TNA’s Failure to Seize the Moment: Who Will Fill the Vacuum?
The TNA’s ability to negotiate a comprehensive devolution package for the Tamil community with either Mahinda Rajapaksa or Sarath Fonseka is becoming more and more distant as the Presidential election draws nearer. This has greatly benefited Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka as they could play safer electoral politics in the Sinhalese South without dealing with the issue of  the devolution of power to the Tamil community. The TNA’s misery is a direct result of their current disunity and their lack of political direction in the democratic politics after the military defeat of the LTTE. There is no emerging political leadership that is farsighted and politically mature enough to take the Tamil community’s democratic rights to the centre stage in the Presidential election. The outcome of the Presidential election will be crucial and can usher a new era to the nation only with the participation of the Tamil community in securing their democratic rights.
The aim of this account is to make a case for a new political leadership in view of the TNA’s political failure and its disintegration.
The TNA believed that the Tamil Tigers’ military project was invincible. They have not come to terms with its demise and the LTTE’s total defeat. Their rapid political disintegration following the announcement of the Presidential election shows that they have no consensus about their future political direction. They need to understand that Tamil Eelam as a political utopia is now dead and the road to win the Tamil democratic rights lies across the A9 with Colombo and not across the Falk Strait with Delhi or the Western cities. The Diaspora’s influence will not be decisive enough as a single factor to revive separatism in Sri Lanka. It is also very hard for the TNA to negotiate a substantial devolutionary package as the Tiger’s historic military defeat has deprived of them grabbing more than the 13th amendment. Tamil nationalism should demonstrate their willingness to join the democratic politics and shed their separatist ideology and reconsider their options in changing times. The formation of the TNA was to provide a narrow nationalistic political line to support the LTTE’s military project but following the LTTE’s defeat and the TNA’s disintegration shows that these narrow nationalistic currents will be consolidated by a new leadership. It appears that some remnants of the TNA will undertake this role and have already made their intention known to boycott the Presidential election.
The TNA’s inability engage in democratic politics stems from their failure to carry out the root and branch destruction of the narrow nationalistic political ideology they inherited from being a proxy to the LTTE. They are unable to tell the Tamil community that they should take part in democratic politics and negotiate with Colombo. They never thought they would have to seek the support of the Tamil people without the LTTE’s support and their military strength. They turned a blind eye to the political assassinations carried out by the LTTE within their own community thereby depriving the Tamil community of its much needed public intellectuals to mould and advance their political demands in the course of the struggle. The LTTE conducted two wars, one with the Sri Lankan State often targeting the civilians in the South and the other with their own people when it summarily executed Tamil political leaders, intellectuals and faceless Tamil youth activists who belonged to other organizations. The TNA kept its silence and failed to guarantee the right to life for their own community for more than two decades of the LTTE’s totalitarianism. The TNA’s is inability to rise up to the challenge in leading the Tamil community through the Presidential election shows that they can no longer lead the democratic struggle of the Tamils. They are only a part of history: they do not represent either the current moment or the future.
Then who could take over the leadership? The ex-militant groups such as EPDP, TMVP, PLOTE and EPRLF have been suggested as an alternative leadership who are presently aligned with the current regime. It is true that historically all these groups have been pushed to support the regime due to the fact that the LTTE determined to destroy them. But when these threats no longer exist their support is more difficult to explain. Whether they can be a credible and progressive alternative is an open question. If they do it they will have to climb a steep mountain. Secondly these groups have a very difficult question to answer: what is their answer to the thousands of civilian deaths? They are unable to ask the Tamil people to forget war time memories. Â Have they expressed sensitivity towards the IDP’s flight in the Vanni? What is the guarantee that they will not use violence against their political adversaries in the future? The political culture we need to build and respect throughout the country is that the right to life cannot and should not be calibrated according to ethnicity, political agenda and the final goal of the regime as well as the militant groups. All the groups who took up arms in the country from the JVP in the South to the LTTE in the North and East as well as the Sri Lankan regime itself failed to respect the right to life of political dissidents and the lives of the innocent people alike. And these militant groups who have now given up arms are also culpable of these criminal activities in the past.
What is required is a new political leadership in the Tamil community to take up the question of Tamil rights with the Sri Lankan state.Sri Lanka has a fragile democracy but the State is not going to crumble. It has not closed the door on negotiations and compromises. It will be a long and painful struggle to win the democratic rights and there will be no shortcuts. It will not be a very seductive political line for young activists to accept in the Tamil community or Diaspora. Nonetheless, there is no other way out and the armed struggle is not an option which was tested and end ended in tragic failure .To repeat it again will be a monumental mistake and a major disaster. Non violent democratic struggle is the future and that alone will be capable of producing a trustworthy, genuine and talented leadership that will respect human dignity and the right to life throughout the struggle and after the victory.
The issue, then, is who will be the potential candidates for such a leadership? It might emerge from the TNA or outside of it as the current political moment unfolds. But it will not occur naturally. It has to be consciously organized and developed within the most advanced sectors of the Tamil community. The role of the Tamil intellectuals and activists at this hour of need is crucially important. It remains to be seen whether they take this task beyond the confines Diaspora to the North and East where the memories of the war are still fresh and the people are in need of support in order to tie their hopes with a fresh political discourse. This is a challenge as everywhere there is a sense of helplessness following the war.
There is a mammoth task ahead apart from creating a new political leadership. The war took the Tamil community about 30 years back in terms of social and economic development. There a great disparity in terms of physical and human resources development between the South and Tamil areas. In those terms there is much to catch up. Any new political leadership will have to deal with this aspect of social and economic inequality. Before the war was started in earnest in the mid 1980’s political marginalization of youths in Tamil areas and the hopelessness and poverty was quite apparent. This gave rise to a ready supply of carders to the militant organizations. The current generations of Tamil youth are still confronted by such challenges and it is crucial that comprehensive social ladders should be visible in order to utilize their talents and give them hope. After so many years of war weariness and the absence of democratic politics it is the paramount duty of the new political leaders to engage them in new politics.
Whoever wins the Presidential election, there should be a new political leadership in Tamil areas to deal with Colombo. They should be able to maintain their distance with Colombo and argue for the devolution of power within a united Sri Lanka consistently and persuasively taking the democratic struggle to the centre stage. If this happens it will be a return of history where the TULF was forcibly stopped and the Tamil Tigers marched for 30 years until their guns were finally silenced on 18th May 2009 in Vellamullivaikkal.
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Apparently the TNA is now supporting the general’s candidacy. This is a small step forward. At least they aren’t boycotting the election. If only Neelan Thiruchelvam, Lakshman Kadirgamar and Kethesh Loganathan were around…the Tamil nationalist project saw the end of them, and the Tamils are much poorer for it.
Dhiraj,
The TNA is divided into 3 camps. Sivajilingam is contesting on his own. Gajen Ponnambalam and others are boycotting the elections while Sambanthan and supporters have decided to support Fonseka.
iam for a federal set up in s.l.,not only on ethhnical grounds.mr. ketesh loganathan,whom i used to meet atleast 2 times a year,told me about 3 months before he was killed,to stop talking about a f.s. and propagate what the president rajapaksa says”maximum possible devolution”.ketesh was of the opinion at the moment nothing more was possible specially due to the nationalistic and chauvenistic parties.for him one party was the jvp.ketesh i beleive was of the opinion with time a federal setup was possible with mahinda.the question for the tamils at this election is ,can fonseka, for me a top sinhale nationalist,leaning more towards the jvp than the unp keep his poromises.i say no.if he wins, he will never abolish the ex.presidency,and probably would be a puppet of the jvp,and probably terror specially against the unp eers. ranjit de mel berlin
Daily Mirror republishes this article today.
Gut wrenching does good to clean out the system. Will it in this instance is a no brainer given the monumental past failures at non-violent actions between the Leaders of the Sinhala and Tamil parties. Hence the following statements are astounding for their inaccuracy:
1. “It (Sri Lankan state) has not closed the door on negotiation and compromsises”.
2. “Non violent democratic struggle is the future etc.”
The B-C Pact and the DS-BC Agreement were just that. Neither saw the light of day. Had these been implemented SrI Lankans of all raceas and religions could have been spared the unncessary and criminal spilling of blood and tears of other people. LTTErs were not even born then,a t least most of them!
As mentioned by an earlier commentator the TNA and the ACTC have decided to go along with SF, for better or worse. We have to wait and see how the voters will vote. One can already see old wounds opening up slowly about the North-East merger even before the terms of the agreement with SF have been bared to the public. It is the stuff of old style politics at baiting voters. Jan.26th is not long to wait!
Before going so far as political decentralisation through 13th Amndment, it makes far more common sense to implement the provisons of the use of the Tamil language to the people of the north and east as provided for in the 1972 Constitution and later versions. That it has not been done even after 37 years affecting the fundamental rights of the Tamil speaking citizens is manifestly discriminatory and conveys bad faith on the part of the state by successive governments. This has nothing to do with the LTTE.
Thank you for this rational discussion of Tamil political options. It’s a thoroughly welcome relief after Dayan J’s recent hubris-laden rants.
Now that TNA has made the decision to support SF whether it is simple majority or unanimous, I hope Tamils will take note of this decision and advice, and vote accordingly. Also, Tamils should use the 2nd preferential vote wisely. Votes should consider, not the short term gain or benefit but the long term and a strategic view. Here is my take when the voters are considering their preference for voting:
It is very clear both were involved in crime against Tamils and both are Sinhala ultranationalist and will not give an inch in terms of power sharing to the Tamil Speaking people within the present context. But most importantly, the daily life of Tamil speaking people will not be any better under either of them, in this prevailing condition. I am saying not because of they don’t want to better the Tamils life, but because their priorities will be some where else. They will do the minimum to satisfy India’s demand, primarily and international pressure to obtain financial benefits. On the broader picture, neither of them will not be able turn the down hill direction of Governance; corruption, nepotism, waste, big Govt (100 odd minsters etc) and bureaucratic, law & Order, impunity, press freedom, freedom of movement etc. MR and SF have different reasons for not changing anything or unable to do. I don’t believe for a minute that either of them will implement the current constitution in full; letter and deed.
For MR, that is the way he govern and he doesn’t know any other way. So, he will continue to govern with offering few bones , here and there including to international Govt. The main danger is of MR winning is that we can safely predict that for the next 10-15 years Rajapaksa dynasty will be in control of the country. But, the most depressing sight is the way Rajapaksa has mastered the art of “divide and rule”. In this intimidating environment there will not be space or time for Tamil speaking people to get their act together after 30 years of inactivity in the democratic political domain. MR’s mentality is a leader of majority community with minority mentality.
On the other hand, we don’t know S;, other than a brutal military man. So, he is an unknown quantity whether as a leader or a man who has conviction and who can be trusted of his words and a person with whom other politicians, leaders and people can discuss, explain, persuade and expected to do the right thing and will not wavier from the decision he makes. However, one thing is in favour of all law abiding Sri Lankan and hard working ordinary citizens looking to better their lives in a dignified and honourable way is that SF doesn’t have any political baggage with him. What it means is, he would be struggling to get his administration intact. Rather than, leading from the front on articulating his vision and implementing some of the difficult decisions, he will be spending most of his time in settling the internal bickering between the diverse “rainbow” coalition partners who are supporting him in the contest.
Considering the two possible scenarios, I support the TNA decision to support the SF in the upcoming presidential election and would hope that SF will win. SF at the presidential helm will provide the opportunity for the Tamil Speaking parties and people to regroup, reorganise, rethink and establish closer alliances with the people and politicians of the south and argue, communicate and pursue a common program. In this respect, Sivajilingham has taken the opportunity of the presidential election to take the common platform with a Sinhala candidate( Vickramabhau) to speak to the Sinhala people directly to explain the issues and what Tamil speaking people wants and how what they are asking for is not detrimental for the Sinhalese people or for the country as a whole. Hope with this decision other TNA members will appear with the General in the southern platforms to explain the Tamil Speaking peoples concerns and issues and listern to the Sinhala peoples issues and concerns. Tamils never did take their cause to the Sinhala people directly, so hope the time and space of the SF presidency will provide the opportunity for this. When doing this, Tamils should understand the concerns, fear and aspirations of Sinhala people and address them along all with the common issues confronting all Sri Lankan.
Dear Groundtruth
You state that the following two statements are astoundingly inaccurate
(1) ‘It (Sri Lankan state) has not closed the door for negotiation and compromises.
(2) Non-Violent democratic struggle is the future etc.
This is my response. Both these statements are theoretically linked.
Statement 1: This is true. It has not closed the door for negotiation and compromises. But there are disappointments. Just because there have been historical failures no mature political organization can afford to exclude this option. Now the TNA has come out in support of SF and they will have to negotiate with him and come to certain compromises. Do you think then this is an inexcusable mistake on the part of the TNA? You should use the democratic space until it is exhausted and as long as the Sri Lankan state maintains even the semblance parliamentary democracy the democratic struggle is relevant and should be pursued. If you think this is inaccurate you are going make a monumental political mistake. All the armed movements in Sri Lanka from the JVP to the Tamil militant groups including the Tami Tigers disregarded the democratic struggle and paid a high price for their mistakes. They never knew how to negotiate and make compromises.
Statement 2: In my view the use of violence in order to achieve political aims belongs to the past. The armed struggle ends up with producing a one party state with totalitarianism/dictatorship. They close the democratic space and severely curtail people’s basic freedoms including the right to dissent. Do you want your Tamil community to live under such a totalitarian system which will not give them even the basic freedom they enjoy under capitalism? The best example is how the LTTE controlled the every bit of people’s lives in the area under their control. They tolerated no dissent and went for the total control which required them destroy every organization and individuals who did not submit to their will. You need to study the lessons of Vellamullaivaikkal in its entirety from the very beginning of the Tamil Tigers in a mature way to understand the value of the democratic struggle and its accuracy.
Dear Groundtruth,
“The B-C Pact and the DS-BC Agreement were just that. Neither saw the light of day. Had these been implemented SrI Lankans of all raceas and religions could have been spared the unncessary and criminal spilling of blood and tears of other people. LTTErs were not even born then,a t least most of them!”
It seems that it is your statements that are astounding for their inaccuracy.
The LTTE and Prabakaran had nothing to do with the B-C or D-C pacts. Tamil militancy began in Jaffna in the early 1970s not as a result of the non-implementation of these pacts but because of standardisation which affected Jaffna Tamil youth. Prabakaran himself was a school dropout so standardisation did not even affect him, but he took advantage of the sentiment and got other dropouts to support him.
If the B-C or D-C pacts had been implemented, there probably would have been a backlash against the Tamils and the war would have started anyway.
Dear Dayapala,
An excellent article. Thank you.
Dear Anjali,
I agree that DJ’s article might not have been couched in the most diplomatic , but the essence of what they are both saying seems to me the same – seize the available opportunities and move forward within a democratic space. More can and must come later, but progress must be made within available means. I too believe their point is that banging the same old drum (Sinhalese are racists therefore Eelam, a racist utopia of my own) won’t help. The important thing is to keep the real end goal in mind, something that all moderates can identify with – equality for all.
Dear Groundtruth,
I would like to add to what Dayapala said about the Sri Lankan state being closed for negotiations and compromise. Tamil being made a national language, university quota systems being abolished etc. were all done within a democratic space. Now, for comparison’s sake, list out what the violence of the LTTE has achieved in tangible terms. I personally can’t think of anything but tragedy.
Dear SomewhatDisgusted
Thank you for your constructive intervention and strenthening the argument for the use of democratic space.
Dear Dayapala,
The whole country is disintegrating. Forget about TNA.
TNA doesn’t represent any one at the moment, I guess.
I strongly believe that there hasn’t been democratic space in Sri Lanka at any point in time. We are still living in the medieval period.
We all must understand that Colombo administration was brought by British. Not by any one else.
Dear SomeWhatDisgusted, we can’t achieve “…Equality for all…” until we realize the above very important fact.
I believe that any one with no farsighted back in the history is definitely not farsighted in future.
I tend to think that they (politician) don’t want to see it.
“…road to win the Tamil democratic rights lies across the A9 with Colombo ….”
What is/are the relationship/s between “Tamils”, “Democratic rights”, “A9”, “Colombo?”
The answer to your question “..Who will fill the vacuum?..” lies within your above statement.
We live and learn! Lets wait and see whether the course of the ideas expressed in the comments above will be borne out. Until then I prefer to keep my fingers crossed. There is not the slightest indication except by the two Socialist candidates for accomodative changes to sort out the cancer that has been eating into the body politic over the past decades. There are no transparent indications on the part of the two lead candidates for accomodative politics regarding governance to bring about change. And that is not a hopeful sign for very good reasons, of course, given the nature of divisive politics even after a human catastrophe.
Dear Groundtruth,
“…live and learn…” . Yes, it’s true.
However, we don’t have to keep learning the same thing and reinventing the wheel again and again.
Dear Dayapala,
“….If this happens it will be a return of history where the TULF was forcibly stopped and the Tamil Tigers marched for 30 years until their guns were finally silenced on 18th May 2009 in Vellamullivaikkal….”
History will not stop there. It (history) will return further back in time line. It (the point of return) will be a point where this island was free of external influence.
Although, TULF was representing Tamil community (on paper) they (members of TULF) were mainly living in Colombo and were lobbying with Sinhalese politicians. Lobbying and negotiation is two different things.
In my view, TULF violated vaddukkodai resolution. Vaddukkodai resolution was nonnegotiable with Sinhalese people. TULF were not in a position where they were able to tell same thing in “Jaffna peninsula” and in Colombo.
The “elite Jaffna people” didn’t care about double talk. Because they themselves virtually lived in Colombo and their vested interest were in Colombo or elsewhere.
Dear SomeOne
If the TULF had violated the Vaddukkodai resolution the mandate given to the them by the people you should have asked the people to take a decision on them in a democratic way.How can you assassinate political leaders who were elected by the people?You should not violate the other people’s right to life just because they disagreed with you or they could not fulfill your political aspirations.If you do not understand these basic human rights it dangerous get involved in politics.If you have this kind of mind set you will go on killing your own people just because you do not agree with them.This shows that you have not learnt anything from the military and human tragedy that ended in Vellamullaivikkal last year.
Dear Dayapala,
“..How can you assassinate political leaders who were elected by the people?..”
I haven’t assassinated any political leaders or any one, for that mater.
Killing is very bad, you know.
“..This shows that you have not learnt anything from the military and human tragedy that ended in Vellamullaivikkal last year…”.
We haven’t learned any thing at any time in our history (including pre history). Probably, we learnt the lesson and torn the paper.
Don’t mention the human tragedy that ended in Vellamullaivikkal last year. We all know about it. What a shame.
I am sorry that you missed the whole point, I guess.
Take it easy and have a G’day.