Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

28 November  2020

 

 

 

WHO IS A TERRORIST?

Yesterday was celebrated as Great Heroes Day  by some Tamils. In return what do they get? Mr Wigneswaran, a Tamil Political leader, states in his Colombo Telegraph article ‘Why Are Tamils Trying To Remember The Terrorists & Separatists?’ explains his interpretation as follows:

[A man kills a person. Similarly another man kills a third person. One is brought before Courts under the normal criminal law. Another is brought under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka. Who decides this? The Sinhala State of course! When the State wants, it would call a person Terrorist or a simple criminal according to its whims and fancies. The fact is both killed someone.]

That leads one to seek the definitions of ‘FACT’ & ‘Terrorism’. Wikipedia provides the following:

“A fact is an occurrence in the real world. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability—that is whether it can be demonstrated to correspond to experience…. Experience is the process through which conscious organisms perceive the world around them.”

“Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentional violence for political or religious purposes”

The Sinhalese armed forces had to accept the government’s description of the LTTE actions as ‘Terrorism’. They would have become traitors if they had assessed rights and wrongs as individuals. In fact such extremes are needed to survive in a battle field. Hence the saying ‘All is fair in Love & War’.

Love is exponential and divine. In war, death is highly probable. If we die, what we did until then will become virtues or sins as per the truth in every experience. They then become exponential values. To make them virtues , we conduct ceremonies, largely religious ceremonies. These are then made exponentially positive  to the extent of our belief.  The way we relate to them then is that they are gods/Thevar.  Heroes’ day memorials also would make them gods/ancestors  who would bless their heirs.

If  LTTE killed its enemies, the enemy needs to kill the LTTE in war. That is the way of Dharma. Such a soldier would be great hero to the LTTE’s enemies. If that soldier dies in battle – truly believing in the word of her/his government – s/he becomes god to the people who were protected by the government. If s/he pauses to think about rights and wrongs at that time, s/he is likely to lose the courage to kill the other as an Equal. This is why they say that one must think that the Guru is always right. The guru of that soldier is her/his government.

The question therefore arises as to whether the Tamil combatants who died in the war were also gods of Tamils? If they are,  then Democracy is the enemy of Tamils. The reason is that the LTTE unjustly opposed and killed Politicians who were elected by the Tamil People. It was unjust because those politicians were unarmed and were not fighters. In the Great War of Gurushetram the minority side did kill their Gurus and family elders. But that was between those of the same culture bound by common laws as  implemented by the Gurus and Family Elders. All those who fought in that war as per the laws and/or their truth – were heroes. They came from both sides. Likewise in the Sri Lankan war.

When the LTTE killed Tamil Politicians, they killed also the Vaddukoddai Resolution which gave policy level form to the work  and sacrifices made by Tamil politicians until 1976. Tamils became Equal Opposition in National Parliament in 1977. To my mind, that confirmed the blessings of gods.

When they were killed by the LTTE, the LTTE became demons to all those who believed in those Tamil Politicians and / or the system of democracy.

I do not consider the LTTE to be terrorists. Nor do I consider them to be the saviours of Tamils. As per my experience with them – they themselves did not claim to be so.  One group within them said that they were wondering whether I was Gandhi or Krishna. Our pathways to independence were /are  different. Any politician who endorses them has to have positive political karma that is greater in value than the positive political value of all the Tamil politicians that the LTTE eliminated.

Tamil politicians did not take an eye for an eye. Between the Army and the LTTE –  the fight was between two equals who were not bound by common law. Just because some members of the  Armed Forces acted in breach of the law, does not mean that the two sides became Equal in law. Truth alone makes them naturally Equal. To the extent the LTTE empowered themselves by the Equal status developed  by other Tamils in their own fields they were/are heirs of those Tamils. To the extent they opposed such Tamils, they separated themselves as an Opposition to Democratic Tamils.

Any person who celebrates LTTE as war heroes, will inherit their strengths. But they would also be culturally demoting themselves to mafia rule that LTTE followed. Such folks in Jaffna would not be able to access the forces of Democracy that many of us continue to share with Jaffna and Sri Lanka.

If the strength of those who value LTTE is greater than that of Democratic Tamils – then war will be invoked by them.  That is the leadership demonstrated by the likes of Mr Wigneswaran and others who give preference to Armed Heroes over Democratic leaders who have inherited Vaddukoddai Resolution. That is fine – so long as they do not claim Genocide. There can be no Genocide between two Equals.