Shenali D Waduge

Leaving aside arguments of ITAK/TNA links to LTTE the fact remains is that both Tamil racist leaders & LTTE fought for a separate Tamil state. Whether it is called eelam, self-autonomy, self-determination etc it all boils down to the same thing. If so it questions on what logical premise that any government would deem it necessary to weaken the country by bringing in a new constitution that not only removes the unitary character of the constitution but also sets up a confederal form of governance giving virtual asymmetrical federation to some provinces over others. Going by the aims and objectives outlined by Sampanthan in his address to the Tamil people, what is clear is that the real objective of a Tamil nation is to be sought cunningly, patiently, manipulating and aligning to the global agendas of the West and India. While all this is being spelt out clearly in black and white the Governments in Sri Lanka and their super advisors and inner circles are happy to play pied piper and virtually facilitate the hidden aims and objectives of both the Tamil separatists and the Foreign Agendas.

R.Sampanthan speaking at the 14^thITAK Convention in Batticoloa, in May 2012 made the following speech excerpts from which are being quoted with commentary to understand the relevance of it to the demands being made to the new constitution.

http://www.sangam.org/2012/06/Sampanthan_Speech.php

Our understanding and relationship with members of the international community including India and the United States that has come about by slow degrees, little by little, as a result of methodical, measured action and thinking, is becoming a source of strength for our community”

(the power of diaspora influence and using LTTE money generated illegally & legally)

We remember the Tamil youth who sacrificed their lives in armed struggle” 

(Is he implying LTTE and other militant groups? If not who are these Tamil youth?)

He mentions Tamil Nation 6

We gather here following our victory in the passage of the recent Resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, a condemnation against the Sri Lankan government by the international community”

For ITAK and all who share sentiments of this statement it seriously questions their citizenship. Can a citizen of this country be happy when the country is condemned internationally, for whatever reason?

Sri Lankan government has committed the crime of extermination against our people”

The reason for this ‘victory’ is given – as far as we know the Sri Lankan Army exterminated LTTE Terrorists not Tamils.

Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi was created by S.J.V. Chelvanayagam, the father of Tamil Nation, for the purpose of establishing self determination of the Tamil people on this island. This objective is evident in both the name of the party and in the manner in which it operates.”

Here Sampanthan is plainly telling why ITAK has been created.

Tamil United Liberation Front, of which our party was a member, took the historical decision to establish the separate government of Tamil Eelam in 1976. Based on this decision of our party, and the need to place ourselves in a position of strength, Tamil youth decided to oppose violence with violence and began to rise up as armed rebel groups.”

Plain and simple the quest for a separate state began officially & publicly with the Vaddukoddai Resolution in 1976 and is linked to armed militancy and given India trained these youths clandestinely it indirectly involves India in this separatist game.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which became a great force within the Tamil community”

We have been asking the question who sides with the LTTE and obviously here is the answer!

The intervention of India has clearly taught us the lesson that whatever our aspirations may be, India will never welcome a political solution in Sri Lanka that does not accord with the interests of India.”

Clearly it is a ‘you scratch my back, I will scratch yours’ deal that India & Tamils have with each other. The rape of 3000 Tamil women by the IPKF must have been just collateral damage and part of that ‘worthy cause’. It would be interesting to know if all these women were Dalits (low caste) which is why no Tamil is interested in seeking justice for the crime!

achieving Tamil Eelam was becoming an increasingly unrealistic goal. Thus, instead of sacrificing more lives to this cause, our party, with the help of India, began supporting a solution that allowed the Tamil people to live within a united Sri Lanka”

What is being said is that without claiming the political solution to be Tamil Eelam in so many words the same objective should be sought. Who is the gullible who cannot understand this?

A most important lesson we have learnt from the past 60 years… is that we should act strategically, with the awareness that global powers will act based on their domestic interests.”

In other words the separatists have strategized their demands to align to the global agendas of those they are seeking for assistance to arm-twist the Sri Lankan Government. How come our mavericks in government & their smart alecs have not been able to come up with a similar strategy?

Further, a struggle that runs counter to the values of the international community, built only on military might, will not prevail. It is for this reason, that in the new environment created by various global influences, we have, together with the support and assistance of the international community, found new ways of continuing with our struggle”.

It is without a doubt that the armed struggle by LTTE had the silent nod of approval by the Tamil leaders who have now realized that the quest can still be achieved through aligning with global political agenda & partnering with the international community.

Our expectation for a solution to the ethnic problem of the sovereignty of the Tamil people is based on a political structure outside that of a unitary government, in a united Sri Lanka in which Tamil people have all the powers of government needed to live with self-respect and self-sufficiency.”

Why ITAK wants removal of the unitary status of Sri Lanka is simply because a constitution that is unitary cannot allow self-autonomy.

The position that the North and East of Sri Lanka are the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people cannot be compromised in this structure of government.”

It has been the fault of the UNP Govt that agreed to the insertion of this mythical clause and the inability of successive governments to negate this lie officially that has led to this lie being repeated enough to be accepted by all without challenge.

We must have unrestricted authority to govern our own land, protect our own people, and develop our own economy, culture and tradition.”

In other words what is being sought is a separate Sri Lanka (asymmetrical federalism until secession is sought)

meaningful devolution should go beyond the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1987”

What exactly is devolution beyond 13a?

The above solution is also one that is likely to be acceptable to members of the international community including India and the United States”

There’s a revelation, so now we know how and why things have come this far!

Any solution to the ethnic problem concerning the sovereignty of the Tamil people must also be acceptable to the Muslim community in Sri Lanka.”

This part clearly establishes how India is twisting its agenda because Trinco is in the East and the only way that the North East can be merged is to get the Muslims on to their side, thus the continuous reference to ‘Tamil speaking people’ so that it includes both Tamils and Muslims.

Our priority now is to expose the Sri Lankan government that for so many years in the past attempted to describe the ethnic problem and a ‘terrorist problem’.”

So what is Sampanthan trying to say – that LTTE are not terrorists? Who killed Kadiragamar and so many other Tamils?

The international practice prevalent during the mid eighties, when the intervention of India occurred, has now changed. Although the issue at hand is the same, the prevailing conditions are different. The struggle is the same, but the approaches we employ are different. Our aim is the same, but our strategies are different. The players are the same, but the alliances are different. That is the nature of the Tamil people. Although we still have the same aim, the methods we use are now different.”

This part is important to gage the psyche of the Tamil leaders and to understand how they have cunningly manipulated their strategies to suit the times.

United States and India are to a great extent supporting our position. The Sri Lankan government continues to maintain friendships with those standing against them.”

We will agree wholeheartedly with this – the previous Government did not know who their friends were from the enemies and foolishly played into the hands of the enemy at the cost of jeopardizing their friends. Sampanthan says the outcome of the UNHRC Resolutions with US and India supporting ‘their cause’ is the indication of ‘future developments’.

The current practices of the international community may give us an opportunity to achieve, without the loss of life, the soaring aspirations we were unable to achieve by armed force.”

This again reiterates the connection with the Tamil leadership & the LTTE armed struggle.

if the world begins to perceive us to be extremist, or too rigid, or if they

believe that we have a hidden agenda to reignite violence, we will soon be ostracized from the diplomatic exercises in progress. We must show great care in our words and actions”

In other words what Sambanthan is asking all Tamils to do is not to reveal the connections, not to reveal the real plan but to play the ‘innocent’ card and fool the world.

We thus strongly urge the Sri Lankan government to act sincerely in this regard and take steps to release all Tamil political prisoners’

LTTE cadres are NOT political prisoners but we also want justice for every person LTTE killed since 1980s. We are still waiting for the GOSL to put LTTE cadres on trial for these deaths and others who have been indirectly and covertly supporting LTTE must also face the court and be punished for aiding and abetting terror.

Sinhalization that takes place both secretly and openly”

How dare Sambanthan complain about Sinhalese living in the North when every day there are Tamils coming to reside in Colombo and elsewhere. If North is the habitat of the Tamils why are they coming to live in the South? Just count the many flats and apartments Tamils now own and the numbers of Tamils that have increased in Colombo since 2009. Citizens have the fundamental right to live anywhere and it cannot be claimed as colonization as Sambanthan and Tamils are presently doing. The fault of the governments in power has been not to nip this lie in the butt too.

Our understanding and relationship with members of the international community including India and the United States that has come about by slow degrees, little by little, as a result of methodical, measured action and thinking”

See how well the Tamil leadership has manipulated their objectives into the international agenda of others!

Evidendly, the problem is not the problem what we are told is the problem. The answer is not the answer we believe is the answer. We are all being taken for a ride and where will this all end is anyone’s guess.

After reading the excerpts of Sampanthan the present Opposition Leader what is your own opinion of the goals and objectives of the Tamil Leaders and their co-partners the LTTE?

Shenali D Waduge