings with them without taking revenge.
The Rehabilitation of the Eastern Province which involves the reconstruction of thousands of houses damaged during the war, repair and reconstruction of the infrastructure such as roads and rail, the power distribution, tanks and network of irrigation canals, the hospitals and schools which are essential for the people is going to cost the government a colossal amount of money. Since the funds generated from within the country will not be sufficient to meet the massive demand, invariably we will have to look for the donor countries, of whom some have already suspended their flow of funds, under the pretext of the human rights issue. Donors are bound to demand transparency in all such dealings. The government will have to be cautious and carefully account for all such funds received, either on a long term credit basis or as outright donations.
The questionable foreign NGOs who are already in the scene too will be involved in the rehabilitation work. The government will have to monitor their activities more closely without antagonizing them, as they too are agents of many Western donor countries. The present ground situation will not allow some NGOs to be partial in their activities as happened in the past.
The task ahead for the Government and Security Forces is arduous, urgent and important. Missing this golden opportunity is going to cost the country heavily, if not, tackled seriously and effectively without delay. Politicizing this situation is going to bring disastrous results to all communities particularly in the East and to the rest of the country in general.
July 31st, 2007
by M.S.M. Ayub
Days back the Government website had carried an interesting news item on much talked about liberation of the eastern Province. Here are some paragraphs of it.
“High ranking military officials in the East said that Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces proved their dedication and capabilities in liberating the innocent Tamils from the jaws of terrorists with the capture of the East including its nerve centre – Thoppigala. They said it is now the responsibility of the Government to give the Tamils a solution to end the national conflict.”
“The officials said it was high time for the Government to win the trust of the ordinary Tamils by providing them with their basic needs and ensuring their right to life .”
“The facilities in the East should be upgraded to win the hearts and minds of the Tamils. We know that the majority of them do not want war and they are sick of war,” said a high ranking army officer.
So many questions may be raised politically as well as journalistically on this news item. Who these military officials are is one question that might be raised journalistically, because it has not been attributed to any specific source, while in a political sense one might question the right of the military officials to talk politics by calling upon the Government to bring about a political solution and to ensure the people’s right to life.
Whether military officials have a right to talk politics or not the essence of the message given in the news item is not only interesting but also vital. Merely taking the Eastern Province by military means will not serve the Government’s effort in uniting the country and solving the ethnic problem. In other words not only a part of the country was held by a group of rebels, but also a majority or a sizable section of the people in North and East are in the psychological clutches of anti- establishment thinking and secessionism. They have to be won over by the Government.
Unless this happens heavy infiltration into or sometimes recapture of the areas in the east currently held by the Government, by the Tiger rebels is imminent as the people disgruntled by lack of facilities and the feeling of being neglected and alienated is a fertile cultivating ground for any insurgent movement. The situation in the East is far worse with tens of thousands of refugees languishing in camps and various armed groups haunting the areas.
In a legal perspective military officials may not have right to talk politics, but as the human beings who shed their blood to keep the country united, they have, or they must have the moral right to express their views on the conflict as well as the solution to the problem.
Government calls the clearing of the Eastern Province of LTTE control as “liberating the innocent Tamils from the jaws of terrorists”. But do the very same ordinary innocent Tamils in the province presume that they have been liberated by the security forces from the jaws of terrorists? Or have they been offended by the defeat of Tamil rebels by the “Sinhalese Security forces”?
This is a matter very difficult to understand by the people outside the eastern Province for it is not demonstrated in any print or electronic media. The general Tamil thinking seems to go against the Government’s official thinking. Not a single Tamil newspaper has carried so far any news item or feature article that hails the “liberating of Tamils from the jaws of Terrorism” or that manifests any endorsement of it by the ordinary Tamil people.
It is true that the Tamil political parties such as Douglas Devananda’s Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), and former LTTE Eastern leader Vinayagamoorthi Muralidharan alias Karuna’s Tamil Makkal Vidudalai Pulikal (TMVP) which are arch enemies of the LTTE praised the capture of Thoppigala by the security forces a few days ago. But given the fact that their very survival necessitates the defeat of the Tigers, their applause to Government’s military victories does not necessarily amount to be that of the ordinary Tamils.
A refugee child in an advertisement placed in newspapers probably by an NGO last week questions as to why “we are still languishing in camps if they (Govt.) celebrate our liberation”. Liberating the eastern province does not equate with resolving all woes of war overnight, therefore the contents of this advertisement is incorrect in practical sense, but it calls the immediate attention of the Govt. towards the plight of the people affected by the war. And it may represent for some extent the psyche of the ordinary Tamils in the east.
Although the war in the North and East is carried on between Government troops and the Tiger rebels the underlying ethnic representation of the two belligerent parties is undeniable, and it sometimes manifestly surfaces. For instance, almost all who have come down to Colombo all the way from Jaffna to escape the horror of the war or sometimes even to protect their children from conscription by the LTTE, hope that the Tigers have the upper hand in a particular battle against the Govt. forces.
This is partially due to the alienating- attitude of some security personnel and the Government officials towards them and more so due to their inner urge based on being members of a particular race-Tamil. This is the case with the Sinhalese except for those who are possessed with party politics. And it may apply to the Eastern Tamils as well.
But some might argue that the regional differences between Northern and Eastern Tamils would make it easier for the Government to win them over. These differences had been overshadowed for decades by the fact that Northern and Eastern Tamil leaders voiced and fought together against the state.
When the issue of merger of Northern and Eastern provinces was being hotly debated in mid eighties the then Minister of Home Affairs and Member of Parliament for Kalkudah electorate in Batticaloa district KW Devanayagam said at a press conference that the easterners would be “drawers of water and heavers of wood” to the Northerners if the two provinces would be merged. This was again raised after two decades by Karuna when he parted with Pirapaharan’s leadership in April, 2004. He charged that out of the thirty top positions in the LTTE hierarchy none has been conferred to an Easterner and he said that eastern rebels have to sacrifice their lives in the North whereas only a few Northern rebels have died in clashes in the East.
However, people usually don’t come to conclusions on the basis of facts alone, they try to understand the world through their presumptions and perceived ideologies. Tamils would not initially accept whatever the Government’s services and solutions would be. They will see them through their perceptions and ideologies. The three decades of anti- Sinhalese and anti- Government separatist campaign may definitely have its impact on the ordinary Tamils in the East. Furthermore the innate communal feelings may mix with it culminating in infusing the people the impression of a “conquered people” as SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem said last week in the face of soldiers standing in every nook and corner in their towns and villages.
Therefore winning the hearts and minds of the Tamil people in the East is going to be a gigantic task which the Government would not be able to accomplish merely by providing them with their basic needs and ensuring their right to life or upgrading facilities or giving the Tamils a solution to end the national conflict. Government must have the support of the people even to provide them with their basic needs and to upgrade facilities.
Initially people in the areas that were under LTTE control for a considerable period of time, will fear to be branded as stooges of the Government by the Tiger supporters and then the Government will face the problem of selling its services and solutions to the people in the language that could be understood by the people. Winning hearts and minds of the people has to be carried out in the language of the people concerned. This is a challenge in which almost all Governments have failed.
[Courtesy: Daily Mirror]
July 30th, 2007
By Kapila Vidayabhushana
In July 1983, Sri Lanka was darkened by the clouds of ethnic hatred. Thousands of minority Tamils were killed and their property looted by the majority Sinhalese following an attack on the armed forces by the newly emerging Tamil Tigers. This resulted in one of the longest civil wars in modern history. After 24 years Sri Lankan academic Kapila Vidyabhushana looks at the socio-economic background for the killings and questions whether the conditions in Sri Lanka has changed to enable a negotiated settlement. He is representative of UK Solidarity for Peace campaign in Sri Lanka.
Horrific memories of the violence that was unleashed upon Tamil minority of Sri Lanka in 1983 are still haunting in the minds of those who suffered. Since then thousands of articles must have been written, defining this scenario. This can have many interpretations that may vary from one end to another. Is it merely a genocidal act as some people interpret? Or, is it an act of Sinhalese hooligans who were guided by racist politicians? This article does not intend to analyze the history but the politico economic background of the ethnic hatred that paved the way to create this catastrophe and its parallels with the present day politico economic crisis.
As far as the post independence economic system is concerned the whole of Sri Lankan economy had shown characteristics of a mixed economy. Most of all, regardless of the existing government, it was committed to safeguard at least the minimum welfare of the people. The major welfare programs such as free health care, free education from primary to university level continued since they were introduced and no government dared to reduce the expenditure on these welfare programs. According to Renowned Sri Lankan Economist S Abeyrathne the total recurrent and capital expenditure on welfare services accounted for over one-fourth of total government expenditure in the 1950s and the 1970s. Nobel laureate Amirthya Sen highlighted Sri Lanka’s achievement to show that, even in a relatively poor country, it was possible to meet ‘basic needs’ of the population through targeted state intervention.
Even though governments managed the welfare system more sensibly, post independent economic policy of Sri Lanka has had many shortcomings that stagnated the development of forces of production. Almost every government has given less emphasis on industrialization and investments on infrastructural facilities. Pre and post independent governments mainly focused on agricultural development of the country without taking in to consideration inherent limitations of plantation sector as a main source of revenue. To overcome this economic stagnation, in the late seventies, strongly supported by the IMF and the World Bank, Sri Lanka has pioneered economic liberalization in South Asia implementing a comprehensive market-oriented economic reform program. In order to come out of economic stagnation, almost every proponent of laissez-faire economy regarded re – orientation of the economic structure as the only way to boost economic and industrial growth.
As a devoted follower of International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the United National Party (UNP) government led by J R Jayewardena, brought to power in 1977 was all out to obey the terms and conditions that these financial regulators have set in order to grant development aid. Most of aid and donations were conditional and among the conditions trade and exchange rate liberalization was significant. Following these conditions the government removed most of the domestic price controls. This was a severe blow to small and medium scale entrepreneurs leading to the closure of many local industries unable to compete with imported goods.
Conditions were set to curtail expenditure on welfare programs as such as free education and transport system subsidized by the government. It also curbed many social welfare programs such as consumer subsidies, including the one on the ordinary man’s staple cereal, rice.
Government also implemented enormous Public Sector Investment Programs (PSIP), These were partly financed by domestic resources. These PSIP were not implemented merely on economical objectives. They had political motives. Despite foreign aid, these investments generated large budget deficits that resulted in high inflation. As Dunham,D & Jayasuriya(1996) point out, while benefits of the New Economic Strategy of UNP Government inevitably had a long gestation period, many of the costs (employment losses in previously protected industries or the inability to provide ‘public goods and services’ as had been the case in the past) were felt very immediately.
With implementing the neo liberal market oriented economy that disrupted the livelihood of majority of people, the UNP government had to face many repercussions. These circumstances had created conditions for a socio political upheaval and it is possible to assume that J R Jayawardena who mastered the skill of political maneuvering must have foreseen this. The political opposition could have come from many spheres; it could have come in the guise of youth unrest due to unemployment and frustration created by marginalised. It might also heighten the national liberation struggle of Tamils
In order to overcome the possible opposition he acquired many weapons. Firstly, manipulation of the constitution to stay in power; secondly, the repression of political opposition. As the government already had 5/6 majority in the parliament it was not hard to manipulate the constitution. The Neo Degaullian constitution introduced in 1978 empowered president Jayewardena with all the constitutional weapons similar to the Weimer constitution that empowered Adolph Hitler. As a result of coalition politics no left-wing party was represented in the parliament. But there was only one possibility of opposition to the government which was from the working class movement. Therefore, the whole burden of standing against the destructive economic policies of the UNP government had to be borne by the Working class movement.
This epitomized In July 1980, by public sector employees endeavoring to resist the cuts in their living standards through strike action. Political opposition to these measures was brutally repressed. The UNP lead government was triumphant. The defeat of the working class movement has created another watershed in the political life of the country. Apart from fighting for the rights of working masses, the working class movement fought for the rights of the Tamil Speaking people.
By that time there could be seen signs of upheavals from north as well as from south. Due to the fact that the Political Left has been forced to retreat, the real politico economic basis of the struggle had come to the forefront in the guise of nationalism. The revival of Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in the 1982 presidential elections was an eyesore to the regime because JRJ knew it was not simply a representation of JVP voters themselves but a manifestation of growing hostility in the South towards the Market oriented economic system as well. Frustration towards the worsening socioeconomic conditions has boosted the Tamil Liberation struggle and this environment had created an ideal condition for a semi fascist dictatorship. Instead of dealing with the real social, economic problems created by the Market Oriented economy, JRJ resorted to Nazi Tactics in order to deal with the growing threat to the regime. He cleverly manipulated the cultural politic of Sinhalese Chauvinism and took advantage of the rising Tamil Liberation struggle to deviate the growing enmity from the south towards the regime. In july1983 the politico economic volcano created by the neo liberal market oriented economic policy of JRJ & Company erupted as genocide against the Tamils.
The intrinsic nature of the neo liberal economic policy is its failure to resolve the problems of developing countries. History has demonstrated that politicians without appropriate methodology to overcome this chaos will necessarily resort to the worst methods possible. This reality has been proven again in Sri Lanka in1983. It is clear that the 1983 incident is not simply a genocidal act but a political drama directed by a semi fascist dictator. Politicians are not the only people who are responsible for the 1983 incident. There are several other factors behind it.
Free elections in 1932 under Germany’s Weimar Republic made the Nazi party the largest parliamentary faction. One can argue that the German people were partially responsible for the disaster created by Hitler. Likewise those who venerated the myth of the supremacy of Sinhalese nation creating a fertile ground to sow seeds of chauvinism are too partially responsible for the 1983 atrocities.
As a result of Coalition Politics of the Sri Lankan left, it was swept away from the parliament as well as the social movements paving the way to a semi fascist dictatorship.
The retreat of the working class movement after the collapse of the 1980 general strike has weakened it as a defender of minorities. In other words, the non existence of a stable social movement with a strong ideology was the main reason for the eruption of the 1983 Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka.
In the present context it is obvious that the economic chaos in Sri Lanka has gone from bad to worse. Once again, instead of finding a solution to overcome the economic chaos almost all political parties are resorting to Sinhalese Buddhist chauvinism in the name of crushing the Tamil Liberation Struggle and putting the whole country to sheer economic chaos. Given the absence of a strong social movement with a politico economic vision that can bring a resolution for the economic chaos created by the neo Liberal economic policies, the repetition of atrocities whipped up by ethnic hatred is unavoidable. (ENDS)
Kapila Vidayabhushana-Solidarity for Peace
e-mail : S4PSL@aol.com
July 30th, 2007
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam was assassinated by the LTTE on July 29th 1999. Though eight years have passed his memory remains evergreen among all those who loved and admired him. This article was first published in two parts in the “Sunday Times” of Sep 12th and 19th , 1999. It was written originally in a bid to combat the cowardly attacks vilifying Neelan after his death. It is reproduced again as tribute to Neelan’s memory.
The ‘Tamil Times’ is a monthly journal being published in London from January 1982. It departed from tradition for the first time in 18 years and devoted the entire contents of its August issue towards the assassination of distinguished Tamil politician Neelan Tiruchelvam.
Though not described as a memorial number the entire issue – apart from advertisements – published news items, comments and articles on Dr. Tiruchelvam’s death. Even the editorial was transformed into a miscellany of notable quotes about him. The cover too was a montage of Dr. Tiruchelvam’s images. In the dark cloud of silence that has enveloped mainstream Tamils after Dr. Tiruchelvam’s killing the deviant action of the Tamil Times stands out as a silver lining.
Ever since Dr. Tiruchelvam was brutally assassinated on July 29 in Colombo the civilised world has been reacting in horror and disgust, messages of sympathy have been pouring in from all corners of the globe. US President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Azworthy, Australian Foreign Minister Graham Downer, Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswanth Singh are but some of the prominent personalities who have condemned the killing and paid tribute to Dr. Tiruchelvam’s memory.
Organisations such as the Amnesty International, Minority Rights Group and International Commission of Jurists, too, have done so. What is remarkable about this is that Dr. Tiruchelvam was neither a head of state nor even a government minister. Only personalities of that ilk have been recipients of such accolades in the past.
The tributes paid by a cross section of the world’s eminent statespersons, political leaders, academics, human rights activists, scholars, jurists and intellectuals illustrate the multi- dimensional attributes of the remarkable person that was Neelan. The Tamil Times issue in that sense is a glowing testimony to the calibre of a gentle person whose death has evoked world-wide eulogies steeped in very high quality. This spontaneous response of a near universal and greater nature however has to be juxtaposed with another reaction that is particular and to some extent lesser.
This response or non- response, whether contrived or otherwise is best illustrated by Nirupama Subramaniam’s perceptive report in the ‘Indian Express’ of August 3. She says, “Tiruchelvam’s senseless killing may have outraged the world, but Sri Lanka’s Tamil community, which has mortgaged its soul to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) remains unmoved and unprotesting. While there have been no calls from anyone in the Tamil community except the former militant groups, specifically condemning the LTTE for the killing, the justifications have begun”.
Nirupama, who incidentally hails from Tamil Nadu in India, goes on to cite instances of this. Among these are details of conversation among Tamils at a book launch in Wellawatte. This is what the Colombo Correspondent of the ‘Indian Express’ wrote: “According to those present at the function many justified the killing on the grounds that Dr. Tiruchelvam was close to the government. The general feeling was that while alive Dr. Tiruchelvam made no positive contribution to the Tamil cause, and his death made no difference to the community, a lawyer present at the function reported”.
These sentiments allegedly expressed by sections of the Colombo Tamil community are indeed outrageously wrong and callously insensitive. They are however symptomatic of a deep-seated malaise that has afflicted the Sri Lankan Tamil community. While the silent majority among them remain overtly detached and non-committal, a vociferously vituperative minority continues to attack and character assassinate a man who has already been assassinated.
In the case of Dr. Tiruchelvam one is able to discern all the signs of blaming-the-victim syndrome and also, to borrow a phrase from Indian commentator Praful Bidwai, manifestations of ‘victimising the victim’ itself. While he was alive Dr. Tiruchelvam was the pet target of direct and indirect Tiger propaganda. Almost every Tiger organ within and outside Sri Lanka dished out venomous and hateful news and comments about him. The LTTE poet laureate Puthuvai Rathinadurai writing under the pseudonym Viyaasan wrote hate poetry ceaselessly against him. Several others, including some Tiger fellow travellers who had their petty pickaxes to grind, also followed suit.
Many persons with different motives hitched their wagons to the LTTE star. An easy way to curry favour or avoid Tiger displeasure was to attack a vulnerable target. The inoffensive democrat that he was Neelan Tiruchelvam fitted the bill. Thus the past four or five years have seen a cacophony of diatribes against him. Most prominent among them was a distinguished. Tamil politician whose lifelong ambition of being a Parliamentarian has been consistently rejected by Tamil voters.
A Tamil tabloid published in Colombo also plays a negative role in this regard. This weekly led and continues to lead the media hound pack in a vicious campaign against Dr. Tiruchelvam. The king pin is an ex-militant turned Tamil parliamentarian from a Tamil party. This tabloid has contributed greatly towards undermining Dr. Tiruchelvam’s image among Tamils.
Many years ago before the LSSP aligned with the SLFP, Sirima Bandaranaike referred to N. M. Perera in Sinhala as the man who ‘nomaraa maru’ her late husband. This was in reference to the Trotskyite leader’s sustained campaign of political strikes against S.W.R.D Bandaranaike. Likewise this tabloid too can be accused in Tamil of ‘Kollaamal Kondra’ in the case of Neelan. The lone assassin standing at the Rosmead Place-Kynsey Road intersection destroyed only Dr. Tiruchelvam’s body. But as far as the Tamil reading public was concerned Dr. Tiruchelvam’s political reputation had been exterminated before.
What is repugnantly repulsive about the situation is that the vilification of Dr. Tiruchelvam continues among sections of the Tamils even after his death. As was the case before his death most of this maligning is based on a wholesale distortion of truth. The Tamil people who like to boast of their millennia old cultural legacy seem oblivious to the fact that one of their hallowed values is being violated in the most disgusting way.
The age old custom of not vilifying a dead person is being flouted flagrantly in the most foul manner. It must be noted that the LTTE weekly ‘Eelamurasu’ published in Paris too was constrained to preface a critique of Dr. Tiruchelvam with a public apology to the readers for dishonoring the Tamil cultural tradition of speaking ill of the dead.
The Tamil tabloid in Colombo has been publishing despicable news and views about Dr. Tiruchelvam after his death too. The man who was assassinated brutally is now being character assassinated relentlessly. That a paper which claims to be the largest selling Tamil weekly can go on denigrating a dead person who cannot defend himself speaks volumes about the socio-cultural morass the Tamil community has sunk into. The abysmal nadir in this respect however has been reached by ‘vocal Warriors’ of upper crust Tamil society.
The various pro-LTTE websites, e-mail exchanges and English journals have been publishing various articles criticising Dr. Tiruchelvam after his death. Some of these written by ‘prominent’ but not necessarily eminent Tamils have been collected as part of a single web page in the New York Tamil Sangam website. It is a good indicator to gauge the depths of depravity the Sri Lankan Tamils have descended to. All decent people will be appalled by the incredibly vitriolic attacks defiling the memory of an intellectual giant whose only ‘crime’ was to strive for a peaceful settlement.
The New York Tamil Sangam is in many ways a front for the LTTE in the USA. Nevertheless the office bearers and most members are acknowledged professionals from the cream of Tamil society. Yet they are able to indulge in a vulgar exhibition that offends all canons of decency.
Worse still are the motley crew of demolition experts writing about Dr. Tiruchelvam. They are supposedly members of the Sri Lankan Tamil elite. Some are alumni of Oxford and Cambridge; some have dined and wined at the inns of Lincoln, Gray, Inner and Middle Temple; some have Ph.Ds from the prestigious universities of the west. Yet they have all like Caesar’s enemies ‘drawn their swords separately to strike jointly’ in a revolting display of necrophobia.
A Tamil poet described them succinctly ‘Savathukku Mele Moothiram Peyyurangal’ (They are urninating on a corpse). What is deplorable about this sordid affair is that many of these people are old Royalists and Thomians who knew Dr. Tiruchelvam personally and had at various times obtained favours from him too.
One’s disgust increases even more when these Tamil websites pat themselves on their backs by publishing congratulatory responses from readers over the articles published.
These responding readers range from retired UN experts to nuclear scientists, from Catholic priests to university lecturers. How is it that such ‘educated’ people subjected to the emancipator aspects of modern Western society and claiming to be the legatee of an ancient and honorable culture violate the basic tenets of decent conduct?
It is almost as if impelled by a desire to ingratiate themselves with their masters, the LTTE, each one is standing up to be counted by the Tigers as having approved their action. In a bid to ingratiate with the LTTE, the diatribe authors are competing among themselves, too. One of them has published his ‘masterpiece’ as a glossy booklet and is distributing it free by post to sections of the Tamil Diaspora.
In contrast to this gutter sniping is the conspicuous public silence of other Tamils. Except for a few, most Tamils have neither condemned the killing nor expressed their appreciation of Dr. Tiruchelvam openly. It is this ‘deafening silence’ that is being interpreted by certain elements as a ’sanction’ of the assassination. The truth however is that as Nirupama Subramaniam expresssed it well “Tamil souls have been mortgaged to the LTTE”. In many cases it is a mortal fear of the LTTE that has contributed to this non-committal behaviour.
There have been several instances of people condemning the killing in private but not daring to say so in public. Some who have been critical about the killing when conversing with trusted confidantes have performed somersaults publicly. In our villages there is a habit of not mentioning the snake or devil by name. This is because of the fear that some harm would befall them as these personify evil. Similarly the Tamil psyche too does not dare mention the LTTE by name let alone criticise it. The naive belief is that by avoiding public comments against the LTTE they could ward off possible danger from it. If only all those Tamils who are well aware of Dr. Tiruchelvam’s positive and dedicated role in the sphere of achieving Tamil rights dared to articulate their feelings publicly!
What a qualitative difference it would make to the current climate. But no, the evil within exerts a stranglehold on the collective vocal chords of the community. So Dr. Tiruchelvam’s detractors are able to create and promote the impression that he was a traitor who had to be eliminated.
The assassination of Dr. Tiruchelvam and its aftermath serve to portray vividly the totalitarian hold exercised by the LTTE over the collective conscience of the Tamil community. An entity with neo – fascist tendencies and is accountable to none has appropriated the leadership of the Tamil people. The right to express a different viewpoint let alone dissent is effectively tabooed. Again what a vortex the community has been sucked into.
The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils are Saivites. The right of dissent is an age old Saivite Tamil tradition.
One of the great ‘Thiruvilaiaadals’ (Great Divine Feats) by Lord Siva pertains to Nakkeeran the Madurai poet who composed the ‘Tirumurugaattuppadai’. There arose a doubt in the mind of the Pandyan King as to whether the fragrance of his queen’s hair was natural or artificial. Lord Siva in an avatar wrote a stanza saying it was natural. The King concurred. But Nakkeeeran the head of the Tamil Sangham or Academy objected. He said it was artificial. Lord Siva began arguing with Nakkeeran and finally revealed himself and expected submission from the poet.
But Nakkeeran refused and continued to say Lord Siva’s opinion was wrong. Then Lord Siva threatened to open his third eye in the forehead and burn Nakkeeran. Still Nakkeeran was unrelenting saying ‘Nettrikkann Thirappinum Kuttram Kuttrame’ (Even if you open your third eye your opinion is wrong). An angry Siva burnt him to ashes but later relented and resurrected Nakkeeran restoring him to grace.
The Nakkeeran episode has come to represent the courageous tradition of dissent within the Tamil ethos. Today like many other things the tradition and right of dissent too have been exploded by the barbaric hordes masquerading as Tamil saviours.
Given the tremendous transnational condemnation over Dr. Tiruchelvam’s killing, it is easy to discern why the LTTE and its minions have to keep on character assassinating the man even after killing him. These attempts though despicable are in a sense feebly pathetic. Even as torrents of enlightened world opinion pour down in condemnation of the LTTE, a small group tries hard to vilify Dr. Tiruchelvam and justify his killing. Again this will succeed to a limited extent only among certain shades of Tamil opinion.
Subramaniya Bharathy the great Tamil poet of early twentieth century when glorifying the Tamil language sang ‘Maraivaaga Namakkul Palangkathaigal Pesei Payanillai, Thiramaana Pulamaienil Velinaattar Athai Vanakkam Seithal Vendum’ (There is no use in talking about past matters among ourselves, if possessing merit it must be praised by foreigners) .
Although this was in reference to the merits of Tamil, it also applies to Neelan Tiruchelvam and his Tamil detractors. While these so- called pseudo nationalist Tamils character-assassinate Tiruchelvam within the Tamils, International opinion that matters continues to respect and honour his life and work.
Contrary to the viewpoint that he worked against Tamil interests, Tiruchelvam was a man who had dedicated himself to the upliftment of the Tamils and the redressing of their grievances. Only unlike many of his abrasive and chauvinist kinsfolk he possessed a larger vision which realised that the ultimate well-being of the Sri Lankan Tamils was possible only in a united but not necessarily unitary Sri Lanka where all communities including that of his own could co-exist in a climate of peace, amity and harmony with justice, equality and dignity.
Despite being maligned by extremist sections on both sides of the ethnic divide he strove relentlessly to achieve this goal until a misguided suicide bomber cut short a fruitful life on that fateful day.
It would indeed be a grave error for Tamils to feel that Tiruchelvam was not concerned about the Tamil plight or depict his principled issue-based support to the Kumaratunga regime’s endeavour at Constitutional reform as a collaborative act.
He was a moderate in terms of his adherence to democratic principles and abhorrence of violence. A salient aspect of his political philosophy was illustrated during his speech in Parliament on June 15 this year, opposing Capital Punishment.
He said “I would like to express my strong moral opposition to this measure…. we cannot glorify death, whether in the battlefield or otherwise. We on the other hand must celebrate life and are fiercely committed to protecting and securing the sanctity of life, which is the most fundamental value without which all other rights and freedoms become meaningless.”
This principled opposition to the politics of death, displacement and despair certainly did not make him a devotee of what is now described as the dominant mode of the Tamil political struggle.
By his courageous and honest refusal to pay lip service to the so called armed struggle Tiruchelvam placed himself in the unenviable position of being perceived by the proponents of Tamil virulence as an opponent of Tamil rights. Of course other Tamil elements with their own petty axes to grind promoted this perception and projected Neelan in a negative light.
The crux of the matter is that Tiruchelvam was certainly not a moderate when it came to Tamil rights. By character, training and inclination he chose Constitutional reform as the mode of achieving it.
Ranging from the time he wrote a dissenting report to the conclusions of the Victor Tennekoon Commission on Devolution to his efforts at Constitution making in association with the People’s Alliance Government he has never ever compromised on the fundamental rights of the Tamils.
He was a Constitutionalist but like the founding fathers of the USA, a revolutionary constitutionalist. The Tamil pseudo-nationalists criticising the draft constitution as a ’sell out of the Tamils’ are yet to present a coherent and effective critique on those lines. The draft in its original form was a path breaking exercise amounting to quasi- federalism in the entire South Asian region.
On the other hand the mirror images of the Tamil hawks within the Sinhala community seem to have identified the Constitution in the making as a potential threat to Sinhala chauvinist hegemony in the Island and until the time of his death were bitterly critical of Tiruchelvam. A point lost on his Tamil detractors.
Unlike many prominent Tamils who seem wittingly or unwittingly oblivious to the tragic Tamil predicament Tiruchelvam was a man very much concerned about it.
Since political hypocrisy was not one of his attributes Tiruchelvam realised that the establishment of Tamil Eelam was neither desirable nor attainable. The pursuit of such a mirage through a violent compaign could only result in long term misery for the Tamils he felt.
The fact that the arena of conflict was primarily the Northern and Eastern Provinces meant hardship and suffering of the highest order for the Tamils. Besides he was very worried about the dispersal of the Tamil community from their areas of historic habitation and their consequent relocation to other parts of the world.
‘It is this permanent migration that would be the most detrimental factor to the well-being of the Tamils in Sri Lanka’ was a constant comment of his. A reduction of numbers would result in diminished political importance he felt. In that context a letter by former Central Bank Governor N.U. Jayawardena that was published in a Colombo newspaper some time ago is relevant.
Mr. Jayawardene in that pointed out two things. First he said that the Sri Lankan population would achieve zero growth by 2025 and stabilise itself. Second given the current rate of Sri Lankan Tamil outward migration its population percentage at that time would be only 1.9%. As such it would become a ‘Manageable minority’ was NUJ’s conclusion.
The drastic long term effect of the conflict on the Sri Lankan Tamils is something that is either not realised or willfully ignored by the ‘Vocal Warriors’ of the Tamil Eelam armed struggle. The question of whether the LTTE will win or lose the war becomes irrelevant in a situation where the Tamil population itself would become a feeble entity as it is already becoming.
Those who proclaim triumphantly from their safe abodes overseas that the LTTE cannot be militarily defeated must ask themselves whether such a possibility falls within the objectives of their so called ‘enemy’. The longer the conflict rages on the more the economy of the Tamil areas decline. Population decreases. In the final analysis the Tamil war that began with a bang will decay into a pathetic whimper.
There was also the factor of geopolitical reality that was against the birth of a Tamil state on the Island. However much the sacrifice and valour of the Tigers there was just no way they could achieve their goal in the long run. For these reasons and more Neelan Tiruchelvam was among those actively involved in trying to get the war suspended.
He was also working diligently behind the scenes to get the government to resume talks with the LTTE. Tiruchelvam felt that only third party facilitation initially and subsequent mediation would succeed. This view that the war should end and talks with the Tigers should be initiated did not endear him to many sections of the government.
This coupled with his uncompromising stance on constitutional issues like changing the unitary structure of the state led to deteriorating relations between him and the upper echelons of the current regime. After his death many government figures are painting a glossy yet untrue picture of the situation that prevailed.
Tiruchelvam wanted talks between the government and LTTE for another reason too. He was realistic enough to know that the major player on the Tamil side was the LTTE. Because of their destructive capacity only the Tigers possessed bargaining clout that could extract maximum rights for the Tamils at the bargaining table he felt.
Besides there was a humane aspect too. Though he did not agree with their aims or methods Tiruchelvam had a great deal of compassion and sympathy for the young cadres of the LTTE sacrificing themselves on the altar of Eelam. ‘It was a needless waste of young lives for an unwinnable cause’ he felt.
Although he has been demonised as a Tamil traitor working against the LTTE, history will record in the future that such charges were way off the mark. Although many Tamils are unable to see it now there will come a time when posterity will acknowledge and realise the value and importance of Neelan’s current role.
The allegations made by Tamil sections against Tiruchelvam can be effectively countered only with the passage of time. In an environment where enlightened global opinion appreciates Tiruchelvam’s positive role, it may seem incongruous to pay particular attention to the negative reaction among a section of the Tamils.
Nevertheless the fact remains that though the man was a citizen of the world he was rooted in the Tamil ethos. It would have been simple and indeed safer for him to ignore the Tamil plight and involve himself with other issues. Nevertheless he remained concerned and tried in every way possible to prescribe a political remedy that would cure the malady.
It is therefore necessary that attempts be made to salvage his unfairly tarnished reputation among the Tamils. A start could be made perhaps by publishing the various Parliamentary Speeches he made and the memoranda he wrote on behalf of the Tamils. Also his role in Tamil politics should be placed in proper perspective.
Neelan Tiruchelvam’s loss is irreplaceable and his life cannot be redeemed. But what can be done is to redeem his tarnished name among sections of the Tamil people.
The bard of Avon in his immortal classic dramatises the eloquent oratory of Mark Anthony. Though Brutus and his cohorts had influenced public opinion to revile Julius Caesar, Anthony reverses the situation through adressing the people in that famous oration which begins: ‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen’
Likewise the good name of Neelan has to be salvaged and restored for posterity. This is the least that can be done for this gentle and noble soul who was indeed goodness personified while living.
July 29th, 2007
By Dr K Chandradeva
The twentieth anniversary of the arrival of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in the North-East of Sri Lanka falls on the 30th July 2007. On this occasion I gratefully admire and remember those fine Indian soldiers who helped me in saving the life of a young Tamil mother who was gravely ill and fighting for her life in the outskirts of Trincomalee.
One afternoon in April 1988, I was travelling from Colombo to Trincomalee on a bus and it was getting dark as we reached the outskirts of Thamapalakamam – a beautiful traditional Tamil village. Our bus was stopped by IPKF soldiers at one of their mini-camps. A soldier came into the bus, inquired whether there was a doctor amongst the passengers and I offered to help. He took me to a young Tamil woman who was lying on the lawn just outside the camp and her husband was standing next to her holding a new born baby. The soldier said to me that he could not understand Tamil and left me to assess the ailing mother. I talked to the husband and briefly assessed his wife. She had had a home-delivery a week ago and during the last few days had developed severe lower tummy pain. Her pulse was very feeble and rapid and she was semi-conscious. Birth canal infection with severe septic shock was my diagnosis and I put it to the soldier that immediate resuscitation and hospitalisation were mandatory.
[IPKF Troops during the final withdrawal from the Island-Pic:bharat-rakshak]
The soldier rushed into the camp and returned with his captain. The captain offered a military jeep and asked if I could escort and resuscitate her during the journey to the hospital. I accepted his request and within minutes we were on our way to the Trincomalee Hospital. Just before I got into the jeep the captain gave me a military first-aid box. I commenced an intravenous drip and gave her oxygen and managed to take her to the hospital alive. Having admitted her I came out of the hospital and found the soldiers were still there waiting for me. Their captain had advised the soldiers to escort me home.
At home, I boasted to my older sister how I had saved the life of a young mother with a little baby. To my surprise and horror she responded in apprehension, “the boys are going to harass us for collaborating with the IPKF”. My sister’s fear clearly reminded me that the so-called boys were in the process of enforcing nothing but utter suicidal strategy on the Tamil population in collaboration with the Premadasa &Co.
Two days later, I visited my patient at the hospital and found that she had made a good recovery. Without the magnanimous generosity of those fine and professional soldiers I have no doubt that the little baby would have lost her mother. To my pleasant surprise, I realised that the soldiers humanely helped this young Tamil mother though they had already lost approximately 800 of their comrades and another 1000 wounded till that time in the conflict with the LTTE & Premadasa alliance.
If only the LTTE had not fatally attacked IPKF in October 1987, though not a single Tamil civilian or a cadre was killed by the IPKF, I have no doubt every IPKF soldier in the North-east would have behaved like these highly disciplined soldiers and protected the Tamil-speaking people throughout our homeland. Our homeland would not have been torn apart by the successive brutal regimes of the GOSL. On this occasion, I recall those fine Indian soldiers, wherever they are now, and wish them well.
July 28th, 2007
Full Text of Speech delivered by Dr. Ellyn Shander M.D at the Capitol Hill-Washington DC Peace Rally on July 23:
First I want to say how honored I am to speak at this rally. I want to express my appreciation to the organizers who had the vision to invite us together for this important cause.
And a heartfelt thank you ,to each of you who took the time to travel from your homes and express your solidarity, here in Washington DC, with the Tamils in Sri lanka, who dont have the opportunity to be here today expressing their anguish and despair.
[Dr. Ellyn Shander, at the US Capitol Hill Tamil American Peace Rally, Photo Tamilnatham]
I am an American physician that went to Sri Lanka and volunteered my services in the North, 6 weeks after the tsunami. I returned 6 months later for a follow up visit.
All of us remember the devastation of the tsunami, villages flattened, whole families swallowed up, lives shattered. For a brief moment in time, Sri Lanka was illuminated. I traveled the road from Killonochi , thru the elephant Pass up thru the fishing villages that dot the shore. I met the most beautiful people. And an extraordinary thing happened to me. I fell in Love. I fell in Love with the people, their courage, their strength and their willingness to invite me into their homes and share their grief. I helped the families make sense of the incomprehensible; I treated the children, and met teachers, fishermen, moms, dads,
people just like us, trying to hold their families together in extraordinary circumstances.
I took their pictures home with me, and left a piece of my heart there, in a small fishing village on the North east coast .
When the civil war broke out again, I was sad,
When the government closed A-9 I was devastated! I have no words for the madness that stalks the north and east today.
You see for me this crisis IS personal. The Tamils who are being bombed, killed, abducted, tortured, starved and denied medical care are family to me. Their pictures are in my home, and I will NOT stop fighting for peace and justice for them.
Today NGO’s are denied access to the North and East by a stalled government process. The government refuses to open A-9, the highway that supplies food and medicine to the North. More than 500,000 civilians are being held hostage there. Shelling by government troops continues to rain on civilian areas. If the hospitals are closed and have limited medicines and few doctors, how does a maimed or burned child get help??
What is this madness?
Tamils are being forced to return to areas that have NOT had low mine clearance. They are forced from one camp to the next as the fighting spreads, they have no income and have to depend on food handouts from aid agencies
What is this madness?
international agencies are reporting rampant malnutrition in the northern Jaffna district.
Fisherman are denied access to the sea. In Vavunia last week 4 Tamils were shot. One of them a 14 year old boy. How can this be happening??
What is this madness?
On July 14 and 15th the SL Army launched heavy sustained rocket fire on the PULLY-YOUNG-KULLAM hospital in Vavunia. 2 shells exploded right inside the hospital. It used to serve the needs of 15,000 inhabitants.
What is this madness?
What government kills its own civilians?
The govt of Darfur, the former govt of Saddam Hussein, and the govt of Sri Lanka .
What is this madness??
The war is reported as a fact sheet of military conquests.. Very little is said about the real victims of this war. The Tamil people who are dying in the thousands
What is this madness?
Children cannot go to school, medical students in Jaffna the future pride of the Tamil people cannot finish their studies, and the youth are being kidnapped and torn from their families
What is this madness?
You know
The opposite of this madness is a dream that I have.
Martin Luthur King a great American stood close to here and shared his dream.
America is a place of dreams.
Today I want to share mine with you!!
I have a dream that every Tamil can feel the breeze on their cheeks without worrying about being killed
I have a dream that every Tamil can look up at the sky and check the weather without checking to see if their government is raining bombs on them today
I have a dream that every pregnant Tamil will have access to a hospital and only be concerned if she is having a boy or girl and NOT whether a SL Army shell will take her life and her newborns
I have a dream that every Tamil child can laugh and go to school in freedom and not worry that her family will be dead when she returns home or to the refugee camp.
I have a dream that the fishermen I met can go out on their boats again and bring home their catches , and not worry about being tortured and kidnapped.
I have a dream that no Tamil person will ever have to be on rations, or be without .doctors or medicines.
I have a dream of Tamil weddings, birthdays, and festivities in a peaceful self governed state called Tamil Elam.
Land does not belong to people!!
It is people that belong to land.
The Tamils belong to their land.
Please let us work toward stopping this madness.
Let us work towards peace talks.
Let us work towards Justice and Freedom for every human being in Sri Lanka .
Denying the right to self determination is a violation of human rights!
Today I ask the Sri lankan govt a question
If you don’t want to treat the Tamils equally, fairly, or humanely
Then what is wrong with a 2 state solution?
TWO STATES IN PEACE IS BETTER THAN ONE STATE IN WAR!!
Stop the persecution of the Tamils!!!
Let us call today for an independent state for the Tamils before it is too late and there are no more Tamils left in Sri Lanka
Please peace for Tamil Elam!!!!!
STOP THE MADNESS
THANK YOU
July 26th, 2007
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The coming week will mark the fiftieth anniversary of a landmark event in the modern, political history of the country. It was on July 26th 1957 that the then Prime Minister Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike and Samuel James Velupillai Chelvanayagam, the leader of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi – known as Federal party in English – signed an agreement that came to be known as the Banda – Chelva or B- C pact.
The B- C pact which intended resolving, some of the major grievances facing Tamils of Sri Lanka, was the first of its kind , in the post – independence history of the Country. The B- C pact recognized several key elements of the Federal Idea through a scheme of power – sharing. The story of how this aborted pact evolved, deserves to be narrated on its golden jubilee week.
[SWRD Bandaranaike]
The 1956 elections had seen a deep polarisation between the Sinhala and Tamil communities. While the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna joint front headed by SWRD Bandaranaike swept the polls in the South the Federal Party led by SJV Chelvanayakam won six out of nine seats in the North and four out of seven in the East.
[a Federal Party pamphlet with portraits of key members]
One of the first acts by the new Govt was the enshrining of Sinhala as the sole official language of the Country .On June 5th Tamil Satyagrahis peacefully protesting at Galle face were beaten up by thugs as the Police did nothing. Anti – Tamil violence resulted in several parts of the Country.On June 15th Sinhala was made the only official language by a vote of 56 to 29. [Read full article in:FederalIdea.com]
DBS Jeyaraj can be contacted on: djeyaraj@federalidea.com
July 21st, 2007
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
It is a rocky mountain with a stony peak and a kind of mini – peak on top! Such an appearance from afar lends itself to differently imagined perceptions.
To the English authorities it looked like aristocratic head gear. So it was Baron’s cap; to the Tamils it was like a tuft of bound hair on one’s head. So it was Kudumbimalai; to the Muslims it was like a hat on one’s head. So they called it Thoppikkal; the Sinhalese also perceived it like the Muslims. So they called it Thoppigala.
I saw it for the first time in 1977 when I was travelling in a vehicle with the late Sam Thambimuthu along a dirt track to Vadamunai.. Sam was a leading lawyer and stalwart of the Federal party and later the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)in B’caloa. Sam was legal secretary of the TULF then He was married to Kala, daughter of former FP senator Manickam. Sam was later to become EPRLF Parliamentarian for Batticaloa in 1989. Both he and his wife were killed by the LTTE in 1990 as they came out of the Canadian High Commission in Colombo.
A large number of Plantation Tamils had moved to the East after being uprooted from the Up – Country by land reform and communal violence. Various Batticaloa organizations were running rehabilitation and re- settlement reports. I was working as the “Virakesari” staff correspondent for B’caloa then. I used to accompany people like Sam Thambimuthu or Dr. Rajan Chellaiah on trips to these projects in places like Panichankerny, Aayithiyamalai, Karadiyanaaru. Marappaalam, Periyapullumalai etc. It was on such a trip that I saw Baron’s cap.
[Kudumbimalai /Thoppigala - Barons Cap: Pic: Daily News.lk]
The region surrounding Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala was populated sparsely. There were Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese. There were age old settlements called puranagama or puranakamam there. Most of them were centered around natural lakes called “villus”: {Read the Full Article in FederalIdea.com]
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transCurrents feedback :Contact DBS Jeyaraj : djeyaraj2005@yahoo.com
July 14th, 2007
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Decades ago as a school boy I remember seeing a movie at the Majestic called ” How the West was Won”. There was a lot of media hype then about that classic western which narrated the story of how the American pioneers settled in the West.
Nowadays also there is much media frenzy. It’s on “How the East was won”. It’s all about how our security forces wrested back the Eastern province from the deadly grasp of that organization known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
There is much excitement over the eastern victory. Some of it is real. Most of it is contrived and engineered. It would not be an exaggeration to say that an exaggerated notion of a magnificient victory is being projected by the government of Mahendra Percival Rajapakse known now as Mahinda.
Even as I am regaled with all this stuff of how the East was won I am reminded of something I read in “The Indian Express” a few days ago. It was about the Atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during August 1945. There were two accounts of that deadly mushroom cloud by two different people. [Read Full Article in FederalIdea.com]
July 14th, 2007
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