Shenali Waduge

For May 2011, it will be two years since the annihilation of the terrorist movement LTTE & its leaderships. It is no secret that a large number of the 1million Tamil exodus from Sri Lanka had been openly supporting the LTTE while others had no choice but to support for fear of pressures by Tamils themselves. It is part of these funds that made the JaneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Defense declare that LTTE earns USD300m annually. With the fall of LTTE terror we ask a simple question exactly who wanted a Tamil homeland for the LTTE in Sri Lanka has now no friends, it is clear then that people had been supporting them purely out of fear apart from those who served to gain by supporting the LTTE.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The LTTE terror reigned for almost 3 decades. Given Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s population stands at 20m the Tamil population (12%) accounts for only 2.4m (excluding the Estate Tamils (5%), for an Eelam that the LTTE was fighting for excluded Estate Tamils) With 1m of the 2.4m Tamils living outside of Sri Lanka it would have been far easier for them to easily provide for the basic needs of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka & uplift their living standards instead of resorting to funding a terrorist movement. They could have easily done this without even the involvement of the numerous NGOs who though based in the North & East throughout the conflict had done absolutely nothing and anyone visiting the North will have first hand evidence of this as well as agree that plenty of churches are however, located in most areas LTTE was dominating thus strengthening the accusation that a conversion drive was taking place.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What can we read from the cries of present Tamil Diaspora members scattered globally but who have united in minority to form a farcical & quite utopian ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Transnational GovernmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? Obviously, the majority of these ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-stakeholdersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ have been adversely affected by the tragic fall of the LTTE and obviously their accrual systems have invariably left a dent and so naturally they are using all forms of possibilities to start a born-again LTTE.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The remaining 1.4m Tamil people in Sri Lanka need to ask some key questions. Out of this the Colombo based Tamils & those living outside of the North & East throughout the 3 decades of conflict lived trouble-free lives amongst the Sinhalese. Amongst these there were many who for purposes of gaining refugee status falsely accused the Sinhalese of harassment & discrimination. It is natural for any to use whatever means to enable them to live abroad in supposed greener pastures. Looking at many now coming on holiday one can but think the irony in having to be thankful to the LTTE, for had there been no LTTE, no country would have allowed 1m Tamils to reside in their countries. This is a key area that has necessitated these Tamils to cry in favor of the LTTEƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦it was the only means by which they could buy time to obtain their permanent residency. But at what cost? Not only did their selfishness lead to loss of life & property irrespective of whether those dead or maimed were Sinhalese, Tamil or Muslims, but their selfishness resulted in generations of Tamils loosing out. When going to Jaffna & seeing the homes, the Tamil Diaspora & Tamils in Colombo & other areas should feel a pang of guilt & shame for the manner in which they have allowed their own people to suffer. Children have lived in fear of being abducted by their own people, taken away & brainwashed & turned into killers. Children have been denied education and we all know how hardworking & intelligent Tamils in general are. One of the grievances of the Tamils residing in the North is how their children have lost the desire to study!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These cries for Tamil Homeland from the Tamil Diaspora makes one really wonder whether they know the towns leading to Jaffna and whether they have even set foot in the North to have any right to authoritatively declare what the Tamils are denied which only Sinhalese are given. This is where the key question lies in. Can any Tamil give one single example of what the Tamils are legally denied which only the Sinhalese are given? If a single example can be given it certainly raises the need for the Government to answer, but thus far apart from loosely proclaiming that the Tamils are deniedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦there is no concrete reference to what the Tamils are denied which only the Sinhalese are given. We now need to be given hard facts.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Having said that, it appears that the present calls by the Tamil Diaspora remains focused on creating another movement similar to the LTTE. Whether this is associated with the greater Tamil Nadu plan for independence from India, or whether it is merely to ensure that the Tamil Diaspora continue to live as they did while the LTTE was reigning in Sri Lanka only time will tell. Whichever it is the repercussions are fatal to the Tamil people especially those in the North.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So, what the Tamil people in the East & especially in the North must be made to understand is that they have been made fools by their own people. They must now be made aware of how their own people had for years been supportive of the LTTE while all the while aware of what hardships their own people would be suffering & did nothing in anyway to reduce their burden except to issue statement after statement of how the Sri Lankan Government was ill treating their people. Can the world be reminded that the Government of Sri Lanka never stopped at any point Government provisions given to the North & East despite severe hardships these items were sent but they were waylaid & taken over by the LTTE who charged their own people for what was given free by the Government. It is only now that the people are beginning to understand the lies & realize the falsehoods of the LTTE. People never knew how lavishly the LTTE leader & his stooges livedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦the three storey underground house deep in the jungles, fully airconditioned, tiled with all the amenities. his swimming pool which is larger than even those in ColomboƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦22ft deep & 83ft in length, flood lit, with 8 changing rooms again in the middle of nowhwere! In fairness to the LTTE many of the junior cadres themselves must not have been aware of the actual duplicity of the LTTE senior leaders & those that call themselves strategists abroad. But now little by little these people are gathering information sufficient to build their own true story.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is by nature that Tamils are introverted. Those in the North especially rarely express or share what their inner thoughts are and so even after being liberated from the LTTE they watch with curiosity at what goes on. This however does not mean that they can be fooled & so the Tamil Diaspora needs to stop making their people fools because the previous stunts are unlikely to work.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Yet, if the passion to create a Tamil Homeland is what is upmost on their minds, the first matter that should be dealt with is whether that homeland should be in Sri Lanka or Tamil Nadu. There cannot be two homelands for Tamils. With 64million of the 72million world Tamils already living in Tamil Nadu & with Tamil Nadu aspiring to break away from India far before that gameplan became exported to Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu has greater right to host the Tamil Homeland, besides the exercise to have 8m Tamils coming to Tamil Nadu to celebrate a Tamil Homeland is far easier than packing 72million into an area that is merely 1,023 .22 sq.km.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If guerilla warfare is what will be the natural choice to first start hit & run attacks as the LTTE initially did, then instead of making scapegoats of the Tamil people who have already suffered through 3 decades, why not arm & train the children of the Tamil Diaspora? Since the countries that are hosting the Diaspora remain silent to & take little action against their support for the LTTE in Sri Lanka, it would be easy to train them in those soil? Besides all these western nations have had a record of allowing terror campaigners to reside on their soil so long as they do no harm to their citizens. The key message here is stop making fools of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka & allow them to peacefully build their lives & regain all that they lost. They have suffered enough as a result of the selfishness of the Tamil Diaspora & the LTTE.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So far as logic is concerned the LTTE is (rather was) a terrorist organization. There are no international conventions (The Geneva Convention only applies to the UNIFORMED soldiers of a given country’s national armed forces) that protect terrorists. Terrorist organizations do not sign TreatiesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦why should they be protected by such Treaties? Therefore, white flags or not, a Government has every right to crush & eliminate the LTTE terrorists in whatever way they deem is right – no one has the right to question the decision of that Government. The UN, western nations & all paid organizations have done an enormous error is bulling a sovereign Government & demanding it to cease attacks on the LTTE terrorists over the years even going so far as to draft useless ceasefires. Errors made previously by signatories from Sri Lanka was in not demanding why anything should be signed with a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ LTTE has been defined a terrorist organization by 31 countries globally that the Tamil Diaspora had supported the LTTE & openly raised funds for it through decades demands the Tamil people of Sri Lanka who suffered over the years to demand compensation from these countries & the Tamil Diaspora for their own losses over the years. Western countries that supported the LTTE must also at most tender an apology. That is when reconciliation can realistically start. Reconciliation ideally must begin with all those who were directly supporting the LTTE. The present set of superfluous exercises forming panels etc are merely for records purposes only & serve no real value whatsoever.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ At heart the people of Sri Lanka at no time hated one another. Understandably some decided to go to greener pastures & the country situation was a perfect modus operandi to apply on the sympathy ground. However, no one can deny that the people historically & presently have always lived in harmony and isolated cases have been blown out of proportion for purposes of advancing strategic interests & other goals that have necessitated for disunity to prevail in Sri Lanka.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is time people give a clear NO to any forms of division whatsoever irrespective of whatever political party they are aligned to. The country must come first at all times otherwise the disaster that has taken place to countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Tunisia, Kosovo, Haiti & now Egypt will prevail. On the ticket of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-better democracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ these nations have fallen from the frying pan into the fire!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The reality is very simple. Tamil Homeland is & will always be in India. India artfully transported the curse to Sri Lanka. Apart from the false concerns India voices at no time has India been empathetic towards the Tamils otherwise Tamils would not be fighting for a Tamil Homeland…in either India or Sri Lanka. Tamil Diaspora are foreign citizens & for them a homeland in India or Sri Lanka is irrespective to them for they will not reside in either country. The Tamil people need to be alert to these facts.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Shenali Waduge