Asada M Erpini

A group of schoolchildren who were in Tamil Nadu to play a friendly soccer match were unceremoniously packed off on the orders of the all powerful Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The reason ostensibly was to show the ladyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s support for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Close on the heels of the departure of the soccer players, 186 Catholics who were on a pilgrimage to Tamil Nadu had to head back to Sri Lanka, after facing the wrath of groups of unruly Tamil hooligans. The pilgrims were to attend religious activities at Poondi Matha and Velankanni churches in Tamil Nadu, but what they received was abuse, missiles of shoes and injuries with sticks thrown at them by mobs. The unfortunate Sri Lankans were not spared even when they were being escorted to the airport to catch a plane to Sri Lanka.

None in the group of pilgrims that went to Poondi Matha and Velankanni churches in Tamil Nadu was Sinhala Buddhist: while some were Catholic Sinhalese who had no association with Buddhism, the rest was Tamils who profess Catholicism. One would expect the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to shed a tear at least for the Catholic Tamils: after all, it was a Catholic Tamil – the LTTE leader – that catapulted R. Sampanthan and his colleagues to positions of enviable benefits as MPs in the local political scene and prominence in the international arena.

The utterances and actions of Sampanthan and his deputies of the calibre of M.A. Sumanthiran, who spearhead the TNA, and keep the Eelam fires burning locally, do not suggest that they are friends of a unitary Sri Lanka. It is always a case of asking for more from the much-maligned ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Sinhala governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for Tamils that they claim to represent, although that group does not constitute four percent of the inhabitants of the island nation. The present government has poured a vast and disproportionate amount of resources to the Northern and Eastern provinces to resettle the war-affected and to rebuild the infrastructure of roads, factories, electricity supply, etc., but we are yet to hear a word from anyone in TNA that the residents in these regions now have some prospect of a better life than what they had to put up with under their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”liberatorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Pirabaharan.

Many groups and individuals in Sri Lanka and India have condemned, or highlighted the possible negative fallouts from, the attacks on Sri Lankans visiting Tamil Nadu.

A report in the Island on 07 September states that Dr. Subraminam Swamy, the Leader of the Janata Party of India, was of opinion that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu should be sacked for not protecting Sri Lankans visiting Tamil Nadu and presidential rule imposed on the state.

The General-Secretary of the Democratic People Front (DPF), Dr. Kumar Guruparan, has ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-vehemently condemned attacks on innocent Sri Lankan pilgrims in Tamil NaduƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and had requested the Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka to convey DPFƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s serious concerns to the Prime Minister India, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the DMK Leader.

Tamil traders in Pettah, Colombo had condemned the attacks on Sri Lankans visiting Tamil Nadu. They had shut their shops and carried out a protest opposite the Indian High Commission premises. They are asking the Indian government to ensure that the safety of the visitors from Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu is ensured.

Going beyond mere condemnation, the business community in Tamil Nadu has warned of the futility of the actions of the ultranationalists. The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNCCI) has pointed out that India exports eight times more than it imports from Sri Lanka and that Tamil Nadu holds a large share of the nearly $500 million Indian investments in the island nation.

Yet, the TNA leader obviously has no time to say a word on behalf of the Tamil Catholics from Chilaw who were manhandled by his brethren in Tamil Nadu. Instead, he has chosen to warn the Head of State of Sri Lanka. A report quotes the TNA leader as warning the President of dire consequences if the UPFA resorts to malpractices to win the Eastern Provincial Council polls. And, as regards the dire consequences that the President of Sri Lanka are threatened with ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” leaving the issue of alleged malpractices aside ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Sri Lankans ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ know very well that President Rajapakse, who annihilated the LTTE, can disregard the hot air of the TNA Leader just as the mighty elephant takes no notice of a fly sitting on its back.