The uprising...and the hope

        I do not endorse the method LTTE chief Prabhakaran chose to protest against the crimes against his people. Neither did the Srilankan military. That’s how the 2009 Eelam war came about where several thousands of innocent Tamils were killed. A war, of course, claims lives. But nothing explains the photos released by channel 4. Death by accident is clearly not what killed Balachander. The eyes of the 12 year old sitting in the bunker having a snack, only to be killed in cold blood in less than 2 hours, haunted us more than we could bear (I couldn’t help but cry for 2 hours straight) and have caused this uprising in Tamil Nadu by students and public alike, though three years too late.

      The indifference to Srilankan Tamils is what formed the radical group LTTE in the first place. If this issue was sorted earlier, we wouldn’t have lost Rajiv Gandhi. When Salman Khurshid says we can’t act as big brother to any other country, I can’t help but say WHAT A BIG FAT LIE it is. India has always kept a tab on what happens in its neighbouring countries! 

In fact, India has

-fought with Pakistan to help Bangladesh in what was a full-fledged war,

-recognised sovereignty of far off countries,

-given refuge to politicians and artists of neighbouring states (think of Maldives president Nasheed, writer Taslima Nasreen)

-sent peace keeping forces and deployed its army to countries at war including Bangladesh.

But its indifference to Srilanka is quite disturbing since whatever India has done in the past (deployment of its army, peace keeping forces, peace talks to declare ceasefire) have all failed.

      Mahinda Rajapaksa is a war criminal and so is his defence secretary brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. But they’re given a heroes’ welcome whenever they visit India. Ours is a nation that hanged the likes of Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab. I can’t fathom why Rajapaksa is treated differently. Is it because those horrid crimes against humanity happened in another man’s land and not ours?

      India is the biggest country in the South- west Asian region. When a country like Srilanka is able to get away with so many killings of Tamil fishermen (by its navy), it makes us question whether India is really as powerful as it is shown to be. A valid point’s made in the Tamil movie ‘Neerparavai. 

'Whenever a fisherman off the coast of Tamil Nadu is killed by the Srilankan navy for breaching its borderline, the news is treated as death of a Tamil fisherman and not of an Indian fisherman thus depriving the news of national attention and the death is localised.'

     If India had intervened earlier, several lives could have been saved. Now it’s hesitating to even second the resolution America has brought up in Geneva. Politicians in TN, with a few exceptions are all hypocrites wanting to make use of the commotion to up their vote banks. The DMK has pulled out of UPA out of no reason. If it was for the cause, they could’ve pulled all strings when they were in power but they didn’t. As far the ruling party, the CM wants to blame the centre. Announcing holidays for Colleges was a move to limit the agitation but why are the students involved in such protests warned that there won’t be passports and government jobs for them?

     Students have come to the streets for a cause and it’s not about making changes in the proposed resolution. They want votes to be taken to form a separate Eelam and demand rehabilitation for what remains of the Tamils in Srilanka.

      What happened in Srilanka was absolute genocide. You needn’t be a Tamil to see that. Why did a certain Muthukumar immolate himself? Why did Prabhakaran turn to arms to seek justice? Why do Nalini, Murugan and co. rot in Indian prison? Why did we have to lose a prime minister? Why did 2 lakh innocent people lose their lives? What is to become of the remaining Tamil population in Sri Lanka and the refugees in coastal towns of TN?  Hope the ongoing upsurge helps to find answers and ease the pain off the unhealed and bereaved souls, by giving them what is rightfully theirs – their lives.