{"id":97832,"date":"2020-01-16T17:06:22","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T00:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97832"},"modified":"2020-01-16T17:06:22","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T00:06:22","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-11-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/16\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-11-e\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 11 E"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

 This essay carries the Ezhuga Thamizh ( Tamils\nArise) Declaration of 2016 in Full.[1]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ezhuga Thamizh 2016\u201d is a Tamil national event, organized in Jaffna,  by the Tamil People\u2019s Council (TPC), with the\nparticipation of civil society movements and political parties. The Tamil\nnation which has been subjected to oppressive Sinhala- Buddhist majoritarian\nideology on the island of Sri Lanka for several decades, would like to\u2013 through\nthis Ezhuga Thamizh\u201d event\u2013 stress to the Government of Sri Lanka and\ninternational stakeholders that it would never give up its political\naspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ezhuga Thamizh 2016\u201d held on 24 September\n2016 at Mutraveli, Jaffna declares the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/strong>Sinhala colonies, Buddhist temples and\nBuddha statues are being aggressively constructed with military sponsorship and\nthe tacit approval of the government of Good Governance\u201d, with the sole\npurpose of Sinhala- Buddhisization of the North- Eastern Tamil homeland,\nalteration of the demography of the North and East and the bifurcation of Tamil\nspeaking areas. This rally demands that the government immediately halt all\nefforts to alter the demography of the North and East through Sinhala-\nBuddhisization and settler colonialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2<\/strong>.Seven years after the end of the war, the\nNorth and East remains heavily militarized. Not only has this occupying\nmilitary appropriated thousands of acres of land in the North and East, but it\ncontinues to appropriate more land, even under this regime. Further, the Army\nsubstantially disrupts the civilian economy by engaging in tourism,\nagriculture, and other businesses. The security forces continue to intervene in\nthe day to day civilian administration of the North and East. This has resulted\nin the Tamil nation having to depend on the Army to sustain its nascent\neconomy. Further, the social fabric of the Tamil nation continues to be eroded\nby heavy militarization and deep surveillance of the North and East, and has\ndisrupted the Tamil people from collectively exercising their freedom of\nassembly to demand that their political aspirations be heard. Sexual violence\nperpetrated against women and children has placed the most vulnerable of community\nat the mercy of the occupying forces. This rally demands that the occupying\nforces immediately leave the North and East and that a genuine and fully\nfledged civilian administration is enabled in the North and East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.<\/strong> The Tamil people have repeatedly and\nfirmly rejected a domestic accountability mechanism to investigate crimes\nperpetrated on them. In his statement of September 2015, the UN Human Rights\nCommissioner, Zeid Hussein categorically stated that Sri Lanka\u2019s judiciary is\nincapable of investigating crimes committed during the war. Against this\nbackdrop, the resolution passed in September 2015 at the United Nations Human\nRights Commission suggested a hybrid <\/p>\n\n\n\n

mechanism to investigate these crimes. Yet,\nthe Government of Sri Lanka, which co- sponsored this resolution with other\ninternational stakeholders has now reiterated that it would not be amiable for\nthe participation of foreign judges in the accountability mechanism. It has\nrejected a hybrid mechanism and has suggested a domestic accountability\nmechanism. This rally unitedly and unreservedly calls for an international\ninvestigation to investigate crimes perpetrated on the Tamil people and rejects\na domestic accountability mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.<\/strong>  For 35 years, thousands of\nTamil women and men have been arbitrarily detained under the Prevention of\nTerrorism Act (PTA). Some have been detained without any charges for 15- 20\nyears. Although the present government assured the international community that\nit would repeal the PTA in September 2015, it has failed to act on its promise.\nTamil women and men continue to be detained under the PTA to this day. This\nrally calls for an unconditional and immediate release of political prisoners\nand the immediate repeal of the PTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.<\/strong> This rally demands that the\nwhereabouts and the fate of Tamils who disappeared after surrendering to the\nmilitary at the end of the war in 2009, and those forcibly disappeared and\nabducted be made public and justice delivered to their kith and kin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.<\/strong> Fisherfolk of the North and East lost\naccess to their seas and their livelihoods during the war due to a blockade by\nthe Armed Forces. Seven years after the end of the war, they continue to be\ndeprived of their livelihood through other means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional fishing waters of North- Eastern\nfishermen continue to be lost to Southern fishermen, who continue to\narbitrarily drive Tamil fishermen away by their capturing boats and illegally\nestablishing permanent dwellings on the North Eastern shores. Further, these\nfishermen from the South engage in illegal fishing methods, which have harmed\nthe marine resources of the North and East, resulting in the loss of livelihood\nof Tamil fishermen. This rally demands that the government take immediate\nmeasures to ensure that Tamil fishermen of the North East securely engage in\ntheir livelihood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Tamil fishermen of the North and\nEast also continue to lose their livelihoods to fishermen from South India, who\ntoo engage in illegal fishing methods. This rally vehemently condemn the\npoaching of marine resources of North Eastern fishermen and demands that the\nrights of Tamil fishermen, who earn a daily wage, be protected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.<\/strong> History has taught us that that\noppressor States and their governments introduced and spread drugs, narcotics\nand alcohol to dismantle and distract the march to freedom of an oppressed\npeople, especially among its youth. Despite deep surveillance in the North and\nEast, the occupying military has been unable to prevent the smuggling of\nhundreds of kilos of cannabis into the peninsula in recent years or prevent the\nfast spread of narcotics such as heroin in the North and East. Instances of the\nmilitary plying Tamil youth with alcohol at military- organized sports\nfestivals have been well documented after the end of the war in 2009. We are\ntherefore forced to conclude that the lethargy, and even connivance, shown by\nthe security sector in preventing narcotic smuggling in the North and East is\ndeliberate. We demand that the government take urgent steps to immediately halt\nsuch activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the political solution:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/strong> This rally declares that a federal\nsolution based the constitutional proposals submitted by the Tamil People\u2019s\nCouncil (TPC) be adopted to ensure non- recurrence of the direct and indirect\nrepercusssions described above, of the war, and as a solution to the Tamil\nNational question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.<\/strong> Although this government has assured\nthe international community that the proposed 3rd Republican constitution of\nSri Lanka will bring about a resolution to the Tamil National question, the\nPresident and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka continue to stress that unitary\ncharacter of the Sri Lanka and the pride of place afforded to Buddhism will not\nbe altered in the constitution. We strongly believe that this government is\nattempting to force minimal power devolution within a unitary State on the\nTamil people. We also believe that the government is attempting to hurriedly\npass the proposed constitution in Parliament and win the approval of this\nminimalistic constitution at a referendum, with the support of the majority of\nthe Tamil people. This strategy, we believe, will enable the government to\nproclaim that it has solved the Tamil National question through the proposed\n3rd Republican constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We demand that the proposed constitution\nreflect the political aspirations of the Tamil people. We also condemn attempts\nmade to malign and discredit attempts made by the Tamil people to air their\ngenuine political aspirations through democratic means. Hence, this rally would\nwish to declare the following;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We firmly believe, from lessons learnt from\nthe implementation of the 13th Amendment to the present constitution and from\nthe Sinhala- Buddhist majoritarian State structure, that a Unitary State\nstructure would never be the solution to the Tamil National question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe that a viable solution to the Tamil\nNational question could only be achieved by establishing a soverign federal\nunit through recognizing the Tamil people of the North and East as a distinct\nnation, while also acknowledging and respecting their right to self-\ndetermination, as proposed in the constitution proposals submitted by the Tamil\nPeople\u2019s Council (TPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.<\/strong>We further state that recognition the\nTamil nation and thereby its right to self-determination could only be\ninstitutionally established through a federal structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.<\/strong>This rally further stresses that a\nsolution that is unclear and one which does not recognize the distinctness of\nthe Tamil nation and its right to self-determination can never be accepted as a\nfinal solution to the Tamil National question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.<\/strong> It is disconcerting to the Tamil people\nthat the new constitution is being drafted in utmost secrecy. The report which\nfollowed the consultations for the new constitution also completely failed to\ninclude the genuine political aspirations of the Tamil people. An open, public\nand democratic consultation process should be allowed before the drafting of\nthe proposed constitution. Discussion for a new constitution cannot be held\nunder the present oppressive structures. We stress that the Prevention of\nTerrorism Act should be repealed and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

demilitarization carried out immediately for\nan open dialogue on the constitution to be held in the North and East.[2]<\/a> (\ncontinued)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/srilankabrief.org\/2016\/09\/ezhuga-thamizh-tamils-arise-declaration-in-full\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/srilankabrief.org\/2016\/09\/ezhuga-thamizh-tamils-arise-declaration-in-full\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS  This essay carries the Ezhuga Thamizh ( Tamils Arise) Declaration of 2016 in Full.[1] Ezhuga Thamizh 2016\u201d is a Tamil national event, organized in Jaffna,  by the Tamil People\u2019s Council (TPC), with the participation of civil society movements and political parties. The Tamil nation which has been subjected to oppressive Sinhala- Buddhist majoritarian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97832","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=97832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97832\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}