by M. Thiru, September 8, 2004
In the 1930’s though there were political differences between the Sinhalese and Tamil leaders, but there was no state terrorism on Tamils. There were no atrocities by the armed forces, no riots, no looting or arsons, no rape, no shelling or bombing of Tamil areas, Tamils were not displaced from their habitats, the temples and the churches were not destroyed, so of course there was no need for Tamil youths to carry arms. Yet at that time a sensible Sinhalese leader was talking about a non-unitary solution.
Between 1956 & now a lot has happened. Who will provide the security for the Tamils in the NorthEast where there is no normal life? Therefore an agreed upon, or negotiated, ISGA will be the starting point for reconciliation and trust building. That will pave the way for permanent peace.
Teaching the Tamils a lesson with state terrorism since 1958 has not worked to contain Tamil aspirations. It has only made Tamil youths take to arms.
The war for peace did not work either since the IPKF’s time. If the majority parties still want to continue to follow the old tricks, they might succeed in crushing the Tamils with foreign help but their beloved unitary state will also suffer immensely.
I suppose the majority race in general has not changed their mindset. Their thinking is still that the Tamils can not be our equals, the Tamils are just a minority & must go along with what we decide. The majority of Sinhalese will be very happy to see Tamils suppressed, even if they are not progressing well and the country as a whole going down the drain.
Successive Sri Lankan governments since 1948 have continued to survive with the help of India, the US, Pakistan, China, Israel, etc. For the Sinhalese governments and party leaders these foreign countries are more trustworthy friends than the Tamils in their own country. Why??
Because the Tamils are demanding equal status and powersharing within SL . Tamil citizens are entitled to be equal with the Sinhalese by their birth.
Even after 1956, I have seen and heard people like Dr.N.M.Pereira, Dr.Colvin R de Silva, Dr.Bernard Souza, Vivien Gunawardene, Osman Wjeyaratne, Karalasingam from the LSSP, Peter Keuneman, and V.Ponnampalam from the Communist Party – all of them coming to my constituency in Jaffna district in support of their candidates and campaigning for parity of status for Tamils with the Sinhalese. They further advocated that parity is better than a federal state. I had not yet reached voting age. The LSSP candidate got more than 40% of the votes. Subsequently, a few years later I voted for Barrister Karalasingham, though he was operating from Colombo and could not speak Tamil well.
But what happened in 1972 when Colvin R de Silva had the opportunity to practice what he preached ??? Mind you, I also attended as a spectator the royal welcome the Federal Party gave to the old fox JRJayawardene from Kankesanthurai to Jaffna Town. I saw the commotion from a distance when a poor, self-respecting Tamil youth, who remembered JR’s 1957 march to Kandy, gave a welcome greeting to JR with his Bata slippers. I was elated actually. JR deserved much harsher treatment than that for what he did in 1957 to the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact.
The LSSP was not against the Federal Party’s demands, but the LSSP was worried more about the whole of SL and the economic progress of the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and so on.. In other words about the progress of all SL citizens. Though I was a supporter of the LSSP & accepted their broader view, I was a sympathizer of the Federal Party because of the language issue, particularly after the BC Pact was aborted mainly because of JR. He was a fox who managed to find a permanent constituency in Colombo South and build again his empire when he was rejected by the majority in Kelaniya.
In 1961 as a student of 14 years I also participated in the Satyagraha in front of the Jaffna Kachcheri and witnessed state terrorism. The Federal Party leaders and the senior cadres really experienced the brutal force of the armed forces.
During the riots in the south in 1958 one of the 5 Sinhalese families living in my town was hidden in our place by my father until the police jeep came and took them to Jaffna town to send them back to Matara. I was standing in front of my house when three FP supporters came and asked me, “We are looking for the Piyadasa0 family, where are they?”
Though they were still in my house, I told them my father has sent them with the IP and they are no more here. They believed me and went away. My father never briefed me in advance. Yet I was able to understand what is right and what is wrong even at that age because of my upbringing. I was also able to identify the people who were responsible for breaking two bakeries in town and setting them on fire (there was no looting). As a government servant my father did his duty and got adequate compensation to the bakery owners when normalcy returned in SL. They started their bakeries again.
Prior to the Piyadasa incident, we heard that one of our close relatives who was the Manager of a cinema in Mt Lavinia in Colombo was burnt to death alive by placing a heavy stone in his chest, and pouring petrol on his body in front of his house. Opposite was a Sinhalese Police Officer’s house. My relative rushed his wife and mother-in-law into the police officer’s house and went back to lock his house gate. He was running back to the Police officer’s house and the mob caught him. Unfortunately the police officer was on duty somewhere else and the others could not help as the mob was so violent. There are good Sinhalese and there are bad Sinhalese. Same with the Tamils. But when it comes to collective issues, both Sinhalese and Tamils, we have had problems since Sir P.Arunachalam’s time. It has gotten worse since 1958 and reached the yield point in 1983.
All the above are real experiences. I left SL in 1975 for good. I was lucky I was not in SL in 1977 or 1983 and afterwards. Many of my close friends (from Jaffna as well as Batticaloa) and relatives who are innocent and do not belong to any political groups perished as victims of the riots or various forms of state terrorism.
Looking back, I am glad the younger generation prepared themselves to face venom with venom. I fully realised this in 1995 when I read how Chandrika changed after her election victory. The availability of more credible news on the Internet enlightened me further how dirty the SL leaders, the regional powers and international players are.
Can any Sinhalese leaders who is in power be trusted by the Tamils? History has not proved their trustworthiness in the affirmative. Maybe the answer lies in Mahavamsa which says that the Tamils are invaders, they do not have equal rights in SL and they cannot be trusted unless they are those like Kadigamar, Devanada or Karuna.
So who have been the saviors of Tamils since 1983??
The answer is obvious. They have to depend on themselves with a strong leader.
In my view ISGA is the last chance for Sinhalese leaders to become clean and trustworthy leaders and to go for an honourable settlement with Tamils which is long overdue since Sir P. Arunachalam’s time. My grandfather and father were ardent grassroot supporters of Sir P.Ramanathan’s family at that time. My father and grandfather brought us up with a social and political conscience and to be proud citizens of Ceylon. But 1972 made many of my friends and me to leave the country in anticipation of events that were to unfold against the Tamils starting with the 1977 riots.
Will the majority of the Sinhalese intelligentsia realise their mistakes and make structural changes to take the country forward??? or will they go along with the leaders of the JHU, JVP, UNP & SLFP to play the same game again and again??
I think the answer lies in the Tamil Proverb the late Rohana Vijayaweera, the JVP leader, quoted from the dock, after the 1971 insurgency was crushed:
Aneethikku Inru Maddum Vettri Aanal Neethikku Enrume Vetri. In English, “Victory for injustice is only for today, whereas Victory for JUSTICE is forever.”