Legitimising LTTE

International inaction drives more Tamils to Tigers

Thirty years ago, Sri Lanka’s Sinhala rulers actioned a set of violent pogroms against the Tamils of the island. Sinhala mobs, backed by the police and army, embarked on regular killing sprees, leaving an entire community hapless. That environment gave birth to Tamil militancy. Thousands of Tamil youths, ’till then famed as bookworms, switched pen for gun; ahimasa gave way to ambushes; and eventually the conventional warfare we have witnessed for the last two decades.

Recently, the United States advised the Sri Lankan government to “de-legitimise” the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) while persecuting the War on Tamils. That was an ambiguous advisory with very little specifics. However, a general theme of reducing local and Diaspora support for the LTTE could be gazed.

Of Ideals

How the Diaspora have funded the LTTE for the past thirty years is well documented. However, as late as 2006, determined support for the LTTE was mainly limited to the first generation of Tamil Diaspora who still had vivid memories of Sinhala state’s atrocities.

A seizable portion of the second generation, versed in the ways of the West, were actually questioning the the need and legitimacy of an armed struggle. They argued that Tamils could live under the Sinhala state without fear, because, today, there are enough international institutions and safeguards in place to prevent outright genocide or even a repeat of previous anti-Tamil pogroms.

At the first hint of a riots, international media such as the BBC and CNN would rush to the island. Non-stop media coverage will bring international attention and cause an outcry. United Nations and aid agencies would provide immediate help for the people while rights groups will document every violation of human right and bring the perpetrators to the international criminal court. In the worst case, the Tamil Diaspora will take to the streets and demand humanitarian action from their host nations.

Of Indifferences

Recent events in Vanni have put the second generation’s idealistic outlook to the test. Over 300, 000 Tamils have been repeatedly displaced in the Vanni. International media, aid agencies and rights groups have all abandoned the people because the Sinhala state has told them to.

When dozens of Tamils are killed by Sri Lankan shelling there isn’t even 24 seconds of coverage in the international media. Displaced people are suffering from acute shortage of food and medicine. Even hospitals are being hit by shells, with total impunity. Where our international media, aid agencies and rights groups? They have all been banned from the “conflict area” by the Sinhala state. So withered the first layer of the second generation’s innocence.

Yet, counter arguments remained. Unlike Sudan and Iraq, it was deemed, the Vanni “conflict area” was too dangerous for the international institutions to operate. If the Tamils moved out of the “conflict area”, it was claimed, that Tamils would be afforded all the protection.

People, including children, who did leave the “conflict area” are kept in detention centres in military occupied Jaffna and Vavuniya. There are widespread reports of young women being raped and many civilians being made to disappear. Where our international media, aid agencies and rights groups? No price for the correct answer. Of course, they have all been banned from the centres by the Sinhala state.

Of Interests

The Diaspora even took to the streets. No use. Hundreds of thousands marching across cities from from Auckland to Vancouver made no difference. International foreign policy, and the activities of their institutions, are based on perceived “strategic partnerships” and not on any ideals of humanity; this realisation appears to have completely crushed the innocence of the second generation.

Those who questioned the legitimacy of the armed struggle are now asking what if the 50, 000 Sinhala soldiers in Jaffna embark on a week long Rwanda style spree against the 800, 000 odd Tamil civilians of the peninsula. Obviously, international institutions would be banned from the region. And yes, the worst fear looks increasingly likely.

There is still some time left for permanent occupiers of the moral high ground to prove otherwise. But for now, there is increasing evidence of the second generation realising the legitimacy of the LTTE. This, the more affluent section of the Diaspora, seem more determined than their parents to give all they can to secure the rights of their cousins, uncles and aunties in the homeland.