Shenali D Waduge

The people of Sri Lanka have short memories. They have forgotten decades that bore bloodshed, fear and destruction. That past cannot be forgotten. That past is replete with remnants that continue to plague the nation requiring it to remain under eternal vigilance. Do we want to sacrifice and reverse all that we have gained for petty political points and be checkmated by those that have been conspiring for years to divide our nation? Do we not remember that it was our own that ceded the nation to the British in 1815 and we were almost on the verge of doing so in 2002 and now 200 years later we are again facing that same betrayal and the nation is looking with great apprehension at what the future holds.

 

Genesis of the Tamil problem

The divisions that former colonies today suffer from were those created by colonial rulers under a strategy known as ‘divide and rule’. Nonetheless, what cannot be omitted from the Eelam call whether it is by terrorists or Tamil politicians is its connection to the Eelam quest by Tamil Nadu where 72m of the worlds 76million Tamils live, thus Tamil Nadu is by virtue of its name the land of the Tamils not anywhere else.

 

Tamil leaders since early 1920s have been voicing their desire to live separate of Brahmin-controlled India – a concept promoted by the Justice Party (South Indian Liberal Federation) in 1921. This led to the Justice Party bringing a resolution stressing Tamil people’s right to a separate sovereign state under the direct control of the Secretary of State for India in London and led to the demand for a separate Dravida Nadu state (encompassing Tamil speaking states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnatak and Tamil Nadu). The British delegation (Cripps Mission) that came in 1942 refused the request for a separate Tamil state upon Indian independence.

 

A month before India gained Independence, Tamil leaders celebrated “Dravida Nadu Secession Day” which Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah opposed leading to India gaining independence on 15 August 1947 without giving Tamils their separate state. In 1949 the DMK – Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was formed continuing calls for a Dravida Nadu and that same year under Chelvanayagam the Federal Party was formed in Sri Lanka whose English name was meant to camouflage its meaning of a separate Tamil state.

 

In India the Dravid Nadu supporters used the slogan Brahmin discrimination while in Sri Lanka the slogan was Sinhala discrimination. In 1950s the Tamils dropped calls for Dravida Nadu (since it included other states) and from “Dravida Nadu for Dravidians” the slogan became “Tamil Nadu for Tamils”. When India weakened the separatist movement through the States Reorganization Act (along linguistic lines) in 1956, the same year Sri Lanka introduced the Sinhala Only Act which gave the perfect excuse to build the momentum. The people of Tamil Nadu realized that the “Tamil homeland” calls was nothing but a tool being used to emotionally attach Tamils together by politicians to win votes that realization has yet to dawn upon Sri Lankan Tamil voters. DMK dropped the separatist demand in 1963 but India’s Central Government craftily used the Tamil factor to start militant groups covertly in Sri Lanka so that India’s Tamil Nadu would be safe from separation and India could keep Sri Lanka’s development and political leaders under Indian noose.

 

India is a separate state as is Sri Lanka, therefore India has no locus standi to comment on citizens of another country even though they are Tamil.

 

It was India that failed or neglected to hear the voice of Tamils for their own homeland and self-determination at the time of decolonization. That homeland for Tamils based on self-determination is what India has denied Tamils and not Sri Lanka. What India did was to palm off their headache to Sri Lanka. India did this by clandestinely training unemployed Tamil youth in India including Prabakaran and then arming, financing and supporting them to create mayhem in Sri Lanka. The 1983 was a planned and orchestrated event to launch Tamil militancy with a legitimacy argued on the basis of riots against Tamils and this paved the way for economic asylum seekers to emerge forced to fund the LTTE while over the years that plan digressed and became hijacked by western sources using NGOs and the Church to advance their geopolitical agendas using the LTTE.

 

As things stand it looks as if Tamils are satisfied in simply shouting for Eelam and enjoying the benefits of what can accrue from the bargaining power they possess internationally and locally rather than really start of running a state of their own knowing the hurdles likely to come their way. Nonetheless, the foreign conspirators in this probably have other plans and eelam is just a tool to meet the end objective. This is where political acumen is required to ruffle the necessary feathers.

 

Sri Lanka’s politicians require education to be able to understand where their apples should be put. Having said that it was asking too much of western educated, converted, English speaking and Western thinking local post-independent leaders to reverse the status quo in particular the reverse discrimination that should have been meted out to the Sinhalese above all others.

 

The British took over the nation of Sinhale (not Ceylon or Sri Lanka)

Let us note that the 1815 Kandy Convention ceding Sri Lanka to the British was signed between the British and the Sinhale Nation and assured that the State religion Buddhism would be protected by the British. This clearly establishes that there was no Sri Lanka or Ceylon but the Sinhale Nation. Our Leaders have failed the Sinhala people in not demanding in 1948 or in 1972 that the nation should return to its original name Sinhale as it was known before ceding power. Over the years on the pretext of co-existence the Sinhalese have had to compromise their space while minorities have not cared to budge from their demands.

 

We have had death and misery because for decades the leadership lay in the hands of people who purported and suffered from an ‘unwinnable war syndrome’ believing that the only way to deal with terrorists was to appease and prostrate before them and we see the repetition of that happening with the same unwinnable war proponents usurping governance from an elected President.

 

True, people make mistakes and should be given a second chance but the back-door entered PM and his 55 Ministers appear to be reversing all that the country has gained and continuing to wish to follow the same appeasement policy likely to lead to dire consequences for the nation. Formerly we dealt with a terrorist movement that reserved the nation’s right to militarily defeat them. Now we are faced with a scenario that the unwinnable war proponents are flirting with the idea of dividing the nation just to please people that have helped them enter from the back door.

 

Separatism camaflaged under bogus terminology – self-determination, discrimination by Sinhalese, claims of ‘genocide’, claims of ‘colonizing’ ‘Tamil areas’, ‘ethnic cleansing’ have been part of a very systematic propaganda effort towards the goal. This goal started not with the LTTE and not even through the Vaddukoddai Resolution but far before independence and finds its roots to and is linked with Tamil Nadu’s desire to separate from the British created ‘India’.

 

Daya Gamage’s latest article titled Sri Lanka new regime focuses on Tamil Homeland – Two Nation Concept http://www.asiantribune.com/node/86293 speaks of Ranil Wickremasinghe looking at returning to the Thimpu Principles of 1985 giving Tamil Homeland under a one-country-two nation concept.

 

The Tamil militant groups, LTTE and TULF placed as their demands

(a) recognition of the Tamils of Ceylon as a nation

(b) recognition of the existence of an identified homeland for the Tamils in Ceylon

(c) recognition of the right of self determination of the Tamil nation

 

Surprise, surprise, these were the identical demands placed by TNA in 2001 and repeated throughout all of its election manifestos.

1. a) Recognition of Tamils as a distinct nationality
2. b) Recognition of a Tamil Homeland with guaranteed territorial integrity
3. c) Recognition of the inalienable right of self-determination of the Tamil nation.
4. d) Recognition of the right to full citizenship and fundamental democratic rights of all Tamils

 

What is surprising is that Sri Lankan governments have ignored to use the constitutional provisions in place to deal with TNA. 6^thamendment to the

Constitution Article 157A specifically prohibits any violation of Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity, it prohibits political parties or associations/organizations from having as one of its aims and objectives the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka, there are provisions available to convict any of violating these provisions and the punishment to be given is stated clearly. Political parties can be proscribed for attempting to separate so why has no action been taken against the TNA to date? Why have political leaders chosen to ignore that MPs take the Oath of Allegiance which promises to not directly or indirectly in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State. The TULF walked out of Parliament in 1983 refusing to take this oath. http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2012/06/27/sixth-amendment-to-the-constitution/

 

What is at stake

Not many may be aware that Gen. Fonseka was selected as Army Commander just 10 days before his retirement to do what former commanders had not been delegated to do. The war effort was a combination of political leadership and military leadership synergized with a nation spurring its forces with blessings and encouragement.

It is only those that contributed to the war victory giving Sri Lanka peace that deserve and have a right to stake claim in the victory. All those who sat claiming the tigers were invisible and had to be molly-cuddled deserve no place for they chose the enemy over our heroes.

 

All those that today talk of doing the right thing by the nation were cowards to come forward to defend the nation. It was the youth from the South that came forward in numbers enlarging the military to 200,000 by 2009. It is the blood and sacrifice of these soldiers that won us the war not those now claiming to work out ‘solutions’ in Geneva obviously following the same line of appeasement that they are used to.

 

Over 30,000 soldiers have perished and a similar number remain injured for life. Their lives were lost and damaged not to have unwinnable war proponents emerge to carve out the country to suit their fancies. They were never elected to office to change the demography of the country. People with soiled hands cannot be judge especially when their guilt in not standing by the men that defended the nation but taking the side of the tiger stand out as reminders of their unsuitability to lead. People are judged by their actions. In officially allowing a terrorist entity to have terrorist controlled areas, in disclosing names of Sri Lanka’s intelligence and thereby facilitating their deaths, in removing checkpoints that exposed the security the catastrophe was seen after 2002 and the same mistakes are being repeated while the same advisors that were part of that former government are also placed in significant roles while the LTTE’s conspirators abroad and their mouthpieces in Sri Lanka are now salivating on when these unwinnable war proponents will sign and give away the nation.

 

Should those realizing the mistakes of the past not come forward to realize that the sacrifices of the men to save the nation should not be ridiculed in the manner that a handful of politicians are now planning to freely deliver what the soldiers sacrificed their lives to deny.

 

With no changes to the constitution yet made, it is puzzling that the President is now in silent mode while all executive powers are being exercised by a PM and with the question how can this happen unanswered they are purporting to solve the national problem without telling the people what the problem exactly is.

 

What we would like to know from those solving the national problem is what is it that the Sinhalese only enjoy which the Tamil minority has been legally and constitutionally denied. With this question yet to be answered and people uncomfortable to provide the answer why should the country suffer by dividing it while Tamils and even Muslims wish to claim land rights for only their own while also demanding they have access to the rest of the country’s land as well which indirectly connotes to mean Sinhalese debarred from North and in time to come the East.

 

Nonetheless, the bottom line is that this country has been preyed upon and flogged enough. The people have had enough of politicians falling for carrots and agreeing to give bits and pieces of the nation that does not belong to them.

 

We have again returned to anxious times when people who love the nation are wondering what deals those that have taken over governance are conspiring without appraising the people first.

 

If Sri Lanka were to agree to hold a domestic inquiry it must cover all aspects of how Tamil militancy emerged, the local and international players involved from inception, the Eelam concept and its political marriage to a terrorist movement thus links to LTTE of all players involved (individuals, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims foreigners, International organizations, international players, the Church, kovils etc) need to all be investigate and these cannot be done in a year or two and if those that were associated with the LTTE were to provide the funds it does not require any imagination as to where the investigation will end up!

Its time people started paying more attention to the security of the nation – without that there is no nation.