KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Eelam wars were defeated by the government of Sri Lanka in May 2009. Nirmala  Chandrahasan said that the Tamils must start all over again. I do not think that Tamil nationalism with secessionist aspirations, will die a natural death. Even if the LTTE is destroyed , it is possible that a new guerrilla war could emerge in a few years time, she said. [1]

 A.K. Ragavan, a Tamil activist now in UK stated in an interview in 2009  ,  we need to look at this differently. This nationalist framework will only alienate people further. Tamils constitute only  12 % of Sri Lanka  population Without the support of the Sinhala progressives Tamils cannot take their struggle forward anymore. [2]

Sebastian Rasalingam said ‘Eelam program was doomed to failure within the confines of an island dominated by a majority which had always has a historic sense of its own identity, and ancient chronicles to give the needed patriotic cohesions. The Mahavamsa mind set. But the Eelam idea is too big and too potent to be confined to the shores of Sri Lanka. So it may be transferred to Tamilnadu.[3]

 Sri Lanka is quite the last place in the world to strive for Eelam  or an approximation because the game here is zero-sum due to the uniqueness of the Sinhala situation. Here Tamil globalism meets Sinhala exceptionalism, said Dayan Jayatilleke in 2018.[4]Sri Lanka is  too small an  island  to have two separate governments, said Kanthar Balanathan in  2023. Jaffna has no river or water and 49% of Tamils live outside the North and East. [5]

Tamil diaspora should abandon its separatist ideas said Kumaran Pathmanathan   in 2021. I have tried to explain to them that the era led by Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman is no more. It is impossible to formulate another armed struggle in this country. Pursuing such an ideology is a waste of time.[6] There will never be a separate state in Sri Lanka. Even the most vociferous Tamil politicians in Sri Lanka too have categorically rejected the idea said  a Daily News  editorial in 2021 .[7]

LTTE was    engaging in  civil war in a country with a strong central government , firm  sovereign standing and strong historical recall. Sri Lanka, real name Sinhaladvipa, is a recognized sovereign state with clear boundaries, settled population, a seat in the UN and a well documented history. Sri Lanka is the oldest and longest running democracy in Asia, having had universal suffrage thrust on it, while it was still a British crown colony. The first election was held in 1931,  two decades before India.  Sri Lanka  is considered  a resilient  country.

In contrast to this, Eelamists argue, without any evidence, that  ancient Sri Lanka  consisted of  two nations, Tamil and Sinhala .They argue that   the sovereign state was a modern invention, introduced to Sri Lanka  during western rule,  due to the Westphalia treaty of 1648. That is incorrect ,  also it is a calculated distortion of the  well documented history of  Sri Lanka .

The treaty of Westphalia was very significant for Europe  because it ended the  Holy Roman Empire.   The Holy Roman empire, headed by Charles V of Spain was described as neither Holy, Roman nor Empire.  Europe at the time was a hotch  potch of kingdoms, bishoprics, dukedoms   all  fighting with each other. There was Thirty Years War, 1618–1648  and  Eighty years War (1568–1648).These ended with the Treaty of Westphalia  of 1648. This treaty created the sovereign states of Europe as we know them today. The  modern states of Europe, with settled borders  and an agreement  to respect these  borders and not fight with each other started from this time. Italy and Germany however unified only in 1848. This treaty has no relevance whatsoever to Sri Lanka .But Westphalia is used in Sri Lanka by Eelamists  to argue that the present day sovereign state of Sri Lanka is  a recent creation  by western rulers,

Sri Lanka  enjoyed continuous monarchical rule for a long unbroken period ending  in 1815. Monarchical  states are sovereign states. They pre-date the democratic state, but they are  nevertheless,  sovereign states. This means Sri Lanka has been a   sovereign state for many centuries.  The general public are not  familiar with the word ‘sovereignty,’ but they  are very proud of  ‘our ancient kings’ and ‘our ancient history’.    They   firmly oppose  Tamil separatism and    declare ‘rata beddana denna baha”.

International law supports this approach. The  sovereignty of a state is a status recognized and protected by international law. It cannot be easily overturned, said experts.  It  cannot be challenged by non-state actors such as LTTE ,said HL de Silva  . [8]   A sovereign state has full ,complete and exclusive authority to deal with its own territory and with its own nationals, said Nihal Jayawickrema. [9]

A  sovereign state   has control over its airspace, and its territorial sea as well as its land. According to UN Resolution 3171(28) December 1973, Sri Lanka holds permanent sovereignty of all its natural resources, whether on land or on sea.

 Further, International law places great importance on the ‘territorial integrity’ of  sovereign  states ‘Territorial integrity’  is a fundamental principle in international law  which  means the right of a  state to  protect its territorial boundaries and control  the  full territory ,without  interference from anybody.  ( continued)

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[1] Daily News 16.4.09 p 6.

[2] Daily News 16.4.09 p 6.

[3] Sebastian Rasalingam. The twilight of Tigers in Sri Lanka .Island. 5.1.2009 p 11

[4] Dayan J. Island 10.2.18 p 9  .

[5]  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/06/08/open-letter-to-the-fp-tna-ggp-and-the-terrorist-political-parties/

[6] http://www.slguardian.org/2021/06/sri-lanka-selvarasa-pathmanathan-alias.html

[7] Daily News  22.9.21 p 4

[8] HL de Silva. Sri Lanka a Nation in conflict. p  247

[9] Nihal Jayawickrema. The myth of state sovereignty. Sunday Island .28.3.2010 p 10 .