New Paradigm Needed for Sri Lankan Crisis

Press statement released by the Canadian Democratic Tamil Cultural Association (CDTCA), follows;

(February 07, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) The misguided actions of the LTTE during the past 30 years have brought immense suffering to the Tamil community. It is groping in the dark due to the grave mistakes made in the name of its liberation. If we do not make an honest reappraisal of this tragic past, we will be condemned to suffer for another 300 years.

The Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 could have been a good starting point to work towards a more permanent solution to the ethnic conflict. Unfortunately, the LTTE rejected the accord and took the fatal steps of attacking the IPKF and killing Mr. Rajiv Gandhi thereby antagonizing India. One of the colossal injustices committed by the LTTE in the early 90s was expelling the Muslim people who had lived in the North for centuries. LTTE by its Jaffna-centric mindset alienated the Eastern Tamils. It mishandled its internal contradictions and branded those who represented the aspirations of Eastern Tamils as paramilitary and killed hundreds of its own cadres. The LTTE brutalized the very people for whose liberation it claimed to be fighting. It emasculated the spirit of the Tamil people's struggle by resorting to terrorism and killing democrats, moderates and dissidents. When the struggle degenerated to a fascist domination of the whole community, our intellectuals failed in their duty to guide the community. The Tamil media became a tool of the LTTE in its disinformation campaign. Through all these developments, the Tamil people made the historical error of not condemning the atrocities. Instead in many instances, they became the cheer leaders for LTTE's human rights violations.

Political leaderships both in the North and South are responsible for the present crisis. Successive Sri Lankan governments and Tamil leaders have failed to act in a statesman-like manner. Critical decisions were made not in the interests of the people, but based on political expediency leading to a total breakdown of the trust and goodwill that had existed among the various communities.

As Sri Lankans, the time has come for us to adopt a new approach. Together, we have to search for a new paradigm in order to transcend the present difficulties and build a new united and strong Sri Lanka where people of all backgrounds can live in harmony with equal rights.

-Sri Lanka Guardian