by Jey Surier, SCCDC Member
Sri Lanka is an island located 20miles off the southern coast of India. It is about the size of West Virginia, but with a population of 20 million people. The island is home to two ethnically distinct people the Sinhalese and the Tamils. They are primarily divided based on their languages Sinhalese speak Sinhala and the Tamils Tamil. The majority of the Sinhalese are Buddhist while the majority of the Tamils are Hindu. The Sinhalese make up about 74% and the Tamils are about 18%. They also have traditionally been living in different parts of the island. The Tamils call the contiguous northern and the eastern region of the island as their traditional homeland and the Sinhalese live in the rest of the island.
The Sinhalese and the Tamils have been living in the island for well over 2000 years and had their own separate kingdoms in the island until the European invasion. Between 1505 and 1948, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British variously ruled part or the whole of the Island. In 1948 when the British granted independence to the island, the political power went to the majority Sinhalese people. The successive Sinhalese-dominated governments reduced the political power of Tamils, enacted state sponsored colonization of the Sinhalese in the Tamil region, and discriminated against the Tamils in education and employment. Its armed forces killed Tamil civilians and destroyed their property. The majority of the Sinhalese believe the country belongs to the Sinhalese, as they are the majority.
After years of unsuccessful peaceful demand for political autonomy for the Tamil region, to solve the untenable situation, the two major Tamil political parties merged and, in 1976, declared a separate sovereign country—Tamil Eelam, as the solution, which was overwhelmingly (82%) endorsed by the people of the region at the
The democratically-elected Tamil political leaders continued to peacefully press for more political rights by using non-violent means, but were repeatedly met by violent responses from the Sri Lankan armed forces. They brutally killed scores of Tamils and destroyed irreplaceable artifacts. Frustrated Tamil youths turned
to arms and commenced their struggle for independence. There were several Tamil militant groups which sprang up, but the major one is called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers. The war erupted in 1983 and more than 500,000 Tamils escaped the island as refugees and went to India,
European countries, and Canada. Since the war began, about 100,000 people have been killed. The LTTE has been designated as a terrorist organization by a few countries, including the US.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is the major Tamil political party representing the Tamils in the Sri Lankan Parliament. There are 22 TNA Members of Parliament that have been elected by the Tamil people to the Sri Lankan Parliament, which is comprised of 225 members. Against the force of Sinhalese supremacy,
bigotry and racial chauvinism, their minority voice is rather silent in the parliament. In 2002, the government of Norway brokered a ceasefire between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. But after the
new government came to power in Sri Lanka, it unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire and withdrew from the agreement.
Ever since, it has been engaged in a fierce military campaign to gain control of the land previously controlled by the LTTE. As of January 2009, hundreds of Tamil civilians have been killed by the security forces and more than 500,000 Tamils have been internally displaced from their homes. The Sri Lankan government has been
accused of genocide, war crimes, and human right violations. The former US Deputy Associate Attorney General Bruce Fein has been functioning as a counsel to a Maryland-based group called Tamils
Against Genocide, in order to bring genocidal charges against Sri Lankan officials who also happen to be US Citizens or Permanent Residents. He is about to hand over to the US Justice Department a 1000-page model indictment charging Sri Lankan officials. The Office of War Crimes Issues at the US State Department
has listed Sri Lanka as one of 6 countries that is being monitored for war crimes. In its December 2008 report, the New York based non-profit organization, Genocide Prevention Project, has listed Sri Lanka as one of eight “red alert” countries where genocide and other mass atrocities are underway or have high potential to occur.
The Sri Lankan government doesn’t allow journalists into the Tamil conflict area and has been accused of killing several journalists that were critical of the government. According to the France-based Reporters Without Borders, Sri Lanka has the lowest ranking of press freedom of any democratic country. It was ranked
165th out of 173 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2008 Press Freedom Index.
All major countries in the world, including the US, have continuously been requesting Sri Lanka to solve the Tamil issue politically. They all are aware of the injustice Tamils have been subjected to. In June of 2006, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, in his trip to Sri
Lanka stressed, “there are legitimate issues raised by the Tamil community and they have a very legitimate desire, as anybody would, to control their own lives, to rule their own destinies, and to govern themselves in their homeland, in the areas they’ve traditionally inhabited.” With no regard to Tamils’ demands and
international concerns, the government of Sri Lanka has not so far offered any alternative to the independence sought by the Tamils. The Sri Lankan problem is simply not going to go away, until and unless it is
politically resolved. As long as the oppression and occupation continues, it can justifiably be expected that the Tamils would find ways to fight back to regain their political rights. Thousands have died, and many more thousands could perish, unless the issue is resolved and the Tamils’ rights are restored. The lessons from Indonesia can be used to resolve the issue. In August 1999, as a result of international pressure, the government of Indonesia agreed to have a UN monitored referendum to determine the future of East Timor.
The Tamils have a dream of being equal citizen in the island. As a country that values the basic human rights, we in the US must take a leading role in ensuring that the oppression of an ethnic group by another has no place in this world. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
The world is a better place today since it got rid of slavery, segregation and apartheid. But in Sri Lanka, the racial inequality and oppression go on shamelessly. This is perhaps one of the remaining major racial oppressions coming into the 21st century.
The US Congress and President Obama’s Administration needs to take a leading role in persuading the government of Sri Lanka to come up with its own political autonomy plan as an alternative to the Tamils’ quest for their independence. Then, under the supervision of the UN, a referendum must be conducted in the
Tamil region of Sri Lanka to determine the wish of the people. The referendum shall determine if the people of the region prefer independence or to accept the government’s autonomy plan. Giving the Tamils ballots is giving them their democratic rights.
Anyone, whether Democrat or Republican or Independent who is concerned about human rights, equal rights and democracy around the world, must request our Congressional leaders and President Obama’s Administration to work with the government of Sri Lanka and the UN to achieve this goal of conducting the
referendum and democratically resolving the issue once and for all. Strong actions may have to be taken until Sri Lanka comes up with an autonomy plan and agrees to the UN monitored referendum.
The US must inspire and use its influence to end oppression and promote democracy around the world. If we don’t, who will?
Resolution on Sri Lanka
WHEREAS the Sinhala people and the Tamil people have been living in the island, currently known as Sri Lanka, for well over 2000 years, and had their own separate kingdoms until the European invasions; and
WHEREAS the Tamils have been fighting for their independence to create their own country, known as Tamil Eelam, for more than 30 years and about 100,000 people have been killed in this struggle, while the government of Sri Lanka has been accused of genocide, war crimes and human right abuses against Tamil civilians; and
WHEREAS the government of Sri Lanka has so far failed to resolve the Tamil issue, and failed to come up with any credible political alternatives, while the death, destruction and the suffering for the Tamil people continue unabated;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Santa Clara County Democratic Club requests the US Congress and the Federal Administration to immediately persuade the government of Sri Lanka to come up with an alternative autonomy political package to the Tamils’ quest for their independence; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Santa Clara County Democratic Club requests the US Congress and the Federal Administration to immediately persuade the government of Sri Lanka and the UN to conduct a UN monitored referendum in the Tamil region of Sri Lanka to determine if the people wish the autonomy or
the complete independence.