Between Eelam and War: Where’s the solution?
By The Titular Republic
This conflict has no end. The path of injustice taken by this nation heralds war, destruction and suffering. The “blood-shattered landscape” will scream and her children shall become slaves to fear and hatred. Why?
The present government hopes to destroy the LTTE by militarily; with superior numbers, weapons and strategy. Even though it may be militarily feasible to destroy the feared Tigers of Lanka in this fashion, it will not heal this broken nation. Will a person who has identified every Tamil as a possible suicide bomber, who has supported the violation of Tamils fundamental rights, who has come to believe he has nothing in common with any Tamil, who has come to believe that Sri Lanka, from Point Pedro to Dondra, is a ‘sacred, Sinhala homeland’ be ever able to accept a Tamil as a human being, a fellow citizen and a comrade-in-arms in the struggle for survival? Will the Tamil, who has been killed, mutilated and raped in the name of unity ever reconcile freedom and justice with a united nation? Will the Tamil who has seen his children dead for the cause of a separate nation be still? Will the Tamil whose lands have been colonized, whose rights and humanity stripped; whose only crime is being Tamil, ever trust the majority of a united Lanka. Will the Tamil who has been treated as a second-class citizen ever feel ownership of a united Sri Lanka? This problem cannot be solved by military means alone. From this pit of hatred, mistrust and enmity another Tiger and another chauvinist, murderous government will emerge. The “voice of strife” will only be “dumb” when the Tamil and Sinhalese accept each others as brothers of Lanka and not as pariahs intruding in a foreign land. . The policy of the present government, certain previous governments and that of the Tigers merely kindles the fires of enmity and violence.
However, if the Tigers do succeed in creating a ‘Tamil homeland’, woe to its subjects. For the Tigers do not tolerate citizens- Eelam will be solely governed by the ferocious paw and fang of the Tiger. “The freedom to shape our political destiny” is a struggle carried out by the Tigers in the name of their God- Power. On whose altar the mangled bodies of Durraiappah, Rajani, Rajiv, Mahathaya etc. lay. Not to mention the average cadre, whose brains have been washed out and replaced with the worship of Power. This “theoretical vacuum” and “intolerance” will create a police state analogous to Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. The Tamils in Eelam will have no rights at all. The will of the Tiger, guided by Prabarkaran, will never permit any dissent and all freedom will be squashed. The illusion of a free Eelam under the Tigers may be enticing but it is not possible. The bitter reality of an Eelam will settle on the Tamil: a nation without freedom, a nation without economic equity, a nation built on violence and a nation in which the humanity of man does not exist, there will only be room for the supremacy of the Tiger. Thus will the cries of this land not cease.
The military solution has failed in the last 24 years- over 60,000 of our people have been killed, our economy is in shambles and our people have no hope. Another avenue must be pursued. Let us learn from Northern Ireland and recognize the necessity for a political solution based on the equal treatment of all citizens.
Only when “the stranger becomes a brother” can this land be healed. The Tiger will not change. The only solution is to rise, child of Lanka, and vote; for justice, equality and freedom. Only then will the Tiger be defanged and unable to terrorize. Then we “shall sing of Lanka in the brave new days that come” where the “voice of strife is dumb”.
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Absolutely correct. This war in my view, is a political farce of biblical proportions at both ends. I don’t propose to have witnessed all the suffering of the Tamil people but over the years I have traveled a fair bit through what is “accessible” and feel nothing but disgust…having witnessed some of the poverty and neglect that all Sri Lankans…Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim alike…have to go through…
War has never solved a thing, this blood lust only appeals to the short term ego and prejudices of the SInhala people…..who seemed to have nothing else to be proud of…apart from great feats of civilization centuries ago. In modern history, all they have been responsible for…is destroying the island on every level. Yet what fills me with dread is the fact that the country is still filled with narrow minded warmongers that allow these corrupt politicians to go on and on….
I mean it’s just hypocrisy at every level yet so many people fail to see it…at least I hope they see it. The SLFP, the JVP , the JHU, the UNP …they have all been parties full of bandits for the most part with only the odd exception to the rule…and they are either killed or forced out through sheer force. This ofcourse is not some recent development…..this as far as my education dictates…has been the political setup since independence. Sure blame it on the British…on the Indians…the the Americans for their hypocritical war on terror….but ultimately..all sledging aside…where on earth is Sri Lanka? It is no doubt one of the most beautiful places on earth…inhabited by the filthiest of crooks….who exploit…twist and plunder even more…from a largely idiot population.
Common sense is perhaps the only natural resource that the island wasn’t endowed with. Of course war will end nothing. You wipe them out militarily…you’d only have proven that the Tamil cause was worthwhile. There’d still never be peace…that defeat would serve as a constant reminder …a tool for rebellion and those regions would still in effect be a police state to keep it secure. What about the soldiers? All those traumatized soldiers will likely turn rogue as there will be no proper mechanism to reintegrate them into society. What about development? Sri Lanka…with all it’s cries about being a “nation” has done next to nothing to develop its precious South. It used to take me 8 hours to go from one end to another…and that’s on a good day…this is an island not a continent.
Even the most basic amenities are not available to the poor of the southern and central provinces, basic development in the the north and the east will surely eclipse my lifetime…and i’m 23….
I apologize for the lack of structure..but it honestly breaks my heart how people have been sucked into all this stupidity..a good three generations…arguably a fourth. Over the stupid political games..of the Govt as we call it..and the LTTE.. I would not be surprised at all…to learn that they were in cahoots (in fact weren’t they supposed to have been? what happened to that?). I cannot say I have been able to witness a single act of goodness that the LTTE have delivered to the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. From my experience they merely echo tamil prejudices, primarily through disconnected diaspora all over the world.
So in effect…it’s a circle that goes around and around, never ending? Well I’m not sure how a nation can go on like this. In fact it’s a feat of sheer persistent….that we aren’t running around naked with clubs in our hands….that we still have some sort of economy (with pretty printed notes)…and perhaps a morsel of common sense and humanity…
But pray….a single Buddhist person has not been able to justify this war to me. I do not consider myself a religious man…but I notice that most Buddhists in Sri Lanka ….hang on to their religion and its virtues like a suckling at its mother’s teat….yet where on earth did the Buddha speak of it being alright to kill people…..the mind boggles…the heart aches…hope diminishes….
we have only have to go back few years into the history to find out the facts and reasons for this war. although Banda had a genuine fear of Tamil dominance in the goverment his racist attitude and actions became the corner stones for sufferings of srilanka both sinhalese and tamils.to make it worse all the sinhalese leaders who came and went since, only made the corner stones much stronger and never had any genuine and honest effort to remove them. The anger harboured by both sinhlese and tamils towards each other is the product of those activities by these political leaders. There is not a single political leader or for that matter any sinhalese politician can put their hands and say that the tamils are equal and should be treated equally. Until the day they realise this and fulfill this basic committment toward fellow srilankans the sorry state will continue and I very much hope and pray that some one will realise this before it reaches the point of no return
Interesting article, but it unfortunately makes use of the “military vs. political solution” false dichotomy. Sorry The Titular Republic, but “justice, equality and freedom” did not run for election in Nov 2005. Platitudes are nice but they generally don’t lend hard solutions which involve difficult trade-offs.
Peace came to N. Ireland after the IRA decided to lay down arms. The LTTE has not done so and thus the correlation with the IRA is irrelevant and useless. The LTTE has little incentive to lay down arms more or less seriously talk about peace because it controls territory and thus benefits from a status quo situation.
If you want the LTTE to change its stripes, you will have to change the situation. Unfortunately that means taking away the LTTE’s control of territory. All the peace marches in the universe won’t make a difference until the peace lobby gains the courage to march in Kilinochchi.
The chicken and the egg, Wijayapala.
Peace did not come because the IRA lay down arms, the IRA lay down arms because peace came. The moment the British put everything on the table, allowed real discussions to begin about grievances and addressed the issues that stuck in the craw of Irish people — there was no fight left.
You can kill a hundred Prabarkarans, Thamilchelvams, but others will replace them. And in all likelihood, the replacements will be far more bloodthirsty, far less inclined to think before acting, and more unwilling to find an alternate solution. At this point, the government is better off declaring outright a goal to wipe Tamils off the face of Sri Lanka.
The article is a good analysis and also tries to make the people aware of the past mistakes and the way forward. But how far will it work in today’s situation is some food for thought.
But as a optimistic it has to be taken for granted that the younger generation of the Sinhalese have started to think as Sri Lankans and NOT as Sinhalese, which is a positive step forward. Surely this attitude will be reciprocated by the Tamils.
There is not a single political leader (except some unpopular left politicians like Dr.Wickrababu Karunaratne) or for that matter any Sinhalese politician who put their hands and say that the Tamils and all other minorities are equal citizens of this country and so should be treated equally. UNEQUAL treatment of all citizens, for selfish reasons caused the situation we are facing today.
Now, one word, for those who are actually and sincerely interested in fostering a united country by supporting “devolution” as a means to achieve sustainable peace, please avoid thinking in terms of “devolution” and instead please try to think in terms of “sharing” of powers, rights, duties and responsibilities that cannot be taken back at any time by any government or individual by any method.
The best political solution would be to DILUTE the powers of all elected representatives by separating the powers of Parliament and empowering different sets of people’s representatives to administer the different sets of separated powers. It has to be devolution HORIZONTALLY where every set of representatives would be equal and NOT vertically where one set of representatives would be above the other which is the normal practice in this power-hungry world. It is because of “devolution” being done “vertically” we have all the trouble in the power-hungry world. So for sustainable peace it should not be “devolution” but “dilution of powers” or “sharing of powers” in such a way that no one – other than the common people – is superior. This system would eradicate injustice, discrimination, bribery and corruption and establish the “Rule of Law” and “Rule by ALL” for sustainable peace, tranquility and prosperity and a pleasant living with dignity and respect for all inhabitants in the country. Everyone must have “equal” powers,rights and most importantly duties and responsibilities.