Repudiating the Sense
of Belonging
Northeastern Herald, 6 September 2002
Though one does not want to dwell on politics all
the time, one cannot refute the fact that today, at least in the
so-called third world countries, culture is politics. The Sri Lankan
Tamil issue is not in any way different.
Both the president and the prime minister have gone on record
stating that it were the accumulation of un-redressed grievances
over the years that led to Tamils taking a militaristic position on
the ethnic issue.
I recall LTTE�s Anton Balasingham once stating that the
organisation�s demand for a separate country had arisen because the
LTTE felt there was no chance for equal treatment for Tamils on the
island. When questioned as to whether he would give up that
position, he replied that if conditions changed the LTTE would be in
a position to reconsider its demand. In a way, the LTTE�s decision
to agree for talks is also to explore whether such equality of
citizenship is possible for Sri Lankan Tamils in this country.
It is important when one treats a disease that he or she should not
go to the mere symptoms of the disease, but also to its causes. Sri
Lankan Tamil identity is something Sri Lankan Tamils value very
highly. It is a combination of both Sri Lankan and Tamil, which
distinguishes him from a Tamilnadu Tamil.If one takes the history of
the development of Tamil consciousness, one would see that their
early efforts to assert and emphasise their identity was not in
relation to other Sri Lankans as much as it was to the Tamils of
Tamilnadu.
The Sri Lankan Tamil dialect is distinctly different from the Indian
Tamil dialect. Despite regional variations, one can identify a Sri
Lankan Tamil dialect easily.
When it comes to religion � Hinduism � the religion of most Tamils,
there has been a conscious effort ever since the time of Arumuga
Navalar (1822 � 1879) to uphold Saivite traditions that highlight
non-Brahminic Saiva Sitthanda approaches, in preference to the
Brahminic Vedanta traditions. Even today, the Sri Lankan Tamil
Hindus want to call their religion Saivism, and not Hinduism.
More importantly, in the field of literature, there have always been
efforts to emphasise the Sri Lankaness of the Sri Lankan Tamils in
Tamil literature � especially in terms of language and style. From
the time Sri Lankan Tamils started developing a literary tradition
of their own, they have been very careful to emphasise their
contribution towards the development of Tamil as a whole. Even
today, the Navalar � Ramadiya Swamigal debate looms large in the
memories of some Sri Lankan Tamil scholars.
It is also important to note that in spite of the commonness Tamil
performance tradition, the Sri Lankan �kootthu� (traditional
dramatic performances) are easily discernible from the �thrukootthu�
of Tamilnadu as it is performed today. The Vithiyandan and
post-Vithiyandan theatre development have been to preserve the local
�kootthu� tradition and work on it for further enrichment.
The Sri Lankaness of Sri Lankan Tamil tradition is also seen in such
basic day-to-day matters such as kinship relations and food habits.
The Sri Lankan Tamil, in spite of regional variations is very keen
to maintain and foster this identity. Despite the fact he is a Tamil
and in spite of the fact some of the holy places he wishes to visit
during his lifetime are in Tamilnadu, he wishes to remain a Sri
Lankan Tamil. It is this ethnic identity that has never been taken
into account by the articulate Sinhala politicians. This has been so
especially since independence, when discrimination on the basis of
ethnic identity began to grow.
Only when this sense of belonging to Sri Lanka was shattered by
consecutive actions was there a political fallback on the
northeastern region, and the Tamil homeland demand. This could also
be seen in the parity of status of languages being transformed into
a demand for regional autonomy (federalism) and ultimately
Thamileelam.
This sense of belonging has been shattered in many matters of vital
concern to the Tamils. We could highlight a few of them here �
religion, culture, literature and the arts.
One should not under-estimate the importance of religion in any
traditional society, especially so in a developing society where
religion and language have become identifying symbols. Since the
early 1980s, the number of temples and cult centres that have been
destroyed or made inaccessible are numerous. Even after eight months
of the Ceasefire Agreement the average Jaffna person cannot go to
the Keerimalai temple or the tank unescorted by army personnel.
It is important to highlight that when people started moving out
from their villages in the north and east, they also took with them
surrogate temples / cult centres from their areas of origin to the
places which they had started occupying, so much so that that in the
mid-1990s, many temples were celebrating festivals of temples
abandoned in the north and east. I am personally aware of how a
family from my village, which immigrated to France holds a 10-day
festival in one of the temples in Paris, taking over the temple
almost on contract for 10 days. Such is the importance of religion
and belief.
In this matter there is no question of big temples and small
temples. The question is whether your place of worship has been
disturbed or not. There is a famous Tamil saying, �Do not live in
the place where there are no temples.�
It has been the unfortunate record of successive governments, to
repudiate the sense of belonging the Tamil people had to Sri Lanka
by bombing and damaging their temples and cult centres, as well as
making them camps for the security forces. Some of the most
important cult centres of Batticaloa were denied to worshippers
because of such �occupation.�
In fact the rise of so many temples and cult centres in the
comparatively safe and peaceful Colombo municipal limits is an
indication that many of the northeast refugees have created new
centres of worship. These centres are also of some relevance to the
faith of Sinhala-Buddhists and as such they are doing extremely
well. So much so that traditional Hindu temples in Colombo, which
are managed by South Indian merchants and some of the leading
Colombo Tamil families, are not so much in the picture as these new
cult centres are.
In the field of literature and the arts there has hardly been any
attempt on the part of the state to encourage the development of a
typically Sri Lankan literature either in Sinhala or Tamil, by
encouraging such projects as translations. The work of the Indian
Sahithiya Academy that publishes annually translations of that
year�s creative writing from the major Indian languages is
unimaginable here. It has therefore become fashionable for Tamil
literati to seek recognition and acceptance in Tamilnadu, even
though Sri Lankaness of local literature is very distinct.
It is true the cultural ministry has panels for Tamil literature,
music etc., but a perusal of the comparative budgets of the Sinhala
panels and Tamil panels will be a very interesting exercise.More
eye-catching or �ear-catching� is the role of the state media in
Tamil. I would like to highlight what is happening in the Tamil
media service of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC),
especially the cuts that have come into operation recently.
SLBC�s National Service distinguishes itself from the Commercial
Service on the basis of the programmes. The former is meant for the
promotion and better practice of national cultural traditions. And
programmes that cannot be broadcast over the Commercial Service
because of their �elite� label are very carefully produced and
presented over the National Service. This is so both in the Sinhala
and Tamil.
Tamil broadcasts from the 1980s have been very dismal and tragic. In
the government�s attempts at broadcasting its viewpoint, it is
over-careful of what is broadcast not only by way of news, but also
in the songs and spoken-word programmes. Thus, both the national and
commercial programmes are handled as one. The Tamil service is worst
affected because it ceased to reflect the local cultures of the
northeast except in the ritualistic broadcasts like the relay of
temple car festivals.
It should be remembered the SLBC�s Tamil National Service,
especially in the pre-1980s period, had a distinguished record for
broadcasting in Tamil all over the world. Even the BBC had officials
from Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Tamil broadcasts, especially on drama,
were highly appreciated in Tamilnadu. Besides, the Tamil National
Service built up a wonderful library of records of eminent Tamil
scholars and artists both from Sri Lanka and Tamilnadu.
Recently, SLBC authorities cut three hours of broadcast time from
the Tamil National Service. Whereas earlier the broadcast began at
5.00 a.m., it now begins at 7.30 a.m. It should also be remembered
that most of this is recorded music and news broadcasts. The midday
broadcast from 12.00 noon to 2.00 p.m. has been completely taken
away. This slot was an oasis for the discerning listener to hear
both classical music � both vocal and instrumental � and certain
intellectually appealing programmes, which the FM broadcasts were
naturally unable to offer.
The unkindest cut is in the evening broadcast where the programme
from 5.00 p.m. to 11.15 p.m. was cut to 5.00 �10.30 p.m. In the case
of evening broadcasts, 8.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. goes for the Muslim
programme, 9.00 � 9.30 p.m. for news and announcements and 9.45 �
10.15 p.m. for the BBC relay. Earlier, the 10.15 � 11.15 p.m. slot
was used to broadcast tasteful music, but no more. In fact, given
the current time schedules it is not possible to broadcast any
serious, heavy or intellectually stimulating programmes.
The Tamil National Service has ceased to broadcast serious musical
programmes. The tragedy is that right now in Nageswaram musical
tradition it is Sri Lankan artistes who are doing extremely well,
even in comparison with Nageswaram artistes from Tamilnadu. Under
the present dispensation at the SLBC, it is not possible to
broadcast really satisfying Nageswaram music programmes.
The damage done to literary programmes is far worse. No more the
discussions that were very lively � now we only have the weekly
review programme with its format changed very much. The education
service however lives on, broadcasting pedagogic programmes in the
afternoon.What is ironic is all this is happening as government
ministers storm Jaffna, while army generals and the LTTE are meeting
in Batticaloa.
Given the overall ethos of the times, one would have thought this
would have been the most conducive time to open up the Tamil
National Service more extensively to artistes from the northeast,
than restricting it to those living in Colombo and imitating
Batticaloa and Jaffna.
This is cultural alienation. This is repudiating the sense of
belonging to this country and its results are more damaging than
could be imagined. To the discerning listener, the only alternative
is to turn to Trichy or Chennai, if he or she wants to listen to
satisfying Tamil music. Does not cultural separatism begin at this
point?
The biggest tragedy of all is the loss of archival Tamil cultural
material that is stored in the SLBC�s records library. As already
indicated, some of the best programmes belong to the pre-1980 era,
which is technologically also a �pre-modern� era. It is rumoured
that almost all the valuable recordings done on disks in the �50s,
�60s and �70s cannot be used now. Worse still, some of them are
being purposely damaged. If this is true, it is cultural vandalism.
It is the duty not merely of the SLBC, but the media ministry and
the prime minister himself to order an impartial inquiry.
Let us make the Sri Lankan Tamil feel he is both a Sri Lankan and a
Tamil.
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