R Shanmugananthan, originally published February 24, 2004
The recent editorial in the Tamil Guardian on ‘Expressing Tamil Aspirations’ at the forthcoming elections is timely.
Though greed of the Sinhala politicians – and in particular Chandrika Kumaratunge – is the reason for this election, the outcome will have far reaching consequences. Firstly the way Sinhalese people will vote will determine the way they will negotiate with the Tamils.
Less discussed, but even more important, is the way in which Tamils will vote. At present the LTTE has put forward a proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority. The professional opinion based on similar conflict resolutions is that this is an acceptable document for further negotiations. Sinhala politicians are now forced to negotiate on this proposal, but are not keen to do so. The political bickering among them is a convenient excuse. They would like to avoid negotiating without being blamed for it. Confusing and disrupting elections in Tamil areas in order to prevent the LTTE from gaining a mandate is one of the ways.
For a successful negotiation, it is necessary for Tamils to express their opinion clearly about their aspirations in this election. They must use this election to tell the world that they want to lead a life free of oppression. They need to give a clear mandate to the LTTE to continue with the negotiating process. All thinking, sincere Tamils, have expressed similar sentiments, the latest one being the editorial in the Tamil Guardian.
Enemies of the peace process also have come to similar conclusions. They have recruited a couple of prominent Tamil traitors. One is a politician and the other is journalist. These two puppet traitors are intent on serving their masters well by creating confusion among Tamils. From their actions and utterings we can infer that these traitors’ aim is to weaken the LTTE’s ability to negotiate successfully with the Sinhalese. Therefore they must be working for enemies of the peace process. These forces will not stop at this. They will do everything to confuse and even disrupt the elections in Tamil areas.
The Tamil diaspora must be vigilant and expose the nefarious activities of these forces. We must try to give a chance to our people to use their own free will to Sink or Swim.
This election is only about expressing Tamil opinion and nothing else. If Tamil politicians believe that by maximising the number of MPs they can achieve results via the parliament, it is a mistaken one. Tyranny of the majority still rules in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese politicians will readily join forces to harm the Tamils.
R Shanmugananthan