Kalaignar’s fast and the aftermath
Kalaignar’s fast and the aftermath
When Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi undertook an astounding, unexpected, unannounced and indefinite fast at around 6 a.m. on 27th April, demanding immediate end to the hostilities between the Sinhalese forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, his grave gesture was representative of the agony of the Tamils all over the world and the genuine concern of everyone who cared for human rights and civilian life.
The 85 year-old patriarch of the Dravidian Movement was expecting the de-escalation of military operations in Sri Lanka to take place soon after the visit of M.K.Naraynan, India’s Security Advisor and Shiv Sankar Menon, the Foreign Affairs Secretary on 24th April, and after the unilateral declaration of cease-fire by the LTTE on 25th April. He was often enquiring the Home Minister, P.Chidambaram about it. On his assurance, the Chief Minister, Kalaignar was expecting the ‘good news’ of the cessation of hostilities throughout the previous night and decided to undertake the fast only at 4 a.m. [As a matter of fact, he wanted to undertake the fast two months ago. But he was compelled to desist from taking such a step and asked to resort to other forms of agitation by Dr. K. Veeramani of Dravidar Kazhagam and Dr.Ramadoss of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Thirumavalavan of Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK).]
The Chief Minister gave up his fast by 12 .30 p.m. on the same day, when he was informed that the Government of Sri Lanka had decided that combat operations had reached their conclusion. India interpreted this announcement as an end to hostilities, but the island nation stoutly denied that it was a cease-fire. It clarified that the Lankan Security forces would end the use of heavy calibre guns, combat air craft and airial weapons, which would cause civilian casualties.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister spoke to press persons on 28th April. He expressed satisfaction with the response from Sri Lanka to the fast he undertook. When asked about the apparently conflicting views regarding the end of the hostilities, he quoted Rajapaksa’s reply to a same sort of question:” You know, when you say that you are not using heavy weapons and you are not using air attacks, then what is it? It is like almost a cease-fire only. I mean now, soldiers are moving forward. So when you view all this it looks like a real war. But when we are not using heavy weapons then you know, What is it? It is not a war. That is what he (P.Chidambaram) must have said.”
When asked if he believed that innocent Tamils would not be killed as assured by Rajapakse, Kalaignar Karunanidhi replied that he urged (the Sri Lankan Government) to conduct in such a way as to uphold the belief.
It is this aspect of fulfilling the expectations of the concerned people and the international community, based on the assurances given or the pledges made, that is of vital importance at this juncture to ensure a situation leading ultimately to a just solution and lasting peace. In this context, the uncooperative attitude of the Sinhalese administration towards the U.N.Agencies and humanitarian missions causes concern.
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt went to Sri Lanka on a humanitarian mission on 28th April. But he was barred from entering the island. This has added to the mounting diplomatic tensions over the conduct of the war on the Tamil Tigers. Carl Bildt had been due to travel to the war-torn country to press demands for aid workers to be given full access to civilians trapped by heavy fighting between government troops and the freedom fighters. A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official indicated that Colombo felt it had already done enough by allowing two foreign ministers, Britain’s David Miliband and France’s Bernard Kouchner to visit on 29th April. “The Swedish minister also wanted to jump on that bandwagon and we said no,” the official said. Bildt described the incident as “exceedingly strange behaviour”, and said he was recalling the Swedish ambassador to Colombo.
Czech foreign minister Karel Schevarzenberg, whose country holds rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), said Sri Lanka’s hawkish government had made ‘grave mistakes’ that will have repercussions in Europe and will influence the further relations between the Sri Lankan Government and the European Nations.
Earlier the United Nations’ humanitarian Chief John Holmes also saw his request for greater humanitarian access turned down, despite mounting international concern over civilian casualties (A U.N. working document says 6,432 Tamil Civilians have been killed and 13,946 wounded in fighting since the end of January this year.) Some 50,000 people were believed trapped in the war zone. After talks with the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse on 27th April, John Holms said, “We do not have agreement on this”, referring to a request by U.N.Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to get a U.N. team to the conflict area. “I am disappointed about this,” he added. Anyhow Holmes welcomed Colombo’s announcement (following Kalaignar’s fast) that troops had been ordered not to use heavy calibre guns or use combat aircraft against the militants, but said he wanted to see the pledge implemented. “ I hope it will be genuinely respected this time,” Holmes said.
The U.N. humanitarian Chief John Holmes stresses the same point that Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi has stressed. Such expressions have become necessary in he light of the persistent negative attitude of the Colombo regime in the past and in the recent years. It is notorious for not keeping its word. The Bandaranaike - Selvanayagam Pact 1957, the Dudley Senanaike - Selvanayagam Pact 1965, and the Rajiv Gandhi - Jayawardane Agreement 1987 were all unimplemented. The Sinhalese politicians also sabotaged the peace negotiations initiated by Norway.
The Sinhala majoritarian rulers consistently follow the policy of treating the Tamil minority nationals as second class citizens, suppressing and denying their legitimate aspirations and rights by attempting to obliterate their distinct identify and by state-sponsored colonisations by the Sinhalese people.
The Sinhala regime is adamantly sticking to the unitary constitution, inspite of the Tamils’ demand for a federal polity from late 1940s. The Colombo government has proved to be oppressive, discriminatory and extremely cruel to the Tamils of the island from the time it attained independence from the British rule in 1948. A multinational State that refuses to treat all its nationalities as equal and grant them autonomy does not deserve to be sovereign.
The Sri Lankan Government try to convince the international community that it is a democracy fighting against terrorism. But the world has come to realise that it is really a cruel Sinhalese majoritarian regime suppressing the Tamil citizens by repeatedly killing, maiming, looting, raping the civilians - young and old - and driving them away from their homes and settlements.
We request the international community while taking effective and immediate measures to ameliorate the sufferings of Tamils, should keep these facts in mind to find a lasting and just solution to the Lankan issue.
