“..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.

“….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.

“…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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.