Why civilians prefer the “world’s most dangerous place.”

During the past few months, there have been a chorus of calls for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to grant “freedom of movement” to the more than 140, 000 Tamils “trapped” in the Sri Lankan government declared “safe zone”.

Led by Colombo and New Delhi, the war partners who are attempting to coerce people to leave by bombing them day and night, France, United Kingdom and even the United Nations (UN) have regurgitated the allegation that an estimated 200 LTTE cadres are keeping around 140, 000 people “hostage”.

Meanwhile, members of the Tamil Diaspora, some of whom count loved ones amongst the “trapped” civilians, have been demonstrating around the world calling for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire that should be monitored by the international community.”

The LTTE has also agreed to an “internationally monitored ceasefire”, but the government of Sri Lanka has rebuffed all demands, insisting it is conducting “the world’s largest hostage rescue operation.”

A Diaspora says

On Saturday, we had a chance encounter with a friend from the Vanni. He was one of 10, 000 Tamils at the “illegal” demonstration outside Britain’s parliament. His demand was “an immediate end to the bombings” that are counting victims amongst his parents, siblings and members of his extended family.

This man, who wants his name withheld, originates from Periya-thampani, a small farming village, on the Vavuniya-Madhu Road. His village was near the front-lines when the Sri Lankan military launched its incursions into LTTE administered Vanni in early 2007.

By mid-2007 , 298 villagers from this tiny hamlet had fled to Skanthapuram, a suburb of Killinochchi Town, where they set-up temporary shelters with the help of local aid agencies. Less than a year later, with international aid agencies expelled from the region by Sri Lanka, the villagers were again on the move; this time to Tharmapuram on the east of Killinochchi.

From there, they moved to Visuvamadhu, the first so called “safe zone” declared by the Sri Lankan government. There, 13 of the 298 perished in shelling that the civilians blame on the Sinhalese military. In early 2009, the remaining 275 villagers moved to the newly declared “safe zone” along the stretch of sandy beach, north of Mulaitheevu Town.

We shan’t detail living conditions in this region as his accounts mirror that already covered widely by TamilNet.com, the only English language media reporting from the area, in defiance of Sri Lankan government imposed blanket ban on journalists.

People who “escape”

We queried, why then, are people staying in what New York based Human Rights Watch calls the “world’s most dangerous place”?

The answer, he says, is that people are “stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea.” Literally, they are surrounded by the advancing Sinhala military and the Indian Ocean.

Of the 275 people that moved to the “safe zone” nine have already died. Another 14 had “escaped” out of the “conflict area”.

Why are others not following suit? Of the initial population, 22 have already died.; they have been buried and mourned. The 14 that “escaped” are unaccounted; all that is known in that they “left” the “safe zone”.

The man in London knows that the 262 villagers from Periya-thamapani are alive, albeit under difficult circumstances. But of the 14 that “escaped” he knows nothing.

Are unknown

There are no independent monitors, not even the International Committee of Read Cross (ICRC) or the UN are present to receive the civilians who “escape” the “safe zone”. The military, for reasons known to itself, does not publish names of people it received.

However, there are around 65, 000 people detained in the “welfare camps” Sri Lanka has set-up in Jaffna and Vavuniya, according to the government.

Again, names of people in detention are not published. They are banned from contacting anyone on the outside.

Relatives of the 14 have been making desperate efforts to have friends in Vavuniya visit the “welfare camps”, but to no avail. Efforts via the ICRC to trace the people has also reached dead-end. ICRC says that it has access to the camps, but is forbidden from monitoring activities there or tracing individuals. The UN also appears to be hapless; even the names of its local staff in detention have not been released.

“The fate of those who ‘escaped’ is left to pure speculation,” he says. They could have died on the way, may have been disappeared or could even be in detention. The “not knowing” he says is “more painful than hearing of their death or lives in difficult circumstances.”

“If I can tell my ‘trapped’ relatives that those who ‘escaped’ are safe, in contact with family, and leading a fairly normal life, the remaining will also leave.

“But, when I am having to ask them if they’ve heard from or found the bodies of those who ‘escaped’ and tell them that the ICRC and UN are unable to trace them, people are obviously discouraged from leaving,” he adds.

While IC pretends

He says that the predicament of his people has been communicated to British Members of Parliament (MP).

On British Foreign Minister David Miliband’s recent claim that the government deplores LTTE’s “determination to use civilians as a human shield,” he says that Britain should first try to trace the people who “escaped”.

“British authorities are well aware of the the predicament of the people; they know that many prefer death over disappearance.

“If the British really want people to move out of the ‘conflict area’ they will attempt to create a reassuring environment for the ‘trapped’ people

“UN or ICRC would be at the border, receiving and registering people. The displaced would then be housed in UNHCR refugee camps as it happens elsewhere in the world. People there would be free to contact their friends and family in the region as well as abroad,” he lists.

His extended family, from one of the most fertile parts of the world, had never known the meaning words like “hunger” and “poverty”. But thanks to the Sinhalese military, they have been repeatedly displaced and living on hand-outs for more than 18 months.

A foremost demand, then, is that the people should have a set date on which they would be returned to their homes. A prospect he fears is one similar to parts of Jaffna and Trincomalee, where entire villages were declared “high security zone” leaving thousands of otherwise well-off people as refugees for life.

Although IC knows

His thoughts, of course, do not touch on the wider political aspirations of the Tamil people. His demands are immediate; his current requirement is not for the right to self-determination but for rights to life and livelihood.

Many would argue that a UN led referendum to asses the wishes of the people in the “disputed region” known as Tamileelam is the only long term solution for stability on the island.

However, one must note that the International Community (IC), including Britain, are clearly unwilling to resolve the more pressing life and death situation of the Tamils, let alone help work towards a permanent solution.

This man’s story is akin to many more of the protesters, including the young man on hunger strike in London, we are told.

Yet, the IC has not sent representatives to the “safe zone” to see for itself the plight of the people. It continues to ignore the Tamil Diaspora attempting to tell very personal stories. IC isn’t naïve to believe that the Sri Lankan government’s ban on independent media, aid groups and the UN is an innocent formality.

The IC is well aware of the Sinhala state’s genocidal tendencies. Its role in facilitating questionable actions of the state, only confirms the IC’s complicity in the current genocide by attrition.

For our friend from Periya-thampanai, it is obvious that his family are “hostages to fear”; something that is only being elevated by the IC’s pretence that it has no control over the Sinhala state. His call to “let them leave” is, then, directed at the British authorities. He says, they along with American and European counterparts can do a lot to free his family from the “fear” that is keeping them in the “world’s most dangerous place.”

Civilian struggles in Vanni

Around 80, 000 families, more than 200, 00 people, all of them Tamils are temporarily settled in the Sri Lankan government declared “Safe-Zone”, a half-a-mile wide strip of sandy beach stretching less than ten miles in length.

Atrocities taking place in this zone have gone unreported in the international press, thanks to a blanket ban imposed on aid workers and journalist by the Sinhala state. Only the Tamil media, led by the English language website TamilNet.com, has dared to defy official orders.

Here we provide details in short Q&A format

Who declared the “Safe-Zone”?

Unilateral declaration by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL).

Is the region appropriate for such large number of people?

No. Previously home to only a handful of fishing hamlets, it has no infrastructure.

Water and Sanitation?

Number of toilets and wells were in single digit.

Could civilians have refused to move into the area?

No. Everyone outside the zone were declared “enemy combatants” by the Sinhala sate.

Did anyone stay out?

International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) operated the PTK Hospital. It was repeatedly shelled. Sri Lanka’s defence secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, told Britain’s Sky News that the hospital was a “legitimate target” as it was operating outside of the government declared zone.

Who is looking after the civilians?

Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) and a number of local charities are attending to daily needs. Tamileelam Administrative Service (TAS) has deployed unarmed cadres to help with construction of temporary shelters.

How about international aid agencies?

None. All have been banned by the GoSL.

Even the UNHCR?

Yes, even the UNHCR. The “Safe-Zone” is the only part of the world with high number of displaced civilians unattended by UNHCR.

Has LTTE blocked aid agencies or UN?

No. LTTE has written several letters to all prominent aid agencies and UN, even pleading with them not to abandon the Tamil people.

How about Safety?

UNHCR and a number of international aid organisations are present in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan, where they are declared targets.

What are the main problems faced by the civilians?

Artillery attacks and air raids; shortage of food and medicine; and lack of shelter.

What is being done about it?

Attacks by the Sri Lankan military are ongoing. Nothing can be done about it other that defeating them on the battle front, or exerting international pressure to stop the shelling.

Food, medicine and shelter?

TAS is building small shelters using Palmyra leaves. All shelter material are banned by the GoSL. WFP is delivering rice, dhal and some medicine by ship, but nowhere near enough for the number of people in the area.

How about the shortfall in food and medicine?

LTTE’s Sea Tigers have managed to “smuggle” small supplies of essential items. Rice porridge ‘kanchie’ is given twice daily to all adults. A protein rich version of it, ‘pyintham-kanchie’, is given to children. Families with babies under a year-old are given milk powder.

No food shortage then?

Minimal food is “smuggled” to prevent death by starvation. People have not ate vegetables for months. Vitamin deficiency diseases may become more common.

Why don’t Sea Tigers transport more?

They are having to work under great difficulties. Both Indian and Sri Lankan navies have increased patrols. Tamil Nadu police is actively following individuals purchasing large quantities of food or medicine.

Are there civilian casualties in the “Safe-Zone”?

Yes. Around 100 people are killed and 200 are injured every day.

Why?

GoSL wants force them out of LTTE administered areas. It hopes to limit choices to death and moving out.

What happens to injured people?

They are taken to two makeshift medical facilities in the zone. Most minor injuries become major complication because of shortage of essential medicine. Serious cases are transported by the ICRC to Trincomalee.

Does the LTTE have positions inside the “Safe-Zone”?

No. If it did, they would have been filmed by UAVs. Defence Ministry releases detailed videos from outside the zone. Same would have been done if there were positions inside. LTTE has requested international monitors to visit the zone to verify.

Is the LTTE holding civilians by force as “human shield”?

No. Given the ratio of civilians to cadres, that would be a physical impossibility.

How about civilians who say they were held by force?

People in Sinhala army detention camps and militarised hospitals are limited in what they can say. Taking their words without context is the height of naivete.

Why are some media quoting them then?

As it suits their agenda. Readers should put themselves in the shoes of the civilians.

Why would UN make that claim as well?

UN should send monitors into the region. With no presence in the “Safe-Zone” UN has no credible way of assessing people’s wishes. UN appears to want to do something. But, it has been banned from the region by the GoSL. Only thing left for it to do is blame the LTTE.

Sinhalese are more equal, even in Melbourne

Video: Dared to dissent

On Saturday April 4th, Diaspora Tamils and expatriate Sinhalese living in the south Australian city of Melbourne held two separate demonstrations, voicing their opinions on the on going ethnic conflict in the island of Sri Lanka.

According to the police, permission had been granted for both groups to hold “peaceful” demonstrations.

The Sinhalese were gathered in front of the Victoria State Parliament, waving their lion -sinha- flag and holding placards denouncing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The Tamils had organised a novel “car protest” around the city. Cars flying the Tamileelam flag and strapped with banners demanding an end to the genocide were being driven around to raise awareness amongst locals.

Australia is a civilised state. It allows for peaceful protests. The people of that country tolerate all opinions, when expressed in an acceptable manner.

What happened on Saturday was that for a few minutes Melbourne became Madavachie or Matara.

A Tamil car had stopped at the traffic lights, in the midst of a few hundred Sinhalese.

Events thereafter were rather predictable. The Sinhala crowd of men and women, both young and old gathered around the vehicle. First the Tamileelam flag was snatched; thereafter, a young girl moved to tear-off the banner.

Then, the crowd began shouting the all too familiar “para demala” slogans, while kicking the car. Side mirror and rear window were broken; roof was dented; and two people were injured. Tamileelam flag was set on fire.

Clearly, the Sinhalese crowd did not agree with the Tamils’ opinion. That’s understandable, given that a violent conflict between the two ethnic communities has been in full swing for decades.

However, the violent response should be noted by all concerned. Sinhalese from all walks of life, not only young men, feel that frenzied violence is an appropriate response to any Tamil who voices an opinion that dissents from Sinhala school of thought.

The police in Melbourne had to arrive with CS gas to control the Sinhala mobs. Of course, in Madavachie or Matara police would have watched from the sideline or even led from the front. There, it would have been the Tamil people, not just the flag, that would have paid the ultimate price.

Street laws of the white van courts are deeply embedded in every Sinhala person who follows official orders from Colombo. Residency in Australia, and subsequent interaction with the people of that country has not been able to ward off their violent intolerance. More aid and mere talks in Colombo will neither.

The attack in Melbourne highlights, once again, that nothing has changed since 1983. Any country under the majoritarian rule of Sinhalese will not tolerate the diversity of, sometimes dissenting, opinions that are inherent to a multi-cultural state.

Writing on the placard: In the absence of a “foreign” monitoring force, under Colombo’s grip, Tamils of the island of Sri Lanka will have to keep silent as slaves or face certain death.

Sri Lanka’s military detention camps for Tamils

Imprisonment is perhaps the most well known of all methods of punishment. In recent weeks, Sri Lanka’s plan to incarcerate in excess of 300, 000 Tamils in military detention camps has been overlooked, even assisted by the international community (IC). The only plausible argument in favour of this attitude is that the IC views the proposed caging as appropriate penal justice for the crime of being born Tamil.

Prisons?

Currently, almost 50, 000 Tamils are held at the internment camps in Vavuniya and Jaffna. Sri Lanka, unsurprisingly, attempts to advertise the facilities as “welfare camps”. But, in practice, the barbedwire fenced sites have been constructed to keep Tamil civilians, including women and children, in involuntary confinement.

The process began with the first phase of shelling Tamil homes, forcing people to displace; thereafter, they are denied food and medicine; then, they are given the option to die in artillery barrages or to “escape” to one of the detention camps. Since the only other alternative offered to Tamils is to get killed, their confinement in the camps is anything but voluntary.

Once inside, for the detainees, there is no way out; they are not even allowed on day release. Unlike most prisons, internees are forbidden from seeing any visitors, even during specified hours. Their only access to the outside world remains the military guided tours offered to selected media and international institutions.

As with Guantanamo and other such detention camps, detainees are given a cell for living space, basic meals and medical care. Children are offered classes centred around the concept of “Sri Lankanisation”, giving an inkling of a “correction” facility. Of course, benefits don’t come free: detainees are used as labour to build new cells, cook and clean.

And More?

The detention camps, however, should not be confused with civil prisons that exist in most countries. Manned and managed by Sinhalese soldiers, reported cases of abuses are already high. The spectra of white vans, also, continue to haunt the facilities.

To make matters worse, there is no independent monitoring mechanism in place to maintain accountability. Thanks to the Sri Lankan government’s ban on all independent observers from the Vanni region, there are no reliable records of the number of people who crossed over into Sinhalese military occupied areas.

Sri Lanka’s apparent keenness to understate the number of civilians in the region should be of concern. The Sinhala state insists that the number of Tamils in the region is a quarter of the estimate provided by the United Nations, for predicable reasons.

IC the Shepherd?

Given the detainees’ predicament, the IC’s insistence that the remaining 200, 000 plus Tamils in the LTTE administered areas also move themselves to the camps is puzzling, unless the IC views the caging as appropriate penal justice.

Even then, the IC has not pressured the Sinhala state to allow independent monitors to the crossover points to account the number number of people concerned. Neither has it made any attempt to demilitarise the detention centres or provide legal assistance to the detainees.

On the contrary, the United Nations is seen assisting in the establishment and maintenance of many of the camps by providing equipment. A number of states are also said to be considering direct financing for the camps. The new United States administration that ordered the closure of Guantanamo remains silent while many more are set-up by Sri Lanka.

Lawful?

Unless being a Tamil is a crime, the detention of more than 300, 000 people on basis of ethnicity would be unlawful. Obviously, the duty of upholding the right to be Tamil falls squarely on the shoulders of all 80 million of us. The primary duty now is to force Sri Lanka to define the basis on which it is incarcerating this many people; thereafter, immediately, Sri Lanka’s Sinhala rulers should be brought to the International Criminal Court for what is a crime against humanity.

Whose conflict? Whose area?

On Feb. 27, the United Nations indicated that the Sinhala-Tamil civil war will not be a matter for discourse at the world body, effectively giving the go-ahead for the Sri Lankan state to proceed with its war on Tamils without regard for civilian lives.

The humanitarian case before the council was that of immense suffering endured by more than 300, 000 Tamil civilians who have been forcibly displaced and are either being shelled while sheltered in areas administered by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or are locked up in detention centres in Sri Lankan military occupied areas.

Presence of civilians in the “conflict area” was articulated by council president, Japan, as the crux of the issue. The solution, as advocated by the UN, is to remove all civilians from the defined area and “keep” them in areas designated by the Sri Lankan military.

Thus, the civilian issue has been reduced to one concerning the “conflict area”. International Community (IC) and its institutions are unanimous in the view that locking up in excess of 300, 000 people, depriving them of their livelihoods is an acceptable means of conflict resolution.

While the Sri Lankan military is dictating the time and location of conflict, a ceasefire that would allow the people of the region to live in just-peace in their historic homeland is seen as a troublesome manoeuvre.

The question now is: What if the “conflict area” is widened? What if an actor other than the Sri Lankan military began defining the time and location of violence?

Indeed, if it is the lives and livelihoods of the Sinhalese people that is threatened by violence, Sri Lanka’s response will be critically different. If economic interests are within the “conflict area”, IC is unlikely to watch with the same glee. India, for example, would not be keen to see “conflict” in the heart of Trincomalee, where an Indian company owns oil storage facilities.

So, what will the IC and its institutions do if Colombo, for instance, becomes the “conflict area”? Will they respond by calling the affected people to displace to detention centres or will they call for a “ceasefire”? We believe that the answer is all too obvious.

If it is a ceasefire that the LTTE wants, most sensible course of action would be to widen the “conflict area” to include as much of the island as possible. In particular, threat of violence in the Western Province, which accounts for a vast share of the island’s economic activity, is the only spectra that is likely to jolt the policy makers, both local and international.

Col. Roopan and Lt. Col. Siriththiran

“If we don’t fight for our freedom, who else will?” – Air Black Tiger Col. Roopan

On Feb. 20^th, two planes belonging to the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) launched a daring raid on Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) installations in the south of the island. Piloted by Air Black Tigers, the planes were on “kamikaze” missions to SLAF head offices in the Fort area of Colombo and the main air force base in Katunayake.

Both planes missed their intended targets. The first crashed into the inland revenue offices, about ten meters from the SLAF offices; and, the second crashed in the outer perimeter of the air force base.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement: “Well coordinated communication, early detection and the preparedness of the forces paid off, denying LTTE what defence observers viewed as an abortive attempt to disrupt the prevailing normalcy in South.” TAF planes making their way to within metres of their intended targets is seen as a major embarrassment for the Sinhala state, which for months has claimed to have destroyed the Tamils’ conventional capabilities.

Beyond the surface news, there is another aspect to the Black Air Tiger operation. This daring raid has come at a time when Sri Lanka’s financial backers Norway, US, EU and Japan, and its sleeping partner India are calling on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to surrender.

Since the early ’80s, the LTTE has maintained that it will not lay down arms or surrender until the Tamil people’s right to self-determination has been realised. Indian and Sri Lankan troops have for more than two decades tried, unsuccessfully, to disarm Tamils by military means.

By sending some of their most guarded assets, planes and pilots, on a Black Tiger mission, the LTTE has told the world, loud and clear, that it has no intention of giving up the struggle, regardless of how “challenging” the military situation may become.

Privately, Tamils are aware that the LTTE still maintains conventional military capabilities, despite pundits’ premature predictions of guerilla warfare. However, shrinking landmass and coastal area under the administration of the LTTE does, with time, reduce the likelihood of another unceasing waves.

In the early days of Tamil militancy, when the bookworms of Eelam found life their new jungle homes exacting, they would say to each other that if it is to be easy it wouldn’t be called the struggle. To this day, despite the conventionalism and de-facto state of the past decade, the quest for Tamileelam continues to be referred to as the “struggle” by all Tamils, including the Diaspora.

The crucial message from the air raid: yes times are challenging, but Tamils never expected it to be easy. Thus, whatever trials may come, the struggle will subsist until the people’s right to self-determination is realised.

Parliamentary debate gives insight into New Delhi’s role

Over the past few months, we have not minced words in describing New Delhi’s role in the ongoing war on Tamils in Eelam. Sometimes, we had evoked fear amongst Tamils who still believe that forming alliances with alternative world powers will anger India and acquire its wrath. A speech given to that country’s parliament by its foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, on Wednesday, however, highlights that Tamils have nothing to lose by exploring all options.

New Delhi’s military, political and financial aid to Colombo is well documented. Residents in Tamil Nadu have time and again exposed Sinhala troops training on Indian soil and Indian military hardware being shipped to the island. Financial assistance in the form of ’soft’ loans, grant aids and credit lines are regularly reported in the press. Political help to ward off accusations at the Common Wealth and United Nations have become frequent as the war has paced.

In addition to the hands-off assistance, there have been allegations that Indian troops are present on the ground in the Vanni. Indeed, two Indian “technicians” were injured when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) raided a front-line command centre of the Sri Lankan military in September 2008. There are a reported 3, 000 Indian military personal on the ground assisting their Sri Lankan counterparts.

Wednesday’s statement endorsed the Sri Lankan military operated detention centres for displaced Tamils and offered India’s help to move many thousands more into these “concentration camps”. Notably, while many Western powers have been quick to distance themselves from Sinhala state’s plan for “pacifying” Tamils, New Delhi has signed up as its first sponsor.

A statistic flaunted by Mr Mukherjee also gained some attention: according to agencies in Vanni, in excess of 300, 000 civilians are living there, United Nations puts the figure at 250, 000, the Sinhala state says half that number, 125, 000, are “trapped” and New Delhi goes one step further stating that 70, 000 are in Vanni. Most analysts argue that the 70, 000 figure was probably the number that can be intermediated into leaving by continued shelling, and blockades of food and medicine.

Evidently, all efforts to pacify Sonia Congress’s genocidal intent by Tamil Nadu have ended in failure. While many point finger of blame at Chief Minister Karunanidhi, we would like to acknowledge his genuine limitations in influencing New Delhi. Yes, if Mr Karunanidhi’s DMK pulls its support for Sonia Congress, the existing coalition government will be in turmoil; hence, he is seen in many circles as a “coward” for not using this trump card. Yet, many fail to understand that Mr Karunanidhi is a modern day Raj for an European Empress, who at the click of her fingers can end the dreams of the Sun dynasty.

Political agitations in Tamil Nadu have summed to zero. Six months of human chains and street protests have failed to prevent increased assistance from New Delhi to Colombo. We appreciate the efforts of the 70 million Tamils in the Indian state and are thankful for their sympathy. However, sentiments alone can not save lives. If the people of Tamil Nadu are genuinely concerned about their siblings across the sea, they will note this period in history as one that demanded practical action from them.

In the meantime, Tamileelam leadership should begin to look beyond the mammoth of landmass to their north. There are alternative world powers rivalling for influence in our region. Since India is keener to exterminate the olive branch, and the hand holding it, than embrace it, Tamils have nothing to lose by falling out of New Delhi’s sphere of influence.

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.

Futility of expecting salvation by an external entity

An accepted belief: International Community (IC) will come down from its moral mount to rescue the Tamil people from the ongoing genocide in their historic homeland. Unfortunately, our world is not so ideal. In our world, victor has his ways.

When the Sinhala state surrounds more than 300, 000 Tamils in the Vanni and when it indiscriminately pounds known civilian centres, including hospitals, the message from the IC comes: surrender to save yourselves.

The February 3^rd statement from the co-chairs, a quartet of Sri Lanka’s financial bakers, therefore, should be seen for what it is: an anticipatory acknowledgement of the Sinhala state’s “victory” over the Tamils.

Yes, the Sinhala state is deliberately targeting Tamil civilians; and yes, it is indefinitely detaining families for the simple reason that they are Tamil. But, none of this is of any relevance because, as the IC’s media keep pointing out, Sri Lankan is on the “verge of defeating” the Tamil insurgency.

Even after the Iraq venture, it is unfortunate the the IC fails to note that a nation of people can not be subjugated by military might alone. Certainly, the co-chairs appear to be absent-minded in their approach to resolve the Sinhala-Tamil conflict.

Sonia Congress dreams of Rajiv era

A recently popularised argument from several quarters is that the co-chairs are simply signing away statements drafted by the official “bystander”; their “strategic partner” in the region.

Disarming the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and installing New Delhi’s quislings as “representatives” of the Tamil people was the favoured policy of the Rajiv administration. How that imprudent quest costed thousands of lives and extended the agony of nations of people by more than two decades is now recorded history.

While one expects an “emerging state” to be dynamic in its policy formations, one has to admit that India is disturbingly trapped in the dynastic politics of the House of Nehru. In the corridors of Sabhas individual egos still take precedence over national interest.

New Delhi’s continued military assistant to Sri Lanka and the excessive use of wording from the Indo-Lanka Accord in the co-chairs latest press-release are perturbing at the least.

Attempts by certain individuals to justify New Delhi’s actions on ideological grounds only serve to bring shame to the intellectual advancement in India’s civil service. Russia, for example, did not cite its own “separatist” issue in Chechnya when it went to war with Georgia on behalf of the separatist rebels of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Likewise, the US does not consider democracy, women’s rights and religious freedom in its dealings with Saudi Arabia.

We need not point out that under the Sonia Congress administration India has lost whatever little influence it had left in the north of the country. In the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, for example, India huffed and puffed but Pakistan has flatly refused to handover any suspects. Contrarily, till date, the country has enjoyed influence in its south, over both the Sinhalese and the Tamils.

That, however, looks set to change. The Tamils, although not taking direct orders from New Delhi, have been careful not to form any alliances that would not be in the long-term interest of India. Pushed against the wall and with nothing but genocide as only choice, Tamils will have to seek alliances, with whomever, in order to safeguard themselves.

An awfully short period of time is left for the Sonia Congress to reconsider its continued military assistance to Sri Lanka. Clinging on to the errors of a bygone era would not be in the long term interests of India. Allowing the Tamils to move into another great power’s sphere of influence would be New Delhi’s biggest blunder of recent times.

Waiting for GODIC

In the meantime, Tamils ought to engage in some self introspection vis-à-vis foreign relations instead of seeking pleasure in the belief that an external entity, in the form of God IC, would come to save us all.

For will alone succeeds.

On the Department of International Relations

Many are baffled by Sri Lanka’s ability to harness assistance from a spectrum of geopolitical poles: it is the only country that can count on military assistance from India and Pakistan, and finance from the West, China and Russia.

Credit where it is due: Sri Lanka has plaid the game of geopolitics with enviable skill. It has managed to pitch powers against each other at crucial junctures. Likewise, criticism: Tamils have been awfully weak and excessively restrained in their relationship with external actors.

Eelam Tamils’ strength, the world wide Tamil community, has, inadvertently, been their major undoing on the international arena.

Given communication difficulties and overall “cut-off” from the outside world, since the early 70s, much of the “international relations” aspect of the Tamileelam struggle has been spearheaded by Tamil Nadu and Tamil Diaspora.

The result has been an unfortunate bias in the Tamils’ strategy.

Come hell or high water, Tamil Nadu will only appeal to New Delhi. Time and time again, even if New Delhi offers outright military assistance to Colombo, as it does now, Tamil Nadu would only make “final”, “urgent” and “critical” appeals. Similarly, despite the West’s financial assistance to Sri Lanka, Tamil Diaspora will only work with London, Pairs and Toronto.

Overtime, New Delhi, London, Paris and Toronto have began to take Tamil loyalty for granted. These powers rightly believe that regardless of the military and financial assistance they give to Colombo, Tamils will never move out of their sphere of influence. But, if they halt assistance to Colombo, it will head towards Islamabad, Beijing and Moscow.

Even after New Delhi sent battle tanks and soldiers to the Vanni, Tamils have been unprepared to look beyond India. Last week Tamil Nadu’s most powerful man, the chief minister, appeared to be a modern day Raj for an European empress when he said New Delhi’s military assistance is decided by the Centre with no inputs from states or ministers.

The West, for its part, has listed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a “terrorist” organisation, stopped Tamil Diaspora from making donations and arrested scores high profile activists. In Washington, the Bush regime entrapped half a dozen Tamil youths by appealing to their emotions in the immediate aftermath of the Sencholai bombing, which left 62 school girls dead. Court cases are ongoing in Toronto, London and Rome. Two dozen Tamils have been behind bars for more than two years in Paris.

India is indifferent to the suffering of the Tamils. In fact, the current phase of the conflict is being spearheaded by New Delhi; by Indian “experts” using Indian military hardware.

The West, which all too often claims to be sitting on a moral mount, is acting blind to the suffering of the Tamil people. Bombings of hospitals are ignored and people are urged to move out of the “conflict area”, which happens to be areas administered by the LTTE. But it has no concern for the people who do leave; it is not bothered by families being indefinitely detained at military ran camps with no access to the outside.

Given this reality, the LTTE’s recent appointment of Selvarasa Pathmanathan as the head of its newly formed Department of International Relations is most welcome. Mr Pathmanathan, one of the most senior leaders in the LTTE, is not a member of the Diaspora. He has extensive contacts around the world. Crucially, he can do business with countries to which most Tamils have not been exposed.

Now that India’s and the West’s indifference to Tamil suffering and their outright promotion of Tamil genocide has been fully exposed, Tamil Nadu and Tamil Diaspora have to decide if a shift in international relations is timely.

Activists around the world have a duty to highlight to their politicians and policy makers that Tamil loyalty can no longer be taken for granted. Given genocide as the only choice, Tamils will seek alternatives around the world, even if that comes at the price of upsetting “traditional” allies who are, after all, fully behind Colombo’s agenda.

In the coming days, as choices become limited, Tamils of Eelam will have to make hard decisions. Tamil Diaspora and Tamil Nadu must be mindful that any such shift in strategy was taken last minute and for the purpose of survival alone.