In an unprecedented & unexpected vote, Northern Tamils not only have voted for a predominantly Sinhala party but have rejected the Tamil politicians who have claimed to represent them over the years. This is not only a slap to Tamil political separatist quest but ushers a new beginning & opportunity for goodwill that could not be forged as a result of opportunistic political maneuverings. If the Southern voters decided to reject most of the old faces & bring in fresh faces, the Northern voters have decided to do the same. This certainly has unified the entire Island nation to the point where all destabilizing agents must now be wondering how to manipulate the current impasse. It also means that in wanting a fresh start, the new government cannot flirt with the old players & the strings they were pulling to divide the people & separate the Nation. The new government cannot make the same mistakes that the previous governments made in not taking the side of the majority who wanted to live in peaceful coexistence but sided with the minority who promoted division & separatism.

How Tamils lived under LTTE & how they live now will show that life has changed dramatically. Unfortunately, it is those whose lives changed dramatically for the better going overseas under LTTE who wish to continue to have their own suffer back home. Even after provincial councils were created in 2013, what difference did the Tamil politicians voted to the PCs do for ordinary Tamil people? Nothing much except writing genocide letters to all corners of the world or going on foreign trips complaining against the Sri Lankan military. How many of the lands they managed to get released on bogus claims & political bribery actually went to Tamils who were without lands or did they fall into hands of LTTE family members living overseas!

How has increase in links with South India helped Tamils? The number of drug addicts have increased. Women indulging in smoking, drugs, drinking have also increased. Domestic violence has increased – the entire social fabric of the North that were proud of their cultural past & upheld traditional values is dithering. The fact that the LGBTQIA launched its first Pride Parade in the North & first transgender operation are signs how society has deteriorated over the years. These have now added to the caste differences that haunt Tamils on a daily basis.

These are the issues that impact & affect Tamils – not 13^th amendment, not Mullaivaikkal commemorations which are only for dead LTTE, not provincial council system for it has not uplifted ordinary Tamils in any way, not separation of Sri Lanka or federalism as advocated by ITAK, TNA & LTTE fronts over the years. The Tamils have been fed the notion that the more racist demands they make, they can gain better opportunities for themselves. However, statistically we cannot see this trickled down to the vast majority of Tamils who are essentially low caste & poor. Racism has only leveraged the upper class & caste Tamils. This is the sad reality.

The result of the Parliamentary elections takes us back in time where the Tamils had better ties with Mrs. Bandaranaike & Mr. Hector Kobbekaduwa while it was SWRD Bandaranaike who in 1957 via the Social Disabilities Act enabled low caste Tamils to gain education. It was the upper caste Tamils who sailed to UK & complained to the British to repeal the Act. This is an excellent example of how divided the Tamils are due to caste while to the world their politicians project the Sinhalese as the enemy. These are ugly ground realities that cannot be brushed aside.

In May 2016 Tamil youth declared “We want homes, not merging of North-East”

99% Tamils want to live in peace with Sinhalese, 1% Tamils want a piece of Sri Lanka

However, in giving the NPP government a thumbs up, the Tamils have signaled they want to see a fresh start. This necessarily entails the need for the new Government not to peddle the same divisive policies and rhetoric followed by previous governments & politicians.

Therefore, whatever letters the LTTE fronts dispatch from foreign shores, whatever promises made to them prior to elections, whatever funds they gave to assure that divisive politics would continue, whatever henchmen they use to protest or start skirmishes, the new government must realize that the voters voted against these demands. They voted against divisive politics & the division or separation of Sri Lanka. This is how the new Government & President must interpret the vote. This means they should not make the same mistake of ignoring the message in the vote by continuing to flirt with the extremists and separatist elements who are pulling the strings from their very comfortable abodes on foreign shores. Why would those in foreign shores need to be promoting separatism, federalism or any other notion in Sri Lanka, when they should be more worried about political affairs in the nations they live in.

Unfortunately, the foreign media, even foreign political analysts are only comfortable chirping the same song that they hear & do not delve into finding out what the real problems of the Tamil are, primarily because they know it is not the one’s they love to articulate. Their commentary revolves around geopolitics & geopolitical agendas which have nothing to do with wanting to give Tamils in the North anything other than use them as bait.

The recent protest outside the Buddhist Tissa Vihara by a countable number of people headed by G Ponnambalam who received just 15,135 votes out of 593,187 registered voters. That is nothing Ponnambalam can be proud of! It also means that Sumanthiran would not have even got 10,000 votes from the Tamil people. These are very clear messages from the Tamil people that their separatist rhetoric has been rejected.

If that is the case, the new government must desist from honoring letters from LTTE fronts living overseas which would mean that the new government is ignoring the mandate given to them in favor of satisfying letters sent by LTTE fronts.

This would be a huge mistake made by the new government & will only serve to fasten the distrust that would build up against the new government not only amongst Tamils but other communities as well.

A golden opportunity has been given to this new government. New faces & new opportunities should not be compromised by continuing old failed policies and political bargainings.

Shenali D Waduge