J. SathasivamIf a Tamil can be happy that bombs will not fall from the sky; that there will be no more shells and multi-barrels then a Sinhalese can also rejoice because there will be no more haphazard bomb blasts; he celebrates this. A Tamil cannot celebrate, because even after so much destruction there is nothing left for him. He has paid a high price for it. He is not only a political orphan but also one in reality.
How can those who failed to understand, several years ago, when forward thinkers and those from the Left pointed out that the Tamils are indeed political orphans, understand this now?
Furthermore, the Tiger leader remained as a mythical dream for the Sinhalese. The majoritarianism that enabled the growth of Prabhakaran, that same majoritarianism put an end to this story. Even though there are many conspiracies in terms of this ‘end’, the price that was paid for it was indeed very high. In the forthcoming days these conspiracies will begin to slowly unfold.
Despite the fact that it was the Army and the Tigers that engaged in a bartering of lives, the bartering of related civilian life has also been immense. The last confrontation resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians. They have been abandoned, limbless and broken. There is still no information on what has happened to many families.
There were many who predicted this tragedy through several commentaries but what has been the use? The Tiger supporters have failed to read these and inform their leader. In the end, the Tiger leadership proved before they died that, “When the ‘Tamil Tigers’ become hungry they will eat grass” by saying ‘we will silence our guns’; ‘we will surrender to a third party’. In the end it is believed that they had indeed surrendered holding aloft the white flag and that the army after inquiry had finished them off.
‘Silencing the guns’ or to ‘surrendering’ should have done during the 48 hour cessation of hostilities offered by the Government in lieu of the Sinhala-Tamil New Year. They should have released the civilians under their control. The Tigers failed to use this last opportunity to do something good for the civilians as a first and last gesture. A large number of these poor civilians would have lived. They could have boasted that ‘even after falling there was no sand on their moustaches’ (Literal translation of Tamil saying); all the Tamils who have been deceived could have had some self satisfaction by talking the rhetoric of ‘valour’.
During the Sangam period it is said that a mother would visit the battleground to see her dead son. If the arrow stays pierced on his chest she rejoices with pride. In case it has pierced his back in a cowardly manner she would cry out ‘Did I feed him with my milk?’ and cut off her breasts. Oh! You migrant listeners who listen to the chant ‘I did not give birth to a child but to a powerful beast’, can you still continue to talk about Tiger valour?
It is a factuality that Prabhakaran is no longer alive just as much as the ‘sun does not rise in the East’, and just as is the habitual belief that the ‘sun rises in the East’, Tiger cubs and supporters continue to waste their time in believing that their leader is still alive. God! What can we do? but bow our heads in shame that we are living in this century amidst such a society!
Friend and Secretary of the EPRLF (Pathmanaba), colleague Sritharan, has explained the end of the Tigers as follows:
Only 85 people under the leadership of Fidel entered and attacked Cuba first. Out of which 17 of them including Fidel were imprisoned. It is during this case that Fidel made his historical speech ‘history will release me’. Due to the immense support of the masses Fidel and his supporters were released by the court. Fidel and the group under his leadership due to the unwavering support and trust of the power of the masses were able to later control the leadership of Cuba.
But the Tigers only believed in arms. Like water that evaporates after a boiling point, it is the same with limitless military zeal. Military weaponry and explosives were the breath of the Tigers. They transformed Vanni into a huge explosive bomb by demanding ‘give us money’, ‘give us children’ and ‘give us explosives. So it looks like this huge bomb fell on them and caused their own destruction. But it did not fail to kill a large number of civilians with it. Did they safeguard humaneness? Did they foster amity? No, nothing! All those who opposed them, questioned them, became traitors? Even those who did not do what the Tigers wanted, became traitors? Now they say that everything is over.
The Tigers also concentrated on one other thing. That is their immense attention on prisons and torture methods used on those who they imprisoned there. The torture methods used by them are appalling. It does not fall within the realm of human thought. It is important for the future that the pain that was inflicted on their very own people while they continued to call themselves a liberation organisation is carefully documented.
So I humbly ask all those who claim that the Tigers struggled for national freedom and that there is no other voice for the Tamil people in their absence to first find the answer to the question as to whether the Tigers were really humans.
Translation of article published by Sahasamavada in Tamil on May 24, 2009.
