Tamil Grievances –Untouched & Unattended

The voting pattern in the North and East is understandable as the Government had failed to attend to the legitimate grievances of the Tamils. It is a protest vote they registered against President Rajapaksa rather than a vote in support of Sarath Fonseka. They expressed confidence that some of the political parties allied to the opposition candidate are more acceptable than the Tamil parties that are aligned with the Government. Even those who opposed the candidate marked a cross for the swan. This will become more pronounced at the General Elections with a larger turn out of voters with the political parties representing Tamil interest entering the fray and Tamil candidates on the slate. The government can expect a resounding defeat to which it is a contributory element
It would be wrong to assume the vote is an endorsement of the LTTE but if the government fails to find remedies to the justifiable grievances of the Northern and Eastern Tamils, before long photographs of Prabhakaran will appear on the cadjan walls in the backwoods of the peninsula. The protest vote carries the sound of a siren; it is a wake up call for the government. An opportunity was provided to build a permanent bridge of friendship to the North and the East after saving them from the clutches of the terrorists, credit for which must flow to the Government. Sadly it appears lost on the people in the North and East, as other mischievous forces have been at work. The Government and Tamils are both at fault.

The Sinhala nationalists must be in the forefront in the struggle to find solutions for the genuine Tamil grievances. They fought valiantly to save the country from the terrorist menace. Now they must step in to avert the country from falling again to a terrorists trap set by the Tiger proxy holders and there is no better remedy than attending to the justifiable grievances of the Tamil people and not of the Tamil politicians. It should not be with the expectation of any reciprocal Tamil support but with the objectivity of building a society where people can live in harmony with security. It is no fault if the Tamils even after some of their grievances are attended, still continue to vote for parties of Tamil origin. They would do so, considering the comfort factor but such parties would not be able to deliver the message of separatism effectively if the grievances are eliminated. This would be the first step in the distant dream of establishing national political parties representing members of all communities being elected to parliament from each district.

Still the Tamils of the North and East are economically dependent on the pocket money doled out by the Diaspora for their subsistence. The Diaspora through the strings of the purse control their brethren in Sri Lanka. It was stupid of the government to think that the Tamils will vote for them after seen their kinsmen incarcerated in camps for unreasonable long period of time. Indeed the votes obtained from Tamil voters by the President shows still there is space and goodwill for accommodation. The solution to grievances has to be undertaken solely by the government and no assistance can be expected from the opposition or the major Tamil political party. If previous practice is an indicator, in solving the ethnic problem no bi party or multi party support from the opposition is likely to be rendered.

Tamils must equally reciprocate with demands that are reasonable and facilitate its implementation with patience. They brought anguish upon themselves by tacitly or impliedly aligning themselves with the terrorists for whom the Sambandan’s wing of TNA is largely instrumental. The Tamils will have to create a society with a more accommodating leadership prepared to offer a warm hand shake to the south after the elections. The Sinhala majority showed its goodwill with largeness originating from all strata’s in society when the refugees made the crossing from areas under terrorist control. The nationalistic Manel Mal Movement was among the first to run a special train carrying supplies to Vauniya on a goodwill mission. That out stretched hand must be extended further but any such extension will be meaningless unless the Tamils show sufficient flexibility they are interested in safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country. Tamils must on their own suppress separatist tendencies in their districts to win the confidence of the majority.

Immediate solace must be offered through the present constitution without putting off the date of reckoning. It was a grave error to postpone in laying the foundation of amity until the elections are over in an effort to transact with the new parliamentarians. The next unreasonable postponement sought, will be to await the changes to the constitution. Delay is fatal and expecting the next batch of Tamil parliamentarians to be more conciliatory after an election would be wistful thinking and constitutional amendments will be a long and hazardous journey. Meanwhile the problems of the Tamils will continue to fester if it remains untouched and unattended. The route the government will have to take to solve the grievances will be a lonely avenue, since like in the war, the opposition will not desire to give the President another victory march in solving the ethnic issue. Mahinda Rajapakse is a leader on whom the Sinhala majority has laid its faith to the utmost and has the confidence that he will not sell the country since he overcame terrorism that none could tame. The legitimate Tamil grievances can be listed briefly as follows:-

Language

• Security
• Land & Water
• HSZ
• Welfare of Children
• Development
• Resettlement and Rehabilita tion
• Cultural Advancement
• Employment Opportunities on Merit
• Speedy Social Progress in areas which were under terrorist control.All these problems can be attended to under the present laws, the existing administrative powers and with presidential directives.

A dialogue directly with the Tamil inhabitants of the North and East is a necessity to understand the gravity of their grievances. The Colombian Tamils are more interested in their own social and economic progress which is not a priority, as they share problems common to the other communities. Muslim problems in the North and East have to be looked at in a separate chapter.

The 13th amendment was a midsummer nights dream conceived by India to bring the LTTE into mainstream politics through the provincial councils with the control of the North and East offered as bait to lure them. That experiment was a total failure and now after 30 years the provincial councils have proved to be a base to enrich another set of politicians in power. This exercise will only confer power privileges and perquisites to the politicians of the North and East while the genuine grievances of the Tamils will remain intact. Those politicians of the North and East with their greed for gain will not attend to the grievances of the people, to keep them dissatisfied and disenchanted being more satisfying, so that the people could be mobilized and motivated to agitate again for more power for the politicians, which will give rise to separatist tendencies. Therefore it is more in the interest of the central government to attend to the grievances of the Tamil people directly because the solutions to problems will bring a lasting peace to the country which may not be the aspirations of those politicians in the North and East who were the proxy holders of the LTTE.

The Governments efforts to assuage the Tamils by undertaking development projects in the North and East proved to be totally unsuccessful as reflected in the election results. It is obvious that the real benefits have not accrued to the Tamil people in the provinces. In the present day lexicon of words, development is associated with commissions. In any event development is only an aspect of the many grievances and relying too heavily on a single front alone, turned out to be disastrous for the government .It is a basket of grievances which must be handled simultaneously.

The government must create a climate that the Tamils are confident they can live with dignity and comfort. Much of the opposition to this proposition will come from the parties that were once aligned to the terrorists. The president in his second term can act with more statesmen like outlook since he does not have to face another election. The Sinhala majority in the interest of the coming generations must ensure the ethnic problem is solved by not permitting terrorism to rise again; the final answer kies in finding solutions to the legitimate grievances of the Tamils. Now not Later.