Post LTTE Sri Lanka – The Innocent Tamils Must Not Be Confused With The LTTE Cadres

First, a bagful of congratulations for the brave hearts of the Sri Lankan army, for ultimately achieving (it is now just a matter of time) what they have been trying to achieve for such a long time – the elimination of LTTE menace, thus bringing peace for their beautiful mother land. Having grown up in India, a country so badly affected by terrorism, I have witnessed since my childhood how unhesitatingly our soldiers and other security personnel shed their blood for protecting their countrymen from the peril of terrorism, and thus fully understand the value of the service delivered by the gutsy Sri Lankan soldiers for their beloved countrymen. Our Sri Lankan friends, brothers and sisters must feel proud that they have such a courageous army.

Now, with the LTTE being on the verge of final crumbling, it is time to think over a crucial question - what will be the status of the ethnic Tamils in the post-LTTE Sri Lanka?

While discussing this question, the very first thing that we all must understand is that the innocent Tamils of Sri Lanka have absolutely no connections with the dreaded LTTE. So, any attempt to treat these Tamil civilians as a part of that terrorist group will be absolutely outrageous. Rather, the truth is that they are the most hapless people in that country. On one hand they have suffered due to the LTTE menace in the same way that their Sinhalese brothers have suffered (in fact, the Tamils have suffered more, as there was forced grafting of young children by the LTTE). And on the other hand, ironically, they have faced hatred and malice from the Sinhalese community just for the “crime” of belonging to the same community that Prabhakaran and his followers come from.

Our Sinhalese friends absolutely cannot be blamed for developing an ill-feeling for their fellow Tamil countrymen. When a country suffers from terrorism, it is very natural for the people of that country to develop a feeling of malice against the people of that community from where the terrorist group draws most of its strength. The LTTE, the self-proclaimed messiah of the Sri Lankan Tamils, have sucked the blood of the Sri Lankans for such a long time. And it is quite natural that the ordinary Sinhalese people are not very much fond of the ethnic Tamils of that country. It is just the outcome of a basic human emotion.

However, an emotion can not be justified simply because it is a natural development. Our Sinhalese brothers and sisters must understand that whereas they have certainly gone through a terribly bad phase due to LTTE’s mindless activities, the innocent Tamils of that country were by no means responsible for that. Therefore, under no circumstances our dear Sinhalese friends should channelize their justified anger against LTTE towards their Tamil brothers and sisters, who, I repeat, have been the victims of LTTE menace in the same way as they themselves have been.

Rather, I will request them to welcome their fellow Tamil countrymen with cordiality and warmth, helping the latter to overcome the unnecessary complex and guilty feeling that they are suffering from for being from the community that LTTE has claimed to be fighting for. As I have already said that the Sri Lankan Tamils have actually been worse sufferers in comparison to the Sinhalese, because they have faced the double blow of being the victim of LTTE menace and also being suspected of collaborating with the same. What they now need (and rightfully deserve) is sympathy and love of their Sinhalese friends, and not malice and hatred.

Our Sinhalese brothers and sisters must ensure that their fellow Tamil countrymen can continue to live in their mother land with equal dignity and status, without facing any unjustified discrimination or malice. Let us not forget it that while nobody can justify what LTTE has done in this beautiful country for so many years, it did get a space to grow because there were indeed some discriminations against the ethnic Tamils. The Sri Lankan history is replete with proofs and evidences that for long the ethnic Tamils had been treated like “second class citizens”. And it was this constant discrimination that resulted in a strong grievance among the community, which eventually resulted in the monster called LTTE.

Therefore, our beloved Sinhalese friends must ensure that there is no more such discriminations and injustice against the ethnic Tamils, and that they are treated absolutely at par with their Sinhalese brothers. Now with the long elusive peace being there in the horizon, the Sinhalese and the Tamil communities of the country must start working hand-in-hand for the utmost development of this beautiful gem on the Indian Ocean, a spectacular country that I will love to visit someday.

Photo Courtesy - www.daylife.com

Tytler Case: A Small Specimen Of Social Justice

No, I have nothing personal against Mr Jagdish Tytler. Neither I have anything personal against Mr. Sajjan Kumar. But honestly, I could not help warmly welcoming it when they were forced to withdraw from the Lok Sabha elections.

With due respect to Mr. Tytler, it would have really been a matter of disgrace for the Indian democracy if he got the opportunity to contest, and then could manage to become a Minister later. I am saying this not only because he was accused of a particular crime. Rather, I am trying to highlight the nature of the crime that he was accused of. It was not extortion. It was not a forgery. It was not a scam. It was rioting. It was carnage. It was a crime that was associated with the massacre (mainly spontaneous, but somewhat planned as well) of a huge number of innocent people. And no such person can be permitted to be a member of our national legislature who has been accused of being involved with such a heinous crime, even if he has been given a clean chit by the court.

Surely, Mr. Tytler has a very valid point to make. We cannot be sure about a person’s involvement with a crime or misdeed simply because he has been accused. There are lots of instances when a person is wrongly (or even falsely) accused of being involved with an unlawful act. Therefore, we cannot be absolutely sure that Mr. Tytler was involved with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 simply because he was accused to be.

Fair enough. But then, as per the same logic, we cannot be sure about a person’s innocence simply because he has been acquitted by the court of law. While a person can get wrongly accused because of some circumstantial factors, similarly a person can get wrongly acquitted because of some factors like absence of witness, absence of strong evidence, etc.

While we cannot confidently say that Mr. Tytler’s acquittal was wrong, can we be confident that it was a correct decision? It is significant that the court has acquitted Mr. Tyler of the charges not because it has got some strong evidence in favour of his innocence, but because it has not found any strong evidence against him. And yes, that does make a difference!

There is another aspect of the story. We all know that our Sikh brothers and sisters have not yet been able to overcome the trauma of 1984, for pretty understandable reasons. Even the Sikh youths born after 1984 are aware of the carnage (they have heard about it from their elders), and are as sensitive about it as are the ones who experienced it personally. The gravity of the community’s pain and agony can be understood by what Mr. Jarnail Singh did other day. It must be remembered that Jarnail is not a hot-blooded teenager. He is a 30 plus educated professional, an experienced journalist for that matter, and a family man. If a person from such a background does something like this, we can pretty well understand what a terrible pain this community is suffering from.

Now, while their entire pain cannot be cured overnight, some steps can surely be taken to bring at least some partial healing. Something that will help them have this consolation that “OK, we have got some justice, at least a little one”.

And this forced withdrawal of Mr. Tytler from the Lok Sabha election will certainly provide such a partial healing to the Sikh community (of course, it is much less than satisfactory). After the level of anguish the community has gone through for such a long time, even such a partial healing is highly precious. And even if we accept that Mr. Tytler is innocent, his candidature cannot be more precious than the faint healing touch that his withdrawal will offer to our Sikh friends. It would have been a terrible emotional blow for the community if Mr. Tytler were permitted to contest the election. And that could have snowballed into some larger problems. Let us not forget that nothing can be more dangerous for a country than a long-suppressed feeling of anger and frustration in a community.

Mr. Tytler, you are an educated and decent man. And you certainly give more value to the emotional feelings of a community than your own political career, right? Then you should be happy that you are not contesting this time. While you are a nice person (at least apparently), you are not known to be a great administrator or leader. So India will not lose anything if you do not become an MP and do not become a Minister. But a community will get some partial satisfaction that you are not contesting this time. And that is really valuable. So, be happy! Whatever has happened, it has happened for good.

Photo Courtesy - news.outlookindia.com

The Recent Disturbances in Pakistan – Is The ISI-Army Combination Behind It?

It may sound a bit outrageous, but somehow I cannot help having this feeling that the ISI-Army combination might have been behind all the recent disturbances in Pakistan, which started with the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers, and had the latest development today (4th April 2009) with explosion in Islamabad.

It is very much possible that by engineering all these disturbances the ISI-Army is trying to send this message to the Pakistani mass that the elected civilian government is an extremely weak and incompetent one, which is completely unable to offer minimum security to the citizens. The image of the Zardari-Gillani government has already been in tatters, with the government hardly enjoying any public confidence.

Under these circumstances the ISI-Army combination is probably trying to give the final touch to the “funeral” of the civilian government. It is probably trying to push the common people to the end of their patience. And then, when it will feel that the time has come, it will go for a military coup, thus bringing back the Army into power (I mean, bringing back the Army into power officially. It is already the de facto ruler of Pakistan, right?).

This doubt is getting momentum as I find that the Pakistani investigative agencies are directly or indirectly trying to frame RAW (the Indian secret agency) for these unfortunate developments that I am referring to. It is after all a common knowledge that enhancing the anti-India feeling of the common Pakistanis will ultimately help to enhance the war hysteria, which will significantly facilitate any attempt to revive the Army’s official control on the government.

Finally, my heartfelt condolences for all the bereaved families of Pakistan who have lost their dear ones in all these attacks.