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E-mail from readers the world over
'I support the Tigers because they did not harm Tamils'
Date:
Thu, 15 Jun 2000, 15:27:35EST +0530 This is an open letter to India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. As a longstanding friend of India and a South Asian fellow poet, I wish you and your government success and prosperity for your nation. I take this opportunity to gently point out the concerns which have been burdening my heart. These concern recent developments which I consider detrimental to our interests. The Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh's offer of US $ 100 million to Sri Lanka is being openly criticised in many Internet forums by both Indians and Sri Lankans. This is because the Sri Lankan government is very adept at diverting development funds intended for humanitarian aid to the war effort against the Tamils. Moreover, India's gesture of offering financial help to the Sri Lankan government to buy food is not warranted as Sri Lanka is not noted as a poor country in South Asia and can feed its population. What Sri Lanka needs is money to fuel the ongoing war. Without being critical of Indian foreign policy, it seems to me that this kind of assistance being offered by India jeopardises India's role as a neutral mediator. If India is providing assistance to the Sri lankan government on humanitarian grounds, then it can be argued that similar aid should also be extended by India to the Tamils living in LTTE controlled areas. This is especially true of medicines for a large number of Tamil people denied of basic medical assistance by the Army live in Wanni area which is under LTTE control. International agencies such as the MSF have been making unsuccessful pleas for essential medicines for over five months now. But I also understand that your government can create a situation conducive to remove the ban on the LTTE by this financial aid. In that case I welcome your moves as a political solution in Sri Lanka and lasting peace in our region can be promoted by it. The spurious association of Indian unity with that of Sri Lankan unity is unfounded. This theory is virtually robbing Eelam Tamils of their right to self-determination. This, in the long term, will unfold to be detrimental to Indian interests as well. Setting up a speculative theory that the self-determination of Eelam is a threat to Indian unity (because of the existence of Tamils in Tamil Nadu) is already creating tensions in India and Sri Lanka. The following points may be noted: 1. The Tamils in Tamil Nadu are not too happy to learn that some sections of your government and the Indian intelligence suspect their patriotism. They also interpret your actions as an interference to the right of self-determination of the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. 2. There have been increasing references in Tamil Nadu of India's stand during the struggle for self-determination of the Bengalis of (then) East Pakistan in 1971. The question of how the Tamils (both Indian and Sri Lankan) are different from Bengalis (Indian and then East Pakistan respectively) naturally arises in their minds. 3.The Tamils in Eelam are perturbed over increasingly vociferous references in the Indian press of a perception that some parts of India's intelligence services too propagate the theory that Indian unity is dependent on Sinhalese dominating Sri Lankan Tamils. Thus the Sinhalese and some Tamils feel, rightly or wrongly, that as long as India is united, it will not allow Sri Lankan Tamils to win their right to self-determination. 4. Successful Eelam Tamils will become more India friendly to protect their achievements. But the frustration of this goal because of India will have a chain reaction that can be used by anti-Indian subversive forces such as the ISI. In fact anti-Indian forces including Pakistan were unsuccessful in their attempt to create such a situation in the late 1980s. As a long-standing friend of India I humbly request you not to ignore the concerns of the Sri Lankan/ world Tamils and the people of Tamil Nadu. I request you not to support the attempts of some of your colleagues to sacrifice the interest of the Sri Lankan Tamils at the alter of the Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism in the name of Indian unity. V I S Jayapalan
Date:
Thu, 15 Jun 2000, 00:37:39EST Thank you for bringing to the notice of the outside world the silent sufferings of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. It is clear that 95 per cent of Eelam Tamils are for a separate state, even if some of them may have certain grievances vis-a vis the LTTE. Your article further fortifies this assertion. The only lasting solution to the Sri Lankan issue is to give the Eelam Tamils the power to govern themselves. Jayantha Liyanage, Canada
Date:
Wed, 14 Jun 2000, 18:28:17EST -0700 I am a Tamil living in Canada as a refugee. I read one of your articles about the refugees who are separated from their families. I, however, am fortunate enough to be living here with my family. Most of my friends live apart from their families as you have mentioned in the article. One of my friends lives in Canada, his sister lives in the US, his younger brother and his father live in Switzerland and the rest of the family live in Colombo. I feel really sorry for them. I don't think they will be ever able to live together. Nobody seems understand our problem. What did we do to others for them to hate us? The Sri Lankan government kills Tamils and hides the fact. I know of so many people killed (in Kilaly in 1993-1995) by the SLA. No one is going to believe me when I say this because I am a Tamil. I support the Tigers because they at least did not harm Tamils like the SLA have done. Why is the SLA refusing to give the same rights the Sinhalese enjoy to the Tamils too? Theepan Thiyagarajah, Canada
Date:
Wed, 14 Jun 2000, 13:41:04EST What homeland are we talking about here? If the Tamils are justified in asking for a separate Eelam, why shouldn't the Kashmiri Muslims ask for a separate state too? Do not politicise the issue and try to make an exception in the case of Kashmir? The day a separate Eelam is formed, that day Kashmir and the north east will be lost forever. Rahul A Gurjar
Date:
Thu, 15 Jun 2000, 12:43:35EST +1000 We appreciate the unbiased coverage given to our real problem. Raguneethan Rajeepan
Date:
Wed, 14 Jun 2000, 20:21:52EST Your story on the above subject, I am afraid gives a naive view of the Tamil refugees in India. Being a Tamil myself, I do have sympathy for their cause but not for their actions. Not one of them has expressed regret over the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and for inculcating the gun culture in Chennai, once a peaceful state in India. Many Indian Tamils too hold the same view. Sri Lankans in India no doubt will sing India's praises as India is the only land which will welcome them without a passport or without bothering to check their anticedents. It is the only country which will accept them without any strings attached. They use India as a stepping stone to go abroad and once they are abroad they shun India and their identity with Indians or Indian Tamils with scorn. And all this is not hearsay, I have seen it happen. Please, as a responsible medium, don't go about commending such treachery. Let us provide moral support to these poor refugees but we do not have to sacrifice our country for their sake. We have already lost a great prime minister to their cause. Why don't you listen to the views of others who are sick to the LTTE's attitude? Or are you too afraid of being assassinated? Karthi, Australia
Date:
Thu, 15 Jun 2000, 07:04:44EST -0400 The Sri Lankan government insists that the majority of the Tamils don't support the LTTE. Many deny that the LTTE is the sole representative of the Tamils. Unfortunately the Indian print media has swallowed these lies. Rajan Thangavelu
Date:
Thu, 15 Jun 2000, 10:23:33EST -0300 Having been born and bred in an influential Sri Lankan family and living among Sinhalese for most of his life, I am puzzled by Mr Chandrahasan's motives when he brands Sinhalese as cheats who are untrustworthy and insensitive. Mr Chandrahasan is in the right place now. He should work towards a bigger, separate Tamil country in Tamil Nadu rather than dreaming about an Eelam in Sri Lanka. Imbulgoda, Bandu
Date:
Thu, 15 Jun 2000, 10:52:12EST -0400 Thank you for bringing to light the thoughts of S C Chandrahasan. I would any day prefer to live with this person as will most Indians. Even Chandrika Kumaratunga can live with him rather than dealing with Prabhakaran. He seems so honest and sincere. The first question which came to my mind is that something must be terribly wrong with the Sri Lankan Tamils that they continue to choose murderers like V Prabhakaran over people like S C Chandrahasan as their leader. While the first one is exploiting young Tamil kids in killing themselves the later is making it his lifetime goal to educate refugee kids so that when they return to Sri Lanka, they can take over the responsibilities of the government. I am impressed by the honesty of Chandrahasan when he says that the LTTE in its present form is a setback to the Tamil cause. He is the first Sri Lankan Tamil leader who has told us recently that the LTTE and Sri Lanka, both cheated on India in the past. Such honesty is a must to do justice to those 1000 plus brave Indian jawans from the IPKF who sacrificed their lives in a war which was not theirs. The earlier the Sri Lankan Tamils realise this fact the earlier they will make India intervene. At present, the only utility of the LTTE is that with their killing machine they are helping remove the undue pride and misplaced ideas of power among the Sinhala fanatics. This will help Sri Lankan Sinhalas to be honest with India next time. But once the Sri Lankan government comes out with a sincere package which guarantees the sharing of political power with Tamils on equal terms, the LTTE has no role there unless they are willing to share power with other Tamil parties under the democratic process. If not, Sri Lanka and the Indian government along with other nations should see to it that the LTTE is finished in the post power sharing package implementation stage. I am against India intervening in haste until we see genuine, sincere multi-party initiative from Sinhala parties for changing the Sri Lankan Constitution to address the injustice done to Tamils. In Chandrahasan, Sri Lankan Tamils have a good leader. I hope his campaign spreads further. Mukund M Kute
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