By Ananth Thiru
The attack on Tamil people got a 'thumbs down' from the international community
Like many other nations, the island now called Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon until 1972) is a fabrication of British Imperialism. At the time that Britain ‘conquered’ the island, there were two nations distinct from each other in language, religion, and culture. By most accounts they kept out of each other’s territories but co-existed. Neither their history nor their opinions were taken into consideration when the two nations, the Sinhalese and Tamils were forced into a union by the British to make their administration of the island more convenient.
Since then, successive governments dominated by the ethnic majority of Sinhalese people have changed the laws and ignored the sentiments of the Tamil people at every turn. Eventually Tamils would be denied equality and made into second class citizens. The “Sinhala Only Act” for example made Sinhalese the official language leading to the overnight loss of government jobs for minorities who did not have knowledge/fluency of the language.
Before the “Sinhala Only Act” English was the official language which also served as the link between the two people. Meanwhile the Sinhala areas were administered in the Sinhala language as the Tamil areas were administered in Tamil. The oppression of Tamils under the Sri Lankan state goes beyond simple denial of cultural rights but in fact a long history of denial of human rights has stoked the ethnic divide.
For decades, violence on the Tamil people continued in the most brutal manner. A young generation of Tamil youths saw ‘armed struggle’ as their only defence in the pursuit of sovereignty lost under the rule of European Imperialism. As this resistance grew, the political representative of the Tamil people secured a mandate from the Tamil people for a separate state – an act that the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan parliament took as an offensive and in turn unleashed more violence on the already brutalized north and east. This state violence furthered the resolve of these youth some of whom eventually came to form the Tamil Tigers (officially known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam aka LTTE). From a rag tag group, the LTTE has grown to be the only non-state actor in the world to have features required of a national armed forces including an army, navy, and a tiny air force along. What’s more, the ‘Tigers’ count on what is undeniably an overwhelming support of the Tamil people, see themselves as the legitimate representatives of Tamil people since the armed struggle began.
Internationally, some have criticized the LTTE for their use of suicide bombing as a war tactic. One of the most notorious acts blamed on the LTTE was the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gahndi who was killed by a female suicide bomber following India’s occupation of ‘Tamil Eelam’ – the north and east part of the Island where the LTTE have been fighting for a Tamil homeland. This incident followed the arrival of the so called ‘Indian Peace Keeping Forces’ who were responsible for the rape and killing of thousands of Tamils through their short-lived mission. The LTTE argue that this has been a necessary tool in crippling the Sri Lankan states armed forces which have been brutalizing Tamil people for decades as well as the Sri Lankan economy that keeps funding the war against the Tamil people.
Almost two decades have passed since the civil war began and little movement has been made in securing a lasting solution to the armed conflict.
More recently, government forces have surrounded the Tamil Tigers along with an estimated 300,000 civilians in a tiny area using the genocide tactics that the state has developed since independence. These actions have been effectively justified using the former Bush administration’s doctrine of “war on terror”, rationalizing the offensive as a necessary act against ‘terrorism’.
The hundreds of thousands of civilians however have no medical, food, and other materials due to the embargo by the Sri Lankan government. These measures are designed to force civilians to move to the government controlled areas, where there are already large swaths of Tamil people living as an oppressed community under occupation in camps or open prisons. The occupying army rapes women, tortures, abducts, kills at sight, detains, and deprive them access to any international media and International organizations.
The international community is now scrambling to find a way to stop the Sri Lankan government from bombing, shelling and starving the 300,000 civilians who do not want to leave the protection of their homes. International governments and the UN expressed shock at government declarations that hospitals, refugee camps and any other locations in the rebel’s territories are legitimate targets since they are not under government controlled areas. Academics and prominent personels around the world are describing such actions as genocide and have pointed to the Sri Lankan state’s many breaches of international laws that it is has signed and vowed to uphold. Some have also called for the Sri Lankan government officials to be tried for war crimes.
Among those being pursued by former U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General Bruce Fein for war crimes under U.S. law include Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary and brother of Sri Lankan President, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as well as the US green card holder and Commander of the Sri Lankan Army Sarath Fonseka. While the Sri Lankan state has openly declared it’s desire to crush their nemesis in this recent offensive, many observers fear that this military operation is and will be directed also at the Tamil people.
If history is any indicator despite the regaining of territory, the government in Colombo may still find themselves where they started. The majority of Tamil people in the western hemisphere have been on the street stating that there is no military solution to this conflict and that the political solution must begin with the same right that has been granted to others such as Kosovo – self-determination.