Sympathy grows for LTTE internationally

By Nidhi Bhardwaj

Issue Net Edition | Date : 21 Apr , 2011

The oppressive rule of the Sri Lankan government post independence, forced the Tamils to take to armed struggle against the state.

The Tamil Diaspora has become a focal point as the LTTE’s armed structure is no more. The present dynastic government is more powerful than any of the previous governments in Sri Lanka. But this does not mean they will yield this kind of power forever. There was a time for Augusto Pinochet, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Slobodan Milosevic and so on. Their rule eventually ended. Tunisia and Egypt are very recent examples that undemocratic rulers and bad governance cannot be sustained indefinitely.

The oppressive rule of the Sri Lankan government post independence, forced the Tamils to take to armed struggle against the state. One million Tamils were disenfranchised a year after independence. The Sinhalese movement In Sri Lanka and the militarization of peaceful Tamil state by the government, gave birth to Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam in 1983. LTTE, a separatist military organization fought to create an independent state called Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island.

What gave birth to LTTE and lead to a 26 year long civil war in Sri Lanka?

State sponsored colonization of Tamil areas by Sinhala people.
Sinhala as only National Language.
Discrimination in education and employment.
Recurrent Government sponsored pogroms.
Constitution written to protect majority rights only.
Provision for minority protection in the constitution prior to independence removed
Peaceful voices for minority rights violently crushed by the state
Oppressive measures and deprivation of rights eventually lead to Tamil youths into arm struggle
Government attacks Tamil civilians including mass killings, torture

Following the washout of the LTTE from Sri Lanka, little has been done by the Government to reconcile with the Tamil community. The government remains indifferenet to the problems being faced by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. The political system of Sri Lankan governance does not need the government to be accountable to the Tamils. If the current system continues Tamils will be a permanent minority condemned to live under a tyrannical majority.

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The Tamil community minus LTTE is left deprived of a credible leadership. While its departure has left the field clear for a variety of independent leaders to emerge, the Tamil community largely is unable to find a voice. The nationalists in the diaspora are now staking a claim to the mantle of the LTTE to represent Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan state`s ongoing failure to deal with the problems facing the Tamils on the ground gives energy to this movement.

There is a dire need to reconcile with the wounded Tamil Community in Sri Lanka so as to avoid any possibility of LTTEs revival.

Since the end of the war, three events have been particularly significant for the diaspora. The first was the seeking of a re-endorsement of the Vaddukoddai Resolution of 1976 which put forward that the demand for an independent Tamil state through an international referendum in April 2010 amongst Diaspora Tamils. Second was the setting-up of what is known as the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), through an election held among Diaspora Tamils in May 2010. Third, a Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has been set up, an alliance of important Diaspora Tamil-nationalist groups.

Given the current circumstances, where the UN report has substantiated Sri Lankan government’s crimes during the war against the LTTE, the Tamil Diaspora is left dejected. If the oppressive Sri Lankan rule continued, there could be a demand for a separate state for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. There is a dire need to reconcile with the wounded Tamil Community in Sri Lanka so as to avoid any possibility of LTTE’s revival.

—THL