While talking on the past and on-going genocide of Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Vanni, S. Sritharan on Sunday said in a meeting in London that Tamil women are particularly targeted now and the fertility of Tamils is systematically jeopardized. He cited the examples of ‘grease devil’ attacks on women and the plight of young widows in child-producing age group. Eezham Tamils are increasingly convinced today that a united Sri Lanka would not work, he said. Later, when a question was asked why the TNA had not raised the issues of genocide and right to self-determination in the recent meet convened by a Congress MP at New Delhi, the deputy leader of TNA Maavai Senadhiraja answered that their unawareness of the agenda of the organizers and the desire not to exhibit disunity among the invited groups had been the reasons.
Answering another question, why the TNA deviates from the principles of the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution and also distances itself from even uttering the name of the LTTE leader Pirapaharan, Maavai said that people have to be patient enough and the TNA will be taking some crucial decisions in three months time.
Maavai preferred to call the UN Panel Report as ‘Darusman’ report as it was not submitted to any formal UN forum. But, he was challenged by the journalists present in the meeting, who cited the usage of UN Panel report in the report itself.
When asked to tell yes or no without mincing words whether the TNA supports war crimes investigations, Maavai answered yes.
Some in the audience commented to TamilNet that it is the fear of India that makes the TNA parliamentarians to be reluctant in talking about UN Panel report and the war crimes investigation.
Maavai evaded answering a question whether the TNA has taken up the matters of genocide, nationhood and right to self-determination of Eezham Tamils with New Delhi, by choosing to talk on the background of the questioner.
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Maavai Senadhiraja in his speech talked on the SL ‘grease devil’ terror campaign and the plight of Tamils and Muslims he met in Batticaloa. While the people are systematically terrorized, an SL military official expects ‘humanitarian handling’ of the ‘grease devils’ by the people of Batticaloa, he said.
Sritharan in his speech was exposing Colombo’s strategy of finding impunity to ‘grease devils’ by projecting them as ‘mentally deranged’.
If they are mentally deranged then considerable number of soldiers in the SL Amy must be mentally deranged. May be Colombo would say that genocide was committed by a mentally deranged Army, Sritharan said.
The island always had two nations. When unattended, the non-violent struggle of the oppressed nation of Eezham Tamils became an armed struggle. But it ended up in genocide today.
The decades of war against Tamils in the island has taken the lives of nearly 300,000 Tamils and about 40,000 combatants. What is taking place today is an illustrative example of a defeated nation. The way the situation is handled may lead to another armed struggle, even though the TNA is not in its favour, Sritharan said, citing the targeting of Tamil women and grab of land and houses.
He urged for diplomatic moves and wanted the diaspora to play a more proactive role similar to the cases of the other global examples of national struggles.
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Two more TNA MPs, Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan and Mr Saravanabhavan, who were scheduled to come to London last week, didn’t come as the former was not given visa and the latter was not well.
Veteran Tamil nationalists in the island who are TNA members but were never a party to the militant struggle are furious nowadays over some of the TNA parliamentarian’s stand with New Delhi, compromising on fundamentals of the struggle, news sources in the island and in the diaspora said.
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In an interesting focus in the Sunday meeting in London, a Liberal Democratic Party councillor of African British origin, Mr. Ali, who was delivering a special lecture at the beginning of the meeting also had to face an odd comment.
While the LDP councillor was talking on building Tamil Eelam, he was challenged by a member of the audience who said that the British government always showed duplicity on the question of Eezham Tamils. Britain was one among those who were responsible for what happened to Eezham Tamils and the LDP was a party to it, the person from the audience said.
Reflecting on the duplicity of the so-called International Community, a Tamil journalist who was remaining at Mu’l’livaaykkaal until 18 May 2009 and then got into the hands of the SL Army recently told TamilNet that even on that day a veteran LTTE member like Mr Yogi, whom he saw while waiting for SLA screening, was confident of justice and protection coming from the International Community. But the IC didn’t prove it an IC and the whereabouts of Yogi himself is not known, the journalist said.
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