How "first-class" Tamils promoted the genocide of the less-fortunate Tamils of Sri Lanka.

“WE Tamils founded the first "Racial" political parties, when it was IN OUR OWN INTEREST, as a minority, to NOT to let the racist genie to come out of the bottle. The racist Genie was let out of the bottle in the 1930s by G. G. Ponnambalam, as a means of wresting power from the turbaned elites like Arunachalam Ramanathan.”

by Sebastian Rasalingam

(October 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Dr. Winston Panchacharam, writing in Tanscurrents, almost a month ago, argued that "first-class" Tamils are NOT "first-class" citizens of Sri Lanka, and bemoaned his experience in the Ceylon Medical Service in 1969. He claims that we have to act to avert genocide perpetrated on the Tamils, by the Sinhalese.

Almost a decade after 1969, in Mavattipuram, many "4th class" Tamils battled against other, "higher class" Tamils, for the right to enter Hindu Temples, the right to go to schools without discrimination, and the right to draw water from wells without having to be born to the right caste. Such caste battles had occurred from time immemorial. S. J. V. Chelvanayagam, the leader of the Tamil Arasu Kadchchi was challenged by Shanmugathasan to re-contest his seat on this discrimination issue. SjV did not take up the challenge.

If such are the facts among the Tamil themselves, then it is time to look back at own own noses, and stop talking about discrimination by the Sinhalese. After all, charity begins at home.

However, instead of the right kind of charity, the Tamil diaspora has collected money to support a war machine that has annihilated the poor Tamils.

Winston P., like myself, has a non-Hindu first name. However, unlike myself, he is is "an upper class" Tamil who became a doctor. From his letter, we see the cardinal problem of the PROUD upper class Tamil. Going back to 1969, we Tamils had many doctors, accountants, civil servants and other professionals in high places. Far more than than in direct proportion to the circa 10% population of Tamils. This may have irked the Sinhalese, but they would have accepted it if we went about it the right way. We controlled the mercantile sector, with people like Cyril Gardiner, Thambi-Aiyahs of the Cargo Boat Dispatch company, The Browns Group, Maharajahs, etc etc. The government sector would even have been irrelevant. But what did this politically idiotic SJV Chelvanayagam do?

He began to clamor for sessionsit political power when we already had the real power in our hands. Even political power could have been had if we went about it the right way. But instead, he launched these haughty "I dare you" Satyagrahas and civil disobedience programs in Colombo, and in the North and the East. WE even protested against the car registration plates with the letter Sri. He granted nothing and picked a fight when ever he could. Already in 1949, at the Maradana proclamation SJVC talked of "Arasu", i.e., Tamil sovereignty and and Tamil homelands in Tamil, while SJVC talked of federalism only in English,

Even the Sinhalese know that "ARASU" does NOT mean Federalism.

WE Tamils founded the first "Racial" political parties, when it was IN OUR OWN INTEREST, as a minority, to NOT to let the racist genie to come out of the bottle. The racist Genie was let out of the bottle in the 1930s by G. G. Ponnambalam, as a means of wresting power from the turbaned elites like Arunachalam Ramanathan.

The politically Idiotic SJVC talked of a Tamil home land in the Tamil language publications of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi. Did he think that the Sinhala nationalists would not find this out and get enraged? Did he think that the Sinhala nationalists would be fooled by his "federal" talk in English, while he said another thing in Tamil? If wooden pistols were distributed at Galle face "Gandhian" Satyagrahas, wouldn't the Sinhalese not hear of it?

Of course they heard and knew all that. They would not grant an inch to a politician who said one thing in English and another thing in Tamil. I remember the 1952 election campaign in Jaffna very well as I was a young man by then.

SJV's ultra-nationalist program was countered by equally chauvinist programs by the Sinhalese. When EMV Naganathan claimed that he was a Dravidian Chola Aristocrat, the Sinhala racists tried to out do his racism. Racism begets racism.

These men were proud of their race, their caste, and their imagined high-haughteur. Only Thondaman Sr. was a true Tamil of the people. But he was just a Coolie chieftain for the Chola Aristocrats. [After all, even Natesa Aiyar was declared "infra dig" by Peri Sundar in Hatton. But that was before the war].

The net effect was, we Tamils lost the advantageous position we had. It is stupid politics for a minority to confront the majority head-long. Do you think the Jews of USA should hit head-long against the WASP establishment of USA, asking for Yiddish? It is only just recently that a Jew like Joe Lieberman even dared to come forward at the vice-presidential level, with Al Gore. But the Jews of USA knew that real power is NOT resident in the ballot. The Rochchilds, the Goldman and Sachs brothers, the Cohen and Cohens know, just as our own C. Loganathan did, that power resides elsewhere. But the stupid Colombo Tamil Lawyers like SJVC, EMVN, in competition with G.G.Ponnambalam, totally destroyed the Tamil position. Dr. Wiston P's mentality is that of another of those Colombo Tamils who failed to the understand basic facts. We still have many remnants of these Tamils influenced by the Colombo Upper Caste concept of politics. We have the Wakeley Pauls, the Philips, the Kumarans etc., etc., all LTTE apologists. Do they not have even an iota of a sense of justice for Amirthalingam and others who were bumped of like dogs, so unceremoniously?

Today, what is needed is to save the ordinary Tamil people from the clutches of the MONSTER Prabhakaran created by the process set in motion by SJVC and others. The genocide is the systematic and heartless act of feeding the Tamil Youth and Tamil children to the battle front by Prabhakaran the blood thirsty vampire. One of my own grand children was taken away by him. The genocide is the killing of the Tamil intellectuals, the Tamil politicians, kurukals, teachers and journalists by Prabhakaran's goons. The intellectual genocide is the refusal of people like Winston P to denounce this Fascist who has imprisoned our people within the Vanni, made war slaves out of them, and stamped out all political discussion and voicing of differing opinions. The denial of Christ is the act of Chikeras, Oswald Gomis, in siding with the LTTE monster. They too do not work for a living, and belong to the Colombo establishment; they cannot understand the problem of the ordinary people. When some Tamils in Colombo are locked up by the security forces we protest - and that is very good. But we must NOTE that ALL THE TAMILS IN THE VANNI ARE BASICALLY LOCKED UP IN A PRISON WITHOUT WALLS, by the power of the gun.

What the Tamils of the Vanni need is not what the ultra-rich
Cinnamon Gardens Tamils, the Ponnnambalams and Thiruchelvams, think to be the essentials. These are people who drive around Colombo in their Jaguars and Mercedes Benz cars, and crave for the only thing they don't have - state power. The ordinary Tamils need stability, employment, health, education, and SAFTEY. The Tamil language is resilient enough and has survived Dutugamunu, Parakramabahu and even the Portuguese. IT WILL SURVIVE IN SRI LANKA, and that is NOT because of the Ponnambalams, Nagalingams, Wakeley Pauls, and Satyendrans who speak Tamil only with their servants.

Rather recently, Uthayam editor has begun to understand this.

There is only one way to save our young kids from certain sacrifice in battle. Sacrifice for what? For the soured dream of SJVC, AJ WILSON and other misguided Eealamists ? Hindus don't build grave yards. But Prabhakaran can have his. Prabhakaran must eat his cyanide and let the Tamils of Vanni free. - Sri Lanka Guardian