Dubious legacy of Tamil National Alliance, hard to trust
(Courtesy of Daily Pioneer)
September 01, 2014
The hypocrisy of TNA leaders was exposed recently by their decision to boycott the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in Colombo. India must not give weightage to this combine which claims to represent Sri Lankan Tamils
What was described as a tear drop in the Indian Ocean in 2009 has emerged as the Wonder of Asia. Putting the three-decade long civil war which claimed more than 75,000 lives and ravaged its economy behind it, Sri Lanka is fast emerging as a developed country. If the number of Asian and European countries courting Sri Lanka for trade agreements is any indication, the day is not far away when global attention shifts to Sri Lanka from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
India has to be more diligent and careful in dealing with Sri Lanka which is hardly 30 minutes away by boat from Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu. The perennial Tamil ethnic issue should never be allowed to disturb the equilibrium between the two nations. The Tamil National Alliance, an umbrella organisation representing various factions which were demanding a separate country for the Tamils in the island nation till the other day, is pressuring India to convince the Sri Lankan Government for devolving more power to the Northern Province Council as per the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution. This amendment was made following the 1987 accord signed between then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Sri Lankan President Junius Jayewardene.
The period from 1987 to 2009 saw murder and mayhem in the island nation. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the most ruthless and dreaded terrorist organisation in the world, had a free run in Sri Lanka and India striking at its will and pleasure anywhere anytime killing all who posed challenge to it. More Tamils than Sinhala leaders fell to the bullets and bombs of the LTTE assassins.
Sri Lanka, with an area of 65, 610 sq km and a population of 2.02 crore, is half the size of Tamil Nadu (area 130,058 sq km and population of 7.2 crore). India and the island are separated by the Palk Strait in the Indian Ocean. A yacht or a speed boat may not take more than 15 minutes to reach Talaimannar in Sri Lanka from Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu. Still, the countries have become distant neighbours because of this perennial Tamil problem.
Sinhalas constitute 75 per cent of the population, out of which five per cent is Christians. Tamils constitute 16 per cent while the remaining nine per cent comprises Tamil-speaking Muslims. But what is left unsaid is that seven per cent of the total Tamil population is described as Tamils of Indian Origin who reside in southern and central Sri Lanka. They were brought to Sri Lanka by the then colonial British rulers to be employed as plantation workers and coolies etc. Tamils in Jaffna and the Eastern Provinces, who describe themselves as Sri Lankan Tamils, look down on the Tamils in Colombo as second class citizens!
Radha Rajan, a social activist based in Chennai has this to tell about the Jaffna Tamils. “A few years ago I met Shri Sampandan at his residence in Mandaivelli. In the course of the detailed talk we discussed the issue of the eventual return of Tamil refugees back to Sri Lanka. At this juncture, Shri Sampandan told me that while he too wished for the time when Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India could return home, he was not in favour of the idea of Sri Lankan Tamils of Indian origin coming back to Sri Lanka. They belong here, in India, he said. And having come here, why should they return to Sri Lanka? he asked”, says Rajan about the meeting.
According to Prof MGS Narayananan, leading historian and former chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research, the Sri Lankan Tamils are the descendants of people from Malabar who migrated to Ceylon (the earlier name of the island). Unlike India, Sri Lanka is not a secular country. Buddhism is the State religion and there are no reservation and quota systems. To demand the Sri Lankan Government to behave as per the whims and fancies of political parties in Tamil Nadu is asking for too much. Let’s only discuss what is happening right now because a cursory glance into past deeds may pose uncomfortable questions. Diplomats and politicians of the 1970s and 1980s vintage are still groping in the dark when asked about the reasons behind the massive financial and logistic support given to the LTTE and other terrorist organisations by India for fomenting trouble in the island nation.
One has lost count of the number of people massacred by the LTTE in Sri Lanka and abroad. More than 24,000 soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army and 28,000 sailors and officers of the country’s navy lost their lives in the three-decade long war.
The present generation of Sinhala population is of the view that the 1987 accord was something which was forced upon them by ‘big brother’ India. Avadh Kaushal, who heads the Rural Entitlement and Litigation Kendra, Dehradun, says it was unfair on the part of India to offer arms and ammunition to the LTTE to fight the Sri Lankan Government. Kaushal has been nominated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as an adviser to the presidential commission studying the excesses committed during the Eelam War.
Intelligence agencies have found out that there exists a strong nexus between extremists both in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka and other secessionists operating in India. Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik coming to Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu and SAR Geelani, an accused in the Parliament attack case, being honoured by human rights activists at Chennai, do not augur well for India.
The aim of the Dravida movements in Tamil Nadu was to establish a separate Dravida country for the Tamils. CN Annadurai, former DMK chief, was forced to put the demand for a separate Dravida nation on the back-burner only because of the 16th Amendment of the Constitution enacted in 1963. A separate Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka is detrimental to India’s integrity. There are strong Tamil chauvinist groups in Tamil Nadu waiting in the wings to unleash the demand for a separate Dravida land once the Sri Lanka Eelam becomes a reality.
The Roman Catholic Church and the European countries, which prop up the Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka, have in mind the experience of East Timor in Indonesia. The archipelago which has more than 88 per cent Muslim population was forced to give secession to the Catholic majority islet of East Timor following international pressure.
India should strive hard to bring together Hindu leaders and Budhist monks to the discussion table to sort out all outstanding issues. If the Buddhist monks are convinced about the sincerity of their Hindu brethren, the Tamil issue would get dissipated soon.
The hypocrisy and double standards of the TNA leaders was exposed recently by their decision to boycott the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, which was observed by various groups in Colombo. The TNA leaders boycotted the function because of the presence of Mr Douglas Devananda, a Tamil Minister in the Rajapaksa Government. But the TNA had no qualms in attending the 100th birthday function of Thaninayakam, a Catholic priest, at Jaffna, though Mr Devananda was one of the chief guests.
According to Ms Shenali Waduge, who has studied the ethnic issue in detail, Tamil and Sinhala Christians are the ones who create the divide between India and Sri Lanka. “The church is aiming for a Christian Eelam. Sri Lanka’s north is under Christian influence. Why do Christian priests act as spokesmen of the Hindu majority in north Sri Lanka?” asks Waduge, who exposed the role of Adele Balasingham, the widow of Anton Balasingham who recruited and ran the women’s wing of the LTTE by openly flouting all norms of human rights.
If you want to see the camaraderie that exists between Sinhalas and Tamils, the tea distribution company owned by Ramasamy in downtown Colombo is an example. Since the last four decades, cartons of tea sold by Ramasamy is being distributed around the country by his Sinhala employees. And take the case of the eminent cardio-thoracic surgeon, Dr Ravi Perumal Pillai. The super-special cardiology hospital he is setting up at Jaffna for Tamils is to be supported by Sinha Ratnatunga, a veteran journalist.
The demand by the Northern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka for more administrative powers is untimely at this juncture. The country has just come out of a bloody civil war and it will take time for the wounds to heal. Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi, one of the major constituents of the TNA, still swears by a separate country for Tamils. In light of this, how can the political leadership in the island nation trust the TNA’s credentials?
Courtesy: Daily Pioneer ( India )
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