How Tamils divided Tamils...

The world has been misled to believe that it was the Sinhala majority that divided the Tamil community, through the disinformation campaign of the LTTE. But, the truth is quite different to the disinformation campaign of that deadly terror movement.
The division of the Tamils were written on May 14, 1976, by Tamil political leaders who misled their own community for political gain. It was on that day, the infamous Vadukkodai Resolution gave birth to, making a treacherous call for separation.

Distant dream

It resulted in many Tamil youth, forming groups as militants, to fight for an impracticable demand for separation, which was a distant dream. They all had the tag ‘Eelam’ on their heads.
They fought each other for supremacy. Many of them later realised that separation was a distant dream and returned to the democratic fold. The LTTE continued with the separation tag on its head for survival.
It is no exaggeration to state that this country has reached a critical juncture. No Head of State, in the past nor present, ever dreamt of a war within this country. Terrorism dragged the country to war. And violence, continues for the thirty second year in succession. During that period, several ‘Peace Pundits’ habitually attempted to portray that the Sinhala majority administrations were racist.
The Government of the day of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, too was viewed in that manner, by the squint eye of those self proclaimed Peace Pundits. Belying all such Cassandra-like prognostications, Presidents of the past and present extended the hand of friendship to the LTTE. But, the LTTE bit that hand of friendship. Isn’t it clear that it was the LTTE which dragged this country to war, time and again?

The division

Let us now get back to the period where the dark clouds began to hang over the peace loving Tamil population of this country. The division, of the once united Tamil people of this nation, was written on May 14, 1976.
A Resolution was moved seeking a separate State at the Vaddukkodai meeting of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) on that ill-fated day. Those who moved that resolution were living in a dreamland but never dreamt they would perish sooner or later, as a result of such a perilous resolution.
May 14, 1976 was a jubilant day for the then TULF high - command. Crowds thronged the meetings they addressed in that year in preparation for the July 1977 General Election. What more?
That dream was confined as the theme on every political platform. In the true sense, the intellectual Tamil political leadership knew it was only a distant dream. As usual, it was only a political slogan to mislead the Tamil voters.
The tragedy of the Vaddukkodai Resolution was that Appapillai Amirthalingam, a much respected leader of the Tamil community himself was a victim of LTTE terrorism, that was born as a result of that resolution. When Amirthalingam realised that a separate state was impossible within this small island nation, he had a change of heart.
Truly, he was a democrat, who believed in the divinity of democracy. Hardly two years later, from the Reporters’ Gallery in the old Parliamentary Complex in Colombo Fort, I reported Opposition Leader, Appapillai Amirthalingam’s speech on the debate to extend the State of Emergency by a further month on December 19, 1978. He said - ‘Mr. Speaker, people who have broken the law must be caught and punished.
Whether they are Tigers or Lions, they must be caught and punished and, that is the duty of the Government’-. Amirthalingam further stressed that innocent law abiding citizens must be able to go about their normal vocations without being attacked.
While Amirthalingam expressed and stressed such democratic ideals during that debate, his colleague, M.Sivasithamparam interrupted Amirthalingam several times to scream,-’We want Eelam and we will continue to demand Eelam’-.
An angry Industries and Scientific Affairs Minister, Cyril Mathew hitting back on Sivasithamparam said,’ Sir, I have also got to say the truth. There is also a political terror group stalking this land today, that is killing at will’. Hell broke out in Parliament that day as Amirthalingam looked a dejected man.
The TULF Members forced the leadership that the party should leave the Chamber. Amirthlingam was the last of the 17 TULF MPs to leave the Chamber that evening. As they were leaving, Minister Gamini Dissanayake said, ‘Certainly, that is not the Gandhian way of principles! All I can say is, Mahatma Gandhi would have been ashamed of disciples of this sort’.
The reason for the TULF to leave the Chamber had nothing to do with the ethnic problem nor the demand for a separate state during that debate. Home Affairs Minister, K.W. Dewanayagam pointed out to the Speaker that an accused in the Alfred Duraiappa (slain Mayor of Jaffna) was seen in the Public Gallery in Parliament.

The difference

Sivasithamparam claimed the man in the Gallery was not a Tiger. In reply, Prime Minister R.Premadasa in a jocular mood quipped, “ Mr. Speaker, it is the Hon. Sivasithamparam who knows the difference between a ‘Tiger’ and a ‘Non-Tiger’, because he lives with them”.
With that being the state of affairs in the North and East three decades ago, smuggler turned terrorist, Velupillai Prabhakaran began his violent campaign against all Governments in power, under the guise of seeking a resolution to the ethnic strife.
But, at the back of his mind, he used the TULF slogan of a separate state to mislead the Tamils for his survival. Prabhakaran used several MPs in the 1977 Parliament to defend his terror group.
One of them were the vociferous speaker, Vettiveli Yogeswaran from Jaffna. It was quite unfortunate that Yogeswaran, his wife Sarojini, a former Mayor of Jaffna and Amirthalingam were gunned down by the very LTTE, for whom they spoke in defence, in the hallowed Chambers of Parliament.
In this tragic journey which now spans over three decades, the majority of the TULF, have now turned as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), except for the strong minded, Veerasingham Ananda Sangaree, who yet braves the dreaded LTTE. The TNA is the mouth piece of the LTTE at present. But, the ruthless Tigers have not spared those in the TNA, who voiced democratic views to find a lasting solution.
How long could Tamil politicians survive in this manner is the question. The cream of the Tamil politicians had been wiped out. Only a few more of them are left. Tamil political parties are in disarray. The LTTE resorts to brazen attempts to kill all opposed to them. Race, religion or colour do not matter to the venomous minds of the LTTE. We all have witnessed many a horrendous acme of the LTTE. Even pregnant Tamil women are used on suicide missions. What more brutality than that?
Be it the North or South, it is time to stop hair splitting over the ethnic problem. Political parties should not absolve themselves from the process of finding a resolution to the problem. Always condemning the brutality of the LTTE will not help. Politicians must put the nation before themselves.
The All Party Conference should not look a cosmetic gesture, for parties to come, abstain or withdraw. Instead, all must join hands to exert maximum pressure on the LTTE at this point, where the LTTE looks weak, both militarily and politically. The LTTE, by its recent killings had not assured the international community of its credentials. Hence, this is the time most opportune for all political parties to speak in one voice against terrorism.

Resurgence

The resurgence of LTTE violence, in other parts of the country continues unabated, despite heavy setbacks they suffer in the battlefront. The people cannot always remind all our politicians of the need, to join hands to safeguard democracy, nation and the people. Politicians should realise that they are on a mission for the people. The crucial hour has come to speed up national reconciliation to seek peace.
Reconciliation and Peace are twin elements in a country’s process of reconstruction and development. Politicians must seek the participation of the people to achieve those goals. Politicians should not await invitations to resolve national issues. Be they in the Government or Opposition, they must rid themselves of the phobia to hide behind power, or, to come to power early. And, national crises should not be made a bait to gain political advantage.

Lasting solution

While the political tug-of-war continued among all political parties for past three decades, to find a lasting solution to the ethnic crisis, the LTTE advanced to aircraft power. Did we ever think of the need to behave in a manner that would promote the desire to eliminate terrorism, to move towards reconciliation? Are we truly doing it now? All politicians must answer these national questions.
Playing the ball to each others court had been the practice for three decades. At least now, our politicians need to act with a sense of responsibility, towards a honest response. Traversing on such a path could be discomfiting. But, political party leaders and their parties should not live on petty agendas. The Opposition has a major role to play in that direction.
All politicians must realise that the LTTE is now in utter desperation, out to destroy the lives of important individuals. It wants to bring fear to the minds of the people and drive home the point, that the country is on the brink of a division, a dream that is now far from reality.
Political leaders of today cannot behave in a manner ignorant to the obvious needs of the people. Nor should they sacrifice national needs before the Altar for political gain.
Only devotion and commitment could stop the cyclonic ill winds that blow across this nation. Having suffered for over three decades due to ruthless terrorism, the people wish to live in a land devoid of racial conflict, terror, corruption and abuse of power. Politicians are bound to lead the nation towards the reality of that noble dream.
The extremist groups of the Sinhala society must now stop demonizing the LTTE. The LTTE has miserably failed in the battle field, as well as before the international community. Extremism from any quarter does not pay dividends.
Those extremist groups must now let the Government and other political parties place their cards on the table in an open manner, that would hopefully bring about a settlement, acceptable to all, to this festering national agony. Those ‘extremists’ who stage protests and ‘scream’ as patriots, must realise that more we delay a resolution to the crisis, those who live fine would be our fortunate politicians. And, the not so fine are the unfortunate masses. If that is allowed to play, we would lack form and content in the direction towards stability as a nation.
Petty politics and the misconception of ‘man before country’, has dragged the nation into darkness over the years, since dark clouds began to hang over this thrice blessed land three decades ago. The crisis will prolong and drag us into further darkness if, both the Government and the Opposition continue to judge each other with suspicion and contempt, as they have done in the past.

The light

The people yearn to witness a process that is more responsive to humanity. Democracy must be defined to devolve power to the people, and not to satisfy the aspirations of a few politicians. People should not be destined to experience misadventures as a result of political errors.
The completion of the first decade of this century, is quite near and at hand. It’s time to create adventures that we could be proud of, and leave them for our next generation. Could our politicians rise up to that challenge in a unified manner?
If they do, the people could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then, the first century of this new millennium will no longer carry the dreadful plight of men, women and children with broken limbs and torn bodies as a result of terrorism.
Gone are the days of the Vaddukodai Resolution. It had died a natural death. Tamils do not now demand a separate state. Only the LTTE terrorists dream of separation. Many former Tamils militants have now embraced democracy. There’s no reason at present, to suspect or hate the Tamil community.
Let not await another day, to build up partnership to take this country forward towards prosperity. That is the clarion call of the people to all politicians. Only a power sharing mechanism will strengthen democracy to bury separation. Terrorism could be buried with such a noble concept.
“Unity lies in the current of blood and not in torrent of words”, said Rabindranath Tagore.(DailyNews)