An Exhibition Fit For The
Queen
A few words on “60 years of Oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka”
Janaka Yagirala
Recently (19th July, 2008) the pro-LTTE diaspora held a photo exhibition
titled “60 years of Oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka” to
the British MP’s. It is highly unlikely that the diaspora would
ever hold a public lecture such as “The Benefits of Free Education
of Sri Lanka” and tell the world about the great C.W.W. Kannangara’s
concept of Free Education which allowed countless diaspora members to
become doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and graduates. These
qualifications funded by taxpayers money of Sri Lanka would have undoubtedly
given them the vital points (along with bogus refugee claims) to gain
permanent residence in western countries.
Choosing Britain, a country which defines the term “double standards”
as the host country is also highly appropriate. The term “Celtic
Fringe” was used by the English to derogate the regions of Celtic
minorities (Scots, Irish and Welsh). The Irish are the prime example
of English mistreatment and persecution of minorities.
Even today anti-Irish sentiment is strong, a relict of the war against
the Irish people which included linguicide (systematic destruction of
language) of Irish Gaelic by banning its use in schools until 1871 and
through sycophant politicians like Daniel O'Connell who denigrated his
own mother tongue as “backward” and advocated the use of English
(I guess this concept sounds very familiar among many Kalu-Suddhas as
well!). It was only the Gaelic Revival Movement (akin to the Helabasa
movement of the great Munidasa Kumaranathunga) that saved Irish Gaelic
from extinction..
The anti-Irish movement also consisted of settling English and loyal
Scottish people since 1610 in Ulster (currently Northern Ireland) in
order to subvert the native Irish. The consequences of this sinister
move are all but evident today in the conflict of Northern Ireland.
Nevertheless, there is no harm in having a photographic exhibition
to British MP’s, not to mention the British public and the Queen
herself. I would like to make a few suggestions.
First, the British were very lucky that the camera was invented in
1884 and that photography became commonplace by the end of the 19th
century. Otherwise it would have been possible to take photographs of
the Wellasse Massacre and subsequent famine of 1818 where Robert Brownrigg
issued the order to “..kill every male over 18 years of age..”.
It would have also been possible to photograph the murder and destruction
unleashed by the British and their lackeys on innocent Sinhalese civilians
(mainly women and children) during the 1848 revolt.
Second, how about an exhibition showing British colonial gallantry,
like the Amritsar (Jallianwala Bagg) Massacre of 1919 (around 1000 dead
and 2000 wounded, all unarmed civilians)? The Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre
of Peshawar in 1930 can also be included which claimed the lives of
200-250 unarmed protesters. Similarly the suppression of the Greek Cypriot
populace under British colonial rule in Cyprus would also qualify. Last
but not least let us not forget the brutal suppression of the Mau Mau
uprising of Kenya from 1952-1960 where numerous suspects and entire
villages were liquidated often without trial. Among the lackeys for
the British during this atrocity was a person we all came to know as
(not surprisingly) Idi Amin.
Also the British atrocities on the Aborigines of Australia, Native
Americans and Maoris of New Zealand can also be shown. The only “crime”
these people would have done is live their simple hunter gatherer lives
in their lands of birth. It was this land that was stolen by the “British
Empire”.
The exhibition can be titled as “An Empire of Shame”.
The Sri Lankan High Commission of London can also hold a photo exhibition,
with pictures of the massacres of Kent and Dollar Farm, Aranthalawa,
the Gal-Amuna (Kalmunai) massacre of unarmed policemen, the massacre
of pilgrims in Anuradhapura, the Kattan-Thudawa (Kathankudi) Mosque
massacre, the bus bombings of Kebithigollewa, Buththala and Colombo
and the train bombing of Dehiwala, etc.
A final word to the pro-LTTE diaspora and the British; both parties
better be aware of the poem of the Subashithaya which is states “The
wind is the bosom friend which fans the flames of a wildfire but the
same wind is the mortal enemy of the flame of the lamp.” The moral
is, when people get together with malicious intent, there are no lasting
friends or enemies.
On one hand the British better be prepared to handle more LTTE gang
related violence, see more of their citizens hard earned credit vanish
down the petrol pump and may also have to learn to live with Vadukodai
style self determination in some ghetto areas of London.
On the other hand, the pro-LTTE diaspora better be aware that the British
back them due to the strategic importance of Sri Lanka for the Neo-Cold
war of the Neo-Colonial world order against India and China, not out
of brotherly love. It’s a simple quid pro quo. Once these objectives
are fulfilled, the pro-LTTE diaspora will be nothing more than a liability
to the British.
By then the bogus “freedom struggle” of mythical “Tamil
Eelam” may suffer the same fate of the Igbo freedom struggle of
Biafra from 1967 to 1970. In it, the British wholeheartedly supported
the Nigerian government conducted a genocide of nearly 1 million Igbos
which was a true genocide unlike the fictitious one of Sri Lanka. It
was all in the name of Nigerian crude oil.
Hope lesson of Ehelepola (who was foolish enough to trust the British
and consequently live the rest of his life as an exile) lives on!
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