A ROADMAP TO LIBERATION
TamilNet
11 August 2009
What is currently seen as the biggest threat of destabilisation by
Colombo and by some powers is not the militancy of Tamils. Militancy
of a small nation can be crushed by ganging up and by fabricating
all excuses, as has already been witnessed by us. But what exactly
threatens the establishments is the effort of Tamils organising
themselves politically. What they expect is the ‘defeated’ Tamils to
play political stooges. Tamil national question today appeals to an
array of oppressed masses deprived of political justice all over the
world. It is a topic that appeals to progressive minds thinking of
restructuring the polity of human civilisation. The responsibility
of Eezham Tamils and their diaspora is to present the case with a
progressive political theme and language.
TamilNet Editorial Board Unfolding events, whether in war or
in elections, clearly indicate that Sri Lanka, known for its
state terrorism, is all out to subjugate Tamils militarily and
politically. All Eezham Tamils in their heart are aware that they
have no option other than facing the challenge.
We live in times state terrorism in the island to the extent of
multifaceted genocide is rationalised and is unashamedly blessed by
the international community – from the UN, world powers and India to
some other states in the region.
All know well that the Sri Lankan state cannot bring in any solution
other than escalating the conflict, but it seems this is what precisely
they want that to happen, until the question ‘who is going to have
the geopolitical say in the island’ is resolved among the powers.
As such is the reality, it is folly to argue that things would have
been different had the Tamil struggle opted a different course. There
was no option between fighting and conceding to machinations of
subjugation.
What is currently seen as the biggest threat of destabilisation by
Colombo and by some powers is not the militancy of Tamils. Militancy
of a small nation can be crushed by ganging up and by fabricating
all excuses, as has already been witnessed by us. But what exactly
threatens the establishments is the effort of Tamils organising
themselves politically. What they expect is the ‘defeated’ Tamils to
play political stooges.
Independent political organisation is a fundamental right of every
society and is a vital norm of contemporary human civilisation.
The responsibility of aptly asserting to this fundamental right falls
squarely on every member of the Eezham Tamil nation. It is not just
Tamils caring for themselves, but more than that, it is meeting a
challenge of global perspective having a bearing to entire humanity.
In a remarkable way the people of Jaffna have demonstrated their will
for fresh political organisation in the recent municipal elections. It
was a bold and clear boycott when only 20 percent turned out for
voting- a slap in the face to all political parties, including the
TNA that was playing words with ‘self-determination.’ In this instance
no one instructed the people to boycott voting. It was spontaneous.
As Lionel Bopage, a former general secretary of the JVP, has recently
pointed out, the Sri Lankan state had long back disenfranchised the
Eezham Tamils by enacting the 6th Amendment to the constitution in
1983 that prevents them from politically airing their aspiration
of nationhood.
As political organisation of their choice is constitutionally prevented
in the island, the onus righteously falls on the diaspora of Eezham
Tamils to rise up to the occasion.
Colombo is engaged in a dubious propaganda that diaspora’s political
organisation is harmful to its ‘home made’ solution that is nothing
but structural genocide.
In the highly internationalised conflict in the island, diaspora’s
political organisation is justifiable not only in voicing for the
people facing genocide in the homeland but also in globally responding
to the global system that failed in its political cum humanitarian
values and humiliated the diaspora.
The efforts of diaspora Tamils in re-affirming self-determination,
independence and sovereignty proclaimed by the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution
of 1976 and their novel concept of transnational governance for a
nation victimised by the international community have become challenges
worse than a war to Colombo.
The Vaddukkoaddai Resolution was rebuked as ‘Tamil tribalism’ by a
Sinhala writer, in a Colombo newspaper recently.
"The Vaddukkoaddai war was a tragedy bought upon themselves by
their intransient, self-defeating, short-sighted, Jaffna-centric
extremism. Peninsular politics was never dominated or driven by
any modern political ideology – liberalism, communism, socialism,
multi-culturalism or even Gandhism which was a mere passing fad
without any deep roots – other than primal communalism," says this
writer in Daily Mirror, according to whom all progressive politics
in the island come from the South.
It is as though answering him Arundhati Roy wrote in her recent book:
"I have always been struck by the fact that the political party in
Turkey that carried out the Armenian genocide was called the Committee
for Union and Progress."
On the strategy of branding the aspirations of people, she further
wrote: "This theft of language, this technique of usurping words and
deploying them like weapons, of using them to mask intent and to mean
exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant, has been
one of the most brilliant strategic victories of the tsars of the new
dispensation. It has allowed them to marginalise their detractors,
deprive them of a language in which to voice their critique and dismiss
them as being ‘anti-progress’, ‘anti-development’, ‘anti-reform’
and of course ‘anti-national’-negativists of the worst sort."
The Sri Lankan state, genetically impotent in forging a national
polity for the island, had no limits in its duplicity in nullifying
Tamil political organisation. Cultural pluralism is a convenient
fad in some of the elite lips today to camouflage Colombo-centric
capitalist greed. Pluralism has gone with the wind ever since colonial
orientalism re-invented Mahavamsa to become the basis for the idea
of state, forcing even leftists to betray their principles. Tamil
political organisation was accused as Jaffna-centric while more than
50 percent of the island’s wealth is Colombo-centric. It was accused as
caste-centric, replacing casteism with communalism, while no one other
than belonging to a particular caste of Sinhalese could become a monk
in the leading Buddhist chapters formidable in the island’s polity.
Responding to all sorts of challenges and evolving social inclusion,
the polity of Tamils has irreversibly graduated into Tamil nationalism
with local genius, thanks to state oppression, international
victimisation and the course of militancy.
Tamil national question today appeals to an array of oppressed masses
deprived of political justice all over the world. It is a topic that
appeals to progressive minds thinking of restructuring the polity of
human civilisation.
The responsibility of Eezham Tamils and their diaspora is to present
the case with a progressive political theme and language.
Lionel Bopage has hinted that Tamil militancy was only aiming to
liberate the homeland from the occupying forces but it did not attempt
to destabilise the Sri Lankan state. He says the old JVP was aiming
at total destabilisation of the state.
If properly structured, the political organisation of Tamil nationalism
is sure to find congenial partnership with alternative Sinhala polity
in destabilising the Sri Lankan state, is the view of some sections
that see such a course a positive achievement to the island and to
the world civilisation.
Any successful political move doesn’t come from negativism.
There may be a thousand odd slips in the course of Tamil militancy
that are now going to be exaggerated by the ‘victorious’ opponents
to demoralise Tamils and to confirm subjugation.
Tamils should carefully deduce and grasp in mind the theoretical,
strategic and tactical drawbacks of the past, but these cannot be
the cornerstones for political resurgence.
Political resurgence comes from holding on to positive achievements.
It should be clearly remembered that neither the war nor the cause
of Ezham Tamils has ever been surrendered. A consensus is emerging
now in the diaspora for its global unification as evidenced by the
spontaneous moves for a number of global outfits. Above all, the
most positive development is the awakening of the diaspora youth. The
direct involvement of them in the protests of the last stage of war
has given them an ownership of the struggle, enlightened them of the
world they deal with and relieved them from myopia.
The vital point to be kept in mind is that resurgence of Tamil
politics should begin from the people, by the people and for the
people. It cannot and should not begin from the intelligence agencies
and embassies. Those days have gone and Tamils have seen enough of
them. The rot should be kept far away until Tamils organise themselves.
Some intelligence agencies in the West are said to be advising the
diaspora youth to join Sinhala political parties than maintaining
separate polity for Tamils. There is also a microscopic section
in the diaspora believing in Rajapaksa remedy, even after seeing
what has happened to people of the shade of opinion like Dayan
Jayatillake. Tamils willingly finding fellowship with island-wide
political parties can happen only with parties such as of Vikramabahu
Karunaratne that are prepared to recognise Tamils as a nation in the
island entitled to the right to self-determination.
A lot of questions come about a democratically formed transnational
government. TamilNet has already published a few articles on
this, initiating the debate. As an alternative government having no
territory, its power comes only from the will of people and its ability
to do service. It cannot have any affiliation to any organisation.
Transnational governance is not an elite exercise coming from the above
and asking the people to vote. Such an exercise, when not orientated
in the grass root, is always exposed to the danger of getting hijacked
or succumbing to intimidation. But when it is formed with a clear
bearing and mandate, through a series of democratic exercises among
the diaspora in different parts of the world and if constituently
linked from top to bottom, such a structure will be withstanding and
cannot be ignored or sabotaged by anyone.
It is essentially as a matter of proclamation of the will of Eezham
Tamils to the international community and to set a firm bearing for the
transnational governance, efforts of re-mandating the main principle
of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution are being organized in the diaspora,
in different parts of the world.
The diaspora in Norway that has already re-mandated VR, with 99 percent
assent in a 80 percent voter turn out is soon expected to experiment
with an elected council for Eezham Tamils in Norway.
In the process of people taking over Tamil polity, the society,
especially the diaspora that is in a position to materialise it now,
needs new blood of politicians and it goes without saying that the
diaspora youth has a major role to play.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
