[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 08:49 GMT]
If at all there is any positive impact of the unprecedented uprising and demonstrations, staged spontaneously by the masses of Tamil Nadu and the diaspora, it is the inward awakening of global Tamils to the forces of oppression and to the defiance of the oppressors, whether domestic or international. A historic responsibility lies on the leaders of Tamil Nadu and on those who uphold the struggle of the oppressed, to channel the positive energy generated from the uprising to achieve its goals rather than allowing it to be carried away by the machinations of the oppressors, writes opinion columnist Chivanadi.
They are the north-south axis for brutally setting a cruel global order in the region of South Asia and ‘strategic partners’ are invited from within the region as well as from outside.
The national liberation struggle of Eezham Tamils, arising from irrefutable realities of incorrigible ethnic oppression and was denied of any space other than an armed struggle, became labeled and sabotaged by the above forces as it was seen as the only ‘fighting sprit’ and a stumbling block for their greed.
This happened despite favourable disposition of those who were spearheading the struggle towards every power of regional or global imperialism.
The ultimate aims of the powers now playing the Sinhala ultranationalist card and the repercussions are not going to stop with the island of Sri Lanka. Next in the frontline are the southern states of India that have shown remarkable development potentiality in recent times.
Drunk with delusions of victory, the Sinhala state is going to be actively engaged as an agent of destabilization of the region.
LTTE is merely a name. But, the resolute and unshakeable spirit behind it in fighting oppression is a larger phenomenon. It is not the time to lose the sight of the larger phenomenon in the arguments over its ways and means.
Rather than achieving space to evolve and shape the spirit behind the LTTE, silently or helplessly watching it being vanquished by those who don’t righteously deserve a victory and by those of the ‘international community of global greedy’, doesn’t augur well for South Asia.
The immediate task of the leaders of Tamil Nadu is to grasp the spirit of the mandate given to them by the masses of Tamil Nadu in their uprising and finding ways of disseminating its larger message and its proper perspectives to the rest of India.
Tamil Nadu alone cannot tackle the impending phenomenon engulfing the region.
The peoples and leaders of the neighbouring states, beginning from Kerala, need briefings first, about the larger issues involved in the Eezham struggle that go beyond ethnonationalist competitions and interstate issues.
The national parties such as CPI and CPI (M) have a crucial role to play in this regard, is a comment heard from Tamil Nadu circles.
The umbrella front formed recently to protect Eezham Tamils should rise up to the occasion in conceiving and undertaking structured moves, since the noble task they have embarked upon is overarching - finding ways leading to the protection of Eezham Tamils permanently.
Unfolding situation may demand a multifaceted expansion of its role.
On a war footing it may perhaps ideal to invent ways of keeping the front above party politics but at the same time engaging the active function of all political parties.
The umbrella front may even have national as well as global councils and diplomatic corps of its own deployment to deal with the unfolding scenario which is in fact international.
It is soul satisfying to note that the real vanguard of a society at any time - students, lawyers and media of Tamil Nadu are showing unswerving solidarity with the aspirations of the oppressed Eezham Tamils.
But a section that needs to come to the forefront or perhaps needs to be mobilized is the English-using Tamil intellectuals, academics and professionals. One finds them everywhere, at the top echelons all over the world.
It is time for them to realize, through the evidence of what is happening to the Eezham Tamils, that doom for them and to their posterity are the designs of the system they toil for in India or abroad. A little time and initiative they could afford to the interests of their own people would make a big difference.
The tendency in a section of the above group to dodge political and social responsibilities, citing the LTTE and for that sake, abetting reactionaries, is not a positive approach. When nobody was there to address the crux of the matter the LTTE did it, facing the entire world, armed with only its local genius. Since no solution is the solution Indo-international system is imposing on Eezham Tamils, the LTTE will continue the struggle in its own ways.
The genuine efforts of those who may not agree with the LTTE in the struggle against the oppression of Eezham Tamils need not interfere with each other and can be complimentary, if the aims are beneficial to the oppressed and not in anyway to the oppressors.
If at all there is any positive impact of the unprecedented uprising and demonstrations, staged spontaneously by the masses of Tamil Nadu and the diaspora, it is the inward awakening of global Tamils to the forces of oppression and to the defiance of the oppressors, whether domestic or international. A historic responsibility lies on the leaders of Tamil Nadu and on those who uphold the struggle of the oppressed, to channel the positive energy generated from the uprising to achieve its goals rather than allowing it to be carried away by the machinations of the oppressors, writes opinion columnist Chivanadi.
Opinion Columnist Chivanadi
The crises in Afghanistan and in the island of Sri Lanka may have originated for different reasons, and may have different attributes, but they are being made use of by powers for the same goal of economic and strategic interests.They are the north-south axis for brutally setting a cruel global order in the region of South Asia and ‘strategic partners’ are invited from within the region as well as from outside.
The national liberation struggle of Eezham Tamils, arising from irrefutable realities of incorrigible ethnic oppression and was denied of any space other than an armed struggle, became labeled and sabotaged by the above forces as it was seen as the only ‘fighting sprit’ and a stumbling block for their greed.
This happened despite favourable disposition of those who were spearheading the struggle towards every power of regional or global imperialism.
The ultimate aims of the powers now playing the Sinhala ultranationalist card and the repercussions are not going to stop with the island of Sri Lanka. Next in the frontline are the southern states of India that have shown remarkable development potentiality in recent times.
Drunk with delusions of victory, the Sinhala state is going to be actively engaged as an agent of destabilization of the region.
LTTE is merely a name. But, the resolute and unshakeable spirit behind it in fighting oppression is a larger phenomenon. It is not the time to lose the sight of the larger phenomenon in the arguments over its ways and means.
Rather than achieving space to evolve and shape the spirit behind the LTTE, silently or helplessly watching it being vanquished by those who don’t righteously deserve a victory and by those of the ‘international community of global greedy’, doesn’t augur well for South Asia.
The immediate task of the leaders of Tamil Nadu is to grasp the spirit of the mandate given to them by the masses of Tamil Nadu in their uprising and finding ways of disseminating its larger message and its proper perspectives to the rest of India.
Tamil Nadu alone cannot tackle the impending phenomenon engulfing the region.
The peoples and leaders of the neighbouring states, beginning from Kerala, need briefings first, about the larger issues involved in the Eezham struggle that go beyond ethnonationalist competitions and interstate issues.
The national parties such as CPI and CPI (M) have a crucial role to play in this regard, is a comment heard from Tamil Nadu circles.
The umbrella front formed recently to protect Eezham Tamils should rise up to the occasion in conceiving and undertaking structured moves, since the noble task they have embarked upon is overarching - finding ways leading to the protection of Eezham Tamils permanently.
Unfolding situation may demand a multifaceted expansion of its role.
On a war footing it may perhaps ideal to invent ways of keeping the front above party politics but at the same time engaging the active function of all political parties.
The umbrella front may even have national as well as global councils and diplomatic corps of its own deployment to deal with the unfolding scenario which is in fact international.
It is soul satisfying to note that the real vanguard of a society at any time - students, lawyers and media of Tamil Nadu are showing unswerving solidarity with the aspirations of the oppressed Eezham Tamils.
But a section that needs to come to the forefront or perhaps needs to be mobilized is the English-using Tamil intellectuals, academics and professionals. One finds them everywhere, at the top echelons all over the world.
It is time for them to realize, through the evidence of what is happening to the Eezham Tamils, that doom for them and to their posterity are the designs of the system they toil for in India or abroad. A little time and initiative they could afford to the interests of their own people would make a big difference.
The tendency in a section of the above group to dodge political and social responsibilities, citing the LTTE and for that sake, abetting reactionaries, is not a positive approach. When nobody was there to address the crux of the matter the LTTE did it, facing the entire world, armed with only its local genius. Since no solution is the solution Indo-international system is imposing on Eezham Tamils, the LTTE will continue the struggle in its own ways.
The genuine efforts of those who may not agree with the LTTE in the struggle against the oppression of Eezham Tamils need not interfere with each other and can be complimentary, if the aims are beneficial to the oppressed and not in anyway to the oppressors.