7/28/2019 A Case for Tamil Eelam

1/4

A history of imperialist interestsand a people's struggle for

freedomand justice'Our struggle for liberation'A CASE FOR

TAMIL EELAM

www.tamilarangam.net

jkpo;j; Njrpa Mtzr; Rtbfs;

7/28/2019 A Case for Tamil Eelam

2/4

THE Tamil people in the island ofSri Lanka are waging a struggle fo rpolitical independ ence based on theuniversal principle of na t iona l self-de t e rmina t ion . The struggle for in-dependent stateho od arose as a con -sequence of a violent and savageoppression practised by successiveSr i Lankan governments againstthe Tamil people. It is an oppressionthat aimed at the annihilation of thenat iona l entity of the Tamil speak-in g people.Decades of peaceful , non-v io len tpoli t ical struggle to gain th e verybasic human r ights were m et withvicious forms of military suppres-s i o n . T h e i n t e n s i f i e d m i l i t a r yoccupation of Tamil lands , the in-tolerable terrorism of the armedforces, th e imp lementa t ion of racistand repressive legislation, th e massarrest and de ten t ion of y o u t h andpolitical act ivis ts - all these draco-n ian methods were employed tostifle and subjugate th e will of ourpeople to live free, and s tamp out thelegi t imate s truggle fo r justice. Thisever unfolding thrust of nat ionaloppression made unitary existenceintolerable and led to the d e m a ndfo r secession by the oppressed Tam ilpeople.In this memorandum our objectiveis to place before you the case ofTamil Eelam, it s history of immensesuffering as well as its heroic strug-gles. I t is the authentic story of theTamil speaking people , who have nochoice but to fight fo r their d igni ty ,fo r their r ight to life, l and andlabour.

Tamil Eelam:historical backgroundThe Tami ls of the island of SriLanka const i tute themselves as a

nation of people with a distinct socialformation, culture, language, tradi-tion an d economic life. The nat ion iscalled Ta mi l E e l a m . T he Tamilshave been l iving on the island sinceprehistoric times. They lived as as t a b l e na t i o na l e n t i t y t i l l t h epenetra t ion by foreign colonial pow-ers. Waves of colonisa t ion, first thePortuguese, then th e Dutch andlater the British ruled the island.Though al l colonial periods werereigns of exploi ta t ion, p lunder andarmed repression of the indigenouspeoples, it was the 150 years of

British rule which had the mostprofound effects on the life of thepeople.Genesis of oppressionand exploitationIn 1833 the British arbitrarilyunified the island into one state

structure laying the foun dat ion forthe nat ional confl ict . T he other sig-ni f i cant historical event of Britishimpe rial rule w as the impo sition ofthe exploi ta t ive p lanta t ion economy.T o work on these planta t ions th eBritish brought a massive army ofcheap conscr ip t labour from SouthIndia. They deliberately segregatedthese poor oppressed workers insidethe planta t ions , permanent ly conde-mned them to plantation ghettoes( k n o w n as ' l ine rooms'), preventedthem from buying their ow n lands,bui lding their ow n houses and lead-in g a free social existenc e. The Tamilplanta t ion workers const i tut ing acrucial part of the T amil n at ionaltotality, were reduced to a condit ionof slavery by neo-colonialism.Transfer of powerFrom colonial masters tocolonised masters.Perpetration of the ideologyof Sinhala chauvinism

In 1948 th e British handed overpower to a small Sinhala rulingclass. This class from w hi c h all suc-cessive Sri Lankan governmentsarose, held the reins of political andeconomic power in the island sinceso-called independence. They con-t inued to main ta in power amon g theSinha la peop le , the major i ty o fwhom are themselves oppressed, bypropagat ing a fascistic ideology ofSinhala Buddhis t chauv in ism andfanat ic ism. A nd they unleashed avicious and violent form of oppres-sion against th e Tamil people.This oppression has a cont inuoushis tory of 35 years since independ-ence. It has shown itself to have agenocidal in ten t , invo lv ing a calcu-la ted plan a imin g at the gradual andsystematic destruct ion of the essen-t ia l founda t ions of the Tamil nat ion-al com mu nity . Therefore it assumeda mul t id imens iona l th rus t , a t t ack -in g s i m u l t a n e o u s l y o n d i f f e r e n tlevels of the condit ions of existenceof th e Tamil-speaking nat ion, penet -rating into the very fabric of the

lives of all sections of the Tam ilpeople. It at tacked their language,culture, religion, political institu-t ions, t radi t ional lands , economy .And part of the g enocidal program-me were th e state-organised racialpogroms which constant ly p laguedth e island jeopardising the very ex-istence o f the Tam ils and ma kingunitary life in to le r ab le and im-possible.

The Tamil Nation onslaught onpoliticaland cultural identityIn an attempt to destroy the basicfoundat ions of the Tamil Nat ion, th eSinhala ruling class made its firstm a j o r o ns l a u g h t on the Taplantation workers - the classic,proletariat of the island w ho were

disenfranchised by the Cit izenshipActs of 1948 an d 1949. One mill ionworkers were reduced to the condi-t ion of statelessness, condemned to ad e hu m a n i s e d e x i s te nc e , d u m p e dperpetual ly into their p lanta t ionghettoes, to toil in utter misery.The 1956 'Sinhala Only ' Act madeSinhala th e only official language ofth e island. And th e 1972 and 1978constitutions effectively installed aSinhala Buddhis t state on the is-l and , thus creating a cond ition ofpolit ical alienation of an entire na-tion of people.

Tamil peasants alienation from landA more subtle form of oppressionwas the policy of aggressive staided Sinhala colonisations or settlemen ts adopted by successive Sinhalagovernments. Ever since 1949, inth e guise of development schemesSinhala settlers were settled on thetraditional Tamil lands driving off

masses of Tamil peasants. The worstaffected areas were in the easternprovince .The motive of this strategy is veryapparent in the present context withth e arrival of the Israelis on theshores of the is land. This enhancesth e strategy of capture by settle-ment, to destroy the ter r i tor ia lhomogenei ty of the Tami l nat ion , toreduce th e Tamil people to a minor-ity in their own historic lands andalienate the people from their land ,with th e mot ive of crush ing the willof an oppressed nation.

www.tamilarangam.net

jkpo;j; Njrpa Mtzr; Rtbfs;

7/28/2019 A Case for Tamil Eelam

3/4

Closing the door oneducationandemployment Tamilyouth deprived of afutureThe Sinhala Only Act and a noto-discriminatory selective device

'standardisation' deprived aof Tamil you th ofto higher education and em-Angered and frustratedy th e imposi t ion of an alien lan-an d racist educational policiesgrew mili tant with

facial pogroms brutaljrm ofstate terrorismViolent anti-Tamil riots eruptedthe island in 1956. 1958, 1961,1977, 1979, 1981 and 1983. Inofand chil-ine most gruesome manner , andof thousands made re -The state and the armedcolluded with hooligans andin this sadistic orgy ofand mass m u r d e r .The cumulative effect of this mu l-oppression threatenede very survival of the Tamils . Theof the Sinhala nationaltriggered off the causalprecipi tat ing the d y n a -of a revolutionary rupture be-the two nations.

The Tamil nationalstruggle from federationto secessionFaced with th e oppressive mea-of successive Sr i Lank an gov-

t h e T a m i l s , u n d e rpetty-bourgeois lead-organised mass non-violentdemanding aform of a u to n o m y within thestate s tructure and restora-of basic hum an rights. Yet thesewere m et wi th a savageof mil i ta ry repress ion , th egiven to them were neverand agreements and pactsa dead letter.Practically all Sinha la politicalinc luding th e Ma r x i s t'Tro tskyi te ' LSSP and

the C o m m u n i s t Party succumbed topolitical opportunism in the ear ly1960s) turned a deaf ear to theTamil national qu estion. This unh o-ly all iance of all major Sinhala poli-t ical parties and their arrogant de-termination to stifle the most crucialand urgent issues facing the Tamils,made the Tamils realise th e utterfutility of pursu ing any form ofrational dialogue.This objective factor forced th eTamil na tionalist pa rties to con-verge (TULF w as formed) and fightfo r poli t ical independence on thebasis of the nation 's r ight to self-determ ination. At the General Elec-t ions in 1977 this united front wasgiven a clear mandate from th eTamil people to launch a nationalstruggle to establish sovereignty inth e Tamil homeland. Thus a newhistorical era in Tamil politics b e-gan, ushering in a struggle fornat ional independence.

Learning the lessonsof historyMilitant youth andarmed resistanceCaught up in a revolutionarys i tua t ion generated by the contra-diction of national~oppression, an dconstantly vict imised b y police bru-tal i ty , Tamil youth were disillu-sioned with the political strategy ofnon-violence, which th e bourgeoisna t iona l i s t leadersh ip advoca ted .They r igh tly perceived that the onlyalternative left to the Tamils undercond i t ions o f m o u n t in g n a t i o n a loppression w as none other than re-volut ionary armed struggle for thetotal independence of their nation.

Birth of the Tigermovement the strugglefor liberationThe revolutionary ardour of theTamil you th which man ifested i tselfin the form of indiscr iminate out-b u r s t s of political violence in theearly 1970s began to seek concretepolitical expression in an organisa-t ional s tructure bui l t on a revolu-tiona ry political theory an d p ractice.Neither the T amil United Liberat ionFront ( T U L F ) , nor the left move-m e n t , offered any concrete political

avenue to the revo lu t ionary po ten-tial of the rebe l l ious you th . O n this

concrete condit ion of in to le rab lenational oppression th e Tiger move-ment was born in 1972.The movement was founded by i tspresent leader and mili tary com-mander , Velubi l la i Prabakaran. A tthe t ime of inauguration the move-ment called itself the 'Tamil N ewTigers', but later on , on May 5 1976,the organisation re-named itself theLibera t ion Tigers of Tamil Eelam.From it s inception th e Tiger move-ment took into it s ranks th e mostresolute, most dedicated and themost zealous young revolutionaries .Structured as a guerrilla force disci-plined with an iron will to fight forthe cause, the Tigers emerged as thearmed res is tance mo vem ent of theoppressed Tam il masses. The Tigers'commitment to armed s truggle wasunder taken a f te r careful and cau-t ious appraisal of the national s trug-gle and with the ful lest comprehen-sion of the concrete s i tuation inwhich masses of people were pre-sented with no alternative otherth a n to resort to revolutionary re-sistance to advance th e nat iona lcause.Ideologically b o u n d to the revo lu -t ionary theory and practice o f Ma r x -is m and Leninism, the Liberat ionTigers f i rmly believe that revolu-t ionary armed resistance should b esustained and supported by themobilised masses. They evolved astrategy of protracted gu err i l la war-fare extending to a people's strugglefo r natio nal l iberat ion and charteredits poli tical program me, integratingthe national s truggle wi th classs t ruggle , def ining the i r u l t imateobjective as national l iberat ion andsocialist revolution.

The Tigers' poli t ico-mili tary orga-nisat ion became the revolutionaryalternative to the bourgeois lead-ership of T U L F . The TULF lead-ership earned the distrust and angerof the people by not advancing thestruggle for wh ich they w ere given amandate , b ut treading th e path ofelectoral politics, ba rgains and nego-tiations with a brutal enemy. Todaythe TULF stands fully exposed, dis-credited and demoralised in contras tto the committed leadership of theLiberation Tigers.T he present Sri Lankan reg ime,u n a b l e to contend with the deter-mina t ion of the stru gglin g massesand their armed vanguard, LTTF,

www.tamilarangam.net

jkpo;j; Njrpa Mtzr; Rtbfs;

7/28/2019 A Case for Tamil Eelam

4/4

shed their political facade of non-alignment and invite to the shores ofSri Lanka their natural allies, theUS and British imperialists andtheir agents, Zionist Israel.A historyoff imperialistinterests and thechallenge off the TamilEelam liberation struggleBritish imperial rule was thegenesis of national confl ict andoppression, and it was aggravatedby the heritage of the parliamentarysystem. With the backing of West-ern imperialism, since independencethe Sinhala ruling elite have been incharge of an increasingly totalita-rian political system, propagatingthe ideology of Sinhala Buddhistchauvinism and fanaticism.In the present context, the milit-ary occupation of the Tamil home-lands and the open economic policy,have all worsened the economic cri-sis produced by a dependent neo-colonial economy. This has led to anincreased control and penetration ofthe imperialists. To the shores of SriLanka have come the western multi-nationals, to exploit the availabilityof cheap labour and land. But mostcrucially imperialist interests arecentred around the Port of Trinco-

malee in Tamil Eelam. It is the siteof a planned US base. A base herewould enable the US to dominatethe whole of the Indian Ocean, andconsolidate its control over thewhole region with South Africa onone side and Singapore and thePhilippines on the other.It is in their global interests thatthe US and its allies have ralliedaround the Sri Lankan governmentto crush all resistance and ensure'stability'. For which the strongestand most advanced challenge comesfrom the Tamil people and theirarmed vanguard movement LITE,politically and militarily. The SriLankan armed forces are trained incounter-insurgency methods by theMOSSAD and 'ex'-SAS men. SouthAfrica has joined forces with themrecently.The imperialist penetration hascreated a revolutionary situation in

the Tamil nation. The historic role ofspearheading a national liberationhas shifted from the collaborationistnational bourgeois to the revolution-ary proletariat. The Tigers, the sonsand daughters of the oppressedTamil masses are the vanguard ofthe national liberation struggle,spearheading effectively the nation-al revolution.Creating the conditionsfor a people's struggle building a nationalmovementThe Liberation Tigers, in theirtwelve-years-long protracted guer-rilla warfare, have not only givenconfidence to the Tamil people, gra-dually raised their consciousness,

exposed and demoralised the enemyand internationalised the Tamilnational question.This mode of struggle has createdthe conditions and awakened theconsciousness of the once passiveand powerless Tamil masses tostruggle determinedly for their poli-tical independence. It has made thevast sections of the oppressed Tamilpeople see the national liberationstruggle as an arena to struggle fortheir own emancipation, and madethem realise that they are the lead-ers and heroes of the struggle.No longer can the enemy and hisstrugging symbol of power - thearmed forces walk with impunity inthe occupied Tamil lands. On thepretext of eradicating 'terrorism' thestate is going on a disastrous courseto crush the Liberation Tigers andthe collective will of the Tamil peo-ple. They use brutal tactics bor-rowed from the Israeli allies - themass random arrest and torture, thetactic of collective punishmnent -where villages are shelled, burnedd o w n , innocents murdered, andmost signifantly the attempt to pushSinhala settlements under armedprotection in and around Tamil vil-lages have been the methods usedby a fascist state to destroy theguerrillas and alienate them fromtheir base - the masses. But thishasonly hardened the resolve of Tigers

and the Tamil people, mobilisininto the ranks of the LiberatioTigers, all sections of the oppresseTamil nation; building a trunational movement.Breaking the ideologicahegemony

The small Sinhala ruling class, perpetuate its power base, has aways been reinforcing a chauvinistideological hegemony and has beepracticing a vicious and brutal forof national oppression against thTamil nation. Thus the Sinhala ruing class consolidated an unpopuldicatorship against the possible urising of the oppressed Sinhala mases. The Tamil National Liberatiostruggle has created the condi^^fo r the revolutionaries in the souto break this chauvinistic ideologichegemony of the ruling class and advance an ideological battle supporting most resolutely the right othe oppressed Tamil nation to secesion, i.e. the right to establish aindependent socialist Tamil EelamSuch a political strategy can onlserve to emancipate the oppresseTamil nation as well as the oppresed Sinhala masses.

Links of solidarityThe Tamil national liberatiostruggle as an oppressed natiofighting against the oppressor, costitutes an integral part of the intenational struggle, the struggle revolutionary forces of reaction, tforces of imperialism neoism, Zionism and racism.We therefore appeal to all progresive people to sympathise and suport the freedom struggle of thEelam Tamils. In the namehumanity liberty and justice. W

call upon you to condemn the gencidal oppressive policies of the SLankian government and to reconise our people's right to nationself-determination.The Liberation Tigers of TamEelam express their support ansolidarity to all revolutionary libertion struggles of the oppressed mases of the world.For further information regarding the Liberation Tigers o f Tamil Eelam please co ntact:

TEPIB BM Bo x 3999 WC1N 3XXPr in ted and Published by TEPIB.B M B ox 3999. London Wf I N ,'iX!$

www.tamilarangam.net

jkpo;j; Njrpa Mtzr; Rtbfs;