LTTE Transmogrified Into a Virtual Eelam Trans-national State: Tigers in Sheep Skins or an Exercise in Futility?
Posted on June 18th, 2009
Dr D.Chandraratna, Perth, Australia
Within a month or so after the elimination of the Terrorist outfit the same core group in the Tamil Diaspora has come out with the novel idea of a transnational state. The Eelam State is formed by an identity nexus among all Tamils in the world. While not dismissing totally the mundane explanations of Trans National Eelam State (TNES) let me note a few of the plausible ones. The first is that TNES is a lever to continue the financial enterprise of the LTTE largesse collected through both legitimate and illegitimate means. Second, the unexpected demise of the invincible LTTE has caused immeasurable grief to many Tamils that it is much too early to rid one delusion without another illusion. Third, the educated Tamils who have enormously benefitted from the welfare state of Sri Lanka can be reemployed by the Diaspora to cause trouble to the GOSL while living in the leafy suburbs of Western countries. Fourth, the ordinary Diaspora, many being alienated and sometimes without a steady job, hapless after the LTTE has been eliminated, will no doubt be a reserve army of organisers, fundraisers and collectors for the new chapter of the separatist dream. Many more such prosaic explanations are possible and even plausible but a serious effort is needed to examine the proposed Transnational Eelam state as it portends an ill wind for all countries, particularly Sri Lanka and India.
Emerging trends in International Relations
International relations are now based on political realism and the last few months of the LTTE war demonstrated to all and sundry that the game is played in terms of power and countervailing power. The GOSL led by the President devised their stratagem on that basis alone. Since the Second World War, diplomacy and international relations are based on realpolitik and it is a play on the power of states. This is quite different to the theory that advocated the international relations based on mutual trust, reciprocity and morality. These are idealists who believe in the liberal tradition of morality, law, international organisations and civil society.
History has shown that idealism is a useless strategy against aggression either by internal or international forces. How it ought to be is very different from how it is in real life. Obviously idealism is appealing to many impartialists and hence realists are shrewd to use the idealism as a vanguard to hide the real interests of power. The Human Rights voices, the humanitarian concerns of the NGO’s, plus the putative independence of the media who were behind the powerful were made clear in the siege on Sri Lankan sovereignty in the past three decades. In many instances the naive Sri Lankans were swept off their feet by the mean spirited idealist gurus.
Realism as a political doctrine has a long tradition and that it is timeless and cross cultural. From Sun Tzu, the Chinese strategist to Machiavelli and the even the current Obama administration have accepted the realist agenda. Needless to say that all sovereign states would act in their own self interest and not on the psychological motives of their decision makers. The international system has no central authority and in that near anarchic system you should base your self interest on prudence and practicality. Morality has no real place and no nation should believe that God is on her side.
Why the Trans National Eelam State is an exercise in futility is because it is woven around a fabricated moral claim of 70 million Tamils who are without a territorial base. If at all, there is a truth to that morality the birth place of the Tamils in Tamil Nadu has to be the rational choice. Since the TNES morality is not backed by power but pure ideology it will never succeed. To succeed it must have the capability which is the corollary of power to influence others who will be subject to that power. Capability is of many dimensions. Economic power, military force, population and territory. Some of these such as territory and military force are essentials.
Military force cannot exist in virtuality; it must have a terra firma. The LTTE had the right strategy and also the ideology orchestrated by the Diaspora that Tamils in Sri Lanka were subjected to years of discrimination. The beauty of the discrimination charge is that when a group is outside the borders of the place of alleged discrimination it need not be spelt out. And up till this day Tamils have not divulged the nature of the discrimination openly. Military capability is related to the GDP and even if the TNES has a substantial income that alone is insufficient. The virtual Tamil state will also be strong in its potential to influence others through their propaganda skills, use of modern technology and infiltration of civil organisations both national and international. This is akin to the soft power of Western nations over the developing world exerted through aid, trade and globalism.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Capability is also enhanced by identity collusion as in the case of politicians who enhance their electoral wins through the Tamil voters or even political parties whose coffers are filled by the LTTE donations.
Should the Sri Lankan State be concerned about this new development? Two or three ministers of state have already dismissed the idea as indicated as futile and hallucinatory. It appears so to the lay person. But strategically the Tamil move has sinister motives than are apparent at the first blush. The fact that the new movement is spearheaded by a Professorial kind of politbureau we must take serious note. These are people who proclaim discrimination (unspecified all the time) were named and shamed by the LTTE debacle and are united in revenge against the Sri Lankan state. Their capacity to claim moral legitimacy through duplicity and deceit should not be under estimated.
Vigilance will be the price of sovereignty
Therefore Sri Lanka has to be on guard all the time. To be a countervailing power we have to develop a political culture which can be imbibed by all sectors of our population and all political parties because parties may come and go. Patriotism of the good kind must be cultivated. The US and UK thrive on it. The education of the population, development of the economy with an entrepreneurial class drawn from all ethnic groups in society, a home grown capitalism and a mix of the ethnic groups geographically to such an extent that Sri Lanka will be nothing but one home for all ethnic groups are absolute essentials. If we were to ever give in to this bogus demand of homelands and colonisation myth we will be doomed. This is exactly what the Diaspora is adamant for it can be used as a territorial base for future aggression.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Such geographic boundaries are undemocratic because you are not being fair to all citizens and secondly much of the country will be underdeveloped. If you had asked Marx how to destroy the privileged homeland concept and bring about a true republic he will be the first to mix them all up so that none can find an a homelander ever. That should be the panacea for the brooding cry of homeland tribalism.
Our military capability has to be sustained even in peacetime. That of course is dependent on the country’s economic advancement. Another aspect of the military capability is the soundness of the intelligence network. Entry of persons and goods to Sri Lanka needs eternal vigilance to prevent incitement of the locals to execute the TNES agenda.
To get a grip on the people or territory bas been a clear strategy of Governments in exile in history. In the game of international relations and diplomacy tradeoffs are important, especially for countries like Sri Lanka. So are the commitments from constituents and allies. While military strength is a priority moral legitimacy and diplomatic skill are essential strengths. Conflicts are fundamentally political in nature and diplomacy is of utmost importance to Sri Lanka. The US increased the diplomatic budget substantially after the 9/11 attack. Rhetoric in diplomacy is an art. The US invasion of Panama was code named ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Operation Just Cause’. Finally the geopolitics of a sovereign nation cannot be overestimated. These days it is called location, location, location. The proximity of one’s neighbours is both a plus and a minus. Generally landlocked nations are more exposed to danger than insular states.
The current international system, though close to anarchy (The UN being so badly managed) still plays by some behavioural norms. The traditional principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of a nation are rules that nation states will break at their own peril. The stability of the system is maintained by a balance of power and alliances play a key role in the balance of power. Smaller states can bandwagon on a powerful ally and play off one against another. The US is only one power bloc. The US war on terror was supported only by less than a quarter of the world’s population.
The virtual Tamil state is destined to be Virtual for ever given the nature of the international system. Yet it is no reason to be complacent. The only way in which the virtual state can become a reality is by gaining a foothold in some body’s territory. Usually a weak link is found in a state fractionated through internal dissension in domestic politics which can open up a path to the machinations of a Machiavellian virtual state. Countries like Sri Lanka and India have to be on their guard exactly for this reason. If such openings are not made available the Virtual state will be limited to publications and endless conferences much to the liking of academics and Human Rights activists’ cavalcade. They will once again enjoy the good life in their retirement years thanks to the misguided generosity of the hardworking Tamils abroad.
June 19th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Donald, again you have written very valid points. The professional LTTE diaspora would be more dangerous and damaging to our sovereignty than the “drop outs”. My personal experience with them in London in 1975 to 1979 was a good example. The professionals said that they were discriminated, but did not specify. Once an Engineer who worked with me at the then Greater London Council said me that they will rebel against us just like JVP in 1972 and it really happened in 1983. To my amazement this fellow had his Engineering education all free at Sri Lanka University and I could not understnad why he was so angry with Sinhalese and their country. I still wonder why? I had 75 Sri Lankan Timils in my first year at the Middlesex University (all doing Civil Engineering), 90% of whom were qualified technical officers worked back in Sri Lanka. I find it very difficult to understand how they can justify that they have been discriminated by the majority Sinhalese in their daily lives.
We need to really set up a committee to put our heads together to plan ahead to avoid any possibility of another disater from these educated Tamil diaspora. Like I said and you agree I believe, they are the “hardcore”.
June 20th, 2009 at 1:04 am
The concept of a transnational state is novel and, as Dr Chandraratne notes, translating it to a real state will not be easy. But it is not impossible, and the efforts of the Tamil Diaspora to keep the ‘struggle’ going should not be dismissed as being inconsequential. Even if we disregard political objectives, there will be many in the Tamil Diaspora who will want to keep intact the lucrative financial arrangements that have been set up – people don’t give up easily a source of an abundant cash flow. Politically, we cannot underestimate the depth of the underlying resolve or the motivation. One rarely stated reason for the military defeat of the Tigers was the fatigue of battle that LTTE cadres will inevitably have felt after such a long campaign. The Tamils in the Diaspora are not affected in that fashion and are unlikely to meekly accept defeat and lie down and die. They are more likely to look on the military defeat as just a temporary setback. There is also the dream of a separate state to sustain them. But an even more powerful motivation is an ‘enemy’ who needs to be overcome. Nothing unites a group as strongly as the perception of a common enemy. And for many, if not most, Tamils, the GOSL is an enemy, perceived variously as an institution that has denied them jobs or promotions and admission to universities, that has killed their kith and kin and discriminated against them in other ways. The Diaspora Tamils have abundant financial and other resources. They are well placed in the countries of their adoption, in some cases, to exercise significant political influence, as in marginal electorates where their numbers can make a difference to an MP being elected or not. There are of course many other reasons why the issue has to be taken seriously.
In the meantime, there is much the government needs to do. Sri Lanka cannot take its friends for granted. Existing friendships must be kept in good order and enhanced. Where necessary, fences need to be mended and relations brought back to a cordial plane. The country needs to also make new friends. It must step up its public relations efforts. The international community should be made aware of all the facts relating to the Tamil grievances. I recently wrote to a Canadian journalist, after reading an article by him, telling him how the pursuit of a separate state goes back to years before Independence and is not simply a reaction to alleged discrimination by post Independence governments. The journalist wrote back telling me he had not been previously aware of this history. These journalists rely largely on what the Tamil Diaspora feed them. The government needs to ensure that the whole truth is made known to them. The country has seen fit to turn away foreign journalists and politicians seen to be biased and working against the national interest. It is time now to, in fact, invite foreign journalists and politicians who could help the national cause, to visit the country. There must be other ‘Lord Nasebys’ whom the country ought to cultivate. The embassies abroad should be advised to cultivate the media and journalists and other opinion makers in those countries. And very importantly, the government needs to take genuine and transparent steps to improve its international reputation for upholding the rule of law and respecting human rights.