PRABHAKARAN AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
This year's maha viru (viyaru) speech by Prabhakaran has attracted the attention of many people including "scholars" and there are some "pundits" who think that the think tank of the LTTE unlike the Sinhala modaya has done well by writing a very thoughtful speech for the murderer, which will draw the sympathy of the international community. In essence according to some Prabhakaran is lamenting that he has been isolated and that the international community is not doing much for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. It may be Prabhakaran is also thinking that he has been deserted by the so called international community. Thus according the Pundits Prabhakaran has done well by appealing to the "international community" while the Sinhala modaya is antagonising the same community by their criticisms. It is wrong for Prabhakaran and the pundits, if they think so, to assume that the so called international community has decided to look the other way leaving the LTTE high and dry. The statements by UNICEF, UNESCO etc., are ample testimony to the fact that the "international community" is still doing their best to safeguard and protect the LTTE whenever it is possible to do so.
Why should the "international community" looked the other way at this critical juncture when Prabhakaran needs all the help from his friends and his mentors? Do those who think that the so called international community that consists of less than a two dozens of the countries in the world, has given up Prabhakaran because they have realised that he is a fascist murderer whom should not be supported? Or do they think that the "Sinhala government" has finally presented it case well before the "international community" for them to change sides?
Nothing of that sort has happened. The so called international community continue to issue statements on behalf of the LTTE though indirectly and would never change its conception that the Sinhala people are in the wrong and that the Tamils have been discriminated by the so called Sinhala governments. There are some patriots and expatriates who think that the Sri Lankan embassies have not done enough to dispel the myths that have been created in the minds of the westerners by the Tamils and if the Sri Lankan government took the initiative these misconceptions could have been corrected. Some people would claim that the fact that some ex diplomats such as Mr. K. Godage has had the opinion that the Tamils have grievances would not have helped the government in this matter. However, even if these diplomats had a different opinion they would not have been able to show the westerners the proverbial light for the simple reason that the "international community" prefer to be left in the dark and refuse to see the light.
After all it is the problem created by the western countries first by importing farmers (vellalas) for the tobacco cultivation and then other labourers for road works and tea and coffee plantations, and helping the Tamil elite to compile a bogus history of Sri Lanka in order to deprive the maritime provinces especially in the eastern province to the Sinhala kings. If somebody does not believe this "theory" all that he or she has to do is to compare the Tamil spoken in Jaffna and in Tamil Nadu and find out the difference in ages of the two dialects. The other facts such as the presence of more Malayalam words in Tamil spoken in Jaffna can be explained by the presence of Vellakkaras originally from Kerala in Jaffna when the Vellalas were brought from South India.
As we have often mentioned the British by working against the Sinhalas, especially the Sinhala Buddhists from the very beginning and by appointing one Tamil and one Sinhala to the legislative assembly made the Tamil leaders to believe that they were supreme in this land when compared to the Sinhala elites. As we have covered these topics in "An Introduction to Tamil racism in Sri Lanka" it is not necessary to go into details. Suffice is to mention that some others refer to communal politics during these periods without of course mentioning that so called communal politics were the results of British governors using Tamil elites against the Sinhala leaders to maintain their rule in the country, and that it resulted in the present situation finally.
The westerners know that they are responsible for the current situation but they would never admit it. Thus when some well meaning Sinhala people think that by presenting our case to the westerners we would be able to defeat Tamil propaganda we consider it as wishful thinking. The international community that is interested only in propagating and establishing western Christian modernity would do anything against Sinhalas especially against the Sinhala Buddhists whom they think as the greatest challenge to their hegemonic power in the country. The westerners have two groups though not entirely homogeneous that they consider as threat to their hegemony in the world. One is the Islamic world the other being the Theravada Buddhist countries.
The so called International Community has not deserted the LTTE. The British MPs continue to support rallies organised in favour of LTTE that has been "banned" in Britain. Ms. Arbour and company continuously apply pressure to the government to establish a so called human rights commission. The individual rights in the name of an abstract human rights issue are brought against the sovereignty of the country. The west and their lackeys in the so called civil society downplay the sovereignty against the individual rights of the people. The NGOs which are maintained by the western countries continue to agitate for so called peace. They do not want the LTTE to be defeated militarily and their banana theories given to them by pundits in the west to the effect that so called guerrilla outfit cannot be defeated by conventional armies are repeated ad nauseam. If the international community seems to have taken a back seat it is because of the fact that the government is not prepared to dance to the tune of the western countries.
The west has its own agenda to safeguard the LTTE. At present they are working on the possibility of toppling the government. Their strategy is very clear. If the government does not dance to the tune of the west, then oust it and establish a government that is on the same wave length as the west. Clearly the west banks on Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe their favourite leader even after thirteen or fourteen defeats. The political refugee in Mr. Mangala Samaraweera is one of their trustworthy campaigners with the Bandaranaikes and Saravanamuttus behind them though not in a particular order. Nothing has happened for Prabhakaran to be sad and feel that he has been let down. The whole battery of non national forces is working for him and if their plans succeed there would be peace finally, peace of course meaning fulfilling Prabhakaran's wishes.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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