By Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
In the Sunday Leader (13th March’05), [and TamilWeek ] D.B.S. Jeyaraj has
described in graphic detail (with very few inaccuracies), the extremely worrying
episode involving the kidnap and incarceration of my youngest brother,
Jayadevan- a British businessman, while on a visit to the Vanni, by the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). This episode has brought into sharp
focus the misuse of arrogated power by the LTTE, the sad plight of the Tamils
living under its authoritarian rule and the urgent need for immediate resolution
of the Sinhala Tamil conflict, reforms in the LTTE and democratic civil
governance in the Tamil homeland.
The LTTE are the most effective militant movement to arise from the ferment of
the Sinhala- Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka. The rise of militancy among the Tamils
in Sri Lanka was the result of the short sightedness, parochialism; lack of vision,
political maturity and statesmanship, and political expediency that has
characterized the Sinhala political leadership. The Sinhala political
establishment was the father, mother, mid-wife and the cradle of the Tamil
militancy. Sinhala politicians of all hues, including the recent phenomenon of
monk- politicians are still carrying on in their merry old ways to this day,
providing sustenance for the strengthening and institutionalization of Tamil
militancy. The LTTE was the ultimate response of the Tamil people to the
injustice, discrimination, inhumanity and brutality that were being progressively
embedded in the socio-political fabric of Sri Lanka against the minority
communities- particularly the Tamils.
The progressive strangulation and asphyxiation of the traditional political
leadership of the Tamils by the machinations of the Sinhala political
establishment, created the space for the militancy to germinate, grow and
thrive. Majoritarianism that was practiced in Sri Lanka in its most rabid form,
rendered the democratically elected leaders of the Tamils totally impotent in the
face of the threats confronting the Tamils and did not permit Tamils of stature to
participate in the political process. This vacuum was quickly filled by fortune
seekers and, youthful, fiery and idealistic Tamil militants. The Tamil militancy
was an _expression of the anger and frustration deeply felt by the Tamils.
While the Tamilian culture and traditional values precluded the mass
participation of the Tamils in the militancy, a majority of the Tamils empathized
with the militants and provided them the legitimacy that contributed to their
phenomenal growth and strength.
The LTTE stood out as the most dedicated, honest and able movement among
the multitude that arose in the wake of the birth of Tamil militancy and Velupillai
Prabhaharan’s (affectionately called ‘Thamby’ in the early days) leadership
qualities ,organizational abilities and military prowess became legendary and a
matter of pride for the Tamils. A majority of the Tamils placed their absolute faith
in Prabhaharan and in his ability to deliver the utopia in which they will be able
to live in freedom as proud citizens, protected by the law and empowered by
their inherent abilities. However, the LTTE as an organization, mistook the
apparent passivity of the Tamil people and their absolute faith in Prabhaharan,
to be akin to a flock of sheep, which will passively follow a solitary goat in its
meandering. The skills that were successfully developed and deployed to
confront the Sri Lankan armed forces in the battle fields, were turned against
the Tamils themselves during interludes of relative peace by the LTTE, for the
personal benefit of their cadres. The deep seismic rumbles that are beginning
to stir amongst the Tamils in the face of LTTE misdeeds and which are not yet
being sensed by the LTTE, will prove to be their Waterloo, unless rectified.
What the Sri Lankan army could not achieve in the battle fields to tame the
Tigers, is very likely to be achieved by an irate Tamil community that is just
beginning to stir.
The LTTE have begun to believe that they have a life beyond that of the Tamil
people and it is their divine right to rule the Tamils and tell them how to conduct
their affairs. Instead of the LTTE being for the Tamil people, it is perceived by
the LTTE that the Tamil people exist only to sustain them. This topsy-turvy
perception has led to the situation where the Tamil people are being forced to
realize that the LTTE may be the fire in to which they have consciously fallen,
from the frying pan of Sinhala misrule. The Tamil people are beginning to feel
the weight of the LTTE jack boot and are simmering at their impotence in the
face of LTTE transgressions. The LTTE is currently playing the combined role
of the thief, policeman, judge, executioner and undertaker, without any
framework to govern their conduct. The Tamil people have no recourse to
justice either in Sri Lanka or in the foreign lands they have migrated against the
LTTE transgressions.
The story of my family in the past fifty years in independent Sri Lanka vividly
illustrates the plight of an average Tamil. I was a twelve year old boy, when the
1958 ethnic riots were engineered. I witnessed the horrific incidents that took
place in Kurunegala, where we lived and read about similar incidents that took
place in other cities and towns. I yet vividly remember clinging to my mother
along with my other six siblings, on hearing that a Sinhala mob was approaching
our house. Luckily my father who was at that time a senior official in the Excise
Striking Force and a man of considerable courage, with the help of his rifle and
the personal body guard who was a Sinhalese, was able to deter an attack. Our
house became the refuge for many Tamil families in the following days. In
1977, soon after returning to the Peradeniya University as a young Lecturer
with a Ph.D from Canada, our home in Pilimatalawa was attacked by a Sinhala
mob, during the riots organized by Jayawardena, Cyril Mathew & other racist
thugs. My wife, son , two brothers ( Manoharan and Jayadevan) and I had a
miraculous escape , but all our possessions including my wife’s thali were
looted. We experienced the horrors of running chased by the mob and the life
in a refugee camp for several days. Thereafter, I resigned my position at the
Peradeniya University and sought employment abroad.
However, the deeply felt desire that my children grow up with the Tamil identity
in Sri Lanka, made me admit my nine year old eldest son to an International
School in Colombo in 1983. On the day we left Sri Lanka, leaving behind our
son with a sister-in law in Colombo, the 1983 riots broke out and our son
witnessed and experienced the horrors of a riot , a second time in his short life
and became a refugee along with his aunt and other relatives. The anxiety and
fear we as parents suffered, until we were able to establish contact with our son
and relatives are deeply etched in our memory. In 1987, the Indian Peace
keeping Force (IPKF), shot and killed my mother and brother (Manoharan) in
Navatkuli, Jaffna in a cold blooded manner for the only reason that someone
had alleged they were LTTE supporters. Valuables were looted from the house
by the IPKF over their dead bodies. It took me a week after their killings to
reach the house with the assistance of the Sri Lankan army and air force and
cremate their rotting remains. My brother’s young wife became a widow and a
few years later a semi- invalid. His young children, a daughter (5 years) and
son (1 year +), lost their devoted father and have grown up not knowing a father’
s love. We as a family were yet able to withstand this tragedy and expose the
misdeeds of the IPKF and the Indian government very vigorously and
vociferously.
In 1990, the LTTE chased the watchman who was employed to take care of our
house in Navatkuli and looted the contents and fittings. The most valuable and
irreplaceable (& unforgivable!) loss were the books that were collected over
three generations and the collection of my father’s writings. There after the
LTTE occupied our house, without our permission and proceeded to cut down
valuable fruit trees that were painstakingly established and construct buildings
on the property. Following the ouster of the LTTE from Jaffna in 1995, the Sri
Lankan army occupied the house and vandalized it further. In many a battle
fought in the vicinity, the house that was built with my hard earned money was
badly damaged.
The ingrained desire to hold on to our Tamil and Sri Lankan identity yet
remained so strong (many would call this fool hardy!), that I once again settled
my family in Colombo in 1989 and had my children complete their education
there. After the current ceasefire agreement, I have initiated the process to
rehabilitate the Navatkuli house, with the dream of living there after my
retirement. My youngest brother, Jayadevan, who had migrated to the United
Kingdom has become the latest victim of LTTE intrigue , machinations and
brutality. He has narrowly escaped death while in the custody of the LTTE for
sixty days in Kilinotchi, as he has undergone surgery on his pituitary gland twice
and requires sophisticated hormone replacement therapy regularly, which was
unavailable in Kilinotchi. His father- in-law suffered a massive heart attack soon
after hearing the difficulties my brother was in and died immediately.
We have been the victims of the Sinhala-Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka, as very few
have been and have experienced the brutality of this conflict in its many facets
from both ends of the stick- the Sinhala mob and the LTTE. It will be unfair if I
also do not acknowledge the kindness and support we have received from men
and women from both ethnic groups, irrespective of their position or affiliations,
during our travails. This decent and humane face of Sri Lanka, has given us
the strength to overcome the pain of our travails and be hopeful that one day
Sri Lanka (‘Serendib’) would provide the ‘Serendipity’ for all her citizens,
always. Our loyalty to our identity as Tamils and the land of our birth, is
unquestionable and our credentials on this score are impeccable and
unchallengeable. Our only desire is to live as equal citizens, with equal rights,
equal opportunities and equal protection from the law, in the land of our birth.
How this will be ultimately achieved, whether within a united Sri Lanka or an
independent Ealam, only the future and fate will decide. This is the desire of all
Tamils, although many being not as fool- hardy as I have been, have migrated
to safer locales.
The empathy and support for the LTTE by the Tamils is based only on the
premise and belief that they will be instrumental in achieving our cherished
goals. If for any reason, the present realities indicate many, the LTTE becomes
a hindrance to achieving our goals, they will be condemned to the scrap heap of
history, despite their military might. Without the whole hearted support of the
Tamil people, the LTTE will not succeed in the mission they were expected to
fulfill. This is a lesson the LTTE have to learn very fast, if they are to remain
relevant and have a respectable place in history.
The militancy amongst the Tamils began to rise in the 1970’s, when the caste
system was already in steep decline. However, the LTTE has resurrected the
caste system in two ways. Firstly, by favoring its cadres (Porralis) and their
families (Porrali Kudumbams) in day to day affairs over other Tamils. The LTTE
does not acknowledge the immense suffering undergone by the Tamils as a
people because of the conflict and civil war, and as a consequence of having
been supportive of the outfit. The LTTE was born from the loins of the Tamils
amidst unbearable labour pains! This fact has been conveniently forgotten by
the LTTE. If not for the whole hearted support of ordinary Tamils the world
over, financially and other-wise, the LTTE would not have become what it is
today.
Secondly, by quite blatantly discriminating against the so-called ‘Higher
Castes’ of old, the LTTE has alienated many Tamils with considerable talent
and abilities. At the helm of the new social order being engineered by the LTTE
are their cadres and their families. This is a matter of serious concern and has
to be challenged by the Tamil people. An old evil can not be permitted to be
replaced by a new one.
The LTTE although primarily a military organization, is desirous of playing a
dominant and exclusive political role in the affairs of the Tamil people. Unlike in
most struggles of a similar nature, where the military wing is subordinate to the
political leadership, the Tamil militant outfits in Sri Lanka, the LTTE included,
arose primarily as military movements that were inspired by political grievances.
There was no mature, experienced, statesman-like political leadership to
provide an overarching guiding philosophy. The LTTE, with its primary focus on
military confrontation and primacy of military leadership, had to evolve a political
component, from within its own cadres. This apparently is its Achilles heel. The
teenage Tamil boys who resorted to arms to resist the aggression of the Sri
Lankan governments, have grown in to mature men, who are now desirous of
becoming the political masters of the Tamils. Unfortunately, the circumstances
that led them to join battle, precluded these men, some undoubtedly highly
intelligent, from acquiring the knowledge, experience and wisdom that are
necessary for leaders who want to lead a people to their destiny. The brain
washing, blind obedience, hero worshipping, rebellion against established social
norms and brutality that are drilled in to cadres of guerilla outfits, which are
absolutely essential for their survival and success, become liabilities in the
political life of a nation, in times of peace. This is the dilemma of the LTTE and
the Tamil people. Intelligence in the absence of education becomes cunning.
Political power exercised with the gun in one hand becomes a dictatorship.
Battle field tactics translated in to civilian life lead to fascism. The desire for
financial gain and personal comfort, when combined with the above failings, will
lead to mafia-like tendencies. The LTTE at present is displaying all these
symptoms to the discomfiture and disgust of the Tamils.
The LTTE at the present juncture is an organization trying to find its feet in very
unfamiliar terrain. It is trying to be both fish and fowl at the same time!
Interactions with some of their senior cadre have shown them to be highly
intelligent and motivated individuals. However, their limitation is their arrogance
and belief that they are all knowing and omnipotent. Whereas, in fact, they
turned out to be half baked, ignorant, cunning, parochial and extremely
dangerous individuals. The fact that every single LTTE cadre that the public
has to deal with operates only under a nom de plume, further makes them
immune to public opinion and is quite menacing. They are very suspicious of
any one outside their circle in the organization. All Tamils outside the LTTE
circle, have a standing only as contributors to their coffers and are cynically
manipulated to achieve that end.
When manipulations fail, strong arm tactics are resorted both within and outside
Sri Lanka, to achieve compliance. Traditional values that governed the life of
the Tamils are scorned and as in the case of temples, cynically manipulated to
obtain funds and establish control over independent individuals and groups.
The LTTE would rather bungle through state craft, and learn from this
experience, than learn from experienced individuals from outside their circle.
This is the tragedy of the Tamil people at present. Experience from the battle
field, the power of the gun, the methods of the fascists and the mafia, virulent
Tamil nationalism and scraps of communism are being combined in to a very
dangerous concoction by the LTTE to establish a Tamil state that would
become in reality LTTE and Company (Ltd.). The only share holders in this
entity would be the LTTE cadres, with the Tamil public being treated as
voiceless, non-voting contributors. The LTTE has already embarked on
establishing control over several successful Tamil-owned business enterprises
in the island and the world over, and in its own right has established several
successful enterprises under the cover of pliant nominees. These trends have
to be immediately challenged by the Tamils and reversed, if a decent peace is
to descend on our embattled land and responsive governance established.
The LTTE has to be forced by the Tamil people, to separate its political and
public affairs wings from its military formations and open the former to
participation by non-cadre Tamils. The present democratic charade being
orchestrated by the LTTE in the Sri Lankan parliament through pliant Tamil
members of parliament should be exposed for the farce it really is.
Prabhaharan, whom I yet consider a rare individual born to accomplish a historic
mission, should immediately set about revamping the political and public affairs
divisions in his organization and make them more responsive to the real needs
and desires of the Tamil people. Every individual manning these positions
should be screened for probity, as there is no legal frame work to govern their
conduct at present. The Tamil people should assert themselves and
vociferously demand these changes. The LTTE must become what the Tamil
people want them to be and not try to be an organization that wants to mould
the Tamils to meet their designs and plans. This would add a nazi dimension to
the current cocktail. If not ,the Tamil people are in serious danger of losing the
gains that have been made in the past decade and be embroiled in fresh blood
letting from an intra-Tamil conflict that is imminent.
The Sinhala polity should for its part immediately come out with the outlines and
details of a constitutional and institutional reform package designed to settle the
Sinhala- Tamil and Majority-Minority conflicts for ever and set the country on the
path of development and progress. Everyone knows what needs to be done and
there is no need for prolonged negotiations and cynical international
representation, authorized by a majority in parliament, to propose the necessary
constitutional and structural changes, which would be binding on all
parties. This would overcome the problem of the intrusion of partisan politics
even in matters of acute national importance- the curse of Sri Lanka. When
there is a will, a way can always cat and mouse games. Consensus can be
arrived at to create a non-partisan commission with national and be found. The
international community on its part should unhesitatingly use its muscle to force
the parties to the current conflict to settle their problems promptly. The LTTE for
its part should change its spots to suit the times and immediately set in motion
the process to democratize its interactions with the long suffering Tamil people.
For a start the LTTE should launch a high level inquiry, with independent
professional participation, in to my brother Jayadevan’s recent kidnapping and
incarceration by high ranking cadres and bring to book all the miscreants who
engaged in this criminal activity, including those who sponsored it from London.
This incident is reverberating around the world and the international public-
certainly the Tamil diaspora, non-governmental organizations and governments,
particularly in the west, are looking forward to this self-critical examination by the
LTTE before they will accept its bonafides as a civilized and mature organization
that truly represents the interests of the Tamil people both in times of war and
peace.
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ultimate response
of the Tamil
people to the
injustice,
discrimination,
inhumanity and
brutality that were
being
progressively
embedded in the
socio-political
fabric of Sri Lanka
against the
minority
communities-
particularly the
Tamils."
identity as Tamils
and the land of our
birth, is
unquestionable
and our
credentials on this
score are
impeccable and
unchallengeable."
become what the
Tamil people want
them to be and not
try to be an
organization that
wants to mould
the Tamils to meet
their designs and
plans."
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