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Sri Lanka Guardian Editorial speaks of Prabhakarn as the Tamil National Leader.
By Charles.S.Perera
It is hard to understand the Sri Lanka Guardian Editorial of the 28 Novembr,2008, on supremo Surya Deva Prabhakaran's "heros' day" speech. It sounds a nostalgia for an end to terrorism. A recollection of memories of how good it had been before the withdrawal of the CFA, during which period the terrorists had a passport to kill who ever they want, recruit children and women, and train a squadron of black tigers who were prepared to die at the behest of the sun god, and sadly all that has now been deprived to them.
The Guardian –the voice of the people, speaks of the loss in the misty horizon of war, the only ray of hope that dear Prabha gives once a year, for the Tamils living among the chauvinistic anti Tamil "ruthless" Sinhala, whose mindset remains unchanged, through out the non violent and the armed struggle of the Tamils since the Selva-Banda era.
The Guardian editor, call Prabhakaran , the Tamil National Leader, who the chauvinistic Sinhala calls a terrorist ! The Editorial speaks of its leader's concepts of the Tamil homeland, the Tamil Nation, and the Tamil right to self determination, which are the core principles for a lasting peace for the Tamil Homeland (once proclaimed), and the lasting peace for the remaining Sinhala Homeland (once separated from the Tamil homeland). These, according to the Editorial are the gospel truth the southern chauvinists are not ready to accept.
Lanka Gaurdian's Tamil National Leader had said, that his, and his peoples trust on the International Community have been eroded because of its one sided approach. The reason for this one sided approach it says, may be (i) the long term chronic war, (ii) split between the Sinhala chauvinist leader's party, (iii) the betrayals ( iv) the term gorilla war, that kept away the support of the foreign countries, (v) the luxurious living conditions of the Tamil diaspora, which had blinded them to understand the reality of the living conditions of the Tamils in the homeland, such as displacements, darting bullets, and hunting for food.
The Guardian Editorial does not seem to see the terrorist Character of its Tamil National Leader, and the terrorist movement he built around his Tamil homeland concept, which after the September 11 Twin Tower attack, was seen by the International Community as a terrorist group, and banned in their countries.
The editorial prods on , that while most of the Tamil expatriates have lost their identity, it is the ordinary Tamil masses here that struggle to maintain their Tamil identity, despite their being pushed to lose it. Freedom is not cheap to be won without blood shed, as it had been to win independence from the British. The Tamils in Jaffna should be proud that they showed the door with insults and broomsticks to the Sinhala Groups that came to do relief work refusing to accept them. Who will forget the value of the burnt down library which cannot be replaced by the new one that has been built ? Tamils cannot face no more genocides , and were pushed to take up arms to save their identity. That is the building of hatred by bringing in to memory the past atrocities of the Sinhala chauvinists, that is to keep alive the Tamil desire to separate from the evil of the South.
However, the Guardian Editorial has not mentioned how in order to maintain the Tamil Identity the Tamil National Leader (Prabhakaran) of the Guardian Editorial, eliminated a good number of Tamil leaders, who were opposed to his concept of Tamil identity. The List is long but it is worth giving the names of some of them:
Alfred Duraippah, Vaddukodai MP Thiyagarajah, Abdul Majeed in Kinniya, Sam Thambimuttu and his wife Kala,Yogasangari, Kanagaratnam,Thangadurai, Mohamed Mahroof,Saranabhavan Shanmuganathan, Wasanthan and his 3 year old son, Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam, A.Nadarajah, C.V.Gunaratne,Lakshman Kadirgamar,Chandraneru, Joseph Pararajasingham,Nadaraja Raviraj, Jeyraj Fernandopulle and many more.
The Editorial says that during the period under the CFA, Pongu Thamil was celebrated both locally and internationally, which was a revival of Tamil Culture in all its aspects. As Nayyar Hashmey had said that seeking roots in heritage, being proud of the past glory is a means to ones identity in the modern world. Tamil peoples' traumatic period making life more miserable came with the break down of the CFA, and the call in chorus to liberate Tamils from the LTTE.
The International Community who did not know what a suffering it was for the Tamil people to live under the IPKF, made an excuse of the failure of the IPKF, and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi to portray Tigers as ruthless killers. At that time President Chandrika gave hope. But that regime failed.
Of course the Editorial does not mention Prabhakaran's planning and carrying out the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu, and the attempt to assassinate the President Chandrika Kumaratunga, because it would not help the editorial's attempt to cleanse Prabhakaran from the blood of the hundreds of assassinations he carried out including that of Rajiv Gandhi.
The Editorial mentions the period after the beginning of terrorism, as the glorious period of the Tamil Nationalismn but avoids the period before, when Tamils existed and lived peacefully with the Sinhala in amity, without calling them Chauvinists. The ethnic problem began with G.G.Ponnambalam and Chelvanayagam. It was only after the terrorists began their terror campaign, that this virulent anti Sinhala racism raised its ugly head.
The Chauvinist Sinhala National Leader President Mahinda Rajapakse wears a red shawl. The Editor asks whether it is an indication of determination to rob the Tamil people of their land. Even the JVP that was silenced by the horror of killings, is now dictating terms as a political party. The editor question whether there was one President who meted out human justice to the Tamil population. The Editorial dos not mention that the Tamils claim for a homeland came with the terrorists, and before that the three communities lived in harmony, settling issues democratically and in dialogue without having to aim guns at each other.
The Sri Lanka Guardian Editorial says that the Tamil people buried their hope for a peaceful solution, the day Thamil Chelvam was buried. The Norwegians and the countries that stood for peace went silent. The chauvinist Sinhala State started a war justifying it with slogans, like "War for Peace", "War against terrorism", and "War for the liberation of Tamils". Thamilselvam was another terrorist, and he was not a remarkable Tamil Leader such us any one of those systematically eliminated by Prabhakaran .
The Editorial continues that after more than two decades of war, the (Tamil) people are dismayed and disappointed, and trapped in a deceptive net of the Sinhala State, which cannot solve the problem of the Tamil people. The Tamil people suffered for more than two decades struggling to maintain their identity , and thanks the NGOs who came now and then for their aid. The territory gained by the Chauvinist Sinhala armies from them have become "no man's land". Their aspirations to gain again their talents in education as they were in the past and to live normal peaceful lives will take a long time. The editorial also forgets that after more than two decades of ruthless terrorism under which the Sinhala, the Tamil and the Muslim Communities suffered Prabhakaran the terrorist leader was unable to get the popular support of Tamil people living in Sri Lanka.
If Prabhakaran gave so much of hope to the Tamil people, as the Editorial claims, the Tamil population in Sri Lanka would have rallied round him acclaiming him as their leader. It was not so, even the Tamil people in Kilinochchi who is running away from the areas under terrorist control, have nothing good to say about him or his terrorist cohorts.
The Guardian Editorial ends quoting from Chelvanayagam. And perhaps tries to glorify the terrorist, who did not take any risks himself leaving "dirty work" to others, but eliminated many who thought they were not taking risks, by quoting from the saintly Mahatma Gandhi who stood for non-violence. "A man who is made for freedom
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