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"REFERENDUM ON EELAM IS OUR RIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY"
TamilNet
29.01.10 04:42
"Diaspora Tamils live in established liberal democratic states with
freedom of the press and where the rule of law is invariably observed.
This weekend's referendum in Britain provides us with a chance to
prove that the demand for Tamil Eelam is, as it always was, the
well reasoned conclusion of rational, free-thinking, independent
individuals. By endorsing an independent statehood, we demonstrate our
commitment to our people in the island and make clear and that there
can be no peace or reconciliation without a just solution, without
freedom and equality for the Tamil nation; and that it is stability,
not chaos we seek in our homeland," comments Sivakami Rajamanoharan,
member of the TYO-UK (Tamil Youth Organisation - United Kingdom),
on the forthcoming referendum in UK.
Full text of Ms Rajamanoharan's statement, issued on behalf of TYO-UK,
follows:
After three decades of futile efforts to negotiate with Sinhala
leaders an end to the relentlessly deepening state discrimination, the
venerated Tamil leader, SJV Chelvanayagam, turned the 1977 election
into a referendum on an independent state. When the Tamil people
overwhelmingly backed the demand for Tamil Eelam, many believed our
collective wish was seen to be now beyond doubt.
Yet our democratic voice was first ignored, then violently stifled.
Another three decades and over a hundred thousand lives later, the
Tamil nation is once again uniting to reaffirm our commitment to
political independence. This time however our nation's voice is being
heard clearly around the world. A global chorus of referendums that
started in Norway and gained momentum in France and Canada, is now
upon the UK.
Whatever our party-political, religious or other beliefs, the central
question of our people's right to govern themselves unites us all as
Tamils. Nonetheless, after the horrific experiences of the past year,
some doubt the use of voting. Amid our undiminished outrage there is
also fatigue and cynicism.
Allow me to explain why voting 'yes' this weekend for our nation's
independence is both an opportunity and the duty of every British
Tamil.
The world is watching Last year we huddled together in shock as the
Sri Lankan state slaughtered tens of thousands of our fellow Tamils
- people it claimed were its own citizens. Those who knew earlier
little of the racially motivated atrocities against our nation were
galvanised into urgent action. As our surviving brothers and sisters
were hemmed into squalid camps, we in the diaspora, who until very
recently stood on the sidelines of our nation's struggle for survival,
seized the baton.
Tragedy can bring out the best in us. Equally it can open the door
for disillusionment, despair and apathy. There are no judgments to
be made, however. Given how far we seemed to have fallen last year,
few could honestly say that during the darkest moments of the bleakest
days they did not experience the paralysis of helplessness.
"We protested and yet the world watched as they were killed," is a
widely-held sentiment. True, the mass street protests did not save our
people and no sane person would attempt to argue otherwise. However
they did focus the eyes of the world on Sri Lanka as never before. The
genocidal logic of Sinhala power became acknowledged worldwide for
the first time.
Even now, several months after we packed up our tents and placards,
the international community is insisting on investigating war crimes -
despite Sri Lanka's increasingly desperate attempts to fend them off.
It is not only about the slaughtered, but the living too. For the
latter, penned in militarised camps and subject to abuse or resettled
around army cantonments, having the world standing over Sri Lanka's
shoulder is key to their security and survival.
Ignored and violently silenced The TULF's 1977 electoral victory made
clear the Tamil consensus that Eelam is the only solution to Sinhala
oppression. Our unwavering support appears self-evident to us.
However, the international community, having long seen Sri Lanka as
a flawed but still viable liberal democracy, did not believe this is
what Tamils really want. Many Western liberals dismissed Tamils who
sought Eelam as extremists and insisted that the majority of Tamils
would settle for autonomy or federalism. They were also convinced
that once the LTTE was defeated, democratic Sri Lanka would quickly
address our grievances. Why wouldn't it?
In 2004 the Tamil National Alliance won an outstanding electoral
victory in the Tamil homeland after pledging their support to
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were fighting for
independence. Even this clear consensus was explained away as the
result of LTTE domination (that Tamils' endorsement of Eelam pre-dates
the birth of the LTTE has always been conveniently forgotten).
Even we the Diaspora, oceans away from the jurisdiction of Vanni,
are said to have succumbed to the power of the Tiger. However freely
we waved our Eelam flags, shouting for independence, our democratic
voice has consistently been ignored and our free speech usurped.
In the meantime, Sinhala bigotry was tolerated and endorsed. Even
earlier this week, the US ambassador expressed her hopes for a free and
fair Presidential election and a unified Sri Lanka. Just one look at
the shattered and subjugated Tamil people in the Northeast makes clear
the impossibility of a 'free and fair' election. That the vision of a
unified country turns on incarcerated and brutalised victims choosing
between a hit man and his contractor is nothing short of macabre.
The Diaspora's responsibility Nonetheless, the sheer brutality of Sri
Lanka's onslaught last year against the hapless Tamil population,
and the tenacity of the Diaspora's protests, has begun to shift
international perceptions. That Sri Lanka holds elections but is no
liberal democracy is now starkly clear. A rethink is underway.
However, there is still a long way to go. Some in the international
community feel that after thirty years of conflict most Tamils want
nothing of Eelam and simply yearn for peace and to be left alone. This
infantalises and belittles our people. Actually, the situation in Sri
Lanka has made our demand for independence only more relevant while
the decades of attempted genocide have only served to strengthen
Tamil resolve. The coming years will make this clear.
Nonetheless, the fact is that the first democratic mandate for Eelam
is now over thirty years old; a long time in modern politics. It is
argued to have lost its relevance. We may be steadfast, but a fresh
mandate is necessary.
But, the Sinhala state has made it impossible for Tamils to freely
express their wishes in Sri Lanka; the sixth amendment makes making a
demand for Eelam illegal on pain of savage punishment. As the scattered
and traumatized Tamils of our homeland are forced into silence,
we in the Diaspora are left with a solemn responsibility today.
In the wake of last year's mass mobilizations around the world, the
international community accepts that the Tamil Diaspora must play a
key role in the island's future. The world is paying attention to
Sri Lanka's crisis and we must take the opportunity to state our
case clearly.
We live in established liberal democratic states with freedom of
the press and where the rule of law is invariably observed. This
weekend's referendum provides a chance to prove that the demand for
Eelam is, as it always was, the well reasoned conclusion of rational,
free-thinking, independent individuals.
By endorsing an independent Eelam, we demonstrate our commitment
to our people in the island and make clear and that there can be no
peace or reconciliation without a just solution, without freedom and
equality for the Tamil nation; and that it is stability, not chaos
we seek in our homeland.
Not all of those who voted in the first Eelam referendum will be able
to make their voices heard again. Illness, age and thirty years of
brutal conflict have claimed many lives. This weekend's referendum
provides a democratic platform through which the next generation can
make clear the popular will of the Tamils and thereby continue our
just and legitimate struggle.
Unavoidable Politics Many young British Tamils, as do their non-Tamil
peers, profess an aversion to the morally questionable arena of
politics. 'I am not into politics; I believe in human rights' some
say. But politics and human rights are inextricably linked. To try
and improve human rights whilst turning a blind eye to the politics
driving abuses and repression is not only futile but foolish.
Across the world and through out history, the most serious of human
rights violations have always been the result of state machinery
harnessed to racist, fascist or authoritarian ideologies. In Sri
Lanka democracy means the tyranny of the Sinhala majority over the
Tamil minority. The long history of state abuses and impunity there
is testament to this racialised logic. Sri Lanka's problems cannot
be fixed by tinkering with human rights mechanisms or monitoring.
For others, it is not human rights, but humanitarianism that drives
them. When the 2004 tsunami struck, many in the Diaspora quickly
rallied to the stunned survivors in the homeland. Whilst even the
most brutal of regimes are incapable of invoking a natural disaster,
but ethnic discrimination can have a devastating impact on subsequent
recovery. Sri Lanka did just that: international aid agencies protested
the government's excluding the shattered Northeast and concentration
on the Sinhala South. Despite this and state blockade, through the
untiring efforts of Tamil organisations and activists, the stricken
Tamil areas recovered to a great extent.
Moreover, it is how Sri Lanka waged war against the Eelam demand
that has kept most of the island's Tamils in humanitarian crisis
for a quarter of a century. Where does politics end and humanitarian
catastrophe begin when a government decides to indiscriminately bomb
its own civilian population? What use is aid when all international
agencies are expelled but the incarcerated civilians are cited in
state demands for 'rehabilitation' funds?
Any financial aid going to Sri Lanka, from donors or the Diaspora,
for 'development' or 'rehabilitation' will, in the absence of Tamil
self-rule, do nothing for the Tamil people, it will only benefit the
Sinhala state.
The core problem Some ardent optimists argue that six decades of
systematic discrimination in education, employment, language and
culture, culminating in last year's state-executed slaughter can be
forgotten with time; that there can be 'reconciliation'.
But the fundamental problem in Sri Lanka is the hierarchy of Sinhalese
above Tamils which has over six decades become embedded in every
aspect of life in Sri Lanka: governance, law, institutions, politics
and security, both individual and group.
This hierarchy is rooted in an ideology by which Sinhalese are
the rightful owners of the island and Tamils their inferior (the
'Mahavamsa'). Last summer's mass killings have their genesis in
state-sponsored or abetted riots and pogroms against Tamils in
the early fifties. This is why we argue Sri Lanka is a genocide
in progress.
As Israel was for the only sure protection for the Jewish people and
Kosovo for the Albanians, the only guaranteed protection for Tamils
in an independent Tamil Eelam: the future goodwill of today's mass
murderers is a brittle basis for our people's security.
However far you see yourself from politics if you dream of an end to
the persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka, you are dreaming of Eelam.
We all belong Most of us in the second generation were raised here
in Britain because our parents fled intolerable persecution in our
homeland.
Britain will always be our safe haven but Tamil Eelam is our origin.
That is why we are comfortably both British and Tamil. We are
well-versed in our Ps and Qs, but being Tamil is an equally inherent
part of who we are. Our Tamilness is not only expressed through
language, clothes, food and etiquette, which can be acquired or indeed
forgotten, but through shared ancestry.
It is important to remember that those who suffer genocide never
choose their own identity, rather it is chosen for them by their
oppressor. Throughout the gruesome history of genocide, Jews,
Armenians, Tamils and others have been singled out on the basis of
physical appearance or ancestry. This is why Israel, for example,
created the 'Law of Return', allowing those of Jewish descent to seek
safety in Israel from persecution any where in the world, regardless
of their country of birth, citizenship or place of residence. All
Jews are equal.
Similarly, regardless of where we were born or raised or to which
citizenry our passports say we belong, in the face of genocide, all
Tamils are equal. British Tamils therefore have a rightful place in
the Tamil struggle, alongside Tamils in the homeland.
Moreover, the Tamil Eelam nation is a political community. They may
contribute, but language or even ancestry is not a prerequisite to
belong. This is why non-Tamil spouses of Tamils are also eligible to
vote in this weekend's referendum. A nation is a group of people who
share the same political values and beliefs, thus creating their own
political identity.
All this talk of national identity makes some uneasy. There is an
unspoken fear that to engage in the Tamil 'national' project is to
participate in exclusivist politics. Seeking an independent Tamil
Eelam appears at odds with the increasing globalisation. Instead of
unity, we are voting to divide a state into two. Moreover, the notion
of dividing it along ethnic lines lies uncomfortably alongside the
idea of tolerance. It raises fears of racism or even fascism.
There are two sides to nationalism, however. One is fuelled by a racist
belief in one's superiority; whilst the other, ignited by oppression,
is fuelled by the need to resist genocide. Unabated persecution means
that Tamil Eelam is our only guaranteed protection against a state
that is obsessed with Sinhala supremacy. Yet the Tamil nation is not
against the existence of a Sinhala nation or people. A referendum on
Eelam is not a vote against tolerance or liberal values, but a vote
for freedom, equality and self-governance.
In country after country the Diaspora is coming forward to stand by
the island's Tamils in their hour of need. Tamils of Britain, this
weekend it is our turn.
TamilNet
29.01.10 04:42
"Diaspora Tamils live in established liberal democratic states with
freedom of the press and where the rule of law is invariably observed.
This weekend's referendum in Britain provides us with a chance to
prove that the demand for Tamil Eelam is, as it always was, the
well reasoned conclusion of rational, free-thinking, independent
individuals. By endorsing an independent statehood, we demonstrate our
commitment to our people in the island and make clear and that there
can be no peace or reconciliation without a just solution, without
freedom and equality for the Tamil nation; and that it is stability,
not chaos we seek in our homeland," comments Sivakami Rajamanoharan,
member of the TYO-UK (Tamil Youth Organisation - United Kingdom),
on the forthcoming referendum in UK.
Full text of Ms Rajamanoharan's statement, issued on behalf of TYO-UK,
follows:
After three decades of futile efforts to negotiate with Sinhala
leaders an end to the relentlessly deepening state discrimination, the
venerated Tamil leader, SJV Chelvanayagam, turned the 1977 election
into a referendum on an independent state. When the Tamil people
overwhelmingly backed the demand for Tamil Eelam, many believed our
collective wish was seen to be now beyond doubt.
Yet our democratic voice was first ignored, then violently stifled.
Another three decades and over a hundred thousand lives later, the
Tamil nation is once again uniting to reaffirm our commitment to
political independence. This time however our nation's voice is being
heard clearly around the world. A global chorus of referendums that
started in Norway and gained momentum in France and Canada, is now
upon the UK.
Whatever our party-political, religious or other beliefs, the central
question of our people's right to govern themselves unites us all as
Tamils. Nonetheless, after the horrific experiences of the past year,
some doubt the use of voting. Amid our undiminished outrage there is
also fatigue and cynicism.
Allow me to explain why voting 'yes' this weekend for our nation's
independence is both an opportunity and the duty of every British
Tamil.
The world is watching Last year we huddled together in shock as the
Sri Lankan state slaughtered tens of thousands of our fellow Tamils
- people it claimed were its own citizens. Those who knew earlier
little of the racially motivated atrocities against our nation were
galvanised into urgent action. As our surviving brothers and sisters
were hemmed into squalid camps, we in the diaspora, who until very
recently stood on the sidelines of our nation's struggle for survival,
seized the baton.
Tragedy can bring out the best in us. Equally it can open the door
for disillusionment, despair and apathy. There are no judgments to
be made, however. Given how far we seemed to have fallen last year,
few could honestly say that during the darkest moments of the bleakest
days they did not experience the paralysis of helplessness.
"We protested and yet the world watched as they were killed," is a
widely-held sentiment. True, the mass street protests did not save our
people and no sane person would attempt to argue otherwise. However
they did focus the eyes of the world on Sri Lanka as never before. The
genocidal logic of Sinhala power became acknowledged worldwide for
the first time.
Even now, several months after we packed up our tents and placards,
the international community is insisting on investigating war crimes -
despite Sri Lanka's increasingly desperate attempts to fend them off.
It is not only about the slaughtered, but the living too. For the
latter, penned in militarised camps and subject to abuse or resettled
around army cantonments, having the world standing over Sri Lanka's
shoulder is key to their security and survival.
Ignored and violently silenced The TULF's 1977 electoral victory made
clear the Tamil consensus that Eelam is the only solution to Sinhala
oppression. Our unwavering support appears self-evident to us.
However, the international community, having long seen Sri Lanka as
a flawed but still viable liberal democracy, did not believe this is
what Tamils really want. Many Western liberals dismissed Tamils who
sought Eelam as extremists and insisted that the majority of Tamils
would settle for autonomy or federalism. They were also convinced
that once the LTTE was defeated, democratic Sri Lanka would quickly
address our grievances. Why wouldn't it?
In 2004 the Tamil National Alliance won an outstanding electoral
victory in the Tamil homeland after pledging their support to
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were fighting for
independence. Even this clear consensus was explained away as the
result of LTTE domination (that Tamils' endorsement of Eelam pre-dates
the birth of the LTTE has always been conveniently forgotten).
Even we the Diaspora, oceans away from the jurisdiction of Vanni,
are said to have succumbed to the power of the Tiger. However freely
we waved our Eelam flags, shouting for independence, our democratic
voice has consistently been ignored and our free speech usurped.
In the meantime, Sinhala bigotry was tolerated and endorsed. Even
earlier this week, the US ambassador expressed her hopes for a free and
fair Presidential election and a unified Sri Lanka. Just one look at
the shattered and subjugated Tamil people in the Northeast makes clear
the impossibility of a 'free and fair' election. That the vision of a
unified country turns on incarcerated and brutalised victims choosing
between a hit man and his contractor is nothing short of macabre.
The Diaspora's responsibility Nonetheless, the sheer brutality of Sri
Lanka's onslaught last year against the hapless Tamil population,
and the tenacity of the Diaspora's protests, has begun to shift
international perceptions. That Sri Lanka holds elections but is no
liberal democracy is now starkly clear. A rethink is underway.
However, there is still a long way to go. Some in the international
community feel that after thirty years of conflict most Tamils want
nothing of Eelam and simply yearn for peace and to be left alone. This
infantalises and belittles our people. Actually, the situation in Sri
Lanka has made our demand for independence only more relevant while
the decades of attempted genocide have only served to strengthen
Tamil resolve. The coming years will make this clear.
Nonetheless, the fact is that the first democratic mandate for Eelam
is now over thirty years old; a long time in modern politics. It is
argued to have lost its relevance. We may be steadfast, but a fresh
mandate is necessary.
But, the Sinhala state has made it impossible for Tamils to freely
express their wishes in Sri Lanka; the sixth amendment makes making a
demand for Eelam illegal on pain of savage punishment. As the scattered
and traumatized Tamils of our homeland are forced into silence,
we in the Diaspora are left with a solemn responsibility today.
In the wake of last year's mass mobilizations around the world, the
international community accepts that the Tamil Diaspora must play a
key role in the island's future. The world is paying attention to
Sri Lanka's crisis and we must take the opportunity to state our
case clearly.
We live in established liberal democratic states with freedom of
the press and where the rule of law is invariably observed. This
weekend's referendum provides a chance to prove that the demand for
Eelam is, as it always was, the well reasoned conclusion of rational,
free-thinking, independent individuals.
By endorsing an independent Eelam, we demonstrate our commitment
to our people in the island and make clear and that there can be no
peace or reconciliation without a just solution, without freedom and
equality for the Tamil nation; and that it is stability, not chaos
we seek in our homeland.
Not all of those who voted in the first Eelam referendum will be able
to make their voices heard again. Illness, age and thirty years of
brutal conflict have claimed many lives. This weekend's referendum
provides a democratic platform through which the next generation can
make clear the popular will of the Tamils and thereby continue our
just and legitimate struggle.
Unavoidable Politics Many young British Tamils, as do their non-Tamil
peers, profess an aversion to the morally questionable arena of
politics. 'I am not into politics; I believe in human rights' some
say. But politics and human rights are inextricably linked. To try
and improve human rights whilst turning a blind eye to the politics
driving abuses and repression is not only futile but foolish.
Across the world and through out history, the most serious of human
rights violations have always been the result of state machinery
harnessed to racist, fascist or authoritarian ideologies. In Sri
Lanka democracy means the tyranny of the Sinhala majority over the
Tamil minority. The long history of state abuses and impunity there
is testament to this racialised logic. Sri Lanka's problems cannot
be fixed by tinkering with human rights mechanisms or monitoring.
For others, it is not human rights, but humanitarianism that drives
them. When the 2004 tsunami struck, many in the Diaspora quickly
rallied to the stunned survivors in the homeland. Whilst even the
most brutal of regimes are incapable of invoking a natural disaster,
but ethnic discrimination can have a devastating impact on subsequent
recovery. Sri Lanka did just that: international aid agencies protested
the government's excluding the shattered Northeast and concentration
on the Sinhala South. Despite this and state blockade, through the
untiring efforts of Tamil organisations and activists, the stricken
Tamil areas recovered to a great extent.
Moreover, it is how Sri Lanka waged war against the Eelam demand
that has kept most of the island's Tamils in humanitarian crisis
for a quarter of a century. Where does politics end and humanitarian
catastrophe begin when a government decides to indiscriminately bomb
its own civilian population? What use is aid when all international
agencies are expelled but the incarcerated civilians are cited in
state demands for 'rehabilitation' funds?
Any financial aid going to Sri Lanka, from donors or the Diaspora,
for 'development' or 'rehabilitation' will, in the absence of Tamil
self-rule, do nothing for the Tamil people, it will only benefit the
Sinhala state.
The core problem Some ardent optimists argue that six decades of
systematic discrimination in education, employment, language and
culture, culminating in last year's state-executed slaughter can be
forgotten with time; that there can be 'reconciliation'.
But the fundamental problem in Sri Lanka is the hierarchy of Sinhalese
above Tamils which has over six decades become embedded in every
aspect of life in Sri Lanka: governance, law, institutions, politics
and security, both individual and group.
This hierarchy is rooted in an ideology by which Sinhalese are
the rightful owners of the island and Tamils their inferior (the
'Mahavamsa'). Last summer's mass killings have their genesis in
state-sponsored or abetted riots and pogroms against Tamils in
the early fifties. This is why we argue Sri Lanka is a genocide
in progress.
As Israel was for the only sure protection for the Jewish people and
Kosovo for the Albanians, the only guaranteed protection for Tamils
in an independent Tamil Eelam: the future goodwill of today's mass
murderers is a brittle basis for our people's security.
However far you see yourself from politics if you dream of an end to
the persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka, you are dreaming of Eelam.
We all belong Most of us in the second generation were raised here
in Britain because our parents fled intolerable persecution in our
homeland.
Britain will always be our safe haven but Tamil Eelam is our origin.
That is why we are comfortably both British and Tamil. We are
well-versed in our Ps and Qs, but being Tamil is an equally inherent
part of who we are. Our Tamilness is not only expressed through
language, clothes, food and etiquette, which can be acquired or indeed
forgotten, but through shared ancestry.
It is important to remember that those who suffer genocide never
choose their own identity, rather it is chosen for them by their
oppressor. Throughout the gruesome history of genocide, Jews,
Armenians, Tamils and others have been singled out on the basis of
physical appearance or ancestry. This is why Israel, for example,
created the 'Law of Return', allowing those of Jewish descent to seek
safety in Israel from persecution any where in the world, regardless
of their country of birth, citizenship or place of residence. All
Jews are equal.
Similarly, regardless of where we were born or raised or to which
citizenry our passports say we belong, in the face of genocide, all
Tamils are equal. British Tamils therefore have a rightful place in
the Tamil struggle, alongside Tamils in the homeland.
Moreover, the Tamil Eelam nation is a political community. They may
contribute, but language or even ancestry is not a prerequisite to
belong. This is why non-Tamil spouses of Tamils are also eligible to
vote in this weekend's referendum. A nation is a group of people who
share the same political values and beliefs, thus creating their own
political identity.
All this talk of national identity makes some uneasy. There is an
unspoken fear that to engage in the Tamil 'national' project is to
participate in exclusivist politics. Seeking an independent Tamil
Eelam appears at odds with the increasing globalisation. Instead of
unity, we are voting to divide a state into two. Moreover, the notion
of dividing it along ethnic lines lies uncomfortably alongside the
idea of tolerance. It raises fears of racism or even fascism.
There are two sides to nationalism, however. One is fuelled by a racist
belief in one's superiority; whilst the other, ignited by oppression,
is fuelled by the need to resist genocide. Unabated persecution means
that Tamil Eelam is our only guaranteed protection against a state
that is obsessed with Sinhala supremacy. Yet the Tamil nation is not
against the existence of a Sinhala nation or people. A referendum on
Eelam is not a vote against tolerance or liberal values, but a vote
for freedom, equality and self-governance.
In country after country the Diaspora is coming forward to stand by
the island's Tamils in their hour of need. Tamils of Britain, this
weekend it is our turn.