Celebration of Shame!

The celebration of the Sri Lankan Government, which it claims to be the victory against terrorism, displeases me. Displeases me to the extent of deep distress, for this is not the end but just a new beginning. Poor memory people, as we are, tend to forget distress very soon because the value of life is under valued. However, for those who have lost many, it’s a matter of incomplete insurgency. It has brought deep discomfort in me. A rebel who was created and not born is now dead. Should we question the planned separatism by the Sinhalese Government or the unplanned emotions that have succumbed? Why dedicate his life for the freedom of the Tamil people? Why send a son to study abroad and indulge in what he calls freedom? ‘Lead’ from the front and now ‘lead’ on his front.

The journey

1) The Anti Tamil Legislation 1948 – Denial of citizenship for Tamils which proved that Tamils were looked down upon by the so called elite Sinhalese Citizens.

2) The Ceylon Amendment Act – Denied voting rights to Tamils who were not citizens anymore.

3) Bandaranayke then Prime minister, in 1956 declared Sinhala only Official Language Act thereby proving the lack of autonomy and limited education and employment to Tamils.

4) The Bandaranayke Chelvanayagam Pact (BC pact) of 1965 was broken under pressure from the Sinhalese extremists. It was a ‘No Tamil Cause’ pact.

5) In 1971 the Standardisation scheme of education was adopted and qualifying marks were fixed for Sinhalese than for Tamil students, both regarding the language of instruction and the subjects themselves.

6) In 1972 Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka and the constitution formally made Buddhism its primary religion.

7) In 1975 LTTE was formed and Prevention of terrorism Act was executed by the government which led to the arrest of several Tamil youth.

8) 1983 – The LTTE killed an army convoy of 13 Sinhalese to mark their violent protest that was an uncontrolled burstout of the silent protest.

9) Riots, bloodshed and mass killing of Tamils. Millions of people were dislocated. All tamil prisoners were massacred.

I am reminded of Shri .P.V.Narasimha Rao, the then External Affairs Minister’s visit to Srilanka during the 1983 riots. He had seen killings and riots on his way to the prime ministers office from the airport. The meeting with the then President Jayewardene is said to have lasted for just 7 minutes. After the talks, the riots stopped in 2 hours. Some ‘unquestionable’ doubts, which would certainly provoke intuitive anger. How did the riots stop immediately? Was the attacks planned by the government itself?

India, had tried its best or should I say a ‘nose poking’ kind of intrusion and justified it stating that both India and Sri Lanka had so many cultural similarities and hence any form of unrest would affect the other. But least did they think about the root of the problem, which was the cultural similarity itself.

It was evident that the Sinhalese didn’t want Tamils in their nation. A nation where the seed was sown by the Tamils, Manured by Sinhalese, shared by both and finally when it came to ownership of the land, all was wanted by Sinhalese. 40 years of silent struggle and 30 years of violent struggle and the result… Celebration in the streets of Sri Lanka. A celebration of shame. Not that I am Pro – LTTE and my blood doesn’t boil at the sight of killing. After all, it’s a matter of silly sympathy of a neighbor. I would have been happy if the sweets were distributed at the refugee camps and the people were taken back to their homes.

This is not the end. It’s just a beginning to the end!