Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Lankan Tamil Crisis - Reconstructed from Memory & Hearsay

I gained first hand information of the Sri Lankan Tamil crisis in the early 70s. The college in Chennai where I did my PG had Sri Lankan Tamils who told stories about how essential items in the Tamil dominated North east region cost four times more than they did in the rest of Sri Lanka. Items like sanitary pads were available only in the black market - at a ridiculously exorbitant prize. These students used to carry home dried chillies, essential spices from the then Madras when they went home.

So a problem was there. It was genuine, I realized. The political murders that Sri Lanka was infamous for had a background that could not be dismissed. There was some sort of an economic embargo in the Tamil areas which made life difficult for them.

I do not know when exactly LTTE and its supremo caught my attention. But I do remember thinking that a separatist movement was ineveitable. That view was based on my interaction with my Sri Lankan Tamil friends a few years earlier.

Velupally Prabhakaran caught my attention – don’t know when - ‘cos of the name. My father had a friend called Velupilla. You know for some reasons certain names stick in your mind on account of quite insignificant associations. Gradually Prabhakaran began to haunt my imagination. The media took care of it.

The stories of his personality, his ruthlessness crept into my consciousness from the magazines and newspapers of which I was once an avid reader. I could empathize with the cause – the end- for which he fought. My friends from college and their tales never really deserted me. But I grew angry with his methods – the means.

I love Christ.
I love Gandhi.
And Prabhakaran did not fit in this company.

Imagine killing people by garlanding them with burning tyres! No cause justifies such brutality.

And then Rajiv Gandhi happened.

In fact, the people with whom I shared my views on current issues had all expressed anxiety about Rajiv Gandhi playing with fire when he invited Prabhakaran to Delhi and messed around with him. One does not turn a traitor on a person like Prabhakaran and get away with it. We became more anxious when the IPKF became the foe of both LTTE and The Sri Lankan government. with it.

Our anxieties soon translated into reality. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.

LTTE was messing around with our leaders, our sovreignity. Of course we were all angry.

Stories about LTTE reached us from our friends working in the Gulf and Saudi. They told us how Sri Lankan Tamils there - from house maids to top executives – had to contribute to LTTE funds under threat of harm to their loved ones back home!

Whatever little sympathy I had with for this terror outfit and their cause faded away without my knowing it.

And then of course there was the issue brewing trouble on our doorstep. Tamilnadu politicians were making hay while the sun shone. They continue to do it – espousing the Sri Lankan Tamil cause- now that elections are in the offing. The flip-flops by the leaders of the DMK and its variations, the filmy fast unto death drama by Karunanidhi, no doubt after getting unofficial information that qualitative ceasefire is about to happen, and the dramatic break of the fast on the Marina beach like a well scripted film – it’s sick. Absolutely sick.

A gigantic humanitarian crisis exists. The Lankan army cannot be blamed. No nation can tolerate separatist movement. No Indian political group should support separatist movement. But Tamilnadu has always done it (especially when the atmosphere gets charged with electioneering) and got away with it.

The LTTE cannot be justified. It’s cowardly to use human shields comprising even children and the aged. The honourable thing for the militants to do is to lay down arms, and for Prabhakaran, to surrender.

This is my take There could be inaccuracies as it is reconstructed from memory and my understanding of the situation. However, I can safely claim that this is the take of the average apolitical Indian citizen of my generation on this issue.

10 comments:

  1. point duly noted. From an outside perspective, it is none of India's business how Sri Lanka handles its internal matters. They should've intervened a long time ago when Rajiv Gandhi was assasSinated.

    Election tactics are commmon. Its easy to rile the people up. I've witnessed Karunanidhi's rallys. He has a presence and people believe his word to be that of God's.

    My only question is, when will people realise what's happening?

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  2. do check this article..
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090430.wcogee01/BNStory/specialComment/home

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  3. Its true, we have no right to interfere in Sri Lanka's internal matters. Instead of giving any thought to the countless people suffering in our country because of lack of proper amenities and means to good livelihood, the politician's, especially Tamil Nadu's is sickeningly playing the tamil-people in Lanka card. Don't know why they have to pull the tamil citizens of Sri Lanka to the election fray. As if on being elected they are going to serve Sri Lankan tamils and not Indians.
    Those politicians fall in the same category as of the people in Pakistan who support the so-called freedom movement in Kashmir, interfering in other nation's affairs and playing with their sentimentality.
    If they think that India should side with the banned terrorist organization then what locus standi do we have against our own internal problems.

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  4. You are right about the plight of Srilankan Tamilians living outside Srilanka. They have to contribute to LTTE. I met a Srilankan in Bern whose family was with his relatives in Tamil Nadu. The LTTE guys used to visit his family every month to collect money.

    A fellow Srilankan boasted. "With this money, we attack Lankan army. We shoot this on video and sent it across to all part of the world in order to collect more money"!

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  5. The first thing would be to get his name correct. It is Velupillai Prabakaran, not Velupally Prabhakaran.

    It's unfortunate, that many bloggers write on the Sri Lankan crisis with little factual knowledge, about both the causes and events. I neither like nor dislike Prabhakaran. And I too, am slowing learning more and more about the Srilankan issues. Not something to ignore, since my part of the world shows better neutrality than Asia. The hypocrisy I see in writings criticizing Velupillai Prabkakaran is simply amazing.

    "You love Christ.
    You love Gandhi.
    And Prabhakaran does not fit in this company"

    - Do the soldiers that stand guard the borders of India and shoot enemies, fit in the company of Christ or Gandhi?

    Can we all start hating our respective country's soldiers?

    Killing people by garlanding burning tyres was a popular method used by Srilankan government, at least, from a documentary I saw recently by Phil Rees. Though, I doubt Prabakaran is any less when it comes brutality.

    The issue of Rajiv Gandhi, IPKF and India's incompetency in handling the external affairs with Srilanka depend entirely on ones' perspective. I doubt any Sikh, in their heart, can forgive the 1984 massacre of 3000. It is likewise, impossible to expect sympathy for IPKF, which massacred, tortured, raped and looted tens of thousands of Tamil civilians, and several hundred Sinhala citizens. Rajiv Gandhi's death certainly was the gravest mistake in LTTE's conduct. But then, I am not sure how history would have turned out, had Rajiv Gandhi succeeded in getting Prabakaran killed. Certainly, doesn't seem like it would have brought peace to people on both sides. Bottom line is, without meaning to offend, India was then and even now, incompetent to handle the Srilankan matter. There are so many internal matters within India, that make it an impossible. I have been studying the history behind the conflicts and political actions just recently, and its baffling that the West did not turn towards Srilanka earlier, to take some concrete steps.

    The Lankan Army and government are to be blamed, primarily. We do not hesitate to criticize the Nazi army or Hitler's Germany. I realize that your knowledge might be mostly based on hearsay. Yet, it is an insult to the brave soldiers who fought against such racist regimes to excuse the religious and racial extremism Srilanka uses to rouse its citizens against the Tamils. Prabakaran was not born. He was made. Che was not born. He was made. For that matter, any leader who stood up against attrocities to the people, was a result of systems that have failed to respect the people.

    Yes, the LTTE do extort money. I too have heard some stories, though many give willingly, and that too, I have heard first-hand. But again, I am bemused by people. The same that complain about LTTE, in the past, express relying on them for whatever liberty the Tamil people had in their areas. The same people, are today, walking in hundreds of thousands(!), chanting support for the LTTE.

    My deduction so far, has been that the Tamils in Srilanka have failed to find sympathy towards their cause, not because it is not justified, but because they were militarily able to standoff at several times in recent history, against the government. Unlike the Jews of World War 2 times or even Tibetians, today.

    Lastly, I refuse to accept the line, no nation can tolerate separatist movement. This is a fear of countries like India and China, where there is vast regional differences. Is there no justification for the resentment of the people in Northeast India? How often are they thought about? It's easy to live in relatively comfortable places and speak, but to endure what they do? British Colonialism put together countries like India and Srilanka, which were to begin with, separate states. Srilanka's independent nationhood of 61 years, has been nothing but bloody. And for obvious reasons of religious and racial extremist feelings, something that is stark obvious today, it would make all the sense in the world, for them to be put back to their pre-colonial states.

    Governments should be for the people. When they fail, then they have failed the need to be recognized. Srilanka, certainly falls in that category, after failing to go anywhere, since gaining independence.

    - Kajan

    P.S. I do apologize for this extra long comment.

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  6. @ annonymous
    fundamentally we agree on the issue - that prabhakaran was made, not born. but our differences are on the means of achieving a cause-however legitimate. that's why i dragged christ and gandhi.

    fighting like a soldier is fine - acceptable as per the existing values of modern society. but using brutal methods to set an example to defectors AND TAMIL CIVILIANS is not part of the soldiers code of behaviour.

    'soldiers that stand guard the borders of India and shoot enemies, fit in the company of Christ or Gandhi?'
    soldiers are governed by certain codes of behaviour, both national and international.violation of these codes are looked upon as aberrations and result in investigations and court martialling. with LTTE brutality is the accepted code. that's what i have my quarrel with.regarding IPKF, the violation of code of behaviour was addressed by te indian army. aberrations shold not be equated with accepted methods.

    ' deduction so far, has been that the Tamils in Srilanka have failed to find sympathy towards their cause, not because it is not justified, but because they were militarily able to standoff at several times in recent history, against the government. Unlike the Jews of World War 2 times or even Tibetians, today.,
    you have a point. the world would rather keep off separatist movement labelling them as 'internal affairs', 'cos of the vulernability of nations battling with separatist movements.

    'Is there no justification for the resentment of the people in Northeast India? How often are they thought about? It's easy to live in relatively comfortable places and speak, but to endure what they do? British Colonialism put together countries like India and Srilanka, which were to begin with, separate states.'
    so what are you suggesting? go back to pre colonial political dispensation? it's the concept of nationalism that u r questioning. the subtext of the statement is that nationalism is an imported concept.but in the present day world, it's nationalism alone that gives us/should giveus a sense of identity . every effort has to be made to bring the various ethnic groups and border sttes within the nation called india. the subcontinent cannot afford to disintegrate.




    '

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  7. This has been a very satisfying read. I have always been extremely backward on current affairs, and over the years, I have had limited accumulation of historical knowledge of subjects like this.

    But between this post, the anonymous comment, and the reply to that comment, I say I have a decent view of the situation. It's good to have the background in place. But that doesn't make me any more mature, though. Cos through the wealth of information seen through two markedly different viewpoints, the thing that stands out... in MY mind, is how an extra long comment, left anonymously, has been signed off by Kajan.
    :D

    Anyway, great read. Thanks.

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  8. Annonymous is very largely right.

    Rajiv Gandhi let Union Carbide get away, he sent IPKF to Sri Lanka, he let the Quattrochis in...he smiled when Sonia shreiked at P.Upendra before the media at Begumpet airport that she would have him killed and Upendra ran off to hide in the media room trembling....

    Bacchaa thhaa, sirf bacchaa!

    Do not humiliatingly equate Prabhakaran with Rajiv while emotionally accusing Prabhakaran of murder.

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  9. i have been familiarized with the Srilanka LTTE issue only recently.

    Its interesting to read an account from someone who has been in the know nearly from the time it all started...

    Prabhakaran's intentions were noble but his actions i am afraid were/are far from noble.

    There are many other better ways to fight for your rights than setting about murdering random people!

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  10. 'fighting like a soldier is fine - acceptable as per the existing values of modern society. but using brutal methods to set an example to defectors AND TAMIL CIVILIANS is not part of the soldiers code of behaviour.'

    Are you trying to claim that RAW and the Indian police don't deal with spies, INDIAN CIVILIANS and those they deem a threat to national security in the most brutal of methods like torture, etc.? Compared to the brutality of the Indian security establishment, the LTTE are pussycats. When the Indian police were hunting down Veerapan, how many innocent tribal civilians living in the jungles were tortured to extract information on his whereabouts? How many Sikh civilians and women were brutally tortured, killed, and raped to put down the Khalistani movement? The average police station in India is a black dot when it comes to modern standards of human rights. Children are beaten, abused and robbed, torture and beatings are used to extract confessions, and bribery and social status determine the law. When the LTTE ran its defacto state in Sri-Lanka, their police stations were aeons ahead of Indian or Sri-Lankan police stations when it came to the rule of law and justice.

    'soldiers are governed by certain codes of behaviour, both national and international.violation of these codes are looked upon as aberrations and result in investigations and court martialling. with LTTE brutality is the accepted code. that's what i have my quarrel with.'

    Where did you get the information that with the LTTE, brutality is the accepted code? The LTTE no doubt eliminated those they perceived to be enemies, but they had a strict code of conduct and were disciplined to the core. This fact is relunctantly accepted by even the Indian diplomats and the IPKF Generals. Here is what JN Dixit says about the LTTE in his book, Assignment Colombo:

    " The third factor is the cult and creed of honesty in the disbursement and utilisation of resources. Despite long years spent in struggle, the LTTE cadres were known for their simple living, lack of any tendency to exploit the people and their operational preparedness."

    Here is what Marshall R Singer, Ph. D. Professor of International and Intercultural Affairs, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs - University of Pittsburgh has to say in his statement before the US Congress:

    "As far as I can tell most ordinary Tamils support the Tigers, not necessarily because they like them, but because they like the Sri Lankan - or Indian - armies less. The Tigers are ruthless and authoritarian but they are not corrupt - they don't tolerate stealing, bribery or rape, things other armies are famous for. In fact they are perceived as being single minded in their defence of Tamils. They are so disciplined that when captured, they swallow cyanide capsules that they carry with them at all times, rather than risk revealing anything under torture."

    'regarding IPKF, the violation of code of behaviour was addressed by te indian army.'

    Really? Where? Can you give me a reference to where the Indian Army addressed these violations? Speaking of violations, General Harikat Singh of the IPKF has gone on record to claim that the then Indian High Commisioner to Sri-Lanka, JN Dixit, ordered him twice to kill or arrest Prabhakaran when the latter came under the white flag for peace talks, a clear violation of the rules of war. And Dixit claimed that they were direct orders from Rajiv. Can you show me a reference for where this "aberration" was dealt with?

    Rajah

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