by Shenali Waduge · 1st December 2024
With every government, the separatists have managed to continue their roadmap successfully. Inspite of this, the election results of the North saw a significant rejection of parties that had been mooting separatism & ethnic tensions though essentially the Tamil populace have had little or no opportunity to raise their voice accept to take orders either from LTTE, Tamil politicians peddling separatism, India, NGO circles, Western-linked clergy & from LTTE Diaspora as they all hold carrots of promises over the people. The incremental successes are now converging towards an ultimate goal, whether it will happen under the watch of a new government is left to be seen. The new government must comprehend the dangers at stake & realize that the separatists have arrived at their last mile & the political careers of the party will end the moment the separatists achieve their goal.
Role of Tamil Politicians
- Creating ITAK in 1949 (year after independence) camouflaged as Federal Party. ITAK means Tamil State.
- Following Tamil Nadu quest for self-determination launched via We Tamil Movement of which the Jesuit created Dravida movement by Bishop Caldwell was a precursor with fake history being created by tasking academics to re-write a new history. It is no surprise that this trend is being continued.
- Manipulating well-choreographed ethnic situations to push for deals that would incrementally draw closer to their political goals. Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact made issue over language but mooted devolution the first post-independence step towards administratively achieving their goal.
- As Sambanthan late ITAK leader claimed at its 2012 Convention, only the modus operandi has changed but the main objective of separating from Sri Lanka remains unchanged. Part of that modus operandi has been attempting to align with the main political parties during coalition governments & press to facilitate the path to their objective or to strike deals for votes during elections in which more demands are agreed by main political parties to come to power. This is revealed when post-election they demand the promised pound of flesh.
- The Tamil politicians take turns & pass baton to each other whether they work with the government or part of the opposition. As Sambanthan declared their objective remains unhinged. They take turns to make their position clear either directly, subtly or in the form of using new politicians to play the joker part even inside the halls of Parliament & declare his God to be Prabakaran knowing no action would be taken against him except to ice it off by diverting attention with a drama until the tensions subsided.
The foundation laid by the Tamil politicians and academics via Vaddukoddai Resolution in 1976 changed baton to armed militant groups. The moderate of these were all wiped out by the LTTE.
Role of Tamil separatist armed movements
- Initially trained, aided & armed by India in the late 1970s – over 30 such Tamil movements were created of which LTTE became the most ruthless & took over leadership having eliminated the leaders of the other movements. The armed effort failed when the lion flag was hoisted islandwide in May 2009.
Role of Geopolitics & their Alliances
- India used armed militancy to demand signing of Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987 to amalgamate the North & East provinces primarily due to Trincomalee harbor located in the East province, creating a bogus “Tamil homeland” history & amend Sri Lanka’s Constitution to create the 13th amendment and the provincial council system which would facilitate India to influence the North & Eastern areas easily.
- The West, UN, the Church, the NGOs & their Media – all played key roles throughout the conflict – Church links to LTTE is clear & can be seen when LTTE buried their dead & put up tombs though their fighters were Hindus., mass conversions of Hindus took place throughout the conflict, there is also allegations of human/child smuggling which needs to be further investigated, the NGOs were also located in the areas in close proximity to LTTE offices & were used to pass funding, gather information & provide other forms of assistance via their international offices, the Western media was used to negate & destabilize Sri Lanka, tarnish the image of the armed forces, the Sinhalese & the Sangha via their news coverage.
- While India became closer to US upon signing the QUAD, that partnership is seeing a decline following US role in Bangladesh regime change & US slapping BJPs key investor Adani indicting for bribery triggering questions of his role in Sri Lanka’s deals with Sri Lankan politicians as well. In inviting the US to Asia, India forgot or miscalculated US eventual goal to balkanize India as they did to the Soviet Union & Yugoslavia.
- India has been making inroads amongst Tamils in the North, East & Central Province so too has the US envoy. Why are both entities wooing the Tamils of North, East, Central Province? They are giving scholarships, tapping youth, training public sector – there is not an area they have not poked their presence into. Have their outreach programs been audited in the use of their funds, monitored & followed up to ensure these are not used to destabilize Sri Lanka. These are all interventions & interferences that should not be ignored or taken lightly.
- Manipulating vote bank politics, the LTTE Diaspora has managed to pass resolutions in nations & Geneva against Sri Lanka using fake propaganda sans facts or evidence, there are genocide weeks being falsely celebrated, fake history being promoted, LTTE memorials being held & lies have become accepted as facts. These however, will eventually help when the declaration for independence does come. These actions have not been powerfully challenged by the GoSL & their apparatus.
- How many of Sri Lanka’s politicians, political parties, policy advisors or even foreign Ministry & other Sri Lankan think tanks observed how far Indian BJP’s Arkhand Bharath map which encompasses Sri Lanka is inter-linked to the connectivity partnerships being pushed by air, sea, rail, road, currency & digital links with India as well as handing over to India Sri Lanka’s key ports, airports, harbors and even strategically geopolitical areas.
- Simultaneously, how much as US penetrated as part of its triangular ACSA, SOFA, MCC agenda especially as US builds up its defense in the Indian Ocean for an eventual confrontation with China in the South China Seas. How far as US cadastral maps, digitalizing of lands and using USAID to partner with local conglomerates using “agriculture” as a front lead to Sri Lanka’s losing its agri-land & whatever self-sustainability we have left? US/West is also denationalizing our citizens via education/media/cultural/economic funding – attempting to lure our youth to become transgenders & LGBTQIA while feeling no sense of pride in the Nation & not desiring to defend the nation, all tools to make their inroads easier.
Path to separatism
- Changing the constitution – removing all provisions that have protected the sovereignty of Sri Lanka in particular removing the foremost place of Buddhism as this has been since colonial rule regarded as the pillar that protected not only the Nation but all people both majority & minorities. Making a new constitution that is weak, vulnerable & not only lead to the separation of Sri Lanka but lead to complete disharmony & tensions amongst all enabling plenty of external influences & players in all forms to take over the entire island in due course.
- Calling for the removal of the Executive Presidency WITHOUT removal of 13th amendment is to facilitate the declaration of Eelam.
- Demanding 13th amendment – land, police, archaeological sites, minerals, all falling under the gambit of the North & East provinces & creating an initial asymmetrical federalism prior to declaring an independent state. Provincial Council elections is likely to now perhaps lead to even Sumanthiran becoming Chief Minister, with a Tamil as Governor – all ingredients in place to facilitate the separation.
- Demands for removal of Armed Forces & Army Camps – the main objective here is to remove all avenues for the Govt of Sri Lanka to regain the unified nation established in May 2009 after the defeat of the LTTE & hoisting of the National Flag. It is most likely that a situation will be created where hired gangs (as was seen immediately after the recent Presidential/General Elections) of people demanding the army leave the North to create the ground scenario for the pro-separatist media both locally & internationally to relay to the world the need to establish a separate interim-government towards a separate state. Having removed military bases & soldiers from the North, the government will have to shameless & silently watch Sri Lanka being split.
- The recent increase in vandalism on Buddhist heritage sites & archaeological sites in the North & East are no isolated incidents, the involvement of Tamil politicians arriving to claim these as theirs & using their political clout to silence the truth.
- The claim that Tamils were Buddhists also fits into this ulterior motive to claim all Buddhist archaeological sites as theirs & aligned to the final goal of laying claim to them & eventually erasing them & replacing them with non-Buddhist sites as we see already happening. This is nothing but cultural genocide to which all governments & officials have failed to protect & preserve.
- The 16th amendment making Tamil only the official language in the North & East have denied fundamental rights of the Sinhalese living in these areas & even their administrative needs & rights have been ignored. The Sinhalese that live in these areas especially the children are mistreated as aliens, the public sector mostly influenced by minorities are never sympathetic to their needs & they live a hard life where even schools are denied basic infrastructure facilities.
Connect the dots & see where all the demands lead to – a Separate State!
- In all probability, the LTTE Diaspora who have been peddling for a separate state from overseas are unlikely to come & take over reigns, while they are unlikely to be accepted by their own people & sooner than later the North & East will either fall into Indian or US hands for their geopolitical goals. Ironically, majority of Tamil politicians who have peddled the separatist agenda to advance their political careers have had their children married off to Sinhalese. Eventually, Tamils will realize too late that they have been pawns in a bigger game. With the likely scenario known to most, the high caste elite Tamils are either already settled in foreign climes or have relocated to Colombo leaving the rest of the Tamils to suffer their irreversible fate, one that no soldier life can be sacrificed again.
- If anyone is still in doubt the US, West & UN created 2 ethno-religious states – Kosovo & South Sudan. Kosovo today is a smugglers-drug-prostitute paradise. South Sudan is in utter chaos & none of those who promoted a separate state want anything to do with either Kosovo or South Sudan. Both are suffering on their own.
- The Government must realize the separatist team are all internationally positioned apart from the hired politicians & their supporters who are promoting a separate state. Majority of Tamils are keeping silent as they have been morphed into believing a fake history drilled into them from childhood & ideologically promoted via the Jaffna state university academia.
This government will recall how they sacrificed their lives in protest of the Indo-Lanka Accord that internationally laid the foundation for a separate state.
Their sacrifices cannot be forgotten & we must support this government not to commit to any decision that will likely facilitate the above shown roadmap. Therefore, the Govt must rethink giving into all of the above demands while Tamils too must wonder – is it worth it to want to become a Kosovo or South Sudan or East Timor & many of the other failed “separate states” that were created for the geopolitical agendas of others.
Shenali D Waduge