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Eelam Encounters 4: The Pain & Passion
by Revd. Chandi Sinnathurai
It was an "informal chat". A pancake-faced Canadian Official, possessing a Pinocchio nose, with a crescent-shaped, crimson smile, read out some lines, from this writer’s Sangam scribbles! In response to that, the pin-stripped Ottawa Foreign Affairs’ Officer X, tip-toed the question: "Then you are a Tamil Tiger, eh?"
Tiger?!
With
an
asthmatic
cough,
I
suggested
to
Mr
X:
"One
might
have
to
approach
your
question
cautiously
by
answering
'Yes
and
No'."
"Yes"
–
I
admitted;
every
Tamil
is
a
Tiger
for
that
matter,
not
excluding
the
foreign
minister
par
excellence,
Mr.
Kathirgemunu.
[We
burst
into
laughing].
The
mind
of
the
State,
I
continued,
is
indoctrinated
to
think
of
every
Tamil
as
a
traditional
adversary.
These
protectionist
teachings
begin
within
the
walls
of
a
local
Vihara
at
an
impressionable
age!
It
is
that
crucifying
brainwash
that
brought
this
tiny
island
to
such
a
blood-letting
quagmire.
It
is
sad
that,
when
someone
chooses
to
exercise
one's
democratic
right
and
thereby
express
alternate
opinions
by
engaging
in
healthy
discourse,
they
are
cat-called,
I
humbly
protested,
as
"tigers"
even
in
the
free
world!
One
has
to
only
inform
themselves
of
all
the
serial
killings
of
writers,
journalists
and
human
rights
activists
inter
alia
that
have
taken
place
in
recent
months
in
Sri
Lanka
and
thereafter
make
up
one’s
own
mind!
"As a Christian priest, shouldn’t you be standing for peace without taking sides?" One must be brutally honest in answering such a query. The word 'peace,' one would agree, is the most politicised, and therefore manipulated, word in the world. The oppressed want nothing but peace. However, the oppressor also equally pretends to wanting peace [whilst preparing for war]. The peace of the latter, nonetheless, is diametrically opposed to the peace of the first. The peace that the oppressor requires is the kind in which the crude business of curtailing the freedom of the other could go unnoticed without a whimper. Of course, the Oppressor will furnish to the world stage some stooges and buffoons pretending to represent the side of the oppressed. Which side, if at all any, a Christian priest ought to take? I could answer only for myself. Neutrality is a myth in these matters - let’s be clear about that. One is called to follow the model of Jesus. Did Jesus take the side even of the Priests of his time? No. Should one’s conscience guide one to stand on the side of the voiceless and the dispossessed? The answer is inescapable!
"What would you say about the Violence?"- one must genuinely struggle and travail with such a complex problem. A trite answer would not help. "I am indeed a conscientious objector of the oppressive terror of the State. Equally, one cringes at the retaliatory violence [self-defence, if you like] of the oppressed. As Mandela rightly pointed out, it is the State that determines the mode of conflict. Between these two sides of the same coin: Which is right, which is wrong? Is State violence more legitimate than the other? You tell me," I asked the "informal" official as a matter of choice! "Every Tamil is a vicarious participator in this violent struggle. War is a spectator sport these days and one takes sides as anyone does, in a soccer match – that’s how crude things are unfortunately." We mused over cappuccino while munching cookies.
Having got that off my chest; let me now take you to Mullaithivu.
Senthalir Illam
We travelled to Mullaithivu in an air-conditioned vehicle. The team consisted of two Indian ladies from Durban; Param - a generous man from Geneva; a lady from Paris [who insisted that we only speak in Tamil] and an observant Tamil TV executive from Toronto. The Porali driver was Mr. Gunam – an athletic gentleman with an enigmatic smile. He walked as though he was ready for a sprint. I struggled to keep up with him with my portly figure, during the heat of the day! The South African ladies had an interesting pedigree. Their great-grandparents have fought alongside Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa and now they were here to understand the struggles of the Eelam Tamils and also to visit the Nallur temple!
Senathir
Ilam
As we came near the Tsunami-devastated area in Mullaithivu, we were able to picture the ferocity of the killer waves. We paused at Senthalir Illam. Prior to the Tsunami, this shattered place was the home of some 80 children. When the Sea Tigers heard of the devastation, they immediately rushed to the site, and rescued around 30 drowning children. [These children are currently kept in a temporary home where we later visited] Alas! They were able to recover only 30 bodies from the monstrous waves. The rest of the children, including the teachers, disappeared into the deep. As we entered this place of grief; we paused in silence as the sea breeze soothed our skins…
No Aid
The grieving people in the Mullaitivu area told us that no aid came from the State, only from the TRO. The tsunami has increased the desire, particularly among the afflicted, for an independent [free-market] Tamil Eelam. So the theorem of peace, hinging on the calculated word-play that the ‘homeland does not mean a separate state’ does not cut any mustard with the grassroots! Any serious proposal for peace cannot disregard the mainspring of the ‘peace clock' - that is - the anti-Tamil posture, which is a well-entrenched State policy underpinned by a quasi-religious dogma. Any concession to the Tamils therefore, would make alarm bells go off in the ears of Buddhist monks! This is how predictable the ‘ticking’ of the Sri Lankan political clock works. The Bhikkus of course, as the past and present sadly reveal, are quite capable of inciting mob violence – even to the extent of burning the Norwegian flag. The [Tamil-speaking] peasants in the fertile fields of Vanni understand with crystal clarity the cussedness of such racist politics…in their mind the Colombo-centred governance is a distant nightmare. These people have experienced both war and ceasefire. They would not barter their singular goal for a costly deviation.
Senathir
Ilam
survivors
in
a
temporary
home
Rayappar Arelayam
We stopped at the Mullaitheevu Catholic church and conversed with a few fishermen. The tsunami waves have left only the façade of the church. The men were sharing their sorrows with the broken statue of Rayappar. One man said: ‘I feel awfully depressed; I’ve lost my wife and children. Now we don’t know what to do; how could Kadavul (God) let this happen to us?’
Arivu Cholai
Kantha Ruban Arivu Cholai is run by the Tigers. There are some hundred visually impaired children who are helped and trained by volunteers and dedicated staff. They use music as a therapeutic exercise. The young children there are very talented and they put their heart and soul into this and produce a divine environment! We had the privilege of hearing them sing. A soprano voice sang for us a beautiful lyric, Ovvoru Pookalumai... And then I requested the Music Master to sing along with the choir Baharatiyar padal as a Bhajan. They painted an ornate tone poem with their glorious voices. In response to that, everyone requested Dhanaluchmee [our South African friend] to sing. She sang Bharathiyar’s "Endru thaniyum in the suthanthira thagam?" When will the thirst for freedom be quenched? It was very moving!
Vishwamadu
We drove to our next stop. Gunam switched off the engine and sprinted towards the Hero’s Cemetery. This is, of course, only one of such neatly tended burial sites. Friends and relatives come with flowers and candles to pay their respects to their loved ones. Param, our travel companion from Switzerland, was trying to locate his younger brother’s headstone. He had died as a hero only a few years ago. There was an officer on site with whom Param was able to check the exact location of his brother’s tomb. In this graveyard there were 2,600 heroes laid to rest.
Reality
It is in such places that ‘sudalai gnanam’ [crematoria wisdom] begins to kick in. One is brought here face to face with the gruesome reality! On both sides multitudes have perished. One does not fail to observe, nonetheless, a startling difference. On the Tiger-side all are volunteers. They have poured out their young lives for a compelling reason – and that is the liberation of their people from Sinhala hegemony. The fallen heroes have willingly done so with the dream for an emancipated Eelam, knowing that their dream will live on. The other side is usually referred to as ‘Koolie Padai’ – paid forces without a cause! Hence defection on the side opposite is still a major problem.
Truth will be a casualty, if one were to interpret this conflict, primarily as a battle of Buddhist encroachment. Buddhism is only a convenient pretext! Hindu Tamils are not anti-Buddhist. However, they are acutely aware that the surreptitious appearance of Buddha statues and artefacts in the middle of Tamil homelands is an unmistakeable symbol of tyranny, secret colonisation and militaristic expansion. Buddhist masses, unlettered for most part, are just pawns in the hands of political masters. The whole discourse is about the unholy matrimony between Theravada teachings and the racist texts of persecution from the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa. This lethal cocktail perpetuates a rationale for "holy violence" based on a falsified history - that Sri Lanka is a "holy Buddhist land" and entirely given to the chosen race to be its "guardians." That is, quite blissfully, the Buddha Sangha’s hermeneutical project! Such a doctrine is manna from heaven to the "Sinhala-only" political elites concerned only about their monopoly of power. There is evidently no elbow room for another ancient indigenous nation with its rich history and culture, such as the Tamils, to exist harmoniously on equal terms with dignity, within such a one-track hegemony.
Visually
impaired
children
and
young
people
making
music
All would agree that this conflict is a struggle against a vicious supremacy theory [similar to Apartheid]. To put it differently, the Sinhala state’s conviction is that it is the Sinhala's divine right to rule and dominate over Lanka. Hence, this ethnophobic, quasi-religious, protectionist mindframe instigates State-sponsored pogroms that purport to purge the land of all contamination. It is not an exaggeration to point out that the state machinery is oiled by both the Sangha and its sole state "religion"! Such an exclusive cast of mind is camouflaged by paying media-friendly lip service to a multi-racial, multi-faith, multi-cultural context. Now, one can try to white-wash this historical fact with complex concealment, but the fact remains that Sri Lanka is a dubious democracy in actual action. Intolerable violations of human rights and terror have continued even during the current cease-fire. Hence, the proximity to peace is fraught with bloodstains. Many are beginning to wonder whether such brute force is allowed to continue due to international indifference.
It is clear that there is no military solution to this question. Violence is indeed a vicious cycle and in no way is it redemptive. One thing, however, obvious, on the Tiger side, is a compelling combination of moral and spiritual binding to the Dream their comrades have given their life for! Each Porali goes about his orher duty with utmost diligence. They consider their cause to be ‘Punitham’ – sacred in a non-Theocentric sense. Punitham in the sense of a selfless goal – or best expressed in analogical terms as a pregnant mother who nurtures and protects the fruit of her womb, knowing that the inevitable delivery is at hand! In other words, the preferential option to honour the Word of Oath is within the DNA structure of the Dravidian Tigers.
All people dream, but not equally
Those who dream by night
In the dusty recesses of their minds
Wake in the day to find that it was vanity.
But the dreamers of the day
Are dangerous people
For they may act their dream with open eyes
To make it possible.
(TE Lawrence)
We shall continue to write about our encounters with others (who may not be well known) who are making sterling contributions to the cry for freedom and the struggle for peace with honor…
| POSTED JUNE 7, 2005 | The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA, Inc., its members, or its affiliates. |
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