Revisiting crimes in the North-East - Part II:

‘Killing futile in face of problems’

Dr. Noel Nadesan Former Editor of Melbourne-based Uthayam newspaper

Their excuses and justifications for Tamils killing Tamils and other non-Tamils cannot be accepted on any moral grounds. Besides, killings have not solved any of the problems of the Tamils. Tigers did not become terrorists because of the Sinhalese or any other circumstances. Nor did they start killing Tamils because of state terrorism.

From the very beginning they had tendency to mindless violence. They had no intellectual or moral background to lead the Tamil people through rational, non-violent, or democratic politics. Some worshipped his violence and forgot all about human values.

What I discovered in during my last visit to Mullaitivu revealed the depths to which violence had fallen.

Security Forces personnel distributing food to Tamil civilians displaced by LTTE terror

While I was travelling in a vehicle, I saw a lady of European origin defusing a bomb. These places had been used by the LTTE as munition dumps. LTTE had laid landmines around munition dumps to protect them. Now that peace has dawned, public are denied the right of entry into these mined areas. Although Tigers were stationed at Killinochi, Mullaitivu was their area of strategic importance. They had their vital installations such as naval bases, training centres and munition dumps all in Mullaitivu.

Since the end of war, I have been to Sri Lanka ten times but is was on the last occasion I got a chance to visit Mullaitivi.

I travelled from Paranthan to Mullaitivu by a CTB bus with my companion poet Karunakaran. I saw lush paddy fields and people moving around attending to their day-to-day chores. The bus I travelled in was more or less full with teachers from Jaffna. The only inconvenience I had was the dust raised by the moving vehicles clouding my pair of glasses.

Political slogans

I was also reminded of what the LTTE stalwart in Australia, late Thilai Jeyakumar used to say when asked: “How come I haven’t seen you for some time?” He would usually reply saying: “I have just returned from my soil. “Around the time I was in India I remember EPRLF Pathmanaba telling me: “We love the people and not the soil.”

I travelled from Puthukudiirruppu in a jeep owned by former parliamentarian S Kanagaratnan and all along the way I saw scars of war such as walls of damaged houses and coconut palms without their top. The former MP, on his way spoke to people and attended to some jobs. I told him if he was with the TNA his tasks would be confined to issuing statements and granting interviews to radios in countries outside Sri Lanka. He laughed and in his laughter I could notice the genuineness of someone who was committed to serving the people and not political slogans. Then he said on the previous day he had been to Manal Aru (Veli Oya) and had seen the suffering of displaced people, adding that it was a heart-rending experience. His place in Tamil society, rising above narrow politics, has not been given due recognition by our society.

The house where Sea-Tiger Chief Soosai had lived is now a tourist attraction. The Army has opened many shops to cater to the needs of people who throng that area. From there I went to the place where Prabhakaran had stayed. It was in a forest and resembled a military fortress with four basements.

The doors were made of cast iron. On seeing his dwelling, one could imagine the extent to which he had taken care of his life. On the other hand, he had not given the same concern for the lives of others, and it angered me very much.

Human shield

In Prabhakaran’s last photograph, I was struck by the care he had taken to colour his hair and moustache jet black. It also made me think that Prabhakaran had not given the same care to the lives of 300,000 Tamils who were left high and dry when they were herded as his human shield.

Earlier I could see Sinhala people only at Madhu and Nagadeepa. Now one could see them in Mullaitivu as well. It was to me another sign of President Mahinda Rajapaksa breaking down communal fences and uniting the nation. I believe that whether we like it or not at the end of the day, all communities have to live together. It is another sign of us belonging to the human race and not to this or that community.

As for Tamil leaders their achievement is nil and instead they had taken the Tamils to a dead - end with no end in sight. In this era that has spanned 60 years, what have we learnt? If one is to analyse who is responsible for the events that have bedeviled Sri Lanka, no one can disagree with Dr. Colvin R. de Silva who said that we are all guilty.

All races in Sri Lanka had shed blood because they were misled by politicians. Although losses suffered may vary between individuals or communities, all of shared the pain that was common to all. Our politicians and the Tigers scarified many lives in their pursuit of empty soil. Now LTTE fellow - travelers in foreign countries and opportunistic politicians are hell-bent on wiping out remaining Tamils in Sri Lanka by reviving memories about dead Tamils.

The question we are confronted with now is who will come forward to build a country where there is equality among all racial and religious groups. The answer to this question cannot come from India or the US or even Geneva. The Messiah has to emerge for the people, rising from the ashes of the futile war. Let us think good for the good of the country.

Concluded