While traveling in the bus, sipping a cup of coffee at the office cafeteria or while walking alone, it reverberates in my mind. Is everything over?
This thought is unbearable and overwhelming. At times, I have to control my tears and emotions looking at the ignominity of my fellow Tamils at the hands of Sinhalese. Tamils are slaughtered by the Sri Lankan army with the total support of India. The pictures and videos are disturbing. I avoided the websites such as puthinam which had horrendous images of the people caught in the cross fire. Videos of people suffering in the shell attacks are all over the Tamil websites. Tamils from Tamil Nadu, Malaysia, Canada, Britain, France, Swiss, Germany and USA have done whatever they can. They explained to every representative of the congress. Sent emails and faxes with lots of information about the crisis. It made some difference in the places like USA which to some extent respects the views of the people. Britain appointed special envoy and tried to bring the issue to the UN Security Council. But unfortunately China and Russia have blocked the issue from being debated in the council. It is now a known fact that China and Russia are acting on behalf of Sri Lanka in vetoing the discussions at the UN Security Council.
The feeling of “Is everything over?” is not about the rebels getting crushed at the hands of the Sri Lankan forces which is backed by India, but is about a legitimate insurgency for the right to self determination being brutally silenced. Victory at any cost for Sri Lanka, Elimination of LTTE at any cost by India – is the driving force behind the war. Meanwhile a country such as China which has ambitions to become the global power is trying to compete and grow its sphere of influence in the changing global dimensions.
Amidst the power play of the global powers, people like me and million other Tamils all over the world are watching the events helplessly. The pain of being powerless when we are brutally crushed by the global powers can’t be explained in simple words. There were sleepless nights. There were days when I could not concentrate on work, just staring at the computer monitor with the mind pondering over the events in Vanni and Mullaitheevu. There were moments when I just avoided visiting Tamil/Sri Lankan websites. I resigned to the fate of the Tamils. I tried to divert my depressing mind by watching movies and songs. But it has not been easy. Also, it does not last long. My hand will automatically go to the websites again in the hope of seeing any better news.
This utter sense of desperation and depression has driven many to severe extremes such as self-immolation, starting with Muthukumar and nearly 20 others from across Tamil Nadu, London and Malaysia. Now I understand that the sense of being powerless is what drives one to the extreme. No one should be suppressed and brutalized by force. People should not be ruled by the power of guns, fighter jets, artillery and multi barrel rocket launchers. There is inherent anger in the Tamil minds which can take any shape in the coming days.
******************
When Sri Lankan Tamil political leaders approached the Indian Tamil leaders in the 60's when the oppression started, Periyar had asked "How can one slave help another slave?".
Tamils cutting across the different nationalities shared the grief and anger. Tamils could not avoid the feeling that they are orphans without a single government they can call as theirs. For a community which is six times bigger than Sinhalese in its population, there is no country that will support their existence. Makes me think, If only they had a nation of their own, may be things might have been different. However the reality is that the entire Tamil community is powerless as Periyar – the leader of the self respect movement once rightly said – Tamils are slaves.
Tamils had to beg the western powers for their intervention. Their legitimate demands have to be propagated through propaganda for which they did not even have the media power, not even in Tamil Nadu – their home state, where media is ruled by a different class.
While Eelam Tamils have a complete different sense of feeling which I can’t explain as I am not an Eelam Tamil, Tamils from Tamil Nadu have to watch various dramas enacted by the Indian and Tamil Nadu governments. I have never witnessed such dramas anywhere in the world to fool the people. The officials and politicians would condemn the war in the media and would supply arms and intelligence to the Sri Lankan Army through the back-door. The duplicity shown by the Indian government and different Tamil Nadu political parties were a real nightmare for the people of the state. In fact many believe that India is the main cause for the setback to the Tamil Struggle. India is seen as the culprit for the sufferings of the innocent Tamil civilians. Indian National Security Adviser M.K.Narayanan is seen as the man behind the Tamil’s miseries.
M.K Narayanan - Indias National Security Adviser
Though the Tamil Nadu political parties duplicity and lip service to the Tamil cause was disappointing initially, I see that it has created a sense of anti-Indian mood in the hearts and minds of the people of the state. The silent wave of change in the people’s mood was sensed by the “Voice of Rajapakse” in Tamil Nadu Mr.P.Chidamabaram. He did a Volte-face and started letting out his crocodile tears for Eelam Tamils. But it’s too late Mr.Chidamabaram !!!
******************
I hold an Indian passport, so I carry the identity of an “Indian”. But I am starting to feel that this identity is just a ceremonial or legal one that exist in the paper. I am starting to loose the sense of being an Indian in my mind. I feel strongly to shed my Indian identity and proclaim my Tamil identity. I don’t feel that this is something I am forcing onto myself, but rather a natural outcome of the recent developments. This Tamil identity will keep reminding me the sense of betrayal, the sense of brutalization by the global powers of South Asia. The ordeal suffered by my people will keep me focused in opposing the forces of India, China and Sri Lanka. I guess, this is the only natural outcome of this whole episode. Whether this was planned and meant to be this way – I am not sure.
There is a sense of helplessness, disappointment, grief, anger and much more words beyond the realms of the English language dictionary. This disappointment and anger will not die in our minds and hearts. It’s going to reverberate for the rest of our life. It will have its impact even in the next generation. I am going to tell my kids and grand-kids about the brutality of Sri Lanka and the betrayal of India. It is going to drive me and millions of Tamils for the rest of our life.
Written by Tamil SASI
Tamil SASI is a popular bilingual blogger who writes on various topics in Tamil and English. You can read his other writings at tamilsasi.com
Tags: ADMK, betrayal, DMK, Eelam, Freedom, genocide, Human Rights, India, LTTE, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Tamil Eelam, Tamil Nadu
65 Comments
you have put in exact words what we all have been undergoing for the past six months. But Sasi, I would like to say it is not the linguistic similarity that should drive us but the brutal denial and worst genocide of innocent civilians. India acts as the US and Srilanka plays the role of Israel in South Asia.
Tamils should have never taken to arms against the Sri Lankan state. Besides Muslims, Tamils are the only subcontinental group that has contributed suicide bombers to the world. Tamils have a hard time getting sympathy because of the violence, terrorism and racism of the LTTE. Who would sympathise with people who support suicide bombings, child soldiers, bombs on buses, trains, massacres of civilians and the assasination of leaders like Rajiv Gandhi? Tamils should renounce violence themselves before demanding the cessation of violence. As they say, those who live by the sword die by the sword. Much of this would have been avoided and can be avoided if the LTTE releases all the Tamil civilians it is holding hostage.
If those who preach will abstain from taking arms, when their children are massacred & wife, mother, sister being raped – Tamils will atleast listen. It is very easy to preach especially when you dont know the history or context.
India too had armed struggle for independence, and still hail Vanchinathan, Tirunelveli Pulitheven, Subash Chandra Bose etc.
Nobody wants to start armed struggle when they know their lives are at danger. So instead of saying who is right or wrong, lets see ahead a solution, where people will be politically be able to decide their own path.
Some are quick to point a finger at Tamils for taking up arms.
Would you say same against India for responding with violence against Pakistan in many wars? How about the world powers against Hitler?
In 1983 when Tamils were only lightly armed (no suicide bombers) more than 3, 000 were killed in a week (Black July). Since then, it was the LTTE’s ability to ‘hit back’ in the Sinhala areas that has kept civilian casualties at a minimal. Threat of retaliation had worked.
But, this year, thanks largely to India’s help for the Sinhalese, LTTE has been weakened. It can no longer ‘retaliate’ in the south of Sri Lanka. So, we have 1983 all over again: more than 6, 500 Tamils were killed between Jan. 20th and Apr. 16th.
In fact, now we can all agree that it was the LTTE that had slowed the planned genocide of Tamils.
The LTTE had plenty of opportunities to seek a political settlement during the last 25 years – but did not, and there was no outcry from the Tamil community about that. The Indo-Lanka Accord was sabotaged when the LTTE attacked the IPKF. It was a betrayal of India which was trying to look after Sri Lankan Tamil interests. Since then there have been numerous peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. Each time the LTTE has walked away and Tamils have made no complaints or registered their protest. It is now time for Tamils to point the finger within instead of blaming others for their current plight.
Tamil defector claims Tigers killed 200 civilians
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6190894.ece
What happens to Tamils who leave LTTE areas? They are taken by the Sinhala army to be locked-up in internment camps.
I have 14 relatives, including grandmother, who left LTTE areas on Feb. 26th. I spoke to them before; they were not “hostages” as Sinhalese and their supporters would like to claim.
My family had to leave because they had no food and they were being shelled every day.
Remember Narayanan told Indian parliament only 70, 000 Tamils were there. That meant WFP was only allowed to take food enough for about 50, 000 people. Now, we know that there were actually 200, 000+ people as UN and LTTE said, because 150, 000+ have come out since then.
Now, I don’t know what has happened to the 14 that left LTTE areas. They could be dead, injured or detained. Sinhala army doesn’t release names of people who crossed or are in detention camps. It does not allow media, UN or even ICRC to check for people.
The plan is to kill many Tamils in at a rate of 100+ a day. If it releases names now, then relatives can hold the Sinhala military responsible for the people. That’s why it won’t say who is detained. Neither would it allow independent people in the border area or the detention camps.
All this can not be done without India’s help. We know that Indian military was working with Sinhalese to subjugate the Tamils. But, at the UN, this kind of arbitrary internment of 200, 000+ people will not be allowed unless a regional power was acting behind the scenes. In fact, more than the Sinhalese, I blame India for the predicament of my people.
More than 70 000 people have died since 1983, the bulk of them Tamils. So your claim that “it was the LTTE’s ability to ‘hit back’ in the Sinhala areas that has kept civilian casualties at a minimal” doesn’t really hold that much water. More than a 1/3 of Sri Lankan Tamils have left the island and more than 60 000 are in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, hundreds of thousands more are internally displaced in Sri Lanka. I would say that the advent of the LTTE has actually been the worst thing that has happened to the Sri Lankan Tamil community.
All the LTTE has to do is lay down it’s arms, surrender and let the people it is holding hostage go free. That would automatically end the daily deaths. Most Tamils in Sri Lanka live outside the Northern Province. Colombo itself is a majority Tamil-speaing city. They are not being attacked and killed.
All that the LTTE has done is speed up the destruction of the Sri Lankan Tamil community from WITHIN.
This is what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who visited the camps in Sri Lanka had to say:
‘Facilities much better than those provided for refugees in India’
http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/27/stories/2009042755651100.htm
Raj,
1. More than 70, 000 have died in 26 years. About 50, 000 of that are Tamils. Now, basic maths puts Tamils deaths at around 2, 000 a year. Compare that to 3, 000 in a week (1983) and 6, 500 in three months (2009)
2. More than 1/3rd have not left. There are around 800, 000 Tamils of Eelam origin spread around the world. This number (cumulative total from census documents from all countries) includes 2nd and 3rd generation.
In case you didn’t know, the efflux of Tamils began in 1956 with the Sinhala Only law that made it impossible for Tamils to hold white collar jobs and gathered pace after the 1958 riots and 1972 Standardisation of Education. There are 1000s of Tamils in the UK and US, for example, who left the island way before LTTE even started.
3. My relatives staid in LTTE areas and left only when the shelling and food shortages (both done by Sinhalese) became unbearable. Ideally, we would like to live in our land, free of interference from Sinhalese. Daily deaths have been ongoing from even before the LTTE. We had many people were branded with hot irons for protesting against the “sri” campaign, for example.
4. Most Tamils don’t live in South, if you take ‘most’ to mean more than half (50%). You can check that on the Sri Lankan government website http://www.statistics.gov.lk/. Colombo is not a Tamil majority district. Only 11% of the population there is Tamil. But to you, 11% could be ‘majority’. Most Tamils move to Colombo simply to be under the gaze of the international community. Independent media, for example, is banned from all Sinhala military occupied areas like Batticaloa and Jaffna.
5. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar could talk of ‘facilities’. Point remains, 14 of my relatives who left LTTE controlled areas two months ago can not be traced owing to restrictions imposed by the Sinhalese military. Why won’t they allow people to be traced? I fear they have grander plans.
Raj,
The Tamil Online article was interesting.
But it really does take a Sinhalese or an Indian to take words of captives at point value.
Not only Tamil captives, but even British ones have to toe the line of the enemy when under captivity.
A 2007 event:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17896952/
Raj:
It is like saying. I will rip off your limb, but make sure you get medical attention.
Sorry, forgot to mention, I guess you did not read on Sri Sri’s comments on the mistakes of India in handling the situation ?
What in your opinion is a political solution ? Assuming you to be an Indian and if there is a rule which states that Marati’s should only speak Hindi and if your mother tongue is Marati, you wont be part of the security system – because I dont trust you – what do you think is the political solution ?
May be saying, Marathi speaking people will be allowed to come up to the level of junior jawan is a solution according to you ?
Why would Tamils protest, when they are clear about them being the representatives. Only we find it unacceptable, as we dont like it :)
The numbers I’ve used above are conservative estimates. The number killed in Black July is far exceeding 3, 000 and again in the last three months would be far more than , 6, 5000. Again, total number of Tamil deaths over the past 26 years is likely to be above 50, 000. I have simply used the UN or widely accepted numbers.
Nonetheless, for relative comparison of vulnerability of Tamils against strength of LTTE, only the ratio matters.
It shows beyond doubt that when LTTE had capacity to retaliate in Sinhalese areas, the killing of Tamils by the Sinhalese military was limited. Thus, this year’s killing spree could have been avoided if LTTE retained the capacity to ‘retaliate’ in Sinhalese areas.
‘Tamils had to beg the western powers for their intervention. Their legitimate demands have to be propagated through propaganda for which they did not even have the media power, not even in Tamil Nadu – their home state, where media is ruled by a different class.”
Whether legitimate or illegitimate, nothing is possible in the world without propoganda. No use crying. Do something.
In the quote above, you are trying to say ‘a different class’. Who are they?
Why should TN media alone do that help for you? Why not Indian media in general, and world media, too?
Day in and day out, IBN, NDTV etc. are trying to convey that SL forces are helping the Tamils fleeing War Zone; but LTTE is trying to kill them if they flee. The Indians outside TN are made to believe that LTTE is the obstacle on the way to good and peaceful life of SL Tamils. If only that obstactle is removed, a world of heaven will open for Tamils. And, they (other Indians) also start thinking the protest in TN against SL government is master-minded by LTTE itself.
This is the thinking outside Tamilnadu, in India; and this came about with a concerted anti LTTE propoganda launched by such non-TN media.
What are your points? What action taken to counter that propoganda?
Public opinion, world and regional, are crucial in any people’s struggle.
Believe me, Indians in general are non-challant about SL Tamil problem. They seem to have left everything to Tamilians.
This trend wont help you, Sasi.
It may be that many outside of TN see this is the last of the Arya-Dravida wars. They may then feel compelled to back the Arya side on a sentimental basis.
The level of mis-information spread by the likes of ‘Raj’ (above) does shock me all the time. All they have to do is look at census data released by the Sri Lankan government, but they don’t; they prefer to float false propaganda like most Tamils live in Sinhala areas and Colombo is a Tamil majority district.
Sukumar,
I doubt if many people would see this as an “Aryan” against “Dravidian” issue.
First, let the characters responsible for the killings (the Sinhalese regime and their backers in the Indian establishment) prove to themselves that they are “Aryans”. Let them do this by trying to join a racist organisation like the Ku Klux Klan or any neo-nazi organisation comprised of “Aryans”. They will find out which race they really belong to. Sure, this can be seen as a fight between the speakers of two languages – Sinhalese (an Indo-Aryan language) and Tamil (a Dravidian language), but I wonder how many speakers of Indo-Aryan languages in India would know that a language called Sinhalese that exists in Sri Lanka is an Indo-Aryan language. To many of them, Lanka is an just an island where Rama went to kill Ravana (and there are several interesting and conflicting theories about the above two semi-mythological characters who may not have existed as the corresponding individual entities).
If some deluded idiots think that the Sinhalese are really friends of India, that’s because they don’t know the typical Sinhalese mindset or the hatred that the Sinhalese have for India. (To be fair to the Sinhalese, they are not alone in their hatred towards India. The people of every country in South Asia, with the exception of Bhutan, either hate India or view it with deep mistrust and suspicion. This is soley because of the nasty policies of successive Indian establishments towards our smaller neighbours.) Coming back to the Sinhalese hatred towards India, the senile fools in the Indian establishment will never learn their lessons. They are going to get the shock of their lives when genocidal Sinhala Lanka exhibits its true colours by firmly aligning itself with countries determined to bleed India to death by different means, like Pakistan and China.
Second, and this is really interesting. The people who claim to be advancing the “Dravidian” and Tamil cause are actually the ones who are playing a role in the genocide. The utterances and dramas of the self-proclaimed “leader of world Tamils” have exposed his tacit contribution in this genocide. On the other hand, their “ideological enemies” like the BJP have actually come out in support of the Tamil cause and have severely criticised the notorious Lankan regime for its heinous crimes against humanity.
The real reason is the sheer ignorance of the average Indian person. Believe me, there is no shortage of fools and idiots in India, and this includes Tamil Nadu too. I was utterly shocked by the responses of some members of my extended family towards this genocide. I feel ashamed that we live in such an ignorant society. No wonder, then, that India is a highly corrupt Third World pseudo-democracy and is likely to remain one for a long time to come. Massive ignorance and the absence of a civil society (that can act as the conscience keepers of a country) are characteristics of a typical Third World pseudo-democracy. The media is supposed to play a crucial role here but we all know that the Indian “mainstream media” is the worst in the whole of South Asia, if not the entire world. Not to mention the half-truths and plain lies dished out by sewer journalists like N.Ram and his coterie of the toilet paper The Hindu who are in the pay of the same criminal scum beings who brutally murdered the courageous Sinhalese journalist, Lasantha Wickrematunga.
P.S.: Sukumar, I forgot to mention that I’ve seen on several sites that extremist, narrow-minded, hate-spewing Sinhala commenters try hard to disguise themselves with Indian (and even Tamil) sounding names. I’ve seen idiotic Sinhalese disguise themselves with names like “Gundappa”, “Sundeep Gupta”, “Anna”, “Ramachandran”, “Ponnambalam” etc. For all we know, the true name of “Raj” could well be “Rajanayake” or even “Rajapaksa”! :-x
Great article, Sasi! I agree with almost everything you mentioned.
But don’t worry, my friend…there has never been any case where evil, cowardice, deceit, and other filthy behaviour have ever triumphed over truth, justice and righteousness…the forces of evil may gain the upper hand temporarily but they will eventually be crushed for their crimes…a just and righteous cause can never be extinguised, however strong the filth that opposes it may be…the struggle for a free Tamil Eelam is the world’s foremost struggle for justice and righteousness and it can never be extinguished, because the evil forces of barbaric Sinhala oppression can never be expected to behave in a civilised way.
Sooner or later, a free Tamil Eelam shall be establised in the traditional homeland of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. The lies of the rabid scoundrels of this Sinhala regime and the filthy swine in the Indian establishment that back them can never fool the world for too long. Even people who were hitherto opposed to the Tamil cause have begun to openly support the establishment of a Free Tamil Eelam in Ceylon after learning about the horrific atrocities on innocent Tamils in Lanka. One must remember that countries do not become free in a single day. Even Indian independence can be traced back to well over a century starting with events like the Vellore mutiny and maybe even before that.
Another thing one must note is that no crime against humanity ever goes unpunished, however powerful the perpetrators maybe. One cannot just murder thousands of civilians in cold blood and hope to get away with it without punishment. I’m not talking about legal justice like a trial for crimes against humanity in the International Court of Justice. I’m talking about natural poetic justice. A notorious mass murderer who was responsible for butchering many innocent Palestinian civilians and assassinating several leaders is Ariel Sharon. He was never punished legally. Look at what happened to him. He is existing in a lifeless state in some hospital room. It’s because the wheels of natural justice never fail. There are too many people in different countries that are responsible directly and indirectly for this heinous genocide, starting with the greatest criminals – the Rajapaksas, Fonseka etc. and this big list includes lowly creatures like N.Ram who have played a passive mercenary role in the worst war crimes of the 21st century. A terrible fate awaits each and every one of these bas****s, and the crimes that each one has committed shall be punished according to the level of their involvement in the genocide! There is no escape for them!
http://www.asiantribune.com/oldsite/show_news.php?id=7745
There was a peace process and Srilankan thamizhs trusted India and Ranil while Chadrika threw stone at the cuckoo’s nest. No one would have anticipated this state of affair from then..
You clearly have no idea about the war. LTTE is a result of the continued oppression of Tamils. There have been far too many riots against Tamils. Tamils have been raped, killed and buried. It is because of this Tamils took arms. Before taking arms, they have tried protest peacefully but they were met with military oppression. What’d you do if your child is burned in tar, your wife is raped, your daughter is raped, your parents and shot to death? Won’t you take arms? I think you are someone without a heart.
Good article Sasi and i fully agreed with your views.
Dear Mr. Sasi,
I read. I have no words to say how I feel about it. You pour-out your emotions and sentiments and share with like minded people. I understand the mental agony that you undergo and respect your feelings. It gives me (us) a kind of good sense of comfort, hope and courage to know that are people to share and bear with us. Your feelings depicts as if you are more than an Eelam Tamil. Yes, it looks as if we have lost the momentum but not everything. It’s not the end of the road. Please cheer-up – take it easy. We may have lost what we wanted to hear – truth is hidden beneath the ash but still simmering like a volcano – today is the day for the Unholy Alliance of the Evils and it is raining in their forest, let’s see for how long!
In Kalugu, I have come across five different categories of comments from personalities designating or portraying themselves in different levels of social caliber and their mindset reflecting their hidden intent, motives and purpose towards the issue of Liberation of Tamil Eelam. Among the plentitude of comments, only a few merit appreciation, archiving and deserve comments and response. Items that I ear-marked and wanted to respond have already been well addressed in detail by Messrs Alien Raj, Ronin, Prakash, Sukumar, Thev, Thayaparan and Boby; and thus they relieved me from stress. I feel some commentators are still confused between the objectives of Liberation and Separation, Evolution, devolution and delegation of legitimacy / power. I trust personality differences between ‘Self-centered Egoism and Idiotic Idealism’ don’t / can not set foot in a liberation struggle. Some comments infer a sense that even your wife is raped in front you – enjoy it, but don’t take arms and go after the rapist since it is as good as Terrorism. Other few comments are made to impress that putting the cart in front of the horse is good; and never mind count the chicken first. I find this category rests by itself without calling any attention. However, I’ll respond to one or two and I wish to recommend Mr. Sakthi’s elaborate dissection, on ‘Eelam Struggle’ posted under two titles, to those who have no thoughts or second thoughts about Eelam. I wish more and more idealists of Sakthi’s calibre should come-up to develop purpose-served brainstorming sessions. As an Eelam Tamil living in my soil, let me conclude by saying that in our Eelam Vocabulary whether it’s English / Tamil, there is no word called ‘Surrender’; it’s been stricken-off long ago. We’ll piece and live in peace to keep the Flag Flying! May God bless you, Sasi!
The issue of Tamil struggle is now an international one. Indeed, it is how it should have come to be. On the contrary, if it is confined only to SL and, India, too, to some extent, it is not going to help the Struggle.
The more it is internationalised, the better for its course to conclude in some equitable solution.
But here, I find, people – and, needless to say, SL Tamils – writing as if it is their own problem and the outsideres have only a negative view on it. Nithiyandnaam is commiting the error.
It is a shallow thinking.
True, we, outsiders, may not feel the same pain. In fact, no one, except the victim, can feel the agony. Then, what should the outsiders do? To empahise and sympathise. If only it is worthy of such feelings!
Please understand that it is impossible for others to feel the same way – emotive bursts as seen in Sasi’s. Outsiders need have no such burst.
Tamils themselves cant solve their problem just as women cant solve their problem: they need men’s help; and you need the international help.
The course taken by LTTE has landed you in a quagmire. This is the perception outside generally.
You dont want the favourable feeling towards your struggle from 74 crore Indians – which means 6 crore out of 80 crore Indian population. The 6 refers to TN-residing Tamilains and even among them, the opinion in favour of LTTE is not unanimous.
Militory victory is possible. Military solution is impossible. SL and LTTE are naive to think peace can be brought through the barrel of a gun!
You need to intropsect.
Dear Sasi,
Whatever you expressed is not only your views but of all Tamils of Tamilnadu. Today I’ve been a part of a fast organized at Chennai; everyone who spoke expressed the same view “We (Tamils in Tamilnadu) are all slaves. If we have our own country, we can support SL Tamils in every respect. We don’t want to be Tamil speaking Indians any longer but just Tamils”.
Before pointing a finger at LTTE, one should ask his/ her conscience, did LTTE kill any civilian / general public? They have not taken the arms but SL made them take. Still they are fighting with their enemies and not with the people.
Dear Sasi:
I have been reading the chilling Genocide last 2 days. Ananda Vikatan had been covering the happenings very clearly. After seeing the ruthlessness of the SL barbarians, I am stunned to such an extent the same images were running in me. This is the feeling we all had in 80′s. What shames me the most is that I was so ignorant of the SL terror in the last decade. How in the world such a huge population of Tamilians allow this Genocide? Why? Why? Why? How in the world the medias in Tamilnadu are silent of this? I read some of the newspapers, but they never write the real happenings.
Are Tamilians in general ignorant? Why are we shouting at this juncture? Why do we always wake up only after flood has hit us? Even in TAMIL blogsphere, I did not see much about Eelam in the last 2 years apart from yours long back. I read your detailed account, but you seem to have covered the strategic part.
I have been seeing the videos in the last 2 days in Youtube and I tell you I cannot sleep.
IS there a way out?
Krishna
I would like to focus on this statement of Nithyanandam:
‘Some comments infer a sense that even your wife is raped in front you – enjoy it, but don’t take arms and go after the rapist since it is as good as Terrorism”
The Victim and his Cause. That is the point I wish to draw attention.
Who is the victim? The husband. What is the Cause? And, what should it be, in the first place?
That is, he can go and take arms and kill the rapist. But it will be an act of an individual to avenge the wrong done to him.
All the world over, the army goes on rampage, raping and killing. Even in more civilised countries. The Los Angeles riots of blacks were provoked by police brutality. In J&K, the supporters of terrorists say the armed struggle is just if one has seen the brutality of the Indian army.
Therefore, one man avenging his wife’s rape by putting to revengeful death a few army men, wont put an end to army brutality. Army will retreat to its barracks, only to be set upon the victims when next opportunity strikes; or call is given! Army does not think. A thinking and compassionate soldier never exists in human life.
The correct way is to find out how to make the army beat the retreat and completely evacuvate the place; and thereby putting an end to their brutality. That requires political will and consesnsus. Army is used by politicians; therefore, political will alone can stop the army.
Here comes the role of the agency to voice the Cause of the Victim. The Cause should be to find a political solution to forever end the conflict and bring an equitable solution to one and all.
And, here the Victim has to look for leadership.
If the leader takes the place of the Victim, or the Victim himself his leaders, and goes about killing, believing that killing will bring about a permanent solution, he is either naive or deliberately misleads the Victim.
The problem wont be solved. Rather it will be compounded.
That is what is happening to SL Tamils.
Nithiyanandam, to put all in a nutshell, the Victim should not be the leader.
The leader should be wise and intelligent, one who believes in action well thought out before and coursed along, without resorting to gimmicks, or falling prey to his own megalomania.
Do you have such leadership? Can you say LTTE is such a leader for you?
You need not say. The present and future will say.
Mr Pius Sir, you say all army will rape women. LTTE soldiers did not rape any women. how come sir?. Is it because its leaders set high standards?
My meaning is general. The general nature of army is such as I said.
Army is employed and deployed by the State. That is, state army.
LTTE is guerilla force, they are not traditional army; and the rebels dont fight for monthly salary and perks.
Do you know why the Briitsh kept Gurkhas in their armies. The gurkhas are known to execute orders without any fore or after thought.
Therefore, to deal with professional armies requires procedures, laws, orders, and legislation. Even the numbe of regiments, number of battalions, number of soldiers therein, the quantity and quality of food, their dress etc. are all legislated.
Professional army of a state will rape and kill, go berserk; and the State will pretend to punish; but wont finally punish.
A guerila force of a separatist movement and a professional army who work for salary are like cheese and chalk.
An army is usually made of mercenaries, who are paid to kill by the government. The very name “professional army” tells the fact that they are mere mercenaries, not patriots. If an army is made of rapists and murderers and thugs, they are merely filthy mercenary pigs, no matter who they are! An armed force that has never raped women is much more patriotic, professional and human than a filthy bunch of barbaric rapists and goons paid for by the government!
One must understand that the job of a “professional” army is to fight the “professional” army of another state – if it is involved in anything other than that, they are merely a bunch of mercenary thugs in uniform, paid to kill by the government. There is a huge difference between a “professional” army fighting the “professional” army of another state in a “war” and a bunch of barbaric thugs fighting, killing their own countrymen and raping their own countrywomen – such lowly mercenary activities by an army is what makes them look like barbaric thugs in uniform. They do not deserve to be called as patriotic defenders of a country – they are merely paid thugs!
Who has told you that a soldier in a conventional army is a patriot? He can be anything. It depends upon the context. More often than not, he is a mercenary killing for salary and perks.
In a war, the first thing a country does, and should do, is to indoctrinate its population by cleverly manipulating the news and filter them, before launching a war. They make their people accept the ‘rightness’ of their action; and the wrongness of the action of the enemy. Comically, the rival country, too, prepares its people the same way over there. Ha…ha…ha!
Thus, propaganda is the bedrock on which a war blooms and breaks out. People are psychologically prepared first; brainwashed thoroughly to the cause of its own country. Because, arent they who are to foot the food bill of the army? Army marches on its stomach, Napolean who should know well, observed. Means, not mind, but body that matters.
This brainwashing purports to make the fighting soldier patriotic. However, the tempo of the patriotism cant be kept for long. Fatigue soon settles in. The soldier wants to return home. Such homesickness was the cause of failure of Alexander’s dream of winning the world.
But, in today’s world, propaganda machinery is porous, because we have more access to information from variety of sources. It is not so easy to hoodwink a soldier. He does fight, he does do the think he cant put his heart in. Why? because soldiering is a profession. In many countries, it is a prestigious profession.
You think a professional army should adhere to rules, which means they should walk the straight path. That, as I have reiterated here, is an old world value – no longer in existence. Please wake up!
American soldier in Iraq and in Afghanistan, similar other Euro soldiers, are not there convinced that their country is doing right. Given a chance, he will go back. But he stays; because army is his profession.
Another statement, in your message, ‘raping their own country women’ need to be focused upon here.
A Sinhalese soldier does not think so. He rapes the Tamil women as such women are free game to him: no one can question him. Alas, a woman, in such circumstances, is ruthlessly raped. More often than not, a soldier will rape, and he wont see who is the victim he rapes. This perversity is deepening when he accosts a woman of a race, which he was asked to defeat, and which he has been brainwashed to hate heartily. There, not only does he rape, but he ravishes her, impales her, and may even go for a deathly dance, which he may thunder: Victory dance!
All that I have been writing here is with the purpose of making you throw away any sort of idealism; and face bitter facts. Understand: All is fair in love and war. This is the first lesson taught to a soldier unofficially.
Only then you can think of new ideas to overcome the hell in which you have fallen, without your own making – I add this parenthesis as a consolation to you.
What is happening today, right now? Propaganda war between LTTE and SL. If I go by what I am seeing in Indian TV channels today, it appears your enemy is winning the propaganda war.
I can only hope I am wrong!
A rapist is a bastard – a son of a bitch, no matter who he happens to be – period!
If an army is full of rapists, they are nothing but lowly bastards, sons of dogs and bitches – period!
If an army man is involved in killing his own countrymen, he is not a soldier – he is merely a paid thug – period! And moreover, if he goes about raping his own countrywomen in the name of fighting an insurgency – he is a lowliest of the low, a son of a swine and a rabid bitch – period! Mind you, that does not mean a soldier can go about raping women of another country in a “war” – such lowly swine are not “soldiers” – they are filthy bastards – period!
I understand your just vituperation. The rapist-soldiers deserve your choicest epithets no doubt.
But what is facing you today, not only here, but at many places in the world, is armies of thugs.
That is the plain and obvious fact. You cant run away from the fact dreaming an army of ‘inru poi naalai vaa!’ war ethics!
Win if you can. Lose if you cant.
But dont forget that by losing you lose your own people’s lives – not one, or one hundred, but more than a million!
Therefore, you have to win. But how?
I would like someone, not this sniveling Sasi or you, to write and tell us how, in this dot com.
but why chauvnistic voices are always heard only in TamilNadu and not in the other south indian states like Kerala or Andhra Pradesh?
Tamil linguistic chauvinism will really hamper development of the entire tamil community, and finally who will be the victims? the innocent tamils of tamil nadu only!
Thank God, majority of the Tamils who live in Delhi doesnt agree with the Tamil politicians of Tamil Nadu.
They deserve more than my epithets – those filthy scum beings deserve to be tried for their crimes and punished! If it’s a war, they must be punished for war crimes. A war is between two states. A bunch of filthy rapist thugs killing their own countrymen and raping their own countrywomen without any accountability or punishment is not “war” – it’s called GENOCIDE of a rogue regime, even if it’s an elected one – Hitler was also elected to power. Other regimes and individuals who provide deliberate support to such a scum regime deserve the choicest of epithets, too – I regard them as sub-human and sub-animal as well.
Bullshit about “chauvinism”! It’s a dire humanitarian issue and people who cannot see the real issue here are either plain stupid or plain evil or both!
Tamils don’t have any kind of linguistic chauvinism at all! Wanting equal rights and opportunity to use one’s own language is NOT chauvinism – those who want to thrust and impose their language on others and deny equal linguistic opportunity are the ones who are NARROW-MINDED CHAUVINISTS!!!
Pius and Shahid Kapoor, your points are understood. This platform will hopefully fill the gap between people in different corners of India.
My observation is : Six months back, Tamil Nadu was also quite like rest of India. Many were questioning the rebels. However the influx of war imagery in the past six months have slowly changed the views. Gruesome details of how the Tamils are being killed were reported in all local media. In the past 6 months the focus has shifted completely on Sri Lankan atrocities. 7000 civilians were killed in 3 months. Now that is a large scale massacre. Jalian-Walabagh repeated every day for 3 months.
The impact of this is reaching all parts of India slowly. While Tamil Nadu folks have come to the conclusion that Sri Lanka can never represent the welfare of the Tamils there, folks who opposed the formation of free Eezham are now championing for the same (Jayalalitha). On the national level, BJP has condemned Sri Lanka on several occasions and has included Sri Lanka crisis in its agenda.
Congress which was silently supporting Sri Lanka’s action for two reasons: To eliminate rebel leadership, to avoid Pakistan get close to Sri Lanka) is also starting to feel the heat especially because of the exposed alliance between Sri Lanka and China which is not at a point where the relation ship is stronger than the one Congress tried to establish. For Sri Lanka China is a better partner because, they are a member of the Security Council and have a much lower concern for human rights violations. So India will soon support the creation of an independent Eelam for its own strategic interests.
The single minded focus of Rajapakse brothers to crush the resistance has made the Lankans ignore everything – in the process creating the basis for a large scale propaganda which could seal their future as a democratic nation. Dictator style operation, killing & intimidation of journalists has alienated several moderates among Sinhalese. I am not sure if you are aware that some Sinhalese journalists have escaped and settled in Chennai recently, fearing for their life.
The Tamil rebels may be close to being defeated. But the Tamil cause has never before in the past had this attention and support from Tamils and non Tamils (worldwide).
Yes, many Tamils are upset. And you will see many of them being very angry.
While you speak about the Sri Lankan crisis remember that you are in a funeral house. If you are not mindful of funeral etiquette, you might invariably hurt the sentiments of several bereaved.
From Canada:
“If anything the Tamils appear to have undermined their cause. Canadians who normally wouldn’t pay much attention to a tiny island country off the southern tip of India have been told all about the 30 years of war, the atrocities on both sides, the disaster it has brought to Sri Lanka. They’ve learned about the Tamil Tigers and their impressive organizing and fundraising abilities, and the methods they use. Threats, blackmail, violence, extortion; holding Tamils in Sri Lanka hostage to ensure the money keeps flowing from relatives overseas. An estimated 100,000 are now being used as human shields by the Tigers to hold off a final Sri Lankan offensive.
It hasn’t helped that the Tamils in Ottawa and Toronto and Vancouver have been so blind to the optics of the situation that they insist on rallying beneath a sea of flags carrying the Tiger emblem, the symbol of an officially recognized terrorist organization. Even Israel-haters are careful to disassociate themselves from the military activities of Hamas, claiming to sympathize only with the “good” wing of the organization, the one that runs schools and childrens’ programs, not the “bad” wing that pumps rockets into Israel and murders Palestinian rivals. The Tamils wave their Tiger flags and wonder why no one joins in their chants.”
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/05/01/kelly-mcparland-tamil-colum.aspx
CONCENTRATION CAMPS are a fact no matter what that filthy swine N.Ram and his coterie may lie to the world:
http://uk.truveo.com/BBC-News-Concentration-camps-in-Sri-Lanka/id/6499056
More proof of CONCENTRATION CAMPS where inhuman atrocities are being perpetrated by the bas****s in the filthy Sinhala army:
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/sri-lankas-refugee-concentration-camps
Proof that the lowly Sinhala war criminals have bombed the “safe zone” with heavy weaponry, something that the paid sewer rats in The Hindu will never tell you:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/02/sri-lanka-bombs-safe-haven
And who is the main supplier of filthy weapons to the stinking rats in this Sinhala regime? The nototious criminals in the Chinese Communist Party, of course, the very same criminals who butcher their own prisoners to sell their organs. A sewer journalist like N.Ram, in the pay of both the filthy CCP regime and the stinking rats in the Rajapaksa regime has to remain loyal to both his masters and therefore publishes vile, filthy lies in his toilet paper called The Hindu:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6207487.ece
Editors and fellow bloggers,
In case any of you is wondering why we get so few hits from China despite the fact that many Chinese citizens can now read, understand and speak English, it’s because the internet is heavily censored by the CCP regime in China. Any website that contains words like Tibet, Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, CCP etc. are banned in China unless the sites happen to be paid ass-lickers of the CCP regime, like the toilet paper The Hindu.
You are right Alien. Chinese involvement is scary. India has no option other than supporting the cause of Eelam to create a buffer. But we are a society that fight for petty differences. The difference should not be to the extent of compromising the security of our children.
The link you provided (Chinese billions in Sri Lanka fund battle against Tamil Tigers: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6207487.ece) speaks volume of the danger. This is a wakeup call for India. The Congress government which was warned two years back has obviously put the national security behind their petty qualms.
Hello RAJ,
I agree with you …BUT Do you know what heppened to the PEACEFUL GANDHIAN STRUGGLES from 1948-1977?. Everyone talks about “terrorism” of LTTE. When a govt. does the same thing its called “war on terror”. Do we have enuf will power and conviction to have a PEACEFUL UN-sponsored REFERENDUM in EELAM?. Most of the people who “bite” LTTE will be DEAD SILENT on a REFERENDUM…..WHY??!!…bcas you all know the result: EElam tamils will vote for a seperate nation.
I would suggest you to read SRILANKAN HISTORY from from 300BC to 1977 and then talk about non-violence. You should read about CHE GUEVERA and MAO-Tse-Tung before commenting on PRABAKARAN. The only difference I see between these ppl is that PRABAKARAN is DARK SKINNED “fanatic tamil”. IF a white-skinned man does it its called “rebellion” when dark skinned ur acts also look dark to the world…friend we love “imported heros”!..
aprt from these people u also need to tell what will be fate of really “PEACEFUL PRotest” of TIBETIANS and BURMESE. Can you give a deadline when TIBETIANS will be free?. Now talk abt non-violence….come on!
Dear shahid,
First of all thanks for just peeping into this site. Most north indians dont even do that and still loudly comment about the “chauvinism” of tamils.
1. Why are tamils fanatics?. or to be more clear why are they PORTRAYED as fanatics?. The answer is SIMPLE: Because they didnt accept HINDI. Risking teh danger of getting into lengthy arguments I say “YES WE DIDNT. WE DONT and We WONT!. Because we dont see any valid reason for that. I can talk in ENGLISH in FRANCE,RUSSIA etc but cant talk in English in DELHI..where 1000s of schools teach english. Isnt that “chauvinism”?. They promised HINDI WILL GIVE JOBS ..and tamils will SUFFER for lack of hindi knowledge..actually what happened?. TAMILS ARE ALLOVER INDIA (just check what language the “DOSA-wallahs” near railways stations in DELHI,MUMBAI speak..) they r in all levels…BIG and small..they learnt HINDI when they NEED TO.
So…….we will learn when we need to learn.
We are also looking at MARATHAS and KANNADIGAS..who “EMBRACED” hindi..today 70% of MUMBAI is in the hands of “HINDI-wallahs” and 60% of BANGALORE (BENGALURU) is in the hands of non-kannadigas….most of that 70% and 60% dont even know a WORD OF LOCAL LANGUAGE!..we can always escape by saying “national language”..”national integration”..”bharathiya samskriti” etc..ahh..words r free of cost!
Compare this with CHENNAI….nearly 50% of population is NON_TAMIL..but 90% of that 50% knows TAMIL (whether they r from bihar,up ,Rajastan or punjab!) Now u decide which policy is BETTER for local people…ofcourse i know U WILL HATE RAJ THAKERAY et al….we dont want to leave things until someone like RAJ to come in TN..my poilcy..like many tamilians..I COME TO UR PLACE..I LEARN UR LANGUAGE and IF U COME 2 MY PLACE u learn MINE!..simple..
so thats the story for “chauvinism”. if u want more reason for tamils chauvinism here it is: tamil is the ONLY language apart from SANSKRIT that has history of 2500 years (sanskrit has 3500yr old history). when u have something precious u tend to flaunt…well some tamils are ARROGANT ..i AGREE..
actually there are all fanatics..u go to any state u’ll find someone..there are KANNADA fanatics..there r TELUGU fanatics..there are MALLU fanatics (why do u see so many malayalis in DELHI.u can be at ease in a TAMIL GANG but u cant break into a MALLU gang..)..the so-called “NATIONAL MEDIA” demonised only TAMILS. ofcourse u r going to hold “anti-hindi” stand of tamils against them until u go to grave….im only requesting u to reconsider…
Sunderapandyan summarised the feeling of all Tamilians to fellow Indians on referring to our feelings as in that of funeral house. No other words are needed, have heart folks!
Good article sasi. I encourage you to post your interview on eelam (3parts) in English here. Trace the history of struggle and compare with other freedom struggles..say KASHMIR( as every “nationalist” indian compares WRONGLY!),TIBET,MYANMAR etc.
Plus we need to compare PIRABAHARAN with CHE GUEVERA and MAO. IF we dont “GLORIFY” PIRABA we cant get this problem to world stage. Present generation desperately needs “exciting,daring and outrageous” rebels.
IF LTTE manages to hold for 1 month then fortunes may reverse. I pray god that BJP wins. They may not do anything positive but atleast they wont supply arms
Mr. Ilango!
While appreciating your above response let me also add a few as below;
I intend no glorification of Prabaharan. But I believe that the marvel and sensation of feeling and pride; and his achievement thus far are believed to be deserving inscription on tablets for reference of our future generations – even after a millennium.
Fidel Castro, Che Guevara’s and Mao’s struggles could be classified as a ‘Class’ not a ‘Liberation’ struggle. It was purely based on economic equality (haves and have-nots) and changing the system of governance – i.e. from Monarchy to Communist Republic.
LTTE’s (Prabaharan’s) struggle is a / for Liberation of a pre-historic Race from continuous systematic degradation and armed brutal oppression resulted to extermination; by a numerically larger but historically younger mongrelized Race perpetrating with window-dressed slogan of ‘Democracy’ and ‘War-On-Terror’. How resolute Prabaharan is? His obstinacy, efficiency, capacity and capability in 30 years process of mobilization of masses and the mode of struggle are somewhat comparable – but not the causes, goal and terrain of engagement – incomparable.
Like mushrooms popping-up after the torrential rains, so many groups mushroomed with the banner of ‘Eelam’ following the pogrom in 1983. Those icons of Tamil people have already surrendered their sovereignty and turned into paramilitary mercenaries but still holding the name ‘Eelam’ in their banner – e.g. Douglas Devananda, Karuna Muralitharan, Sitharthan and Sangaree and others.
Almost all Tamils have come to know the political history of Tamils for the last 60 years of Ceylon. Let’s wander in a fairyland imagining what would have been the situation today if there never ever had been a ‘Prabaharan’! Let’s also have the opinion of people who are for and against on – Human Dignity, Equality, Slavery, Non-violence and Armed Struggle.
The shocking truth about the CONCENTRATION CAMPS run by the filthy bas****s in the SinHELLa rogue regime, as opposed to the blatant lies dished out by the paid sewer jornalist, the bas***d, N.Ram of the toilet paper, The Hindu:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56rBn3XdSA4&hl=en&fs=1]
Sasi’s writings briefs the inner turmoil and agony, he had undergone. His writings explains the state of mind of thousands of educated tamil youth who have suffered mentally & shocked by the betrayal and arrogance displayed by their “own” country. It is really a sad feeling that we have been left as country less people, even though we live in India. When my daughter sings national anthem taught in school proudly, I was not happy to hear that. Next time I might request her not to sing in front of me.
Shahid Kapoor
Kindly read all our articles on Sri Lanka.
It is not about linguistic Chaunism as perceived by you. We analyse the issues of Sri Lanka without much focuss on Tamil nadu politicians or Tamil fighters in SriLanka. We are more worried about a genocide of Tamils supported by India which is going to grow and feed extremist Tamil elements in India.
Mr Ilango:
China is the biggest supplier of arms to Lanka. China is called 1 trillion Guerrilla. Yes, they are the controller of World Economy at this point of time. Even West Bank of Palestine is feeling the effect of Chinese cheap goods. America’s are purely getting the money from China and you have enough articles on the web about this issue.
India must have been strong with SriLanka and taken Chinese out of the equation. They as usual missed the opportunity and So SL became even bigger Monster than they were.
You have written about Mao of China. From what I read he was responsible for the deaths of Millions of ordinary chinese and he purged out so many of fellow party leaders. I hope you know how people are treated in China. When Mao was the leader, China’s did not even participate in the Olympics. That is how secluded they were. India gifted the Security council seat to China and that is the only contact they had with the outside world. You will not even see much photos of the agitations in China by Students in 1990′s. In my opinion there is nothing to GLORIFY Mao, unless you also want such a regime in Tamilnadu.
My beloved sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers of Tamil Nadu,
PLEASE GO OUT THERE AND CAST YOUR VOTE! DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE HEAT! OUR LANKAN BRETHREN ARE BEING BURNED ALIVE BY WHITE PHOSHOROUS AND CLUSTER BOMBS BY THE SinHELLa scum beings! YOU HAVE THE POWER TO ALLEVIATE THEIR SUFFERING, BY MEANS OF VOTING! DO NOT abstain, DO NOT VOTE for independents, DO NOT CHOOSE 49(O)! ANNIHILATE THE CONGRESS scum beings and thrash the traitorous thugs of the DMK! PLEASE DO NOT WASTE THIS OPPORTUNITY!
Watch this video where a BRAVE SL government doctor describes the massacre of patients in a hospital in the GENOCIDE ZONE, PLEASE!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhb-QXSMVt8&hl=en&fs=1]
GO OUT THERE AND ANNIHILATE THE CONGRESS BASTARDS AND THRASH THE DMK TRAITORS, PLEASE!!!
During WW-II, even the draconian Adolph Hitler, the one who peerlessly master-minded and executed the 20th century’s horrendous holocaust, ordered his airmen not to attack the Educational, Archeological, Ecclesiastical and Healthcare institutions; and thus he spared such noble foundations and saved them from devastation. That is how and why today the centuries old grandeur of Oxford, Cambridge and St Paul Cathedral among others majestically stand to say something to the world – No accusations of destruction are leveled or heard against Hitler. Gesture of his order, especially from Hitler at a time facing eminent defeat, symbolizes his dormant passionate mindset driven beyond his control – A quality that is characteristic to people of gentle birth.
Today, in Tamil Eelam no Schools, Libraries, Churches, Temples, Hospitals and even makeshift facilities are spared, repeatedly bombed to ensure complete demolition and raising total casualties, by the barbarians’ ‘War Orchestra’ conducted by the trio; whose monstrous objectives molded by Buddhist monks’ vampirism and patricides; and guided and directed by the Italian vampire in the next door; have surpassed the minimum moral standards set by demonized Hitler and thus supercede to set Sinhalese’ hallmark for ‘1st Genocide of 21st Century’. May God bless Wisdom!
Tamilians are sort of religious after Muslims. They dont even try to speak in national language or English to help other fellow Indians when out of state people travel there. First stop blaming INDIA and be happy you are living in a peaceful country and not in PAKISTAN. Dont bring too much tamilism instead try to be non violent. When Rajiv Ganthi died what TAMILNADU did is it went against LTTE. First learn how to respect fellow Indians and don’t ruin with local communism
Hello NotRequired:
I think you are right in some things but caught into the rhetoric on rest.
Tamilians have a strong spiritual/religious background. But they were also the first state in India to actively support atheism.
Even an auto rickshaw wallah speaks in English in Cities. The pervasiveness of English is strongly due to the British presence in Chennai and other places. Lack of Hindi can be blamed to first less similarities to Hindi in Tamil, as much as other languages. It is due to the botched/messed up language policies of the central and state govts. But that is expected in a free democracy.
we have two chief ministers whose origins are from other states. And am surprised you felt that Tamils are not helpful. I would request you to talk to people who have stayed in Tn for long.
Yes there may a lot of local interest and some chauvinism(not much anymore as it is not practical), but is n’t expected in democracies and unique cultures in India. Such as Kashmir or Assam. The more north we go , the acceptance of sanskrit/cultural dissimilarities are less(say for ex marathi, Andhra).
TN and srilanka are only 10-15 km away at the closest points near borders. There have been free movement in the past, and we have same language, religion and culture. And many have relatives who live there(including me), who have moved there a few hundred years ago. So it is natural that we feel hurt, when they are hurt. We are who we are and we cant change ourselves in spur of moments and political decisions..I wish no one was different, but thats not true..Accepting our differences is accepting India..
It’s funny to read about narrow-minded linguistic chauvinists who don’t speak any language other than the regional language of UP/Bihar/MP i.e. Hindi speak about “national language” – they are so chauvinistic that they don’t speak English and want to impose the regional language of UP/Bihar on the whole of India and here they are complaining about “chauvinism”. The language chauvinists of UP/Bihar/MP/Rajasthan can keep their regional language (Hindi) to themselves! The more they try their nefarious plans to impose their regional language (Hindi) on others, the more people will rise to fight their narrow-minded chauvinism. Raj Thackeray and the MNS are a natural response to the linguistic chauvinism of the narrow-minded regionalists who wanted to impose their regional language (Hindi) on the people of Maharashtra. It’s the chauvinists of UP/Bihar/MP/Rajasthan who need to give up their narrow-minded linguistic chauvinism! The notorious Hindi imposition policies of the central government are the real curse of India!
Tamils are proud that we do not accept the regional language of someone else and we never will! English is always welcome and has a place alongside Tamil but there is no place at all for the regional language of UP/Bihar/MP/Rajasthan (i.e. Hindi) and there will never be!
Hello “not required”:
There is a very strong opinion that Tamilians are fanatics towards their mother tongue. Ok ? Why would the central govt be the same with Hindi ? Having said that, have you seen any Tamilian in Delhi or Mumbai, claiming ignorance to Hindi ? At the same time have you seen the North Indians in Chennai who claim ignorance to Tamil ?
Indian constitution clearly provides that the local language or English is the medium of communication within the state or to the central, if they dont want Hindi. So where in god;s name are we talking about nationality issues ? It is embarrasing to see quite some north Indians getting surprised over Tamilians not speaking hindi, it just shows how innocent they are about the size of India and its diversity. Hey, thats what India is beautiful about :)
In summary, where ever one goes, they need to learn the local language. 3rd language which is hardly used within a state is certainly not necessary, let us prepare the population to conquer the world. Already its a proven fact, that Hindi is not the proof for feeling “national”.
The link below is a magnified revelation of the diplomatic history of how Eelam got caught and embroiled in whirl storm of egoistic unscrupulous diplomacy of self-centered and inexperienced individuals who had no knowledge of diplomatic etiquette. The article is credible since it’s written by a well known columnist. I am not sure of; still I believe the columnist is Mr. Kuldip Naiyar, a prominent political observer and commentator, a career diplomat and a former Indian High-Commissioner to Britain. The veteran distinguished Indian diplomat who was kept-on waiting, for more than 4hrs with prior appointment, was Mr. G. Parthasarathy; subsequently he was removed on dictated demands by the cunning strategist of 43 years experienced politician JRJ – thus out-smarted the poor inexperienced Rajiv Gandhi.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090527/jsp/opinion/story_11025167.jsp
Prabhakaran or the LTTE are only important milestones in the road to self-determination and the creation of a seperate tamil homeland.
Eelam is the final solution. It will be won by peace or by war, only time will tell. The Tamils are an ancient and peace loving people. We had a civilsation and culture long before the world was ruled by barbarians.
Get ready for change.
Tamils are everywhere, you cant stop us.
10 Million Tamil Heads, an offering to Thee O Roman Goddess.
10 Million Tamil souls, for the price of 1 of your dear dead one.
Let us rest now, that you have satiated your thrist for Tamil blood,
that flowed like a river in spate.
You have bathed O ruler of the ancient land in the blood and guts of an ancient race of warriors and poets….
Never will Tamil forget what our Mother did for her children in Wanni.
10 Million tamil heads roll today, in the rivers of blood, south of the yarl(Jaffna)…….
I appreciate your optimism. It brings life into us in tamilnadu who are ashamed of what our countrymen have done. sold our souls to the devil.
thank god. Tamilnadu didnt learn hindi. we wouldnt be having hyundai, ford, bpos, it parks etc. even in tier 2 cities!
look at what orissa and maharashtra got for learning hindi!!
maharashtra has only pune and mumbai to flaunt.
for us every tier2 city is bustling with development (and english knowledge)
Hi,
Let me put this to rest finally today after all these month.
Yes, Iam Mottapaya Rajapakse a.k.a Raj, one of the nephews of his excellency, honorable president.
I was educated in London, and have not been able to find a job, hence my uncle asked me to scour the net for sites that support tamils and put up pro-GoSL comments.
I understand that my salary comes from the aid given by the international community. So what ? I like my job of tamil-bashing.
So I hope today, we have a closure on my identity.
Mr. Raj! Greetings to you!
I can not understand the motives behind your revelation of identity. It may have been prompted out of boring or completion of your assignment – perhaps the frustration after realization of the evolving reality of Tamils sentiments and resulting disquiet. There is nothing wrong of being a nationalist – when one’s love for pride, dignity and heritage and patriotism is in question and threatened. We, the oppressed, too are nationalist so we do respect others (your) feelings of nationalism, as well – but not the oppressors’ barbarous chauvinism.
However, believing the disclosure is true and taking it in good sense of Faith and morality, and considering so many Tamil speaking people disguising themselves as Tamils and championing venomous anti-Tamil propagation; I honor your part of contribution and obligation in defending GOSL, as a Sinhalese; and appreciate your spirit of decency even in bashing and to have revealed yourself and your assignment.
Thank you, Mr. Raj! May God bless you!
This article clearly protrays the mindset of the tamils. Kudos to the article
can someone please hack this insulting and racist propaganda site, that keeps labelling tamilnadu as toiletnadu :( :-%
http://www.tamilnet.tv
[its a fake version of tamilnet.com]
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