Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
27
November 2021
"By the time I joined Lake House the foundation for the Sri Lankan
conflict had been firmly laid. Since then I have reported the events that
turned Sri Lanka, the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, into The Tear Drop Island and
The Killing Field.
It is definitely a sad story. It is sad
especially to the men and women of my generation who celebrated the birth of
independent Ceylon waving frantically the Lion Flag.
I will relate this melancholy story which I was
destined to cover for Tamil and English language newspapers in Sri Lanka and
abroad." July 17, 2010 – T Sabaratnam - Deputy Editor of the Daily News, Journalist, Sangam,”
To those who may not be able to differentiate by name - whether
one is Tamil or Sinhalese – Sabaratnam is a Tamil name. Achieving that high status
by many of that generation confirms the deeper investments all of us made in
Common Sri Lanka. One of us Mr Sabaratnam reported as follows: in Pirapaharan
Chapter 14. The LTTE Comes into the Open :
[The Sirimavo Bandaranaike
government took Alfred Duraiappah's murder as a challenge. It ordered the
arrest of the killers before his funeral. The task was given to the police
party headed by Inspectors Bastiampillai and Pathmanathan.
Both had earned reputation as efficient and cruel officers.
They were able to arrest two of the four youths involved in the murder. The
captured were Kalapathy and Kirupairajah. They were arrested three months after
the murder. The others, Pirapaharan and Patkunarajah, were not apprehended. The
police went after them. One of the officers detailed to search for the two
absconding youths was constable A. Karunanithy. He was attached to the
Kankesanthurai police. He was shot dead by the LTTE on 14 February 1977 at
Maviddapuram. Karunanithy was the first policeman murdered by Tamil militants.
That came as a shock to the police. Two other constables - they bore the same
name Shanmuganathan - who were searching for Pirapaharan were also killed on 18
May 1977. One of them belonged to the Kankesanthurai police and the other to Valvettithurai
police. On receipt of confidential information, they went together to Inuvil in
‘civils’ by bus in the morning for investigation. Two ‘boys,’one of whom was
‘Short Bala,’ who had identified the policemen followed them on bicycles and
shot and killed them at the Inuvil Junction, on the Kankesanthurai-Jaffna main
road. The killing of the Shanmuganathans had the effect Pirapaharan intended.
Thereafter, police found it difficult to find Tamil police officers to
investigate the murders committed by the militants, including that of the
Shanmuganathans. When officers were detailed, they asked for transfers outside
the Jaffna peninsula.]
All these confirm to me that the militants
did not have the purpose of defending Tamil Sovereignty but by effect confirmed
that they sought more power than they had. One way of achieving that was
through reverse casteism about which they would have had subconscious
intelligence / intuition. That is the way of Truth which is impartial. This
worked in reverse direction with Tamil Political leaders who were currying
favour with their seniors due to losing intelligence by failing to protest
strongly against Standardization – which eventually has led to Tamils having ‘separate’
University just like our own militancy – the parallel of JVP in South. This
kind of ‘copying’ is confirmed as follows by Mr T
Sabaratnam:
[Thangathurai, who was operating
without a proper organization, decided in September 1977 to form an
organization for himself. He was an admirer of
Yaseer Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He wanted to
form a similar organization when he formed his original group in 1969. His
dream was not then realized. By 1977, he was
convinced that the model of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was more suitable
for Sri Lankan Tamils. So he gathered with his group on a September morning
(My efforts to fix the date have failed) at Selva
Sanithi Temple at Thondamanaru to attend the morning pooja. They organized a
special abishekam [purificatory bathing of the deity]. After the
ceremony, they walked to a madam [rest hut often used by the elderly, rest
home] where they held the meeting. A participant recalled that Thangathurai, a
devoted Hindu, recited a prayer, Saint
Thirunavukkarasar’s Nam Yarkum Kudiyallom (We are not slaves
to anyone)before he addressed them. He said they had operated for nearly a
decade without proper organizational structure and the time had come to set up
one. Sri Sabaratnam, Periya Sothi and Sinna Sothi spoke in support. Thangathurai
then advocated the IRA model, a political organization to deal with political
affairs and a military wing to handle military matters. He
specifically proposed that they would function on the lines of the Irish
Republican Army and the Sinn Fein.]
As written earlier, our family was
also blessed by Selva Sanithi Murugan – which led to my brother being named
Siva Shakthi Vel. When we pray with belief – Lord Muruga grants. As per the
above prayer by the militant leader Thangathurai who sought freedom – Lord Muruga
did grant the boon. The militants became Veddas – the Indigenous group in Sri
Lanka who ‘hunted’ for their living. As per the recorded history of the temple,
Mr Kathirgamar who was a fisherman was asked by Lord Muruga to build a shrine
and worship Him. When Kathirgamar lamented that he did not know how to perform
the poojah – Lord Muruga took Kathirgamar to Kathirgamam in South and gave him
a silver spear. Kathirgamar was also instructed to perform the ceremonies in a
manner similar to Kathirgamam where Sinhalese silently perform the poojahs. At Kathirgamam
they are known as Kapuralayas and they wear masks. Likewise in Selva Sanithi
temple also.
How can that be then race based? Murugan
– as he did with King Duttagamini – granted the boon and also its opposition to
balance the desire. In the case of King Duttagamini – he lost his throne to his
brother. In the case of Tamil militants they lost their heirs in Public Admin
and got sons who would fight like hunters and die early.
Yesterday, in response to my
article about the Karthigai flower – a scientist advised me that it was poisonous.
My search advised me that it was also suicidal. The signature in the above
display confirms some heirs of child-soldiers reborn in the UK. It’s a free
world where we do get what we work for. Those who yearn for hunter heritage
would get child soldiers. That is the way with polarisation through emotions. Then
they have no right to show empathy with crying mothers. When one seeks on the
basis of belief one would narrow the gap between cost and benefit and take the middle
path. Likewise in terms of intellectual discrimination.
This morning, I started looking
for a small statue of Our Lady – given to me by Sister May Joseph of Holy
Family Convent – Jaffna. That brought to me thoughts of Damayanthi – the sister
of Policeman Bastiampillai who also studied at the Convent and who married a
relative of mine. I prayed for his soul so Vaddukoddai would get more and more Policemen
who would serve the Common Government of Sri Lanka.
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