What should change: the Constitution
or Tamil Aspirations?
Dilrook Kannangara
According to the proponents of federalism, Tamil aspirations (TA) cannot
be accommodated in a unitary setting. So who really cares apart from
a few federalism supporters? If the racial aspirations of each race
in the country are to be satisfied, what would happen to national aspirations?
Apart from Tamils, there are other races in Sri Lanka. If Tamil aspirations
are threatening, how about going back to Tamil grievances once again;
as far as the 91% others in Sri Lanka are concerned, there is no difference
between the two; in fact grievances are better handled than aspirations.
Don’t forget that others too
have aspirations
There are the Sinhalese, Muslims, upcountry Tamils (who never wanted
what the Tamils in North and East want), Malays, Veddhas, Rodhies, Burgers,
Colombo Chettis, Afghans (yes there are), Chinese descendants, Russians,
Indians, etc. Just imagine if the nation has to change the Constitution
to cater to the aspirations of every race! Imagine the US or India doing
so; then they would end up with the most ridiculous and sectarian Constitution
beyond the imagination of any reasonable being. But do they change the
Constitution in such bizarre manner? Definitely not. On the contrary;
any and every individual in those countries (and all other peaceful
countries) have to agree to the Constitution drafted with national interests
at heart. A classic example is the ‘citizenship test’ Australia
has introduced to neutralize aspirant Australian citizens. This test
is aimed at testing and enforcing ‘Australian values’ among
its populace. This is the direction the world is taking. In this context
should Sri Lanka go in the opposite direction? Not according to well
wishers.
It is also important to seek current examples of how our donor countries
that propose federalism and Tamil aspirations, have bent their Constitutions
to cater to the aspirations of their minorities. The Sri Lankan government
should never venture into uncharted territory of Constitution gimmicks
without the proponents setting us an example.
When TA and French aspirations
clash
It is very interesting how the Quebec independence movement is hindered
by ‘Tamil aspirations’. Not that the Quebec majority gives
a flying fart about Tamil aspirations, but how Tamils plead Quebec separatist
elements not to sever from Canada. Even separatist TNA parliamentarians
were engaged in this beggary. If Canada should not disintegrate, why
on earth should Sri Lanka?
Stemming from this is the need to learn French by aspiring Canadian
immigrants in Sri Lanka. A section of them belonging to a particular
ethnicity will soon demand from the GOSL to educate them in French at
the public expense! Now I added another aspiration to their list! However,
that means Tamil aspirations have become subjugated to the aspirations
of French speaking Canadians; otherwise Tamil would become the third
national language of Canada!
When TA and Indian aspirations clash
There are 70 million Tamils in India; that is 7% of the Indian population.
In Sri Lanka 9% are Tamils (Indian Tamils have widely different aspirations
and the last thing they want is to live in the North-East). This percentage
was 13% twenty years ago. If this rate of decline continues, within
the next 10 years it will fall to 7% which is equal to India. On the
other hand if not for 400,000 Tamils, Sri Lanka’s Tamil population
percentage will equate that of India’s. If India has not taken
into account Tamil aspirations in India, what sane reason is there for
Sri Lanka to entertain them? Lets wait till India, as the Big Brother
sets an example for us to follow. When that happens, it will be the
epitaph of India.
The death of the Dravidistan movement is ample evidence how Tamil aspirations
in Tamil Nadu (the Tamil homeland) have taken a back seat vis-à-vis
Indian aspirations.
When TA and Malay aspirations
clashed
Another country where Tamil aspirations came to prominence was in Malaysia.
What did they do; did they give any federal set-up to satisfy them or
any other sweetener? On the contrary; they declared that if anyone cannot
accept Malaysian national aspirations they should rather leave Malaysia.
In this sense SJV Chelvanayagam - the founder of the ‘federal party’
who was born in Malaysia- was a nation-less orphan, so to speak. Should
Sri Lanka accommodate the refuse of Malaysia? Well we did thanks to
our extreme hospitality taught by Buddhism, but not anymore as our mercy
has strained after heaping upon the undeserved.
It takes only to speak to a Malay Tamil to know whether their 1960s
Tamil aspirations were granted or not.
Why Sri Lanka should wait out till another country grants TA?
There are many countries that have sizable Tamil populace. Recently
the British High Commissioner stated that Britain is directly affected
by Sri Lanka’s conflict as many asylum seekers enter Britain when
the war in Sri Lanka heats up. He however, forgot to mention that there
were an equal number of immigrants during times of ‘relative peace’.
If they are so affected and are concerned about TA, why on earth shouldn’t
they recognize TA in their own “F” Constitutions? When a large
number of Tamil gangs run havoc in London why can’t they resolve
such violence by a political solution?
This is the exact reason why Sri Lanka should wait out till the trumpeters
of TA and federalism lead us by example. Lankan politicians should be
warned not to jump the gun; we have waited for so long and it is no
harm to wait until the concerned High Commissioner comes up with changes
to the British Constitution.
Why Britain didn’t accept TA
when they could?
The Tamil Homeland demand was first made in 1918; then again in 1924
it was made vehemently by Ponnambalam where the term ‘Tamil Elam’
was used. But alas, the British rejected it! Can you believe it, the
British rejected it! Why the forefathers of the present British high
commissioner held different views then? More than a problem of decent,
it is a matter of opportunism. In 1918, 1924, 1931 and 1947, the British
were concerned about the enormous importance of the plantations powered
by imported Tamils. Any India-Pakistan divide in Sri Lanka would have
seen the ghost trains packed with corpses traveling up and down! When
the upcountry Tamils are not there to pluck tea leaves in the plantations,
the already fragile British economy at that time after the World Wars
would have suffered even more. Therefore the British negated the claim.
If colonialists had such rights, there is no disputing the democratic
rights of Sri Lankans not to entertain TA. Blake and Chilcott end up
blind and dumb about these historical facts.
Who should win the hearts and minds
of whom?
A big fuss was made about the government winning the hearts and minds
of Eastern Tamils (the others are anyway with the government). They
conveniently forgot that Tamil is ranked third in terms of numbers behind
Muslims and Sinhalese. Muslims and Sinhalese comprising 70% of the population
in the Eastern province never took up arms to defend their rights or
to get their ‘aspirations’. Therefore, what is the rationale
behind winning the hearts and minds of Tamils in the East? What if their
hearts and minds are not won? After all successive governments have
failed to win development aspirations of all Sri Lankans anyway. Therefore,
if the Eastern Tamils’ aspirations are not met, it doesn’t
justify any further violence, even if they can. On the other hand, apart
from development projects in the East carried out to compensate for
decades of neglect, there should not be any undue importance about East
or any other province. There are nine (9) underdeveloped provinces in
the country after all.
Any sensible democratically-elected-government should allocate resources
based on political support they get or expected to get at elections.
Forgetting the voter means less chances of getting reelected. Therefore,
the government should be warned that neglecting other provinces and
cross-subsidization of provinces at the expense of politically important
ones will only lead to election defeat.
Therefore, it is time the Tamils in the east work hard to win the hearts
and minds of the government, instead. This is the practical reality
in any working democracy. It is no secret that rich constituencies in
New York, London, Sydney, Bombay, Tokyo, etc. get the lion’s share
of benefits among the citizenry. Also it is no secret how hospitals
are developed on a priority basis by each successive British government
and Australian state governments (and the federal government in competition!)
in constituencies favorable to their political parties. In a democratic
world where resources are limited, every pound or dollar (or rupee)
must be used to gain the maximum number of ‘getable votes’.
However, if the Eastern Tamils shed racial political parties like ITAK,
TULF, TNA (these parties were NEVER interested in development) and rally
around development oriented political parties, it will be for their
own good. After all they get want they deserve!
Over the years, main political parties have been let down by Tamils
in the North and the East in spite of rendering enormous service to
them. From 1947-1956 Tamil political parties were with the government
and as a result the North and the East benefited (as other provinces).
However, ITAK (Tamil State Party) gathered wide momentum by 1956 and
then the good-doers from the previous government were not elected. Obviously,
the results were not sweet. Again in 1970-77, the government in power
awarded unparalleled economic benefits to the Northerners in spite of
receiving only a few legislators; but what happened in 1977? A racist
TULF swept to power in the North and the East who were not interested
in development at all. It was too late in 1982 when the N-E voters rallied
around a strong Kandyan Sinhala presidential candidate in a vain attempt
to reinstate their economic glory; a year later the deadly war broke-out.
Unfortunately, the very same happened with the CBK administration that
liberated Jaffna and allowed a civilized existence to its people after
years of neglect; but not enough votes were received by her party in
elections that followed. The same thing befell Ranil’s party after
awarding such free movements to Northern Tamils; they outright rejected
Ranil’s party. The single seat UNP won in 2001 was lost in 2004
after the 2002 CFA that eliminated checkpoints, blockades and active
warfare. Ranil who was praying for reciprocal favours at the 2005 presidential
election was disappointed when low voluntary voters turnout in the North
dashed his hopes for presidency. What is the point in blaming the UNP
for repositioning itself? If it is futile cultivating votes in the North
and the East by the development-oriented-main political parties, why
should they continue to waste their time? They can rather invest in
the South where gratefulness can win votes.
Therefore, the Northern and Eastern Tamils must win the hearts and minds
of the main political parties to have any sustainable development work.
If they are interested in parties like the TNA that was NEVER interested
in development it is they themselves to be blamed for under-development
and racial violence.
‘Main political parties have
let down the Tamils’
This is a popular allegation made by separatists and terrorists. There
is no truth in this as Tamil parties like the CWC (the only unchanged
Tamil political party for the past four decades) was always with successive
governments! To a great extent all political parties have let down all
Sri Lankans most of the time. But this does not in any way justify violence
since violence should always be countered with more violence.
The reality is however, as pointed out above, Northern and Eastern Tamil
voters have valued separatism over development over the years; and some
have even supported violence and that’s exactly what they got.
It is time that they recognize the political movement that stranded
them (ACTC to ITAK, SLFP/UNP to TULF and PA/UNF to TNA) and leave these
separatists in favour of development oriented parties.
In a similar count, all the communities in the country (except for a
few psychopaths) never let down the cricketers and the sprint queen
- Susi, hence, they didn’t let down the Lankans either! It is interesting
how the priest who took the Lankan cricket team as an example of co-existence
failed to appreciate that the jumbo cabinet is just like that, whereas
LTTE, TNA, SLMC, TULF or CWC/UPF are different in that they are mono-ethnic!
In fact it was Tamils who let down the main political parties repeatedly.
The inability to change the Constitution and the inability to sustain
such changes
It is impossible to change the Constitution only to accommodate the
aspirations of a particular ethnic sect. If the donor community bribes
the government and somehow get passed a federal structure or any other
change to the Constitution, opposition forces will gain strength nationwide
to reverse such changes. It will be a matter of time since such a reversal
is effectuated. The fact that these interferers oppose the war also
casts suspicions about their sincerity.
Tamil Homeland
Instead of fighting for a homeland in Sri Lanka it is worth the while
to look into the feasibility of creating it in Tamil Nadu where the
stage is already set for it. It is a joke if Tamil Elam is created in
N-E of Sri Lanka and yet import all Tamil songs, dramas, movies, artwork,
natyam, etc. from Tamil Nadu, the real homeland!! In fact senior Tamil
politicians accept that Tamils (and others) came from India and there
is a bigger Tamil associates’ base in TN, whereas they also accept
that there are no Sinhalese in India. Then there cannot be any doubt
on the real Tamil homeland. Just because Tamils the world over do not
have a state of their own, it is not justified to take it from tiny
Sri Lanka after they failed to get it from the Maldives in 1988. First
they should prove that they are allegiant to the country that houses
them by acts of patriotism towards that country. If they cannot have
such gratefulness, they simply do not deserve to have a state of their
own.
However, if they want to continue to fight, they are most welcome and
we will never grant them anything to quench their aspirations; we have
already proved that we are better warriors yet again and violence shall
be met with further violence only, definitely not Constitution changes.
On the other hand, if they shed their ethnicity/race centred aspirations,
they will not have any problem living in Sri Lanka or in any country
for that matter. At least the Army Commander will not be called upon
to give evidence ‘in defence of’ terrorism suspects in Australia!
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