{"id":84201,"date":"2018-12-16T13:11:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T20:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=84201"},"modified":"2018-12-16T13:11:03","modified_gmt":"2018-12-16T20:11:03","slug":"save-the-country-from-tnas-treachery-part-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/12\/16\/save-the-country-from-tnas-treachery-part-x\/","title":{"rendered":"Save the country from TNAs Treachery –\u00a0 Part X"},"content":{"rendered":"

By A.A.M.NIZAM \u2013 MATARA<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Religion based political history of North and East indicate that although Sumanthiran belongs to the \u00a0protestant Christian minority\u00a0 it is believed\u00a0 that\u00a0 he\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 would\u00a0 receive the overwhelming support of the predominantly Hindu electorate of Jaffna. The most famous of Protestant Christian being elected include the co-founder\u00a0 and leader of the Federal Party, S.J.V. Chelvanayagam\u00a0 who won in Kankesanthurai repeatedly in 1947, 1956, 60, 65, 70 and 75. Rajan Selvanayagam in Batticaloa (1970) and Alfred Durayappah in Jaffna (1960) was also protestant Christians though Durayappah later transcended religion and became\u00a0 a Theosophist worshipping at Hindu temples and Buddhist vihares. In recent times T. Kurukularajah a protestant Christian\u00a0won from the Kilinochchi district at the Northern provincial council elections. Kurukularajah who was the provincial\u00a0Minister for Education is the son of eminent clergyman Rev. A.C. Thambyrajah who set up the\u00a0unorthodox Christian institution Navajeevanam\u201din Murasumottai near Paranthan.<\/p>\n

Political analysts commented that the main reason for\u00a0Christians being elected in Hindu majority areas is since Tamil politics in Sri Lanka has been of a secular nature. Homage is paid to the Thamizh Thaai\u201d or Tamil mother who symbolises Tamil unity regardless of religious differences. The political struggle for\u00a0Tamil equality in the island has been on ethno-linguist grounds and pro separatist Jeyarj says when mobs attacked Tamils in 1956, 58, 77, 81 and 83 the victims were targeted for being Tamils and not for being Hindus or Christians. Similarly, when bombs and shells rained down on Tamil populated areas they did not differentiate between Hindus and Christians altogether .<\/p>\n

This phenomenon of Christians being political leaders in the Tamil community has been remarked upon and questioned. This was particularly so in the case of S.J.V. Chelvanayagam who led Tamil non \u2013violent political resistance for two decades and was revered as Than Thai (Father) Chelva.\u00a0 I t was said that former Prime Minister Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike once wrote to Chelvanayagam and asked him as to what right he\u00a0 had as a Christian to speak for the predominantly Hindu Tamils of the North and East. Chelvanayagam is reported to have responded saying that It is to the credit of the Tamil people that they did not require their leaders to change their religion in order to lead them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reference to changing religion\u201d was a veiled barb at\u00a0 Sinhala leaders like S.W.R.D. \u00a0Bandaranaike and J.R. Jayewardene who were born and\u00a0baptized as Anglicans but later became Buddhists.<\/p>\n

TNA overseas branches in Canada, UK and Australia are also firmly supportive of Sumanthiran\u2019s candidacy. Thus, Sumanthiran\u2019s political opponents and competitors\u00a0anticipate his victory and are apprehensive.<\/p>\n

It is said that under the nre Ranil Wickremasinnghe dispensatiomneither the TNA nor Sumanthiran were willing at this juncture to join a Govt. There is however the probability of the TNA joining a national Government in the near future or after fresh elections and accepting ministerial posts and would depend upon a number of factors and it may be premature to speculate in greater detail on this possibility at this point.<\/p>\n

The important thing is to note that anxiety about the TNA establishing greater rapport with the new government and accepting Cabinet posts in the future has reported to have afflicted two components of Tamil society. The major component consists of Tamil extremists and hardliners who do not want any rapprochement or reconciliation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They particularly abhor the prospect of the TNA sharing power at the centre as part of a government. The minor component comprises those who are personally opposed to Sumanthiran and to a lesser extent Sampanthan. Currently there is a convergence of interests between both components and a tactical alliance\u00a0 is\u00a0 reported\u00a0 to\u00a0 have been evolved<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The demands for Bifurcation of t5he country were given\u00a0<\/strong>to Ranil in Writing\u00a0<\/strong>Says TNA MP Siddarthan Dharmalingam<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The genocide of Tamils\u201d resolution drafted and presented by the former Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran was unanimously\u201d passed by the Northern Provincial Council. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is important to note that the genocide resolution has poisoned \u00a0\u00a0the cordial climate that prevailed between the Govt and the TNA\u00a0since the beginning of\u00a0 this year. There were many dimensions to Wigneswaran\u2019s agenda and one such aspect is that \u00a0of\u00a0\u00a0 the resolution being a pre-emptive strike to prevent greater co-operation between the \u00a0TNA and the Government<\/p>\n

A further extension of these efforts to pre-empt a Govt-TNA nexus is the recent escalation of attacks on Sumanthiran. One does not know whether Sumanthiran himself is confident about winning an election, but those circles opposed to him seem to be sure that the bespectacled lawyer residing in Wellawatte will\u00a0 win a seat in Jaffna and enter Parliament through the Mun Kathavu\u201d or front door. It is further anticipated that he would be a Cabinet minister after the next elections. This has lent a sense of urgency to the Anti-Sumanthiran camp.<\/p>\n

The objective behind the intensified attacks\u00a0 seems to be to increase pressure on Sumanthiran \u00a0and dissuade him from continuing with politics. By increasing attacks on multiple fronts \u00a0\u00a0these elements want to pressurise him into re-thinking his future and reviewing his options. \u00a0\u00a0Why should a person with a lucrative legal practice living comfortably in Colombo\u00a0 with his \u00a0family expose himself continuously\u00a0 to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunes\u201d in the \u00a0form of acts like effigy burning attacks?\u00a0 is the \u00a0crude logic governing the masterminds \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0behind the demonstrations. The motive behind the malignant attacks is to exert pressure and make Sumanthiran quit politics voluntarily\u201d explains his portage Jryaraj.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>A key device in this strategy is the tartarisation\u201d strategy. Sumanthiran is being vilified widely as a thurogi\u201d or traitor. In the bad old days when Veluppillai Prabhakaran\u00a0 and his lethal minions were ruling the Tamil roost the modus operandi\u00a0 adopted was\u00a0 to demonise someone as a traitor and then exterminate him. Mercifully this is no longer an option for the tigers and their fellow travellers\u00a0 because of Mahinda Rajapaksa who bestowed a great gift upon the Tamils by destroying the LTTE militarily in Sri Lanka. ryaraj says in a post-Prabhakaran era the course of action available is not assassination but character assassination. The idea is to kill without killing\u201d by portraying the targeted\u00a0victim as a traitor. Unable to kill physically,\u00a0the blood-thirsty fiends satisfy their lust by cremating\u201d portraits and effigies.<\/p>\n

Ryaraj asserts that\u00a0 the \u00a0orchestrated protests against Sampanthan and Sumanthiran therefore\u00a0 should be viewed in this light. Initially the grouse was about attending the \u00a0Independence Day event. Now it is about the delay\u201d in releasing the UN report on Sri Lanka. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t delay\u201d is the demand. Ironically the very same elements who are criticising the TNA \u00a0for the delay are the same sections who protested the UN probe itself when it was \u00a0mooted. What a contradiction! Likewise, Wigneswaran says his genocide resolution is to \u00a0signal the UN not to delay releasing the report. Again, the question is would not investigation \u00a0into genocide protract\u00a0 UN proceedings further? Faulty logic bordering on political \u00a0hypocrisy!<\/p>\n

If the track record of Tamil politics is any indication, the campaign against Sampanthan and Sumanthiran would keep continuing for a while.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ryaraj\u00a0\u00a0 claims the next phase would be an\u00a0influx by an assortment of\u00a0 Tamil nationalist patriots\u201d\u00a0 to Geneva demanding \u00a0speedy justice for the Tamils. In the process more, portraits and effigies of Sampanthan and \u00a0Sumanthiran may be set on fire in Geneva.<\/p>\n

Different aspects of TNA-LTTE treachery and UNP\/JVP and Western\/Indian cooperation will be continued in a different series. Thank you<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By A.A.M.NIZAM \u2013 MATARA Religion based political history of North and East indicate that although Sumanthiran belongs to the \u00a0protestant Christian minority\u00a0 it is believed\u00a0 that\u00a0 he\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 would\u00a0 receive the overwhelming support of the predominantly Hindu electorate of Jaffna. The most famous of Protestant Christian being elected include the co-founder\u00a0 and leader of the Federal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aamnizam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84201","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=84201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}