Let My People Go In Peace

While thanking Dr. Nadesan for his timely intervention to save the Tamils in the North of Sri lanka from further misery, I have to remind him that it was he and his fellow Tamils in Australia who partly financed the terrorism (not simply war) that brought misery to many Sri lankans including Tamils and all other communities including Sinhalese.

Tamils who were a highly educated lot (mainly as a result of free education received in Sri lanka) has done considerable damage to the country that gave so much to them. If Karma is true, I do not think they will end up anywhere but in hell after their death. This applies to Dr Nadesan as well. By the way, it is not my wish. It is how Karma works.

As an educated lot, what took you all so long to realise that terrorism cannot succeed? What happened to your intelligence that you all cannot see far enough?

You have in your article admitted financing the misery. You blamed from Sri lankan army to Indian army to all others who caused misery to Tamils. Are you saying that Army in Sri Lanka cannot be engaged to maintain peace in any part of the country without name calling that this is a Sinhalese Army.

In this article you have used the words "....while our streets in Mannar, Vanni and Killinochci are occupied by the Army ....". Dr. Nadesan, Sri lankan army does not occupy any part of Sri lanka. Where is your use of sensible English? Army goes everywhere there is unrest to quell unrest. It is not occupation. It has happened in the South, East , West and North. It will happen in future. If I have to teach you English, occupation is carried out by foreign armies. That is what you and your fellow Australian Tamils asked for all this time. You all wanted foreign intervention. I am glad you have seen the light now.

I reiterate your statement "For how long are we (Australian Tamils)going to finance and find excuses for a war which cannot guarantee our )Tamil)separate state?"

Let me tell you something I heard from an Australian Tamil friend yesterday. He said that his organisation in Australia is worse than that of Sri Lanka and that there is widespread discrimination in making appointments within his organisation. He told me that the persons are selected well in advance of advertising positions and that there is widespread racial discrimination in favour of whites. This is a Govt owned organisation is Australia. Get the point?

So, do not look for the perfect world. World outside Sri Lanka is not any better. We need brotherhood amongst our fellow Sri Lankans. Let us join hands to develop Sri Lanka. We all can have a greater share, only if we make it bigger. No one can have a bigger share of the pie, when the size of the pie is getting smaller.

You claimed that you sent money to Sri Lanka. What happened to the money? Did you develop any industries for Tamils? Did you build any houses for Tamil? Did you provide employment oportunities for Tamils with that money? I like to know what good you have done to Sri Lanka and Tamils in particular.

If you paid the money for destruction of assets in Sri Lanka, what good is that to any one? Will that be tolerated in Australia, if you do it there?

Dr Nadesan living in Australia talks about our people who need to be set free from the clutches of the LTTE.There is no more that 150,000 that is being held by force by their own freedom fighters in order to protect their Self appointed leader (in the Wanni).

The majority of the Sri Lankan Tamils (75%) are now spread out and does live with the Sinhalese and the Muslims south of the Wanni.

You and your kith and kin living abroad lied for the past 25 years to the international community- what you should do is write an open letter to the heads of state in the western countries explaining the situation as indicated by you , this would be more helpful to get the remaining Tamils out of the LTTE clutches.

While thanking Dr Nadesan for a letter from the heart and admitting the futility of what he and other fellow Tamils have done, his cry for an end to this conflict needs to be heard. However, on his part and that of other Tamils who may feel like him now, it is important to show some kind of inclusiveness with the rest of people living in Sri Lanka. The longer he and others refer to Tamils as "my people" and the SL Army "occupying" Vavunia or any other place, it takes Tamils even further away from the rest of Sri Lanka. No wonder some Sinhalese people feel that Tamils are foriegners in Sri Lanka. Dr Nadesan and other similar minded Tamils must realise that the primary cause for the political conflict to become violent was the LTTE and the support given by the political representatives of Tamils to demand a seperate State, when the problems faced by Tamils were miniscule in comparison to what they have to face now in the North and till recently in the East. Tamils must understand that whatever political solution that is to be worked out has to have the approval of the majority Sinhala population, and the solution has to be based on there being a unitary Sri Lanka at the end of it. Sinhala people have fought colonial occupation for hundreds of years, and if they are forced to accept a solution imposed by outside, it will be resisted, if not today, but maybe in years to come. Therefore such a solution will not be a solution, but the begining of another problem. So, the message that Dr Nadesan and other Tamils must get from many of the comments on this thread, and views expressed by the President of Sri Lanka and millions of others, is that Tamils must regard themselves as Sri Lankans and work out a solution alongside their Sinhala and Muslim brothers and sisters. For many years, long prior to the war in the North, many Sinhala people also would have said "Let us go in peace to wherever we want to go" when they found it very difficult to buy property and live in Jaffna and the environments. All of Sri Lanka is for all Sri Lankans and if Tamils feel that is not so, then they may have to find another place, somewhere else, not in Sri Lanka. Sinhala people recognise the differences between ethnic groups in the country and they also recognise some amount of discrimination might have been faced by Tamils on account of their ethnicity. Many Sinhala people also feel Dr Nadesan that this has been partly because of the very feeling amongst Tamils that they are somehow not Sri Lankans but only share a land mass that is called Sri Lanka. Tamils are entitled to think so, but then they will have to face the consequences as there is another lot who share the same land mass who think they and all other people living in the land mass, all own it together, all of it everywhere, at any time as they choose.

Too little too late Dr. Nadesan. Why have you not shed tears for the people of Vanni before this? Take it from someone who has:

1) Tamil and Sinhala are sister languages and should be promoted together as native languages- who stood up against such an eventuality?

2) Any Sri Lankan should be able to go with security and dignity to any part of the island. In fact any human being should be able to do so. Who is standing in the way?

3) Sri Lanka is the land of the Vanniela Aetto, Sinhala and Tamil speakers, and the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. That means everywhere. Who would have it otherwise?

4) Sri Lanka is a shining example of a sovereign land and culture with a very long and continuous history which should be the pride of the sub continent. Tamil is the name given to a language which has been extant in the southern region of India and in Sri Lanka for millennia and has been a trading language. While it is in use in Sri Lanka it so happens it is not the tongue of the majority. Instead of recognising the importance of Sri Lankan history for the heritage of the subcontinent (and its literature and culture as an important aspects of that heritage) who have denigrated this island, its history and its culture for over 3 decades in pursuit of a non-existent mythical land?

I guess we have to acknowledge at least this heartfelt (somewhat half-hearted) plead. We are very sorry for whatever our Tamil-speaking brethren have suffered. We would like to embrace you. We would have fought side by side with you if you had asked us to do so against a state which has been corrupt and autocratic against the whole populace of Sri Lanka. The racists have always been a minority who have been much easier to deal with than the state. Instead of embracing us (even when offers were made) you chose to demonise us. Now the demons are coming to haunt you, we cannot help you. You have to heal thyself first, physician! Then you can join us as an equal to bring further healing to our people jointly. As long as you continue to think and feel with a fractured sense of self you will not have the power to heal.

Dr. Nadesan: I too fully agree with a view provided here that we need to launch a national movement for reconciliation. But we shouldn't overlook that much can be done by the present government of Prez Rajapakse in order to set the ball rolling by reaching a resolution of the matter, in the first instance, at the APRC level. If and when this goal is achieved, seeking National reconciliation will be far easier.

No one can blame the LTTE for the lack of progress at the APRC level because they are not involved in the All Party Conference. It is Prez Rajapakse who is dragging his feet. Half his presidential term is over and he is still dragging his feet.He still hasn't grasped what it is going to take to reach a resolution even with the moderate Tamils.

I think that it is also pointed out here, once again, the view of military experts that neither side can win the war. But Prez Rajapakse still hasn't even grasped this basic fact. He seems to be playing to the tune of his gung-ho military-type brother. And the country is going down the drain of no-return. Prez R has to realise that his approach is only contributing to the further hardening of positions.

There is also much ignorance and mis-information which is also a major stumbling block. I think it is the Sinhala respondent in this thread, who is critical of your views, who recently claimed that the Tamils wanted Eelam in 1919. These are the facts.

In 1919 Arunachalam Mahadeva, later Sir Arunachalam, wanted Ceylon to gain Independence from Britain. Merely because a Tamil person, who considered himself a Ceylonese, first, wanted Ceylon to be an Independent nation, this Sinhala respondent simply jumped to the conclusion that because Arunachalam was a Tamil, he was seeking Eelam in 1919. Now you see the brilliance of certain people with whom we have to deal. People still do not realise that it was indeed the blunders of the Sinhala politicians in brazenly expliting the weaknesses of the Constitution that has brought us to this sorry juncture.

And for the benefit of the respondent who jumped to the conclusion that the Sir Arunachalam wanted Eelam in 1919, this is what T.B. Illangaratne, a former SLFP Minister, now deceased, stated about Sir Arunachalam: "Sir Arunachalam sincerely sought national unity and a sovereign Ceylon". And that is a sovereign Ceylon in which all communities lived harmoniously. And it is the admirable dream of intellectual titans such as Sir Arunachalam that has been destroyed after Independence by the southern politicians. BUT IT IS STILL NOT TOO LATE IF PREZ RAJAPAKSE IS WILLING TO TRANSFORM HIMSELF INTO A STATESMAN AND DISCARD HIS POLITICIAN'S MANTLE.