Jaffna Kilinochchi Election results and maintaining the Tamil identity.

Election results of Jaffna and Vavunia in the Northern Provincial Council were regrettable. It showed a complete disregard for the Government’s effort, at a terrible cost of human lives and loss of material, to relieve the Tamil people of the North from the 30 years of terrorism and bring peace and prosperity to them.

The government continues to develop the North in all fronts to provide the Tamil people of the North a better living condition hitherto deprived, because of the virulence of terrorism. No one of the Sinhala Community has questioned the government’s continued effort to provide the best possible relief for the Tamil people of the North.

But yet it appears the Tamil Community of the North prefer the suffering under terrorism rather than to live well in peace and prosperity under a generous National Government, which demands nothing other than a communal unity to build a new Nation of Sri Lankans.

During terrorism and now nearly three months after the elimination of terrorism from the soil of Sri Lanka, no Tamil voice had been heard speaking of Unity or an expressions of willingness to work together with the other Communities to help the Government in its development projects. But on the other hand, there had been no lack of voices of hatred condemning the government and the Sinhala people . There is nothing new in this Tamil hatred, with an undercurrent of a hypocritical show of acceptance.

There was a time when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party lead by N.M.Perera called for Unity of all Communities and contested elections calling for equal rights for all Sri Lankans. Even then Jaffna elected only one LSSP candidate, showing even then their unwillingness to cooperate with any one outside their Communal identity.

The Sinhala mothers willingly allowed their sons to be sent to the jaws of the terrorists wolves to fight and defeat them to save the thousands of Tamil compatriots who were suffering under the jack boot of terrorism. How many young Sinhala youth died in this war to save the Tamil civil population, and prevent the country from being divided to set up a fascist regime by the ruthless savage terrorists?

Sri Lanka Sinhala Community is not vindictive, they cannot be blamed today for what happened before. Often repeated riots of 1983 was also begun by the terrorists, and it went against their own people. In any such situation there are certain elements who either for profit or through uncontrolled emotions react without seeking to understand the reality. The actions of such elements should not be allowed to sully a whole Community.

That was the past, but thereafter the Sinhala people did not allow themselves to be moved to take revenge from Tamils in the face of numerous atrocities committed by the terrorists against the innocent young and old Sinhala people of the border villages, or for numerous assassinations of the political leaders.

The Tamils who keep on blaming for what happened in 1983, are not willing to pay tribute to the patience and wisdom of the Sinhala people for not reacting to those subsequent events to go on a rampage of killing as it was in 1983 to take revenge from the innocent Tamils. It is human to show anger and condemn when atrocities have been committed against a Community, but it is also human to praise and be thankful when a Community protects and takes care of other Communities. But Tamil Community has failed to display that natural human reaction, for what was positive and praiseworthy..

There is no reason for the Tamil Community to dislike the Sinhala. Sinhala people do not harbour any grudge or hatred towards the Tamil. In that situation why is this animosity of the Tamils towards the Sinhala. It could perhaps be accepted from less educated, but to see even the educated Tamils like Kumar David, Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu or Narapalasinghams having the same reaction of the less educated is difficult to understand.

It appears this dislike for the Sinhala comes from the fact that the Sinhala are the majority. Being in the minority, they take the Sinhala being the majority as an affront to their Tamilness. Hence, the desire of the Tamils to set up a homeland where they would be in the majority, or ask for more devolution of political power so that they will be equal to the Sinhala, if not in numbers, at least in political power.

The Sinhala, perhaps because they are the majority do not willingly flaunt the fact of their being the majority. It is only the Tamils who seem to be unable to forget the fact of the Sinhala being the majority. The Sinhala do not wait others to come forward to join them to defend the country, or the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim Communities when they are in danger. In the war against the terrorists, no Tamils came forward to fight terrorism along side the Sri Lanka army . But they would rather fight along with the terrorists or secretly expected them to win.

Therefore, one wanders where lies the allegiance of the Tamils. It is time that the Tamil intelligentsia make a re-evaluation of their fact of being citizens of Sri Lanka along with the Sinhala and the Muslims, and change their attitude to accept their motherland with all that it contains, including the Sinhala and the Muslim Communities, and become a part of the same motherland.

In that respect the proposal to have Political Parties with out ethnic reference was a good move, but again the Tamils have spoken against it for no other reason, perhaps other than to be separate from the Sinhala, maintaining their identity intact.