Tamils must accept the new realities
By Dr. Noel Nadesan, Editor Uthayam
The e-mail address of Dr. Noel Nadesan, the Australian veterinarian who passed out from the Peradeniya University in the ‘70s, tells a story of its own about his background: uthayam12 @gmail.com. It means that he has been running the Uthayam, the anti-LTTE Tamil community newspaper in Australia for 12 years despite the threats to his life by the Tiger agents. He has been in the forefront of the anti-LTTE campaign in Australia and abroad.
He is also a novelist and a social activist for Tamil refugees in India and Australia. Along with other Tamil expatriates in the diaspora he is now engaged in bridge-building between the two communities. In the following interview with the Daily Mirror he explores some issues relevant to the new post-war scenario.
Q: How has the situation changed for the Tamils in the post-war
period?
There are bound to be changes stirring beneath the surface which are likely to emerge as political forces later. But as of now Tamils, after the elimination of LTTE, have found a democratic space which was not available when the LTTE was ruling the roost. The Tamils also have come a long way from Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976. After the Vadukoddai Resolution the political wave demanding Tamil Eelam reached a peak. This Resolution changed the political mood and every Tamil was categorized either as an Eelamist or a traitor. Many opponents were seen as collaborators and they were killed. But all that has changed since May 19th of this year. After the end of Tigers in Nanthi Kadal every sensible Tamil realised Eelam is not the solution. Separatism was drowned in Nanthi Kadal. We have to work not only with majority community but also with other communities like the Muslim and up-country Tamils.
The Tamils have to be dynamic partners of a multi-racial Sri Lanka . Tamil politicians will never be able to serve the Tamil people well, if they do not join the mainstream politics. They can retain their political identities but they have no option but to work within the parameters of the mainstream. Race and religion should not be predominant factors in our politics any more. Only the welfare of the people has to be on the top of the political agenda. .
Q: How do you read the international response to the Tamils now? Are they for the separatist agenda?
International opinion has always been against the division of Sri Lanka . The separatist ideology struggled in vain to go against this opinion. It is also very anachronistic. The post World War II European history reveal that the trend is more for creating regional blocs, giving up earlier divisive politics of nation-states. Merging and finding commonalities, despite ethnic, religious, political and economic differences is the way forward. ASEAN, SAARC, EU, and other regional blocs constitute the big picture though at the micro level there are still some separatist tendencies as seen in Third World countries. The task facing separatists are far greater than the forces joining hands to merge and form regional blocs. Sri Lanka is a good example. The Tamil separatists put in everything they had and lost. There was a genuine sympathy among international community for Tamils after ‘83 riots but Mr Velupillai Prabhakaran squandered the sympathy by killing innocent Sinhala people, Muslim and fellow Tamils. If he had played his cards well, the Tamils could have got a viable deal from the successive Sri Lankan governments. As everyone knows, there were three major opportunities given to the Tamils: 1)The Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement; 2) Chandrika’s offer to Prabhakaran to run the north-east for ten years without elections and 3) the Oslo Accord which came with guarantees from the international community. All three opportunities could have been developed and strengthened. But Prabhakaran killed Rajiv Gandhi, he nearly killed Chandrika and then shot to pieces the Oslo Accord believing that he could win with force what he can’t get through negotiations. So it is fair to say that our leaders ruined our best chances that came with international guarantees. Furthermore, successive Sri Lankan governments have been climbing down from 1983 to accommodate to a considerable extent the demands of the Tamils. But we missed those opportunities. Each time we took the arrogant and intransigent line we lost the sympathy of the international community.
Q: India has been a key player in the Sri Lankan crisis. Will India ’s pro-Sri Lankan stance change in the foreseeable future?
India operates at two levels. As one of the leading global players India naturally tends to protect its national interests and does not take kindly to its small neighbours going against her overall geopolitics. Basically, India ’s policy has been to guarantee the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka without letting China or Pakistan poking their fingers in the SAARC region. During JR’s time Sri Lanka swung radically against India by joining hands with the America . Overriding the sensitivities of India JR voted in the UN to back America on Afghanistan and Cambodia . He also made the mistake of handing over the oil farms of Trincomalee to America which was seen as setting up of an America base against India . Sri Lanka paid a heavy price for this misguided policy.
Second factor is also important though at the domestic level of Indian politics – and that is the Tamil Nadu factor. Neither India nor Sri Lanka can ignore the 70 million Tamils across the Palk Straits. The links between Sri Lankan Tamils and the Tamil Nadu Tamils have developed to such a point that it is possible to activate Tamil Nadu politicians when things go wrong in Sri Lanka . Tamil Nadu and Pondicheri have 40 parliamentary seats in Delhi and this is a very important electoral factor in manipulating the Indian centre when coalition governments come into power. The Sri Lankan government will have to fine tune its foreign policy taking into consideration both Delhi and Chennai. I have to give credit to present Sri Lankan government for handling both with great sophistication and diplomatic skill in the current phase.
Q: Sections of the Tamil Diaspora are refusing to accept the new realities and are pursuing policies of sticking to the Vadukoddai Resolution of establishing a sovereign and independent state. Is this an option for the Tamils? How viable is this?
A vocal and significant section of the Tamil Diaspora was pro- LTTE and invested all what they had in Prabhakaran and LTTE. They contributed millions to the LTTE and many so-called community leaders visited Prabhakaran and returned home with photographs of rubbing shoulders with the Sun God. They all had their fifteen minutes of glory. After seeing Prabhakaran’s swimming pool they never expected the LTTE to go down in Nandi Kadal. Even after the fall of Killinochchi, they refused to accept that Prabhakaran is finished. They never assessed the ground realities objectively. They merely followed the instructions of Kilinochchi blindly. This cult mentality made them act like zombies without initiative.
They are like young kids who believe that the parents would do the right thing but when the parents die in an unexpected accident the kids do not know what to do next. They find it hard to come to terms with reality and do silly things. This idea of a trans-national Eelam is also a childish act. I hope they will accept the reality soon because they have no one in Sri Lanka to carry on the failed politics of the past. The Tamils must accept their failed past and look to a fresh and new beginnings.
Q: You have consistently taken an anti-LTTE line and have been engaged in working out compromises? How far have you succeeded in this project of building bridges between the Tamils and Sinhalese?
My anti- LTTE stand comes from the early days of my anti-Eelam politics. When I was at Peradeniya University in ’77. I went with 10 friends from the university to work in the Udduppuiti electorate of M. Sivasithamparam. We met TULF leaders like Mr Sivasithamparam and told them that we had come to support the depressed caste candidate Mr Rajalingam in this electorate and not to support Eelamists. With his usual smile he asked us to canvass in Kalluvam and Polikandy villages where the more upper caste people live. I canvassed for 10 days and returned to the university without casting my vote. I have never ceased to be anti-Eelam but I believed, sometimes, that the armed struggle can bring some hope to the Tamils. But the atrocious crimes committed by the LTTE against the Tamil people dashed my hopes in mid eighties. Many people killed by LTTE were very good friends of mine like Pathmanaba, Kirupakaran, Sri Sabaratnam and Yogasankari and some of them are my childhood friends
As for building bridges it takes a long time. It must begin with the healing of wounds on both sides. It is also a two-way thing. I know Sinhala leaders have extended their hands of friendship and some of them have even apologized publicly to the Tamils. But I am sad to say that the Tamil leaders have not reciprocated in the same way. To build a bridge you must begin from both ends. Whatever defects there may be, there have been serious attempts at the Sinhala end. But there has been no serious attempt from the Tamil end. They are sticking to their old ways. Tamils too have to change and accept the new realities. Some of us in the Tamil diaspora have initiated a dialogue with the Sri Lankan government and also with the Sinhala diaspora. We are a small group and our initiative has been received well by peace-loving people from both sides. There is also a big Tamil diaspora out there with humanitarian concerns for their own people. We are hoping to join hands with them and start working, as a first step, with the Tamils in Sri Lanka . We are requesting the government to set up a mechanism through which the Tamil diaspora can contribute money, skills, time and energy. At the end of the day we all must recognize that the Tamils and Sinhalese must live together. We must stop blaming the Sinhalese for everything that happened and accept responsibility for our share of missed opportunities and stupidities.
Q: What are the immediate steps you propose to take in building bridges between the two communities?
When I visited Sri Lanka in July with our group from UK , Canada , USA and Australia we met ministers and diplomats, all of whom were supportive of our efforts. We requested Mr. D. E. W Gunasekara and Mr. Muralitharan to get together leading sociologists and academics to evolve a national integration strategy. We suggested that an experiment could be initiated in the Eastern province because of its demography where all three communities share the land in equal proportion.
There is some serious competition for resources like water, land and sea. Politicians being what they are can easily exploit this situation. I am very glad to say our message was positively taken up by Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera. Other contentious issue is language, though Tamil is official language perhaps we may have to move to the next level as in Canada . Sri Lanka has to be a trilingual country.
As an expatriate living in Australia I am not able to say what the Tamil people in Sri Lanka want at this time. Also, no one can decide for them except themselves but a new political process must come into play. I believe that in the post-war spirit of reconciliation the Sinhala community will understand that without equality it will not be easy for all communities to march together into the future. If one community lags behind then it will drag down the whole nation.
As for building bridges it takes a long time. It must begin with the healing of wounds on both sides. It is also a two-way thing. I know Sinhala leaders have extended their hands of friendship and some of them have even apologized publicly to the Tamils. But I am sad to say that the Tamil leaders have not reciprocated in the same way. To build a bridge you must begin from both ends. Whatever defects there may be, there have been serious attempts at the Sinhala end. But there has been no serious attempt from the Tamil end.At the end of the day we all must recognize that the Tamils and Sinhalese must live together. We must stop blaming the Sinhalese for everything that happened and accept responsibility for our share of missed opportunities and stupidities.
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Comments
As an impartial Sinhalese I see an objective analysis of the problem. He is forthright in his views, and suggests a reasonable solution. We should support him as he is a genuine SL Tamil. Keep up your good works, Sir!
Posted By: Nalin Jayamaha
Congratulations, Dr. Nadesan! Let us reintroduce Article 29(2) of the former Constitution Order in Council that was removed by Dr, Colvin's 1972 Constitution. This would ensure equal rights to all citizens. Let not politicians with vested interests destroy this country.
Posted By: Apolitical citizen
DEAR DR.NADESAN:: THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENLIGHTEN LETTER.YOU ARE WELL INFORMED...WE SHOULD APPOINT YOU AS A CABINET MINISTER IN SRILANKA..IF WE HAVE 200 PEOPLE LIKE YOU IN SRILANKA IT WOULD BE A PARADISE.TAMILS CAN NOT THINK OUTSIDE OF A BOX.THEY ARE STILL FROG IN THE WELL SITUATION..THEY CAN NOT THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX,, AS THEY HAVE A BRAIN LIKE A BIRD.
Posted By: Canadian Sinhalaya
Excellent Dr.Nadesan,you have explained very well the realities of Tamil straggle.
Posted By: muhunthan
Excellent Dr.Nadesan,you have explained very well the realities of Tamil straggle.
Posted By: muhunthan
Even though I am a vehement anti-LTTE person primarily because of the amount of people they killed. It doesnt matter whether they were singhalese, tamils or muslims but the untold misery they heaped on all communities is unforgivable. Having said that armed struggle seems the only way out for the tamils.
Posted By: Aj
Just these two sentences should be enough to give the people a choice living in "Tamil Eelam" to be given a choice to have a referendum like in Canada, where Quebec had a referendum. "At the end of the day we all must recognize that the Tamils and Sinhalese must live together(it is not a must, it is forced). ... Other contentious issue is language, though Tamil is official language perhaps we may have to move to the next level as in Canada". Even though Quebec was not separated. There are many differences in Quebec compared to the rest of Canada.If anyone needs examples I suggest doing a google search to understand. However, I do not believe that they will be given that referendum. Am I right????
Posted By: johnny nadarajah
At last...I read about a sensible tamil leader!
Posted By: ken
..........................dailymirror.lk
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