by
Dilrukshi Handunnetti
Similar to the time when Sri Lanka stepped up the military engagements in 2008 against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), when some 11 citizens of Tamil Nadu sacrificed their lives in dramatic form for the Tamil cause – in one week, two more lives have been lost, in similar fashion and for the same cause.
Vikram, the latest victim, died on Thursday night from severe burn injuries, while earlier this month, Mani of Cuddalore District died after he set himself ablaze, demanding action against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for alleged war crimes committed against Sri Lankan Tamils. Even before their deaths, lawyers in Chennai held their own protests, while different groups and Tamil Nadu politicians demonstrated on their own, showcasing an entire Indian State’s anger towards Sri Lanka. Just two days ago, in the temple town of Madurai and elsewhere, activist groups and lawyers once again took to the streets, demanding justice for Sri Lanka’s Tamil community.
It is an understatement to state that in Tamil Nadu, self-immolation is a strong and popular form of protest, practised more often than elsewhere in India. Or, Sri Lankans, given the geographical proximity and the regular tension between Tamil Nadu and Colombo, feel that way. Whatever it is, it is a popular yet senseless form of political protest in Tamil Nadu, still largely alien to Sri Lanka – and a good thing too.
Whatever the reason that compels innocent Tamils to take their own lives in this manner, they were either directly or indirectly linked to the present day politics in Tamil Nadu.
Providing the ideal setting
With the US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka poised for adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva last week, Tamil Nadu went completely berserk, with certain fringe groups unleashing violence against innocent Sri Lankans. But that is Tamil Nadu, a volatile State with a penchant for violent expression of dissent, especially over political matters. Yet, it is not just the people of Tamil Nadu but more to do with the highly-charged political leadership of the State that provides the ideal setting for such violent reactions.
Two Buddhist monks, who in the eyes of the world, are symbolic of the Sinhala Buddhist identity (easily identified by their saffron robes), came under attack within the space of three days. These violent acts have been condemned by most but there has been no official apology, not for this or the number of other occasions when Sri Lankans have been at the mercy of Tamil Nadu mobs vengefully attacking the visitors.
As Geneva warmed, closer to the vote on the US resolution, Tamil Nadu began to boil, with students taking to streets, immediately finding resonance among the Sri Lankan Disapora in many European cities who began staging protests in their respective cities.
With tension running high, Sri Lanka has now issued a travel warning against Sri Lankans visiting Tamil Nadu or transiting through the volatile State, requiring those who have no option but to travel to Tamil Nadu to immediately establish contact with the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai through a hotline facility.
“We are operational 24 hours. Sri Lankans who wish to get in touch can do so, irrespective of the time of flight landing,” a High Commission official said.
Tension increased when 46-year-old Ven. Gnanaloka Thera, accompanied by a group of 18 students from India, Myanmar and Nepal, on an archeological research assignment came under attack by an angry, youthful mob in Thanjavur a week ago. While police protection was immediately provided to assist the monk to safely leave Thanjavur, many Sri Lankans who are either working or studying in India are feeling the heat. Many feel unsafe and are reluctant to undertake any type of travel within India. “It is as if our passports are no longer valid here. As students, we have merged well with Indian students and hardly feel any difference. But looking at how students in Tamil Nadu are reacting to Sri Lankans, we feel unsafe within the university student community,” Anushi Illangakoon, a second-year student of the Delhi-based, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said.
It is indeed the students in Tamil Nadu who have managed to surprise everyone by identifying themselves with the Tamil cause.
“Perhaps they have shown that they can pressurize the political parties, the State and Central Governments on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. But do they need to turn violent to raise the issue?” asks Ven. Ampitiye Mahanama Thera, a monk who is a frequent traveller to Buddhist sites in India.
While Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is likely to ignore the rowdy protests as much as possible, and indeed enjoy the role of powerful aggressor, last Friday, even the Rajya Sabha was made to feel the heat, when DMK and AIADMK members began agitating and soon turned violent – finally breaking the Chairperson’s mike.
New Delhi’s failure to tinker
The alleged cause for the protest was the US resolution being weak and New Delhi’s reluctance or failure, or both, to tinker liberally with the resolution before it finally went to vote.
Just days before, adding to the sense of drama – at long last – Muthuvel Karunanidhi, on the eve of the motion, withdrew his Party’s support for the Congress-led Alliance. Before him, more persistent had been
V. Gopalasamy alias Vaiko ( who probably holds a Guinness record for the highest number of anti-Sri Lanka protests in human history) and many others.
Indeed, the most surprising had been the adoption of this political cause by the student community in Tamil Nadu who have been protesting continuously for two days, carrying placards of Balachandran, the slain 12-year-old son of Velupillai Prabhakaran and consistently agitating for international action against the island’s political leadership.
In the meantime, many Sri Lankans who had plans to visit Tamil Nadu as tourists or pilgrims, a prime source of revenue for the State, have cancelled their trips following the travel advisory issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Meanwhile, diplomats, employees and students from Sri Lanka are said to be discussing their matter of safety in different Indian cities, but more so in Delhi and Chennai, where the country maintains two diplomatic missions.
“We have informed Sri Lankans to immediately get in touch – or to reach the diplomatic compound,” an official from the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi said. “Safety is our foremost concern. Travel plans are secondary,” he said.
COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY