And note that the Sinhala majority in each election voted for the opposition which won hugely each time. You blame the Sinhalese for voting in bad evil racist government that tortured the Tamil but the Sinhalese have always moved away from the government in power to the other each and every time. What the hell do you think they should or could have done? The Sirimavo government that imposed standardization was voted out in 1977.. SWRD lost earlier in the 1960s.. You say Tamils had no choice.. What choice did the Sinhalese have that you assign all the blame for Tamil problems on them as a whole (with a tiny minority of good Sinhalese of course — no you’re not racist in anyway– pass judgment on us without having ever met a single member of our race).

[cit]But the truth is that only small sections of the diaspora supported the LTTE.[/cit]

What Belle is saying: Most Sinhalese are racists. [note she has not been to Sri Lanka and from what she's written the only Sri Lankans she's met are Tamil refugees] Only a minority of them are good.

The Tamils on the other hand are in general really nice normal people with a minority of bad LTTE-supporters.

Okay.. to sum up Sinhalese in general are bad and Tamils in general are good. Thank you, Belle.

When I saw that there was someone else who felt the same ambivalence as I did, it helped me to realize that there could be actually something quite ‘normal’ about my mixed feelings. Earlier I had thought that my ambivalence was due to my disconnect from both the pro-LTTE and anti-LTTE sections, and that it was a ‘weird’ reaction. It has been very helpful for me to explore those ambivalent feelings, to realise that they are actually warranted by the morally ambiguous nature of the situation itself. I suspect that if we poll the SL Tamil diaspora, we will find even more multiple positions due to our different connections to the struggle, our different generational histories, etc. These stories of our feelings deserve to be heard in all their complexity and variety, especially given the enormous psychological, cultural and geographic displacements that the community has experienced since independence.

It is silly to ask why the Tamils did not come out publicly against the LTTE, when the alternatives are considered. The alternative is Sri Lankan military occupation, end of story. If these people who question why the Tamils did not speak out against the LTTE, were just as vociferous in their condemnation of excesses by the Sri Lankan Government, then such people might have a point. On the other hand, we can rest assured that the same people have very little to say when it comes to such abuses. Therefore, had Tamils spoken out publicly against the LTTE, they would be simultaneously vouching for Sri Lankan military occupation, which as I have pointed out here, has no safeguards in place to prevent abuses.

The real problem here is lack of any neutral, third-party space. People like Rajani T. tried to fill the vacuum, but were quickly silenced. The international community, particularly the West, could have played such a role, but they were perceived as sympathetic to the LTTE (and still are). Since the demise of the TULF, Sri Lankan politics has veered between extremes. That situation can’t change until the majority community releases its iron grip on power. Remember that this conflict did not start overnight; it was the systematic discrimination against Tamils over a sustained period of time that finally pushed things over the edge. The majority wanted everything, as far as undisputed control over the island goes – it took them 60 years to consolidate their gains. But at what price they can hold on to those gains is an open questions. The 21st century is vastly different from the 20th century in which conflict began. The consequences are more dire. For example, if the next age of terrorism involves biological/chemical weapons, another rebellion will take even longer to crush. I would say, it is better to create that democratic space and address the grievances of the Tamils NOW, than continue with this 13th century mythological conquest.

I have to point out, the above statement is RIDICULOUS. No one should have to “work hard” for equality. Equality is a God-given right. As far as society is concerned, equality needs to be written into the Constitution, and the relevant clauses stringently enforced.

we should stop trying to hand over these and ask people to work for it.. say look at all people from sri lanka who migrate. they go and work hard without complain -so whats the issue when it comes to been lankan?

“If Tamils did not come out publicly against the LTTE in droves, there is no one to blame but their own government that let them down so badly and left them with such terrible options, on top of all the anger and bitterness it left.”

I hope you read my detailed response to Belle. I believe this question was answered in detail there.

Quite honestly, I’m not interested in the past. The past was created by “different” people under “different” circumstances. Generalizing these actions to all individuals and ignoring the overall humanitarian catastrophe which has befallen so many innocent individuals is where the tragedy lies. It’s up to the more educated people to provide thought-leadership in moving forward.

But apparently, what the more “educated” people, seem unable to agree on is the vision of a plural society, in which each human being can live in dignity regardless of race, caste, creed, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief (or absence of it) or whatever other kind of silly division it is that undermines our humanity.

They seem to be more concerned about racial ghettos, who this country belongs to and the constitutionalization of racism in order to preserve minority identities etc. as the solution. This is what causes some to talk about Eelams, some to talk about Sri Lanka belonging to the Sinhalese, some to talk of power devolution on racial lines etc but few or none to talk about the most important point – how to bring about equality for all (not just Tamils, not just Sinhalese, ALL). This is where the true failure in the imagination lies.

First of all, Belle, your eloquence on, and understanding of, the complexities of the Tamil Diaspora are amazing and far more evolved than mine — you need to be writing articles cos there is a dearth of nuanced viewpoints on this topic out there.

To SomewhatDisgusted, I have to say that Belle offers a very eloquent defense of the Tamil Diaspora to your comments that I have to agree with entirely.
Also, I greatly admire Rajani Thiranagama and Nirmala also, but do you really expect most regular human beings to be such heroes, take such courageous stands and forsake their families and stand in the front lines to get killed for truth and justice? Heroes are heroes and martyrs for a reason. Most others live in the grey areas of the middle, where they have to do what they have to do to take care of their families, live with their doubts, caught in a situation that is not of their making, live with their cynicism, their disappointment, their losses, and just go on. If Tamils did not come out publicly against the LTTE in droves, there is no one to blame but their own government that let them down so badly and left them with such terrible options, on top of all the anger and bitterness it left.

To Off the Cuff, I wanted to say that while I have closed the door on my life in Colombo, somehow I seem to find myself working on reconciliation. Some old friends dragged me into it– it’s an NGO with people from all SL ethnic communities that we formed here in the U.S. Diaspora to try and fund inter-ethnic projects throughout the country (SL), by partnering with local NGOs. So apparently I am not feeling as defeated as I probably sounded in the article.

My final point to all those who bothered to try and convince me of the horrors of the LTTE — yes, I know how heinous their violence became — but in my article I was trying to get people to see why so many in the diaspora did not denounce them and how some may have put on blinkers because it was all too difficult to deal with, or else people just chose sides, between the LTTE and the GoSL.
Personally, I think Belle needs to write another article trying to explain it because she has some excellent points that I think would be useful to highlighting why the larger Diaspora never quite came out against the LTTE.

In any event, you guys are a great bunch — you are all slowly renewing my faith in SL (well, a part of it anyway).

You obviously write with nostalgia and anguish and you have finally decided to close the door on your life in Colombo.

You say that “…… and furious, sad, and horrified, like much of the Tamil Diaspora, by the plight of Tamil citizens callously sacrificed to the Sri Lankan State’s all-out war against the LTTE”

Reflect a moment on what you wrote. Why were you not angry at the LTTE for the degrading and inhumane treatment of these same people? According to Ms. Anna Marie Loos of Medicines Sans Frontier, the LTTE were cutting off limbs and shooting them in the back to retain them in a “Human Shield” for the LTTE to hide behind and shoot at the SL Forces. Why could not the Diaspora organize their massive coordinated protests in Canada, UK, Australia, EU and USA against such treatment of the Vanni Tamils by the LTTE? Why were the Vanni Tamils ignored when they were under the LTTE and were being abused?

Look at the carnage left behind by the LTTE during their 27 year war. The LTTE was even offered the Administration of the North and the East for 10 years without an election even that was rejected. What other alternative did the Sri Lankan state have other than “All out war” as you put it?

You state that “For me, taking a position on the LTTE was not easy. Over the years, as I came across mounting evidence of the increasing and systematic human rights abuses by the Tigers, I gradually and quietly pulled back from supporting them in any way. But I could not bring myself to denounce them……..Part of it was loyalty,…….. In the end, it was hard to denounce the LTTE without feeling like I was somehow sanctioning the Government of Sri Lanka and its actions by doing that. ”

You accept there were mounting Human rights abuses … who did they abuse most? Was it not the Tamils held captive under them? Still you could not denounce them why? Was it only loyalty?

You state that “I write this because I feel that the Tamil Diaspora is viewed today by much (not all) of the non-Tamil Sri Lankan universe as a monolithic, extreme, out-of-touch, LTTE-loving group of fringe maniacs. The Dark Side waiting in the wings to ruin Sri Lanka by funding and creating a neo-LTTE any moment now. This is not the Tamil Diaspora in my life.”

Amongst my many friends in the Tamil Diaspora are some who do not support the LTTE as they have been victims of the LTTE themselves. Then there are some who keep a low profile out of fear for the LTTE but these are in the minority, many are openly supportive of the LTTE. The majority Tamils of the Diaspora supported the LTTE and decided to stay blind to what they did to their own people. Even when the LTTE was pilfering food meant for the civilians, imposing heavy taxes on food supplied free by the SL Govt and recruiting children as young as 8 years, the Diaspora maintained a “Pin Drop Silence” on such issues affecting the Tamils (let alone the other ethnics), why? Was it because they were insulated from such deprivation and were prepared to sacrifice the Vanni Tamils? Don’t you think they have earned their infamous reputation?

Tens of thousands of Tamils who now live amongst the Diaspora were saved from a certain death by brave Sinhalese men and women who were prepared to risk the lives of their own families to save their Tamil friends from mob violence in 1983. Read the comments on the web and see how many Tamils acknowledge it.

You state “Taking a principled position for a unified Sri Lanka with equal rights for all minorities, I could do. And in an ideal world, that is what I want. But the truth is that I did not, and do not, believe in its plausibility.”

Equal rights are never a problem as long as what is sought is equitable. If the Tamils want to perpetuate the dominant position that the British conferred on them during colonial rule it would hardly be conducive to the above goal. If on the other hand the Tamils give up the divisive “Traditional Homeland” concept and accept the right of any citizen to live anywhere within the island as guaranteed by the Constitution then that will be a great step in the right direction

I hope you will change your mind and work for reconciliation

Your post of November 24, 2009 @ 11:20 pm refers
http://www.groundviews.org/2009/11/24/a-wobbly-bridge-or-is-it-a-footpath-from-the-tamil-diaspora/#comment-11186

They will have to acknowledge that Eezham Tamils are a distinct ethnic group with a separate language, culture and homeland and their future should the determined by them only.

This is the type of mentality that drives people apart. You have even managed to separate yourselves from 60m + other Tamils of Tamil Nadu in just one sentence.

BTW, where exactly is this “Homeland” that you refer to? On what grounds do you make such a claim?

What I have shown is that from a historical viewpoint, the unitary form of government is more likely to lead to repression.

“…What if I told you that the only nation in history, that had a federal system, which experienced a dictatorship, was Germany?..”

What is your point? This kind of dictatorship won’t last long and that is why it short lived.

Hitler, precisely, knew the weakness of Germans and manipulated them for achieving his objectives (probably, to become a powerful man).

Germans were misled or brain washed (what ever you call it) by Hitler, I guess.

We must forget these events in the history. Let alone discussing this here.

What if I told you that the only nation in history, that had a federal system, which experienced a dictatorship, was Germany?

“…Federalism is the political version of the ethnic ghetto. It recognizes the “ghetto” on a somewhat larger scale…”

Look at Australian federal system. Six colonies got together and formed the federation for their own benefit.

The Australian defense force (unlike the Sri Lankan defense force) truly represents all states and its people.

Australians don’t worry much about defense force because they don’t really need it. They need it for the purpose of border security, of course.

“..The ghetto cannot, I repeat cannot, secede because it does not have the power to raise an army..”

The purpose of your federal system is to keep some sections of people in check and in control.

I am of the opinion that your version of federal system is worse than the current political system which we have.

reputations are often not based on fact.
reputations often stick around for a lot longer than the original allegations do.

btw, i’m not being insensitive suggesting some Tamil women weren’t raped by Sinhalese, I’m sure it may have happened much as Sinhalese women who got raped at the hands of Sinhalese men, just as the fact that Sinhalese women were raped during LTTE raids on sinhalese, muslim border villages and massacres. at least be fair about it. for some rape is just political ammunition which really makes me sick to my stomach!

perhaps, ir regards to rape, Belle is talking about international reports such as this: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA37/001/2002 or local reports, such as: http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport31.htm ?

The demand for federalism was there well before Prabhakaran. I have had this discussion numerous times; the inclination (on the part of members from the majority community) seems to be to equate the entire Tamil struggle for equality with a demand for secession (e.g. Eelam). Secession is a controversial word, nevertheless, it is also at one extreme of the conflict-resolution spectrum. When you say secession, you are not allowing for any other possibilities. Which is why I prefer a more mild-mannered term like “space.” More than Tamils simply pushing for secession all of these past 60 years, what they have really asked to have is their own “space.”

Putting unity aside, we need to understand that people need their own space. The ethnic “ghettos” you see in practically every major world capital are not there by accident. Federalism is the political version of the ethnic ghetto. It recognizes the “ghetto” on a somewhat larger scale. But the premise is still the same; that people of a certain group feel a need to cluster together. Federalism does not recognize the independence of the ghetto; it gives the ghetto administrative power to run its own affairs. The ghetto cannot, I repeat cannot, secede because it does not have the power to raise an army (real-world examples: there is no Scottish Army, Québécois Army, etc.)

Now let me leave you with this question: if you are okay with a Welawatte in Colombo, why are you not okay with three or four Welawatte’s in the North?