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Home > Struggle for Tamil Eelam > International Frame of  Struggle for Tamil Eelam  >  India & the Struggle for Tamil Eelam > Caste/Class Opposition to Tamil Eelam

India & the Struggle for Tamil Eelam

Caste/Class Opposition to Tamil Eelam

 Prof P. Ramasamy
National University of Malaysia
May 2000

"...The anti-LTTE crusade mounted by the caste/class associations and establishments closely linked to major magazines like the Frontline are basically below the belt punchers...Hundreds and thousands of Tamils have been pushed out of the country, killed, displaced and destroyed in the name of maintaining the synthetic territorial integrity of an island that has been never united or integrated in the first place. The forces opposed to Eelam are basically driven by the desire to maintain intact and indeed extend the hegemony of certain caste/class forces not only in India but also in Sri Lanka.  Democratic and egalitarian social movements having roots in subaltern and Dravidian philosophies are natural enemies of these conservative and reactionary forces..."


The Frontline, a publication closely related to The Hindu, has been in the forefront of opposition to the establishment of Tamil Eelam by the aggrieved and exploited  Tamils of  what is termed as the present day Sri Lanka.

The recent issue of the Frontline (May 13-26) has given an exclusive focus to the developments in the island. Apart from the usual anti-LTTE staff comprising Jeyaraj, Sambandan and others, one or two new writers  have been brought in to diversify the nature of opposition against the LTTE in particular and Tamil Eelam in general.

However, some credit is due to persons like Jeyaraj who has written some excellent pieces on  Sri Lanka and unlike his earlier diatribes, these recent pieces can be described as somewhat more objective. While it is difficult to explain this slight shift from the earlier position, some difference of opinion on the Eelam issue is certainly brewing within  certain establishments in India and the caste/class fortification as represented by Frontline is showing some cracks.

However, beyond these inconsistent “concessions” to the LTTE in particular, the class/caste establishment behind the Frontline is still continuing its diabolical crusade against the LTTE.

The leader of this establishment who happens to be the editor is the most consistent  chief ideologue of this establishment and he of course leaves no stones unturned to be little and if possible banish the LTTE from the face of this earth.

Much to his shock and dismay, the LTTE which should have be crushed by the “democratic forces” of the Sri Lankan state not only continues to exist but growing from strength to strength by its phenomenal military victories gained in the battle-fields stretching from Vanni to Jaffna.

The real question for editor is how to buttress the Sri Lankan regime from the Indian side or more specifically how to prevent the ancien regime of Chandrika Kumaratunga from passing  into oblivion. Editorials, another name for the  pro-Sri Lankan government propaganda, seems to have been unleashed by the Frontline to shore up the beleaguered regime of Kumaratunga, and according to this “Backline” magazine, Kumaratunga is the greatest peace-maker that Sri Lanka has ever known.

Time and again, the so-called editorials backed up by other articles have shown some tenacity to provide the moral and intellectual (more exactly pseudo-intellectual) sustenance to prop up the regime - a regime that seems more and more hopeless in stopping the juggernaut of the LTTE. The anti-LTTE crusade mounted by the caste/class associations and establishments closely linked to major magazines like the Frontline are basically below the belt punchers...

Hundreds and thousands of Tamils have been pushed out of the country, killed, displaced and destroyed in the name of maintaining the synthetic territorial integrity of an island that has been never united or integrated in the first place.

The forces opposed to Eelam are basically driven by the desire to maintain intact and indeed extend the hegemony of certain caste/class forces not only in India but also in Sri Lanka.  Democratic and egalitarian social movements having roots in subaltern and Dravidian philosophies are natural enemies of these conservative and reactionary forces. For instance,  imaginative and intuitive programmes begun by Dravidian based organisations have been opposed and defeated in India.

These caste/class forces deriving their historical myths and visions of society from decadent literature like Ramayana and Mahabaratha do not envision a  political or an intellectual environment where Dravidians can provide the leadership and guidance to ordinary people.

Since Tamils/Dravidians are people who are “incapable of logical and rational thinking’, these conservative and reactionary forces have simply ruled out Dravidian conceptions of things.  The historic and contemporary role of “othering” the Dravidians have meant not only to guide the “backward” Dravidians but also to belittle and dismiss Dravidian political programmes as these if allowed to develop and mature might affect the hegemony of the dominant caste/class hegemony. 

In this regard, while Eelam is dismissed as an affront to the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, the real reason must be found within the ideological/hegemonic realm. The concept of “othering” is not something peculiar to these forces as Europeans in their earlier colonising mission were also very much motivated not only to deliver the natives from their fatalistic path but also guide them along a responsible/rational/logical path. Thus, anything that is original that comes from the natives were dismissed if not defeated forcibly. 

In India, apart from the historic injustice committed by the caste/class forces against the subordinated Tamil people, Dravidian ideology that was developed to oppose Brahminism/Hindu upper class domination and to break the centuries old caste system was significant only to a certain extent.

The tireless work performed by Thanthai Periyar and others made spectacular social and economic gains for Tamil people, particularly those from the lower caste/socio-economic brackets. But then the movement and its ideology could not be sustained for long, opportunists and career politicians using the political front of Dravidianism did much damage to the movement as a whole.

While the Brahminical divide might have had its relevance in the Sri Lankan situation insofar as Tamils are concerned, nonetheless the caste factor that sought to divide Tamils into mutual exclusive categories of Vellars and non-Vellars contributed to a situation where ordinary Tamils, especially those who were considered belonging to the lower castes had to put up with enormous hardship and suffering.

That is why opposition to the LTTE from a small groups of Tamils located both in Sri Lanka and abroad must be understood from a caste/class perspective. These Tamils ostensibly belonging to the higher castes simply cannot stomach the fact that LTTE or the Tamil national liberation movement has come to be guided by Tamils belonging to the so called 'low' castes.

I personally know of Tamil professionals from Jaffna who are now living abroad who have nothing but venom for the Tigers; individuals who go around bad mouthing them and but on the quiet buying properties and amassing their wealth in Colombo. These individuals have great faith in the Sinhala ruling establishment and like Tiruchelvam think that Tamils should not go for independence. Lately given the LTTE victories, these individuals are seen to be developing some sympathy with the national liberation movement. 

The anti-LTTE forces in India and elsewhere constituted on the basis of caste/class considerations wield considerable power through the mechanisms of state agencies. Moreover their control of the mass media is highly significant. Such forces would have certainly made much headway in their messianic crusade against the LTTE had not the latter gained much military prowess and success in the battle-fields. These anti-forces have close access to the top leadership in India and Sri Lanka.

For instance, the editor of Frontline or more exactly for our purposes “Backline” is a close confidant of Kumaratunga. .... She uses him to assess the mood of governmental establishments in India and even go to the extent of advising India through his infamous editorials. In other words, the name Frontline may be after all very apt since it is being used by the Sri Lankan government as a “Front” to engage in the most obnoxious attack against the LTTE.

Of course, this “Front” has many tentacles—it is also being used to develop and consolidate relationship between individuals and organisations who have only one thing in common—the destruction of the LTTE and subordinating the Dravidian people not only in Sri Lanka but in Tamil Nadu. There is an  alarmist fear that the break-up of Sri Lanka would re-invigorate the Dravidian movement to the detriment of the hegemony of the dominant caste/class in the region. Thus, from a broad perspective, the need on the part of certain groups or establishments   both in India and Sri Lanka to forestall the rise of Dravidian liberation movement with a possible effect on Tamil Nadu (see the latest excellent piece by Jeyaraj who has basically de-mystified the argument that Eelam might inspire separatist tendencies in Tamil Nadu). 

The recent editorial in Frontline is at pains to ensure that India would move away from adopting a neutral attitude and instead undertake military measures to curb the LTTE on behalf of the Sri Lankan government.

Thus, when it suits the editor, Sri Lanka ceases to be an independent nation and its problems have to be resolved by India. Following the withdrawal of the IPKF, why did then the government maintain that the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka was its internal affair. Did not the media stooges of the Sri Lankan establishment go along with this dictum for sometime. Why shift position now?

The editor  vehemently opposes India’s hands-off policy towards Sri Lanka saying such a thing would harm the legitimate interests of the Sri Lankan regime. What  legitimate interests he is talking about is only known to him and his cronies.

There is a growing fear, a kind of paralysis affecting some section of the anti-LTTE forces that rational thinking and analysis are becoming rare commodities.

For the editor, the only reason why the Sri Lankan forces are not doing well (never mind the understatement) is simply due to the fact there is lack of logistical support. He conveniently or deliberately refrains from admitting the fact that the army is losing the battles and possibly the war because the troops are totally demoralised, the training is rather inadequate, the troops have no idea of what they are fighting for, and most importantly innocent Sinhala youth are used as cannon fodder to appease the fat-cats in Colombo. Perhaps since he believes in the old axiom that pen is mightier than sword, what hasn’t he asked a very simple question. Why aren’t the boys of the ministers fighting the Tigers? Where are they? Where is Kumaratunga’s son? Why are the Budhist monks praying rather than taking up arms to fight the Tigers?  

Of course, for this messainic editor, the Tigers are winning because they are extremists...

Really, when one comes to think of the whole ethnic conflict, it  is rather remarkable how little, the elite, both in India and Sri Lanka, have understood the war. In a near hysterical tone, the spectre of the division of Sri Lanka is raised by the editor. For him such a possibility should be prevented and like Cho Ramaswamy asks what is India is doing about this. The editor, not be left out intellectually, has his own solution to the on-going ethnic strife in Sri Lanka.

He dismisses the notion of an independent state of Tamils because this demand seems to him as an unrealistic option - something totally incongruent with the demands of the present globalized world. His dismissal is purely pseudo-scientific as national liberation movements are on the rise in the world. Peoples like Kosovars, Timorees, Palestinians and not to speak of Tamils are historically poised to create their own independent homelands.

The so-called federal plan proposed by the editor is not a real solution, a mere programme envisaged to provide a piecemeal solution.

The examples of the United States, Nigeria, Malaysia and India would easily indicate that a federal plan to devolve power to states and ethnic groups is basically superficial. In the case of Sri Lanka, if a federal plan in introduced, it would be highly retrogressive. It is indeed ironic as to why  Tamils in Sri Lanka should go  for a federal solution when a de facto Tamil nation already exists. Once the alien forces are expelled from Jaffna and East, there is no stopping the LTTE from unilaterally   declaring the independence of Eelam. 

Despite the blatant prejudice coming from publications like Frontline and others, it is still not too late for these to provide a more balanced picture of the legitimate rights of Tamils in the artificial political make-up called Sri Lanka. Even if LTTE is not favoured, at least some respect should be shown towards the sufferings of Tamils. It is becoming more and more  obvious there is no political solution for Tamils apart from the establishment of an  independent homeland. Too much atrocities have been committed against Tamils for them to trust the Sinhala ruling regime in Colombo. There is no fundamental antipathy between the Sinhala and Tamil masses, only Eelam will be able to heal the wounds of these two great nationalities.

 

 

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