So What Went Wrong With The Tamil Struggle

By M.Sooriasegaram

(February 24, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) This is the question that every Tamil must ask. Tamils, especially the diaspora Tamils, who put all their eggs in the Ltte basket, must ask some soul-searching questions. Like the banks, who took unacceptable risks and caused the worst financial crisis the capitalist world had ever seen, the diaspora Tamils too financed a politically unviable armed struggle and ditched the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

The whistle blowers were silenced for a long time. The whistle blowers have to now tell the Tamil people the true story of the Ltte debacle and come out with a rescue package. The damage caused is so serious that recovery will take a long time but it will happen. Diaspora Tamils owe an unconditional apology to the Tamil victims for financing and glorifying the high-risk and irresponsible operations of the Ltte. Now it is time for the whistle blowers to speak and take the centre stage of Tamil Politics with a forgiving and reconciliatory approach towards the adversaries.

The Tamil congress (TC), sharing political power with the UNP, asked for a
50 -50 share for Tamils in a country where there were 75% Sinhala people and only 25 % Tamil people. Imagine what they would have asked if the Tamils were 75% and the Sinhalese only 25%.

To ensure their parliamentary majority and ministerial ambitions they ditched the Plantation Tamils by making them stateless and voteless through legislation. This is the first historic treachery of a Tamil party against the most oppressed section of Tamils. In spite of this betrayal non-plantation Tamils cherished its leader, GG Ponnampalam, in the same way they worship Prabakaran today. Ironically both these heroes have ditched the Tamils.

TC virulently promoted capitalism, imperialism, an oppressive caste system and elite education and opposed trade unions, nationalisation, universal education, land reforms and anything that was good for the poor.

The next Tamil Party to emerge was the Federal Party. The progressive aspects of this party are (1) it opposed the disenfranchisement of the plantation Tamils (2) it did not ask for 50-50 and instead put forward the demand for a federal form of government. On the face of it, it appeared a very reasonable demand to meet the needs of the Tamil people, no different to the “Regional Autonomy” proposal put forward first by the Communist Party (CP) and later accepted by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). But in its campaign trails, in its agitations and in its political practice and programmes FP sent completely different messages. Let us examine what these messages are and their effects.

In the Tamil areas (Northern and Eastern provinces) the Federal Party campaigned under its Tamil name “Thamil Arasu Kadchi”, which implies Tamil Kingdom Party, which was used to pump up the emotions of its followers and mislead them. Their political speeches, instead of addressing the real problems faced by the ordinary Tamil people, drew from the “glorious” past of Tamil Kingdoms. From my knowledge of Kingdoms, Kings and Queens never did much good for their subjects except subjugating them. FP failed to educate the Tamil people that they form part of Sri Lanka and the destiny of the Tamil people are intertwined with those of the Sinhala and Muslim peoples. I often hear references to Tamil Kingdoms in the outbursts by LTTE supporters in London also. After all they also received their early education through the thunderous election speeches of “Thamil Arasu Kadchi” leaders.

The cinema culture from South India also reinforced these ideas. They produce gutter movies by the thousands and dump them on Sri Lankan Tamils. Now we paid the political price. The Tamil actors and actresses in S.India, who made a fortune from the export of such films, are now shedding crocodile tears and mourning the imminent downfall of Ltte. The short stories, novels and magazines from S.India were no better. In contrast to these gutter publications, Sri Lankan Tamils, Muslims and I think Sinhalese also, produced novels and short stories of higher literary standards – thanks to the progressive writers association spearheaded by Prof.Kailasapathy and others.

FP’s campaigns, propaganda and politics were almost exclusively among the Tamil and Muslim people, apart from using the parliament as its only other external forum. This is political tribalism. Its leaders never went to the south and campaigned for its demand among the Sinhala people. It did not feel the need to do this. In spite of the ever-present opposition to Federalism among the Sinhala Parties, it did not consider the importance of mustering the support of the Sinhala people. In my view this was a big mistake. Having a dialogue with the Sinhala people was more important than trying to reach saturation levels of support among Tamils. The FP was engaged in inward looking, divisive and top-down politics. They made speeches to mesmerise and give false hopes to the people.

The Federal Party opposed the closure of the British Naval Base in Trincomalai. It opposed the nationalisation of schools and tea plantations, the state running of public bus transport, the paddy lands act and several other progressive measures, which were overwhelmingly supported by the working people. In all these matters FP was on the side of UNP and presented itself as pro-capitalist, pro-imperialist and anti-socialist. In other words it was swimming against the popular mood in the country and the aspirations of the people. By basing itself exclusively within the Tamil enclave, by closely collaborating with UNP, by not aligning with the left parties and by not reaching out to the Sinhala masses it became isolated. It formed a wedge between the Tamil and the Sinhala peoples. It effectively self-separated from the main stream politics and set the Tamils against the Sinhalese, which intensified Sinhala chauvinism.

In direct contrast to this, the Left parties (CP and the LSSP) campaigned for Regional Autonomy and equal rights for Tamils through out the island and were able to muster enviable levels of support among Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. I cannot think of anything, which Federalism offered outside of Regional Autonomy except maintenance of caste system, rule by the elite and a pro-imperialist stance in politics. A lot of Tamils supported the CP/LSSP policies. These were the only two parties, which put forward comprehensive national programmes, addressing the problems faced by all the ethnic groups in a non-divisive manner. The FP could have served the Tamils better by supporting the left instead of aligning itself with the UNP. But their class nature prevented them from doing so.

I should record here in passing that the left parties could not overcome the Sinhala chauvinism and eventually succumbed to its pressures since becoming coalition partners with the SLFP. This is a sad and complex story best dealt with else where.

The Sinhala dominated parties (UNP and SLFP), which held governmental power since independence and persistently failed to resolve the genuine grievances of the Tamil and Muslim people, must take the lion share of responsibility for the birth of the Ltte monster, the bloody war and the social, economic and political mess the Sri Lankan people are subjected to today. Their Chauvinist and majoritarian politics have transformed Sri Lanka from an enviable democracy to one of the most militarised, impoverished, dehumanised and undemocratic state in the world.

It is this failure and the intrinsic logic of Tamil politics, described above, which gave birth to the LTTE. Having created this monster the parties in power are now saying that Sri Lanka is not governable without crushing this monster. There may be some truth in this. But the real truth is that normalcy and rule of law can never be achieved until all Sri Lankan citizens are able to enjoy equal rights and opportunities. Long lasting peace, racial harmony and economic prosperity for all can only be achieved through a political solution to the ethnic problem by some form of devolution within a united Sri Lanka. The logical evolution of Tamil politics from Tamil Congress through the Federal Party to the Ltte, culminating in terror politics must be of great interest to political scientists. Terrorism in Sri Lanka grew out of Tamil politics and more importantly through Sinhala chauvinism and a very questionable form of majoritarian democracy, which cornered and alienated the minority Tamils. The origin of the armed struggle and the emergence of the despotic Ltte and the war are political in nature and therefore can only be resolved politically. It is most unfortunate that all governments and this government in particular are concentrating all its efforts to resolve this political problem militarily.

The post Ltte period will provide unique opportunities to reshape the political landscape in Sri Lanka. These opportunities cannot be missed to forge a united Sri Lanka, where all its citizens can experience equal rights and opportunities.

This is not a time for sectarian politics. All the Tamil groups – EPDP, EPRLF, EROS, PLOT, TNA, Karuna/Pillian group, Muslim parties and the rehabilitated Ltte cadres who have genuinely chosen the democratic path must disarm themselves and come together as a united front of Tamil people to take part in the electoral process to secure devolved power to the regions. They must embrace democracy and work closely with the Sinhala people to challenge the chauvinist politics of JHU and others.

The SLFP and UNP must abandon the game of playing racist cards, divisive and majoritarian politics and emerge as truly national parties and learn to treat all its citizens as equals. UNP must ask its ministers to refrain from burning down national public heritage libraries in the North. SLFP must avoid the repetition of blood baths of the 1971 and wash its hands off JHU politics. CP and LSSP must return to its golden era of socialist principles and policies and not succumb to ministerial ambitions with parties nothing in common with. So there are lessons to learn for everyone.

It would not be difficult to devolve power to the regions within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. It is perfectly possible to achieve unity in diversity. All provinces will benefit through devolution, although this was initially designed for the ethnic minorities. Provincial devolution will enhance local democracy and empowerment of people through out the country. It is easier for the workers, toilers, the professionals and the elected representatives to design policies and programmes to suit their specific local needs. Use of local language for administration, local policing, local development programmes, effective use of lands and colonisation schemes and management of education and courts of justices are all matters, which can be effectively and efficiently managed at local level rather than from the centre. It will eliminate or at least minimise unnecessary beaurocracy.

Once power is devolved to the provinces and local administration take charge of the provinces a number of methods can be used to improve inter-ethnic relations and understanding and also to inculcate a Sri Lankan identity.

Villages in each province can be twinned with villages in other provinces and all sorts of cultural and sporting exchanges can take place.

Many things are possible through such twinning. The schools and colleges in a northern province and those in a southern province can organise exchange programmes. Through this process, during school vacations, Tamil students can visit Sinhala families, get to know them, their village, its people, their way of life, the economic hardships of the people, enjoy their hospitality, their culture and their food, learn a bit about Budhism, learn to speak a bit of Sinhalese, enjoy the change of scene, go cycling and of course have some fun too. Like wise the Sinhala students can visit Tamil families in the north, experience the village hospitality, learn a bit about Hindu way of life, learn a bit of Tamil and so on.

Likewise exchange of football, cricket, basketball, volleyball and netball teams can also take place between provinces.

A strong human bond between the peoples in the different provinces/villages can be developed in this way. If this takes place countrywide a very high degree of understanding, empathy and respect among Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims can be achieved. This is an effective way of uniting the country. No one will want a separate state! No one can succeed in separating!

Politically the effect will be even more significant. Once all the people are bonded in this fashion it will be difficult for political parties to use divisive, racist and chauvinist propaganda to come to power. People are more likely to challenge, isolate and shame politicians if they do. Imagine the impact of a harthal organised by the students and workers in Jaffna in protest against the rape and murder of Prema Manemperi in 1971 by the Army. Equally imagine the impact of closing of all libraries in Colombo and the South and Sinhala students going on protest marches in the South to protest against the barbaric act of burning down the Public Library in Jaffna by the UNP government. We have to create a situation where people challenge instead of condoning atrocities by the state, irrespective of where and against whom it is committed. Rule from top down can be challenged effectively from bottom up if people are united.

Guide lines and assistance must come from the central government by way of free travel say 3 times per year for all under 18’s and from provincial governments and schools by way of providing safety and protection of young boys and girls during such exchange trips. There is a cost attached to these proposals but these costs are minimal in comparison to the astronomic cost of the present and future wars.

Sri Lankans are well-educated, cultured and compassionate people. This is nature’s gift to Sri Lanka and it is a shame that this gift is wasted by the parties in power. There is no limit to what Sri Lankans can achieve, given the right form of government and leadership. Truly sky is the limit. I may have lost my faith in Sri Lankan governments but I have unshakable faith in Sri Lankan people.

Before concluding my comments I wish to draw the attention of Sri Lankan Government to the worst humanitarian crisis in the war zone so far. I believe about 150,000 Tamil civilians are trapped within a 25 sq.mile war zone. The Ltte fighters are also trapped within this zone. This is an exceptionally high concentration of civilians mixed with armed Ltte cadres, who are using their familiar tactics of using the civilians as a human shield. The whole world, while sympathising with its fight against terrorism, is watching with concern how Sri Lankan government handles the removal of these civilians to safety. At this stage I do not want to accuse that the government is indifferent, careless or not doing anything. I am aware that the government is trying to do a lot but not succeeding because the circumstances are perilously complex and tricky. The Ltte is using the civilians as human shield, hoping in vain that international pressure on Sri Lanka will persuade the Government to agree for a ceasefire. This is clearly the reason for the concerted effort by the Tamil diaspora to organise mass demonstrations and lobbies in support of the Ltte. Many Tamil people, who do not support the Ltte, also take part in such actions but they do so purely in support of the civilian Tamils exposed to bombing and shelling, injuries, starvation, disease and of course death.

The fact that the government is not succeeding is not surprising when one considers the nature of the task in hand. This is precisely why it is necessary for the government to internationalise this crisis. By internationalising I mean the following:

1. Allow independent media to report the efforts or the lack of efforts by Sri Lankan Government to assist civilians to escape the war zone.

2. Use the services of ICRC, UNHR and other NGO’s to provide humanitarian relief and assistance.

3. I am certainly not recommending political interference by other countries in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.

4. A panel of eminent persons of which there are plenty in Sri Lanka should be formed to monitor the execution of the war and avoidable human rights violations. The panel must have access and authority to visit the conflict areas, to monitor and report back.

5. Summon all necessary technical and logistical help from all concerned countries, in particular India to safely and successfully remove the civilians to safety.

6. Use the services of ICRC, UNHR and other NGO’s in any screening exercises and the rehabilitation of those who have been traumatised during the entrapment, especially young children and mothers.

7. It is vital that Sri Lanka conforms to international obligations and protocols in these matters.

8. Because of the lack of transparency people rightfully suspect that Sri Lankan Government is hiding gross human rights violations.

9. Ltte is not elected by anybody, is a self-appointed armed group and is therefore not accountable to any body but Sri Lanka is a democratically constituted government, accountable to all its people and to international bodies like the UN. They have to rise high above and act responsibly and accountably.

-Sri Lanka Guardian