A Flawed Liberation Struggle: Massacres Of Sinhalese Civilians
Rajan Hoole
The Indo-Lanka Accord and Sri Lanka’s Fault Lines: July 1987 – Part – 1
“The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgement in their goings : they have made them crooked paths : whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore judgement is far from us, neither doth justice overtake us : we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.” - Isaiah 59: 8,9
It was hard for the LTTE, which claimed to be the sole legitimate representatives of the Tamil people, to live down the fact that its way of settling political differences by annihilating opponents had led to the total collapse of the Tamil militant struggle. It was this, which enabled India to step in as the saviour of the Tamils. Through calculated provocations, the LTTE thus worked towards discrediting India by fomenting a war with the Indian Army that was very costly to the Tamil civilians.
Disregard for Humanitarian Norms and a Flawed Liberation Struggle
At the time of the Anuradhapura massacre, even though many Tamils justified it as retribution, there was considerable social inhibition against such barbarousness. Most militant groups condemned it while the LTTE was shy to admit having done it. During 1986 the inhibition declined with the advent of aerial bombing and shelling by Government, particularly in Jaffna. By 1986, a new logic had crept into the killing of Sinhalese civilians (see Chapter 20).
What liberation groups lack in legal recognition in relation to state powers, they try to make up by acknowledging and trying to project higher humanitarian standards. Among these are an enlightened approach to dissent and clemency towards the civilian population in the adversarial camp. It adds to the stature of a liberation group in the eyes of the world when it succeeds in projecting such values. The opposites of these are generally characteristic of oppressive state powers. Even in liberation struggles where the degree of provocation from the oppressor was intense, such as in East Timor, South Africa and Palestine, those in the mainstream had to acknowledge higher humanitarian standards. They were obliged to condemn and act against deviations from these, before they became credible parties to negotiations. Read More
To be continued..
*From Rajan Hoole‘s “Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power - Myth, Decadence and Murder”. Thanks to Rajan for giving us permission to republish. To read earlier parts click here
