Sunday Times 2
The Great Game
View(s):By Dr. Sarala Fernando
“The Great Game” was a term coined to illustrate the long drawn out rivalry between the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries seeking to expand territory and spheres of influence with terrible repercussions on the native people on the ground. With globalisation, this term has acquired new perspectives today as the global, regional and national spheres merge, giving rise to a borderless diaspora. The contemporary reference of the term comes to mind these days following the political wrangling over Chief Minister Wigneswaran’s “Eluka Tamil” mass rally in Jaffna listing residual Tamil grievances which provoked criticism from segments of political opinion in the South. Each of the speakers at the Jaffna rally had emphasised that “this rally is not against any in power or in government. This is not against the Central Government. This is not against our Sinhala brothers and sisters. This is not against the Buddhist monks.” However, clearly the game to win political space has begun once again. Will this result in spinning the country into polarisation, as suggested by most commentators with little concern for the majority of the people who just want peace, reconciliation and development?
Chief Minister Wigneswaran’s “Eluka Tamil” mass rally in Jaffna.
Understandably, Chief Minister Wigneswaran has his own political ambitions, and needs to establish leadership over the constituency he inherited as an unknown, albeit with TNA support, ahead of the coming provincial elections or even as some think, a constitutional referendum. A line of speculation is that if he is able to swing the Tamil voters, he may find a place in the new coalition building round former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, perhaps through the intervention of family relations like Vasudeva Nanayakkara. A worst case domestic scenario is that at the end of the day, this incident shows up the intra–party rivalry that has dogged the Tamil political cause from the beginning. At a time when several Tamil political and civil leaders are quietly working on resolving key issues ranging from missing persons to downsizing of army footprint in the North without loss of security control, to release of LTTE prisoners, (at least those against whom there is insufficient evidence for prosecution), Chief Minister Wigneswaran may be waging his personal agenda. If so it is rather sad that even now, it is the fissures that are showing up among the Tamil leaders, not their ability to unite for the good of the country. Given the well known inability of Sri Lankans to work together in a common cause, sometimes one wonders if sufficient credit has been given to the JVP for getting over factionalism to move from defeated rebellion to legitimate political party with the credible voice on national issues it presents today.
On the other hand, is there a foreign connection stemming from a fear among the Tamil diaspora that supported the LTTE, that the Tamil cause is running out of steam in Sri Lanka?
With the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and leaders like President Obama coming out in praise of the present government at the recent UN General Assembly, is the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora mobilising both foreign and domestic allies to once again emphasise the issues of Tamil rights especially at a time when the transitional justice mechanisms and the new Constitution proposals are being made ready for Parliament?
Does this explain the raising of the foreign propaganda ante by such means as the very public physical attack on the Sri Lanka government representative Ambassador Ansar in Malaysia in full view of video and CCTV cameras? Some commentators have suggested that the real target of this attack was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa against whose visit a violent campaign had been launched in Malaysia. At the same time, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko’s comments in Tamil Nadu suggest there were personal reasons to attack High Commissioner Ansar who had been instrumental in preventing the Tamil Nadu politician from obtaining a visa to attend a pro-Tamil event in Malaysia. The Sri Lankan Tamil community in Malaysia is, by and large, supportive of the Sri Lanka Government and its representatives in Malaysia. However, for historic reasons, there is bad blood between the Sri Lanka Tamils and the Indian Tamils in that country. Many years ago, sitting in a congressional hearing on South Asia in Washington D.C., a Malaysian Tamil diplomat leaned over to me and said “You know, we were very glad you were whacking the Tamils in Sri Lanka” – Aghast, I responded “that’s not true, what happened in ‘83 was very shameful”. The Malaysian diplomat went on to explain his Indian Tamil roots and the sharp differences that had arisen in Malaysia between the Sri Lanka Tamils who were mainly professional and “considered themselves a cut above” and the Indian Tamils who were mainly labour migrants on the plantations. It is the Indian Tamil community, or rather its political organizers, who are now the main supporters of the Eelam cause and propagandising the LTTE.
So why should the Indian Tamil community be so active in a cause which is not central to their needs in Malaysia? Hugh Gorringe once gave an explanation as to why Dalit parties like Puthiya Tamizhagam (PT) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) in Tamil Nadu were active in addressing residual issues of the Sri Lanka conflict even to the exclusion of pressing Dalit issues: “The rise of parties like the VCK and PT are precisely about compelling Dravidian parties to accept Dalits as political players. Dalits I have spoken to felt that there are so many pressing issues that need to be addressed but the VCK leaders have failed to address them in their pursuit of larger issues like the Sri Lankan conflict.”
The attack on High Commissioner Ansar may not be the last such provocation against Sri Lanka government officials who have been on the front line of fighting the pro-LTTE diaspora.
Pro-LTTE frustrations could be expected to boil over in the coming months as international support continues to veer towards the Sri Lanka government. Yet, in time, those who are now engineering slipper throwing and physical assaults on defenceless individuals will come to realize the extent of their folly as public reaction turns against them. History is being repeated, just as the assassinations by the LTTE of respected political and civil leaders like Rajiv Gandhi, Lakshman Kadirgarmar and Neelan Tiruchelvam had provoked revulsion and led to greater understanding of the Sri Lanka Government position that it had no alternative but to pursue the military option against the LTTE.
While all these political games are going on, the recent visit to Jaffna by charismatic playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam for a massive public concert, illustrates the huge potential that exists for promoting India-Sri Lanka relations by cultural means at a time when the ETCA controversy and illegal fishing have proved so damaging. It is reported that SPB is to set up a music academy in Jaffna where visiting artistes from India would work with aspiring local musicians. This is indeed a step in the right direction and reminds us that music deriving from shared traditional classical roots, that brings joy and peace to lives that have experienced war, can be a better foundation for connectivity than any infrastructure of stone, steel or mortar. Indeed it could be argued that it is a necessary counterpose to the predominance of Bollywood and pop culture. Moreover, the present cultural thrust from Tamil Nadu could be considered as reciprocating the literary impulses that once went from Sri Lanka to India through pioneer scholars like Arumugam Navalar in the 19th century.