Mahinda Picking Muslims Individually While Gota Helping BBS

By Ajith Parakum Jayasinghe –      April 18, 2013                                                        

Ajith Parakum Jayasinghe

President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his tour of Kataragama visited the mosque situated in the Kataragama Sacred City on April 15. Having been welcomed by the Moulavi of the mosque, the President participated in religious observations and received his blessings. Uva Chief Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa, Indigenous Medicine Minister Salinda Dissanayake and Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa accompanied the President during his visit.

This happens in a time the President’s all powerful defense secretary brother is openly supporting the Buddhist extremist Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).

The BBS succeeded in forcing Muslims to stop issue of Halal certificates for the benefit of devout Islam followers. Halal protest was against charging money from all consumers for a certification which was only  for a section of the society.

Can anybody protest any such certificate issued free of charge displayed on products for the benefit of Muslims? One can refrain from buying such products based on personal dislike to it and to Muslims. But no one has ethical or moral right to protest it.

But, see what is happening now. I found this banner and a link to a related blog post in Facebook where hate campaigns freely go on with no control of BBS or whatever. One may perceive this as the online stuff is spilling to society but what actually happens is the reversal.

How can we understand what the government  is doing in ethnic front, in this backdrop? The government is generalizing hatred against Muslims and Islam while individually picking up Muslim leaders before media cameras. Personal relationships of the Muslim leaders with the President prevents them leading the masses against the injustices caused against them.

This approach not only marginalizes Muslims in Lankan society but also liquidates their protests and weakens their efforts to stand as equal citizens. This further appeases the Muslim countries that may worry about the fate of the Muslims in the country. Remember, the government also summoned the Colombo diplomats of the Muslim countries with the hope of continuing their support in the following day the above photograph was taken.

Muslims should be very careful about this racist approach of the government.

*Picture by Nalin Hewapathirana (Daily News)

Diplomatic heads of Islamic countries meet President

April 18, 2013 

Fifteen diplomatic heads of Islamic countries, resident in Sri Lanka, met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees yesterday to discuss various matters of mutual interest pertaining to both domestic and international arenas.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa assured the delegation, comprising 15 diplomatic heads of Islamic countries, that the Government will not tolerate anyone perpetrating acts to create communal or religious disharmony. If anyone has proof and evidence of such incidents, the President said, they should hand over that information, and action would be taken promptly.
Diplomatic heads from the following countries were present at the meeting: Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem, Minister of Petroleum Industries Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Parliamentarian A.H.M Azwer, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Karunatilake Amunugama were also present during the discussion.

President Rajapaksa holds discussions with diplomats from Muslim countries

On Dayan’s ‘Logic’, Mildly

By Malinda Seneviratne -April 18, 2013 

Malinda Seneviratne

This refers to Dayan Jayatilleka’s response (Anti-BBS Vigil: A critique of the critique) to something I wrote on the subject of a candle light vigil organized by a group that named the event ‘Buddhists Question Bodu Bala Sena’.   I called my comment ‘The “Vigil” I saw’. Colombo Telegraph re-posted with what I consider to be a mischievous re-titling, “The BBS ‘Buddhists’, ‘Nightclub Buddhists’ and The ‘Vigil’ that I saw”.  Dayan, sadly, seems to have let that title guide his rant and has missed out all the caveats inserted.  That’s an old trick.  You deliberately take a black-white picture and then rant and rave.  That’s something I would expect from a high school debater, not from a man who has a doctorate, and one in political science to boot!

Dayan, true to form, throws his CV at the readers.  That’s fine if only he was not so selective.  His description of MIRJE is eye-wash, but that again is Dayan.  I will let that pass and get to his ‘critique’.

Dayan wants to know ‘how on earth’ I determined the following: ‘But there were non-Buddhists in proportions that were a fair distance away from national ratios’.

Dayan, by his own admission is not one to attend such vigils.  He will only stand with ‘The Left’ (he thinks the JVP and FSP are ‘Left’, but that’s another story for another laugh).  In my case, I have made it a point to keep myself informed about who does what and why, especially I/NGO operatives and their cheering squad, in the media, at Lipton’s Circus, I/NGO forums and the workshop rounds.  That’s how I know. The only people not speaking in English were those who were talking with the Police.  This was no cross-section, as I pointed out.  Not that it had to be, but I was only making an observation.

What I found most hilarious about this man who charges me of jumping to conclusions about composition, is that he sees fit to indulge in caricature of a magnitude that would make my error seem utterly trivial.  He calls the BBS Bay-Badu Bala Sena, picking on a drunk-drive-without-license transgression of its main political figure 13 years ago.  So based on that incident each and everyone in the BBS is a drunkard.  Wonderful logic! Dayan asks me how I made a call on ‘cross-section’.  I live in this country.  I move around.  I keep my eyes and ears open.  Can tell.  Dayan can’t, but that’s his problem.  I challenge anyone who took part in the vigil to say that the group was a cross-section of Buddhists in this country.

No, demonstrations need not necessarily ‘accord with national, ethnic and religious ratios’, but it is strange to me that one which claimed it was a by-Buddhists event ended up having such a non-Buddhist preponderance.   Add the other rider, there being a significant number of people with definite political agenda, and the picture is not as rosy as Dayan might think it is.  The implication is that it was either not organized by ‘innocents’ or else some with suspect agenda had hijacked it or else were piggybacking on the innocents.  Dismissing issues of class and category in politics by alluding to the Dhamma, as Dayan has done, is once again silly.  One cannot be innocent in politics and Dayan certainly has not been.  He has not subjected himself to the rigor he seems to demand from others.

Typical of Dayan, he took my ‘facebooking’ comment out of context.  It is linked to my observation regarding composition.  Dayan, true to form, deliberately misses the point and goes off at a tangent about who is on facebook and what being-on-facebook means and does not mean.

He does the same with the word ‘violent’.  It’s easy.  Pick a word and spit at it.  Maybe it gives a thrill, but that’s not intelligent, engaging debate, but sophomoric word-play.  I don’t have to answer for those Sinhalese and Buddhists who have been violent in one way or another against Tamils, Muslims or anyone else. Never been part of any of that.  But Dayan does have a violent past and I find it strange that he didn’t pick some stuff from his own story to buttress his argument.

At no point have I condoned the Bodu Bala Sena.  This does not mean that I have to agree with everything that those opposed to the Bodu Bala Sena say and do.  Only someone who cannot extricate himself from flawed Cartesian logic would expect me to do so.  In this instance, I went to oppose the BBS.  In retrospect, I found that I was ill-informed.  But I informed myself quickly enough.  I did not stand with the BBS but I went to stand with people opposed to the BBS and the way I do politics, criticism and self-criticism are part of the story.

I said the policeman cannot be faulted for wondering how a ‘Buddhists against BBS event’ could have so many non-Buddhists.  It’s enough for Dayan to go off at another tangent.  If you mark an event as organized by X, Y or Z and realize that there’s more of P, Q and R in it, you can’t blame anyone for wondering what is what!  That comes from bad organizing or too many people being taken for a ride.

This is what I wrote: ‘The Police Officer can’t be faulted if he wondered how a ‘Buddhists against BBS’ event had so many non-Buddhists.  It was a sweeping generalization nevertheless and the ethno-religious composition is anyway not relevant to the matter of peaceful, democratic action, even if there was nothing innocent in intent and design.’  Dayan has either not read the second sentence or has deliberately kept it out of his rant.  That’s cheap.  Sophomoric. Typical.

Dayan ends his piece with a confession: ‘This hardly seems a fair or rational critique’. I agree, wholeheartedly; he has neither been fair or rational.   Why he pressed ‘send’ after writing it for the Colombo Telegraph, I really cannot fathom.

NOTE 1:  Dayan’s article in Colombo Telegraph has prompted a lot of comments.  Many have saluted Dayan and showered me with invective.  There is very little reason and very little sobriety in these comments.  If they were at the vigil or supported the vigil then I can safely say that they are totally unsuited to question the BBS from a Buddhist perspective.

NOTE 2:  I learned that spokespersons for the BBS have quoted my article.  They, like my detractors, have misquoted me, leaving out important caveats.  In my next article I will explain why I am opposed to the BBS.

NOTE 3:  Most of those who cheered Dayan and most of those who’ve cheered the BBS, I noticed, did so during the nonagathaya and on Aluth Avurudda (April 14th) and into the festivities.  Made me smile.

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of ‘The Nation’ and his articles can be found at www.malindawords.blogspot.com

Muslim Owned “Lucky Emporium” Textile Store in Gampola Attacked in Broad Daylight by Hoodlums

Forces engaged for landmine excavation at Kokkuthoduvaai and Nayaru localities. Provision to introduce Sinhala settlements

Thursday , 18 April 2013
FSD organization handled landmine excavation in the Kokkuthoduvai and Naayaru regions located at Mullaitheevu district has been discontinued without prior notice by the National Landmines Operation organization and this area is now handed over to the Military’s landmine excavation unit was said by V.Murugadas, officer handling landmine excavation activities.  

In a systemized manner to introduce Sinhala settlements, International Landmine Excavation Company was terminated from  its service and this responsibility was  handed over to the  army is the allegation made by Tamil National Alliance.

Landmine excavation activities are carried out at Kokothoduvai and  Naayaru regions located in the Karaithuraipattu divisional secretariat situated in the Mullaitheevu district.

FSD organization to advance this task was given the responsibility in the beginning of this year by the Landmine Excavation office.

Activities were processed by this organization, but suddenly this assignment was handed over to the Military Humanitarian Landmine Excavation division by the National Landmine Excavation Organization.

The National Landmine Excavation organization is operating under the Economy Development Ministry, and it has directed to hand over the responsibility to army, hence this changing over was done said V.Murugadas Landmine Action officer.

 This activity is advanced to colonize the Sinhala fishermen families involved in fishing activities in the Kokokuthoduvaai and Nayaru areas are the allegations made by Mullaitheevu people.

Muslim Owned “Lucky Emporium” Textile Store in Gampola Attacked in Broad Daylight by Hoodlums

D.B.S.Jeyaraj-Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Reports from Sri Lanka state that a Muslim Owned Textile store in the Central Province town of Gampola has been attacked in broad daylight on Tuesday April 16th 2013.

A gang of hoodlums numbering about a dozen launched an attack against the “Lucky Emporium”textile store situated on Ambagamuwa road in Gampola in the Kandy district in the afternoon of April 16th. 
Details of the attack remain scanty at this point of time but apparently the glass panes of the shop as well as showcases had been shattered leaving a debris of broken glass fragments inside and outside the premises.
The extent of damage done or injuries inflicted on persons remains unavailable at this point of time.

“Lucky Emporium”is a popular business establishment in Gampola owned and managed by Sri Lankan Muslim entrepreneurs.

The attack comes in the wake of an on going campaign against Muslim owned business establishments by ethno religious fascist organizations claiming to represent the Sinhala Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka.

However a prominent Muslim Government politician from the area has stated that the attack was not political in nature and that it was due to personal and not political reasons.

Kandy district Parliamentarian and Deputy minister of Environment and Renewable Energy ARM Abdul Cader has reportedly told a Muslim website that the cause of the attack was personal rivalry and not part of any political campaign

Abdul Cader popularly known as “Cader Hadjiar” told the “Jaffna Muslim”website that another Muslim person from the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance(UPFA) was responsible for the attack and that it was 100% due to personal reasons.

He stated that if the person concerned had not been from the UPFA he (Abdul Cader)himself would have taken to the streets on this issue.

Cader Hadjiar has also requested the website not to make a big thing out of a small matter. 

Although the exact details concerning the incident are not known it is somewhat disturbing to hear a prominent Muslim Political leader saying that nothing should be done because it was a personal issue.

Despite being an elected MP and Deputy minister Cader Hadjiar seems oblivious to the fact that violence unleashed for whatever reason is an offence under the law.A responsible leader would have urged Police action on the matter instead of asking the media to downplay the incident.

It is also troubling to note that deputy minister Abdul Cader seems to imply in his comment to the website that simply because the alleged culprit was a Muslim belonging to the UPFA nothing should be done. It is as if a member of the UPFA has impunity to break the law whereas if a non – UPFA member had broken the law people should take to the street.

76 Year old Abdul Cader was elected on the United National Party(UNP) ticket to Parliament in 2010 and later crossed over to the Govt.

He has in recent times been downplaying the attacks on Mosques, Muslim owned establishments and Muslims in what was perceived as a blatant attempt to curry favour with the ruling regime

Cader Hadjiar aroused much anger when he stooped to the extent of declaring publicly that no Mosque had been attacked in Sri Lanka which was a statement totally contrary to the prevailing situation.

Against this backdrop it remains to be seen as to whether the statements made by Abdul Cader on the Lucky Emporium attack are correct or not.

It is also unclear as to what action has been taken or not taken by the Police so far regarding the incident. Since the kingpin behind the attack belongs to the Govt it appears that there is little hope of Police enforcing the law in Gampola.
Sri Lankan mainstream media are yet to report about the incident.

Marathon runner to help Sri Lankan children

Published on Wednesday, 17 April 2013 16:21

By Janaka Alahapperuma

British Marathon Runner Mr David Stacey has volunteered to run the 32nd London Marathon on 21st April 2013 on behalf of young and disabled children in Sri Lanka.

His plan is to raise a substantial sum of money entirely for disabled Sri Lankan children and other poor children who are less privileged than children in the UK.

This event is being co-ordinated by Ken and Elizabeth Hartley in Ashton Hayes, Chester who have visited Sri Lanka on several occasions with their friend Dr M.B.Ranatunga after collecting information about Sri Lanka. They have fallen in love with the beauty, culture and the people of the country. Later Ken and Elizabeth have initiated several projects in Sri Lanka including the ongoing ‘Foster Hartley Project’ for many years. Psychiatric Consultant Ranatunga who is also a dedicated social worker and patriot lives in Stockport, Manchester has encouraged and supported throughout Ken Hartley to continue these social and charity work in their chosen areas in Sri Lanka.

They are planning to continue to help needy and under privileged children and rural schools in offering their money, materials and valuable time in many worthy causes in Sri Lanka. This time they have decided to include their representative, marathon runner David Stacey for one of the great marathons in the world, ‘the London Marathon’ and planning to raise funds with a great success.

The organisers kindly request everyone to support and encourage Mr David Stacey in his magnanimous gesture by donating generously toward this Project.

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Tamils Worldwide Participate in Drafting Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter. This Charter will be Declared on May 18th.

Wednesday, 17 April 2013 

Tamil groups from around the world, coordinated by the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), are in the process of drafting Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter. This Charter will be declared on May 18th 2013. May 18th marks the 4th anniversary of the killing of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and sexually assaulting Tamil women by the Sri Lankan Security forces.

A questionnaire that seeks the people’s input, with a view to determining people’s Freedom Demands, would ultimately form the basis for the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter. Questionnaire can be accessed through:www.tamileelamfreedomcharter.org/

A booklet explaining the Freedom Charter, its purpose and significance was also released.

Large numbers of people are also attending meetings worldwide to discuss the importance of Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter and to answer the questionnaire.

“As Tamils envision the future and look forward to the fruition of Tamil Eelam, the Freedom Charter containing the Freedom Demands of Tamils worldwide, would be a cornerstone of Tamil's Freedom,” said Mr. Rudrakumaran, the Prime Minister of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE).

“Aspiring to take the Vaddukoddai Resolution - which called for the creation of Tamil Eelam - forward, taking inspiration from Britain’s Magna Carta, the Freedom Charter of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Palestinian National Charter, the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter will enshrine the Freedom Demands of our people”, continued Mr. Rudrakumaran.

The declaration of the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter would be made on 18th May, 2013. May 18th marks the 4th anniversary of the killing of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and sexually assaulting Tamil women by the Sri Lankan Security forces.

- TAMIL EELA FREEDOM CHARTER-english intro book A5[1].pdf

Suggestions for the Charter can be sent through Questionnaire at: www.tamileelamfreedomcharter.org/

http://world.einnews.com/pr_news/146565760/tamils-worldwide-participate-in-drafting-tamil-eelam-freedom-charter-this-charter-will-be-declared-on-may-18th

The North: To Poll Or Not To Poll?

By Dharisha Bastians -April 18, 2013 

Dharisha Bastians

Calls by a section of the Tamil National Alliance for the setting up of an interim administration run by New Delhi or Washington in the North, may further cloud the prospect of northern provincial polls before the September 2013 deadline

The prospect of elections for the Northern Provincial Council by September 2013, now a Sri Lankan Government promise cemented in a UN Human Rights Council Resolution on the country became just a little more remote last week after members of the main Tamil party and civil society activists in the North called for the setting up of an interim administration in the province overseen by India or the US until the Government comes up with a permanent political solution to address Tamil concerns.

The appeal made to a visiting Indian Parliamentary delegation in Jaffna, comes in the wake of calls for the abolishment of the 13th Amendment, that devolves some power from the central Government to provincial authorities, from the ruling regime’s top officials no less.

Quasi-federal in nature, the 13th Amendment to the constitution designed by New Delhi in 1987 in an attempt to resolve the separatist conflict in the island, devolved some powers to councils manned by provincial representatives, including education, health, housing and rural development. In the post-war reconciliation discourse and as per promises made to the international community including India by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the provincial council system set up by the 13th Amendment was to be the basis of a permanent power-sharing arrangement with the Tamil community. The provincial system set up by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution has been implemented in every province today, with the exception of the North.

Premachandran and the delegation

The Indian Parliamentary delegation visiting Sri Lanka met with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa at his Ministry on 11 April and went on to inspect Indian funded housing and other projects in the North during their visit. The Parliamentary delegation, comprising Saugata Roy, Prakash Javedkar, Anurug Thakur, Sandeep Dixshit, Dhanajay Singh and Madhu Goud Yaskhi representing the Bharathiya Janatha Party, Indian People’s Congress, Bahujana Samaj Party and Indian National Congress reportedly expressed its satisfaction with Sri Lanka’s post-war economic progress so far.

During their visit to the North, the six member Indian parliamentary delegation which concluded its visit to the island last Friday (12), was informed by TNA President Suresh Premachandran that there was “ongoing genocide” of Tamils in Sri Lanka, according to a report in The Hindu newspaper.  Premachandran told the multi-party delegation from India that the Tamils needed an “interim administration, overseen by India or the United Nations, until there is a final political settlement for the Tamils.” The sentiments were echoed by Tamil civil society activists, who said that a transitional administration model, for which there is no constitutional provision at the moment, would provide Tamil representatives actual power in areas such as education, health and livelihood issues. The civil society members proposed that the central Government should also have a role in this system. The activists were responding to questions from the visiting Indian parliamentarians 

Kerala researcher speaks on facets of Indo-Eezham discourse

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 April 2013, 07:35 GMT]
“Eelam and Kerala share similar history. We were ruled by the same colonial powers, the Portuguese, Dutch and later English. Kerala is not very far from Eelam and the war in Eelam was something happening right in front of our eyes. Yet Eelam never became the agenda before any political organizations in Kerala. Keralites were in the streets in solidarity with Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan. This never happened in the case of Eelam,” said Dr Vinod Krishnan from Kerala in an exclusive interview to TamilNet this week. Dr Krishnan, an academic researcher involved in studies related to social exclusion in South and Southeast Asia, is currently attached to the Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation (CREST) in India. 

Dr Krishnan’s interest in the Eezham question spans over four decades. He has been documenting the struggle since 1977 and has been independently campaigning for the rights of Tamils in the island through Malayalam media in Kerala.

“In the beginning it was just an academic interest, but following the Black July riots of 1983, I became more interested in the Tamil issues in Sri Lanka,” Dr Krishnan, who was speaking to TamilNet on various facets of Indo-Eezham discourse said. 
* * * Questioned on the disinformation campaign in the mainstream media of India, against the Eezham struggle, the researcher said that they were only distancing themselves from the struggle and this doesn’t mean that they were against the Eezham Struggle.

“Media alone cannot be blamed for this. Hardly was there any group in India that was involved with advocacy in support of Eelam,” he said.

However, he admitted that some national media in India like The Hindu did take a very clear position and this stance of theirs resembled that of the mainstream media of Sri Lanka.

“Organized attempts should have been made in India to use mass media advocacy strategically in support of Eelam struggle,” Krishnan said pointing to the absence of strategy on the part of the political parties like the DMK and AIADMK.
* * * On Indian foreign policy and genocide of Eezham Tamils, the researcher’s response was that India could have very well averted the genocide had it sympathetically handled the Tamil issue.

As of today, only the global Tamil diaspora would be in a position to internationalize the plight of Eezham Tamils and the younger generation should not forget it, Krishnan observed.

In his opinion, Muslims should have been the natural allies of Eezham Tamils in the struggle of self-determination, but there was a major tactical error on the part of Eelam leadership.
* * * Caste is a major aspect of Dr Krishnan’s studies. To a question on the issue of caste among Eezham Tamils compared to the issue in India, the researcher said that one position that particularly interested him was the seriousness with which the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution addressed it in 1976.

“This Declaration had wider implication too. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which later became the most powerful force that fought for freedom literally abolished caste in the areas controlled by them and any overt act relating to caste was considered punishable by LTTE.” 

“There is no parallel anywhere in the history of political mobilization in India,” Dr Krishnan commented, adding “however its impact is not very clear and a comparison with anti-caste movements of India at this point cannot be easily done.”

On a recent effort by a group of Indian Dalit leaders to install Dr Ambedhkar’s statue in Colombo, in collaboration with Mahinda Rajapaksa, Dr Krishnan said, “Installation of Dr.Ambedkar’s statue in Colombo has no significance, whatsoever, for Dalits of India. But for Sri Lankan State, it has.”

While media, political parties including the Tamil parties and human rights groups in India fail in creating public opinion in favour of the struggle of Eezham Tamils, the Sri Lankan State, which qualifies to be called as “Buddhist State”, is using all possible means to create public opinion in India in favour of it, Krishnan added.

Full text of the interview follows: 

TamilNet: What made you interested in the struggle for Tamil Eelam?

Dr. Vinod Krishnan: My interest in the struggle for Tamil Eelam began with the interest in Sri Lankan politics. Sri Lankan polity of the late seventies particularly interested me, following the victory of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in the parliamentary elections of 1977. In the election TULF, which faced the electorate demanding an independent nation literally swept the election in the north and the east and had become the principal opposition party in Sri Lankan parliament. How a political formation that openly advocated an independent nation within Sri Lanka taking up the role of the principal opposition party in the parliament fascinated me. It was unimaginable how in a country like Sri Lanka that had a track record of anti-Tamil attitude, emergency, curb on press, and silencing of opposition could afford a formation like TULF as principal opposition in parliament. In the beginning it was just an academic interest, but following the Black July riots of 1983, I became more interested in the Tamil issues in Sri Lanka. 

TamilNet: What made you interested in this caste annihilation aspect to begin with? How do you think we have fared in comparison to the situation in India?

Dr. Krishnan: The Tamil inhabited areas in Sri Lanka, particularly northern areas, had a very rigid caste system. It was a very hierarchical society with Vellalas, the numerically dominant community occupying the highest position with the Panchamars, the Dalits lying in the bottom of the hierarchy. The caste system existed among the Tamil dominated areas had some peculiarities too, in comparison with India, particularly with Tamil Nadu. Here even the Brahmins had a subservient role to the Vellalas in the local caste structure. Though the Tamil nationality question in Sri Lanka had obtained attention outside the country, nothing was known about the plight of the Panchamars there who were victims of severe caste oppression. They formed almost ten percent of the Tamil population in the north. They had no right to enter temples. They were denied right to dress the way they prefer. They were not allowed to enter teashops. There were attempts to mobilize the Panchamars even before the independence of Ceylon from Britain in 1948. But for the major political parties of the Tamils like Ceylon Tamil Congress and its offshoot Federal Party, caste inequality never became an important issue to address. Caste oppression was so severe that the Ceylon parliament had to take up legislative measures in the fifties against caste discrimination. Almost all political parties seeking autonomy were Vellala dominated and Panchamars it seemed never aligned with these formations. Interestingly it was the Communist Party of Ceylon, which was not really in favor of autonomy of Tamil areas, were in the forefront of Panchamar mobilization after the independence. The Communists were in the forefront in the temple entry and the teashop entry movements of the sixties. The Panchamar movement like the Tamil Minority Mahasabha was in open conflict with the dominant Tamil parties in Ceylon owing to their caste composition. Even when Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was formed as a common platform of Tamil political parties demanding sovereign Eelam, the Panchamars remained outside it forming Tamil Minority Liberation Front, which independently sought Tamil autonomy. 

This complex relation of caste and ethnicity in Tamil areas interested me and I was gathering data to understand how inclusive Eelam struggle was. I was also interested in the how national liberation movement addressed caste question and whether national identity surpassed the caste identity during the freedom struggle, especially in the context of severe caste conflict. One position particularly interested me was that Vaddukoddai Declaration of 1976, which seriously addressed caste as an important issue. It for the first time caste was highlighted in the context of Tamil movement for autonomy in Ceylon. The Vaddukoddai Declaration, the first authentic document on Tamil Nation in Sri Lanka, endorsed by all Tamil political parties strongly advocated a casteless society. It seemed the Pachamars positively responded to the Vaddukoddai declaration and distanced themselves from caste mobilizations that might sabotage freedom struggle. This Declaration had wider implication too. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which later became the most powerful force that fought for freedom literally abolished caste in the areas controlled by them and any overt act relating to caste was considered punishable by LTTE. There is no parallel anywhere in the history of political mobilization in India. However its impact is not very clear and a comparison with anti-caste movements of India at this point cannot be easily done. 

TamilNet: There has been a significant disinformation campaign in the mainstream media in India against the Eelam struggle. How do you view this? What has been your experience with trying to counter this?

Krishnan: We cannot conclusively say that the mainstream Indian media was consistently involved with disinformation campaign against Eelam struggle. I have been documenting the news items related to Tamil Eelam in the nineties and found that Eelam movement did obtain reasonably good media attention. Many newspapers even wrote editorials against the IPKF intervention in Sri Lanka. Even after LTTE was banned in India following the death of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, national media did telecast live the famous Kilinochi press conference of Veluppillai Prabhakaran in 2002. However national media in India was not very sympathetic to the Eelam struggle. This does not mean that they were against Eelam struggle. They were distancing themselves from the struggle. Unlike the Tamil media in India, the national media by and large never took a position. They were “independent” in a sense that they were not concerned about creating public opinion in India in favor of Eelam. Media alone cannot be blamed for this. Hardly was there any group in India that was involved with advocacy in support of Eelam. Media advocacy, if at all existed, was confined just to Tamil Nadu. 

When we discuss disinformation by the mainstream media we must remember this too. Some “national media” in India did take a very clear position on Eelam struggle. For instance The Hindu, which has wide readership in South India, was open and consistent in their stance on Eelam. However this stance of theirs resembled that of the mainstream media of Sri Lanka. 

In the case of Kerala, the State where I am from, the vernacular media did very good coverage on Eelam struggle, starting from the eighties. But here too the media did not attempt to create a public opinion in favor of Eelam struggle. Eelam and Kerala share similar history. We were ruled by the same colonial powers, the Portuguese, Dutch and later English. Kerala is not very far from Eelam and the war in Eelam was something happening right in front of our eyes. Yet Eelam never became the agenda before any political organizations in Kerala. Keralites were in the streets in solidarity with Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan. This never happened in the case of Eelam. Vernacular media did highlight the issues, but distanced themselves from it. In Kerala too was there any group that lobbied media or seriously engaged in advocacy in support of Eelam. 

In the eighties as students, we have been doing some independent pamphleteering in support of Eelam, especially after the Black July, not under the auspices of any forum. But such activities had limitations in reaching a wider audience. During the final days of war in 2009, vernacular media was sympathetic to the Tamil cause to a certain extent. Tamil issue was the focus of prime time news in the visual media in Kerala. However, it did not generate the public opinion the way it should have. It was surprising that Kerala never witnessed a single demonstration those days, expressing solidarity with the Eelam Tamils. This silence from the part of Keralites had ideological, ethnic and religious connotations. Organized attempts should have been made in India to use mass media advocacy strategically in support of Eelam struggle. Political parties like the DMK and AIADMK should have designed a strategy considering the increasing role of regional parties in national politics. Unfortunately it never happened. 

TamilNet: What do you think about the role and extent of Indian involvement? Is Indian foreign policy responsible for the genocide? 

Krishnan: We cannot deny the fact that India had genuine interest in Eelam in the eighties, owing to geopolitical reasons. India did openly support the formation of an independent Eelam and even provided training for the Tamil groups, probably due to its own security concerns. In the eighties, being in the Soviet block, India was concerned about the pro-American tilt of Sri Lankan Government. Soviet Union, with which India had strong diplomatic relation, too was concerned about the pro-US turn of Sri Lankan polity. Internationally many expected the creation of an independent Tamil Eelam with overt support of India. However due to certain diplomatic lapses, Indian role in the island took a complex turn. Major mistake from Indian side was the Indo- Sri Lanka peace accord, signed between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene in 1987, without the consent of LTTE. By 1987 the national liberation movement of Tamils in Sri Lanka was almost indistinguishable from LTTE. But the peace accord was signed without the consent of LTTE. India should have acknowledged the role of LTTE and proposed a tripartite agreement. Further India should have strongly demanded devolution of power as envisaged in the peace accord, when LTTE agreed to lay down arms. Unfortunately it did not happen and the outcome was the conflict between LTTE and Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). India- Tamil relationship got deteriorated since the conflict between IPKF and LTTE intensified. LTTE also underrated the support of India in the creation of an autonomous, if not independent, Tamil ruled region in Sri Lanka. Since 1991, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Indian relationship with the Tamils further worsened, resulting in Indian denunciation of Tamil cause. 

But by 2009, the situation was different. LTTE had weakened. Jaffna had fallen to Sri Lankan forces. East no more was a war-ridden territory. In the pretext of fighting LTTE, which was confined to a few pockets, numbering a few hundreds, the Sri Lankan forces besieged the whole Tamil population in the north. The outcome of which was predictable. It is very unlikely that Indian military intelligence was unaware of the possible genocide in Tamil inhabited areas. Considering India’s role in the Tamil politics in Sri Lanka since the eighties, India should have intervened. India should have internationalized the issue of military atrocities in Tamil areas. It should have raised the issue before international forums. Many might not be aware of the fact Tamils of Sri Lanka were the people hoisted Indian flags on the top of houses on August 15, 1947, celebrating India’s freedom from Britain. India very well could have averted the genocide, had India sympathetically handled Tamil issue. It was indeed a failure of Indian diplomacy. 

TamilNet: Recently, a delegation of Dalit leaders from India met Mahinda Rajapakse and it was agreed to install Dr. Ambedkar's statue in Colombo. Sri Lanka is clearly playing into the fault-lines. What do you think of such an effort of Sinhala Buddhism? 

Krishnan: This has to be analyzed in backdrop of public opinion in India on Eelam issue. Media, political parties including the Tamil, human rights groups etc never seriously attempted creating public opinion in India in favor of Eelam struggle. It did not happen during the time of conflict. Even now it remains so. On the contrary Sri Lankan State, which qualifies to be called as “Buddhist State”, is using all possible means to create public opinion in India in favor of Sri Lankan State. Installation of Dr.Ambedkar’s statue in Colombo has no significance, whatsoever, for Dalits of India. But for Sri Lankan State, it has. 

TamilNet: Sri Lanka's recent spate of attacks on the Muslims?

Krishnan: With the annihilation of Tamil Liberation movement, Mahinda Rajapakse government needs to invent new enemies, real or hypothetical to keep his clout over the Sinhalese. Muslims form nearly 8% of the population; numerically it is a community as big as the Tamils. They speak a different language. Culturally and religion wise, they are distinct from majority Sinhalese. They had a history of conflicting relationship with Sinhalese. With this background Muslims qualify the criteria to be considered as a tangible enemy by the Sinhala chauvinists. One cannot rule out the possibility that the violence against the Muslims in Sri Lanka had the patronage of the State and it would escalate in the coming future. When speaking about the Muslims, I must add this also. . Majority of the Muslims, the Moors, speak Tamil. However they were never enumerated as Tamils during Sri Lankan census. Like the Tamils they too were the victims of majoritarian politics of Sri Lanka. Muslims should have been the natural allies of Eelam Tamils in their struggle for self-determination. In the 1977 parliamentary elections, Muslim United Liberation Front candidates contested the election under TULF ticket. Unfortunately political leadership of Eelam Tamils never negotiated with the Muslims for a broad alliance at later stage. This was a major tactical error from the part of Eelam leadership. 

TamilNet: Any message to the global Tamil Diaspora. Also, what do you think is the way forward?

Krishnan: As of today, only global Tamil diaspora would be in a position to internationalize the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. They should keep the issue alive raising it before international forums and human rights groups. The younger generation of the diaspora might not have experienced the tragedy that their previous generation experienced. They should always keep in mind that their homeland is where their parents and grandparents suffered and where their people suffer now.