ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Asada M Erpini

Mr.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) writes to Island on 27 July pointing out the importance of remembering the atrocities of July 23 1983.

The opening salvo itself that is directed at Sri Lanka is incorrect. July 23 1983 is not remembered as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Black JulyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Sri Lanka, although Mr. Sumanthiran says so. It is a handful of Sri Lankans in Colombo and a few others living in the North, prodded by their backers abroad, who keep on harping on this unfortunate event. Furthermore, the people who really make a big show of Black July, and have started attaching terms such as pogrom and genocide, are the Tamils who left Sri Lanka and are now living comfortably in the affluent West. Horrors that add up to a much larger total ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Central Bank bomb, Anuradhapura Sri Maha Bodhi Massacre, Arantalawa Bikkhu massacre, Kattankdy Mosque massacre, killing of cultivators in Dollar Farm and Kent Farm, killing 600 policemen who surrendered to the LTTE, killing of over 200 unarmed soldiers on leave near the Mirisgoniyawa Bridge, Dambulla and many, many other atrocities committed by the LTTE ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” are still fresh in the minds of Sri Lankans, yet what they want to do is to move on, without spending their monies and energies on remembrances of the LTTE crimes.

No one condones violence against the innocents, but the stark truth is that as long as the July 23, 1983 incidents are kept in the limelight, unscrupulous Tamils stand to gain tremendously. In fact, although July 23 is portrayed as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-BlackƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ by these very same people, all Sri Lankans know that it turned out to be a gold mine to many of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Black JulyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ proponents: the incidents, and also the many exaggerated versions of what happened, turned out to be a passport that enabled them to move to Norway, Canada, the US, EU and Australia to settle down, jumping ahead of other, legal immigration applicants who were waiting in line for their cases to be assessed. Of course, the fact that many Sinhalese families saved hundreds of Tamils by giving them refuge and hiding them from the marauding thugs is never remembered, or even given passing mention, at any of these annual ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Black JulyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ remembrances.

There is one redeeming feature in Mr.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  SumanthiranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s preaching. In the concluding paragraph, he says, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-we (presumably Sri Lanka, not Tamil separatists) have failed to address, far less eradicate, the root causes of the conflict behind itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. All peace-loving Sri Lankans, no doubt, will wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

The root causes of the conflict did not start in July 1983: they go to a period long before that, and people such as the pro-separatism Tamil MPs keep on fanning the flames of hatred against the Sinhalese, without ever attempting to eradicate the causes.

The clamour for separatism by Tamils is a demand that has existed for more than a century. During 1908-1912, the Tamil Chiefs in Jaffna and Batticaloa said that they were not interested in settling in the Vanni, because of the unhealthy climate. However, they had added that they did not want to admit Sinhalese or Moors either.

In 1918 the Jaffna Association demanded 50:50 political representation (50% for the Sinhalese and 50% for others) although the Tamils whose interests were being presented by their so-called educated representatives were a mere 4% of the population. The 50:50 demand was later repeated by Ponnambalam in 1939 as 50% for the Sinhalese and 50% for the minorities. In 1949 Chelvanayakam, Vanniasingam and Naganathan established the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (meaning Ilankai Tamil Sate Party) – fraudulently translating the name into English as Federal Party ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” was further perpetuation of the root cause, and the Vadukkoddai Resolution of 1972, which inveigled upon the Tamil youth to take up arms to win their mono-ethnic separate state for the Tamils, promoted open armed insurrection.

Demanding special treatment for the Tamils, and not being ready to be Sri Lankans, are the root cause of the problem that Sumanthiran refers to. All Tamil political groups, especially the TNA, should look to the future or, if they are not ready to do so, step aside and allow other pragmatic, educated Tamils to take over leadership positions and guide the community to development and productivity, and not attempt to drag them back to the days of mayhem and destruction that the country witnessed during the past three decades.

The TNA, which was born with the blessings and open support of the LTTE, keep on playing the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-innocent Tamils who suffered atrocities at the hands of the majority communityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ card, as that is a convenient mechanism to remain prominent: in contrast, it is the much vilified ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-SinhalaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ government that has to spend 80% of the foreign loans and aid funds for rebuilding the infrastructure in the North that was destroyed by a megalomaniac and his henchmen.