04 April 2021
PRESERVING TAMIL SELF-RESPECT
Yesterday,
I was advised as follows by a Tamil intellectual leader:
[There is a proverb
in Latin :-SPEAK NOTHING BUT GOOD ABOUT A DEAD PERSON.
(De mortuis nihil nisi bonum).]
The above was in response to the following
from me:
[M’s status is valuable to many and his service is deeply appreciated by
few in Sri Lanka. But in terms of money, that family suffered a lot during and
after the war. To me – Communism gained at the expense of traditional family
life.]
In retaliation I asked the above leader:
[Everyone who knew Mr M speaks highly of him –
as I do of my relatives. But do you not speak ill of Mr Bandaranaike?
The net feeling I have for Mr M is positive.]
I was impressed that an Indian leader was also covering this subject
matter around the same time – reported as follows:
[Polls to decide whether TN will walk on
path of dynasty or MGR, says Amit Shah
Amit
Shah slammed DMK chief Stalin for his son’s remarks on late Sushma Swaraj and
Arun Jaitley, and said, "He (Stalin) has forgotten that culture of Tamil
Nadu, that stops people from commenting on people who are no more."]
The expressions are reported as follows:
[There was a person called Sushma Swaraj. She died due to
the pressure exerted by Modi. There was a person called Arun Jaitley. He died
due to the torture by Modi.]
It is
interesting to note that caste has also become an election issue in Tamil Nadu.
As per the Print:
[ The BJP went after
the Dalit vote in southern Tamil Nadu by promising to change the name of the Pallar community to Devendrakula Velalar in the SC list.]
The effect of this on Sri Lanka could be serious, unless Sri
Lanka’s Northern Province stays within its sovereign borders and does not let
Tamil Nadu politics influence us. Redevelopment of Jaffna is also being used
politically:
As per Hindustani Times article ‘PM Modi first Indian PM to visit Jaffna after bombarding on
houses, says Nadda in Tamil Nadu’:
[Days
before polling in Tamil Nadu, BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is the first PM to visit Jaffna in Sri Lanka where
houses were bombarded and got them reconstructed.
The Jaffna area has a majority Tamil population. The area witnessed a brutal
civil war between the LTTE and Sri Lankan forces that continued for several
years and led to the loss of lives of thousands of people.
"Modi Ji is the first PM to visit
Jaffna in Sri Lanka. He visited bombarded houses, got them reconstructed. He
also sent Minister of External Affairs of India S Jaishankar to Sri Lanka and
ensured that Tamil minorities were safe," he said while addressing a
public meeting in Tamil Nadu's Modakurichi.
The BJP president said the shooting on
fishermen has stopped after Prime Minister Modi became the PM.]
Given that Jaffna is a link between Sri Lankan Tamils and
Indian Tamils it is important to note the following presented by Wikipedia:
[The Pallars along
with the Nalavars worship the caste deity Annamar A wooden club is used for offering to the
deity, suggesting a warrior cult.]
Like in the case of a person, if a longstanding group dies
and we speak ill of them, we would inherit their negatives or v.v. This, to my mind was a big reason for the
conflict that has seriously affected Sri Lankan Tamils. As per Wikipedia:
[The Pallars migrated to Sri Lanka as serfs accompanied by their chiefs, on whose land they toiled.
They migrated in large numbers mainly from Chola country in search of fertile land. Pallars settling in
the Jaffna Peninsula, which was rich in Palmyra palm, joined others there involved in toddy tapping. Some Pallars were involved in other
occupations, such as fishers, servants in forts, and harvesters of Indigo plant roots, contributing to the famous dye industry of Jaffna Kingdom.
Under colonial rule, castes such as the Pallars, Koviar and Nalavars were originally bonded in service to the colonial
state. However, the rise of the Sri Lankan Vellalar under Dutch Ceylon reduced the status of these castes from tenant farmers
to Vellalar slaves. The Pallars, Koviar and Nalavars were officially considered Adimaikal (a Tamil term for slave or menial labour). Large
numbers of Pallars from the Coromandel Coast were summoned as slaves under this period by private
individuals to work in tobacco plantation. After the end of slavery with British rule on the island, the Pallars largely remained as laborers
and tenants. In the 20th century, the British recruited Pallars from Tamil
Nadu to work in their tea estates. The Pallars and Paraiyars constituted over half of these workers and formed a
significant part of the Up-country Tamil population]
Given that Tamil Nadu has actively used the caste-card in
Politics, it is important to recognize its influence in Northern Province which
continues to be at risk of caste becoming an internal division factor. When Sri
Lankan Tamils are independent of ‘others’ outside the community’s sovereign borders
we are likely to
[Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) was a small militant separatist movement in India. It seeks an independent nation for the Tamil people, and first appeared in the 1980s, when the Indian Peacekeeping
Force (IPKF) was sent to Sri Lanka. It had its roots in the Naxalite movement, and was headed by Thamizharasan, an
engineering student from Ponparappi village.]
True Jaffna Tamils would protect our sovereign borders at all
times. If we become part of India by becoming dependents on India, we have no
one else but ourselves to blame for the suffering of Tamils of Sri Lanka.
The best way known to me to override caste based system is to
focus on Civil Administration as per Democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment