Anandasanagree goes with his stubborn assertions about federalism; he claims he loves Sri Lanka and is a patriot. There is no Sinhala patriotism or Tamil patriotism; there can only be Sri Lankan patriotism. He is the leader of the Tamil (emphasised) United Liberation Front and he is talking about federalism based on racial lines! This is nothing but a sectarian attempt to disintegrate the nation and it people. Imagine the Indian model in Sri Lanka; it will create a Tamil Naadu here!! Does the majority Lankans know this? I do not think so.
Have you ever wondered why?
There is a significant political party by the name of-
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), but is there a Sinhala United Liberation Front (SULF);
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), but is there a Sri Lanka Sinhala Congress (SLSC);
Tamil National Alliance (TNA), but is there a Sinhala National Alliance (SNC);
Thamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikkal (TMVP), but is there a Sinhala-nation Peoples’ Revolutionary Lions (SPRL);
Illankai Thamil Arsu Kattchi (ITAK), but no SriLanka Sinhala State Party (SSSP)?
All these political parties are supporting racial-federalism, true to their sectarian names. All these political parties at some point clearly, illegally and violently manifested their separatist aspirations as well.
However there are other parties like the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) – dominated by upcountry Tamils, Upcountry Peoples’ Front (UPF) – dominated by upcountry Tamils, Jatika Hela Urumaya (JHU) – dominated by Sinhalese and National Unity Alliance (NUA) – dominated by Muslims and these parties do not actively work for sectarianism and racial-federalism. Even their names are not based on racial terminology, but rather based on national concepts. If anyone can see this difference, which is not rocket science, he or she can simply understand that the demand for racial-federalism is stemming from race-centred politicians including Anandasangaree.
Just because unaccomplished Anandasangaree was not invited to the grand gala party thrown by accomplished Parabakaran in 2002, he doesn’t become a moderate. He won the UN peace prize by criticising the CFA as all the political parties that were not invited to sign MoUs with the LTTE also did. All the following parties singed MoUs with the LTTE in 2002 accepting it as the sole representative of Tamils: UNP,TNA,SLMC,CWC,UPF,WPF and the then government! Poor TULF leader was not invited and fell from the Tamil Leader in parliament to nobody in no time. It should also be remembered that he never agreed with Lakshman Kadirgaman – the greatest ever Tamil politician of Sri Lanka whose name was even proposed to the post of PM in 2004.
This country has seen many such politicians who amassed goodwill while hiding their true colours only to unleash their stock most opportunistically. Anandasangaree has a lot to learn from Mangala, SB and Ronnie. Else he can remain a political nobody trying to bypass in vain, elections, the legislature and the peoples’ mandate. He should never be allowed to bypass the elected members and their agenda.
Unitary to United – a Shrewd Attempt to make the Majority a Minority
The 24 year old armed struggle is nearing it’s bloody end. Separatists have used the terror created by the LTTE to demand various benefits for them and for their ideologies. They succeeded in getting some of those demands. However, they are unable to make use of terror when their terror gods are no more. Therefore, they are making some frantic attempts to get whatever they can before the last tiger dies.
One such attempt is changing the national identity from unitary to united. The absurdity of this attempt should be visible to anyone with an appreciation for geography. What is the rationale to divide a land mass the size of Tasmania (a state by itself) into governing units like the West bank, Gaza Strip, etc.?
In that case there will surely be a Sinhala United Liberation Front (SULF), a Sri Lanka Sinhala Congress (SLSC), a Sinhala National Alliance (SNC), Sinhala-nation Peoples’ Revolutionary Lions (SPRL) and a SriLanka Sinhala State Party (SSSP) in the ‘states’ dominated by Tamils and Muslims. What’s more there will even be Liberation Lions of Sinhala Lanka (LLSL)! Is this what we want?
Does Anandasangaree want the sixty-year-old train from India to arrive at the Vavuniya train station packed with corpses (even the drivers were slaughtered in the end)? In that case he will have to drive it as he calls himself a ‘moderate’!!
Racial Federalism
The type of ‘united’ nation proposed is a racial set-up and transcends provincial and district boundaries. North and the East is demanded to be demarcated on ethnic Tamil aspirations; two units of the East would be carved out for Muslims and the upcountry would be separated out for the Tamils of Indian origin. This is a unique blend of racism and federalism. If racism and federalism can sit together, that is sufficient not to have a federalist set-up!
In the case of racial federalism, the Sinhalese living in these four units become a minority! This is not at all acceptable for the national majority. They stand to lose in order to make room for racial federalism. What a big joke? If the country had to face so many complications with just two main minorities, imagine the number of complexities ten such minority groups would bring.
The danger of racial federalism is (as pointed out by many thinkers) that it fuels racial violence. Suppose the rights of the ethnic Tamils living in one Muslim dominated area is violated, this will be mirrored in Tamil dominated areas against its Muslims and vice versa. In a matter of few days the whole country will be in fire. Simple things like water can spark enormous bloodshed throughout the country.
Another danger is ethnic isolation. If each ethnic group is going to be pushed into their little enclaves, these will be breeding grounds of further racism. Iraq is a classic example of such isolation.
Racial federalism is unique to this country as nowhere in the world provincial boundaries have been redrawn along racial lines to set-up a federal system!
Real issues that must be encased into a political solution
It is a fact that ethnic cleansing has taken place in the North and the East. It was mainly the Sinhalese and Muslims who suffered due to this barbarism. In this context, the North is 100% occupied by Tamils whereas there is no district Muslims or Sinhalese dominate to such extent. A united country will cement what the LTTE did by not allowing any other races (other than Tamil) to live and work in the North. Under no circumstances such barbarianism should be reinforced.
Owing to not adjusting parliamentary seat allocations and university allocations based on latest population data, a disproportionately huge advantage has accrued to the Tamils at the expense of the other races. This must be corrected as soon as practical. It should be noted that it was Anandasangaree who intervened in blocking these vital corrections in 2002 stating that the census data were wrong! Also disproportionately smaller tax revenue is collected from the North and the East; this also needs to be adjusted soon. Funding allocations to each province and district should reflect it’s contribution to the total tax revenue. Cross subsidising Tamil majority areas by Sinhala/Muslim majority areas (and vice versa) is definitely not acceptable. These disparities must be straitened before any devolution attempt is made.
An unfair disproportionate access to resources also exists across the races. While Tamils have access to all economic resources in the island, Muslims have lesser access. The worst affected are the Sinhalese. This must be redressed immediately. All natural resources in the North and the East should be made accessible to everyone irrespective of race.
A large number of individuals stay in the country illegally; mainly from south India. They must be repatriated soon and should not be allowed to work in this country. There is no doubt that separatists heavily depend on them to bolster their numbers.
This country has one state language as voted by the people. It must remain so unless the people decide otherwise. Separate states that may be created by a federal structure will definitely undermine this. The national government has an additional burden to protect and promote Sinhala as it is only used in this island nation. No attempts to compromise its position should be allowed.
Separate regions in a federalist set-up will tie up with different countries. Tamil dominated regions will align with India whereas Muslim ones will tie-up with Pakistan. This can create unwarranted trouble in this island. Managing a national foreign policy would be impossible.
It is a matter of few years before the next step of autonomy is made by the separatists. Independent nations would be the next step for them and it will be easy with less control exerted by the national government and increased connections with other nations in the region. This is the ridiculous disintegration of this island most separatists dream of.
Unsustainability
A united country would widely disadvantage the majority which will in turn help amass a political wave that will reverse such devolution. Therefore, a united setting as opposed to a unitary setting is instable and unsustainable. If a united nation doesn’t have any sizable benefits for the majority over a unitary nation, there is no logic in supporting such a move; it will anyway reverse.
Ethnic isolation verses ethnic integration
A federal set-up along ethnic lines will further isolate the races whereas what we need is ethnic integration! However, innocently presented, ethnic isolation is cruel and evil. The only ‘good’ it has is the sustenance of race-centred political parties like the TULF so that losers of general elections can make it to the Parliament.
Common sense (no Tamil Elamist got it) should dictate that an island the size of Tasmania cannot feasibly be subdivided into autonomous or self-governing units.
The Bandaranaike bullshit
There is no truth in allegations that Bandaranaike was at the centre of today’s bloodshed. He made Sinhala Only because a staggering majority voted for it at the elections and in parliament. In wide contrast Hindi Only was never voted by the people of India and passed by a single vote in parliament on 14 September 1949; if allegations against Banda are true, India should have fifty Parabakarans. Almost all democratic countries have only one (1) state language and so should it be in Sri Lanka.
Again he is blamed for tearing his federal proposals under pressure. Who authorised him to bring such proposals? No body. Therefore he has no right to continue with them. However, his problem was not having the courage to stand by the decisions; had he enforced Sinhala Only as Hindi Only was enforced in India, there would never have been any Tamil separatism. One language would have bound all Sri Lankans together as in India, Australia, USA, China, Malaysia, etc.
In fact the demand for Tamil Elam (with the same name) was first made by GG Ponnambalam in 1924 and foretold that there would be violence otherwise.
Even he is not to be blamed for the bloodshed today which was caused by the absence of a proper military strategy during the 1970s. Although the army could muddle a revolution in 1971, it was still a ceremonial army. They had zero experience, knowledge or skill in handling guerrilla warfare. Worst of all, the 1970-77 government stubbornly disregarded repeated warnings of impending danger telling that they have killed enough in the South and would not do the same in the North; had they properly dealt with the killer of Alfred Duriappa (mayor of Jaffna) there would never have been a LTTE. Also there passed seven (7) long years of inaction from the Wadukodai resolution to the commencement of war. Had proper action taken, LTTE and the armed struggle would have aborted then and there. How the LTTE collapsed when the Special Forces took up guerrilla warfare is a case in point. Why wasn’t it done 35 years ago?
However, at least now the authorities should learn; there must be army camps in the North and the East and paramilitants should roam the streets long after this war is won. It is very easy for a band of bandits from Tamil Nadu to land in the North and cause havoc.
Anandasangaree must appreciate that politicians the world over do what their voters want and terrorists on the other hand, do what AK-47s want!
When the UNP accepts its blunders why can’t the TULF do likewise?
According to him the Royal Norwegian Government (there are many allegations of terrorist links against them in Sri Lanka, Eritrea, Ethiopia, etc), “Responding to a proposal by the leadership of the LTTE (that bloody Interpol wanted terrorist), the parties agreed (without the knowledge of their voters) to explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self-determination (only the terrorist leader knows what this is as there is no such model in the world) in areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples (history of Sri Lanka goes beyond the 14th century and there are no historical scripts, etc. to justify that there lived Tamil speaking people in any part of the country before the 14th century on a continued basis) based on a federal structure within a United Sri Lanka.”
First of all, it was a proposal by Parabakaran! Who cares about his proposals? Of course the UNP did when the LTTE was powerful, but not anymore. Why can’t the TULF follow suit? Because it can never win a seat in parliament!
Fifty one countries, twenty two organisations and four and a half billion dollars
So much to disintegrate the nation. It doesn’t make any financial sense. Sri Lankan oil reserves in the so-called “areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples” exceed 4.5 billion USD! Sri Lankan Phosphate deposits in Seruwila in the so-called “areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples” exceed 4.5 billion USD! Sri Lankan calcium carbonate deposits in the Jaffna peninsula which is in the so-called “areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples” exceed 4.5 billion USD! Sri Lankan mineral sand deposits in Pulmodei which is in the so-called “areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples” exceed 4.5 billion USD! The worth of the Trino, Point Padro and KKS harbours in the so-called “areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples” exceed 4.5 trillion USD!!
Therefore granting self-determination to part of Sri Lanka that will disown assets worth trillions of dollars doesn’t make any financial, economic or political sense.
He also claims that not granting such self-determination will result in Sri Lanka losing its international honour and prestige, which according to him “is more important than anything else”. Wrong; the most important thing is territorial integrity and sovereignty. We have mortgaged our international honour and prestige many a time to defend our territorial integrity and sovereignty just like all the other countries in the world.
The Tamil homeland
If Anandasangaree agrees to a Tamil homeland in this island, he is an ideological twin of Parabakaran; both have close cousins in Iraq, East Timor, Yugoslavia, Chechnya, etc. If the supporters of racial-federalism have a hint of belief that there is a Tamil homeland in this island, it is time they look at the real Tamil homeland across the Palk Strait. All Tamil songs, movies, sangeetham, natyam, arangeethram, dramas, literature, masterpieces and all other Tamil artefacts are made there. None are made in this island. This is the reality today. No amount of ethnic cleansing can chase away the brave Muslims and scary Sinhalese from the East and no amount of artillery can scare-off the gallant Sri Lankan army from the North. We are here to stay and fight till the last armed Tamil liberator falls dead. And there should be no mercy for the coward hiding behind the child soldier, the pregnant suicide killer and the brain-raped wonder-bra wearing suicide killer-girl.
The Tamil struggle is nearing its bloody end as stated by many foreign defence analysts; without the Tamil Homeland. At least now all moderate and violent Tamil Elamists should stop their struggle and war and look elsewhere for the Tamil Elam; ironically it does exist!
Should India or Malaysia be our role model?
These two countries have used opposite methods to ‘solve’ their ethnic issues. India used separation (Pakistan) and a federal system to ‘solve’ its ethnic related issues. However, these remain far from resolved. A persistent war with Pakistan and more than 25 separatist movements within India, plagues it. Although kept hidden from the world, these internal conflicts (fought along ethnic lines) have made their headlines the world over. Bihar, Kashmir, Mysoor, Assam and many more states are fighting for separation from India for independence; spates of bombings have rocked India signalling the gathering storm. Today the Indian Central government begs at the feet of Tamil Nadu LTTE-worshiping politicians just to stay in power. They are willing to forgive and forget anything that makes the TNs happy; even the killing of their former leader! They declare nuclear facilities as ‘no fly zones’ fearing the Nuxalites will come in Cessnas from Vanni and bomb them! But they are spineless to ward-off the danger. If we follow India, Mr Sangaree, this is where we will end-up!
On the other hand Malaysia also faced ethnic strife and they gave it a different solution. Although administrative provinces exist, Malaysia strengthened the centre as the all powerful governing body and powered the nationalist cause and empowered the majority who were supportive of a unitary Malaysia (although it is de jure federal, characteristically regional legislatures are immensely eclipsed by the centre and have no ethnicity based representation as each state has a unicameral state legislative chamber whose members are elected from single-member constituencies). This solved its conflicts for good; there are no further separatist movements in Malaysia; no bombs go off; no leader is bombed. If anyone wanted to create a Tamil homeland in Malaysia (they tried it), they were rather redirected to where the Tamil homeland is, Tamil Nadu. Some landed in Sri Lanka by mistake. Same with those struggled to carve out a Chinese homeland there.
(http://www.lankaweb.com)
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