A brief Open Letter to the Government Agent- Jaffna

"The Tamils living in the liberal democracies are exercising their individual liberties and rights such as of the freedom of expression and assembly, freedom of religion, equality before the law, due process under rule of law etc accorded to them unlike their brethrens back home who have been subjugated by the military and the paramilitary forces. The very same freedom is enjoyed by the Sri Lankan Muslim and Sinhalese Diaspora brotherhood."

by Rajasingham Jayadevan

Mrs Imelda Sugumar
Government Agent
Jaffna
Sri Lanka


Dear Mrs Imelda Sugumar

(December 19, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Your comments condemning the demonstrations by the Diaspora Tamils against the President Mahinda Rajapakse in London resulting in the cancellation of his speech at the prestigious Oxford Union and the abrupt ending of his visit is politically motivated and clearly reflects the decadent paramilitary mindset of the Minister, Douglas Devananda.

I write this open letter as a Tamil, who had experienced the pressures of the confrontational politics of Sri Lanka, even though I have lived outside Sri Lanka for over thirty years. Please refer to my brother, Dr Rajasingham Narendran’s comments annexed hereto, responding to a chronic and nonsensical pseudo Ellalan comment published in the Transcurrents (9/12) website. This will give you a fair knowledge of my background in a nutshell.

Though my brother believes in reconciliation, development and responsible political leadership from the Tamils to deal with issues sensibly, I take an ardent stand that political resolution is the utmost priority before we embroil in other issues. I strongly feel sensible political resolution is the way forward that adequately empowers the Tamil people and will passage the way forward for conducive climate for meaningful reconciliation and development to follow through.

I consider your comments are part of your contractual or employment safeguarding obligation to satisfy your master’s agenda to be in his payroll. I have read similar comments from the Tamils associated with the government and the calculated government sponsored protests marches in the Tamil areas too are part of the cynical campaign orchestrated by the government against the Tamil Diaspora.

The recent Wikileaks revelations rightly and adequately reflect the agenda of these unscrupulous marauders involved with the disparaging government who are thriving on the human sufferings and the ambitious family rule of the President. The government will use Douglas Devananda’s and Karuna’s to degenerate our society into a prostituting class and the Tamil Diaspora is a valuable lot stand up for the savaged minority’s interests in Sri Lanka.

In your accusations, you castigated the Diaspora Tamils for disturbing the peace for their people in Sri Lanka. How did you measure the feelings of the Jaffna people to negatively slander the demonstrations in London as disturbing the peace of mind of your administration in Jaffna? Your comments are one and the same of the Minister and the ruthless paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda, who have proved to be the authoritative shadow government agent controlling the activities of the Jaffna Kachcheri, thus undermining your own mandate.

The Tamils living in the liberal democracies are exercising their individual liberties and rights such as of the freedom of expression and assembly, freedom of religion, equality before the law, due process under rule of law etc accorded to them unlike their brethrens back home who have been subjugated by the military and the paramilitary forces. The very same freedom is enjoyed by the Sri Lankan Muslim and Sinhalese Diaspora brotherhood.

Some Diaspora Tamils only know to express their feelings by the show of the flags that is anathema to your masters. Beyond the wrongs or justifications of holding the flags, you must understand the psyche of these people who are the product of the age old marginalisation policy of Tamils in Sri Lanka and are the reflection of the three decades old war - a period in which they were ravaged by the brutalities inflicted on the Tamil society.

Instead of responding to your each and every cynical comments against the Diaspora Tamils, I rather ask you to take a mature approach to deal with the root causes of the problems that are making the Tamils to scream in the streets of the western world.

As a Government Agent, will you be able to tell us what the official policy of the government to find a peaceful and durable resolution to conflict in Sri Lanka? Presiding over the rule with the army and the nefarious paramilitary group in the north, you cannot sit in moral high grounds to pontificate to the Diaspora Tamils to shut up and put up with your narrow minded agenda to extend the game of the vested interests.

If you are not mandated to utter anything on the political line, will you let us know the siphoning of funds of the Jaffna Kachcheri by the EDPD paramilitary group and special treatment given to award contacts to questionable contractors like the Euroville Engineers and Constructors (PVT) Ltd are no longer practiced?

Will you tell us how much is collected by taxing building sand from the designated Kudathanai, Mankumpan and other places by the said paramilitary group?

Further, will you deny Minister Douglas Devananda is illegally collecting funds from those having dealings with the Government Agent’s office for his private Late Maheswari Velautham Trust fund?

There is other maladministration in the Jaffna Kachcheri. Though we are living many thousands of miles away from our motherland, we are aware of them because of the bond we have with our people.

You must realise that the Diaspora Tamils are part and parcel of the body politics of Sri Lanka and will not be subdued for narrow minded agenda of individuals like you, who have learnt the skills to play the perfect fiddle to the tune of your master. Yes Sir! Yes Sir!! I will do it Sir!!! is your pathetic fiddle, so long as you are in payroll of your master and the dictates of the paramilitary EPDP.

We too have contacts with our people in Sri Lanka. What we hear from them and from those who escaped the ravages of the war to the Western World is painful experience and we will speak about them loudly and campaign for them fearlessly.

Therefore, I finally appeal to you to stop dilly-dally dancing and make absurd and nonsensical comments any more about the Diaspora Tamils. I am sure you do not wish to take a war path with Tamil Diaspora that is fully experienced of the might of the pen and freedom of speech to deal with the critical issues of your controversial and conditioned government representative job in Jaffna.

I wish you a happy Xmas and responsible New Year.

Yours sincerely
R Jayadevan

ANNEXURE

‘330. Dr.Rajasingham narendran | December 9th, 2010 at 1:00 am

Ellalan (# 323):

Dear Mr. Genius,

I think you are one of those cowards who spew their venom under assumed names. It is a shame that types like you have the guts to haunt columns such as this. You are also an insult to the ‘Ellalan of old’, whom even Duttugemunu- his arch enemy- respected, for having been just.

I have experienced what you heard of and more. In 1958, as a 12 year old I witnessed what happened in Kurunegala. It is my father’s gun that prevented our house being attacked. Our home became a refuge for many Tamil families.

In 1977 I lost everything including my wife’s Thali. I and my brothers had to run over hills to escape sure death. Students from the Peradeniya university- A Tamil and many Sinhalese stood between us and the mob. I lived in a refugee camp for weeks and experienced the misery (among others) of 3000 people having access to one toilet.

In 1983, my son whom we had left behind to attend school in Colombo, ended up in a refugee camp because his aunt’s home was attacked. This was the second time a ten year old had experienced a riot!

In 1987 my mother and brother were killed by the IPKF in Jaffna after an LTTE provocation. My house was subsequently looted (Including books collected over three generations) by the LTTE and subsequently misappropriated. Thereafter the house was vandalized (only the walls were standing) and was re-built during the ceasefire.

In 2005 my brother (R Jayadevan) who lives in London was incarcerated by the LTTE in Puthukudiyirruppu for 60 days and we feared for his life.

My re-built house was once again looted and destroyed during the last war. I have rebuilt it again, as it is a memorial for my late mother and brother and a tangible link to the land of my ancestors.

I have also witnessed heart rending scenes of the war-affected pouring into Vavuniya and heard their harrowing tales. I have visited the IDP camps and witnessed how relieved the people were, despite their misfortunes. I have also seen how the re-settled are re-building their life from scratch.

I am yet a Sri Lankan and my family live there. Although I work abroad to earn a living, I visit Sri Lanka twice or thrice a year. I have lived in many parts of Sri Lanka, and have seen the decency of the people, whether Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim. The wrongs that happened in Sri Lanka, due to political failures (from both sides of the communal divide), are aberrations of history and have not in any way diminished my attachment to the country and her people (Petra Thayum, Pirantha Pon Nadum, Natrawa Vaanilum Nani Siranthanaway- The mother and the land of birth are better than the heavens)

There is no need to refresh my memories Mr. Genius, because I have lived through it. Do you know what the significance of a ‘Doctorate’ from a good University is? It makes one understand how much one does not know (Katrathu kai mann allawu, Kalaahathu Ulahalawu- what one learns is the size of a fistful of soil, while what one has not learned is the size of the universe)! This is the point where you begin to search for the truth ( Munnai Pallam Porutkum Munnai Pallam Porulay, Pinnai Puthumaikum Peytrum up Petriyaney- The ‘One’ who is beyond the past we know and beyond the future we comprehend). Truth is God to me. I hope such thoughts are not beyond your comprehension.’