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Tamils
hurt by Army Commander’s remarks
I
wish to highlight today, two matters on which Tamils have
evinced interest. The first was Army Commander General Sarath
Fonseka’s comments that “this country belongs to
the Sinhalese” and that the minority communities should
not try to “demand undue things.” The other was
the developments in Tamil Nadu, to which I drew attention
last week.
General Fonseka’s remarks were made to Stewart Bell of
the National Post of Canada and were published on September
23. He had expressed a similar view earlier to the ‘Daily
News.’ He said, “I don’t think the people in
the North and East are subjected to any injustice…This
country will be ruled by the Sinhalese community which is
the majority representing 74 percent of the population.”
I will just record that they had hurt the feelings of the
Tamils and the Muslims. Muslims reacted fast and then the
Tamils joined. Now, there are moves for both communities to
join hands and voice their disapproval, General Fonseka’s
remarks have raised the fear that the Sinhalese are returning
to the Mahawamsa claim that Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhala Buddhists
and have instilled the feeling that efforts are on to deny
the minorities the advance won since June 5, 1956 Galle
Face satyagraha, the first protest against Sinhala domination.
More important developments are taking place across the Palk
Strait. Tamil emotion is on the boil there, forcing Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s National Security Advisor M.K.
Narayanan to summon on Monday morning Sri Lankan Deputy High
Commissioner, Palitha Ganegoda, and express India’s
“grave concern and unhappiness” over the growing
casualties of Tamil civilians, as a result of military action
in northern Sri Lanka. He also highlighted the need to revive
the political process in Sri Lanka.
“It was pointed out that there was need for the Sri Lankan
Government to act with greater restraint and address the growing
feeling of insecurity among the minority community,”
a statement by Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.
Manmohan Singh followed up with telephoning Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at 11.30 a.m. that day and assuring
him that “all steps will be taken to save the Tamils.”
Karunanidhi told the Prime Minister during the telephone conversation
that what was happening in Sri Lanka was ‘genocide’
and requested him to take four measures to safeguard the Tamil
people. He asked him to tell Sri Lanka: that India regards
its military operation as genocide; such genocidal acts should
stop; steps should be taken to work out a peaceful solution
and attacks on Indian fishermen should cease. The Prime Minister
agreed to take those measures.
Let me reconstruct the story from where I left last week.
The Communist Party of India held its token hunger strike
on October 2, where Manmohan Singh and Karunanidhi were targeted
for attack. The charge against the Prime Minister was that
his government was assisting Sri Lanka to kill the Tamils
“by supplying arms, providing radars and training the
island’s armed forces.” The charge against Karunanidhi
was that he was keeping silent. The request made to Karunanidhi
was to break his silence.
On October 4, Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition J. Jayalaitha
issued a hard hitting statement against Manmohan Singh and
Karunanidhi. She charged Manmohan Singh of being ‘an
active collaborator’ of the killings of the Tamils by
the Sri Lankan Government. She substantiated her charge with
the expose that India was giving advanced one-month training
for 100 Sri Lankan military officials at Hariyana.
She charged that Karunanidhi could have forced Manmohan Singh
to take a stronger stand against Colombo by threatening to
withdraw his support if Parliament was not doing so.
The venomous sting of her statement is in this paragraph:
“The threat of withdrawal has been successfully used
by Mr. Karunanidhi only to secure plum ministerial posts.
When it comes to the safety, security and well being of the
Tamil people he becomes speechless.’’
Karunanidhi was forced stung. He held a marathon session with
his senior leaders at the party headquarters on the morning
of August 5 and decided to capture the initiative. He issued
a statement in the evening calling the people to send lakhs
and lakhs of telegrams to Prime Minister with the wording,
“Intervene immediately and stop the genocide of Tamils
in Sri Lanka.’’
Karunanidhi said in that statement that the war in Sri Lanka
was genocidal and that only ceasefire could bring some relief
to the Tamils. Karunanidhi urged the central government not
be deterred by the undesirable events of the past, but to
take action to prevent racial killings. In it he told the
Prime Minister to treat the statement as an SOS alert, as
a matter of extreme urgency and act accordingly.
Thousands of people thronged the post offices in all parts
of Tamil Nadu and sent the Prime Minister telegrams urging
him to take action to bring about a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
Karunanidhi had thus turned what had hitherto been an agitation
by pro-LTTE groups into a mass movement.
The Prime Minister telephoned Karunanidhi at 11:30 a.m. on
August 6, Monday and discussed the issue. Karunanidhi insisted
that what was going on was genocide and asked him to take
steps to stop it, which the Prime Minister agreed to do.
The Congress Party also broke its silence on Monday. Its president
of the Tamil Nadu branch, K.V. Thangabalu, told the media
that the central government should ensure the Sri Lankan Tamils
the right to live. Tamil refugees in the Wanni should be provided
safety and food.
Addressing a massive meeting at Chennai on Monday evening,
Karunanidhi issued a veiled threat to Manmohan Singh. He said,
“We may have to consider the next step if the central
government fails to take immediate action. If the central
government fails to find a solution to the problems of the
Tamil people, we may be forced to consider whether this government
is necessary.”
Karunanidhi’s declaration that his party is prepared
to get on to the streets and he was prepared to resign from
the post of Chief Minister, was greeted with prolonged acclamation.
Indications are that Karunanidhi will not be allowed to rest
with mere rhetoric. Vaiko, leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida
Kazhagam, a staunch supporter of the Tamils and LTTE, has
announced a protest demonstration in Chennai on October 10
and the AIADMK has offered its support to the agitation.
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