Parabakaran May be a Leg-end
but Tamil Homeland is a Dead-end -A reply to Rajan Hoole
Dilrook Kannangara
Many moderates find it too itchy to remain moderates amidst a series
of victories scored by the security forces. Tiger supply routes have
been closed one by one though still a large seafront exists for them.
Many moderates fear that the Tamil Elam dream will be buried with the
LTTE leader and they do not want that. A war can have only one winner
(if at all there is a winner) and his command shall reign supreme; this
is the world order and that is how it should be in Sri Lanka.
Isn’t Parabakaran already a legend for Tamil
Elamists, moderate and other?
Parabakaran is already a legend among those favouring Tamil Elam and
most Tamils favour Tamil Elam as they are still convinced that the Tamil
Homeland is towards the south of the Palk Straits and not towards the
north; and some fail to apprehend that Palk Straits is not the Panama
Canal either. Every year the Tamil Diaspora – which was created
by Parabakaran – funds his mechanism with USD 200-300 million dollars.
This is many a time of what the government gets into its hands from
foreign sources.
Apart from a handful of peoples’ representatives, most Tamil legislators
from the Northern and the Eastern provinces treat Parabakaran as divine.
For them LTTE is the sole representative of the Tamil people and Parabakaran
their Prime Minister and the President. They are dreaming of the illusive
Tamil Nation.
Similarly, there were Tamil separatist legends in the Sri Lankan history
like Elara, Magha, etc. But the then national leaders didn’t give
a damn about their legendary prowess; they were cut down like fresh
veal.
Therefore, Parabakaran is already a legend for the dreamers of Tamil
Elam, but that should not stop the security forces from doing what they
are paid to do!
It is absurd that “the destruction of Prabhakaran would make him
an even more dangerous legend among the Tamils everywhere”. If
so what will happen when he eventually dies? Still it will be the same
result, isn’t it?
Similarly, Osama Bin Laden is a legend for billions of individuals around
the world. After all, he is fighting for a religious cause and not for
a petty racial cause! Has the hunt for this ‘legend’ stopped
just because that would make him a ‘Mujahedeen’ (a martyr
for righteousness)? No.
Killer of legends
Rajan Hoole is trying to give a sense of national importance to an Interpol-wanted
killer; the killer of legends like Rajiv Ghandi, Ranasinghe Premadasa,
Gamini Dissanayake, Lalith Athulathmudali, Neelan Thiruchelvam, Lakshman
Kadirgamam, Denzil Kobbekaduwa and scores more. Is Parabakaran’s
life worth even one percent of the worth of Lalith Athulathmudali, etc.?
For the information of Rajan, most Sri Lankans do not think so.
Parabakaran has already destroyed the Sinhala and Muslim legendary habitats
in the North and the East and these must be restored before any political
solution is attempted. Any political solution should essentially encompass
the aspirations of the Sinahala and Muslim populace as well and not
just Tamils. It should also essentially include Sri Lankan national
aspirations as well. No other aspirations (especially racial, tribal
and communal aspirations) should be allowed to supersede Sri Lankan
national aspirations under any circumstances.
The LTTE has already destroyed the Tamil culture and Tamil independent
thinking by eliminating any and all powerhouses of Tamil legends. Drama
stages are overtaken by flora and fauna in the North, Tamil schools
were converted to recruitment centres for suicide bombers, the Jaffna
university was once converted to a safe haven for terrorists at the
expense of innocent tax payers and Tamil intellectuals were gunned down
leaving behind bogus but very rich intellectuals who may be useful for
the ‘Tamil liberation struggle’ on a rainy day. There are
many such intellectuals who were unfortunately educated by the nation
of Sri Lanka.
Putting the house in order
There are a few disparities that need to be addressed before any political
solution is contemplated. Severe inequalities exist owing to ethnic
cleansing and other acts of terrorism. The number of legislators electable
by 100,000 Northerners is far more than the number 100,000 Southerners
can elect due to 1970s population data used to allocate parliamentary
seats. Northerners and Easterners have much higher chances of getting
into government universities owing to outdated allocation methods that
use 1981 population data. This is further aggravated by ethnic cleansing
carried out by the LTTE resulting in a situation of total absence of
Sinhala and Muslim students in the North. Owing to these disparities,
the percentage of Tamil students (other than upcountry Tamils) in government
universities is double their ethnic percentage in spite of disproportionately
higher tax revenue collected from Sinhalese and Muslim taxpayers. This
unintended cross-subsidisation of economic, educational and political
power must be stopped as soon as practicable ahead of any political
solution.
Failure to do so will only make this disparity a stepping stone for
the opponents of such a political solution to get rid of it shortly
after it is implemented.
Further, the majority must be tangibly better-off after a political
solution than before. Otherwise such a solution will not be passed at
a referendum and its lifespan will be a few months. If a political solution
cannot stop the war in its tracks, then it has little appeal. It should
also be noted that all major political parties (UNP, SLFP, JVP) tend
to shed their efforts towards ‘political solutions’ when their
very existence is threatened. This speaks volumes of the intense and
inherent dislike their voters have towards the type of political solutions
that have been suggested so far. In a democratic setting, it is ludicrous
for a political party go against the aspirations of its voters. And
it is even more ludicrous that elected legislators should listen to
separatists.
Tamil moderates have always failed to wean the Tamil masses away from
the LTTE
Yes, they have always failed to do so; for the past 35 or 24 years they
failed to do so. What nonsense are they talking now when the days of
the LTTE are numbered? Could a single Tamil moderate get into the parliament
by vote (not by the national list)? No. Were Ponnambalam, Chelvanayagam
and Amirthalingam became Tamil heroes by moderation? No. Worst still
when they eventually became more moderate, they were flatly rejected
by their voters!
Let alone weaning, these moderates have failed for about a century
to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people! But military hardware
has proved to do the weaning job effectively. Hundreds of thousands
came to government controlled areas voluntarily amidst LTTE traps and
APMs without any demands and many more are eagerly waiting in Vanni
to cross the fence. As a result the LTTE has run out of cadres and hiding
places.
On the other hand the men in uniform have been profusely praised by
the international community for the magnificent piece of resettlement
work. When the LTTE is exterminated, there is no need to wean on the
calves from the LTTE cow; they will by their own find a different pasture!
Therefore by that time the need for moderates would have collapsed.
Dr Rajan Hoole has inadvertently made a valid point here. Surely there
is more than one way to skin a big cat and the security forces know
a few.
The same old Indian threat
Rajan Hoole uses threats as a last resort to force the government to
produce a political solution. This type of threats first came from Ponnambalam,
Chelvanayagam and Amirthalingam during their heydays. Today there are
more players in the region including Pakistan and China. Effectively
we get more help from these two countries than from India which left
the scene somewhat after they had a glimpse of the tigers. Any attempt
by India to disintegrate Sri Lanka will only lead to the disintegration
of already patchy India. In that event it is inevitable to stop the
further militarisation of the North and the East. Even Rajan would remember
how the IPKF indulged in sensual pleasures during 1987-9 at the expense
of the Tamil populace.
Chinese military bases already agreed for Hambantota and Pakistani military
deals worth hundreds of dollars mean there will be more players this
time.
A more Ghandian approach would be to accommodate the Elamists in India
as it has done for Tamil refugees over the years.
Under duress
Before implementing any political solution, a conducive environment
must be created for all interested parties to air their concerns and
aspirations to build that solution. The disparities highlighted above
also need to be addressed. Otherwise it favours separatists than unitarists
as the 2004 general election clearly showed; TNA that obtained almost
an equal number of votes as the JHU, ended up having more than twice
the number of seats JHU obtained. This is simply absurd in a democracy.
Also equitable tertiary education opportunities must be given to all
districts so that each district would produce an equitable number of
educated populace to constructively engage in the process of developing
a political solution. In addition, war heroes’ families should
be awarded special privileges in attending government universities,
vocational training facilities and other beneficial facilities in appreciation
of their unparalleled sacrifices and achievements. It is also mandatory
that displaced are resettled in their original places. These are essential
prerequisites of a successful and sustainable political solution.
Threat of terrorism must be eliminated beforehand as the mere existence
of terrorism fizzles out any spirit of democracy. When terrorists are
no more, people in the North and the East would be able to elect their
own representatives as it happened for the last time in 1977 before
elections became dogs’ breakfasts especially in the North.
A political solution made while terrorists are in existence simply gets
invalidated, outdated and irrelevant when the terrorists are no more.
Therefore a peaceful resolution can only take place when there is no
undue pressure and duress exerted amply by the terrorists. A good example
is the Spanish election days after 3/11 in Madrid in 2004 where an unexpected
winner emerged. It proves the age old knowledge that democracy and terrorism
cannot co-exist even for three (3) days! Always terrorism distorts the
democratic process. Further evidence could be found by analysing the
voters’ turnout in terrorism affected areas in the elections of
1988,1989,1993,1994 (2), 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 (aborted), 2004, 2005.
Where have you been Rajan?
But the worst happens when a political solution harbours terrorists!
Sensing their extinction, tigers might join the Northern provincial
council only to buy enough time and weapons to launch the Elam War Five.
They can also make it a podium to raise their crap flag of guns, barbed
wire and the strangled tiger! The futility of political solutions amidst
LTTE presence was seen in 1987-89 when the EPRLF-led PC went through
utter misery, death, destruction and ultimately went under. Should we
waste time and money for a repeat performance by a different band of
actors?
Therefore, the only practical time of advancing a political solution
is after the death of the last terrorist. Killing Parabakaran means
hastening it. A dead Parabakaran cannot launch terror attacks, cannot
influence legislators, cannot rig elections, cannot kill the architects
of political solutions and cannot ruin the national economy. More over
a carcass-ed Parabakaran cannot create Tamil Elam. The Tamil Elam nightmare
will definitely die with Parabakaran for good.
It is better Parabakaran becomes a bigger legend as a dead warrior than
as the first Chancellor of Tamil Elam!
In short, Parabakaran must be killed before he kills the nation; that
is putting the horse before the cart!
Cowards of the Tamil Diaspora
Diaspora Tamils are nothing but cowards and the national defence strategy
need not bend to gratify them. They are nothing but worthless for national
decision making as they have no voting power. They can only financially
assist the LTTE but after annually amassing USD 300 million every year
for decades, the LTTE has enough cash. What it needs today is fighters,
especially suicide bombers and the huge Tamil Diaspora cannot provide
that as they are too scared to scarify their lives for the Tamil Elam
struggle. Money and lobbying cannot buy them the Tamil Elam, otherwise
they would be in possession of not one but many lands with fancy names.
Their remote controlled child soldiers and sexy dolls with bomb-packed
wonder-bras cannot scare away the Lankan army as long as they are given
proper leadership.
Therefore cowards may have another coward as their legend and who cares?
The bottom line is nothing happens as they are too scared to go to the
battlefield where the fate of Tamil Elam is actually decided.
On the other hand no amount of gratifications can satisfy them since
only the separate nation of Tamil Elam carved out of the island of Sri
Lanka can satisfy them in the first step. There is nothing that stops
them from demanding the rest thereafter.
Should this be the only country where other nationals (Canadian, Australian,
British, Swiss) make decisions on behalf of its own citizens? Will the
citizens keep quite? Now that is putting the minority mares before the
majority stallions; a sure fire formula to get stuffed; to hell with
the cart!!
It’s a shame that only 15,000 mostly children are fighting for
70 million cowards the world over for the one and only Tamil Nation;
no wonder they are fighting a losing battle.
Aren’t there other political solutions other
than shades of federalism?
Most ‘moderates’ take for granted that federalism is the ONLY
political solution. This is pathetic as they are dozens of other solutions.
If India is a federal experiment, there are reasons, equal to the number
of live separatist movements active in India today, against federalism.
From Mysoor to Mahatashtrar, there are separatist movements in India
of which only the tip is seen by the world when 7/11 style attacks take
place.
However, as the ‘moderates’ go a step further in promoting
a strange breed of federalism that can be termed as ‘racial-federalism’,
we are in for more trouble than India if we go for a federal solution.
Instead of trying to please the minority that is slanted towards Tamil
Elam anyway, how about pleasing the majority that is allegiant towards
Sri Lanka? Instead of gratifying the aspirations of Tamil separatists,
how about gratifying the Sri Lankan unitarists? This is exactly the
type of solution Malaysia gave to its ethnic problems in the midst of
loud and threatening disapproval from the international community, and
alas all ethnic problems vanished for good. In order to do that, military
and unitary forces went hand in hand. Today there are no nagging separatism
issues in unitary Malaysia in wide contrast to federal India.
It is not too late to realise that you can’t build your nation
on the remanets of another’s nation. Find the cradle of Tamil artefacts,
Tamil literature, Tamil songs/movies/dramas and Tamil culture, there
shall be the Tamil Homeland. If anyone thinks that getting a piece from
there is more difficult than getting it from Sri Lanka, think again;
the momentum has already begun and the perils of federalism will do
the rest. On the other hand, Sri Lanka is for people of all races to
live peacefully in a unitary nation. Those who cannot live so can either
face the army or take the easier way out; there can never be a compromise
between right and wrong, hence no moderates exist Sri Lanka and the
Tamil homeland.
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