Broader Vision of the Massacred Political Detainees
[On 24 February 1983, Nadarajah Thangathurai, one of the first Tamil freedom fighters incarcerated by the Sri Lanka government, was sentenced to life imprisonment. On the first of March 1983, he made a statement from the dock of the courthouse, which to this day remains one of the best testaments to the Tamil sentiments in Sri Lanka He was later killed along with Kuttimani in the Welikada prison massacre on July 25, 1983.]
Since the prison massacre 20 years have passed and 60,000 Tamils have perished. Has the majority's fundamental mind set changed? Is it capable of changing to a higher perspective?
Excerpts from the testimony by the detainees:
"When our vision is so global how can it fail to take into account the future good of the Sinhala people?"
When
the
British
government
entrusted
the
fate
of
the
Tamils
to
a
group
of
Sinhala
politicians,
the
Tamil
people
did
not
clamour
for
freedom
for
themselves.
They
did
not
suspect
that
they
would
in
course
of
time
be
made
second-class
citizens
of
this
country.
But
some
Tamil
leaders
did
perceptively
ask
for
bigger
representation
for
the
Tamils
in
the
legislature.
This
was
justified
by
later
events
when
the
plantation
Tamils
were
deprived
of
their
franchise.
What
the
next
25
years
saw
was
not
only
the
erosion
of
Tamil
rights
but
also
the
erosion
of
the
Tamil
homeland.
For
25
years,
the
Tamil
leaders
expressed
their
protest
in
Parliament
and
outside,
adopting
the
principles
of
ahimsa
and
Satyagraha.
But
what
happened?
...
To
those
noble
souls
who
keep
on
prating
"terrorism,
terrorism"
we
have
something
to
say.
Did
you
not
get
frightened
of
terrorism
when
hundreds
of
Tamils
were
massacred
in
cold
blood,
when
racist
hate
spread
like
fire
in
this
country
of
yours?
Did
terrorism
mean
nothing
to
you
when
Tamil
women
were
raped?
When
cultural
treasures
were
set
on
fire?
When
hundreds
and
hundreds
of
Tamil
homes
were
looted?
Why
in
1977
alone
400
Tamils
lost
their
lives
reddening
the
sky
above
with
their
splattered
blood
-
did
you
not
see
any
terrorism
then?
Did
your
thoughts
and
feelings
become
deadened
when
it
concerned
Tamil
lives
and
Tamil
property
or
are
your
minds
unable
to
conceive
the
very
idea
of
Tamil
suffering?
There is nothing that prevents two neighbouring nations living in co-operation. You must not run away with the thought that our sole objective is to establish Tamil Eelam. Tamil Eelam certainly remains an objective because we have learnt through bitter experience over the past several years that it is only by establishing a State of Tamil Eelam can Tamils live with self-respect.
But our vision is broader than that. Our vision is global. Wherever there is oppression, wherever there is violation of human dignity, whether in Africa or in Latin America, we are prepared to link hands with the oppressed and the under dog. When our vision is so global how can it fail to take into account the future good of the Sinhala people?
###
Posted July 27, 2004