{"id":99566,"date":"2020-03-03T18:29:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T01:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99566"},"modified":"2020-03-03T18:29:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T01:29:02","slug":"partisan-politics-undermines-the-neutrality-and-credibility-of-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/03\/partisan-politics-undermines-the-neutrality-and-credibility-of-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Partisan politics undermines the neutrality and credibility of human rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Of all\nthe community leaders in Sri Lanka only the Tamil leadership has officially\ndeclared war against another community (i.e., the Sinhalese) and led their\npeople to commit the crime against peace.  On May 14th<\/sup> 1976\nthey collectively passed the Vadukoddai Resolution urging the Tamil youth to\ntake up arms and never cease until they achieve Eelam. They unleashed the\nlongest war in Sri Lanka which has led to the violation of human rights on an\nunprecedented scale. Having laid the foundation for the violations of human\nrights and perpetuated the violations through a brutal war which the Tamil\nleadership never wanted to end for 33 years, despite several peace offers, the\nTamil leadership go around the world claiming to be the victims of the\nviolations of human rights by the Sinhala state\u201d. Sri Lankan politics is full\nof ironies and this one beats them all. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the\nTamil leadership adopted the Vadukoddai Resolution they abandoned the\nnon-violent democratic mainstream and opted deliberately for violence which\ninevitably leads to the violations of human rights. In endorsing Vadukoddai\nviolence the Tamil leadership abandoned the higher principle of upholding, defending\nand protecting the human rights of others as well as their own Tamil people.\nAggressive wars pursuing territorial gains are not launched to protect human\nrights. In international law it is considered to be a crime against peace. Such\nwars will grind its way invariably violating human rights. Only counter wars\nlaunched to end wars that violate human rights have the moral right to pursue\nviolence in defence of human rights. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncontradiction in declaring war against a neighbor and then proceeding to parade\nas the victims of the counter violence organized to end the violations of human\nrights is obvious. It is also hypocritical and hilarious, to say the least. The\nTamil leadership committed themselves to war knowing very well that it leads to\nthe violations of human rights. But they refuse to categorize their violence as\nwar crimes, or violations of the human rights. They assume that their violence\nhas a superior moral purity \/ force that elevates their brutalities above the\nlevel of crimes against humanity or war crimes. They assume that there is\nnothing higher than Tamil rights and everyone else must surrender their rights\nto enthrone Tamil rights as the ultimate human right. In fact, in their\npolitical equation they believe that Tamil political rights = human\nrights.  And that any other counter force — moral or military \u2013 should be\ncondemned as violations of human rights.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was\ndemonstrated amply by Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, the foreign-funded\nmulti-millionaire circulating in the American cocktail circuit with a whiskey\nglass in hand. In the dying days of the Tamil Tiger terrorists he jumped from\nWestern city to city posing as the great champion of human rights engaged in\nsaving  the Tamils from the advancing  Security Forces who were on\nverge of ending the war. His self-appointed  mission then was to mobilize\ninternational opinion to halt the Security Forces advancing to end the war \u2013\nthe only means of saving human rights from the merciless brutalities of the\nworld\u2019s deadliest terrorist\u201d (FBI). He argued that the advance of the Security\nforces would lead to a great humanitarian disaster. It didn\u2019t. On the contrary,\nit released 290,00 Tamils held forcibly by Prabhakaran to impress the world\nthat the Tamil people were with him. While the Tamil people were marching out\nof Prabhakaran\u2019s prison camp into the arms of the Security Forces Saravanamuttu\nwas doing his damnedest to stop the advance of the Security Forces bleating\nthat stopping the war (meaning: saving Prabhakaran) was the only way to save a\nhumanitarian disaster.  He was operating on the premise that the\nPrabhakaran had the moral right to wage his war until his demands were granted\nand the Sri Lankan forces had no right to end his violence. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ncock-and-bull story of Saravanamuttu was rejected by the triumphant events that\nended the Vadukoddai War on the banks of Nandikadal. The commonly accepted\nwisdom of the day too concluded that removing Prabhakaran from the prevailing\npolitical equation was the only way to regain peace.  Keeping Prabhakaran\nalive for another day would have meant the perpetuation of the violations of\nhuman rights. Knowing this Saravanamuttu kept on chanting his mantra which like\nall other NGO mantras only aided and abetted Prabhakaran to ruthlessly\nperpetuate violations of human rights. Under the cover of protecting human\nrights Saravanamuttu\u2019s hidden agenda was to save Prabhakaran from annihilation.\nHe had tacitly accepted Prabhakaran as the defender of the Tamil rights which\nhe had equated with the human rights of the Tamils. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nefforts in Western capitals was to keep Prabhakaran alive and kicking. It was\nthe humiliating defeat of Prabhakaran that was hawked by Saravanamuttu as\ntriumphalism\u201d of the Sinhala-Buddhist forces. Saravanamuttu\u2019s theories,\nstrategies and policies were smashed to smithereens by the Security Forces who\nrestored peace, human rights and the dignity of the Tamils. Shamed by the\ntriumph of the democratic forces that eliminated Tamil tyranny he reacted\nbovinely by branding the victory of the Security Forces as triumphalism\u201d.\nAfter Nandikadal Saravanamuttu was forced to live on a diet  of sour\ngrapes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his\npolitical calculations the Sinhala state\u201d was on the wrong side of human\nrights even though it saved the Tamils from the Tamil Pol Pot and restored\ntheir dignity to live as free individuals. But Prabhakaran\u2019s one-man state was\ncategorized to be on the right side of human rights even though he fought his\nfutile war by recruiting under-aged children and liquidating  Tamil\ndissidents and those who posed a threat to his claim to be the sole\nrepresentative of the Tamils\u201d. Even the American policy-makers kicked into this\ndebate. Their kind of human rights led them to grant full citizenship to\nPrabhakaran\u2019s lawyer, V. Rudrakumaran, who was a committed and willing partner\nin the war crimes and the crimes against humanity committed by his leader while\ndenying even a visa to Lt. Gen. Silva \u2013 the General whose military strategies\nled to the triumph of democracy and the restoration of peace in Jaffna.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in\nthe last stages the NGO millionaires refused to accept that Tamil violence had\nreached intolerable levels under Prabhakaran \u2013 the firstborn child of the\nVadukoddai Resolution.  It was a time when the best of Tamil intellectuals\ncould not defend his brutalities. Unable to defend the inhuman violence of\nPrabhakaran they argued that he was created by the Sinhalese. If this is a valid\nargument Prabhakaran should have then targeted only Sinhalese to get even with\nthe violence of the Sinhalese. But he began his violence by targeting the Tamil\nleadership. What had Alfred Duraiyappah done to the Tamils to be slaughtered by\nSurya Devan\u201d (Sun God of the Tamils)? What had Appapillai Amirthalingam and\nNeelan Tiruchelvam done to the Tamils to be assassinated by the Tamil hero?\nThen he targeted the Muslims. What had the Muslims done to harm the Tamils? So\nwas Prabhakaran made by the Sinhalese or by the internal dynamics of Jaffna\nwhich had  political culture of unmitigated violence, <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nuniversally accepted that wars indiscriminately lead to violations of human\nrights from both sides. The moral victory, however, should go in the end to those\ncan end the violations of human rights swiftly, using the least violence.\nObviously, what is acceptable \/ tolerable is the side that can successfully end\nviolence, either through non-violent negotiations, or through the application\nof minimum of violence.  The side that refuses to accept negotiations and\ninsists on perpetuating violence to achieve its goals, particularly when they\nare facing defeat, cannot be treated \/ accepted \/ trusted as defenders of human\nrights. They forfeit the rights that flow from the fundamental principles of\nhuman rights because in war human rights can be protected only by ending war.\nThe Tamil leadership went the other way. They ripped apart peace deals\nrepeatedly insisting on grabbing what they called their rights (mainly territory)\nat the expense of the others. Mulish intransigence of the Tamil leadership had\nnever served the goals of saving human rights. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incorrigible\nwar criminals who insist on pursuing their self-serving goals should be\ncondemned as the enemies of human rights. In the Vadukoddai War the Tamil\ntactic has been either to disregard or underplay the violations of human rights\ngenerated by Tamil violence or, simultaneously, to go under the cover of Tamil\nrights to pursue their violence. They believe that morality is on their side\neven when they violate it to pursue their political goals.  Morality that\ngoes along with this double standard will lose its credibility and viability.\nWar-mongering criminals can\u2019t have it both ways. They can\u2019t declare war and in\nthe same breath claim to be victims of those fighting back to end the\nviolations of human rights. The rights of those waging a war to end the\nviolations of human rights are superior to those violating human rights to\npursue their self-serving, narrow political ends. The highest morality must\nnecessarily serve to end the violations of human rights. It cannot serve to\nperpetuate the violations of human rights. That is immoral. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the failure of the Tamil leadership to\nstand up for the human rights of their own people unequivocally that turn them\ninto absolute political Judases. They condemn the Security Forces that restored\ntheir right to walk this earth with dignity, honour and respect. But they\nhero-worshipped and went on their bended knees before their Surya Devan\u201d (Sun\nGod) who suppressed their rights to exercise their basic rights. Tamil\nleadership must also take full responsibility for the violence they unleashed\nin Vadukoddai. In passing the Vadukoddai Resolution they not only legitimized\nTamil violence as a political tool to achieve their separatist goals but also\nbecame partners, subsequently, in the crimes committed by the children of the\nVadukoddai Resolution. Prabhakaran and his criminal gang were ther boys\u201d who\ncame  out of the Vadukoddai Resolution. They were urged to take up arms\nagainst the Sinhala south by the fathers who drafted and passed the Vadukoddai\nResolution.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rajavarothiam\nSampanthan, who is now shedding crocodile tears for his people, not only was a\nfounding father of the Vadukoddai Resolution but went along with Prabhakaranism\nwithout a murmur of protest. He gave his full backing to the horrendous\nviolence unleashed by the Vadukoddai Resolution. So what right has he and his\nside-kick, Abraham Sumanthiram, to speak of the human rights of the Tamil\npeople when both of them went on their bended knees to hero worship their\nSuriya Devan\u201d (Sun God) \u2013the political criminal who killed more Tamils than\nall the others put together? In every national and international forum they\nnever failed to point a finger at the Sinhala state\u201d. They never raised a\nvoice against Prabhakaran. Accusing  the Sinhalese was their theme song\n to divert attention from the violations of human rights committed by the\nTamil leadership. Besides, they feared the loss of political sympathy from the\ninternational community if they revealed that Prabhakaran was a Tamil Pol Pot.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their\nfailure to resist the subhuman racist violence of Prabhakaran make them\ncomplicit partners in the crimes against humanity and the war crimes. They have\nno right to point an accusing finger at the generals who restored their right\nto walk this earth with dignity, respect and honour. They have survived on\ntheir myths of victimology long enough. The most privileged community in Sri\nLanka, with the highest quality of life index, pretending to be the victims of\nthe majority community, is a joke. They enjoyed the best of both worlds \u2013 the\nnorth and the south. As old saying goes, the son shone in Colombo while \nthe father reaped the harvest in Jaffna. The undeniable historical fact is that\nthe Sinhalese had never treated the Tamils in the inhuman way the Tamil\nleadership treated their own people from the time they set foot in Jaffna. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was\ntheir misguided politics that led the Tamil people to their miserable end in\nNandikadal. In short, the Tamil leadership played the hideous role of the Pied\nPiper of Hamelin and lured their people all the way to drown in Nandikadal. The\ntotal responsibility for the failure of Tamil violence, Tamil politics and the\nsubsequent violations of human rights rests solely on the war-mongering Tamil\nleadership. The fathers of the Vadukoddai violence cannot escape the\nresponsibility of the violence of the children who came out of the womb of\nVadukoddai.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala Of all the community leaders in Sri Lanka only the Tamil leadership has officially declared war against another community (i.e., the Sinhalese) and led their people to commit the crime against peace.  On May 14th 1976 they collectively passed the Vadukoddai Resolution urging the Tamil youth to take up arms and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99566","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=99566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}