Now it is the turn for cultural

Genocide in the Tamil homeland

By Satheesan Kumaaran

With the genocide of the Tamils almost complete, no time is being lost to
culturally change the face of the Tamil homeland with xenophobic zeal.
When the war was raging in the traditional Tamil homeland, many
countries around the world, including India, raised their voices to say that
Tamil aspirations should be fulfilled peacefully. Things have changed.
With the LTTE silencing their guns in May last year, the Sri Lankan
government is taking every opportunity to destroy the Tamils and their
culture through various methods including grabbing their lands for the
Sinhalese from the south with hundreds of thousands of Sinhalese
plunging into Tamils’ cultural city Jaffna with malicious a agenda, and new
Buddhist temples being erected on a daily basis throughout Tamil home
lands.
The Sri Lankan government’s agenda to eliminate the Tamils by
destroying their culture follows the adage that “if you want to destroy a
particular ethnic group, destroy their culture and their concept of a
homeland”. With this in view, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s
brother, Basil Rajapaksa, a renowned racist and Minister for Economic
Development and Chairman, has been entrusted with the task.
Presidential Task Force for Development, Resettlement and Security in the
Northern Province has come up with the agenda in order to achieve the
Sinhalisation of traditional Tamil homeland for which Tamils have fought
over 60 years both peacefully and militarily until the defeat of the LTTE
last year.
The latest instance was the unauthorised entry into the Jaffna public
library by some Sinhalese people from the South who demanded that they
be allowed because they had come from the presidential secretariat a
classic example of how the unauthorized Sinhalese people could once
again desecrate cultural centres with government patronage and with
impunity.
On Saturday, 23, October 2010 a group of Sinhala visitors from the South
rushed into library while the All Ceylon Medical Association sessions were
in progress. The group was a section of Sinhala tourists who had arrived in
more than 30 buses to the main entrance of Jaffna Public Library. Although
there was a sign board in three languages – Sinhala, Tamil and English --
on display that no visitors will be allowed during the usual visiting hours
4:30 pm to 6:30 pm on account of the conference, the Sinhala visitors
had demanded from the security guard and the only unarmed policeman
to allow them in. Following a heated argument, the visitors smashed the
sign board and overpowered the guard and stormed into the library where
the seminar was in progress. Meanwhile, the policeman had alerted the
Jaffna police station. The local headquarters inspector arrived on the
scene, but was threatened by a member of the group claiming he was
from the Presidential Secretariat. The Inspector was forced to withdraw
from the scene. Later, Jaffna Town Commander and Civil Affairs Co-
ordinator, Major Bandara, arrived at the scene. He, too, failed in his
attempt to control the crowd. The visitors who stormed into the library
had torn some of the Tamil newspapers displaying photographs of Tamil
politicians. They also threw into disorder the books in the Library shelves
which were systematically arranged according to standard procedure. The
mob spent nearly three hours inside the Library, defying rules of the
library. This is instance of the serious threats to Tamil culture in the
future.

Sinhala Buddhist Xenophobia

Sinhala Buddhist extremists continue to claim that the Tamils are either
boat-people or conquerors who encroached the lands occupied by
Sinhalese, stating that the Tamils from South India occupied north and
eastern parts of the island. On the other hand, the main Sinhala Buddhist
Chronicle, the ‘Mahavamsa’, the bedrock of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism,
clearly states that Vijaya, the first Sinhalese to reach Sri Lanka from north-
eastern part of India to Sri Lanka, India, along with his 700 followers, went
back to South India to marry Tamil women whose descendents constituted
the Sinhalese race, before the Tamils settled in Sri Lanka.
One does not have to be a rocket scientist to assume that the Dravidian
Tamils were seen as pearl divers and they were popular seafaring people.
As this is the case, why would not these people settle well before the
arrival of Vijaya in the 6th century B.C. to Sri Lanka as stated by Sinhala-
Buddhist chronology? It is logical to believe that the Tamils were
inhabitants of the island. As these people were native to dry lands, they
settled in north and eastern parts of the island which with warmer
climates as their counterparts in South India. Even historians and
archaeologists claim that Shiva, the Hindu god, temples were seen in
ancient Sri Lanka. There were five Eeswarams of Siva-Thiruketheeswaram
near Mahathitha, Munneswaram dominating Salamatte (Chillaw), pearl
fishery Thondeswaram near Dondra, Thirukoneswaram near the great Bay
of Kottiyar (Trincomalee) and Naguleswaram near Kankesanturai.
Through this analogy, it is obvious to believe that the Tamils who were
Hindus were well settled in Sri Lanka before Vijaya reached Sri Lanka.
The Sinhala-Buddhist claim for the entire island as Sinhala-Buddhist land
has no credibility at all. Tamils were living throughout North and Eastern
parts of Sri Lanka well before the Europeans arrived on the island. They
had their own kingdoms and even when the Sinhala kings sent their
troops to take over Tamil lands, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu
Chola Empire sent troops to save Tamil kingdoms in Sri Lanka.
However, as to the origins of the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka, Dr A.
Paranavtharna, a well known researcher and former Archaeological
Commissioner and Professor of Archaeology, had said: “Thus the vast
majority of the people who speak Sinhalese or Tamil must ultimately be
descended from those autochthonous people of whom we know next to
nothing”.
After Britain left the island in 1948, the administration of the entire island
went into the hands of the majority Sinhalese. Sinhalese brought anti-
Tamil legislation weakening the Tamils politically, economically and
academically. As a result, Tamils fought through peaceful means, but
their peaceful campaigns were met with violence. As a result, Tamil
youths took up arms to protect their identity and return their legacy. In
the post 9/11 era, the world community began classifying all fighters as
terrorists whether they fought for the right to self-determination or any
other ideology. Now, Tamils are in the clutches of the Sinhala government
facing enormous hardships and their existence is being closely scrutinized
and spied upon at every turn.

Strategies to eliminate Tamils

Basil Rajapaksa, in overseeing the methods put in place to eliminate
Tamils from their homeland, began by chasing away the Tamils from their
villages in the 15,000 square-kilometer Vanni region. When the Tamils
fled their homes due to shelling and bombardment of the Sri Lankan
government forces, the government put them in Nazi-style camps
systematically and successfully.
Even though the government claims that more than 250,000 Tamils have
been resettled, the actual fact is that they have released most of the
people who were incarcerated in the Nazi-style camps and yet many of
them are not allowed to enter their home villages claiming that the areas
are not safe from landmines, a story so stale that would be told till the
cows come home.
On the other hand, the Sri Lankan government is sending in hundreds of
Sinhalese, who are relatives of government loyalists and especially
families of the Sri Lankan armed forces, into the Vanni region. The Vanni
region is in the process of Sinhalisation. While the original landowners live
with their relatives or friends and or temporary shelters, Sinhalese from
south are being given the prime real estate of their choice on the
instructions of the rabid racist party of predominantly Buddhist monks.
Already, Tamils, who were the majority in the regions before the island
gained independence, have been minorities in their homeland in the
eastern part of the island. Many village names are being replaced with
Sinhala names. Communal tension is high in this region.
Now the Sri Lankan government’s agenda is to colonize the North where
over 90 percent are Tamils. Unless the Tamil National Alliance (TNA),
which is the Tamil political party with majority Tamils votes in Sri Lankan
parliament, does take necessary steps to stop the Sinhalisation of Tamil
lands, the North will become a Sinhalese region in less than five years.
The question is whether the Tamils who the Rajapaksa brothers claim live
in Sinhalese areas have had the influence the naming of Sinhala areas in
Tamil.

Sinhalese ownership claim in Jaffna

Basil is on the move to bring about 5,000 Sinhalese to Jaffna peninsula
with the claim that they lived there before the war broke out in 1983.
Actually, they were advised to leave the north by the security forces as
there was a massive Pogrom that was being planned by the State. The
first of these persons started to leave while the Jaffna public library was
burning. Already 500 families comprising 2,000 individuals have reached
Jaffna, paying huge sums as rent or purchasing properties at high prices.
The Sinhalese tourists engage in activities which are not tolerated with
conservative Jaffna civilians such as the promotion of pornography,
prostitution and easy access to illegal drugs and alcohol available at
cheaper prices. The Sri Lankan government knows that by destroying
Tamil culture, they think that they can eliminate the Tamils and their
identity. This way, the Sri Lankan government thinks that the Tamils are
no longer a homogenous community but they have turned into a mix-
breed, and hence they will not demand a separate Tamil State.
In a new episode, a few weeks ago, 180 Sinhalese were brought into Jaffna
peninsula, temporarily sheltered at the Jaffna Railway Station and the
Duraiappa Stadium. These people do not seem to be families, but they
are mostly teenagers and adults. Most of these people were brought from
Anuradhapura and Mihinthale, and some of them are nurses and other
professions in health care.
As per the Sri Lankan government’s agenda, Basil oversees the process of
insertion of the Sinhalese with the support of the Sri Lankan army
authorities and senior Sri Lankan government ministers. They want the
Sinhalese to be settled in the lands owned by the Tamils who were forced
to abandon their homes by the Sri Lankan army with the excuse that
those areas are designated as high security zones which apparently are
suitable for the Sinhalese to live in but not the Tamils, revealing the
degree of suspicion, discrimination and inequality that the Tamils who are
referred to also being Sri Lankan citizens have to endure in a racist State.
The irony is that the owners of the lands are not able to visit their
properties as the Sri Lankan armed forces have put up camps in the
civilian lands and the government is trying to settle Sinhalese in these
areas.
The government also thinks that by settling Sinhalese, it could create an
ethnic confrontation like how it is in the East. Further, the government
feels that the settlement of Sinhalese will weaken the political
representation of the Tamils. It is necessary that that Tamils take
immediate necessary steps, especially the Diasporas, by setting aside
their petty differences, coming closer together pressuring their respective
governments to prevail on the Sri Lankan government to grant autonomy
for the Tamils by the reorganization of North and East as the traditional
homeland of Tamils, a concept which was put forward in 1976 by the
elected representatives of the Tamils in 1976.

What do politicians say?

Although the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government
always have opposite views on almost all issues with the opposition
United National Party (UNP), both parties agree on one issue, which is the
Tamil issue. If the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) or UPFA takes action
against Tamils on any issue, the UNP will come forth with stronger terms
much heavier than the SLFP or UPFA and vice versa. This is what happens
in the south when the Tamil question comes up since the island gained
independence.
In regard to colonizing Tamil homeland, while the Mahinda administration
rapidly settles Sinhalese in the North, the UNP General Secretary Tissa
Attanayake said that the government should take immediate steps to
resettle the Sinhalese in their lands where they lived 28 years ago. He
said the government should provide support to the Sinhalese who shelter
in the Jaffna Railway Station and Duraiyappa Stadium as refugees. He
blamed the government saying that it is not taking rapid action to resettle
them.
The extremist Sinhala-Buddhist party and the ally of the ruling
government, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) leader Ven.Omalpe Sobitha
Thera, said that more than 150 Sinhalese are stranded in the Alfred
Duraiyappa stadium and Railway Station in Jaffna, as they have not been
allowed to settle in their lands. The JHU maintains that the displaced
Sinhalese families have necessary legal documentation to prove
ownership to their lands. “The government should not give in to illegal
acts,” said Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera.
He further said that 165,444 Sinhalese fled following the war that had
erupted in 1983. He said that the government should resettle them in
their lands or JHU should come to the streets against the government with
the support of Sinhala general public. He further said that if the
government fails to settle the Sinhalese, he reminded that the Hindu
temples in the south will be destroyed, and at least by doing so let’s hope
that the Hindu-Tamils would feel the sentiments of Buddhist-Sinhalese.
Not more than a few hundred Sinhalese, most of them were traders,
teachers, monks or students, stayed temporarily in the North but never
had properties in the North as the monk is claiming.
Minister of Resettlement, Milroy Fernando, has promised Sinhala families
temporary shelter at the Jaffna Railway Station and Duraiappa Stadium,
telling them that they will soon receive the ownership of lands in Jaffna
peninsula. He said the ownership of the lands within the Jaffna Peninsula
previously dominated by these Sinhalese will be given back to them upon
completion of the legal procedures with regard to government lands in
these areas.
Ms. Imalda Sugumar, the Government Agent of Jaffna, had said that it was
not possible to resettle these Sinhalese families in Jaffna immediately. In a
communication to Basil Rajapaksa, Ms. Sugumar has reported that
suddenly, some Sinhalese families have emerged at the Jaffna old railway
station and they were demanding resettlement, and they do not have any
legal rights to seek for settlement in Jaffna, as they did not own any
properties despite their claim that they lived in Jaffna. She said that just
by staying in Jaffna does not mean that they had land ownership.
The EPDP leader and the Minister of Traditional Industries and Small
Enterprise Development, Douglas Devananda, says that these Sinhalese
families seeking residence in Jaffna do not have deeds or any other legal
documents to establish that they are the owners of the homes they
supposedly lived in at Jaffna. Devananda did visit the families to discuss
their troubles and promised to provide food and other basic needs until
they were resettled.
Devananda said: “It is not possible to resettle these people immediately
because there are a lot of land related issues in Jaffna. We are already
having trouble resettling thousands of people who are already living in the
North. It will take months to resettle these people in Jaffna.” He also said
that the Sinhalese had lived with Tamil people in Jaffna for more than 50
years and now they are also not pure Sinhala as there are also many
Tamils by marriage and they have Tamil relatives. They also have told
him that even today there are Tamil people here who bring them food and
give other help as well.
Devananda took up arms against the Sri Lankan State in the early 1980s
with the claim that the Sri Lankan State was discriminating against the
Tamils. Just for the leadership, he switched over various militant groups,
but failed to obtain leadership, then, after working as a traitor with the
Indian armed forces, he gained a reputation from the Indian government.
With Indian monetary aid and the assistance of the Sri Lankan State as
their plant, he founded the EPDP and fought the LTTE. He then joined the
Sri Lankan government just for his own political and monetary benefit. Up
until now, he has not gained political rights of Tamils, rather his group is
working side by side with the Sri Lankan armed forces. The EPDP is
responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent Tamils. Now, he says
that people whether they are Sinhalese, Muslims or Tamils can resettle in
Jaffna.
In the meantime, the President of the Association of Sinhala Displaced
Persons, Mrs. Kumari Sakunthala, said that they will not leave the Jaffna
station until the government mediates and finds a solution for them. Mrs.
Sakunthala has also visited the Jaffna Teaching Hospital with some of the
Sinhalese with their academic credentials to apply for jobs at the hospital,
as they are nurses and other professions in health care. The Hospital
administration told them that they would make inquiries with the Ministry
of Health about the recruitment of new employees.
Unless the TNA politicians and Diaspora Tamils take immediate action to
stop the flow of Sinhalese into Tamil homeland in the guise of
resettlement, Tamil homeland will be Sinhalacised within less than five
years. The Tamil identity will be wiped out soon from the anti-Tamil
agenda as well as the increasing anti-social events taking place in the
Tamil homeland. After killing nearly 150,000 Tamils, the Sri Lankan State
has turned its campaign to wiping out the Tamil identity.
(The author can be reached at e-mail: satheesan_kumaaran@yahoo.com)