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| Policy and Information Director,Presidential Secretariat, Lucien Rajakarunanayake. |
By S. V. Kirubaharan, France
I read Lucien
Rajakarunanayake’s article, “Why not a referendum on Kashmir-Eelam?”
published in the Sri Lankan government media, the ‘Daily News’ of 28
April 2012. Even though it is late, I would like to write some
brief comments about this article.
In the past I
have sent a few comments, replies and queries regarding some articles appearing
in the ‘Daily News’. But they were neither published nor did I receive a reply.
Therefore, I don’t want to waste time anymore in sending comments to the ‘Daily
News’.
It is well
known that presently there are only a few independent media in Sri Lanka, and
they are scared to publish anything against the government, especially against
the Rajapaksa family.
Lucien
Rajakarunanayake is not part of the Rajapaksa family, but he is one of the
people who writes and defends the Rajapaksas. Therefore I am sending this to a
few other media.
Firstly, let me briefly outline
Rajakarunanayake’s point of view in “Why not a referendum on
Kashmir-Eelam?” He expects Leaders and the people of Tamil Nadu to shut
their mouth on anything concerning the Tamils in Sri Lanka and to limit their
business to affairs concerning India, including Kashmir”. In other words,
Rajakarunanayake says, “Charity begins at
home”.
Does not then
the same theory apply to Sri Lanka? If so, in March 2001 why was Sri Lanka so
worried when the ruling Taliban destroyed those two giant Buddha statues in
Afghanistan?
Buddhists
in Sri Lanka marched through Colombo protesting against the demolition of these
statues. Then Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga wrote a protest letter
on 05 March 2001 to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan,
“......The
Government of Sri Lanka stands ready and willing to do everything within its own
capacity, and to join all international endeavours, to save from destruction
these objects of particular reverence to Buddhists which, indeed, belong to the
ancient heritage of all mankind.”
During the
demolition of these Buddha statues in Afghanistan, did Rajakarunanayake say to
Buddhists in Sri Lanka, that they should learn to respect other
religions in Sri Lanka before they speak about Buddhist statues in Afghanistan?
Or did he consider Buddhists’ strong sentiments and values regarding their
religion as an exceptional case? Then why does he continue his full moon wolf howls about Leaders from
Tamil Nadu suggesting anything concerning the Tamils in Sri Lanka?
Secondly, he says,
“In any case, Kosovo or Montenegro, South
Sudan or East Timor is not comparable to Sri Lanka”, why? Has he ever gone through each and every case and compared each
of them to the situation of the Tamils, especially in the North and East in Sri
Lanka?
Rajakarunanayake also says, “...........From the time of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to this
day India has rejected any attempt to genuinely resolve the Jammu Kashmir issue,
by not creating the necessary conditions to hold the UN mandated plebiscite -
the vote by which the people of a political unit determine autonomy or
affiliation with another country.”
Well and good, if this is genuinely coming from Rajakarunanayake or
from the Sri Lankan government, then they should have raised this matter in the
UN long before Sri Lanka raised about the Palestinians.
This year on 1st October, Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs referred in the UN General Assembly to “… the restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian
people. Sri Lanka fully supports the implementation of all relevant UN
Resolutions on Palestine that would pave the way for the achievement of
Statehood for the Palestinian people and bring lasting peace to the
region.”
If Rajakarunanayake’s theory is to be accepted, would it not be
correct for the Israelis to tell Sri Lanka to settle the Tamils’ political
problem before they speak about the Palestinians?
Thirdly Rajakarunanayake refers to 38 sites of unmarked graves in North
Kashmir and more than 10,000 missing persons in Kashmir. Concerning this matter,
for anyone to take him seriously, it is worth asking, how many articles has he
written so far about the mass graves or missing persons in Sri Lanka? These are
just full moon wolf howls and ‘crocodile tears’.
Then why does he object to Leaders from Tamil Nadu suggesting
anything concerning the Tamils in Sri Lanka?
Fourthly, he says that
“Looking back at not so distant history, GlobalSecurity.org states: In
1952 the elected and overwhelmingly Muslim Constituent Assembly of Jammu and
Kashmir, led by the popular Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, voted in favour of
confirming accession to India........”.
Looking back at recent history, Rajakarunanayake won’t have forgotten
that the people in the North and East overwhelmingly voted for their right to self-determination in the
general election in 1977. On 8
August 1983, J. R.
Jayewardene’s government enacted the 6th amendment to
the constitution, rejecting the right to self-determination and outlawing the
mandate voted by the Tamils. Rajakarunanayake should not quote and talk about only what is
convenient for his argument to please his masters.
Fifthly, he says, “One cannot forget that the original call for Eelam, by the LTTE, and
its political backers of the TNA had planned an Eelam that included the North
and East, with little concern for the demographics of the East that would have
made such a polity untenable from the outset. “
Being a veteran journalist, Rajakarunanayake should be ashamed to say
that the ‘original call for Eelam (was) by the LTTE....’. It was earlier
than that. I request him to read the recent history before he writes and
speaks falsification.
Before he talks about demographics of the East, he should know the
statistics of the Tamil and Sinhala populations in the East until 1981. For his
information:
Tamil and Sinhala populations in Trincomalee District, Batticaloa
District*
(Until 1963 it includes Amparai within Batticaloa district)
& Amparai District (created in 1963)
|
YEAR
|
Trincomalee District
|
Batticaloa District
|
Amparai District
| |||
|
|
Tamil
|
Sinhala
|
Tamil
|
Sinhala
|
Tamil
|
Sinhala
|
|
1827
|
98.45%
|
1.53%
|
99.62%
|
0.00%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1881
|
90.72%
|
4.21%
|
93.27%
|
4.75%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1891
|
91.44%
|
4.3%
|
93.2%
|
5.21%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1901
|
89.04%
|
4.22%
|
92.34%
|
5.21%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1911
|
90.54%
|
3.82%
|
92.95%
|
3.74%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1921
|
92.13%
|
4.38%
|
93.12%
|
4.56%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1946
|
75.09%
|
20.68%
|
92.55%
|
5.83%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1953
|
78.8%
|
18.22%
|
87.64%
|
11.52%
|
---
|
---
|
|
1963
|
79.25%
|
19.9%
|
95.6%*
|
3.35%
|
70.22%
|
29.34%
|
|
1971
|
70.2%
|
28.8%
|
94.49%
|
4.49%
|
69.47%
|
30.18%
|
|
1981
|
65.38%
|
33.62%
|
95.95%
|
3.21%
|
62.03%
|
37.64
|
Why the delay in a solution to the Kashmiri issue, is a burning
matter of concern to Rajakarunanayake and Sri Lanka, is astonishing! He wouldn’t
have forgotten that his masters maintained a position that “until terrorism is wiped out there cannot be any political solution
to the Tamil ethnic issue”. It is obvious that India is also taking the same position regarding
Kashmir. I am sure; he and his masters will consider this a fair
point.
For Rajakarunanayake’s information, I am in favour of the right to
self-determination - including for Kashmiris and Palestinians. These issues have
to be settled at the earliest in a peaceful manner.
In the Daily News, 18 April 2009, Rajakarunanayake says, "The longer the war, especially when the victory is obvious, the more
civilian casualties. Hence a military solution is, in some circumstances, the
best way to save civilian lives. In general, pacifism disguised as "human
rights" or not, always leads to more death, especially in remote, third world,
small countries vulnerable to the influence of AI or HRW. Ending a war-by force
if need be-protects more civilians than prolonging it under any
pretexts." (Excerpts
For those versed in international human rights law, this is a
shocking view.
Last but not least, Rajakarunanayake says, “Karunanidhi can ... take Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary
Gotabaya Rajapaksas advice and seek to have his unrealized dream of Eelam
established in Tamil Nadu in India ...”.
It is not a surprise that ex-military personnel Gotabaya who has no
knowledge of politics and is responsible for thousands of abductions, killings,
torture, rape, etc says this to Karunannidhi or to any Leader in Tamil Nadu.
What is surprising, is that it was unquestioningly quoted by a veteran
journalist.
Eelam is a name of a ‘territory’ in Sri Lanka, which includes
the North and Eastern part of the island. Eelam could be or may be
provincial/autonomous or an independent state within the island. Asking a Tamil
Nadu Leader to create it in India is purely a fanciful remark, based on
emotions.
Rajakarunanayake says he is in support of meaningful devolution of power
in Sri Lanka, but at the same time he says uncritically, “government today is a coalition that is comprised largely of political
parties that were totally opposed to both the India-Sri Lanka Accord and the
13th amendment. The opposition to it at the time was led by the Sri Lanka
Freedom Party (SLFP), which is the largest constituent of the present
coalition.”
In conclusion, I will say, by talking and writing in the same manner as
Rajakarunanayake, all Sinhala
Buddhist governments have managed for 65
years to achieve their goal with maximum success. If they can manage in
the same manner for another 10 years, there won’t be any more ethnic issue in
Sri Lanka.
This is the reason the people, leaders in Tamil Nadu and India who have
strong linguistic, cultural, religious, social and economic connections in Sri
Lanka are looking in a pragmatic way to sort out the ethnic problem meaningfully
and at the earliest.
The people and the government of India co-operated well with Sri Lanka in
bringing the war to an end. Now there is nothing wrong in them
finding all available mechanisms to find a peaceful solution where all can live
in peace and harmony in Sri Lanka.