“As long as the LTTE remained, the Tamils felt protected and secure”
By
P C Vinoj Kumar
Chennai
21 May 2013
Posted
11-Oct-2011
Vol 2 Issue 40
No ‘Hang-Rajapaksa’ slogans. No ‘Boycott Sri Lanka’ placards. No ‘Pro-LTTE’ speeches. It is an unfamiliar situation in Tamil Nadu. But that is how it has been for a while since the order came to hang the three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in August.
The only slogan one hears now is ‘Say No to Death Penalty’. Has the campaign against death penalty to save the lives of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan derailed the pro-Eelam movement?
Rajendran (holding the mike) feels that the pro-Eelam movement will never die down
The Weekend Leader spoke to Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam General Secretary Viduthalai Rajendran, a strong proponent for bifurcation of Sri Lanka and creation of a separate State for Tamils, on the lull in the pro-Eelam movement worldwide. Will the movement survive or peter out, we asked Rajendran? Excerpts from the interview:
Q. There seems to be a lull in the pro-Eelam movement worldwide. What is happening?
A. In Tamil Nadu, our focus shifted to saving the lives of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan after the order came to hang them on September 9. Though the Madras High Court has stayed the hanging for eight weeks, many groups are still active in demanding abolition of death penalty.
The Tamils in Sri Lanka are in a helpless situation. They are not in a position to demand their rights.
A Tamil journalist from Sri Lanka was in Chennai recently. He reportedly said that people outside Sri Lanka have not understood the real problems faced by the Tamils there. The Tamils are fighting for their survival and the government is not helping them in any way.
The money that the Indian government provided Sri Lanka to build houses for the Tamils has not been used for the purpose.
(According to a report in The Hindu, just 52 houses have been built with Indian funds in Jaffna peninsula out of a proposed 1000 houses.)
Colombo has been diverting the funds for other purposes. But India doesn’t seem to care or monitor how the funds are being used. India is not sincere about helping the Tamils.
As for the Diaspora Tamils, there appears to be lack of unity among them. The enthusiasm with which they came out into the streets during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009 is missing now.
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (of Rudrakumaran) hasn’t lived up to expectations.
There are also reports that some groups in Europe are talking about reviving the LTTE.
Q. Do you think it is possible to revive an armed struggle in Sri Lanka?
A. It’s a big question mark.
Q. What about the fate of Tamils living in Sri Lanka?
A. Many are leaving the country and joining their relatives living abroad. As long as the LTTE remained, the Tamils felt protected and secure. Now, they have no safety or security. Sri Lanka is determined to wipe out Tamil identity. Their aim is to change the demography of the traditional Tamil territories in the North and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka. They are setting up Sinhalese settlements in Tamil areas. The army is extending full support to the new settlers.
Q. What do you think will happen to the Eelam movement?
A. There may be ups and downs in a movement, but the movement itself will survive.
Q. Is Eelam achievable?
A. There appears to be a lull now, but things can change any time. Didn’t the UN Report and the Channel 4 Expose give fresh impetus to the struggle? The future is in the hands of the younger generation.
They call him the ‘glacier man’. Chewang Norphel of Ladakh built 12 artificial glaciers that prevented farmers in high altitudes from moving out of the villages in search of alternative livelihood. Akash Bisht profiles the visionary with grit
Support for Eelam is felt even in Malaysia, where M Kulasegaran leads the Tamils. In an interview to Paul Newman, the MP says that he will work towards the Tamil Right to Self Determination
The wife of a porter, 38-year-old Sanuja Rajan, has won Rs. 1 crore in a TV reality show in Kerala. Life has come full circle for the woman, who has endured many hardships, says Sanu George
The scenic East Coast Road that connects Chennai with several tourist destinations has turned into a death trap due to increase in number of accidents. KP Subramanian analyses the problem
A small army of friends have joined hands to strengthen TWL under the banner of the Friends of Positive Journalism, a forum that was launched two years ago. P C Vinoj Kumar has the details
Ravi Kalra is a former taekwondo instructor whose NGO cares for senior citizens, and mentally challenged people. He carries on with his work though his family deserted him, says Rahul Vaishnavi
Is Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam playing a dangerous game of dividing Indians? He has been accused of instigating the North Indians against the people of Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that IPL matches involving Sri Lankan players, umpires and other officials should not be played in Tamil Nadu
Indian cricketers, including Dhoni and Sachin, let their hair down after their historic whitewash of Australia by zooming and careening around the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida
Student outfit warns IPL against fielding Sri Lankan players in Chennai. Political parties echo the demand as the ‘Boycott Sri Lanka’ campaign gains momentum and casts its shadow on cricket
The Weekend Leader captures the ongoing students’ struggle in Tamil Nadu in photographs, even as the protests appear to be taking the shape of a popular movement for creation of Tamil Eelam
Buoyed by pro-Eelam freedom protests in Tamil Nadu, V Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister of TGTE, downplayed the US resolution in UNHRC and pitched for an independent Tamil Eelam, says Radhika Giri
Sanitation is the last thing crisis managers provide to people displaced from homes by disasters. Now a former banker, Promita Sengupta , has come up with a quickly deployable toilet that has come handy for NGOs, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
A young innovator from Tamil Nadu aspires to create 50,000 jobs by popularizing his herbal mosquito repellent, ‘Hermo’, which repels mosquitoes effectively but does not harm humans as it is non-allergic and non-toxic, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Village Ways, launched by Manisha and Himanshu Pande on the principle of responsible tourism, helps urbanites have a real feel of rural life. Not a ‘home stay’ kind, the enterprise ropes in the locals as partners, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
Social work is no pizza business, it requires commitment and passion says Vidyaakar, who has been running a home in Chennai, Udhavum Karangal, for 30 years. Catherine Gilon met the Papa, who now has 1263 people, 314 of them kids, in his care
A young IAS officer mobilized Rs 40 lakh through Facebook to build a road in Manipur, earning the sobriquet ‘The Miracle Man’. Gaurav Sharma met Armstrong Pame to find out why he wanted to build the 100 km ‘People’s Road’ and how he did it
A grassroots innovator, Dharamveer Kamboj, has changed the lives of people from the barren land of Rajasthan to the dense forest of Nagaland by designing a food processor. Kavita Kanan Chandra explains how it works well for women and tribes
They call him the ‘glacier man’. Chewang Norphel of Ladakh built 12 artificial glaciers that prevented farmers in high altitudes from moving out of the villages in search of alternative livelihood. Akash Bisht profiles the visionary with grit
Identifying clothing as a basic necessity after food and shelter, a journalist couple, Anshu Gupta and Meenakshi, started a social venture, Goonj, providing ‘Cloth for Work’. Then they did more, reaching parts of 21 states, says Roohi Seghal
A father-daughter duo is turning rhinoceros dung into paper, which in turn has turned out to be an economically lucrative venture. Kavita Kanan Chandra explains how Elrhino, the micro-enterprise, will also help in wildlife conservation
Driven by a desire to succeed after he was told that he did not deserve a Pilot pen in class V, Ramesh Babu who worked his way up to own a fleet of 127 cars, including a Rs 3.3 crore Rolls Royce, yet remains a hairstylist, says P C Vinoj Kumar
