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By: Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
“For many Tamils it is a stark choice between
civilized values and survival as a community; between
surviving as a community with nasty values and not
surviving at all”
“Sadly those left behind live in a society made all
the more grotesque by the choices it made”
(‘Ravages of war’ by: Prof. Ratnajivan Hoole in
Tamil Week. Com of 24th April’2005)
The anguish and truth underpinning these words grabbed
my immediate attention. By very succinctly and I
should say quite poetically voicing the current
dilemma of the Tamils as a people in Sri Lanka, and
principally of those who continue to live in the north
and east, Prof. Hoole, a much maligned and somewhat
despised figure among sections of the Tamil
community, on account of his critical views and
perceived loyalties, has underscored the need for a
sensible and thoughtful debate among Tamils on the
substantive issues impinging on their present
circumstances and future .
“Epporul yaar yaar vaai kertpinum- apporul
meypporul kaanpathariwu “- Thirukural
(“It is wise to seek the underlying true meaning in
whatever sensible, whoever it may be, has to say”
-translation)
It is probably apt to narrate a sub-story in the
Mahabharatha. It was a practice among the Pandavas,
when visiting Draupathi’s quarters to leave their
footwear outside the front door (This is a practice in
most Tamil and Sinhalese homes to this day). If any
one of the other brothers, who came by saw the
footwear, taking it as a signal that one among them
was visiting, they would retrace their steps.
However, one day when Dharma was visiting, Bhima (as I
recall) - his younger brother, barged in wearing his
footwear, defying cultural norms and accepted
conventions. This made Dharma exclaim. “The kaliyuga
has begun”! To Dharma – Dharmaputhiran, this incident
involving mere footwear, was a forewarning of the
degeneration that was to set- in leading to the
complex clash of values, emotions and relationships,
and the contravention of established norms during the
Kurukshetra war; and the decline of society as a whole
in its aftermath.
The events leading to the civil war in Sri Lanka, the
civil war per-se and now its aftermath, are no
different from what is revealed in the Mahabharatha.
The civil war was our Kurukshetra war. A man of the
caliber of Vyasa has to on some future date narrate
our story as well, probably with divine help, as was
the case with Vyasa. My only hope is that a gem such
as the ‘Bhagawat Gita’ will emerge from our
Kurukshetra, making everything we have suffered, lost
and gained at great cost,worthwhile !
To most people the Kurukshetra war was one between
good (The Pandavas) and the bad (The Kauravas).
However, for any one who delves deeper the
contradictions become very apparent and the very
definitions of what is ‘Good’ and what is ‘ Bad’ come
in to question. Dhritharashtra, the King’s, inability
to emotionally detach himself from the love for his
children- the Kauravas, and offer justice to his
nephews- the Pandavas, leads to dissention,
dissaffection and a gruesome war. Sakuni- the
arch-schemer, exploiting the differences between the
Pandavas and the Kaurawas , instigates a gambling
match which triggers the war. Dharma, gambles away
his Kingdom and his wife, and helplessly watches his
wife-Draupadi being disrobed! Kunthi, the mother of
Karna and the Pandavas hands Karna the death sentence
by extracting a promise that he will not kill Arjuna
in battle! Krishna resorts to all sorts of trickery
to ensure a Pandava victory. Karna, who stands by
the Kaurawas, is the epitome of decency, valour and
gratitude! Bhishma, Drona , Kirupacharia and Vidura,
all older , wiser and much respected men, side with
the Kaurawas! Arjuna, the most admired of the
Pandawa brothers, lays down his bow- the Kaandeepam,
midway in battle and questions the entire logic of the
war! This gives the opportunity for Krishna to expound
the Gita.
Who was right and who was wrong? Were a Kingdom and
the ensuing degeneration, worth the war? Was the loss
of life, particularly of personalities like Karna and
Abhimanyu, necessary? Was Dhutchadana, who tried to
disrobe Draupadi punished enough? Did Draupadi’s
disgrace match Dhutchadana’s fate at the hands of
Bhima? Did the aftermath, widowhood, orphaned
children and broken families – the suffering of the
unsung heroes of all wars, and the social
dislocations, loss of values and traditions, etc.,
that followed, justify the war ? When is enough,
enough? These are eternally debatable questions that
were left unanswered by Vyasa. It is for us to
question, explore, understand and meditate to find
answers of relevance to our lives. Every man, women
and child; societies and nations, face their
Kurukshetra at some point in time. That is the
greatness of the Mahabharatha- it will be relevant
until man survives on this planet.
Who are the Pandavas and Kaurawas in our struggle in
Sri Lanka? Who are the comparable personalities?
What are the comparable incidents? What are the
comparable repercussions and aftermath? I will leave
most of these questions and many others that can be
thought of, for the readers to ponder. However, I will
try to explore the underlying complexities,
repercussions and aftermath of our struggle, leaving
it once again to the readers to make their judgment
and ponder what needs to be done.
The Tamils in Sri Lanka, especially those presently
concentrated in the north and the east are an ancient
people whose origins are lost in antiquity. The
relative isolation from the Indian mainland had
ensured that their religious beliefs and practices;
their spoken language and way of life survived
relatively intact over the centuries.
Kirupananthawariar, the great South Indian Saivite
savant of the twentieth century repeatedly told his
audiences that pure Tamil was only spoken in Sri
Lanka. Four out of the five Saivite temples of
antiquity (Pancha-Easwarams) are located in Sri Lanka.
During the colonial era- Portuguese, Dutch and
British, the Tamils adapted to the new circumstances
in a pragmatic way as any progressive and civilized
people would, while retaining their distinct and
unique identity. Very few changed religion. The
resistance offered by Kalladi Vellan to the forced
religious conversions by the Portuguese, are
legendary. Arumuga Navalar led the resistance to
missionary conversions during the British colonial era
and provided the impetus for several Saivite –Tamil
schools to be established. The Hindu board taking a
lead from him , established several Saivaite-Tamil
educational institutions where they adopted British
educational methods and curricula. Sir Ponambalam
Ramanathan subsequently established several
educational, cultural and religious institutions to
strengthen the Saivite-Tamil identity. These
institutions competed on equal terms with the
Christian missionary established institutions to serve
the community. The contribution of the Christian
educational institutions in providing modern and
progressive education to the Tamil population- both
Saivite and Christian, was immense. Even those who
converted to Christianity, retained their Tamil
identity, cherished it and fiercely defended it. The
Tamils were a progressive, educated and stable
society distinguished by centuries old , but enduring
values and traditions, until the calamities in the
post-independence era, gradually at the beginning and
at an accelerated pace in later years, shook the very
foundations of their existence . The brutal civil war
lasting almost twenty years has caused even these
damaged foundations to collapse. What we see today,
during a period of relative, but deceptive peace, is
what Prof. Hoole has so eloquently portrayed.
The disparaging term ‘Para Demala’ (Lowly Tamil, to
translate it mildly) that was increasingly used by
the Sinhalese to refer to Tamils in the
post-independence era, until the emergence of Tamil
militancy, challenged the pride the Tamils had in
their distinct identity and magnificent heritage.
The repeated ethnic riots, targeting the Tamils,
making them cringe in fear and run to save their
lives, destroyed their confidence in themselves as a
people. Those who were killed and maimed in these
riots, left in their wake families and a society
severely scarred. Discrimination in employment and
higher education, and lack of investments in
infra-structure and development in the north and east,
destroyed the avenues of economic progress for the
Tamils within Sri Lanka, and set them on the course to
become asylum seekers and refugees. The state
sponsored colonization schemes, forced many Tamils out
of their traditional habitations and made them a
minority in places where they were a majority for
centuries. This added further to their insecurity and
misery.
The positioning of the Sri Lankan armed forces, almost
totally made of Sinhalese, in the Tamil areas and
their deployment to brutally suppress passive Tamil
resistance added to the desperation of the Tamils.
They could no longer feel safe even in their land,
where they were a majority! The emergence of the
Tamil militancy, involving teenagers with little
education; plenty of anger and frustration; and a
cause- an independent Tamil Ealam, but no guiding
philosophy or mature leadership, in a society yet
largely incapable of and ,unready and unprepared for
the violence necessary for such a path, placed the
Tamils in an unenviable position. The violent
militancy was not a natural phenomenon for the Tamils.
It was born as a result of the brutal and
unconscionable rape of the Tamils as a people by the
Sinhala polity! The term ’Para Demala’ rather
dramatically disappeared from the popular Sinhala
vocabulary and every Tamil became a ‘Tiger’ instead in
the Sinhala perceptions. The 1983 riot / pogrom, made
the Tamils a nation of national and international
refugees and swelled the ranks of the militants, in
addition to grievously damaging any hope the Tamils
may have had of resolving their problems within a
united Sri Lanka. The subsequent civil war, reduced
the Tamils to a life of abject terror, poverty,
destitution and hopelessness, and destroyed everything
the Tamils had cherished and built over centuries
socially, institutionally and in terms of the economy.
The emergence of multiple militant groups, competing
with each other for a constituency and with a
multiplicity of agendas, all not altruistic, exposed
the Tamils to a new menace and plenty of internecine
blood letting . The most cohesive, organized,
better led and most accepted militant group- the LTTE,
emerged triumphant and dominant, from its battles with
other militant groups, the Indian Peace keeping Force
and the Sri Lankan armed forces, but with its soul
scarred beyond repair. The need that arose for the
LTTE to fight fellow Tamils belonging to other
militant groups and its propensity to consider every
Tamil who sympathized with the other groups or held
contrary views as an enemy to be damned or killed, set
in motion the process that made it what it is today –
paranoid, undemocratic and indiscriminate in its
brutality. The coercive methods used to force a
largely supportive, but non-violent population to toe
their violent line and provide finances, became a
habit with the LTTE and other militant groups and as a
result they lost the respect for the people whom they
claim to represent. The LTTE, the only militant
outfit that matters today, has ended up thinking that
only the Tamils who support them unconditionally are
Tamils and the others are enemies! The methods it had
to adopt to fight what was initially an urban guerilla
war and subsequently conventional battles against well
equipped, better provisioned and state supported
armies, while successful in the battle fields, has
rendered the LTTE incapable of democratic and
accountable governance. The LTTE’s capabilities and
achievements in the military arena were brilliant,
beyond any doubt and are for the Tamils to be thankful
for and, history books and poets to extol. But its
ability to steer the Tamil nation to greatness in the
non-military arena, during times of peace is open to
severe doubt, due to its origins, composition and
ethos.
The urgency to migrate from an unenviable situation in
their motherland, both for reasons of physical safety
and economic betterment, in the face of
international norms that restrict such migrations,
created conditions for a large number of Tamils to
resort to various acts of fraud and subterfuge that
were essentially criminal in nature. This
criminalization of the Tamil youth, with the
connivance of their elders and men who sought quick
riches, which had humble beginnings, soon reached
epidemic proportions. Individuals with the education
and the skills needed for the western economies,
legally migrated in their droves, leaving a society
without its toppings and garnish- the elite. The
others, with the capacity to mobilize the necessary
financial resources, followed suit using every trick
that was being ingeniously invented to circumvent
national and international laws and norms. The Tamil
society in the north and east were completely changed
as a result. Respected men and women who could have
stood up to the LTTE and other groups and restrained
them from committing excesses ; who could have given
political leadership ; who could have set standards
for the society and who could have chronicled the
past and epitomized its values and traditions, were
no longer there. Those left behind were a vulnerable
people, largely incapable of defining what being a
Tamil meant. The LTTE , used this opportunity to
attempt defining and moulding Tamil society and its
institutions to conform to its limited perceptions,
myopic vision and selfish needs. Educational
institutions, including the universities were not
immune and have become the hotbed of LTTE’s grand
designs, to the ultimate detriment of the Tamil
people. Every Tamil who could potentially pose a
threat to this grand scheme has now become an enemy.
The migrations, created with time a Diaspora, with a
deep seated grievance against the Sinhala polity,
thirst for avenging their misfortunes, longing for
their land, dreams for a utopian Tamil Ealam and the
financial resources to spare. The LTTE very astutely
exploited the fortuitous combination of these factors,
to mobilize the Tamil Diaspora to obtain financial
support and influence the international community.
Elements in the Diaspora, who had initially resorted
to criminal methods to migrate and had lost their
moral compass in the process, became the tools of the
LTTE to mobilize and manipulate the Tamil Diaspora.
The methods used in Sri Lanka to enforce their will,
were progressively introduced internationally.
Other, the more urbane Tamils, who were not
criminalized, but had an abiding disaffection for the
Sinhala polity and were blinded to the fault lines in
the LTTE during the years of war, willingly became its
standard bearers in the international arena.
The ability to earn a very comfortable living and
enjoy the trappings of modern life in the west by even
those with limited education, learning and
professional skills, has devalued education and
learning among the Tamil population at large. In the
absence of visible men of learning and stature amongst
them, the respect for education and learning that was
the corner stone of Tamil society, is fast
disappearing. This void is being tragically, but
quite quickly filled by admiration and awe for the men
who took up arms. This shift in values is being very
carefully nurtured and tended by the LTTE, through
propaganda tools it has learned to handle very
successfully.
Sans the restraints of education, learning and
traditional wisdom; material success, has led to the
emergence of crass materialism as a philosophy of life
among large swathes of the Diaspora and their families
in Sri Lanka. While temple worship and participation
in neo-religious movements have reached their zenith;
spirituality, philosophy and profound thinking have
been relegated to the backburner. These in
combination with the pernicious effects and pervasive
influence of South Indian Tamil cinema have damaged
our ethos as Tamils terminally.
Families have been torn asunder and scattered around
the globe. This has led to the weakening of spatial
family ties and totally eliminated the influence
elders were able to wield on youngsters through
precept. Conventional ways by which a new generation
was moulded by the old are disappearing. The social
control exercised through restraints imposed by family
relationships are a thing of the past. Respect for
elders, the bedrock of Tamil culture is going the way
of the dinosaurs. Uncouthness, arrogance, violence,
vulgar display of wealth, ignorance, shallow thinking
and, the propensity for crime and fraud, are becoming
the characteristics that define the Tamils.
War orphans and other children driven by their
misfortunes and enamoured by the successful and much
chronicled military exploits of the LTTE, have become
the unwitting victims of brain washing and hero
worship. The orphanages established and run by the
LTTE have received accolades for representing the
softer, altruistic and humane face of the LTTE among
the Diaspora and the international community at large.
The sophistry and cynicism embedded in this LTTE
venture was a shocking revelation, when I saw the
slogans and pictures painted on the walls of my house
that was used by the LTTE as a nursery school for war
orphans for a while. The LTTE has ingeniously
devised a very altruistic mechanism to generate future
cadres for its ranks! The absolute, blind and
unquestioning loyalty displayed by young cadres
towards Prabhaharan and the LTTE is the result of this
long term investment in kindness, sympathetic care and
subtle brain washing. Such individuals represent a
significant proportion of the young LTTE cadres at
present and are increasingly becoming the face of the
Tamil nation. The special status accorded to the
Porali’s (cadres) and their Kudumbam’s (families), is
an extension of this strategy to mould Tamil society
to reflect LTTE norms and mores.
A society or nation could be only as good and
successful as its people. The strengths and
weaknesses inherent in a people will be reflected in
their society and nation. The Tamil nation is in
crisis and is in danger of losing their age old
identity and values, as a result of their misfortunes
in Sri Lanka and designs of the LTTE. There has to be
plenty of honest soul searching among the Tamils, as
to what defines them as a people, and how they want to
be perceived. This task can not be relegated to the
LTTE or its songsters. The LTTE is only a tool and
it cannot and should not be permitted to become the
master who decides our fate. The tail should not wag
the dog! How we use this tool is for us- the people
to decide. The Tamil people should come forward to
shoulder their responsibilities boldly and with
vigour; arrest the decay that has beset our society
and set in motion the process to regain lost ground
and accelerate progress. Time is not on our side,
when we are on a slippery slope leading to hell! Let
there be a renaissance in the Tamil community that
will make the utopia of our dreams a reality and
regain our lost heritage, values and traditions; and
our self respect as a people.
“ Varambuyara neer uyarum;
Neer uyara nel uyarum;
Nel uyara kathir uyarum;
Kathir uyara kudi uyarum;
Kudi uyara kone uyarvan”- Auvayar
“When the ridge increases in height, the water level
will rise; When the water level rises, rice plants will btaller;
When the rice plants are taller, the rice crop will
be bigger; When the rice crop is bigger, the people will
prosper; When the people prosper, the king will prosper”
(translation)