A Jaffna Gentleman’s Exasperation by Nalin Swaris

He lives in an exclusive residential area in London but visits Lanka regularly. He had heard I was back un Lanka for the Winter, from a good friend who is his nephew. My friend called me to say his Uncle X, had read with enthusiastic approval most of my articles published in this newspaper and was very keen on meeting me. The immediate reason for wanting to meet me was his outrage at Amnesty International’s smear campaign against the Sri Lankan Cricket team. (Of this more below)

He was staying with relatives who live in a predominantly Sinhala Buddhist suburb of Colombo. He suggested we meet in a Colombo hotel where he has permanent VIP privileges. "Kotiya agents are all over the place and my relatives do not want me to meet strange people or talk politics at their place, out of fear for the Tigers. The meeting lasted about three hours. He talked. I listened, taking notes. He is eighty eight years young with amazing life experience.. At the zenith of his career, he was a dollar multimillionaire. He belongs to an outstanding Jaffna family and the names of his relatives read like a Who’s Who of Jaffna. He is a highly educated, culturally refined person and has been a patron of the arts in London. He has been on first name relationship with some of the big names of the British political establishment - like Ted Heath, Geoffrey Howe and Harold Wilson. He also has close personal relationships with the Saudi royalty and the sheiks of the emirates. " I have been a UNP-er from the first hour. It began with my close friendship with Sugathadasa. All the big names in the UNP from his time have been close friends or acquaintances. Esmond Wickremesinghe, Dudley, J.R., Anandatissa de Alwis and many others. "In those days when very little foreign exchange was allowed to Lankans, they have all been my house guests in London. Of course all of them including the Bandaranaieke’s had monies stashed abroad – but few could afford to live in luxury hotels - when in the opposition, of course! I grew up in a Jaffna village nd I am still at heart a village man. I have had a very good life and have seen it all. Today I have disposed most of my businesses and have enough to live a simple and comfortable life. I am a devout Hindu, a disciple of Krishnamurthy and a believer in Gandhian politics. I want to speak my mind but have to be prudent because of my younger family members. You can help me".

The following are some of the opinions of this extraordinary Jaffna gentleman. I have classified them according to topic. He was very keen on talking to me, because he thought that what I have written about the LTTE, the Norwegians and the so called international community was spot on. "I admire you’, he said, "because you are not overawed by the suddhas, and do not mince your words, when you challenge the high handed manner in which they treat this country. The white man has a sneaking respect for people like that. Whereas, despite the show of camaraderie, deep down they have contempt for people who live for 100% off their money. So whatever their claims to social status, westernized upbringing and education they are regarded as triflingly as the call girls or boys they could order from five star hotels, like this.

The Amnesty International Campaign

"Amnesty has descended into muck by its current campaign against Lanka by targeting our cricketers. ‘Sri Lanka Play by the Rules’ is a vicious slogan. They are doing this at a time when Bob Woolmer has been murdered and the air is thick with rumors of match fixing. The average cricket fan in the West Indies might get the impression that our boys too are involved in match fixing, ball tampering and bending the rules of Amnesty’s ‘gentleman’s game’. This is a truly national team. It has Sinhalese, Tamils, Hindus, Catholics, and Muslims. The team epitomizes what Lanka could be. Everyone has been impressed by their team spirit and camaraderie. This is an attempt to demoralize the players and undermine any chances they may have of winning the World Cup merely to damage any prestige that could come to Sri Lanka from it. They know Sri Lankan is a soft target. If they are genuine human rights defenders, there are other countries they could have picked on as well. Now the Tiger is out of the bag. Despite its claim to professional impartiality, Amnesty International has shown to the whole world that it is a willing to do the the LTTE’s dirty work. But what is the government and the cricket board doing? Should they not protest to the ICC about Amnesty’s attempt to turn the World Cup tournament into a political circus by sending out their clowns?

LTTE’s Cult of Blood and Death

That former gangster and smuggler from Velivetturai likes to be worshipped as Suriya Thevan. In fact he has developed a cult of blood and death around himself. This is pure Kali worship. How many of our young men and women have been sent to their deaths by blowing themselves up in order to kill a person Prabhakaran hates? How many civilians have been killed in the process? All this to satisfy the insatiable blood lust of one man? I feel depressd when I read all that abstract academic stuff by Tamils living in the safety and comfort of Colombo. Some of them have made good money abroad and have bought themselves expensive flats in well guarded condominiums located in predominantly Sinhalese areas. But have they ever paused to reflect on the irreparable damage the LTTE has done and is doing to the Tamil community in the North and the East? The whole community has been militarized and brutalised. I am a Hindu and in our traditions there is great devotion to family values and respect for the elderly. What happens when an entire generation of young men and women have been turned into ruthless killers? Think of all those poor little boys and girls who have been forced to carry arms and to kill without pity. This at a tender age when their moral sensibilities should be cultivated in the midst of a caring family. Let us say the LTTE gets their Eelam. How will the Tamil community recover from the damage done to their traditional values after years of mere podians being used to ordering the elderly around at the point of a gun - and after living in fear for years knowing that if they talk back they will be gunned down like dogs? What drives the LTTE is hatred, racist hatred of the Sinhalese and class hatred of their own elites. How can a movement driven by hate be liberating? This is what your Sinhala Leftists like Vasudeva and Wickramabahu should be asking themselves. Have you read anything by Prabahkaran that is an inspiration not just to Tamils but to people everywhere? Has he written anything that is even vaguely close to what a Che Guevarra, Mao Ze Dong, Ho Ch Minh or Amilcar Cabraal have written on the moral ideals of a revolution – of a new humanity and of a new society which will liberate even the oppressors of the people? He is a Tamil Pol Pot. He instills racist hatred of the Sinhalese people. Genuine revolutionary leaders have distinguished between a people and their governments. To understand this, you must understand the deep hatred and vengefulness that drive Prabhakaran and the other leaders of the LTTE.

An Unspoken Jaffna Secret

You may not like what I am about to tell you. But someone must be honest enough to say it. I know Jaffna society very well. I have lived in London most of my adult life. I am a Vellala but have no truck with caste oppression. Do you know that nearly 90% of the Jaffna people are farmers and therefore Vellala? Tamil Vellala’s are very caste conscious and Jaffna society is very caste bound. I am not talking about the morality of caste but about an undeniable cultural reality. Don’t be fooled by those high profile Tamil intellectuals in Colombo who pretend that they are not caste conscious and are liberals or cosmopolitans. Even those who have found high offices in the UN or international agencies will in an unguarded moment boast they belong to the Vellala aristocracy. Do you know that Prabhakaran is a karavar Christian? His religion now is blood sacrifice. He kidnapped a Hindu Vellalah girl and forced her to marry him. His son was named after a Christian LTTE ‘martyr’. I think the children are being raised as Christians because the papers reported that on New Year’s Day this year, his wife and children attended church service in St. Paul’s Cathedral London. Anton the LTTE ideologue was a Catholic before he embraced atheism and the LTTE in that order. He changed his surname from Stanislaus to Balasingham. Many of the LTTE leaders are Christians – that is why Christian religious leaders, Tamil and Sinhalese, have a soft corner for the LTTE - whom they see as champions of minority rights against the Buddhists. The majority of LTTE leaders and cadres are of low caste. Caste does not play a big role in public life in Sinhalese society. But the Sinhalese too are quite caste conscious and there is caste discrimination in rural areas. Look at the marriage advertisements in the Sunday papers. Hindus Buddhists and Christians mention their caste. Even the Buddhist clergy are divided along caste lines. However, Premadasa could become President. But the revolt against him was largely due to his caste.

But caste discrimination is a hundred times worse among the Jaffna Tamils. The Vellalas curse under their breath that Thamiselvam is a ‘bloody barber from Chavakaccheri’. Upper class Jaffna Vellalas do not go to barber saloon’s. The barber comes to them. Thamil Selvam’s father used to come to the back garden of Vellala homes. The men sit on a chair placed outside and as soon as the hair cut is finished, they go straight to the well and wash themselves because a low caste fellow has touched their head! Do you think that any of these people will be admitted to the inner sanctum of a Vellala home unless under threat of death? The LTTE has systematically eliminated distinguished Tamil men and women. The viciousness of the killings is motivated by caste hatred. Caste consciousness will become obsolete, when economic prosperity is generalized. It cannot be erased by terror and hatred. Think of people like Rajini Rajasingham, Neelan Thiruchelvam and Lakshman Kadirgamar. They were highly educated people of international repute. Do you think the fellows who were sent to kill them had any idea of the value of the lives they destroyed? The LTTE threatened to kill Ratnajeevan Hoole merely for accepting the post of Vice Chancellor of Jaffna University. He had to leave the country with his family. What a loss to the commuity. The Vice Chancellor of Batticaloa has gone missing. Jaffna has produced men and women of great distinction. What is happening today to education in Jaffna? Of course neither the Tigers nor their Colombo Tamil and Sinhalese supporters, want to acknowledge that the so called Sinhala government pays for the education of Tamils students in predominantly Tamil areas as everywhere else.

The Sinhalese People

Most of my best friends are Sinhalese. Supporters of Project Eelam forget that 60% of the Tamil people now live among the Sinhalese. Islamophobia is sweeping across Britain and other European countries. But despite the repeated killing of Sinhala civilians – consider the recent bombings of buses - the Sinhalese have not become paranoid at the sight of a Tamil. Tamils live peacefully among the Sinhalese, educate their children, carry on their professions and businesses. How many have moved from Jaffna to Colombo or its suburbs to live among the Sinhalese! Many of them show one face to their Sinhalese friends and another to one another. Do they appreciate the friendliness of the average Sinhalese person? The problem is mostly with the police and government officials. But do you think the ordinary Sinhalese are treated differently? In this situation not knowing Sinhalese becomes double jeopardy for Tamils. But who cares? When Tamil civilians were attacked, as in July 1983, it was organized by elements with links to the governments in power. In July 1983, the Sinhalese gave refuge to their Tamil friends and neighbours. My relatives too were protected by Sinhalese. The world should be repeatedly reminded of this. Are there any people anywhere in the world who can surpass the hospitality of the Sinhalese villager? The only other people I know are the Malaysian rural folk. Some Tamils living among Sinhalese have the delusion that the Sinhalese do not attack them out of fear for the LTTE. Instead of abstract and elitist political solutions which are far removed from the harsh realities of the people – we must build on the good sense and peaceful co-existence of our ordinary people, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims. Integrate the people and territorial integrity will look after itself. Culturally speaking Hindus and Buddhists have so much in common. We celebrate the same New Year worship the same gods. Sinhalese nationalist politicians must remember this and open up to Tamil people. (To be continued – Karuna and the end of Project Eelam, Ranil – a born loser who got it wrong. Mahinda - only Sinhala leader who has correctly understood the Tigers. The dignity and citizenship rights of Tamil Speaking People.)

(http://www.island.lk/2007/04/18/midweek4.html)