Colombo contemplates Malaysian model

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 September 2009, 22:36 GMT]
A participant in a study group that recently met in London cautioned that Colombo with the support of Asian powers is dreaming to follow Malaysian model of ethnic totalitarianism and related development model, ultimately aimed at erasing the territoriality of Eezham Tamil nation, bringing the entire island under Sinhala ethnic hegemony. “The Sri Lankan state has forgotten that even in the case with the 19th century Chinese migrants, after all the ethnic persecutions Malaysia had to finally concede secession of Singapore, to have peaceful development in the region. The Eezham Tamils who have right on the island ever since Sinhalese became Sinhalese need deserving justice and if Colombo thinks of Malaysia, who ever is going to support a Singapore in the island is going to have the say in the region,” commented another participant of the meet in London.

The Chinese migrants of the Malay Peninsula were always at the receiving end: first targeted by the invading Japanese during the World War II, then targeted by the British who cheated them after receiving help against the Japanese and finally by the ‘Bhumi Putra’ Malays who saw them as a threat to their ethnic majority in the peninsula.

Malays even urged the British to postpone independence of Malaya giving equal citizenship right to the Chinese. It was because of this question Malaya, which was supposed to get independence in 1949 got it only in 1957.

In the 1950s, the British general Templer did what exactly Mahinda Rajapaksa did to Tamils under the pretext of ‘terrorists’. In the excuse of ‘communists’, the Chinese were persecuted. District after district the whole population was evacuated and resettled after ethnic cleansing. Later there were ethnic pogroms against the Chinese.

But peace and development were finally achieved in the region only after a realistic leader like Thunku Abdul Rahman conceded Singapore, an independent and sovereign nation state in 1965, to satisfy the aspirations of the Chinese even though they were historically recent migrants.

Ironically Singapore was not supported by Communist China, but it was a necessity for the West.

But unfortunately Malaysia, even after achieving Malay ethnic majority by excluding Singapore and including Sabah and Sarawak, has not learnt enough on nation building, cultural pluralism and human rights, despite of its so-called Asian model of development that is ethnically unequal.

Now Malaysia is inspiring Colombo not by its positive sides, but by its negative sides.

It is also another irony that both Malaysia and Singapore have forgotten their own experience when they uphold the unity of the island of Sri Lanka and do not tell Colombo that secession is the right way to resolve the conflict.

India is going to be the biggest loser if anybody else is going to seize the opportunity of precipitating what is logical to this island of divided nations.