Freedom for some Serfdom for the rest in
One Country of Two Nations - Sri Lanka

The Tyranny of Sinhala Hegemony

By AppuArchie

Congratulations, Sinhala Nation of Sri Lanka, on your 53rd Anniversary of freedom today from British subjugation. If one great achievement of mankind over the past 2000 years that towers over others, historians claim, is: “The arduous, painstaking process of wresting liberty from tyranny’s fist.” (Jim Powell)

Needless to say your nation did not have to go through the process. Instead, you used cunning, subterfuge and connivance with the British to transfer power to you and undermine Tamil national survival. This was made easy and possible with the Tamil tradition of “Live and let live” principle, to a greater degree through the greed of a few Tamil elite of the time, and continued to this day by shameless Tamil traitors.

Consequent to the peaceful transfer of power from the British to the Sinhalas in 1948 via the “Pan Sinhala Cabinet” [courtesy C. Suntharalingam] Tamils continued to be subservient to their peers, the Sinhalas. Tamils, who respect their leaders, until proven intolerable, remained passive since the first blow following the independence celebrations, of disenfranchisement of the backbone of the country’s economy, the estate-labor, until the opportunity for higher education was denied to every Tamil youth.

Passivity in the eyes of the depraved is construed as weakness, the most destructive assessment of the Tamil psyche by the Sinhala leadership of yesterday, today and perhaps tomorrow, until sanity returns. The power of the idea of freedom in the minds of a vibrant, cultured society is not to be played with. World events have proved in the last 2000 years, a period when life controlled by fake religious mesmerism transformed Tamil vibrancy into passivity. If only one of the Sinhala Governments, and there were many such opportunities to strike a compromise, treated Tamils as partners, Tamils would never have thought of parting.

The extended unilateral ceasefire for a second month in vogue since last Christmas day by the freedom fighters is a clarion call for peace with dignity and honor and not the villain call to gather pieces of war machinery, as the Sinhala leaders, in their depravity, have painted the unilateral ceasefire.

Tamils have suffered terribly for their belief in the power of freedom. Many have been murdered, some are languishing in jails for the crime that they are Tamils, very many have sought refuge in exile and the most gratifying aspect of the whole Tamil freedom saga is the youth are putting their lives on the line for the idea of the Power of Freedom formed in the mind of one boy (now a man) - no other than Tamil Eelam National Leader Velupillai Pirabakaran. History will adore him as the only Tamil leader in the 2000-year history who crossed the line from obedience to disobedience, under pressure of political power abuse and tyranny. He leads a freedom force of champions from humble beginnings to the worlds best Freedom fighters using all types of war strategy from guerrilla tactics to conventional war, using mostly the enemies tools of war. He has not wavered from seeking peace not at any cost but only with dignity and honor.

News about non-combatant Tamil youth from the several institutions of learning is voicing their support through demonstrations and sit-ins. Here is a sample: “The University is the last remaining platform for national dissent.” - Leon Eisenberg [Source: Sundayleader/Jan/21]

17^th January, 2001 will be engraved in the annals of contemporary Tamil political history as the day where an unarmed minority defied the threats and intimidation of the armed forces and stood up boldly for the ideals they believed in. Despite the clear and present danger, a crowd of around 4000-5000 people, most of whom were students assembled within the Jaffna University premises and conducted as planned the demonstration called “Pongu Thamil” -  meaning Tamil upsurge?

Here at home, Tamil American youth have grouped into form the YOAT as per Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA.

Youth Organization of American Tamils (YOAT) formed.

Mission Statement: The Tamils population in the United States is growing steadily. So is the Tamil youth population. The youth segment of the Tamil population in United States mostly comprising of first generation Tamils or second generation Tamils. Most of our parents living here are first generation Tamils. They have gone through a lot of trouble in bringing us up. However, being brought up in a non-Tamil speaking world far from our homeland brings its own challenges. One has to experience these challenges to fully appreciate the complexity and the difficulty of them. Having experienced in walking through the maze of two distinctively different cultures - western and the Tamil culture, we are in a unique position to understand our identity better. We are thankful to our parents for bringing us up as good citizens and we are proud of our achievements thus far. We believe we are now in a unique position to lead the next generation of Tamil youth in the right path. Here we outline our objectives as how we intend to take up this leadership.

Dr. V. C. Kuzhanthaisamy, Former Vice Chancellor Madurai University, Director, Tamil Nadu Center for Technical Education and UNO Engineer known as the “Science Poet” expressed my desire better with his:

“Uci cejjum ciRu tozhilin Nudpam kURa
oru kOdi NUl vEnhdum, tamizhil iNtak
kAcinijil inRuvary aRivin mannar kanhduLLa kalykaLelAm, tamizhil enhnhip
pEci makizh Nily vEnhdum.”

I maintain that it is the Tamil youth exposed to the best educational opportunities with a Tamil inclination can produce such treatises as envisaged by Dr. Kuzhanthaisamy, and other Tamils like yours truly who have missed their boat.

There are reports about Tamil political leaders “braying” for freedom. The following excerpt explains. However, politics is part and parcel of everyday life, but politicians of the self first variety are no factor in the Tamil equation.

FIVE TAMIL PARTIES BRAYING FOR TIGERS: Five Tamil political parties, TULF, ACTC, TELO, EROS and Tamil Congress, have met Caroline Wilson, the deputy secretary of South Asian affairs of Britain, and asked her not to proscribe the LTTE in Britain. They have spoken with Mrs. Wilson for four hours, during which they have tried to convince her that if the LTTE is proscribed in London, it will greatly hamper the peace process in Sri Lanka. They have also asked her to apply pressure on the Sri Lankan governmentt instead to accept the cease-fire offer made by the Tigers and announce the same of their own.”

 Reported by Siva Ardash in TamilCircle.

Therefore, friends from the Sinhala Nation of Sri Lanka, your past and present leaders have inflicted serious injuries on the Tamil Nation, by abusing political power. On this day of rejoice for you, it should also be a day to voice your abhorrence of self centered leaders who are misleading you to the abyss of chauvinist path of turmoil and travails for you and the Tamils.

Why don’t you advise your leaders to follow the example of the Swedes and Norwegians? Secede and succeed in building two prosperous nations and not throttle Tamils and thus endangering yourselves.

Tamil groundwork for national survival is not the underground entity your erstwhile and current leaders have made you and the world believe. You should remember Tamil struggle is an aboveground, above- board uprising of champions for freedom that will not stop short of Tamil survival with dignity and honor.