{"id":52129,"date":"2017-04-03T01:11:40","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T05:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=52129"},"modified":"2017-04-03T01:21:50","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T05:21:50","slug":"tamil-nationalist-politics-and-the-process-of-traitorization-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=52129","title":{"rendered":"Tamil  Nationalist Politics and the  Process of &#8220;Traitorization&#8221; in  Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/archives\/52129\" data-layout=\"button_count\" data-action=\"like\" data-show-faces=\"true\" data-share=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>By<br \/>\n D.B.S.Jeyaraj<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_51611\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51611\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/RS-0223.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" height=\"181\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51611\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51611\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rajavarothayam Sampanthan<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Octogenarian leader of the opposition Rajavarothayam Sampanthan in a   hard hitting Parliamentary speech  made four weeks ago drew attention to the prevailing practice of  persons being condemned  as Traitors (Drohi\/Thurogi) within the  sphere of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalist Politics. The Trincomalee district MP who is also the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader  made specific reference to the  recent attacks on TNA Jaffna district MP  Mathiaparanam Abraham Sumanthiran by defeated  political rivals. Here are a few excerpts from Sampanthan&#8217;s speech during the adjournment motion debate on February 22nd 2017 &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My Friend Mr. Sumanthiran has been accused of being traitorous by some Tamil Leaders who have been resoundingly rejected at the last Parliamentary Elections, some persons whose party polled around 15,000 votes. Mr. Sumanthiran got four times that number of votes in Jaffna.I have got the particulars with me. That whole party did not poll 15,000 votes. Mr. Sumanthiran polled four times that vote by himself \u2013 preference votes. Today, he is being called a \u201ctraitor\u201d because he is working with the Government. We look upon Mr. Sumanthiran as a very useful Member of Parliament performing valuable service on behalf of the people, and we want that to be recognized. But, he is being attacked. He is being attacked because these persons who were resoundingly rejected by the people in 2015 are using your failure to do what you must do by the people as the ground for attacking people like Mr. Sumanthiran and me and others too, even Mr. Senathirajah&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_51609\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51609\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/MAS-0223.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"547\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51609\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51609\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">M A Sumanthiran MP<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;There has been a report filed by the police in the Kilinochchi Magistrate\u2019s Court where they have definitely stated that there was an attempt at assassination of Mr. Sumanthiran. That is a matter of record, nobody can deny that. Some people are calling him \u201cDrohi\u201d. It is a very unbecoming word. It is a word that is inciting violence. Why are you calling him \u201cDrohi\u201d. Is it because he is working on our Constitutional Proposals along with me and others?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tamil people are not protesting in support of you? Tamil people are protesting on account of wrongs being done to them by the Sri Lankan Government. They want that to stop. These jokers who could not even win one seat, could not come even close to one seat. They came long after us, we polled 200,000 votes, they polled 15,000 votes. They came after the EPDP; they came after the UNP and they came after the UPFA. They were totally rejected by the Tamil people.&#8221;<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThe Tamil political party being targeted in Sampanthan&#8217;s speech as &#8220;jokers who could not even win one seat or even come close to one seat&#8221; was the All-Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) contesting under the cycle symbol. Despite being  resoundingly rejected at the August 2015 elections ,the party leader, Gangaesar Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has been leading the verbal attacks against the TNA notably Sampanthan and Sumanthiran. Gajendrakumar as he is generally known has been particularly vicious against fellow lawyer Sumanthiran accusing the TNA spokesperson of being a traitor to the Tamils.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When details of a plot to assassinate Sumanthiran was uncovered by the  Police Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) Gajendrakumar  Ponnambalam ridiculed it as a drama orchestrated by Sumanthiran..  Gajendrakumar was left with a lot of &#8220;Muttai&#8221;(egg) on his face when Police produced five  former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) as suspects in courts and  filed an exhaustive report about the assassination conspiracy targeting Sumanthiran. Security too was intensified for Sumanthiran and Sampanthan.The Special Task Force(STF)was placed in charge of their personal security.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_44510\" style=\"width: 305px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44510\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/GGP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"295\" height=\"182\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44510\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-44510\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">TNPF Leader Ganjendrakumar Ponnambalam<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Gajendrakumar then started saying that the  abortive assassination attempt   was a drama enacted by &#8220;military intelligence&#8221; to provide valid grounds to enhance Sumanthiran&#8217;s personal security. Gajendrakumar alleged that the &#8220;traitorous&#8221; Sumanthiran was unable to face the Tamil people due to his treachery. It appears that Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam&#8217;s persistent efforts to &#8220;traitorize&#8221; the TNA in general and Sumanthiran in particular  had  impelled Sampanthan to lash out at the ACTC.<\/p>\n<p>Sampanthan&#8217;s concern and indignation  over the  unfair usage of the Thurogi or Traitor label is quite understandable. Past Tamil politics is replete with instances of persons being character assassinated as traitors and then being  physically assassinated. There was however a lull after the  tigers were militarily defeated in May 2009. Thereafter  killings ceased but the practice of traitorizing continued . The TNA has been cooperating with the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Govt to a great extent in  the exercise of drafting a new Constitution. It is being attacked as traitors for that. The plot to assassinate Sumanthiran coupled with Gajendrakumar&#8217;s consistent cry of &#8220;traitor&#8221; should be viewed seriously. It must be remembered that Gajendrakumar&#8217;s father Gasinather Gangaesar Ponnambalam known as Kumar Ponnambalam used to attack Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam as traitor before the reputed Constitutional lawyer cum MP was blown up by the LTTE in 1999.<\/p>\n<p>The process of traitorization in Tamil nationalist politics is a phenomenon about which I have written about earlier. &#8220;Traitorization&#8221; has  usually been  a prelude to assassination in the Tamil  nationalist political sphere. With the military defeat of the LTTE,&#8221;traitorization&#8221; lost much of its  lethal venom. The assassination plot against Sumanthiran MP indicates that traitorization of a lethal nature  is trying to raise its ugly head again. It is in this context therefore that I focus  again on the recurrent phenomenon of traitorization relying to some extent on my earlier writings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Traitors or &#8220;Thurogigal&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTraitorization\u201d is a terrible  \u201cGoebbelsian\u201d  process by which political rivals are  falsely portrayed or depicted as traitors. I use the word traitorization instead of treachery or treason in order to differentiate between those who are actually treacherous or  are really committing treason as opposed to those  being accused unfairly or being  labelled  wrongly as \u201ctraitorous\u201d  or traitors. The reality is that most  persons dubbed  as traitors  or \u201cthurogigal\u201d by their political opponents are not \u201cguilty\u201das charged and  do not deserve such a description.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cTraitor\u201d label   in contemporary Tamil political discourse refers generally to Tamils  accused of  working against  what is depicted as the &#8220;true&#8221;  Tamil cause and\/or collaborating with the enemy. Concrete proof of such conduct is not necessary. What is required is a massive propaganda  effort by which the cry, &#8220;traitor&#8221;, is repeated incessantly at multiple levels as advocated by  Herr Goebbels in Nazi Germany. It was Adolf Hitler\u2019s propaganda minister Paul Joseph Goebbels  who stated \u201cIf you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it\u201d. Repeating the charge traitor continuously is the modus operandi of traitorization  in Tamil National politics. \u201cCry Traitor\u201d and let slip the dogs  of propaganda war!<\/p>\n<p>Tamil Nationalist Politics made use of the Goebbels technique liberally in dubbing those perceived political rivals as traitors. Merely holding a different political view was sufficient to be called traitors to the cause or collaborators with the enemy. The &#8220;problematique&#8221; was that both the cause and enemy were difficult to define clearly. Moreover, the nature of the cause as well as the identity of enemy underwent changes periodically. Despite these fluctuations, what remained constant was the practice of traitorization. Success in the traitorization process was not determined by the substance  of truth but by the ability to  propagate what  was supposed to be the truth. It was not the absolute truth or superior idea that prevailed in the hurly &#8211;  burly  of Tamil Nationalist politics. What succeeded ultimately  was the  powerful propaganda of one side   to  paint the other as traitor.<\/p>\n<p>The  absurd logic followed  in this  traitorization exercise  could even  be viewed as  farcical but for the fact that the process  gradually assumed a drastic form . When people got killed as traitors it was no longer a comical exercise. It became tragic. The tragedy in Tamil politics is that this process of traitorization has led to large scale killings of politicians, govt. officials, Police and defence personnel, media personalities etc,  as traitors by contending political groups.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Killed Without Killing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Also countless persons, though not  killed  physically have been \u201ckilled without killing\u201d(Nomaraa maru\/Kollaamal Kondru)by character assassination as traitors. Almost all Tamil political groups and organizations have engaged in traitorization but the lion\u2019s share in physically exterminating people as traitors  goes to the tigers. It is a sad fact that  the cream of Tamil society was destroyed extensively as traitors by the  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE).Members of the Tamil political elite  killed by the Tigers outnumber  those killed by the Sri Lankan or Indian armed forces.<\/p>\n<p>In contemporary  times, the evolution and growth of representative democracy in Sri Lanka  saw the term \u2018throgi\u2019 or traitor being bandied about liberally and rather loosely . Politicians of all communities have at times accused their rivals of being traitors to the people or towards  their \u201cjust\u201d causes.This  tendency however has been more pronounced and deeply embedded amidst the Sri Lankan Tamil polity.<\/p>\n<p>Ever since universal franchise and territorial representation shattered the Tamil self-perception of being equal to the Sinhala \u2018numerical\u2019 majority, the nature of Tamil politics underwent transformation.The underlying thread of Tamil politics became political emancipation. Be it balanced representation, responsive co-operation, federalism, regional autonomy or separatism &#8211; it was the discourse of Tamil liberation that dominated the polity.<\/p>\n<p>The growing community consciousness and the high premium placed on ethnic solidarity created a situation where the people at large were expected to strike common course on political issues. \u2018Ottrumai\u2019 or unity became the dominant cry.<\/p>\n<p>It was seen as the most convenient mode of mobilizing votes for a particular party on an ethnic basis. It was also easy to label any Tamil involved with Sinhala dominated parties &#8211; be they nationalist or leftist &#8211; as being collaborationist with negative connotations.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, anyone differing or seen as deviating from whatever dominant political opinion within the Tamils was depicted as betraying the cause and community. They were described as weeds that had to be \u2018weeded out\u2019 (kalaieduppu).In the early days, this weeding-out of political rivals depicted as traitors was strictly electoral. They had to be defeated at the polls and nothing more. It was also easier to undermine those in power through this type of propaganda.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tamil Unity Emphasised<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Another  aspect of traitorization  was the emphasis on Tamil unity. It was argued that  Tamils should unite and  rally around a single political formation or party. In short, everyone should vote for \u201cTHE\u201dparty. Other parties cutting into these Tamil votes were engaging in traitorous activity it was alleged. Only candidates from \u201cTHE\u201dparty should be supported and  elected. If not \u201ctraitors\u201d from  other  parties would be elected was the rationale.<\/p>\n<p>When democratic politics gave way to armed militancy, this emphasis on Tamil unity continued. \u201cKatchi\u201d(party)gave way to \u201cIyakkam\u201d (movement). Only \u201cTHE\u201d movement should be supported to demonstrate Tamil unity. Other movements were traitorous.This attitude soon led to skirmishes and then to fratricidal warfare. Youths who thought they were sacrificing their lives at the altar of Tamil Eelam found themselves being butchered as alleged traitors. The same Tamil society which exalted one group of militants as great heroes allowed other groups of militants to be massacred as traitors.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18302\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18302\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/GGSJV031413-150x105.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"105\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-18302\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-18302\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">G.G. Ponnambalam &#038; S.J.V. Chelvanayagam<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Apart from the moral question as to what right anyone has to dub someone a traitor and kill him or her,  there is  also the terrible  fact that most of those killed as traitors  did not fit that description at all. They were mostly people holding different political views from those opposing them. In many instances  those projected as traitors were seen as impediments to the progress of others in political terms. Politicians would promise the moon and get votes. They would then  give excuses for their inability to deliver by blaming opponents as traitors. It is because of these traitors that we are unable to reach the promised land was the lament.<\/p>\n<p>Arguably the Tamil politician who first promoted the practice of traitorizing political rivals or opponents was Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam&#8217;s grandfather Ganapathipillai Gangaesar Ponnambalam or GG Ponnambalam (snr).At the tail end of British rule G.G. Ponnambalam and his party the  All-Ceylon Tamil Congress demanded a scheme of balanced representation popularly known as \u201cfifty-fifty. This was unacceptable to the Soulbury commission which granted a dominion constitution. When elections were held in 1947  G.G. Ponnambalam and the Tamil Congress got the better of Sir. Arunachalam Mahadeva and the UNP Tamil candidates  by calling those  Tamils who supported the Soulbury Constitution traitors.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_46290\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-46290\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/vn-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-46290\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-46290\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">V.Navaratnam<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After Independence dawned the pragmatic Ponnambalam changed his stance to \u201cresponsive cooperation\u201d. He joined the Government and became Industries and Fisheries minister. Then it became Ponnambalam\u2019s turn to be called traitor by S.J.V. Chelvanayagam and the federalists after GG  became a Minister in D.S. Senanayake\u2019s Cabinet.The Federal Party (FP) used the traitor label liberally to undermine their rivals. However, when Chelvanayagam and the FP became ensconced in Dudley Senanayake\u2019s national government in 1965, former Kayts MP V. Navaratnam broke ranks and formed the Tamil Self-rule  Party. His criticism of the FP as traitors did not carry much conviction  at that time because of the high esteem in which Chelva was held. But Navaratnam was called traitor for breaking Tamil unity and forming his own party and suffered the consequences.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Dudleyge Bade Masala Vadai&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Earlier it was difficult to brand the Samasamajists and Communists as traitors by the Tamil nationalist parties because of the very progressive stance taken by the left on the national question  and language issue. After the left changed course and joined forces with the SLFP and adopted the \u201cDudleyge Bade Masala Vadai\u201d line, it became easier to \u2018traitorise\u2019 them too.<\/p>\n<p>The practise of demonizing political adversaries as traitors took a qualitative turn in the 1970-77 period. The fiery Tamil poet Kasi Anandan thundered in 1972 that none of the  traitorous six Tamil MPs who supported the Republican Constitution of 1972 should die of natural causes.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_51247\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51247\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/AD.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51247\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51247\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alfred Thangarajah Durayappah<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It also became clear that some Tamil politicians like the popular Jaffna Mayor Alfred Durayappah would be difficult to defeat politically because of widespread people support. Durayappah was continuously described as traitor in the TULF organ \u2018Suthanthiran\u2019. He was portrayed as the cause for all problems affecting Tamils and it was argued that his elimination would usher in a new dawn for the Tamils.Impressionable young Tamil minds got the message. Durayappah was gunned down in July 1975. Later Prabhakaran was to call the assassination  his first \u201cmilitary\u201d operation. None of the TULF leaders condemned Durayappah\u2019s killing then.<\/p>\n<p>By the mid \u2013seventies of the last century, the dominant mood in Tamil politics was separatism. This led to armed struggle as the only way to achieve Tamil Eelam. As the years progressed the scenes and actors changed from time to time but the drama of traitorization went on.<\/p>\n<p>nother aspect of this traitorization phenomenon was that nothing was constant. Everything was variable.In the forties of the 20th century, any Tamil not subscribing to \u201cfifty-fifty\u201d was a traitor. After Independence, any Tamil rejecting Federalism was a traitor. Later on, any Tamil opposing a separate Tamil state became a traitor. Then any Tamil protesting against armed struggle became a traitor. Thereafter all organizations, other than the LTTE were called Traitors. After the LTTE was defeated and the Tamil Eelam demand lost its vigour, the  concepts of \u201cThaayagam\u201d(homeland), \u201cSuyanirnayam\u201d (self-determination) and \u201cTheasiyam\u201d(nationhood) became the new Mantras of  contemporary Tamil nationalism. Anyone opposing these three concepts  is a traitor.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/UNHRC032213.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-18861\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>UNHRC Resolution<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Sri Lanka, the Tamil extremists  said it lacked sting and opposed it. The UN resolution was an eyewash it was alleged. Tamils supportive of the resolution were called traitors. Now the very same lunatic fringe is opposed to the UNHRC giving an extension of 2 years time for implementing the resolution. Any Tamil in favour of Sri Lanka being given time  is a traitor. In the aftermath of CV Wigneswaran\u2019s genocide resolution all Tamils were expected to chorus \u201cGenocide,  Genocide\u201d. Anyone failing to chant the \u201cG-word\u201d were  dubbed traitors. Traitors  will be created and Traitors will be decimated but, Traitorization like Tennyson\u2019s brook \u201cwill go on for ever&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_44517\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44517\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/CVW-RS2-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-44517\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-44517\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">CV Wigneswaran<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As noted earlier, the political violence that destroyed  hundreds of  alleged traitors in the past  was explicitly and implicitly justified by the perpetrators as being necessary to ensure Tamil unity and take forward the struggle for Tamil equality. The tendency was to view all those holding or perceived to be holding different political opinions to that of the dominant one in vogue as being traitors. Dissidence was equated with treachery.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20000\" style=\"width: 118px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20000\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/LK0413.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"108\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20000\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20000\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lakshman Kadirgamar<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The spate of political killings within the Tamil community  that began with the Durayappah assassination  continued  for years and then decades. So many eminent Tamil leaders like Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam and Lakshman Kadirgamar have been killed as traitors. During the time of Mrs. Bandaranaike from 1970 to 77, Tamil policemen,  suspected informants, Tamil activists of the SLFP etc. were killed as traitors. In July 1977, JR Jayewardene  and the UNP target shifted. After 1977 it became the turn of Tamils affiliated to the UNP to be killed as traitors. This spree of killings continued throughout the  Premadasa, Wijetunga, Kumaratunga and Rajapaksa periods until 2009.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32081\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32081\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/AA071214-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-32081\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-32081\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Appapillai Amirthalingam<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Intra-Tamil killings of alleged traitors took on new forms and content. The TULF which called Tamil political opponents traitors found themselves traitorized with the passage of time. Tiger guns turned on the TULF  and ex-Kopay MP, Aalalasundaram was shot and injured in 1982. It was only then that Amirthalingam issued a hard-hitting statement saying \u201cafter biting the goat and cow, the animal had now bitten a human.\u201d As the Tamil liberation struggle \u2018progressed\u2019 the militants began calling the TULF leaders traitors. Soon many were killed. Amirthalingam who had described many a political opponent as being traitor was killed and unfairly accused as traitor himself.<\/p>\n<p>The guns also began turning sideways and inwards. Soon there was fratricidal warfare among the Tamil groups. Organizations were dubbed wholesale as traitors by the LTTE and were prohibited from the Tamil areas. Massive killings of rival groups followed.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_23778\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23778\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/NT080413ML-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-23778\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-23778\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Neelan Tiruchelvam<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When the Indian Army was here and war with the LTTE erupted, several Tigers were killed by groups toeing the Indian line like EPRLF, ENDLF and TELO. After the Indian Army left, the Tigers massacred wholesale those members of the pro \u2013 India Tamil National Army. Both sides described each other as traitors of the Tamil cause. This practice continued.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Branded as Traitors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The LTTE killed more than 60 members of organizations like the EPDP, PLOTE, TELO and EPRLF after the ceasefire in 2002. They were  all branded as traitors. Later the roles reversed and Tamil \u201cparamilitary\u201d groups aligned with the state killed many Tamils suspected of LTTE links as \u201cenemies of the state\u201d. They were traitors to Mother Lanka from the Sri Lankan State\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n<p>After  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963, the Black American leader Malcolm X spoke at a \u201cNation of Islam\u201dmeeting in December 1963. When asked about Kennedy\u2019s killing, Malcolm X in his reply  seemingly justified it. He said \u201cPresident Kennedy never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon. Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they always made me glad.\u201d Malcolm X himself was shot dead two months later in February 1965.<\/p>\n<p>It was a case of the  chickens  coming home  to roost as far as Sri Lankan armed militancy was concerned. The Greek myth about \u201cTitan Cronus\u201d or Saturn  feared that he would be overthrown by one of his children. So he devoured the children one by one  as they were born. Like Saturn devouring his own children, the Tamil liberation struggle too devoured its own children. The internecine violence was sought to be justified by the real or imagined existence of traitors. The victims of violence  were all traitorized. Later some of the perpetrators themselves were victimized by the violence. The pendulum now swung the other way and those who traitorised others were in return traitorised.<\/p>\n<p>What is of importance here is to note that  Tamil nationalist politics has not succeeded so far  in achieving any of their objectives independently. Be it the Tamil Congress, the ITAK, the TULF or the TNA,  on the one hand and the Tamil militant groups including the LTTE on the other; they have all failed so far. The solitary gain has been the 13th Constitutional amendment brought about by the Indo-Lanka agreement. Despite this failure on the political front, Tamil nationalist parties and organizations have continued to reign supreme. A key device in this near monopolistic control of the Tamil polity by Tamil nationalist politics has been the usage of  the traitorization practice. The failure to deliver  has been  explained away by the excuse of traitorization. The political stupidity of setting unrealistic unachievable goals is not accepted,  instead, the fault is attributed to traitors in our midst. Tamils are told that the fault lies not in ourselves but in our traitors!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mythology and History<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There has been  a tendency to  view mythology and history in a convoluted  form. Signs of real or imaginary betrayals were portrayed as the causes for the downfall of those depicted as \u2018heroes\u2019 in mythology and history. Ravana the demon king of Lanka  who abducted Sita  was defeated by her husband Rama, an avatar of Lord Vishnu. The Dravidian ideologues however attribute treachery as the cause because Ravana\u2019s brother Vibheeshana crossed over to Rama\u2019s side.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52134\" style=\"width: 218px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52134\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/VPK.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"257\" class=\"size-full wp-image-52134\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-52134\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Veera Paandiya Kattabomman<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The  feudal \u201cPaanchaalankurichi\u201d chieftain (Polygar) Veera Paandiya Kattabomman defied the British and was vanquished by superior firepower. In popular parlance Kattabomman lost only because another Polygar Ettappa Nayakkar of Ettayapuram joined forces with the British. Perceived Betrayals by traitors is assumed as cause of defeat. Thus Ravanan had his Vibeeshanan and Kattabomman his Ettappan in mythology and history.<\/p>\n<p>Against this backdrop  any  Tamil  proposing conciliatory politics or supportive of co-operation with the Government will  have the Damoclean sword of Traitorization hanging over them. This is why in the present situation,  comparatively moderate TNA leaders such as R. Sampanthan and M.A.  Sumanthiran are also being labelled as traitors.<\/p>\n<p>This  traitorization mania affecting Tamils has resulted in countless people being killed as traitors in the past. It has reared its ugly head again in the present and has the potential to become a serious problem in the future.The recurring phenomenon of traitorization  is a Tamil tragedy for which others cannot be blamed. There is an urgent need for serious introspection. The Tamil people must address this issue that has destroyed  the community in the past and could do so in the future too.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article written for the &#8220;DBS Jeyaraj Column&#8221; appears in the &#8220;Daily Mirror&#8221; of March 25, 2017, it can be reached via this link:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/dbs-jeyaraj-column\">http:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/dbs-jeyaraj-column<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>DBS Jeyaraj can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com\"><font color=\"\">dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com<\/font> <\/a><\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Traitorization-2-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-52181\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"tweetbutton52129\" class=\"tw_button\" style=\"float:right;margin-left:10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdbsjeyaraj.com%2Fdbsj%2F%3Fp%3D52129&amp;text=Tamil%20%20Nationalist%20Politics%20and%20the%20%20Process%20of%20%26%238220%3BTraitorization%26%238221%3B%20in%20%20Sri%20Lanka&amp;related=&amp;lang=en&amp;count=horizontal\" class=\"twitter-share-button\"  style=\"width:55px;height:22px;background:transparent url('https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-tweet-button\/tweetn.png') no-repeat  0 0;text-align:left;text-indent:-9999px;display:block;\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Octogenarian leader of the opposition Rajavarothayam Sampanthan in a hard hitting Parliamentary speech made four weeks ago drew attention to the prevailing practice of persons being condemned as Traitors (Drohi\/Thurogi) within the sphere of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalist Politics. The Trincomalee district MP who is also the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=52129\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Tamil  Nationalist Politics and the  Process of &#8220;Traitorization&#8221; in  Sri Lanka&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52129"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52182,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52129\/revisions\/52182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}