| by Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah – Senator TGTE
( September 20, 2012, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) Intended towards getting a better understanding of the facts and the legitimacy of the cause of Tamil Eelam – Now evolving with new impetus into a non-violent, democratic, transnational initiative through the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) based worldwide, that’s committed to creating a political space and filling a void in the Tamil Homeland, Tamil Eelam which is under military occupation, Sinhala dictatorship and subject to unending human rights abuses, the TGTE pursuing a path of diplomacy, engagement and the mobilization of world opinion to winning the sympathy and empathy of the international community towards the restoration of an independent Tamil Eelam.
FACTORS AT A GLANCE:
Foreign colonisation and loss of sovereignty where Tamil territories were annexed to the rest of the island by the British in 1833 as set out by the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission.
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-13139.html
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_kingdom)
http://www.sangam.org/FACTBOOK/broken.htm
The Soulbury Constitution (1947) and an imperfect decolonization process (see Karen Parker further below) and the huge mistake made by Tamils not to emulate Pakistan’s separation from India. The Soulbury Constitution that Tamils signed up to, trusting the Sinhalese who held a majority by virtue of the whole island becoming a unitary state was a mistake; before the ink could dry the Sinhalese began to betray the Tamils.
http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/selfdet.html
The successive oppressive Sinhala Buddhist majoritarian governments’ strangulation of Tamils through legislative enactments and policies which were discriminating, leaving them marginalized.: The Sinhala Only Act , discriminatory recruitment and education policies leading to far fewer Civil Service jobs for Tamils and the beginning of ‘Standardisation’ – Affirmative action to curtail Tamil students from entering university, promoting Sinhala hegemony over Tamils.
The violence and destruction of property perpetrated against Tamils sponsored by Sinhala Governments.
The Sinhala Politicians who played the racist card which led to Broken Pacts: 1957 BC Pact – between Sinhala Prime Minister S W R D Bandaranayake and Tamil Leader S J V Chelvanayagam (Federal Party) for limited autonomy was broken due to vehement and violent opposition from Sinhala ultra nationalist extremists encouraged by Buddhist fundamentalists monks. In 1959 Bandaranayake was himself assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
The Sinhala Buddhist Chauvinism and extremism that led to strong Tamil nationalism – even the educated Sinhalese could not bear to share the island and to accept any mechanism for limited power sharing.
The Sri Lankan army occupation of Tamil areas from as far back as 1958.
The forced Sinhala colonization of Tamil areas to blur the demography.
The illegal repeal of the entrenched provision - Section 29 of the Soulbury Constitution outside of parliament which led to the “final break of the covenant” between the Sinhala and Tamil Nations brought on by the advent of 1972 and 1978 illegal constitutions (Read ‘Break of Covenant’ by Niranjan).
The adoption of the ‘Vaddukodai Resolution’ by Tamils: The resolution was unanimously adopted in May 1976 and won an overwhelming mandate at the General Elections of 1977: This convention resolves that restoration and reconstitution of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam, based on the right of self determination inherent in every nation has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil Nation in this country. http://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/vaddukod.htm
The 6th Amendment to the constitution and the loss of right to freedom of speech and peaceful and honest debate on Tamil’s right to ‘Self Determination’ and separation.
Sinhala envy, because Tamils were doing well, holding professions and jobs in the Civil and Foreign Services through sheer hard work and academic achievements.
The inevitable need for self preservation of the Tamil national identity and race and the need to expel an intimidating Sinhala army from Tamil areas through armed rebellion to counter atrocities against Tamils and to fulfil Tamil aspiration to restore sovereignty and right of self determination.
NOTES:
HISTORICAL PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF A TAMIL KINGDOM IN THE ISLAND AND TAMIL SOVEREIGNTY:
FOREIGN COLONISATION AND LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY:
Quoting from my mentor Joe Ladislaus’s research:
The Tamil territories were annexed to the rest of the island in 1833 by the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission.
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-13139.html
When the Portuguese landed on the island in 1505 there was not one but three kingdoms, namely the Tamil Jaffna Kingdom, the Sinhala Kotte Kingdom and the Sinhala Kandyan Kingdom.
They captured the Tamil Kingdom in 1621; nearly 116 years since capturing the Sinhala kingdoms. The Tamil King Sangili was taken to Goa and hanged.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_kingdom)
The majority Sinhalese dismiss this historical fact as medieval nonsense. A counter challenge to this fact can be viewed at the link below: (http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/05/reply-archaeology-sparks-new-conflict.html
“… statements that the country had been united for 2,500 years flies in the face of history. There was for some centuries an independent Tamil kingdom and the chronicles report frequent wars between Sinhalese and Tamil kings. Separate Singhalese and Tamil communities existed on the island from the pre-colonial era until the administrative unification of the island by the British in 1833.” (Supplement to Professor Virginia Leary Report on a Mission to Sri Lanka 1981-83 published by the ICJ)
This unification was carried out by the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission in 1833.
Also read: The broken Covenant by Niranjan:
http://www.sangam.org/FACTBOOK/broken.htm
“The fact that two nations existed before Queen Victoria, in 1830, established her rule on the whole island of Ceylon is documented by the following authors; Fernao de Queyroz, (1692); Paviljeon, (1695); Donald Ferguson; Van Goens, (1675); Van Imhoff, (1740); Anthony Mooyart, (1766); Hugh Cleghorn, (1799); Robert Brownrigg, (1813); Emerson Tennent, (1859).”
THE SOULBURY CONSTITUTION AND THE IMPERFECT DECOLONIZATION PROCESS:
The Soulbury Constitution that the Tamils signed up to trusting the Sinhalese who held a majority by virtue of the whole island becoming a unitary state, was huge mistake; before the ink could dry on it the Sinhalese started betraying the Tamils.Please Read Karen Parker’s Understanding Self determination.
http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/selfdet.html
The situation in Sri Lanka, for many years now engulfed by armed conflict between the Sinhala-controlled government and the Tamil people, must be understood in terms of an “imperfect” de-colonization process by the British. Once again, two distinct countries – in this case the Tamil nation and the Sinhala nation — were amalgamated under “unitary” rule by the colonizers.
In the de-colonization process in Sri-Lanka, there was an attempt between the Tamil and Sinhala leadership to try out a post-colonial unitary state despite the historic situation of the two countries. In the first two constitutions, there was an agreement between the majority Sinhalese people and the numerically fewer Tamil people for a government structure that would guarantee that the Tamil people would not become fatally submerged under the Sinhala. So there was an attempt to avoid submersion in the language of the Constitution of 1947. Before the ink was dry, the Sinhala leadership began to violate the terms.
ILLEGAL REPEAL OF SECTION 29 OF SOULBURY CONSTITUTION: “THE FINAL BREAK OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN THE SINHALA AND TAMIL NATION AND THE ADVENT OF 1972 AND 1978 ILLEGAL CONSTITUTIONS:
Section 29 :
(b) make persons of any community or religion liable to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of other communities or religions are not made liable; or
(c) confer on persons of any community or religion any privilege or advantage which is not conferred on persons of other communities or religions; or
“The Tamils never agreed to either of the two constitutions. In fact, the Tamil people asserted their right to self-determination in the 1977 elections.
By not including Section 29 in the 1972 and the 1978 constitutions, the majority government, which was the Sinhala Nation, broke the sacred covenant between the two nations and returned the Tamils of Ceylon to their previous status as colonial people and subjects of the Queen. If Great Britain is unwilling or unable to accept this status of the Tamil people as its subjects, then the Tamil people become sovereign by virtue of their pre-colonial status as the people of the Tamil Kingdom.” – Niranjan
ADOPTION OF THE VADDUKODDAI RESOLUTION BY TAMILS
“THIS CONVENTION RESOLVES THAT RESTORATION AND RECONSTITUTION OF THE FREE, SOVEREIGN SECULAR SOCIALIST STATE OF TAMIL EELAM, BASED ON THE RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION INHERENT IN EVERY NATION HAS BECOME INEVITABLE IN ORDER TO SAFEGUARD THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE TAMIL NATION IN THIS COUNTRY. SEE http://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/vaddukod.htm - “A RESOLUTION UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED AT THE 1ST NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE TAMIL UNITED FRONT (TULF) HELD AT PANNAKAM, VADDUKODDAI ON MAY 15 1976 – PRESIDED OVER BY MR. S J V CHELVANAYAGAM QC MP. THE TULF WENT TO POLLS IN 1977 WITH THIS AND RECEIVED AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE FROM THE TAMIL ELECTORATE. THIS WAS THE LAST TIME THE TAMILS OF EELAM WERE ABLE TO EXPRESS THEIR WISH FREELY AT A DEMOCRATICALLY CONDUCTED POLL.”
( September 20, 2012, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) Intended towards getting a better understanding of the facts and the legitimacy of the cause of Tamil Eelam – Now evolving with new impetus into a non-violent, democratic, transnational initiative through the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) based worldwide, that’s committed to creating a political space and filling a void in the Tamil Homeland, Tamil Eelam which is under military occupation, Sinhala dictatorship and subject to unending human rights abuses, the TGTE pursuing a path of diplomacy, engagement and the mobilization of world opinion to winning the sympathy and empathy of the international community towards the restoration of an independent Tamil Eelam.
FACTORS AT A GLANCE:
Foreign colonisation and loss of sovereignty where Tamil territories were annexed to the rest of the island by the British in 1833 as set out by the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission.
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-13139.html
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_kingdom)
http://www.sangam.org/FACTBOOK/broken.htm
The Soulbury Constitution (1947) and an imperfect decolonization process (see Karen Parker further below) and the huge mistake made by Tamils not to emulate Pakistan’s separation from India. The Soulbury Constitution that Tamils signed up to, trusting the Sinhalese who held a majority by virtue of the whole island becoming a unitary state was a mistake; before the ink could dry the Sinhalese began to betray the Tamils.
http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/selfdet.html
The successive oppressive Sinhala Buddhist majoritarian governments’ strangulation of Tamils through legislative enactments and policies which were discriminating, leaving them marginalized.: The Sinhala Only Act , discriminatory recruitment and education policies leading to far fewer Civil Service jobs for Tamils and the beginning of ‘Standardisation’ – Affirmative action to curtail Tamil students from entering university, promoting Sinhala hegemony over Tamils.
The violence and destruction of property perpetrated against Tamils sponsored by Sinhala Governments.
The Sinhala Politicians who played the racist card which led to Broken Pacts: 1957 BC Pact – between Sinhala Prime Minister S W R D Bandaranayake and Tamil Leader S J V Chelvanayagam (Federal Party) for limited autonomy was broken due to vehement and violent opposition from Sinhala ultra nationalist extremists encouraged by Buddhist fundamentalists monks. In 1959 Bandaranayake was himself assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
The Sinhala Buddhist Chauvinism and extremism that led to strong Tamil nationalism – even the educated Sinhalese could not bear to share the island and to accept any mechanism for limited power sharing.
The Sri Lankan army occupation of Tamil areas from as far back as 1958.
The forced Sinhala colonization of Tamil areas to blur the demography.
The illegal repeal of the entrenched provision - Section 29 of the Soulbury Constitution outside of parliament which led to the “final break of the covenant” between the Sinhala and Tamil Nations brought on by the advent of 1972 and 1978 illegal constitutions (Read ‘Break of Covenant’ by Niranjan).
The adoption of the ‘Vaddukodai Resolution’ by Tamils: The resolution was unanimously adopted in May 1976 and won an overwhelming mandate at the General Elections of 1977: This convention resolves that restoration and reconstitution of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam, based on the right of self determination inherent in every nation has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil Nation in this country. http://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/vaddukod.htm
The 6th Amendment to the constitution and the loss of right to freedom of speech and peaceful and honest debate on Tamil’s right to ‘Self Determination’ and separation.
Sinhala envy, because Tamils were doing well, holding professions and jobs in the Civil and Foreign Services through sheer hard work and academic achievements.
The inevitable need for self preservation of the Tamil national identity and race and the need to expel an intimidating Sinhala army from Tamil areas through armed rebellion to counter atrocities against Tamils and to fulfil Tamil aspiration to restore sovereignty and right of self determination.
NOTES:
HISTORICAL PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF A TAMIL KINGDOM IN THE ISLAND AND TAMIL SOVEREIGNTY:
FOREIGN COLONISATION AND LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY:
Quoting from my mentor Joe Ladislaus’s research:
The Tamil territories were annexed to the rest of the island in 1833 by the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission.
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-13139.html
When the Portuguese landed on the island in 1505 there was not one but three kingdoms, namely the Tamil Jaffna Kingdom, the Sinhala Kotte Kingdom and the Sinhala Kandyan Kingdom.
They captured the Tamil Kingdom in 1621; nearly 116 years since capturing the Sinhala kingdoms. The Tamil King Sangili was taken to Goa and hanged.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_kingdom)
The majority Sinhalese dismiss this historical fact as medieval nonsense. A counter challenge to this fact can be viewed at the link below: (http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/05/reply-archaeology-sparks-new-conflict.html
“… statements that the country had been united for 2,500 years flies in the face of history. There was for some centuries an independent Tamil kingdom and the chronicles report frequent wars between Sinhalese and Tamil kings. Separate Singhalese and Tamil communities existed on the island from the pre-colonial era until the administrative unification of the island by the British in 1833.” (Supplement to Professor Virginia Leary Report on a Mission to Sri Lanka 1981-83 published by the ICJ)
This unification was carried out by the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission in 1833.
Also read: The broken Covenant by Niranjan:
http://www.sangam.org/FACTBOOK/broken.htm
“The fact that two nations existed before Queen Victoria, in 1830, established her rule on the whole island of Ceylon is documented by the following authors; Fernao de Queyroz, (1692); Paviljeon, (1695); Donald Ferguson; Van Goens, (1675); Van Imhoff, (1740); Anthony Mooyart, (1766); Hugh Cleghorn, (1799); Robert Brownrigg, (1813); Emerson Tennent, (1859).”
THE SOULBURY CONSTITUTION AND THE IMPERFECT DECOLONIZATION PROCESS:
The Soulbury Constitution that the Tamils signed up to trusting the Sinhalese who held a majority by virtue of the whole island becoming a unitary state, was huge mistake; before the ink could dry on it the Sinhalese started betraying the Tamils.Please Read Karen Parker’s Understanding Self determination.
http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/selfdet.html
The situation in Sri Lanka, for many years now engulfed by armed conflict between the Sinhala-controlled government and the Tamil people, must be understood in terms of an “imperfect” de-colonization process by the British. Once again, two distinct countries – in this case the Tamil nation and the Sinhala nation — were amalgamated under “unitary” rule by the colonizers.
In the de-colonization process in Sri-Lanka, there was an attempt between the Tamil and Sinhala leadership to try out a post-colonial unitary state despite the historic situation of the two countries. In the first two constitutions, there was an agreement between the majority Sinhalese people and the numerically fewer Tamil people for a government structure that would guarantee that the Tamil people would not become fatally submerged under the Sinhala. So there was an attempt to avoid submersion in the language of the Constitution of 1947. Before the ink was dry, the Sinhala leadership began to violate the terms.
ILLEGAL REPEAL OF SECTION 29 OF SOULBURY CONSTITUTION: “THE FINAL BREAK OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN THE SINHALA AND TAMIL NATION AND THE ADVENT OF 1972 AND 1978 ILLEGAL CONSTITUTIONS:
Section 29 :
(b) make persons of any community or religion liable to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of other communities or religions are not made liable; or
(c) confer on persons of any community or religion any privilege or advantage which is not conferred on persons of other communities or religions; or
“The Tamils never agreed to either of the two constitutions. In fact, the Tamil people asserted their right to self-determination in the 1977 elections.
By not including Section 29 in the 1972 and the 1978 constitutions, the majority government, which was the Sinhala Nation, broke the sacred covenant between the two nations and returned the Tamils of Ceylon to their previous status as colonial people and subjects of the Queen. If Great Britain is unwilling or unable to accept this status of the Tamil people as its subjects, then the Tamil people become sovereign by virtue of their pre-colonial status as the people of the Tamil Kingdom.” – Niranjan
ADOPTION OF THE VADDUKODDAI RESOLUTION BY TAMILS
“THIS CONVENTION RESOLVES THAT RESTORATION AND RECONSTITUTION OF THE FREE, SOVEREIGN SECULAR SOCIALIST STATE OF TAMIL EELAM, BASED ON THE RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION INHERENT IN EVERY NATION HAS BECOME INEVITABLE IN ORDER TO SAFEGUARD THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE TAMIL NATION IN THIS COUNTRY. SEE http://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/vaddukod.htm - “A RESOLUTION UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED AT THE 1ST NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE TAMIL UNITED FRONT (TULF) HELD AT PANNAKAM, VADDUKODDAI ON MAY 15 1976 – PRESIDED OVER BY MR. S J V CHELVANAYAGAM QC MP. THE TULF WENT TO POLLS IN 1977 WITH THIS AND RECEIVED AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE FROM THE TAMIL ELECTORATE. THIS WAS THE LAST TIME THE TAMILS OF EELAM WERE ABLE TO EXPRESS THEIR WISH FREELY AT A DEMOCRATICALLY CONDUCTED POLL.”
