Strategic Partners

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2008, 13:14 GMT]
"The American ban on the LTTE, which was followed by several other countries, also cut the flow of money and weapons to the Tigers, the result of which could be seen in their recent military defeats", said the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka in an interactive session at Chennai last month, as reported by The Hindu. The other side of the result story is that the same American policy tilted the balance in favour of a genocidal government, precipitated aggressive war on a grand scale and thus deepened immensely the divide between the concerned ethnicities, making reconciliation unfeasible more than ever.

A devastating tragedy of the times we live is the absence of mass-oriented political ideologies in directing international relations. Deconstruction and postmodernism are just honourable terminologies signifying the vacuum. The result faced by people all over the world is unchecked machinations of the strategic partners of the geopolitical game, who contribute nothing but a culture of insatiable greed that enslaves people in the name of 'development'.

It is not that the writer is not aware of the fact that the world of ideology is far apart from the world of politics and politicians are licensed for not practising what they say. But, this piece of writing is not intended for politicians. Writing to politicians on behalf of politicians is left to 'award winning' journalists.

People of India may not have forgotten so soon how the strategic partnership, in collaboration with Pakistan and Sri Lanka worked in Indra Gandhi’s time to nullify the pre-eminence of India in South Asia.

What the strategic partnership now aims at is the sovereignty of the peoples of South Asia: first the Eezham Tamils, the weakest, the next in line logically will be the Sinhalese and then one may guess where it may go.

A convenient strategy adopted by the partners to muffle the voice of the struggling people in the island of Sri Lanka was labeling the historical, ideological and humanitarian national question of the Eezham Tamils as mere LTTE ‘terrorism’.

The LTTE has become an eyesore because of its refusal to be a strategic partner.

The LTTE is a manifestation of an age-old structural crisis in the island. It is the crisis that needs to be addressed with priority. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rhetoric of ‘a military solution is for the terrorists, a political solution is for the people living in this country’ is only a mischief, meaning that there will be no solution.

The same tone but in different phrases is heard from time to time from the strategic partners too, on the question of Eezham Tamil rights. What is implied is that they are more concerned about the challenge to the Establishment than the grievances of the people. They are not prepared to acknowledge the structural interconnection between grievance and challenge and fact that the flaw is in their outlook.

What is refreshingly new in the otherwise rotten scenario of geopolitics, power politics and bureaucratic intrigues is the phenomenal awakening of the people of Tamil Nadu. It is a new dimension – a people’s dimension – unforeseen or perhaps unexpected at this magnitude by the strategic partners. It now seems to have snowballed into a mass movement and have gone beyond the schemes of politicians.

The Washington-Delhi-Chennai-Colombo axis of the strategic partners are now in its last ditch face-saving attempt to thrust a semblance of a solution upon the Tamils. The gestures seen hitherto only indicate that they are still not prepared to concede the fundamental aspirations of Tamils, but are only concerned about seeking space for the interests of the Establishment.

However, what is sensed in them is a sort of haste, as time is running out with changes anticipated shortly in the attitude of Washington along with possible new leadership. Even though there may not be fundamental policy changes, at least strategies and tactics are expected to undergo revision. Signals are already there that national struggles may be viewed different from that of the issue of terrorism.

In the meantime, media sources reveal plans of a British mission and a Mahinda mission to work hard in Chennai in trying to convince influential circles why secession, or even substantial federal status, is not needed for the Eezham Tamils.

The chorus of the strategic partners heard now, and will continued to be heard is the Mantra called ‘development’ which they advocate as a remedy for all crisis, but don’t ask whose development.

What is disgusting is the childish talk of some of the partners, still harping on the 13th amendment, when the child in concern had grown far too big for the suit in 1987 itself.

The longer the war, the more the chances of separation, is common sense to understand.

What the Sinhala people has to acknowledge is that the war waged by their government is not on terrorism but on a people and on their aspirations.

When the war is on people, victory and subjugation are not possible in modern times, especially in the context of South Asia and in the context of the concerned ethnicity.

The war has dragged on far too long for patchwork solutions.

It is mutually beneficial for Sinhalese and Tamils to agree peacefully to get separated first and then perhaps to rediscover co-existence freshly.

Half-baked solutions will only lead to further crisis and to the loss of sovereignty of both the Sinhalese and Eezham Tamils.

The stance of the JVP on not conceding anything at all to Tamils and its anti-India, anti-US outbursts may look funny but they need serious perusal.

The harder the line of JVP, easier becomes the secession. The JVP is indirectly or knowingly contributing to secession, perhaps envisaging that its only chance of coming at the helm of affairs of the Sinhalese depends very much on the secession of Tamileelam.

Geopolitics and strategic partnerships can work only when they match with noble ideologies and when they are in tune with righteous aspirations of people.

But strategic partners, or more precisely those who steer the affairs, live in a different world, caring the interests of a different world. They never listen to reason unless their interests are at stake or their arms are twisted by the will of people.

The saying in Tamil is that a child who cries only will get the milk (Azhutha pi’l’lai paal kudikkum).

The uprising of the people in Tamil Nadu, cutting across party lines, is a rare phenomenon and is a reminiscence of the times of the freedom movement. Such a spirit will go a long way not only in the cause of Eezham Tamils but also in the awakening of people’s power in our region, provided the spirit is not hijacked.

However, if the insistence of our times is going to be only on geopolitics and strategic partnerships, but not caring for the voices of the masses, it is not that only the Sinhala politicians could always hold all the cards. It is high time that Tamils in Tamil Nadu, Eezham and elsewhere evolve a consensus on a global Tamil foreign policy and decide on the cards they ought to play.

When the national governments have opened up their gates, foreign policy is no more a prerogative of governments. Even societies can exercise it. The Sri Lankan government was steadily working for years with selective social groups in India to counter the Tamil question. The news of a British group visiting Tamil Nadu to talk about Sri Lanka shows that barriers of internal affairs are melting and foreign relations have permeated to the level of societies.

The public opinion of a society counts a lot, whether it is internal or external matter.

Having a powerful global diaspora, Tamils are a privileged lot and have a considerable leverage in this respect, if they can mobilize themselves and exercise their consensus.