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(An interview with Varatharajah Perumal)
Talking of the international dimension, back in the 1980s, the reason why India started supporting the Tamil militants was because India didn’t like Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under the J.R.Jayewardene government. Had Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike been in power at that time, the Tamil militatnts would not have got any help from India. Today once again, the Indians are interfering in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka in order to impose their foreign policy on Sri Lanka. The excuse they use for this is the Northern Tamil community. For example, when Narendra Modi came to the Sri Lankan parliament and talked about going beyond the 13th Amendment, he was doing so on behalf of the Northern Tamils. There is a huge Indian Tamil population in Sri Lanka and Modi does not give a twit about them because they can’t be used in India’s foreign policy games.
The former chief minister of the combined Northern and Eastern provinces Varatharajah Perumal has lived in India ever since the LTTE overran the areas being vacated by the withdrawing Indian army in 1990. Now a quarter of a century after that failed experiment, India is widely believed to be once again involved in political intrigue in Sri Lanka albeit in ways less obvious than in the 1980s. In this interview, The Island staffer C. A. Chandraprema speaks to Varatharajah Perumal about the continued use of the Tamil community of the North and East as a cat’s paw in Indian foreign policy games.
Q. You are remembered by the Sri Lankan public as the Tamil politician who made a unilateral declaration of independence. Though people like myself knew you as a moderate Tamil militant who was opposed to the LTTE, in the eyes of many Sinhalese, you rank just below Prabhakaran in the separatist hierarchy!
A. There was actually no such unilateral declaration of independence. There was a resolution passed in the North-Eastern Provincial Council making 19 demands from the government and stating that unless these demands were met within one year, the Provincial Council would sit as a constituent assembly with a view to creating an independent state. The 19 demands were formulated well within the unitary state system. This is what has been misreported for more than a quarter of a century as a unilateral declaration of independence. President Premadasa buried the 19 demands by raising a cry about a non-existent declaration of independence. We lost the propaganda war to Premadasa.
Q. If we look back at the turbulent 1980s, the provincial councils system was introduced through the 13th Amendment due to Indian pressure and not due to any natural political process in Sri Lanka. There was overt Indian interference in the politics of Sri Lanka. Today we seem to have entered another phase like that of the 1980s with some charging that RAW agents were active in the north during the recent presidential election. Is any of this going to be for the benefit of the Tamil or Sinhala people?
A. In the 1980s India did interfere by supporting various Tamil militant groups. But the Indian army came here only on the invitation of President J. R. Jayewardene. I also don’t agree that the provincial councils system was imposed on SL by India because the basis for the 13th Amendment was negotiated in the All Party Conference in 1983/1984. When you say that India was involved in this or that, you have to realise that India was involved in everything. During the 1971 insurgency, India supported the Sri Lankan government. India also supported the war against the LTTE. India is not for separation but she wants a reasonable political settlement in Sri Lanka. I don’t think that can be interpreted as interference.
Q. When the Northern PC election was held for the first time in 2013, that was an emotional moment for the Northern Tamil electorate. Events overseas added to the emotion of the moment. Jeyalalitha Jeyaram had once again been swept to power in Tamil Nadu and had unleashed a wave of Tamil nationalism in Tamil Nadu. Channel 4 had just put out their second documentary about alleged atrocities committed by the SL army during the war and the United States had just started getting resolutions passed against Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council thus reigniting the hope among some Tamils about being able to get a separate state through international sympathy and the UN mechanism. Despite all this, the number of votes that the TNA got in the North was only 353,959 whereas at the presidential elections in January, Maithripala Sirisena got 394,991. How is it that a Sinhala politician can get more votes than the TNA?
A. Just after the war, there were the Municipal elections in Jaffna with a very low voter turnout. The turnout was slightly higher at the parliamentary elections. At every election, the voter turnout improved. So the turnout was higher at the presidential election than it was at the PC election in 2013. Furthermore there was a trend in the country for a change of government and in that general trend, the Tamils and the Muslims were ahead of the Sinhalese. Why the international forces were involved is another matter.
Q. Talking of the international dimension, back in the 1980s, the reason why India started supporting the Tamil militants was because India didn’t like Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under the J.R.Jayewardene government. Had Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike been in power at that time, the Tamil militatnts would not have got any help from India. Today once again, the Indians are interfering in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka in order to impose their foreign policy on Sri Lanka. The excuse they use for this is the Northern Tamil community. For example, when Narendra Modi came to the Sri Lankan parliament and talked about going beyond the 13th Amendment, he was doing so on behalf of the Northern Tamils. There is a huge Indian Tamil population in Sri Lanka and Modi does not give a twit about them because they can’t be used in India’s foreign policy games. India should be closer to the Indian Tamils living here and they should know that the Indian Tamil leaders including Arumugam Thondaman are opposed to the 13th Amendment and particularly to provincial police powers because that places them at a disadvantage. Yet the Indians ignore their own and instead plug the line of the Northern Tamils because that is what gives them a handle over Sri Lanka. Are the indigenous Tamils of Sri Lanka forever condemned to be a foreign policy tool of the Indians?
A. After 1983, India started giving training to the Tamil militants but no weapons were given for a year. During that period, India wanted the TULF and the government to talk and come to a settlement among themselves.
Q. I would like to suggest that the settlement between the Tamil leadership and the government was not what was important. India just wanted to bring the Sri Lankan government to heel.
A. That may be one interpretation. Even when weapons were given to the Tamil militants, only a few were given - just enough to get the Sri Lankan government to the negotiating table. India was never for a separate state and she sacrificed over 1000 lives in trying to disarm the LTTE. Sri Lanka wants India to make sacrifices, but she cannot say one word without someone raising cries that Sri Lanka’s sovereignty was being threatened. When you work together you can’t say the benefit has to be for Sri Lanka and all the losses should go to India.
Q. As a Tamil politician, are you under the delusion that India is doing all this for a ‘settlement’ between the Tamils and the Sinhalese? Just supposing there is a settlement and the Tamils here are completely satisfied, then what is the lever that they have to use against the Sri Lankan government when the need arises? The only interest that India has in the Northern Tamils is to use them to ensure that Sri Lanka toes its foreign policy line. That was the case in the 1980s, and it is the case now. So long as their foreign policy objectives are met they couldn’t care less as to what happens to the Tamils.
A. India is a big country and a great power and they can influence Sri Lanka in many ways. India does not need to play games with the political settlement to get the leverage they need. India has the capacity to maintain a grip over Sri Lanka even without the Tamil issue. My point is that no country is absolutely independent and all countries are interdependent. India needs Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka needs India.
Q. You have many friends in the Sinhala community. You should know that given the way Maithripala Sirisena was elected and the way Modi came to Sri Lanka and addressed the parliament, there is an undercurrent of resentment building up against India. We seem to be eternally condemned to this cycle, India intervenes and scores a victory, then there is a reaction to that and then the Indian influence wanes and things go on like that in cycles. Now like in the 1980s, we are in a situation where the Indians have got the upper hand.
A. Every loser will have reasons to give for his defeat. When Mahinda Rajapaksa won, they did not say anything about India. The opposition could have said at that time that Mahinda was brought to power by India. Now Maithripala won so those who supported the loser say that he lost because of India. That is similar to what the LTTE is also saying. They say they were defeated by India and the international community. But in actual fact it is the LTTE itself that brought about their own defeat. Likewise it is not India that made Mahinda lose, but his own actions.
(The Island)
உனக்கு
நாடு இல்லை என்றவனைவிட
நமக்கு நாடே இல்லை
என்றவனால்தான்
நான் எனது நாட்டை
விட்டு விரட்டப்பட்டேன்.......
ராஜினி
திரணகம
MBBS(Srilanka)
Phd(Liverpool,
UK)
'அதிர்ச்சி
ஏற்படுத்தும்
சாமர்த்தியம்
விடுதலைப்புலிகளின்
வலிமை மிகுந்த
ஆயுதமாகும்.’ விடுதலைப்புலிகளுடன்
நட்பு பூணுவது
என்பது வினோதமான
சுய தம்பட்டம்
அடிக்கும் விவகாரமே.
விடுதலைப்புலிகளின்
அழைப்பிற்கு உடனே
செவிமடுத்து, மாதக்கணக்கில்
அவர்களின் குழுக்களில்
இருந்து ஆலோசனை
வழங்கி, கடிதங்கள்
வரைந்து, கூட்டங்களில்
பேசித்திரிந்து,
அவர்களுக்கு அடிவருடிகளாக
இருந்தவர்கள்மீது
கூட சூசகமான எச்சரிக்கைகள்,
காலப்போக்கில்
அவர்கள்மீது சந்தேகம்
கொண்டு விடப்பட்டன.........'
(முறிந்த
பனை நூலில் இருந்து)
(இந்
நூலை எழுதிய ராஜினி
திரணகம விடுதலைப்
புலிகளின் புலனாய்வுப்
பிரிவின் முக்கிய
உறுப்பினரான பொஸ்கோ
என்பவரால் 21-9-1989 அன்று
யாழ் பல்கலைக்கழக
வாசலில் வைத்து
சுட்டு கொல்லப்பட்டார்)
Its
capacity to shock was one of the L.T.T.E. smost potent weapons. Friendship with
the L.T.T.E. was a strange and
self-flattering affair.In the course of the coming days dire hints were dropped
for the benefit of several old friends who had for months sat on committees,
given advice, drafted latters, addressed meetings and had placed themselves at
the L.T.T.E.’s beck and call.
From: Broken Palmyra
வடபுலத்
தலமையின் வடஅமெரிக்க
விஜயம்
(சாகரன்)
புலிகளின்
முக்கிய புள்ளி
ஒருவரின் வாக்கு
மூலம்
பிரபாகரனுடன் இறுதி வரை இருந்து முள்ளிவாய்கால் இறுதி சங்காரத்தில் தப்பியவரின் வாக்குமூலம்
திமுக, அதிமுக, தமிழக மக்கள் இவர்களில் வெல்லப் போவது யார்?
(சாகரன்)
தங்கி நிற்க தனி மரம் தேவை! தோப்பு அல்ல!!
(சாகரன்)
(சாகரன்)
வெல்லப்போவது
யார்.....? பாராளுமன்றத்
தேர்தல் 2010
(சாகரன்)
பாராளுமன்றத்
தேர்தல் 2010
தேர்தல்
விஞ்ஞாபனம் - பத்மநாபா
ஈழமக்கள் புரட்சிகர
விடுதலை முன்னணி
1990
முதல் 2009 வரை அட்டைகளின்
(புலிகளின்) ஆட்சியில்......
(fpNwrpad;> ehthe;Jiw)
சமரனின்
ஒரு கைதியின் வரலாறு
'ஆயுதங்கள்
மேல் காதல் கொண்ட
மனநோயாளிகள்.'
வெகு விரைவில்...
மீசை
வைச்ச சிங்களவனும்
ஆசை வைச்ச தமிழனும்
(சாகரன்)
இலங்கையில்
'இராணுவ'
ஆட்சி வேண்டி நிற்கும்
மேற்குலகம், துணை செய்யக்
காத்திருக்கும்;
சரத் பொன்சேகா
கூட்டம்
(சாகரன்)
எமது தெரிவு
எவ்வாறு அமைய வேண்டும்?
பத்மநாபா
ஈபிஆர்எல்எவ்
ஜனாதிபதித்
தேர்தல்
ஆணை இட்ட
அதிபர் 'கை', வேட்டு
வைத்த ஜெனரல்
'துப்பாக்கி' ..... யார் வெல்வார்கள்?
(சாகரன்)
சம்பந்தரே!
உங்களிடம் சில
சந்தேகங்கள்
(சேகர்)
(m. tujuh[g;ngUkhs;)
தொடரும்
60 வருடகால காட்டிக்
கொடுப்பு
ஜனாதிபதித்
தேர்தலில் தமிழ்
மக்கள் பாடம் புகட்டுவார்களா?
(சாகரன்)
ஜனவரி இருபத்தாறு!
விரும்பியோ
விரும்பாமலோ இரு
கட்சிகளுக்குள்
ஒன்றை தமிழ் பேசும்
மக்கள் தேர்ந்தெடுக்க
வேண்டும்.....?
(மோகன்)
2009 விடைபெறுகின்றது!
2010 வரவேற்கின்றது!!
'ஈழத் தமிழ்
பேசும் மக்கள்
மத்தியில் பாசிசத்தின்
உதிர்வும், ஜனநாயகத்தின்
எழுச்சியும்'
(சாகரன்)
மகிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ
& சரத் பொன்சேகா.
(யஹியா
வாஸித்)
கூத்தமைப்பு
கூத்தாடிகளும்
மாற்று தமிழ் அரசியல்
தலைமைகளும்!
(சதா. ஜீ.)
தமிழ்
பேசும் மக்களின்
புதிய அரசியல்
தலைமை
மீண்டும்
திரும்பும் 35 வருடகால
அரசியல் சுழற்சி!
தமிழ் பேசும் மக்களுக்கு
விடிவு கிட்டுமா?
(சாகரன்)
கப்பலோட்டிய
தமிழனும், அகதி
(கப்பல்) தமிழனும்
(சாகரன்)
சூரிச்
மகாநாடு
(பூட்டிய)
இருட்டு அறையில்
கறுப்பு பூனையை
தேடும் முயற்சி
(சாகரன்)
பிரிவோம்!
சந்திப்போம்!!
மீண்டும் சந்திப்போம்!
பிரிவோம்!!
(மோகன்)
தமிழ்
தேசிய கூட்டமைப்புடன்
உறவு
பாம்புக்கு
பால் வார்க்கும்
பழிச் செயல்
(சாகரன்)
இலங்கை
அரசின் முதல் கோணல்
முற்றும் கோணலாக
மாறும் அபாயம்
(சாகரன்)
ஈழ விடுலைப்
போராட்டமும், ஊடகத்துறை
தர்மமும்
(சாகரன்)
(அ.வரதராஜப்பெருமாள்)
மலையகம்
தந்த பாடம்
வடக்கு
கிழக்கு மக்கள்
கற்றுக்கொள்வார்களா?
(சாகரன்)
ஒரு பிரளயம்
கடந்து ஒரு யுகம்
முடிந்தது போல்
சம்பவங்கள் நடந்து
முடிந்துள்ளன.!
(அ.வரதராஜப்பெருமாள்)
அமைதி சமாதானம் ஜனநாயகம்
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