“The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) have been the dominant force in indigenous Tamil politics over the past three decades. The traditional Tamil political parties have been marginalized over the same period. Their existence is irrelevant to the indegenousTamils in Sri Lanka today, as they do not have the political space to function independently and do not have the leadership capable of bravely chartering a new course.”
by: Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
"When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand, nor can your hand pick up anything," – An African proverb.
(September 09, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) We, the Tamils of Sri Lanka, have reached a defining moment once again in our post-independence history. What we want to be as a people vis-a- vis the other peoples and what the other peoples want to be vis- a- vis us, will define what the future holds for us in Sri Lanka. Our position in the socio-politico-economic life in Sri Lanka is currently defined in terms of terrorism and terror, instead that of hapless victims of pernicious majoritarianism. Our struggle to free ourselves from the grips of this scourge has failed because of poor leadership offered by our politicians and militants.
Our inability as a people to influence the direction in which we were led has also contributed in no small measure to our situation today. The circumstances under which the demand for Ealam arose and militancy came to dominate our lives as a people no longer exist. The times, context and our circumstances are different now. The time is now to heal our mortal wounds (To put it more bluntly, the time has come for us to lick our mortal wounds!) to survive and thereafter re-invigorate, rejuvenate and re-invent ourselves as a people. We cannot continue to fight any longer for what has become the LTTE’s (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) cause and heap more misery on ourselves. There is a time to plough, a time to sow and a time to reap. There is also similarly a time to fight, a time to make peace and a time to accept defeat. We have to change our political, social and economic aspirations to suit the times and circumstances we are presently in and envision for the future. The imperative now is to survive as a people, both quantitatively and qualitatively. If we fail to take up this challenge, we may end up as a footnote in the history of Sri Lanka. This is not a time to debate and research how the Sinhala majoritarian governments have failed us, but to understand why we missed several excellent opportunities to resolve our problems pragmatically and hence failed ourselves.
The attempts to trivialize the grievances of the Tamils, especially by a generation of Sinhala men and women, who grew up during the Tamil militancy and are largely unaware of the circumstances that seeded it, is sad indeed. The loathsome terrorism that increasingly dominated Tamil militancy does not negate in any way the terrorism that Tamils were subjected in their everyday life, since the late 1950’s. The Tamils who were victims of the ethnic riots and the unbridled violence associated with these, assaulted and maimed on trains, stoned by men including Buddhist monks while being escorted as refugees to the north and east, called ‘Para-Demalas’ to their face, insulted in deplorable language by Buddhist monks on their climb to pray at Kathiramalai in Kathirgamam/Kataragama, know what it is to be unprotected by their government and its security apparatus because they were Tamils, and subjected to the derision of their fellow citizens. The Tamils who were denied University admission, at the end of a youth sacrificed preparing for it, know the pains of being discriminated and the frustrations associated with it. Those Tamils, who had gained high marks at the ordinary and advanced level examinations, remember the insult they suffered when the likes of Cyril Mathew attributed these to favouritism by Tamil examiners! The obstacles created for the Tamil entrepreneurs who wanted to invest in industry in the north and east cannot be forgotten. I (also a victim of the 1977 riots in Kandy) remember the late Senior Superintendent of Police- M.Shanmugam- a Tamil, who had bravely led the defense of Kandy against the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) in 1971, reduced to utter helplessness in the face of insubordination of his Sinhala junior officers, during the height of the 1977 anti-Tamil riots! There are thousands of such instances that can be narrated, which could run into volumes.
This is not the time to rehash these. This is the time to move on while remembering this past, as a lesson for the future. The refusal to concede Tamils have genuine grievances that are unique to them as citizens by a strident minority among the majority community is unfortunately one stumble block to national reconciliation in Sri Lanka. It is time for Sri Lanka as a 'nation state' to learn the lesson, if she has not learnt it yet, that she must convince her minorities that it is worthwhile for them to remain within, if she is to avoid disintegration, if not now, but some time in the future. The vast majority of the Sinhala people are beyond rebuke. They were also bystanders in the political drama that has unfolded since independence. They are not at fault for what befell Tamils in independent Sri Lanka, as much as the majority of Tamils are not responsible for the terrorism and brutality unleashed by the LTTE and other Tamil militant groups. Tamils as a people have to build bridges to reach this silent, bewildered, scared, confused, honourable and decent majority among the Sinhala people. We have to come to know each other better. We have to lose the fear of each other. We have to re-discover each other as a people, as we have been estranged for too long. We have much to contribute to each other as fellow citizens. We should be friends, partners and competitors, not enemies.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) have been the dominant force in indigenous Tamil politics over the past three decades. The traditional Tamil political parties have been marginalized over the same period. Their existence is irrelevant to the indegenousTamils in Sri Lanka today, as they do not have the political space to function independently and do not have the leadership capable of bravely chartering a new course. The fragments of the other Tamil militant movements masquerading as democratic formations, are propped up by the government of Sri Lanka and survive at its mercy. The LTTE is in a defensive mode today, fighting for its own survival in the territorial and politico- military space it had bravely and brutally carved for itself at great cost to the Tamils, over three decades. Even if the LTTE, overcomes the odds stacked against it by the Sri Lankan armed forces and the other forces- both internal and external- aligned with the government, it is no longer relevant as a liberation movement. It has earned itself a nuisance-curse value in the future of the Tamils, by its callous brutality, absence of a realistic vision , total lack of political acumen and moral principles, unbridled arrogance and a lack of respect for the people it claims to represent. The LTTE has led us for three decades on a ‘ Wild Goose chase’ that has almost destroyed us as a people. The LTTE has become an unbearable burden we have to unload from our shoulders. The sooner the better!
The following paragraph from the book 'Roots' by Alex Haley is worth repeating here, in relation to the situation with the Tamil militants. Kunta Kinte the central character in the novel reminisces on the slave masters in the United States and the white men and black men who hunted for slaves in Africa, "As much as he hated slavery, it seemed to Kunta that no good could come of the white folks giving guns to blacks. First of all, the whites would always have more guns than the blacks, so any attempt to revolt would end in defeat. And he thought about how in his own homeland, guns and bullets had been given by the toubub (white slave hunters) to evil chiefs and kings, until blacks were fighting blacks, village against village, and selling those they conquered- their own people-into chains." The similarities to events in Sri Lanka are frighteningly obvious!
What the Sri Lankan governments began has been taken to the desired conclusion by the LTTE and other Tamil militant groups. The LTTE and other Tamil militant groups have been better auxiliaries to Sri Lankan governments than Sinhala goons and thugs. Why the LTTE has failed in its avowed mission has been analyzed by many from many angles. While there are yet many Tamils who harbour illusions about the LTTE, this is the result of their ignorance of facts or inability to reconcile with realities. The LTTE –a military cum political organization- is the one among many, those Tamils under forty years of age have known all their lives, and unless alternative and acceptable democratic formations emerge, their- especially those in the Diaspora- sympathies may continue to be with the LTTE. The LTTE and other existing Tamil political formations are irrelevant to the future of the Tamils. This is a fact we have to be cognizant, when formulating our thoughts about the future. While the sympathy, concern, assistance, expertise and investment of the Tamil Diaspora are necessary and are to be appreciated and welcomed, they should not be in a position to decide what is good on the political front for the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. These are the Tamils who have chosen to live in Sri Lanka, by willful choice or by not having the opportunity to choose. These are the Tamils who have lived through three decades of horror. These are the Tamils who have been caught in the jaws of a nutcracker for almost all their lives. These are the Tamils who will continue to live in Sri Lanka, come what may. The Tamil Diaspora should not be permitted to play a decisive role in our affairs any longer. Their grievances, hate, revenge and dreams should not continue to be our burden. They live in the past with reference to Sri Lanka and have not experienced the present. Their lives, lifestyles and aspirations are now different from ours. They are Tamils of Sri Lankan origin, but no longer Sri Lankan Tamils. They are our kin, but not our fellow citizens. They no longer know what is good for us. The unstinted and unquestioning support of the Diaspora, bordering on reverence, undoubtedly led the LTTE astray and to its alienation from most Tamils living in Sri Lanka.
The indigenous Tamils are worse off today in all aspects of life, compared to the situation three decades back. We are a minority that is in retreat and decline, not only in numbers, but in all qualitative and quantitative aspects of life that delineate us as a people. The Tamils of so-called Indian origin, have no doubt made tremendous progress over the past three decades, principally due to the pressures the government had come under on account of the Tamil insurgency in the north and east and the acumen of the late Saumyamurthy Thondamen, to use these circumstances to wrest benefits for his people. Unfortunately, the Tamils of Indian origin no longer have such a sagacious leadership and are saddled with a self-centered, corrupt and visionless one. The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) is on the decline and is led by men of poor caliber, who are unable to re-invent the party to lead the increasingly better-educated and upwardly mobile Tamils of Indian origin. Unless a new leadership emerges among these Tamils soon, the frustrations building up in the face of blinkered and insensitive governance and poor leadership could explode into violence of a new type.
A new, democratic, educated, mature, pragmatic and wise leadership has to emerge from among the Tamils- both indigenous and of Indian origin that will be acceptable to not only the Tamils, but the other peoples of Sri Lanka as well. Tamil politics, while defining itself, has to merge into the national politics of Sri Lanka. We cannot afford to be the permanent outsiders in Sri Lankan politics any more. While the problems of the Tamils should be the concern of Tamil politicians and political formations, the problems of the Sinhalese, Muslims and the other peoples of Sri Lanka should be their concern too! I am sure, when this happens, our problems will become the concern of the Sinhala polity too. The frog in the well attitudes that have defined the politics of the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims of Sri Lanka have to be over come at the earliest, if we are to prosper as a nation. There have to be two hands to clap and two hands to shake hands!
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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