Celebrating Veerasingham Anandasangaree - Part two

Continued from January 12

The Alumni Association of University of Peradeniya, Colombo Chapter felicitated V. Anandasangaree who was awarded the UNESCO - Madangeet Singh Prize on November 16, 2006. What follows is the text of the keynote address given on the occasion by Prof. Carlo Fonseka at the BMICH on December 19, 2006.

THE armed struggle to set up a separate state was and is being prosecuted by a committed group of guerilla fighters.

While fighting for the right of Tamils to self-determination the guerillas have ruthlessly violated the human rights of Tamils who have dared to disagree with their vision of a Tamil Eelam.

They have summarily executed Tamils willing to settle for a substantial measure of regional autonomy within a single Sri Lankan state.

If such behaviour is not the expression of a degree of psychopathy in their leadership, it must be due to a pathetic innocence concerning the theory and practice of the concept of human rights..." (pp 76-77)

Diagnosis Confirmed

I wrote that in 1989. You may have noticed that I have been properly cautious in formulating my diagnostic statement.

I have spoken only of "a degree of psychopathy" in the leadership of the LTTE. Today, 17 years later, with much more evidence to hand, it is possible to be more categorical.

The shocking way in which the LTTE has dealt with Mr. Anandasangaree and his near and dear ones alone, induces me to roundly declare for all the world to hear that V. Prabhakaran is a psychopath.

In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Polonius, the king's chief counsellor, declares that young Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is mad. Then he embarks on a definition of madness and ends up by saying that true madness is "nothing else but to be mad".

In like manner, if you ask me what it is to be a psychopath, I say that it is nothing else but to behave like V. Prabhakaran. Whether the cause of his psychopathy is the maddening political behaviour of the sinhalese towards the Tamils in recent decades is a question that deserves to be seriously considered.

Current Phase

Finally let us focus on the current phase of Mr. Anandasangaree's political career. In June 2002 he became the President of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).

Concerning this, the brilliant journalist DBS Jeyaraj, wrote an article under the heading: "Former Trotskyite now leads the TULF". That was an allusion to Mr. Anandasangaree's initiation into politics as a member of the LSSP and his public declaration that Dr. N. M. Perera was his political guru.

Having assumed the leadership of the TULF in June 2002, at a meeting of the TULF held in Jaffna on March 23, 2003, Mr. Anandasangaree declared that the LTTE or anyone else cannot be the sole representative of the Tamil people in a multiparty arena. He had the supreme courage to say that and by so doing he reached the top of the LTTE hit list.

His courage no doubt derived from the fact that in the General Election held in December 2001, Mr. Anandasangaree topped the list in the Jaffna district with over 36,000 preference votes. The LTTE seems to be determined to liquidate him.

Thus this great man who we are celebrating here and now is living with a time bomb round his neck. The LTTE has characterised him as "a traitor to the Tamils". That is, of course, equivalent to an open death warrant.

Mr. Anandasangaree has lost many members of his family to political violence perpetrated by his own ethnic group. Let me not pile on the agony. Let me simply put on record the fact that he has lost no less than six members of his extended family to political violence. So when he speaks out against war and violence it is a genuine cry from his bleeding heart.

Apostle of Non-violence

UNESCO has identified him as an apostle of non-violence and tolerance and awarded him the prestigious UNESCO - Madanjeet Singh Prize of US $ 100,000. This prize was created in memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

In 2002 the prize was awarded to Aung San Su Kyi of Myanmar for the non-violent resistance she has offered to the regime in that country which has oppressed her.

In 2004 Taslima Nasreen of Bangladesh received the award for her fearless writings about the oppression of women in some cultures.

In 2006 on November 16, the award was given to our own Veerasingham Anandasangaree who has put his life on the line by his opposition to violence and intolerance.

Sir, may I say that we Sri Lankans are immensely proud of you. You are a source of inspiration to us. It was not for nothing that even before UNESCO recognised you for what you are, in this country the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to its eternal credit, offered you a place in parliament on their national list. We know, of course, that a place in parliament is not what you are seeking.

What you are seeking is a formula acceptable to the Sinhalese that will enable your ethnic group - I would call it your nation - to live with dignity and honour in peace with other people in this country.

Peacemaker

You more than anyone else in your ethnic group has the capacity to find the formula for peace. I say so because the other day, I had the occasion to see President Mahinda Rajapaksa on some official matter.

In casual conversation after official business, I told him that we were going to celebrate Mr. Anandasangaree's UNESCO award. He was delighted to hear about it. From his remarks I realised what great respect and deep admiration he has for you.

Your formula proposed to him in a recent open letter seems to be basically acceptable to him, provided the terminology you have used can be suitably adjusted.

At that point I said to myself that you will probably comply with his request because, you are, I believe, sensible enough to realise that in the Shakespearean phrase, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".

So I am hopeful that with your co-operation we can look forward to a period of peace in our country in the not too distant future.

You were born in June 1933. I was born in March 1933. So as your senior, I say let us work together to ensure that peace will dawn in this blessed land of ours before we pass to our rest.