Who are these internally displaced Tamil people

By Lt Col Anil Amarasekera

(May 25, Melbourne, Sri Lnaka Guardian) I had the privilege of meeting many internally displaced Tamil people during my visits to the Manik Farm on 26th April and 10th May 2009. During discussions I had with them I found that the majority of the elders among them were Indian Tamils from the plantation estates. Some of these elders were those who had been identified for repatriation to India under the Sirima Shastri Pact and had been surreptitiously resettled in the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu Districts to avoid repatriation, while many others were those who had been displaced from plantation estates in the hill country and the south, during riots in 1958, 1978, 1983 and 1987. They had been resettled in the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu Districts with the support of local and international Non Governmental Organizations, sometimes with even active support from the governments then in power. The intention of the government in power at that point of time was to quell the riots as soon as possible by separating the two ethnic communities sans any thought to the long term repercussion that would result through such segregation, which aided and abated the formation of ethnic enclaves. To those who wish to fish in troubled waters like the Norwegian sponsored Redd Barna, this became an ideal opportunity to support separatist elements to establish a firm foothold in our country.

Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali when he was the Minister of National Security related a very interesting story to me. He said that Redd Barna was funding the establishment of Tamil settlements in the Yan Oya basin, with the intention of linking the Northern Province to the Eastern Province with a land mass exclusively inhabited by Tamils. He said that he had reliable information that most of the Tamil families had been resettled by the Gandhian Movement, with funding from Redd Barna, in land released to Tamil entrepreneurs under the food production drive by the UNP government on or about 1969. He said that some of these were Tamil families that had been selected and sent by train from the hill country to Mannar for repatriation to India. He said that before they reached Mannar arrangements had been made to collect one or two families from each train at the Madu Road Junction railway station and they had been taken to the Manik farm and retained there for about two weeks. If the authorities failed to detect their absence, which invariably was the case, these families were surreptitiously transported and resettled in Dollar, Kent, Ceylon Theatre and Cargo Boat Dispatch farms in the Yan Oya river basin that were lands released by the government under the special leases agreement to Tamil entrepreneurs.

Therefore the foundation to divide the country was being effectively laid during this period by vested interests through Redd Barna and the person who was implementing this strategy was none other than Jon Westborg, a Norwegian who left this country when he realized that the government was aware of his activities. Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali subsequently met President J.R. Jayawardena and obtained his approval to cancel these special leases. The government land thus regained was released to rehabilitate prisoners with good behavior, so that they could reintegrate into society in the Yan Oya river basin, which was fast becoming an area with exclusive Tamil settlements. In terms of national security a proper ethnic mix in this strategic area cannot be over empathized, as it is the Yan Oya river basin that links the north to the east and therefore was the gate way to Eelam. Therefore the Ministry of National Security commenced a program of work to integrate ethnicities in this strategic area and to prevent it from becoming an exclusive enclave with Tamil settlements through segregation.

It was when the intentions of the Gandhian Movement that was an LTTE front organization and its vested interests were scuttled in this manner that the LTTE decided to attack and kill all those families that the government had settled in the Kent and Dollar farms. Not only did they brutally kill these innocent people, they also video photographed this attack and released it to the world as an act by the Sri Lanka Army to massacre innocent Tamil people. What is difficult to understand is how the Norwegian Jon Westborg who was responsible for establishing surreptitious Tamil settlements in support of separatism in the early 1980’s was allowed to hand over his credentials as the ambassador for Norway in this country during the government of Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe. In 1983 Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe was a cabinet colleague of Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali and would have been well aware of what Jon Westborg had done to surreptitiously support separatism. What then was the reason for his government to accept Jon Westborg as the Norwegian ambassador? Is it that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg and that the major part of the conspiracy is still submerged deep under?

We are now aware that the majority of the people that Prabhakaran was herding around like cattle from the Kilinochchi district to the Mullaittivu district were Tamils of Indian origin and that some of them are not even citizen of our country. In the 1970’s we had a very effective way of checking illicit immigration to our country from India through the Task Force for Illicit Immigrants, but when the government lost control of the north and during the time the LTTE Sea Tigers were very active, we cannot rule out the possibility of many Tamils supportive of the Eelam cause migrating to our country from Tamil Nadu and settling in the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu districts. Therefore the authorities should check and double check the identities of all internally displaced people to ensure that only genuine citizen of this country are resettled and not illicit immigrants from Tamil Nadu.

The Tamils of Indian origin were brought into this country from India by the colonial British administration as indented labour for two reasons. Firstly it was because the Sinhala people were rebellious and could not be trusted by the British and secondly because the Sinhala people refused to work for the British in the plantations as coolies. The Tamils of Indian origin were therefore introduced to work in the plantations and were a migrant population with no indigenous origins whatsoever. Therefore the British should have made necessary arrangements to settle this migrant population issue at the time that they granted independence to Ceylon. Their failure to do so created a massive stateless peoples problem for Ceylon after independence.

Britain was responsible for creating a similar situation in Burma too when they granted independence to that country. Many Tamils of Indian origin were similarly left behind by the British when they left Burma after granting independence. However, the political leaders of Burma were more far thinking than our political leaders. Soon after independence the people of Indian origin in Burma were requested to integrate into the Burmese society by taking Burmese names and learning the Burmese language. Majority of the Tamils of Indian origin in Burma complied with this request. Those who refused to do so were deported to India. Therefore the ethnic proportion of the Burmese majority to the minorities in that country increased as a result of such action, making a struggle for separatism by Tamils of Indian origin impossible in Myanmar. It is not only in Myanmar that the colonial British administration has created unnecessary problems by introducing people of Indian origin to a country. The problem Fiji is having with people of Indian origin is another good example.

Therefore the origin of the problem of having approximately two hundred and fifty thousand internally displaced people in our country today is traceable to the British colonial administration policy of bringing in indented labour and leaving them behind stateless at the time of granting independence. Had Mr. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary of Britain come to this country to clear this mess that the British colonial administration had created, he would have been welcome by the people of this country with garlands. However, he came here not for that purpose but to exert pressure on our President to stop the war against the LTTE. He failed in his stupid effort and after having returned to his country has said that Sri Lanka is "as close to hell as you can get". It makes one wonder if he had ever gone to hell to have made such a statement.

Even after his visit to this country he pretends not to know that our Security Forces are sacrificing their life and limb to save the innocent Tamil civilians trying to escape from the human shield created by the LTTE. He pretends not to know that the LTTE is shooting and killing Tamil civilians running towards the Security Forces for protection. He also pretends to be unaware of the genocide record of his ancestors in our country. Sir Archibald Lawrie, an Englishman and one time Acting Chief Justice has said, “The story of British rule in the Kandyan country during 1817 and 1818 cannot be related without shame. In 1819 hardly a member of the leading families, the heads of the people, remained alive; those whom the sword and the gun had spared, cholera and small pox and privation had slain by hundreds.” Then there is Dr. John Davy another Englishman who writes “When a district rose in rebellion, one or more military posts were established in it; the dwellings of the residing inhabitants were burnt; their fruit trees were often cut down and the country was scoured in all directions by small detachments, who were authorized to put to death all who made opposition, or were found with arms in their hands… when one considers this rebellion and its consequences, one almost regrets, that we ever entered the Kandyan country.”

In an effort to protect the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, her Security Forces under the leadership of its Commoner in Chief Mahinda Rajapakse, the President of the country, has been successful in defeating the world’s most ruthless terrorist organization the LTTE and in doing so has rescued over 250000 innocent Tamils who were being held as human shields by the LTTE. The collateral damage caused during this rescue operation is negligible, when compared with what has happened in Iraq and what is happening in Afghanistan. This achievement of the Sri Lanka Security Forces will be recorded as the largest ever hostage release operation the world has ever witnessed. The western powers such as United Kingdom and the United States have failed to achieve such a victory in their so called war against terror. It is therefore time for Mr David Miliband to give credit to those who deserve credit, without trying to throw mud to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka, its President and the Security Forces by speaking of bloodbaths that never took place. He should even at this stage as foreign secretary of the United Kingdom change his attitude and help Sri Lanka to resolve its problems with regard to the internally displaced people, without trying to put a spoke in the wheel by raising doubts whether Colombo could be trusted at the moment to use $1.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund appropriately. He must learn that experienced politicians such as President Mahinda Rajapakse cannot be bullied. He must also learn that a selfish politician is no match to a dedicated leader who has received an overwhelming mandate from his own people to do what is right for his country.

He must know by now that such leaders do not and will not listen to foreign dictates, however powerful the foreign country may be. He must also remember that most of these displaced people are Tamils of Indian origin, who are decedents of people brought in to this country as indented labour by the British colonial administration. Therefore Britain has an obligation to help these people when they are displaced and in distress. As foreign secretary of Britain this is an obligation that has been delegated to Mr. David Miliband whether he likes or not.

-Sri Lanka Guardian