Even constitutional restructure is no solution: Kasi Ananthan

Kasi_Anandan_fr A constitution, even after any reform or restructure, is meaningless in the context of the island Ilangkai (Sri Lanka), as the single State for the whole island is not disposed towards honouring any constitution. In a two-nation island, where one nation is dominant, there are no safeguards as in the case of the multi-nation India under one federal constitution. There is no point in India and the USA harping on the 13 Amendment under a unitary constitution or any other constitutional changes. The 13th Amendment is not a part of Sri Lankan constitution but a part of Sri Lankan conspiracy. The TNA leadership announcing abandonment of Tamil Eelam is the greatest treachery in our liberation struggle, said poet and veteran Tamil political activist Mr Kasi Ananthan in an interview to TamilNet this week.

When asked about the on-going campaign that the 13th Amendment is the only existing basis for a solution and that has to be taken as a starting point or interim solution, Kasi Ananthan said that it is part of the conspiracy.

The PC doesn’t have powers of even civic bodies. Varatharaja Perumal was the Chief Minister of the combined North and East. He had said that even to buy a chair for him he had to beg Colombo. We should not forget that, Kasi Ananthan said, adding that Tamils cannot find a solution without recognition of them as a nation.

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As a person coming from the East, Kasi Ananthan was asked to comment on the provisions of the Indo-Lanka Agreement that not only failed to recognize the combined North and East as a traditional homeland of Tamils but also incorporated a mechanism for the separation of the East.

The effort to separate North and East started since the times the British left the island. Early British records considered North and East as a common homeland of Tamils. But even in British times when the provinces were demarcated North and East were separated.

According to Early British records the Tamil territory was roughly 26,500 Sq.km. When provinces were demarcated and some territories went with the Sinhala Northwest Province, 7500 Sq.km. were lost. Another 7500 were lost with Sinhala colonisation in the East after 1948. After losing almost half, Pirapaharan waged his armed struggle only in the remaining territory. But not an inch was lost as long as the armed struggle was there.

Tamils are the same in the North and East. But the 13th Amendment pave way for the separation of the East, Sinhalicisation of it and ultimate separation of it from the North.

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When a question was asked what should be the line to limit the colonisers from voting in the event of a referendum, Kasi Ananthan reminded Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India movement in the contexts of colonialism.

He however said that 1948 should be the limit, as all the later colonisations were schemed by the Sinhala State. There is no difference between the Sinhala military that is occupying and the State-aided colonisations. One should not compare this aggressive colonisation with Tamil migration to Colombo. In both instances Sinhalicisation is the process, Kasi Ananthan said.

For another question on the TNA, Kasi Ananthan elucidated on the sequence of Tamil national political formations. He was the first Joint Secretary along with Mr. Gnanamoorthy of Valveddiththu’rai, when the TULF was founded.

The TNA may be facing a lot of constrains today. But the TNA leadership should have kept quiet on the question of abandoning Tamil Eelam, or it should have at least insisted on the recognition of our homeland as a first step. But announcing that it drops Tamil Eelam was the greatest treachery in the long liberation struggle. They have no right to do it, Kasi Ananthan observed.

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On the stand of the USA and India, insisting on the acceptance of the 13thAmendment as solution, Kasi Ananthan said that any constitutional reform or restructure is meaningless in the context of State in the island.

Kasi Ananthan came out with great appreciation on the stand taken by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms Jayalalithaa in passing a resolution in the State assembly demanding a referendum on the question of Tamil Eelam, besides specifying that Tamil Eelam is the only solution. After taking such a stand, she is not expected to talk on the 13th Amendment, he observed.

On the role of the diaspora in course-correcting the USA and the UK, Kasi Ananthan said that one of the major outcomes of Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal is that the diaspora has directly entered into the field of liberation struggle. It bears bulk of the responsibility today. It should continue with unflinching commitment, as achieving Tamil Eelam is a foregone conclusion, Kasi Ananthan said.

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