CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Are we not a free nation in a free world?

Dr Sudath Gunasekara

A leading Sunday paper of 19th instant in its editorial wrote "Help India to Help Us". This is both amusing and disgusting. Such unintelligent and shallow perceptions, on an extremely crucial and complicated issue that has a direct bearing on the destiny of this Island nation, as the one under discussion, are usually not expected to come in print in a prestigious paper. I can understand 'intellectuals' and 'political analysts' like Bahu, Sinha, Sona, Asaranii or Sirtunga who may behaving their personal agendas and who always display an anti-national and pro-Tiger flavour in their writings or an agent of the EElam writing in such tones. But it is well-nigh impossible to realize how this paper also has come down to such poor level of journalism.

Such negative and shallow thinking on the part of Sri Lankans who hold key positions that play a major role in shaping public opinion, particularly at a critical time like the present, on the present debate over some imaginary Indian intervention in Sri Lankan issue, I don't think, is desirable. It is a tragedy that these people persistently and blindly think that this country is a suzerainty of Subcontinent India. They seem to mix up the reality with the imaginary. Neither analytical nor intelligent and besides being unpatriotic, it displays naivety and total submission to an imaginary Indian hegemony over this Island nation. In my opinion what we need at a time like this is not depressing and demoralizing rubbish like this but speeches and writings like those of Churchill and Castro to awaken the nation and boost up the morale of the armed forces in unison so that they will put an end to this terrorist and communal menace.

What these pessimists have failed to realize is that things have changed a lot at both ends since 1987. Although there are apparent similarities in the background situation the Indian leadership today is much more seasoned and matured than what was there in 1987. It is also less arrogant and less ambitious and has no axe to grind with the Sri Lankan leadership. India also has learnt some bitter lessons from the previous intervention in 1987. Within Tamil Nadu itself there are divergent view points and the leader of the Congress in Tamil Nadu Sudharsan and Jayalalitha have already openly denounced Karunanidhi's pro-Tiger approach. Vaiko is already under arrest for supporting the LTTE.

On the other hand here at home things are still different. The whole approach of the government to the LTTE has changed radically since 2006. Above all MR is not JR. A submissive political climate led by a senile leader today has been replaced by a patriotic and assertive one with a determined and young leader who has vouched to eliminate the LTTE from our soils. The present government also has not displayed any anti-Indian behavior either before of after elections and presently the two countries by and large maintain very cordial relations, if I am not mistaken, the best since Sirima Bandaranaike's time. . What is more is, Sri Lanka is also the incumbent Chairman of the SARC who has the support of the entire SARC leadership. Although Sri Lanka is supported by China and Iran and Pakistan, India knows that Sri Lanka is not anti-Indian. There are also defections within the rank and file of the LTTE. Karuna and Pilleyan are with the government. One is an MP in Parliament and the other is the Chief Minister of the liberated Eastern Provincial Council. Karuna has exposed the past connection of India with the Tigers and Norway. The East is liberated, elections held and Mrs. Prabhakarana has been appointed as the Mayor of Batticaloa. Though occasionally there are sporadic incidents the district has come back to normal and democracy appears to have returned. Additionally major part of the Northern Province is also now under government control and many prominent LTTE leaders like Tamil Chelvam and Anton Bala are dead. Prabhakran and the rest are confined to bunkers in Kilinochchi jungle. People forcibly kept as hostages are coming to the government controlled areas in increasing numbers. Most Tamils who live in the LTTE controlled areas also have now started to desist the Tigers openly. Apart from the IDPS even the LTTE cadre are been fed by the Sri Lankan government (the only government that feeds its enemy in the world) and the entire government machinery within the Tiger controlled area is also maintained by the government.

Other than some Tamil Nadu politicians and Tiger buddies no one says people within these areas are dying of starvation. Even the LTTE casualties are being treated in government hospitals. The INGOO and NGOO have exposed the nefarious activities of the LTTE and the world opinion, other than in few pro-LTTE countries in the west, also has turned against them and many countries including India have banned it as a terrorist organization. The LTTE leader is wanted by India for the Murder of Rajiv Gandhi and India is still not out of the psychological depression Rajiv's death brought to her. Almost all democratic Tamils like Anadasangaree and Douglas Devananda at home and most of the Tamil Diaspora have now turned against the LTTE. They call it the no 1 enemy of the Tamil people and exposed the misery they have brought about over the past 30 years to the Tamils in particular and the country in general. Therefore any analysis or expression of an opinion on this matter that ignores this reality cannot be called rational or impartial.

I now quote few statements here from the said editorial

'Tamil Nadu matters more to Delhi than Colombo'
'Tamils matter far more than the Sinhalese to Tamil Nadu'
'But the question is whether Sri Lanka risks endangering the present military advances
prior to their successful completion to help us by not helping India'
'A solution that is just and fair to the Tamils Why do we not lay a generous devolution
Package on the table without delay'
'Ranil understands the importance of good relations with Tamil Nadu than most other
politicians in this country'

The writer appears to have written this piece with the following foregone conclusions.

1. India is powerful than us. Delhi government has to listen to pressure from Tamil Nadu. So if we don't give in to Indian pressure, India will intervene again like in 1987. If India comes in we want be able to complete the ongoing military operations. Therefore we have to help India in order to save the Delhi government to avoid an India invasion, ignoring fully what happens to us at home.
This is just like saying that Sri Lanka Tamils and Tami Nadu Tamils are relations. Therefore Tamil Nadu Tamils will take up the issue of Lanka Tamils with the Indian Central government. Since Tamil Nadu is a part of India and the balance of power in Delhi depends on the support from Tamil Nadu, Delhi has to listen to Tamil Nadu and therefore Delhi will do what ever Tamil Nadu wants to do. That is if Tamil Nadu ask Delhi to invade Sri Lanka, Delhi will do that. India will invade us again like in 1987. Therefore we should not do any thing that displeases Tamil Nadu or Delhi. These writers little realize that Tamil Nadu is also having its own divisions and problems

Is there any difference between this advice and the 'Onna babo Billo enawa' story narrated to scare the small children? How silly for an editor of a national paper to come down to such childish levels. Size alone is not a factor to be scared of my dear friend. I suggest you read the 'Watukirillige kathawa'in Panchatantra where the story of how a tiny female quail bird succeeded in killing a mighty tusker with the help of a Bee, wood pecker and a frog to take revenge for destructing its nest .

2 Tamils in Sri Lanka have problems which the Sinhalese do not have. Therefore a fair deal has to be given to Tamils ignoring the protests from the 'Lunatic fringe' in order to get away from the present predicament. (this Lunatic fringe remains to be explained).

3 Ranil Wickramasinha is the only leader who understands this problem therefore he is
the only man who can solve it. I do not want to comment on this as every one knows how well he understands this problem how he tried to solve it through the MOU he singed with the LTTE in 2002.

Any toddler knows that Tamil Nadu matters more to Delhi than Colombo because it is a part of India and Tamils matter more than Sinhalese to Tamil Nadu because they are of the same ethnic group. No one will argue on that. Every body knows that the present parliamentary majority in Delhi depends on Tamil Nadu. Therefore Delhi has to listen to Tamil Nadu to maintain the balance of power. Why Tamils matter more than Sinhalese to Tamil Nadu is a much more complicated one. In the first place almost all Tamils in Sri Lanka have blood relations in Tamil Nadu. Almost all Tamils in Sri Lanka, though they physically live here, consider Tamil Nadu as their motherland. In ethnicity, language, religion and culture they belong to one group. So obviously the argument that Tamils matter more than Sinhalese to them is true.

But none of these situations can justify an Indian intervention as the editor suggests. Because first and foremost, India and Sri Lanka are two separate, independent and sovereign states who enjoy equal privileges and rights under the UN Charters, though, we are small in geographical size. Secondly, the so-called Sri Lankan Tamil problem is exclusively an internal problem of Sri Lanka. The section of the Tamils (in this case only the Tigers as the battle is waged only against them) involved in this case are citizens of this country with whom India has nothing to do or at least they should not have anything to do. Therefore neither Delhi nor the Tamil Nadu government has a legitimate right to intervene in this issue. Any attempt on the part of Tamil Nadu to influence Delhi on this issue is therefore utterly childish and unjustified and any attempt on the part of India to intervene will be ultra vires and will tantamount to an invasion on a foreign country. Therefore given the constraints imposed by international limitations and psychological impasse haunting over the Rajiv's murder and also the strong and clear stand taken by the government of Sri Lanka on this issue it is very unlikely India will intervene at this stage.

Both the Delhi Government and Tamil Nadu should understand this position very clearly. They also must remember that it was none other than India who proposed at the last SARC meeting in Colombo that we resolve to wipe out terrorism from the region and it was unanimously accepted by the membership. LTTE being a banned terrorist movement within India, they should know that this applies to it as well. The Indian government in this context is bound legally as well as morally to honour that resolution and therefore now India cannot ask Sri Lanka who also chairs SARC at the moment to stop action against the LTTE who have declared war against the legitimately elected government of the country. I am sure the politicians in Tamil Nadu has a wee bit of brain to understand at least this much. They should not allow their communal emotions and petty local political considerations to meddle with bilateral relations between two independent nations.

I see two main reasons as to why Tamil Nadu politicians are crying 'save Sri Lanka Tamils'. Firstly they hope to emotionally rouse up the Tamil Nadu electorate to get their vote at the forthcoming elections. Secondly they may be dreaming the establishment of the Greater Eelam in South India as Appadorai has conceived in 1947 with the final objective of their Dravidastan (illusory EELAM) over whole of India. As such it is partly communal but mainly strategic in its deeper and hidden sense. In that context there is a deeper meaning in what Tamil Nadu politicians are doing than what one would see on the face of it. Look at the names of their parties. All India Dravida Munnetra KAsagam (AIDMK), Anna Dravida Munnetra Kasagam (ADMK). Doesn't this suggest the motive behind the communal politicians of Tamil Nadu and their anti-north Indian attitude? I think Delhi needs to take this long term strategic aspect of Tamil Nadu politicians very seriously without just looking at it from the point of view of securing the majority at the centre for the time being. In this backdrop it is high time that Delhi try to realize the long term implications of these moves by the ultra-communal minded, vicious and extremist Tamil Nadu politicians. Even for Rajiv's assassination in1987, Tamil Nadu should take full responsibility as that mission could never have been carried out without their support and connivance as it was done on their soils. Tamil Nadu has been hatching separatism for a long time. Although past attempts to do so in collaboration with the neighbouring states have failed, Tamilnadu has not yet given up it completely. The illusion of a separate Tamil Kingdom in the South as against the Brahamin dominated north, is still haunting in their minds. They see collaboration with Sri Lanka Tigers as the best strategic approach to achieve this goal of Dravidastan. This is the broader spectrum, I think, within which Delhi leaders and their advisors should try to understand and evaluate the behaviour of Tamil Nadu politicians. It is interesting to note that some Tamil Nadu politicians have already threatened to brake away from Delhi.

So in this backdrop what is needed at this end is to enlighten the Indian centre on the realities and long term dangers of Tamil Nadu conspiracies and manipulations and carry on with the battle to eliminate the LTTE so that 'the question of whether Sri Lanka risks endangering the present military advance prior to their successful completion to help us by not helping India'' as suggested will not arise. Instead of writing an editorial like this had he urged the Delhi government to arrest these Tamil Nadu politicians who openly support Tigers - a banned organization in India- he would have been honoured and respected by the patriotic people of this country as a great strategist and a true son of Lanka. In my opinion eliminating tigers would be the best way how Sri Lanka can help India.

Coming on to the query on a need for 'a solution that is just and fair to the Tamils and why do we not lay down a generous devolution package on the table without delay' I may give the following observations. This is of cause nothing new. It is the same old and stale 'intellectual' sermon that had been repeated over time by many a pandits that has no meaning or depth. The presumption of this assertion appears to be based on the assumptions that Tamils in Sri Lanka are treated unjustly and unfairly by the government and therefore it has to lay down a devolution package agreeable to India.

The first question I would like to ask the writer is what are the special grievances that are peculiar to Tamils the Sinhalese don't have. If there is any, are they not their own creation at least starting from 1921 with the setting up of Ceylon Tamil congress? Haven't they been given equal, if not even more opportunities in education, employment, language, living any where they like, ownership to land and religious worship etc? If that is not so then how can more that 50% of Tamils live among the Sinhalese? Have the Sinhalese ever done any ethnic cleansing like the Tamils have done in Jaffna or the east and asked the Tamils living in other parts of the country to go back to Jaffna. So in this context what is the special devolution package that they are asking now other than a separate State? Is it not that the writer is also arguing for a cause that is none existent? I think these people should write with more understanding and constraint. In my experience I don't think any other country in the world has given so much to so small a community than Sri Lanka. Now look at our own neighbor India. Has they made Tamil a national or official Language there as we have done here, in spite of the fact that there are more than 55 million Tamils living there. Or do they have an independent State. The answer is no. All this clearly point to the fact that most of these arguments are based purely on certain wrong mental images they have got permanently deposited in their heads.

I do not know what exactly the writer meant by 'Outside the lunatic fringe' I presume he must have referred here to those who argue against devolution. The word devolution in our context has been misused very much in recent times. Some of these people suggest going even beyond the 13th amendment. The 13th am that goes beyond the Indian model it self is bad enough. Any further devolution of political power in this country will mean the first step to separation. Even the 13th amendment was another parippu air dropped on us by the then Indian government. The 13th amendment in my opinion is a kotiwalige that should be done away with to restore good governance to this country.

As I see it for most writers and speakers it is a funny game of chess with words picked up
from here and there, perhaps without any proper understanding about what they are writing or talking. They talk of discrimination against the minorities, violation of human rights, devolution of power and even genocide against the Tamils. All this is repeated like parrots just to suit their personal agendas only. All these men either have a pre-conceived notion of some personal goals or have a mania of demonstrating some 'intellectual traits' they claim to have, which in reality is only a self proclaimed king's new clothe (setabmbara patasaluwa) Just like the proverbial foolish King, these breads of self proclaimed intellectuals also don't know that they are parading the streets fully naked. I think it needs another naked tiny tot by the way side 'to shout naked' and tell mother Lanka that these so-called 'intellectual giants' are only a pack of arittakiivendus who are parading in their birth day kits. Who commits real genocide and discrimination? Is it the government of Sri Lanka which feed even the terrorists or the Tigers who have killed thousands of innocent Sinhalese and Muslims? My only request to all these self proclaimed intellectuals is to desist from this type of treacherous activities at least now. If they consider it below their dignity to do so, they can remain silent without displaying their ignorance and intellectual stupidity.

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