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It is now crystal clear that the Sinhala leaders will never put
forward a just resolution to the Tamil national question. Therefore, we
are not prepared to place our trust in the impossible and walk along the
same old futile path…. We therefore ask the international community and
the countries of the world that respect justice to recognize our
freedom struggle.” This is the key sections of the annual Heroes’ Day
statement delivered by the slain leader of the disabled Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), V. Pirapaharan.
Therefore, when the Tamils say “the uncompromising stance of Sinhala chauvinism has left us with no other option but an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam,” it is highly demonstrating their frustration both with the impartial delivery of democratic system and the Sinhalese ruling elites.
Note: (Plus*); ....Holy Qur'an says......man was created weak...(TMQ: 4:28)
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3/மன்னார் வஞ்சிக்கப் பட்ட வட புல முஸ்லிம்கள் மீண்டும் மீண்டும் வஞ்சிக்கப் படுவதாகவே எம்மால் புரிந்து கொள்ள முடிகிறது-
4/ An Eye Opening Speech and Good Comparison (Between SL Govt. Vs. LTTE)
Home Sri Lanka Think Tank-UK (Main Link)
Serious Sri Lanka watchers would agree that such a statement
represents not only the Tamil disappointments and distrust, but also it
effectively exposes the duplicity of five decades old southern Sinhalese
politics, which categorically refused to do meaningful political
business with the Tamil leaders who represent the North and East
Tamils. Moderates The Tamil Tigers, who mirrored the Sinhala political
establishment in its dealing with dissent and pluralism, unquestionably
are the deadly elements of the Sri Lanka society. Whether the Tamil
Tigers, for that matter, violent Tamil nationalists are freedom fighters
as they claim themselves or deadly terrorists as the Sri Lanka
governments describe, history will answer it. My point here is that the
birth of Tamil Tiger movement had roots in Sri Lanka’s history and its
anti-Tamil agendas. It is important to point that there was not an
overnight decision among the ordinary Tamils to approve the agendas of
the Tamil Tigers: the failure of Sri Lankan polity to meet the demands
of the Tamil moderates was a key foundation for the origin of the Tamil
extremism in Sri Lanka. Instead of listening to the Tamil leaders and
accommodating their reasonable demands, the Sinhalese ruling leaders of
the time assaulted and stoned the Tamils and their leaders, and even
hired the Sinhalese to become butchers to kill innocent Tamils and
moderate leaders. One needs to realize that successive governments since
1956 controlled by the Sinhalese miserably failed to engage the Tamil
moderates such as the Federal Party (FP).
The FP sought a comprehensive solution without jeopardizing the unity
of Sri Lanka. However, Sinhalese collective, competitive chauvinism
turned a blind eye to the Tamil moderates. Sadly, the choice of the
Sinhala political class to use violence, effectively scratched the Tamil
trust in the political system and encouraged some Tamils to adopt
violence. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, a former Premier of Sri Lanka during
his visit to the United States echoed this truth. He pointed out that
“the Tamils tried peaceful protests which soon degenerated into
violence. With the underlying grievances being unattended the stage was
set for terrorist groups to emerge (“Our Approach for a Better Tomorrow
Free from Terrorism,” Daily News, July 25, 2002.) This helps us to
understand the birth of Tamil violent movements, particularly the Tamil
Tigers in the end of 1970. The Sinhalese ruling leaders, however, did
not freeze their election-oriented ethnic outbidding policies. They
incessantly formulated emotional policies to win the sympathy of the
Sinhalese. A significant portion of Tamils in the North even after the
end of the brutal war, think that they are being treated unfairly and
their lands are being occupied by the Sinhala army. Colombo’s steady
failure to engage Tamils and the Moors in the so-called post-war period
to negotiate what political scientists call ‘consociational democracy’
to ease ethnic tensions explains Sinhala political class’ political
goals.
What is more ironic is that in Sri Lanka, even after 30 years of
conflict, after victimizing thousands of Sri Lankans, mostly Tamils, the
Sinhalese political class is still refusing to recognize that
minorities, including the Moors, whose political leaders actively
support Sinhala political class, have legitimate grievances that require
reasonable political solution. In fact, the Sinala political class is
deliberately refusing to understand the problems of the Tamils and
Moors; because they do not want to challenge the kind of political
culture they created to outbid their opponents. To consolidate this
narrow political culture, they utilize 5th century Mahavamsa, which
plays a key role in the formation of Sinhala elite mobilization.
According to Mahavamsa, Sinhalese people are the preservers of Buddhism
and the entire island is the sacred home of the Sinhalese and of
Buddhism.
Separation may not be a desirable solution for the Sri Lanka’s ethnic
civil war which killed more than 100,000 people of the island’s 21
millions. In other words, separation may trigger further instability.
But when a particular community is continuously being denied their
rights and share, and become prisoners of the majority/dominant
community, then there must be a solution to arrest unhealthy political
situation and to give justice to the marginalized. However, desire for a
partition could be challenged if the ruling elites show real
willingness to think and act beyond the ethnic emotions, and commitments
to share the powers with the minorities. That is to say, their must be
effective power sharing mechanisms both at the center and the regions.
This would more likely undermine the agendas of the Tamil nationalists,
provided there is a domestic and international political willingness to
implement the agreement.
Moreover, it is politically incorrect to demand a particular
community to forcefully cohabit with the majority. Also, when there is
no space for political accommodation and citizenship for the minorities
who claim geographical domination in a certain areas of the country,
separation is highly likely. Like Pirapakaran, there are many Tamils,
who think that “uncompromising stance of Sinhala chauvinism” would never
deliver justice to the Tamils.
Therefore, when the Tamils say “the uncompromising stance of Sinhala chauvinism has left us with no other option but an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam,” it is highly demonstrating their frustration both with the impartial delivery of democratic system and the Sinhalese ruling elites.
The best alternative to the partition is, as above mentioned, serious
political formulas which would go beyond the failed unitary state
structure. Such a political formulas may probably provide a political
space to cohabit with other groups, while maintaining their own identity
and values. The basic logic of unity is acceptance. When we prepare to
accept choices made by others regardless of their ethnic/religious
identity, we not only win their trust, but also their loyalty to the
common goals. On the other hand, polity may trigger violence and
instability when we shove our preferences on others. Unity and peace
among the different groups, by and large, occur when there is a sprit
for respect, self-determination, and freedom, in other words, tensions
between the different ethnic groups can disappear when the state offers
the space for the minorities to build their lost trust, and to uphold
their citizenship through the political autonomy.
Sinhala political class needs to engage Tamil leaders as well as
Moors to seek justice. Absence of justice often triggers tensions and
rivalry. A political solution to the conflict is one way to gain
justice. Ethnic leaders can emerge in absence of justice, decent peace
and opportunities. Colombo should not forget the roots of the conflict
that gave birth to the LTTE. Elections are part of healthy democracy,
but what dignifies democracy is culture of pluralism and justice in
which masses would enjoy true political, social and cultural autonomy. (Colombo Telegraph)
(Dr. A. R. M. Imtiyaz (Plus*), research and teaching are mainly focused
on ethnic politics. He has published widely in peer-reviewed
international journals. He currently teaches at the Asian
Studies/Department of Political Science, Temple University,
Philadelphia, USA.)
Note: (Plus*); ....Holy Qur'an says......man was created weak...(TMQ: 4:28)
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3/மன்னார் வஞ்சிக்கப் பட்ட வட புல முஸ்லிம்கள் மீண்டும் மீண்டும் வஞ்சிக்கப் படுவதாகவே எம்மால் புரிந்து கொள்ள முடிகிறது-
4/ An Eye Opening Speech and Good Comparison (Between SL Govt. Vs. LTTE)
Home Sri Lanka Think Tank-UK (Main Link)
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