CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

CJPD - Advancing Terrorism through Non-violence

Dilrook Kannangara

Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD) is an organization with a stated vision of bringing about a just peace to Tamils in Sri Lanka. It has planed a book launch in Sydney. Life is difficult for terrorists around the world as all nations big and small have come together to wipe out terror from the face of the earth. Faced with this certainty, terrorist groups have gone to their basics. Terrorism had humble beginnings. Terrorism emerged from hijacking planes, holding unarmed civilians to ransom and using creative means to enhance the effects of extortion. In order to do these sadistic acts terrorists had to intermingle with the people and this demanded them to follow the law and be seen as good citizens. For instance the terrorists who diverted four planes on September 11, 2001, were all seemed law abiding individuals with no serious criminal charges against them at the time of unleashing terror; they were seen as well to do and educated individuals. All this lasted until they bordered the planes and decided to hijack them. Had they attempted any other method like taking bombs to their targets or otherwise directly attacking their targets, they would have ended up dead without achieving their mission. Terrorists are willing to take a step backwards to achieve their mission.

CJPD is financed by a number of foreign governments according to its claims. However, instead of taking any productive steps towards conflict resolution, it has chosen to advance Tamil separatism. The new catchy phrase “earned sovereignty” is the tool they are going to use in doing so. However, their aim is intricately connected with the aim of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam commonly known as Tamil Tigers) in spite of using different means to achieve the same result. The basis of claiming sovereignty for Tamil people in Sri Lanka is highly dubious. According to those who seek Tamil sovereignty for the North-East of Sri Lanka, which is approximately 37% of the total land mass of Sri Lanka and 65% of the coastline claim that it has been the traditional homeland of Tamils. However, in country of more than 2,600 years of history, they have been unable to prove that there were any Tamil traditional homelands in the region apart from Tamil Nadu in India. Even today none of Tamil movies, songs and major cultural productions originates from the island of Sri Lanka as it was for the past centuries; they all come from Tamil Nadu which is home to more than 65 million Tamils and a few from Malaysia. As water flows from the lowest terrain, Tamil separatists focus their attention on little Sri Lanka to carve out their nation after failing in India, Malaysia and the Maldives.

Emerging regional power centres are also against the creation of another East Timor in the Asian region. The Asian superpower - China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India do not want a terroristan in the region. This has spelt disaster for separatists. Going by the trend in the region, Sri Lanka also can tap into the diplomatic and military connections of Asian powers to advance its interest against separatists. However, such a situation would further aggravate the war resulting in many more deaths and much more destruction as Sri Lanka experience during 1987-89 when the Indian Army was fighting the LTTE.

North-East Tamils comprise approximately 9% of the population of Sri Lanka. However, 54% of them live outside the North-East among the majority Sinhala community. This essentially means 37% of the landmass and 65% of the coastline should be enjoyed by less than 5% of the population if the mythical Tamil nation comes into being! Not only it is utterly unfair, any attempt to do so in a country that is suffering from severe population density will lead to country-wide bloodshed, land-wars and water wars. Already the harsh effects of the global food crisis is felt badly in Sri Lanka as the largest chunk of arable lands and the longest stretch of seafront are constantly under LTTE threats. This is highly ridiculous. All citizens of Sri Lanka must be free to use the island’s resources without any restriction as per the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The North-East has its own differences. The Eastern province was forcibly merged with the Northern province in 1987 as a result of LTTE threats. However, a Supreme Court verdict separated the two once again in 2006. Eastern province has an equal percentage of Muslims, Tamils and Sinhalas. Muslims and Sinhalas living in the East have repeatedly and decisively rejected to be part of a Tamil nation or a Tamil dominated administrative unit in spite of extreme terror unleashed by the tigers. Thousands of Muslims were killed by the LTTE inside mosques. A similar fate befell the Sinhalas; village after village were ransacked killing thousands including Buddhist monks. All these atrocities were committed by the LTTE to chase away the Sinhalas and Muslims from the East. However, in spite of immense hardships they stood their ground. Today the Eastern Province has been rid of LTTE terrorists and Easterners have started to embrace democracy and the unitary state of Sri Lanka. A group of Tamil Tigers defected the LTTE in 2004 disgusted with their terror practices. While this was not the first time high ranking terrorists defected the LTTE, it helped establish the rule of law in the East quickly.

The north is virtually Tamil-only today due to LTTE activities. It chased away tens of thousands of Sinhalas in the early 1980s and hundreds of thousands of Muslims in 1990. A large number of them are still languishing in refuge camps far away from their native land. They must be resettled in their original places of abode by all means. That remains a top priority of the government once the war ends. The myth about a Tamil-only north must shatter as it was achieved by the LTTE using ethnic cleansing. No civilized human being can uphold ethnic cleansing to carve out racial homelands.

These ethnic cleansing projects of the world’s most ruthless terrorist organization must be reversed. If any organization is supporting this status quo brought about through ethnic cleansing and genocide, they are no better than the Nazis, no matter how peaceful their conduct is.

Striving to make the evils of the LTTE permanent by demanding a Tamil nation within Sri Lanka in areas the LTTE managed to ethnically cleanse other races is a slap on the face of the civilized world. CJPD has lent itself to terrorism, genocide and ethnic cleansing by sharing the same goal as the LTTE - namely the creation of a Tamil nation within Sri Lanka by ethnically cleansing Sinhala and Muslim people.

Over the years LTTE showed its brutality and intolerance of alternative political views by killing scores of Tamil political activists. By doing so it has proclaimed that it is the sole representative of Tamil people! Today the LTTE is cornered into an area just one third the size of their mythical Tamil mono-ethnic homeland. Tamils living in this area, around 350,000, have started to cross over to government controlled areas whenever they get a chance. It is the exact situation that was when Germany was divided. However, it is the Sri Lankan government that provides free education, free medication and public administration to everyone living in LTTE controlled areas including Tamil Tigers. This is a world record. Sri Lanka is the only country in the world officially feeding, educating and medicating terrorists! However, terrorists are now endangered. Troops have opened up four frontlines and slowly but steadily advancing into areas still under LTTE control. Thanks to global anti-terror initiatives after 9/11, terrorists find it difficult to run their global wheeler dealings in terror, drug trafficking, prostitution, human smuggling, etc. although it still earns more than USD 300 million a year from funds collected by individuals and organizations sympathetic towards it.

In this context, organizations have spun up around the world to advance the terror plan of the LTTE peacefully. In order to execute this plan, all Sinhalas, Muslims and democratic Tamils must be killed in the North-East as they are not going to leave their homes voluntarily to pave the way for the mythical mono-ethnic Tamil nation. How peaceful is that? In addition, splitting Sri Lanka on ethnic and racial lines is a highly dangerous proposition. The India-Pakistan split resulted in over two million deaths and the same would repeat in Sri Lanka if disintegration is attempted. As explained above, more than 54% Tamils are now living peacefully in areas outside the North-East.

LTTE’s brutality has been particularly aimed at ordinary Tamil citizens. While it calls itself the liberator of Tamils, it has killed more Tamils than any other group in Sri Lanka. Tamils have internally and externally migrated to avoid the LTTE. Today the LTTE finds it impossible to convince Tamil youth to join in its armed struggle. It has resorted to barbaric acts to stuff its ranks. Children as young as seven (7) years are forcibly recruited as suicide bombers. According to available reports in 2002-03 alone the LTTE forcibly conscripted over 5,000 children. Ridiculously a “ceasefire” was in existence at that time! Further lack of public support has resulted in inaugurating the world’s first grandmother brigade by the LTTE in 2008. The self-proclaimed Tamil liberator has become the executioner of Tamils. War, peace or ceasefire LTTE will recruit children and eliminate all Tamil democratic activists. As long as the LTTE is dominant in Sri Lanka there cannot be any real peace or democracy for its Tamil population. Any solution without the ability to disarm the LTTE would not take away the miseries of the Tamil populace in Sri Lanka.

CJPD is no representative of Tamils living in Sri Lanka. Forcing them a Tamil-only mono-ethnic nation is simply undemocratic. If Tamils living in Sri Lanka genuinely support a Tamil only mono-ethnic nation, they would internally migrate to LTTE controlled areas! Thankfully most of them have identified coexistence as the only way out of this mess created by terrorists and separatists. In fact they are living examples of how coexistence has already sorted out differences. This is the only civilized means of problem solving in the modern world as race and racism are slowly confining themselves to culture than politics. Instigating racism, separatism and conflict in Tamils living in Sri Lanka by the Tamil Diaspora must stop. Tamil Diaspora has no democratic right in Sri Lanka as they are not Sri Lankan citizens any more. They must keep out of this sovereign country for the sake of peace and coexistence.

Will the Australian, Norwegian, Swiss and German governments support a peaceful organization that is aiming for a Taliban-controlled world? No; not at all. In similar vein, CJPD activities that are aimed at advancing LTTE activities throughout the world peacefully must be discouraged. The terrorist who quietly bordered the plane on September 11, 2001 with a big plan was innocent enough to escape the authorities. He did not make public his plan. However, CJPD has declared its intention to create a Tamil-only nation in Sri Lanka using the terror infrastructure already laid down by the LTTE with the use of barbarianism and terrorism. Instead of open terrorism, CJPD has chosen a quiet and a superficially peaceful approach to achieve what the LTTE is increasingly seen as failing to achieve through violence. CJPD cannot divorce from the LTTE as long as it shares the very same values and objectives of the terrorist outfit which is banned in almost all developed countries.

If Tamils in India can coexist with the rest of India, if Tamils in Australia, Germany, France, UK, Canada, etc. can coexist with the rest of the population of these countries, there is no logical reason why they can’t coexist with the other communities in Sri Lanka. In fact until racist political elements started agitating for violence in Sri Lanka it had no “ethnic” problem. Even thereafter the vast majority of Tamils have refused to give up coexistence. In 1924, 24 years before Sri Lanka gained Independence racist Tamil politicians demanded a Tamil nation from British rulers. Considering the massive bloodbath it may entail, British rulers refused to do so. Today’s depleted Tamil population percentage and increased inter-racial integration completely alleviates the need for a separate state within the state. Sri Lanka is for people of all races to live in harmony as they have lived for centuries. Coexistence is the only viable solution to the problems faced by the country. Promotion of separatism and terrorism will only make coexistence difficult and continued war becomes inevitable. Since CJPD is promoting the goals of the LTTE, it cannot make problem solving any easier.

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