By
Ananth Palakidnar
Makkal Thilagam M.G. Ramachandran greeting Mr. Appapillai Amirthalingam & Mrs. Amirthalingam
Dr. A. Baheerathan, son of the late TULF leader, Appapillai Amirthalingam, was in Sri Lanka last week and in an exclusive interview with Ceylon Today traveled extensively ‘down memory lane’ in the North. He was happy to note there were no more cruel deaths on a daily basis and the people were living without the sounds of guns. While regretting the process to find a political solution to the Tamil question is not on the right track yet, he emphasized the government should ensure an early solution is found to stabilize the hard-earned peace.
Excerpts:
Q: You are a son of a leading Tamil politician and you grew up in Jaffna. During your student days you would have seen the best part of Jaffna and later the emergence of the ‘darker period’, which lasted for nearly three decades. What is your impression about present day Jaffna?
A: Well, I am an old student of Jaffna College,Vaddukkoddai and St. John’s College, Jaffna. Later, I entered the Medical Faculty of Peradeniya, where I couldn’t continue with my studies due to the unrest in the country. However, I completed my higher studies in Medicine at the Madurai Medical College in Tamil Nadu.
Soon after the end of the war, I came to Sri Lanka. This is my second visit since the war ended. Infrastructure developments are taking place extensively. People are moving around freely. But, there are plenty of things that have to be done to improve the living conditions of the Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs). When I was in Jaffna, I found a large number of IDPs have not yet been resettled in their original places and their lands have been acquired by the Security Forces. This should be stopped and the IDPs should be allowed to return to their original places. However, I am happy to note there are no more cruel deaths in the North and East and in the island at large. Nowadays, the people are confident they could return home safely without facing any dangerous situations.
Q: The North and East and the country at large suffered immensely for three decades. People in the North and East feel the Tamil militant struggle had not done anything constructive, but everything was destructive. Do you think the Tamil militancy was a wrong approach?
A: The Tamil militancy was an evolution of a political struggle. The Tamils had faced various disappointments in the Tamil political arena and there were communal unrests where the Tamils suffered immensely. Anyhow, the Tamil militants have gone on the wrong track without proper political thinking or the right leadership. The good solutions put forward by India, and later by the International Community to find an amicable solution to the Tamil question were discarded by the militants. The genuine objective of the struggle was ignored. So they had to pay for the mistakes they committed and the innocent civilians became the ‘scapegoat’ in the entire scenario.
India offered a good solution with the Indo-Lanka accord. I still remember the role played by the Tamil moderate leaders, including my late father Amirthalingam to make a success of the Indo-Lanka accord. If that accord had succeeded, and the 13th Amendment had been implemented satisfactorily, our problems would have been settled long ago.
In a special flight from Tiruchirappalli to New Delhi with Rajiv Gandhi, my father and the late M. Sivasithamparam had an extensive discussion with the late Indian Premier to convince him of the merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and on devolving adequate powers to the merged Province.
When the North and East was merged and the Northern and Eastern Provincial council was mooted, the TULF became a dominant political party. My late father even came forward to offer more seats to the LTTE in the Council. The Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) was also present in the North and East to ensure the successful implementation of the accord.
Then again the efforts made by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and the initiatives by Ranil Wickremesinghe with the signing of a memorandum with the LTTE leader, Prabhakaran, had fizzled out as a result of arrogance and no proper political thinking on the part of the Tamil militants. As a result of it all good efforts backfired and now we are back to square one.
Q: How do you see the current state of the Tamil political scene and what sort of a solution will be ideal for the North and East crisis?
A: First of all, the Tamil political parties should shed their differences and stabilize themselves to emphasize on a political solution. Soon after the end of the war there was much expectation from the Tamils of a durable political solution. Even the Tamil expatriates and the International Community expected the political process would be expedited. But nothing happened in the manner the right thinking people expected.
The families of the disappeared persons and the Tamil political prisoners are still agitating to find their loved ones. There are several humanitarian issues to be settled in the North and East. Therefore, instead of blowing the trumpet over winning the war, the government should take action to address the grievances of Tamils.
My kind of political solution is that based on the 13th Amendment, a solution should be enhanced further. The Tamil moderate politicians and the Indian ‘think tanks’ such as G. Parthasarathy had put in substantial efforts in bringing about the Indo-Lanka accord. It had everything to devolve adequate powers to the merged North and East.
Even my late father was confident by implementing the Indo-Lanka accord with Indian support, the North and East crisis could be solved amicably. Therefore, the future effort could also be based on the 13th Amendment and further. What we see now is several things included in the 13th Amendment have been stripped off including the North and East merger. So, the need of the hour is to expedite the peace process and to arrive at an early solution for the betterment of Tamils and the country at large.
Q: You are a medical practitioner in the UK. With your political background what do you think about the hue and cry made by the Tamil expatriates abroad over the Lankan Tamil issues?
A: The majority of Tamil expatriates nowadays have experienced the brunt of the war. So, they have their reasons to agitate as most of them have lost their kith and kin, and their assets in their original places in the island. Therefore, we cannot simply turn a blind eye towards them. What I want from the expatriates is, while they insist on improving the humanitarian issues, they should also speak out for a meaningful solution instead of being disoriented. First of all we should understand the ground realities. The people who suffered during the three decades of war must live peacefully. They cannot afford another ruthless era. The expatriates should speak out for a dignified political solution for the Tamils and they should come forward to assist the people, especially the orphans and the war widows to lead a peaceful life.
Q: What do you think about the Tamil Nadu factor and the sentiments expressed towards the Tamil issues from the State?
A: We cannot forget the role played by Tamil Nadu and India when the Tamils in the island are affected by ethnic clashes. Tamil Nadu gave shelter to hundreds of thousands of Lankan Tamils and still there are Tamil refugees in the State. However, Tamil Nadu is more emotional towards what is happening in the island with regard to Tamil issues. Since the war has come to an end, the Tamil Nadu politicians could also play their part in a manner by bringing about a durable solution to the Lankan crisis without fanning extremism.
Q: You were in Jaffna a week ago. How did the people respond to you when they realized that you were the son of the late Amirthalingam?
A: It was moving. Some of them had even come from faraway places to see me. They remembered my father as a politician who had sacrificed his life to fulfil the political aspirations of Tamils.
I went to my ancestral home in Vaddukoddai. I was very sad to note a vast collection of my father’s books in his study have been destroyed. The collection of pictures with important political figures and the letters written to him by prominent people were lost. Only the picture he had taken with former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had remained in a corner. We talk about the burning of the Jaffna Public Library. But our house and the collection of books and other important documents have been destroyed by the LTTE. The house was used by LTTE theoretician, Anton Balasingham and the outfit’s political stalwart Yogaratnam Yogi.
Q: Have you any idea of entering politics?
A: Better not. I have already engaged in humanitarian activities to help the children affected by war. I am currently managing a charitable institution registered in the UK to assist children affected by war. During my stay in the North, I went around and saw the plight of the people affected by war. It is pathetic. We must do our best to give the best opportunities to the affected children. They should have a bright future. Therefore, the people in the island as well as the expatriates should help generously for the betterment of the people disillusioned by war.
COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY