By Mario Perera, Kadawata

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prince Gemunu lying in foetal position on his bed said that he had been hemmed in by the Tamils and the Deep Blue Sea. This nation has always been hemmed in this manner by the Tamil separatists and the deep blue sea symbolizing the hypocritical and to that extent immoral European and American so-called democracies, also called the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”International CommunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. In contrast to the experience of the dearly beloved prince, now we are dealing with a third element: the Tamil Diaspora which plays the tunes to which the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”International CommunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ dances. The latest of such hypocrisies and immorality is France with regard to the statue of arch terrorist Thamil Selvam. The lame argument ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”we cannot intervene, we are a democracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ now stinks stronger than the filthiest of gutters. About France, a famous utterance of Frenchmen is that it ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”crows like a cock standing on one foot firmly planted in its own shitƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (on chante le cocorico avec un pied dans la merde!).

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ History which is the Teacher of Life, like all good teachers, repeats itself. History like time is cyclic. That is its nature. Tamil separatism and militancy has supposedly been wiped outƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦some say ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”foreverƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. But there is nothing for ever. It will rise gain, that is, if our President does not address the root cause of its claim to be. The root cause is NOT what Rev. Malcolm Ranjith says in unison with the Tamil bishops: the lack of a political solution or the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”colonizationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the North and East by the Sinhalese people. The root cause is the status the Tamils themselves, reinforced by separatism and terrorism gave these two regions as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tamil HomelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. This is obvious in the BishopsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ insistence on the implementation of the 13^th Amendment, which even a TNA politician recently described as being extinct. This ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”extinctƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ entity, the bishops are now trying to resurrect. As long as this idea which is the essence itself of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tamil HomelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ theory is kept alive, separatism and terrorism will, like the legendary Phoenix rise again from its own ashes. It is this idea that keeps the Diaspora going, and with it the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”International CommunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. It is this idea that the Catholic hierarchy is firmly committed to.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The solution is NOT therefore what Rev. Malcolm Ranjith and the Tamil bishops envisage. The solution is precisely keeping the two provinces separate and creating SINHALESE SETTLEMENTS in the North and the East. This is the ONLY way to eliminate the separatist and terrorist menace. This is the only way to silence the Diaspora and the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”International CommunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, placing them before a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”fait accompliƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ that the Tamil Homeland theory is a non-starter and no more an issue. An egg once scrambled cannot be unscrambled. Through such settlements the nation will furthermore be made watchful of anything and everything suspicious going on there, especially because the breeder of discontent Tamil Nadu lies only thirty kilometers away, their politicians being the mentors and string manipulators of the Tamil politicians-puppets over here.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The red herring of a Tamil homeland has been exploded over and over again but repeats itself over and over again as well through the interested ones; the Catholic hierarchy representing the Northern and Eastern Tamils, the Diaspora playing their records on alien soil, and the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”International CommunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ twisting and turning to those tunes. The dream of a Tamil Homeland was shattered and brought to naught when our soldiers eliminated the LTTE and reunited the Land. NOW the Sinhalese can truly claim the North and East as being THEIR OWN HOMELAND. Were not the Sinhalese youth decimated and massacred in the North and East during the thirty year war by the murderous terrorists of Tamil Ealam, thus drenching that soil with their blood? What better claim is there for a homeland than that of BLOOD?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Indeed yes, the one and only solution to Tamil separatism and militancy is to establish Sinhalese families in the North and East bridging and eliminating the disparity of numbers which is the cause of such hallucinatory dreams. This is the only way of keeping the dead Draculas and Frankensteins confined to their ashes. Indeed there is no other way. Furthermore one can safely state that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”now is now the only time that may beƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and that there will never be another. Though Prabhakaran is lying on his back on the bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon watching his agonizing post-life nightmarish dreams with glazed but open eyes, his aspirations are walking on the feet and in the robes of the Catholic hierarchy,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is no secret that the Catholic Hierarchy holds a brief for and acts as representative of the Tamils and the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”deep blue seaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. They are totally estranged from the deepest aspirations of the Nation precisely because their homeland is the Vatican. Anyone perusing that Newspapers of the last thirty or more years, cannot but come to this awareness. Among the most glaring of such indicators was their mediation in the matter of the Peace Accord. The lines of the hymn ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Lead Kindly LightƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, about the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”one stepƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ being enough and not the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”distant sceneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, was certainly put into the mouth of RW by the Catholic bishops. Another was what Indian Ambassador Dixit wrote: that the Tamil priests were all, without exception, for Ealam. The infamous Tamil priest S.J.Emmanuel (Doctor and Professor) taught at the National Seminary, Ampitiya, and was later the Rector of the newly established Major Seminary (Saint Xaviers) for the formation of Priests in Jaffna. He was also the Vicar General of Jaffna. S.J.Emmanuel who is now the leader of a Tamil separatist group and lives in Germany is an international ambassador for Tamil Ealam. All this mind you, without the least censure of the Catholic bishops of Sri Lanka, which also means their tacit approval: qui tacet consentire. It can be safely assumed that an entire generation of Tamil priests formed by him was injected with his racial, separatist and terrorist virus. The next Ealam struggle is already being clothed in a mantle of Catholic spirituality apparently guided by the Vatican, as seen in recent developments.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As regards Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith newly elected Cardinal, this title only grafts external glamour to a bishop and adds nothing intrinsically new to his status as one. If one looks at his entire career, one cannot but see the guiding hand of the Vatican in his regard raising the question WHY SO? No doubt many Catholics would question as to how he vaulted over such a respected, erudite and immensely more experienced personality as Archbishop Oswald Gomes, especially it being a historical fact that age is no barrier to be nominated a cardinal. No doubt the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Ways of GodƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ are mysterious!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As for our Nation, our domain is not that of mysteries, but the reasonable, the visible and the tangible. All three combined tell us to do away with this idea of a Tamil Homeland in the North and East once and for all, and to do it NOW, before the writing appears again on the wall.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mario Perera, Kadawata