Dealing
with the Devil
12th October 2015
As Ceylon Today opined in the editorial of October
04, 2015, the attempts to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
through several advocate groups, started off badly after a clash ignited
between several Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and pro LTTE supporters last
Friday in Paris.
As Ceylon Today opined in the editorial of October
04, 2015, the attempts to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
through several advocate groups, started off badly after a clash ignited
between several Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and pro LTTE supporters last
Friday in Paris.
Pandemonium stuck the streets of Paris, when
several members of the TNA came under strong verbal attack by a number of irate
Tamil Diaspora members, mostly LTTE sympathizers, and the French Police had to
be called in to rescues the MPs. Tear gas engulfed streets and alleyways of
Paris when the LTTE revivalists took to the streets, with slogans and battle
cries, calling for the revival of "people's revolution and the blossoming
of the Tamil Eelam"; a spectacle to the international community to behold.
The mob turned LTTE revivalists after seeing one of the controversial individuals who had turned up for the TNA meeting in Paris, had demanded justice from him and for his 'activities' – according to them which are crimes committed in the past against Tamils in the East, causing immense problems to the Tamils and for taking part in 'decimation' of the Tamil Tigers. This posse of LTTE revivalists, who had stranded themselves from the multitudes of the Tamil Diaspora living overseas, had argued that the TNA had come with this questionable character and next day they would bring Karuna Amman and Douglas Devananda.
"We despise you," they had said but little did they understand, since such an extravaganza in front of foreign media has now created a black mark on the entirety of the Tamil Diaspora, who had shown their willingness to work with the current government of Sri Lanka.
This has become clear after several leaders and known figures inside the TNA had already expressed that what they intend to create is reconciliation between all communities in Sri Lanka. Leader of Opposition in Parliament and leader of the TNA, R. Sampanthan had said in an interview, "I'm a Sri Lankan, and I belong to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is my country and Sri Lanka belongs to me. My duties will be towards Sri Lanka and all Sri Lankan people, irrespective of who they are." He had added that the Tamils should not harbour any doubts or fears as regards to the proposed investigations into the alleged war crimes.
With greater reason, TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran has said that fighting for a separate state in Sri Lanka is no longer in the party's agenda since the party is holding discussions with the Sri Lankan government for the meaningful devolution of power within a unitary state. "There is no demand for a separate state anymore," he had assured.
He had also urged Tamil activists living overseas not to harp on the issue "Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka" as it is an allegation difficult to prove. For those of you who find it hard to understand what he is saying, he is politely asking to stop reiterating the brainwashed separatist teachings, the Tamil Diaspora is taught by the handful of LTTE sympathizers.
The once majestic and proud Tamil Diaspora has now split and the Tamil communities living overseas, is not a single entity with a cause that orders them to swallow a cyanide pill. The single outfit has now become a house divided; as the true Tamil Diaspora and the LTTE sympathizers. Ironically, this very division was created by those who fought for what they believed to be the uniting of every Tamil individual and community together.
Sri Lanka achieved a once in a life time opportunity when the international community recognized and decided to back a domestic mechanism into the alleged war crimes during the three decade civil unrest. Even though some have come to stand against it, the government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, have arrived at a cross road with so many possibilities. The time has come to decide whether to sell the very soul of the country to the devil at the crossroad and face the fated consequences or take some other, more risky option.
The government of Sri Lanka has the ripe moment of exploiting the division between the true Tamil Diaspora and the LTTE advocates. The government has to reach out with welcoming and friendly hands, wide open to the true Tamil Diaspora which in turn would be a blatant slap in the face to the LTTE revivalists. US former president Richard Nixon did something similar when Soviet Russia were about to tie the knot of goodwill between China back in the late 1960s in the backdrop of the Cold War. Nixon, to prevent this, initiated the US- China Rapprochement.
Winston Churchill once wrote, "When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you." Several figures in the government had already observed that the government means to create good relationships with the Tamil Diaspora, as long as they adhere to the law of the land and do not follow fundamentalist beliefs of the LTTE. This is the ideal way to stop the enemies outside; by eradicating the enmity from within. Thus, in this current backdrop, taking practical and actual steps to putting those observations into actions is a rather approved necessity.
