TNA’s May Day rally call for self-determination for Tamils – A new Vadukkodai Resolution?
Posted on April 25th, 2014
Asada M Erpini
Media reported on 23 April that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) – popularly referred by the media as the main Tamil Party although the group is not a registered political party in Sri Lanka – is to seek self-determination for Tamils.
The reader cannot help getting reminded of the infamous Vadukkodai resolution that saw the light of the day in May 1976. It was the culmination of the sinister machinations that had been dragging on for decades for getting the Tamils’ professed right of self-determination. The call of the Tamil political leaders, spearheaded by those of the calibre of Chelvanayakam, to Tamil youth “to throw themselves fully into the sacred fight for freedom” was gladly embraced by the likes of Pirabahran and his misguided band of followers.
The LTTE, symbolized by Pirabahran and his terrorist henchmen, did not have to go hunting for supporters for their cause. India that was waiting next door, a mere 30 kilometres beyond the borders of Sri Lanka, stepped in gladly giving the LTTE financial backing and military training at many of its military facilities. In addition to the financial assistance and the vociferous moral support that the political leaders of various colours, ages, and ideological affiliations operating in Tamil Nadu offered, the country of Tamils (Tamil Nadu) had innumerable hiding places that the LTTE members running away from the armed forces of Sri Lanka used.
Tamils from Sri Lanka who had settled in the most affluent countries in the West, some legally and others through various ruses, donated, or were forced to donate, loads of dollars, pounds and kroners to the LTTE to carry on with its insurrection against the lawfully elected government of the nation of Sri Lanka. And, there were many morally bankrupt political leaders in the West who saw the bloc vote of the immigrant Tamils as a certain path to their own, or their party men’s and women’s, victory at the polls.
The support that the LTTE received from India, the Tamil immigrants settled in the affluent countries and the political leaders in the West thus transformed a rag tag bunch of ruffians from Velvetithrurai and other areas of the North to a ruthless bunch of killers who, armed with some of the latest armaments, felt that they had the capability to take on the armed forces of Sri Lanka head on.
All that Sri Lanka, and the Tamils of the North in particular, got out of the Velvetithurai call to arms was three decades of mayhem and destruction and untimely deaths of many civilians of all ethnic and religious groups. Fighting for the self-determination for Tamils was the root cause for the suffering faced by the innocents.
The TNA may not have been born if not for the LTTE preventing other Tamil groups from contesting at the elections. Additionally, it may not have been able to continue on in the current highly public form if it did not publicly acknowledge the LTTE as the sole representatives of the Tamils.
What happened after the unanimous adoption of the Vadukkoday resolution by the extremist Tamils and the LTTE taking over leadership for the move for self-determination through armed intervention is history. The highly capable military strategist – according to the pundits and the media men of the West – and his lieutenants and followers, who could “never be defeated militarily” met their ignominious end in the lagoons of Nandikadl on 19 May 2009.
The TNA clearly does not mind Sri Lanka, and the Tamils it claims to represent, going through another few decades of untimely deaths of civilians and the destruction of the infrastructure of the country. The TNA MPs know that if such an unfortunate situation is to arise again, they and the TNA leaders will always have safety in Colombo in the midst of the oft-maligned Sinhala community for their protection and survival.
There is no room in Sri Lanka for self-determination for any ethnic or religious group. The country belongs to one nation. The nation of Sri Lanka comprises Sinhalas, Tamils, Moors, Malays, Burghers and aadivasis that profess Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity or other religious faiths. The sooner the likes of TNA politicians accept this fact the better it is for them as well as for everyone else living in Sri Lanka.
April 25th, 2014 at 4:13 pm
They are going to start violence again.
There is ONLY ONE WAY to stop them.
1. REVIVE the “LTTE”.
2. Get “LTTE” to send letters to TNA leaders demanding they declare Tamil Elam NOW or die like Amirthalingam (FATHER of VADAKUNDI resolution), Thiruchlvam (FATHER of devolution), Uma Maheswaran (FATHER of Tamil terrorism), etc.
3. IF they declare TE, grill them behind bars for 25 years.
4. IF they don’t, “LTTE” will send them to Tamil Elam!
5. Get rid of the “LTTE”.
This is the ONLY WAY with LEAST human rights violations and LEASE casualties. There is NO other way.
We need ABOVE AVERAGE intelligent people to come up with CRAFTY solutions that BEAT UNHRC, UNP, NGO, USA-EU, JVP, Endia and TE camps. Fools (hitha honda gaanis) mishandling this will send SL to Geneva again, bloodshed, civilian deaths, division of country, etc.
April 25th, 2014 at 6:32 pm
President Woodrow Wilson in his 1914 speech on Self determination was eventually incorporated into the UN charter. I Googled “Self Determination” and from the Wikipedia I copy and past the following:
“The right of nations to self-determination (from German: Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Völker), or in short form, the right to self-determination is the cardinal principle in modern international law (jus cogens), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter’s norms.[1][2] It states that nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and fair equality of opportunity have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or interference[3] which can be traced back to the Atlantic Charter, signed on 14 August 1941, by Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who pledged The Eight Principal points of the Charter.[4] The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, or what the outcome should be, whether it be independence, federation, protection, some form of autonomy or even full assimilation.[5] Neither does it state what the delimitation between nations should be — or even what constitutes a nation. In fact, there are conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination”
The basic principles of “self determination allows any group to seek their own governance, nation or act of secession regardless if they are treated well or not. A classic example is the secessionist movement of French Quebec based on Language or that of Scotland based on ethnicity. In this regard the Sri Lankan Tamils do not need an issue to demand a separate state. They can simply base it on ethnicity and language.
Opposing Self determination is the nation state. To quote from the Wikipedia:
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit.[1] The state is a political and geopolitical entity, while the nation is a cultural and ethnic one; the term “nation state” implies that the two coincide geographically. Nation state formation took place at different times in different parts of the world, but has become the dominant form of state organization.
Sri Lanka is unique among “nation states” of the 20th century. having an unbroken written history of herself Sri Lanka has a mindset of being a nation long before the concept of a “sovereign state” was born in Europe. Sri Lanka is also unique in the ancient world in that other culture treated the island nation as a separate and united unit. Even in the mindset of ancient India (or Bharat) the writer of the Ramayana, one of Hinduism’s famous epics treated this island nation as separate from India and christened it with the Sanskrit name “Sri Lanka” or resplendent land.
The Tamils may demand autonomy based on “self determination” but the nation state of Sri Lanka has every valid reason to thwart such a demand based on her unbroken written history. India on the other hand cannot claim this unique place. Tamil Nadu has a greater right to break off from the nebulous concept of “India” which is a foreign word than the Sri Lankan Tamils have, especially since Tamil Nadu or the homeland of the Tamils already exists in India.
Now that the physical war is over the concepts of Self determination verses the nation state takes new precedence as the Tamil diaspora launches their second war of diplomacy to achieve Eelam through self determination. It was effectively used by Nazi Germany to annex predominantly German lands. It was again used by the Jews to reclaim the ancient Roman province of Judea to create Israel. It was successfully used by the Indian Muslims to create Pakistan. But failed in the US when the Confederate states demanded autonomy from Washington D.C.
April 26th, 2014 at 5:38 am
These traitor lot are Pacha People (out and out liars).
They cry discrimination to get asylum or bigger slice of the cake.
FREE EDUCATION to become doctors, engineers, solicitors, accountants,
IT professionals etc. and first thing to do is give money to LTTE to destroy the country.
They can live in Colombo, own businesses, but Sinhalese, in their own country, not
supposed to live in the north and east.
Their claim to ancient Tamil kingdom is only a myth. NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN A BRICK
FROM THESE ANCIENT KINGDOMS. NO ANURADHAPURAS, NO POLONNARUWAS.
ALL A BUNCH OF LIARS. THOSE KINGDOMS ARE MYTHICAL INDEED.
April 26th, 2014 at 7:18 am
AS,
ONLY my proposed solution works with these BLOODY LIARS.
April 26th, 2014 at 3:13 pm
Sri Lankan govt should explain to Tamil people to stop crying outloud for Self determination crap and to stop giving votes to TNA. If not the govt should says that would education, jobs and economic progress of every thing.
that may be illegal. but, should be reminded.
PRomote vigneswaran to move out of the TNA and to make new party.
April 26th, 2014 at 3:39 pm
Lorenzo,BW,AnuD,AS,
You bloody foreign residents keep praising president and shut up. Maha Raja knows how to rule !
“We need ABOVE AVERAGE intelligent people to come up with CRAFTY solutions that BEAT UNHRC, UNP, NGO, USA-EU, JVP, Endia and TE camps. Fools (hitha honda gaanis) mishandling this will send SL to Geneva again, bloodshed, civilian deaths, division of country, etc.”
Yes. Consult Mervyn Silva.