South Sudan model – ‘Independent Tamil Eelam – The Final Destination’– A REVIEW
This piece by Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah eminently serves as an inspiring message for Eelam Tamils, one and all committed to the Tamil cause. To those Tamils dejected by the events of the last two years viewing Mullivaykkal as a defeat for the Tamils; historians teach that defeat in a battle(s) is not a defeat in a war (for the Tamils and the Tamil cause). Usha’s proven intellect is bound to correct the defeatist message that a few parley further damaging the Tamil cause. Usha’s ‘Response to D B S Jeyaraj’s pedestrian piece ‘Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Past, Present and Future’ rebuts the hypocrisy of the logic that D B S uses in his piece. Usha needs to be applauded for her polite critique that debunks this defeatist protagonist’s propaganda for the Buddhist Sinhala supremists.
Usha’s anti-dote to the Tamil cause spoilers points to the South Sudan model that eraned the support of the enlightened sections of the international community to deliver a just and fair outcome for the long oppressed South Sudanese. They suffered ‘a protracted period of deadly conflict’ lasting over 38 years (Thabo Mbeki). The oppression of the Eelam Tamils is more gruesome and brutal but strangely except for Indraji, Eelam Tamils were betrayed by a section of the international community led by the Rajiv/Sonia/Karuna Indian leadership. ‘Delhi more alarmed than Colombo over the Mullivaykkal massacres and Sri Lanka (SL) war crimes’ and ‘Will Rajapakse’s 13 Amendment mantra Redeem Delhi’s savaged image?’ in groundreport.com of 5 December 2010 and 27 January 2011 attempt to explain the queer approach of Delhi to the trauma the Eelam Tamils facing a brutal genocide. Serious war crimes were committed during this genocide that led to the enlightened sections of the international community to strive to enforce SL accountability for the massive massacres (over 40 000 civilians killed) and the internment of 320 000 Tamils behind barb wire fenced (Menik Farm) camps.
The Tamil diaspora is duty bound to put right much of the damage the relentless propaganda of the murderous SL regime, the Delhi South Block apologists and most cruel of all the contribution of a few roguish Eelam Tamils (the likes of DBS Jeyaraj) cause to the Tamils. Inspiring pieces of Usha reveal the truth relating to the genocide for the enlightened international community to carry forward the Tamil cause. Quotes from her piece are given here but readers are urged to read her piece in full. http://www.tamilcanadian.com/article/6039.
The recent landslide vote (97 per cent) for a free and independent South Sudan would end the several decades of pain of the South Sudanese. This contribution of the international community that redresses the sufferings of the South Sudan victims is a very laudable. The international community has yet to call for a similar referendum in Tamil Eelam, a nation that is equally or far more oppressed. Both South Sudan and Tamil Eelam took up arms to fight genocide oppression. To Usha the South Sudan model for an independent Tamil Eelam becomes a realistic redress in the minds of most Tamils who experienced the bitterest pain the Buddhist Sinhalas inflicted on them. ‘How ever long it takes, how ever rough the ride, how ever rugged the path, how ever steep the journey, how ever distant the goal, how ever forlorn it may seem, how ever many the sacrifices already made, no matter the detractors, no matter the cynics, no matter the pessimism – we should get there – we will get there – like the Southern Sudanese – Tamil Eelam being the final destination. That’s how I see it; that’s how many Tamils see it.’
Usha is at her best on the brutal genocide that Colombo/Delhi unleashed on the Eelam Tamils; ‘There is no question; those who died in Sri Lanka in the long struggle have made the ultimate sacrifice. The living, those that are maimed and ill, those displaced and rendered homeless, those who have lost their loved ones, those that are incarcerated without charge and being tortured, those who have disappeared without trace, those who have been sexually abused and or widowed and those that are impoverished – have made and are making untold sacrifices. So much blood has been shed due to the war with emerging evidence that the perpetrators showed little regard for human life’.
Usha handles deftly a vexed question parleyed by the genociders, their Tamil apologists (D B S types) and those who are unwitting victims of the D B S rhetoric.
‘Was it worth it? That’s a question that is most troubling for Tamils. A matter they have debated with each other and in their conscience and still are. So then should Tamils give up the freedom struggle? The resounding answer to that is “NO”, but the means to get there has changed; not the goal, neither the commitment nor dedication.
The guns have been silenced, yes, but the cry for freedom of Tamil Eelam will never be silenced. That’s how I see it; that’s how many Tamils see it.
‘The quest..(for) an ‘Independent Tamil Eelam” is the answer to secure our rights in our homeland; to achieve self-determination for our people; to enjoy equality and to realize all fundamental freedoms enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights; to attain ..I cannot think of any other way. That’s how I see it. That’s how many Tamils see it whether they‘re passive or active; quiet or vocal. From now it is clear the Tamils will pursue advocacy and negotiation, invest in democracy and diplomacy until the mission is accomplished. The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Tamil Nationalist Groups worldwide including Tamils individually and collectively are quietly pursuing this line; trying to create a political space outside of Sri Lanka for dialogue and diplomacy. An ‘Independent Tamil Eelam’ seems the only option when fear and intimidation, marginalization and persecution, vandalism and violence against Tamils and Muslims still prevail in Sri Lanka and the demography and even the electoral system in Sri Lanka is being manipulated in favour of the Sinhalese. A scathing report by the Minority Rights Group International (MRG) 19th January titled ‘No war, no peace: the denial of minority rights and justice in Sri Lanka’, highlighting the situation of Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka two years after war and of “rising Sinhala nationalism”, should open the eyes of the international community and those skeptics who see independence as not an option. The report states “…minorities face daily repression and marginalization..particularly in the country’s north and east,” …The MRG in its website quotes Mark Lattimer, its executive director: “Despite the end of the war, many Tamil and Muslim minorities in Sri Lanka continue to live in fear,’. Usha highlights Bishop Rayappu’s ‘…presentation to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) drawing attention to the 146,679 people unaccounted for in Vanni,’ www.tamilcanadian.com/news. Only ..’establishing truth (about them; this can be expected only from independent genocide crimes tribunals) is a must to achieve genuine reconciliation and a political solution that reflects the reality of the Tamil identity.
Usha ‘It’s encouraging that Southern Sudan has shown its desire to recognize and work with the TGTE, one of the vehicle through which Tamils could take their initiatives for independence forward. It is heartening the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) has invited the TGTE to partake in the celebration.’ "The invitation received by us is considered recognition not only of the TGTE but also of the Eelam struggle. TGTE is calling on Eelam Tamils to celebrate the freedom of Southern Sudanese people."It is hoped that more and more countries including India would be persuaded to work with the TGTE and also the GTF and other Tamil organizations towards an ‘Independent Tamil Eelam’. (TamilCanadian: Jan 24, 2011).
The SPLA like the Eelam resistance (LTTE) took to armed resistance in 1983 to further their cause but were equally vilified as terrorists/guerillas. Yet the international community including the US from 1996 covertly supported the South Sudanese armed struggle though by the way complained about the resistance own human rights abuses and factional killings. The community acted vigorously enough against the human rights abuses of the Khartoum regime; reports of the US government and International Eminent Persons (the eminent also lent their voice for the Tamil trauma) both in 2002 roundly condemned the Khartoum regimes human rights abuses as genocide; Colin Powell in September 2004 also described the Darfur (equivalent of SL’s Mullivaykkal) a genocide in the UN; (the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century); the cumulative effect of these led Khartoum to agree to limited autonomy for South Sudan in 2005 (not the 13 Amendment under Rajiv’s Indo-SL Accord) with constitutional provisions for a referendum on independence in 2011. International initiatives also produced UN’s warrant of arrest on Omar al-Bashir in 2008 for the Khartoum regime’s genocide. Neighbours Uganda and Eritrea supported SPLA. US’s MV Faina in 2008 with its cargo of T-72 tanks, antiaircraft guns and other heavy equipment supposedly for Kenya actually was destined for the SPLA.
To the envy of the Eelam Tamils, Delhi, Tamil Eelam’s beloved neighbor did the very opposite of all these not only in the war front but also diplomatically to discredit and bring about the defeat of the Tamil armed resistance. South Sudan’s road to freedom is god blessed; Delhi was not its neighbor. ‘Delhi more alarmed than Colombo over the Mullivaykkal massacres and Sri Lanka (SL) war crimes’ and ‘Will Rajapakse’s 13 Amendment mantra Redeem Delhi’s savaged image?’ in groundreport.com of 5 December 2010 and 27 January 2011 respectively explain the queer policies of Delhi causing more trauma to the Eelam Tamils fighting a brutal Sinhala genocide. The UN genocide crimes initiatives have not progressed much despite the efforts of the international community. Undeterred SL continues its genocide with a vengeance when Delhi partnered SL in that genocide. Delhi planted a South Block sectarian (Nambiar) in the Ban’s office to carry its anti-Tamil crusade in the UN. UN as part of a US’s humanitarian initiative dispatched Nambiar to SL in the crucial week of May 2009 to avert the massacres of the entire militant leadership. US planned an orderly evacuation of the militant leadership entrapped into the narrow Narayanan/Gothabhaya ‘fire free’ zone. The cold blooded murder of the white flag waving surrendering militants was directed by the ‘in the loop’ UN-Nambiar/Delhi-Narayanan/Colombo Gothabhaya Rajapakse committing a war crime.
The Rajapakses are vigorously sabotaging the international community’s genocide crimes initiatives resorting to desperate tactics enticing key officials in the UN and US for this project. Fearful of the genocide crimes implications following leaks of Ambassador Patricia A Butenis confidential cable of 1 December 2010 entitled Sri Lanka War-Crimes Accountability’ to Robert Blake that is categorical on ‘Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapakse and his two brothers are war criminals’, Mahinda took extra-ordinary risks in undertaking the US trip purely to extract a payback from Blake in the form of statements to counter Patricia’s findings in the report to the State Department. According to a recent The Daily Mirror report Blake was a guest/partner ‘in the frolics’ at Mahinda’s ‘Carlton House’ in Tangalle during his tenure as ambassador in SL.
Blake’s statement in the first week of February 2011 holds the LTTE largely accountable for the heavy killings during the final days of the war ‘..The LTTE systematically refused international efforts to allow those internally displaced persons to move south’. This is a new story. Except for the oft repeated ‘human shield’ version this novel ‘move south’ Blake story is not featured in any SL’s reports or Patricia’s report on the subject to Blake/State Department. Rajapakse extracted a payback from Blake; a statement to dilute the criminality of the ‘in the loop’ officials accountable for the massacres. Oral evidence are surfacing of internally displaced returnees escaping death from the advancing death thirsty armed forces firing 20 to 30 rockets into the houses they evacuated to escape death and avoided being entombed in their own house ‘graves’. Some of those who thus escaped were amongst those who were pursued and later killed in the Mullivaykkal massacres. In earlier months there were massacres in the Kilinochchi area where terrified civilians taking shelter in shallow sand trenches were repeatedly bombed and killed. Horror stories of such brutality of the death thirsty armed forces that circulated widely led the terrified civilians to flee the advancing troopers East or North not South expecting the customary protection of the militants from the murderous troops. Blake is unaware of Rayappu’s drawing the attention of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to the 146,679 people unaccounted for in Vanni. This is too large a number for Blake to blame the LTTE for this or their killing and the international community to be unaware of such killings if that had happened. So who are the killers? Only independent war crimes tribunals will be able to find truthful answers.
Such statements from Blake in the Obama administration is bound to tarnish the good intentioned President Obama’s approach to human rights abuses. Unlike under Bush the US’s humanitarian initiative flows from Obama’s humane thinking enunciated in Hilary Clinton’s ‘you cannot lump all terrorist together’. This view de-linked violence arising from ethnic cleansing and violence by terrorists of the Jihardi type. Enlightened sections of the international community also subscribe to this refined thinking. Hence the continued enthusiastic support for the genocide crimes initiatives of the international community. Usha’s "It is hoped that more and more countries including India would be persuaded to work with the TGTE and also the GTF and other Tamil organizations towards an ‘Independent Tamil Eelam’. (TamilCanadian: Jan 24, 2011) is not in the horizon for Eelam Tamils under a Delhi with a ‘as is’ leadership. Only an authentic Indraji progeny emerging will be good for Tamil Eelam, Tamil Nadu and India.
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