Suddenly, it matters what Tamils think
The power of the ballot
by THE ECONOMIST
Internally displaced Sri Lankan Tamil civilians peep from over a fence at a camp for the displaced in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009.-AP pic
SHAKING the rain out of his hair, Ravi Chandran boarded a state-run bus for Jaffna in the north and looked around. It would leave Colombo soon, at 11.30pm, and he wanted to grab a good seat for what could be a 16-hour journey. Mr Chandran, a 27-year-old businessman in a rugby jersey and jeans, is among an estimated 3,500 commuters from Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority to have used the new bus service since the government eased travel restrictions earlier this month. Civilians taking public transport to Jaffna no longer need defence-ministry authorisation; just three copies of their national identity card will do.
Since the government’s victory in the long war with Tamil Tiger rebels in May, Tamils have chafed under travel and other restrictions. But an election looms, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa is lifting at least some of these. This week, he signed a proclamation authorising a presidential election in January. His main challenger is expected to be his former army commander, General Sarath Fonseka. So the loyalties of the Sinhalese majority will be split, and Tamil votes decisive.
The government has already started courting them. On November 21st, after months of intense international pressure, the government announced that those displaced by the war will be free to move from December 1st, and that all of them will be resettled by the end of January. Of nearly 300,000 people interned in camps, almost half have already been ferried back to their war-shattered villages.
Like others clambering on the Jaffna bus this week, Mr Chandran was happy that mobility between the mainly Sinhalese south and the mostly Tamil north is increasing. But what should be a simple ten-hour trip home remains dogged by delays, checkpoints and intense security.
During a meeting with newspaper editors this week, Mr Rajapaksa presented his decision to go to the polls early as a sacrifice of two years of his term rather than as a shrewd move to capitalise on victory in the war. He said he wanted to allow voters in the north and east the chance to select a president. At the latest election in 2005, in which Mr Rajapaksa squeaked home by fewer than 200,000 votes, the Tigers ordered a boycott of the poll in Tamil areas.
Still, Tamils are not likely to fall for Mr Rajapaksa’s claim, or for the small, calculated steps the government is taking to win their votes. Niranjan Ganeshathasan, a law student, agrees that Tamils will swing the vote in January but he would much rather see the repeal of draconian anti-terrorism legislation, an acceptable power-sharing arrangement, and a truth-and-reconciliation commission to investigate what happened in the last weeks of the war. Mr Rajapaksa, he insists, will have to try harder, merely to entice apathetic Tamils to vote at all. [courtesy: The Economist]
12 Comments
Rajapakses attempts to appease the Tamils after imprisoning them in camps for 6 months displays his wanton hypocrisy and greed for power. Backed by the extremist JHU and NFF he represents the ultimate racial extremist lobby in the country. Whilst pretending to help the minorities he has done sweet nothing for them while turning a blind eye to the activities of his extremist partners to change the demographic patterns in the North and East. Hence the Tamils will have to call his bluff and vote accordingly in the coming election.
In addition to SriLankan's comments, the fact that the Rajapaksa regime was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Tamil civillians during the last stages of the war, no self-respecting Tamil will vote for MR.
However is Sarath Fonseka any different and why would Tamils want to vote for Fonseka either?
In the lead up to the elections, all sorts of false promises will be made to the Tamils by both candidates but history shows that Tamils have been betrayed over and over again by the Sinhala ruling elite. Niether candidate should be believed or trusted by the Tamils. In this scenario, what alternative do Tamils have other than self-determination?
Interesting.... The ghosts of Tamil victims seem to have started haunting Hon. Percy.
Democracy in Sri Lanka(SL) is "nominal and majoritarian". The elections in the past were never geared to address the major political problem of the legitimate rights, human rights and freedoms of the people of North East SL.
Though democratic elections are processes meant to present to the voters viable alternatives and pragmatic solutions, elections are abused to rouse up anti Tamilism, cheat the voters and grab their votes, with shameless greed for political power.
In this sense true democracy is non existent in SL. A type of Sinhala totalitarianism thrives well.
During the proposed presidential election, the candidates who believe in democracy, should make it crystal clear to the Sinhala populace that the people of Tamil Eelam(TE) cannot be contained with injustice, repression, Human Rights abuses and unpunished war crimes; and that they will soon break their barriers.
The time has come to express the truth that the people of TE have their land, their legitimate rights guranteed by the UN, their plan and a vision for their land and its people.
The vision of independence of TE and mutual peaceful co-existence should be truthfully addressed without bias or trickery.
The UN and the International Community(IC) must express clearly to the major political stakeholders, to practice democracy and pave the way for peace in the island.
It will be a shame on the UN and the IC to shout aloud of "New World Order" when they cannot create order in the island of SL and TE.
Despite the manifest outrage of international human rights groups like HRW and Amnesty International, relief agencies and several Western states, Sri Lanka defiantly continues to brutalize the [Tamil] detainees [locking them up in barbed wire militarized camps]. Whilst various international actors attempt to goad, cajole and compel Sri Lanka to let the civilians go, few have examined the reasons for their incarceration. As far as the Tamils are concerned, it is obvious: this is the latest manifestation of the Sinhala state racism," the British paper Guardian said in the latest weekend edition. 18.10.09
Where was the will of the Sinhala intellectuals or the mass why were they silent ? even now. Of course Tamils and their so called leaders were unable to speak at free will in Srilanka. You knew what happened to those free speaking Journalists in SL.Well what ever MR OR SF are going utter during the election rallies Tamils will not fall for it.
It looks as if MR does not depend on Tamil Voters but on
Astrological forecasts !!
His family may give speech in Tamil in the days to come,
but only Karuna will give ear to it. When the heat
rises in January for Votes, the true picture of the
Tamil Voters will be known, even if the TNA makes a
stand on the Elections.
What are the presidential candidates going to claim? What are their credentials? Who is the real Dutugamunu?
Fonseka or Rajapakse ? Though both are two sides of the same coin,Fonseka appears to want to correct social injustices and abolish the super power of the presidency and appoint the Constitutional Council. Tamil votes may well decide the winner. MR cannot afford to lose, as he will also lose the presidential immunity and could be sued by civic groups for corruption and punished - as happened to Chandrika B in the Waters Edge case. His minions who have amassed wealth too could be investigated and sued. So, this not merely a fight for polical survival alone - it is also to avoid going to prison.
It is a crucial time for Tamils in Sri Lanka and especially for the Tamil political leaders. First of all, I don’t consider Mr. Douglas or Mr. Karuna as the Tamil political leaders. The reason was that the earlier one never won any election from the Tamil area with clear majority and the later one very new to the political scene and never faced any election.
The reset of the Tamil leaders should form a common and solid demand. Now itself they should negotiate for the potential ministerial posts, and have to bring the agreement with the main candidate. That agreement should have real commitment from the candidate/party. Then, you should support that candidate.
Otherwise, to create the chaos in the electoral bargain, Tamil political parties have to announce the Tamil presidential candidate with certain important mandate, such mandate should be a legal weapon to be used against any candidate who wins the election, or it should legalize certain fundamental rights of the Tamils (for example get a mandate to let Tamils go independently from Sri Lanka).
This strategy might bring some democratic pressure on the main candidates.
Asking the tamils to chose between Mahinda and Fonseka is like asking to choose between Hitler and Stalin.
Its a cruel joke.
Tamils are not stupid, they will vote for the sake of formality but will not trust any Sinhala ruler. That is the bottom line. They wont ask for independance inside lanka as they will be called terrorists and subject to further humiliation.
So the action of the global tamil community will have to do this.
This is proof to the global tamils that independance struggle must continue. Having two Sinhalese tyrants squabbling for power is not a good sign at all.
As for the nation developing? That remains to be seen. Sri Lanka never needs to work much. They have far too many foreign investors willing to jostle to influence their companies on the island. But the foreign investors themselves are largely responsible for creating the problem in the Island. So anything can happen. Maybe they will leave the Island to rot in some ways also
"The Tamil people in Sri Lanka have been subjected to discrimination within the model of a unitary state where majoritarianism reigns. They have been denied the right to express their right to self-determination within an internal arrangement, such as a federal government. In such a situation the denial of the existence of the right to self-determination itself will give rise to the right to unilateral secession as an expression of that right. Therefore the recognition of the right to self-determination of the Tamil people will in no way erode state sovereignty. In point of fact, if the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka is to be preserved from claims to the right of secession, it is a sine qua non that the right to self-determination of the Tamils is recognized and the nature of the state is restructured to enable meaningful exercise of internal self-determination."
UGK and ATamil voice articulate here the silent voice of the large number of Lankan Tamils that they have “had enough” and the only way out is probably to live separately – either separately per se or within a single Island on the basis of two nations. I believe most Tamils would prefer the 2nd option.
I agree with both Tamil voters cannot be intimidated or fooled. Temporarily they can be chained and forced to appear to be enslaved – as appeared in the recent past both at the hands of Sinhala governments till the mid-80s and thereafter under the LTTE till 2009. Yet, within they remain, in their nature, strongly democratic with deep resolve and determination to map their future path.
Their inspiration and their dream of their own future is in their ancient heritage, culture and history. In their history of many a millenia they have lost before – but regained. They want to live with the Sinhalese together but – for nearly a century in different ways and by different players – it has been clearly demonstrated this cannot be. The Senanayakes, Bandaranaikes, Jayawardenas and Rajapakses have, in their own ways, contributed and widened this impasse.
A single battle (where some sections of the Tamils took to arms) is over but the struggle continues - to charter their future course and enjoy the life of a people free of harm to their physical safety, their ancient means to livelihood and property. The means they did not have when the recent struggle began is now there – in the form of a strong diaspora that is determined not to allow the planned decimation of the Lankan Tamil nation – now at full steam. It will be the height of naivette to assume the diaspora is LTTE-controlled.
They are not. What they lack is a central leadership and this will come into being soon. Tamils realise the other side has never seriously GOT TOGETHER to close their ranks and offer them a formulae to live together. What has happened so far is a game of musical chairs where the Tamil question was used only as a convenient game of football. One need not look more than the trail of broken pacts from 1956 till recent times. Wearily, countries in the region and the world equally realize the divided Sinhalese will not offer justice to the Tamils.
Whatever that is made out to appear such will be similar to the type demonstrated by Sarath Fonseka – “Kill the Tamils and change their demography. This is sinhala buddhist land” he did while in uniform so that he can come to political power. The thought of political power has infected him since he became Army chief over many other deserving officers – thanks to the Rajapakse family. Without batting an eyelid and in attempting to fool the Tamils pleads “I am your new saviour. Trust me – I am here to help you get justice. You have been wroned. Look what's happening to those poor suffering IDPs”. But, alas, also for the same purpose – purely to come to political power.
That effort by the feral Buddhist extreme of mislead ill-educated priests, the pancha balavegaya of which SWRD was made to lead in 1956 was carried further by Mrs B and now by President Rajapakse to make the Tamils feel 2nd class and inferior. And those other incidental efforts as in 1958, 1977 and 1983 when hounded and beaten Tamils were rounded up and despatched animal-like – by train, road and ship – “go to the safety of your own land” has hit home.
The continuation of that insidious scheme of Kotakedeniya and friends – widely believed to be with the full backing of BR and other high-ups in the administration – to raid at midnight those cheap lodges. That these Tamils had come in search of Visas to escape, badly needed medical help, employment in Colombo for their educated youth and other was never taken into consideration.
They were insensitively rounded up - infants, children, pregnant women in their night clothes, the sick and the elderly – in the glare of publicity. They were chased away “go away to where you came from – your own land” And the international community has taken note of this for future reference, one suspects. Holding nearly a third of a million innocents under razor-sharp barbed wire; forcing them to line up in the sun and rain for basic food and water – showing all this on national TV every hour – is nothing but poorly disguised shadenfreude. This sick drama was calculated to winning the Sinhala vote bank in the future.
It succeeded in the UVA and SPC Elections beyond imagination. It is to that section both candidates will appeal in the present hustings. As for the Tamils, both candidates have the same goal – eliminate the Tamils from Sinhala soil by subtle means. Tamils will, as to be expected, resist that part of the resolve that involves the planned robbery of their Traditional Homeland in the North East of this Island.
It is up to the Sinhalese to reach a consensus and save the unity of the country – even at this eleventh hour.
ISS