[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 January 2012, 13:28 GMT] “The Eezham people have a very direct obligation of fighting for their own sovereignty against a state that presumes to have a unitary power over them,” stressed veteran Filipino left ideologue, Prof. Jose Maria Sison. In an exclusive interview to TamilNet on Sunday, Prof. Sison spoke on the questions of sovereignty of the Eezham Tamil nation, the protracted nature of genocide that Sri Lanka imposes on Tamils in their homelands, the principled position of leftists on the national question, and on the imperative to look beyond both the human rights and reconciliation paradigm. Prof. Sison, a long standing activist of the left movement in Philippines, criticised the Sri Lankan government’s military strategy as ‘barbaric’ and western governments for supporting this, and welcomed the Tamil Sovereignty Cognition declaration that aims to build solidarity among progressive forces.
The 72-year-old Marxist-Leninist also spoke positively of the way in which the LTTE handled the peace-process facilitated by the West despite various pressures, while also pointing out the consequences when the aggressor state adamantly refuses to recognize the legitimate demands of the people in the context of such agreements.
In the case of the conflict between the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Philippines government, the National Democratic Front of Philippines (NDFP), a coalition of far left parties, churches and trade unions, was representing the CPP. The last peace talks between the two sides were held in Oslo in February 2011. The CPP has an armed wing called New People’s Army (NPA).
The earlier peace talks, also facilitated by Norway in 2001, were stalled soon after the US designated the NPA and CPP as terrorist organizations in 2002, a move that was quickly followed in the EU.
In a similar move to curb the activities of the NDF, Sison was designated as a “person supporting terrorism” by the USA in 2002 and subsequent attempts were made in the Netherlands to crack down on his movements, allegedly with influence from the pro-US Philippines government. Prof Sison was also arrested by the Dutch authorities in August 2007 and detained for about two weeks.
After almost seven years of legal battles, Prof. Sison was removed from this so-called blacklist by judgement of the European Court of First instance on 30th September, 2009. A press release by DEFEND on 11th December 2009 said “The 30 September judgment of the European court in favor of Prof. Sison is a brilliant landmark decision. It is a standard for preventing the arbitrariness of European governments in blacklisting individuals, organizations and other entities as terrorists and for upholding and respecting their human rights.”
Wikileaks cables from 2009 revealed that the USA opposed the delisting of Sison by the EU, even if there was no proof to continue having him on the blacklist. Full story »
