Chief Minister Karunanidhi
on the Art of the Possible
- and Living in Hope
2 July 2009
Comment by tamilnation.org
It should not come too much as a surprise that Chief Minister Karunanidhi who was vociferous in his support for an
independent Tamil Eelam during the Indira Gandhi regime now tells his
'udan pirapukal' that they should follow in the foosteps of the DMK which
had shelved the demand for Dravida Nadu in 1962 to avoid proscription. We are
reminded of the old story about the fox - வால் வெட்டின நரிக்
கதை - .
"Once upon a time there was a fox, whose tail had been cut
off by a steel-jawed trap. And because he was so ashamed of his lost beauty
he fancied that his life had become unbearable. He grew embittered of it and
he wanted to bring all the other foxes in the same situation, so that in
their mutual suffering his own mutilation would be a common thing.
Therefore, one day he called all the foxes together and tried to persuade
them to chop off their tails, because, as he said, it was not only an ugly
object, but also an unnecessary burden which was tied up to them. But
someone interrupted him and said: 'Hey fox, if your tail hadn't been cut off
you certainly wouldn't have said this to us.' This story applies to those
who give their fellow people advice not out of kindness but out of
self-interest. "
Lazy Fox's Spot
The story applies to those
who give their fellow people advice not out of kindness but out of
self-interest. And ofcourse, Chief Minister Karunanidhi has not been
backward in declaring his self interest -
"On Monday, after calling on Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and separately meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New
Delhi, Karunanidhi revealed to reporters what he had told Thondaman:
"The central government's policy (on Sri Lanka) will be the state
government's policy." " New Delhi's
Policy on Sri Lanka will be Tamil Nadu's Policy says Karunanidhi, 6 July
2006
And as for India's self interest and its policy on Sri Lanka we know that only too
well -
�We have a very comprehensive relationship
with Sri Lanka. In our anxiety to protect the civilians, we should not
forget the strategic importance of this island to India's interests,...
especially in view of attempts by countries like Pakistan and China to gain
a strategic foothold in the island nation...Colombo had been told that India
would "look after your security requirements, provided you do not look
around". "We cannot have a playground of international players in our
backyard." Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee
24 October 2008
Said that, there are a couple of matters in Chief
Minister Karunanidhi's remarks that we may usefully address.
Chief Minister Karunanidhi says that hauling up Sri Lanka
President Mahinda Rajapaksa for war crimes would be an exercise in futility,
'as it would only adversely
affect the safety of the Tamils in that country'. Bringing war criminals
to justice 'would adversely affect the safety of the Tamils in that
country'. That is the state of the country in which more than
300,000 Tamils live in
concentration camps.
But it is in that same country that Chief Minister
Karunanidhi suggests that Tamils "should henceforth work for their livelihood rights in the island
nation and (peacefully) struggle for equal rights, equal status for the language and
devolution of powers at the regional level." Was not that what the Tamils did for several decades before the
birth of the armed
resistance movement? And when Tamils struggled peacefully
were they not set upon and assaulted, robbed and killed by Sinhala
government supported thugs in 1956,
1958 and again in
1961?
"What happened on 6 June 1956
when the Sinhala Only Bill was being debated in Parliament? The
members of the Federal Party, exercising their undoubted
constitutional right, wanted to protest against the imposition of
(the Sinhala Only) Bill. The Members of the Federal Party said that
they would sit in silence on the Galle Face Green... It was a silent
protest which they were entitled to make. They were seated there on
the Galle Face Green, and Parliament was sitting solemnly listening
to the Prime Minister. Troops and police were drawn round the place.
What happened? Hooligans, in the very precincts of Parliament House,
under the very nose of the Prime Minister of this country, set upon
those innocent men seated there, bit their ears and beat them up
mercilessly. Not one shot was fired while all this lawlessness to
persons were let loose... Why?
Orders had been given: 'Do
not shoot, just look on.' Thereafter on that day, 6 June,
every Tamil man was set upon and robbed. He was beaten up. His
fountain pen and wristlet were snatched away. He was thrashed
mercilessly, humiliated and sent home. The police were looking on
while all this was happening before their very eyes.
Shops were looted... but the police did nothing... Why did
that happen? All that happened because specific instructions had
been given to the police that they should not shoot, should not
arrest, should not deal with the lawlessness and disorder that was
let loose... rowdies and hooligans were given a free hand to
assault, humiliate and rob any innocent Tamil walking the roads on
that day. That was the attitude taken up by a Cabinet composed of
Sinhalese Ministers...
These (hooligans) were
instigated by some members of Parliament... they were heading the
gang of hooligans. The Prime Minister made a remarkably
wonderful speech on that occasion. He came, he smiled and he told
the crowd, "Don't do that. Rain is coming down. They will be cooled
in no time." That was the type of appeal he made.
If Sinhalese men were being thrashed by Tamils and their ears
bitten, I wonder whether the Prime Minister would have adopted the
same attitude." -
Senator S.Nadesan
Q.C., Sri Lanka Senate Hansard 4 June 1958
"At no time did we underestimate the might of
the Prime Minister�s (Srimavo Bandaranaike's) government. We are
quite aware that she has powers enough to turn her armed forces
against us. �The Prime Minister has made a radio speech touching
on satyagraha. That speech is more benefiting an imperial
dictator speaking to her subjects than a speech made by a
democratic leader to her people. In fact the manner and the
contents of her speech correctly depict the true status of the
Tamil-speaking people in Ceylon. The rule over them is indeed
colonial imperialism. � In her radio speech just before her
departure to Great Britain, she made an appeal to those whom she
called reasonable Tamils , �To disown the actions of the
mischief makers, namely the Federalists�. � The factual position
is that there is no section of the Tamil-speaking people,
certainly in the northern and eastern provinces, which does not
fervently support the satyagraha movement.� S.J.V. Chelvanayakam,
4 March 1961.
Now that Tamil armed resistance has been defeated, would it
not 'adversely affect the safety of the Tamils' if they peacefully struggle for equal
rights? Would a peaceful struggle for equal rights also be an exercise in futility
- in the same way as it was in the decades before the birth of armed
resistance? Would Chief Minister Karunanidhi have us forget
that which Professor Marshall Singer said in 1995 -
"...One of the essential elements that must
be kept in mind in understanding the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict is that,
since 1958 at least, every time Tamil politicians negotiated some sort
of power-sharing deal with a Sinhalese government - regardless of which
party was in power - the opposition Sinhalese party always claimed that
the party in power had negotiated away too much. In almost every case -
sometimes within days - the party in power backed down on the
agreement..." - Professor
Marshall Singer, at US Congress Committee on International Relations
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Hearing on Sri Lanka November
14,1995
Mr. Karunanidhi calls upon the people of Tamil Eelam to live in hope for a
'Sri Lanka government led by Tamils' and says disingenuously -
�Like how Barack Obama from the oppressed community
became the President of the United States, let us hope that a government
led by Tamils would be formed soon in Lanka.�
Barack Obama spoke to the US electorate in English. In what
language would a Tamil 'Barrack Obama' speak to the Sinhala Sri Lanka
electorate? In the Sinhala language?
"...In the Sinhala language, the words for nation, race and people
are practically synonymous, and a
multiethnic or multicommunal
nation or state is incomprehensible to the popular mind. The
emphasis
on Sri Lanka as the land of the Sinhala Buddhists carried an emotional popular appeal,
compared with which the concept of a multiethnic polity was a meaningless
abstraction..." [Sinhala Historian K. M. de Silva in Religion, Nationalism and
the State, USF Monographs in Religion and Public Policy, No.1 (Tampa, FLA: University of
South Florida 1986) at p31 quoted by David Little in Religion and Self Determination in
Self Determination - International Perspectives, MacMillan Press, 1996]
Or does Mr.Karunanidhi suggest that the Tamil 'Barrack
Obama' should engage in the politics of the bird world and
speak in English -
" As children, we read in the Hitopodesa that at night birds from
all directions would gather on a shimul tree on the banks of the
Godavari. Why? To cackle for a while and then go off to sleep.
Cackle in this context means to discuss the politics of the
birdworld... In a language learnt by rote you can only express ideas
learnt by heart..." For Province,
Read Nation - Pramatha Chauduri, 1920
And on
egalitarianism and equality,
Chief Minister Karunanidhi may want to attend to the
words of
Professor Harlod Schiffman -
" Much is made in Singapore of how policies are egalitarian,
especially the ethnicity policy. But an example from the literature
on North America, French in Canada, may be apt. In French Canada
(and in adjacent parts of New England) the French language is spoken
by a minority of about 5 million, surrounded by a sea of 270 million
English speakers. In that situation, the Qu�b�cois express the
feeling (LaPonce, 1987) that legal egalitarianism is simply not
enough, and have attempted to legally restrict and diminish the
domains of English within the French-speaking territory. Though this
enrages many English Canadians, who feel that egalitarianism is what
the law requires, and is inherently fair, the francophones, however,
contend that egalitarianism is not equal, because it does not lead
to equal outcomes, but in the case of Canada, to English dominance.
In this situation, the only way to guarantee equal outcomes, that
is, that French speakers will be French-dominant bilinguals, is to
create a “safe haven,” a reserved space for French, so that the
overwhelming dominance of English can be kept at bay. Similarly in
Singapore, the egalitarianism seems to exist only on paper; the
outcome of the policy has not led to the strengthening of Tamil, and
the housing policy has guaranteed that no territory for Tamil will
exist. In the final analysis, egalitarianism is not equality if one
group is ten times the size of the other, whether in North America
or in Singapore. " Tongue-Tied in Singapore:
A Language Policy for Tamil? - Harold F. Schiffman
In the final analysis, egalitarianism is not equality if one
group is ten times the size of the other, whether in North America
or in Singapore or for that matter in Sri Lanka. And
the continuing Sinhala colonisation of the Tamil homeland with renewed vigor by
the President Rajapaksa regime is directed to ensure that no territory for
Tamil will exist. And without territory, the Tamil language also will cease to
exist in the island of Sri Lanka. We have said it before and we say it again -
"..Do you not see that without an identified homeland, we could not have become
a people with a separate language and a separate culture, and that without an
identified homeland we shall cease to be a people? Or is it the position that the Sri Lankan government does in fact see this
reality and for that reason, refuses to recognise ... the existence
of a homeland for the Tamil people, so that it may absorb the Tamil people into
a single homogeneous 'Sinhala' nation? Please tell us, if that which we say does not seem reasonable to you. We are
a reasonable people and we will listen to you, if you show us where we are
wrong. " We, too, are a people
- Text of statement by Nadesan Satyendra at Thimpu Talks, 1985
It seems to us that instead of misleading the Tamil people
to live in the forlorn hope
that 'a government led by Tamils would be formed soon in Lanka' Chief Minister Karunanidhi
should have paid careful attention to the
words of a fellow Tamil, Director Seeman -
But then again, it may be he has. It is difficult to imagine
that Chief Minister Karunanidhi does not know that which
Director Seeman has said.
It is difficult to imagine that
Chief Minister Karunanidhi does not know that in the island of Sri Lanka,
the
record shows that during the past sixty years and more, the intent and goal of all Sinhala governments
(without exception) has been to secure the island
as a Sinhala
Buddhist Deepa. It is difficult to imagine that Chief
Minister Karunanidhi does not know that the current Sri Lanka President Mahinda
Rajapaksa is simply the latest in a long line of leaders of the Sinhala Buddhist nation,
a nation which seeks to cleanse the island of Sri Lanka of Tamils as
a people, and a Sinhala Buddhist nation which dare not speak its name,
- a Sinhala Buddhist nation which seeks to masquerade as
a multi
ethnic 'civic' 'Sri Lankan' nation albeit with a
Sinhala Lion flag , with an unrepealed
Sinhala
Only Act, with
Buddhism as the state religion, and with the Sinhala name
'Sri Lanka' which it
gave itself
unilaterally in 1972 .
Chief Minister Karunanidhi's role in
Tamil politics is ofcourse dragging to an
end. It is unfortunate that that end will be inglorious -
unfortunate, because despite Mr,Karunanidhi's contributions to
Tamil language and literature, and despite his positive
attempts to nurture the growth of a secular Tamil national identity (as
evidenced by the
declaration of the first of Thai as the Tamil New Year), in the end Mr. Karunanidhi will be
remembered by the Tamil people
living in many lands only as Kottum Mazhaiyil Makkalai Muttaal Akkiya Thalaivan
-
கொட்டும் மழையில் மக்களை முட்டாளாக்கிய தலைவன்.
CHENNAI: Advocating a fresh approach to the Tamil national
question in Sri Lanka in the post-LTTE era, DMK president and Tamil Nadu
chief minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday declared in the assembly that
achieving �Tamil Eelam� was no more a realistic possibility. He said Tamils
should henceforth work for their livelihood rights in the island nation and
struggle for equal rights, equal status for the language and devolution of
powers at the regional level.
�Only this is possible, not Tamil Eelam,� he said, responding to views of
members from various parties on a special mention on the Sri Lankan Tamil
issue. He asked the parties not to make provocative remarks against the
Sinhalese as that could further affect Tamils in the island nation.
Counselling Tamil parties to adopt a flexible stand on the issue,
Karunanidhi recalled that DMK founder C N Annadurai had shelved the party�s
core demand � creating a separate Dravidian state (Dravida Nadu) � in 1962
to avoid proscription.
Distancing himself from the demand by the AIADMK and the PMK that Sri Lanka
President Mahinda Rajapaksa be hauled up for war crimes, the chief minister
said that it would be an exercise in futility, as it would only adversely
affect the safety of the Tamils in that country.
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday expressed hope
that a government led by Tamils would be formed soon in Sri Lanka. He also
said that the ailing Tamils in the island nation could at present get
respite only through the Mahinda Rajapakse government.
Replying to a special call attention motion in the Assembly over the plight
of Tamils in the neighbouring country, he said the conflict in Lanka between
Sinhalese and Tamils was taking place for more than five decades now.
�I am the one who is aware of this problem since its beginning. I had even
penned it in a detail way in my novel Pandaraka Vannian,� the Chief Minister
said and added: �Both the Union and Tamilnadu governments are keen to help
the Lankan Tamils.
A Lankan delegation met me recently and asked to send a committee to take
stock of the situation there. I told them that the Centre should give
clearance to take further decision and a formal invite should be extended
from their end.�
Stating that former Chief Minister C N Annadurai had to give up the �Dravida
Nadu� demand due to various reasons, Karunanidhi said there was nothing
wrong in changing stands for the welfare of the people.
�The Centre is now respecting State governments thanks to the pressure from
our side on various occasions. Likewise, a Lankan government respecting the
sentiments of Tamils should be formed,� he said.
The Chief Minister further said: �Like how Barack Obama from the oppressed
community became the President of the United States, let us hope that a
government led by Tamils would be formed soon in Lanka.�
He however said that the only way to help Tamils in the present situation
was through the Rajapakse government. �In order to help our brothers and
sisters in the island nation, we should not come out with hard hitting
remarks against Sinhalese. Because, in the present scenario, we could only
reach Tamils through them,� he said.
"Once upon a time there was a fox, whose tail had been cut
off by a steel-jawed trap. And because he was so ashamed of his lost beauty
he fancied that his life had become unbearable. He grew embittered of it and
he wanted to bring all the other foxes in the same situation, so that in
their mutual suffering his own mutilation would be a common thing.
Therefore, one day he called all the foxes together and tried to persuade
them to chop off their tails, because, as he said, it was not only an ugly
object, but also an unnecessary burden which was tied up to them. But
someone interrupted him and said: 'Hey fox, if your tail hadn't been cut off
you certainly wouldn't have said this to us.' This story applies to those
who give their fellow people advice not out of kindness but out of
self-interest. "
