by Rajkumar Sivapathan; originally published February 27, 2004
School children from all over the world study great stories of how an arrogant lion demanded one animal per day from the inmates of the forest and eventually was tricked and killed by a small hare. It is no doubt that leaders of the world would have read similar stories, maybe with variations, when they were young. Yet they forget the moral of these stories, when they become powerful leaders. Time and time again, history witnesses the minorities who are oppressed by the majority rise up and finally destroy the very foundations of the majority. This story repeats itself in countries, work places, families and everywhere one can think of.
The Tamils of Sri Lanka have been discriminated against ever since the Sinhalese ruling class got power in their hands. The amount and variety of atrocities directed at them are wide ranging. The Sinhalese rulers try to destroy the Tamil language, the Tamils’ economy, Tamils’ education, Tamils’ lives and their right to defend themselves. When the Tamils decided to rise up, the Sinhalese rulers reacted with the typical mentality of the oppressor. They denied that there was a communal problem. Some of them deny it even now. They accused the Tamils of being terrorists and tackled the problem in that angle. It suited them because that approach helped them to carry on destroying the Tamils. It also made the rest of the world to regard LTTE, the only Tamil organisation who is strong enough to fight the discrimination, as a terrorist group. Now the LTTE has changed its approach and got the rest of the world to realise what is going on by exposing the Sinhalese rulers. It is too early to say whether the Sinhalese rulers have met their own shadow to pound on. But the signs are certainly there. The JVP has emerged as a force in Sinhala areas with the same policies and tactics used by the ruling elite. Even the Buddhist monks want to enjoy the benefits of the ruling elite. The quite upsetting one for them is that the Tamils, thanks to the LTTE, do not fall for official residence and air conditioned cars anymore. That does not mean that Tamil political parties have grown out of it, but as long as the LTTE is strong and powerful with the support of its people, the Tamil political parties have to “behave.”
There is a confusion in the role of LTTE and the Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka. In fact, there should not be any confusion at all. The LTTE was created as a result of the failure of these Tamil parties. Its main objective is to fight the discrimination of Tamils by the majority and win back their rights. The Tamil political parties, both old and new, have not proved that they are capable of doing the LTTE’s job for the past 55 years. The LTTE, on the other hand, is not interested in going to parliament in Colombo, as the Tamils have gained nothing from it. The LTTE’s interest is in the Tamil areas and there is no question on the support that the LTTE gets from the people it is created to protect.
This raises another question: why the LTTE wants to support the Tamil political party in this election. The LTTE does not want to support any political party in particular. It wants to support a unified Tamil political force and there is no doubt that is what Tamil people want. The objective here is to show the world that the Tamils are united in tackling the peace process. What is happening now is that there are some bankrupt political die-hards. Their political base is not in Tamil-dominated areas but in the Sinhala ruling class. They merely represent the interests of the Sinhala ruling class. They had already met their shadow and pounded on it when the LTTE replaced them in the hearts of the people. They have left the jungle where they reigned once and have become the servants of different lion(s) in different jungle(s). The schoolday story hasn’t ended, but continues. The Sinhalese lion, if it ignores the plight of the people and the frustrations of the Tamils, will one day soon pounce on its own shadow.
Harrow
UK.