{"id":120688,"date":"2021-11-27T23:28:37","date_gmt":"2021-11-28T05:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120688"},"modified":"2021-11-27T15:59:14","modified_gmt":"2021-11-27T22:59:14","slug":"tna-gtf-articulates-tamil-peoples-concerns-which-segment-of-the-tamil-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/27\/tna-gtf-articulates-tamil-peoples-concerns-which-segment-of-the-tamil-people\/","title":{"rendered":"TNA, GTF articulates Tamil people’s concerns; Which segment of the Tamil people?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raj Gonsalkorale<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Sri Lankan Daily\nMirror reports that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Global Tamil\nForum (GTF) have jointly called for a more engaged  role by the\nUnited States in promoting human rights, accountability, political resolution,\nand reconciliation in Sri Lanka (see https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/breaking\nnews\/TNA-GTF-jointly-call-for-more-U-S-engagement\/108-225498<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report went on to state, quote\u201d The particular focus\nof the current engagement was to call for a proactive USG role in promoting a\nholistic approach to reconciliation, which would include addressing the root\ncause of conflict and human rights violations, the denial of political rights\nto the Tamil people. The Delegation emphasised that addressing the legitimate\naspirations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace, dignity, and\nmeaningful power devolution is critical in guaranteeing non-recurrence. The\nchallenges faced by the Tamil community on a daily basis to protect their land\nand preserve their identity in the Tamil majority Northern and Eastern\nProvinces against rampant militarisation and state sponsored initiatives aimed\nat altering regional demography was discussed. Details of some of the recent\nland appropriation measures by the government of Sri Lanka were presented and\nthe urgency to counter such measures with international assistance was sought\u201d\nunquote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not arguing that Tami people of Sri Lanka do not\nhave unresolved issues, one needs to be clear about the Tamil people that are\nrepresented by the TNA and the GTF. For many Sri Lankans, especially Sinhala\nand Muslims, Tamils of the country are one community irrespective of where they\nlive, how long ago they arrived in the island, their castes and station in\nlife. If Tamils face any ongoing discriminatory practices in the hands of the\nmajority community, all Tamils face these and not only some. For the Sinhala\nand Muslim community, some Tamils are not more equal than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not seem to be the case for the TNA and the GTF.\nThey seem to be the spokes persons for the Tamils in the North and the East,\nand one wonders whether this partiality extends to those belonging to\nparticular castes as well. It is more than certain that the US government which\nhas promised to support addressing of ongoing problems of the Tamil community,\ndo not have an idea of the complexities associated with what is understood to\nbe as the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nan article titled Which Tamils hopes are fading? Open letter to Professor\nRatnajeevan Hoole\u201d, published in the Colombo Telegraph on the 4th<\/sup> of\nMarch 2019, <\/strong>(https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/open-letter-to-professor-ratnajeevan-hoole-which-tamils-hopes-are-fading\/<\/a>), the writer presented a\nfew challenges to Professor Hoole. Many parts of this article are quoted here\ndue to its relevance to the current topic TNA, GTF articulates Tamil people’s\nconcerns; Which segment of the Tamil people?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quote\u201d Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole in an article appearing\nin the Colombo Telegraph on the 1st<\/sup> of March, poses the question Tamils\u2019\nhopes fading: Every village is Sinhalese? Raghavan sacked?\u201d Firstly, it will be\nuseful and important for the good Professor to clarify for all of us who he\nmeans when he refers to Tamil hopes are fading\u201d. The Tamil population\ndemographics and its composition is very complex and Professor Hoole should inform\nreaders whether he is referring to all Tamils living in the country or whether he\nis referring to a specific group of Tamils. There are Northern Province Tamils,\nEastern Province Tamils, Plantation or up country Tamils\u201d, Tamils living in\nareas outside the above areas who are from all of the above areas, Tamil\nspeaking non Tamils (Islamiyath Thamilar or Tamil\nMuslims) <\/em>and so on\u201d unquote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same article the writer quoted Dr. S. I.\nKeethaponcalan, Chair of the Conflict Resolution Department, Salisbury\nUniversity, Maryland who in an article titled Who\nIs a Tamil?\u201d published in the Colombo Telegraph in December 2016, had stated\nthat in view of the devolution debate in\ngeneral and devolution to the North-East Provinces in particular, the term\nTamil\u201d means Sri Lankan Tamils,\u201d who live or have roots in the North-East\nProvinces. He also says that The Sri Lankan Tamils on the other hand, believe that the\nNorth-East Provinces are their homeland\u201d and they fought for a separate\nstate\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the writer challenged\nboth gentlemen, it is perhaps opportune to challenge the TNA and the GTF and\nask the question whether they unequivocally subscribe to the view expressed by Dr\nKeethaponcalan\u2019s\nthat when a reference is made to Tamil hopes are fading\u201d, whether in fact the\nreference is only to the hopes of Sri\nLankan Tamils, who live or have roots in the North-East Provinces and who\nbelieve the North and East is their homeland\u201d. This clarification is important\nas one needs to know the wants, needs and objectives of the group of Tamils referred\nto as Sri Lankan Tamils by Dr Keethaponcalan who goes onto state that that in Sri Lanka, a distinction\nis made between Indian (or plantation or up-country) Tamils and Sri Lankan\nTamils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Keethaponcalan also stated that he quote subscribes to the idea\nthat Muslims are not and that they are an independent social group defined by\nreligion. Every social group has the right to define it\u2019s identify as it deems\nfit. The Muslims have the right to define who they are. Tamils trying to define\nthe Muslims identity may make them hegemonic. Therefore, Tamil people, do not\ninclude the Muslims. The recognition that Muslims are an independent group has\nthe potential to promote Muslim-Tamil reconciliation\u201d unquote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Keethaponcalan mentions\nthat Sir Ponnampalam Ramanathan\nhad famously argued that Muslims are Islamiyath\nThamilar<\/em>. This notion created serious rift between the two\ncommunities. Muslims believed that Tamils have political motives to label them\nas Tamils. Many Muslims who write about Muslim-Tamil issues often start their\nanalysis from Ramanathan. The label, Islamiyath\nThamilar<\/em> makes the Muslims a subcategory of Tamil. Hence, the\nresistance. In this context, it would not be out of place to state that the\nTamil speaking Muslim community in the Eastern province cannot be taken as\nTamils\u201d as the TNA does, when it suits them, to include them to bolster\nTamil\u201d community numbers in the Eastern province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complexity of the\ncomposition of Tamils from a Sinhala perspective and how Tamils themselves\ndefine their composition is a barrier that has created difficulties in finding\na solution to what is generally referred to as the Tamil\u201d issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer, in an\narticle published in the Daily FT New Constitution: Reinforcing the Tamil homeland theory or\nsolving the Tamil\u201d issue?\u201d (<\/strong>http:\/\/www.ft.lk\/opinion\/New-Constitution–Reinforcing-the-Tamil-homeland-theory-or-solving-the-%E2%80%9CTamil%E2%80%9D-issue-\/14-671737<\/a>),\npointed out that in contemporary Sri Lanka, only two provinces have a Tamil\nmajority. The Northern Province, which has a Tamil population of 93.8% and the\nEastern Province, a Tamil population of 39.2%. The statistics quoted in this\narticle are from the Census conducted by the Department of Census and\nStatistics in 2012. Nationally, 51.5% of all Tamils in the country live in the\nNorthern and Eastern Provinces, while 48.5% live outside these two provinces.\nIn reality, 48.5% of the Tamil population lives as minorities in seven of the\nnine provinces in the country. In the Eastern Province, the Tamil population is\na minority if the Sinhala and Muslim population is combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nwriter also pointed out that if the intention of a new Constitution, whenever\nit is formulated,  is to devolve power,\nor some powers, to the provinces and make them more independent (of the\ncentre), and provide avenues for greater self-determination, from a Tamil\nperspective, their minority status in the seven provinces and in the Eastern\nProvince (when the Sinhala and Muslim populations are combined) will not\nprovide the freedom and the flexibility their brethren will have in the\nNorthern Province. So, in this sense, a class of Tamils who are more equal than\nothers (in the rest of the country) will be created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nthe Tamil\u201d issue arose on account of domination and discrimination by the\nSinhala majority, then, a new Constitution will not change anything except in\nthe Northern province as the status quo in regard to the majority position will\nremain elsewhere irrespective of constitutional provisions that prohibit\ndiscrimination by race, religion, gender, disability, etc. as already enshrined\nin the current Constitution.
\n
\nIn respect of the Tamil\u201d issue, granting greater devolution of powers to\nprovinces will benefit the Tamils in the Northern Province and to a lesser\nextent the Tamils in the Eastern Province. Other Tamils will have to work out\nhow best they could share power with the Sinhala community and other\ncommunities and work for the betterment of all communities. The question that\nsprings to mind is whether this is in fact what a constitution model should be\nfor the entire country, and what kind of constitutional structure would provide\nthe foundation for a society which accepts and respects the diversity of the\ncountry.
\n
\nIf it is to do with a political issue, which is substantially the Tamil homeland\nissue, it is a highly debateable issue and it is one without any solution as it\nhas no contemporary bearing and only circumstantial information. If as Professor\nHoole has argued, the solution is a Tamil homeland in the North and the East, there\nwill not be any hope for the Tamils he is referring to. The question of\nprovincial devolution, both administrative and political, is something that can\nand should be visited, but, there has to be clarity on the ultimate objective\/s\nand desires of the different groups of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Classifying only\nsome Tamils as Sri Lankan Tamils does not appear to facilitate such a\nclarification especially to others who are not Sri Lankan Tamils\u201d and also to the\nmajority Sinhala community and the Muslim community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nthe TNA and the GTF are of the same view as Professor Hoole and Dr Keethaponcalan as regards\nwhat is termed as a solution for the Tamil issue\u201d, in that it is to do with\ncarving out a territory comprising of the North and East provinces of the country\nfor Tamils living there or who have roots there, and creating a separate State\nor a fully autonomous political State, then unfortunately for the Tamils, their\nsolution will only be the beginning of a new problem and not a solution.\n\nA lasting solution should\ninclude some political administrative devolution, but to all provinces, on the\npremise that such an exercise is needed to serve the people in provinces\nbetter, more effectively and efficiently. Besides this, Tamil people of all\nsegments within what is identified as Tamils of Sri Lanka should be\nrepresented, and should have sufficient power in the National Parliament to\nensure justice and fair play for all Tamils and to ensure they are not\nsubjugated by an accidental numerical majority status enjoyed by the Sinhala\nBuddhist community. A divisive methodology to address Tamil concerns surely\ncannot be called a solution, and hopefully, the TNA, GTF and other Tamil\npolitical parties will accept this at least for the sake of the people they\nclaim they represent.


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raj Gonsalkorale The Sri Lankan Daily Mirror reports that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) have jointly called for a more engaged  role by the United States in promoting human rights, accountability, political resolution, and reconciliation in Sri Lanka (see https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/breaking news\/TNA-GTF-jointly-call-for-more-U-S-engagement\/108-225498 The report went on to state, quote\u201d The particular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-raj-gonsalkorale"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120688\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}