Teso conference and Role of Kalaignar

The Tamil International Research Unit, on behalf of Lankan based Tamil International Centre, published an eight-page publication on 25 May 1986, about the TESO Conference organised by Kalaignar at Madurai on May 4, 1986. We reproduce the excerpts from the publication barring their comments on developments in the island nation then which are not relevant now:

A long, long way to go to save Ceylon Tamils...  May 25,1986

Sunday May 4, 1986, was the day when the Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Organisation (TESO) held its SAVE CEYLON TAMILS CONFERENCE at Madurai. It certainly promised to be an event of considerable political significance at that point of time. For the first time, leaders and representatives of Opposition parties, particularly from the North, with differing approaches on domestic politics were gathering in the heart of Tamilnadu on a united bid to express solidarity with Tamils of Sri Lanka. Notwithstanding the absence of the ruling party of the country, and the ruling party of the State, and the two Communist parties which were invited but declined to attend, the nation- wide representation was broad enough to attract interest. 

In Democracies, decision making is brought about not by government thinking alone, but also by the attitudes and stances adopted by Opposition parties. Governments work on pressure, and in a continent like country such as India where large sections of opinion are guided by regional loyalties and where the government has to continuously meet domestic compulsions of all kinds, a gathering of Opposition leaders and the striving for an Opposition consensus on an issue affecting the foreign policy of the country, cannot be wholly unwelcome to the government in power. On the other hand, it could even make it easier for the government to fashion foreign policy on the given issue. Let us look back. There was BJP leader and one-time Foreign Minister of India-Atul Behari Vajpayee; there was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and leader of a powerful regional party, the Telugu Desam - NT. Rama Rao; there was Lok Dal leader and one-time Minister in the Central Government - H.N. Bahuguna; there was the Punjab Akali Dai’s General Secretary Balwant Singh Ramoowalia; a leader of Dr. Farook Abdulla’s National Conference of Kashmir – Abdul Rasheed Kabuli; the maverick of Indian politics who launched the “Hindustan Front” to help Eelam Tamils - Dr. Subramaniam Swamy; General Secretary of the Congress (S) and M.P. - K.P. Unni Krishnan Janata’s Karnataka Home Minister-S. Rachaiah; also Telugu Desarn front-liner and Parliamentarian - P. Upendra. And then of course DMK chief - M. Karunanidhi; that dedicated activist of the Eelam cause and leader of Kamaraj Congress - P. Nedumaran; DK leader - K. Veeramani; Muslim League leader - A.K.A. Abdul Samad a distinguished galaxy of leaders hardly ever seen together on any occasion, whether in the North or South. Karnataka Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, convalescing after a throat ailment sent a special message for the Conference; and so did the leader of the Janata Parliamentary group - Prof. Madhu Dandavate.

There is no doubt at all that it was an impressive occasion; and for TESO marking one year of agitational success. Formed in May 1985 with DMK President Karunanidhi as Chairman, it had as its senior leaders P. Nedumaran, K. Anbazhagan and K. Veeramani. It defined its objectives as :- to help the Tamil partisans to carry on the struggle against State terrorism in Sri Lanka; to help Tamil refugees; and to propagate the demand for Tamil Eelam at the national and at international levels. Within three months of the formation of TESO there came about an unfortunate turn of events which gave the organisation its first chance to test its strength. Deportation orders were served on two Eelam activists - S.C. Chandrahasan and Dr. A.S. Balasingam on 23 August 1985,  and both were bundled the next day into Air India planes, the former to New York and the latter to London. The very next day TESO held a rally and “resolved that if the Centre did not revoke its orders of deportation against the Sri Lankan militant leaders, the TESO would stage black flag demonstrations when the Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and the Union Home Minister Mr. S.B. Chavan, visited Tamil Nadu next” (Hindu : 26 Aug.) The Hindu report said further : “The DMK leaders, Mr. M. Karunanidhi and Mr. K.Anbazhagan, the Dravida Kazhagam General Secretary, Mr. K. Veeramani and the President of the Tamil Nadu Kamaraj Congress, Mr. P. Nedumaran, who addressed the rally, declared that the people of Tamil Nadu would raise a banner of revolt if the Sri Lankan Tamils were denied asylum in the State. “Don’t force us to create a situation when none from the North could step into the soil of Tamil Nadu”, they said. Strong words indeed. But that was not all.

Reported the HINDU : ‘Mr. Karunanidhi warned the Centre that if it continued to initiate anti-Tamil militant steps, the people of Tamil Nadu would be constrained to organise training camps for their brethren to achieve their cherished goal of Eelam. He hastened to add that if the Centre found itself helpless to hammer out a solution to the ethnic crisis the people of Tamil Nadu themselves would clinch the job. “The training camps would include not only the militants but also the youths from Tamil Nadu to fight for the cause of Sri Lanka Tamils”. VEILED THREAT: Mr. Karunanidhi and other leaders issued a veiled threat that the cry of “Tamil Nadu belongs to the Tamils” would gather momentum if the Centre failed to protect the legitimate aspirations of the Sri Lankan Tamils...” That was on 25 August.

On 27 August, the Madras evening daily “News Today” never known to be friendly towards the DMK. reported : “The DMK-led Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) today decided to stage a “rail roko” (stop train) agitation in Tamil Nadu on August 30 to press for the immediate withdrawl of the deportation orders against two Eelam activists, Dr. A.S. Balasingam and S.C. Chandrahasan. A meeting of TESO, chaired by its President M. Karunanidhi, the DMK party chief, also called on its constituent parties to hold rallies in district headquarters for 3 days from today in this connection Karunanidhi said the “stop train” agitation had been scheduled for Friday in order to give three days’ time to the Prime Minister to revoke his government deportation order...” One day before the planned “rail roko”, S.C. Chandrahasan was back in Madras, his deportation orders withdrawn; but in a statement issued from Tiruchi, TESO Chairman Karunanidhi said the agitation would continue until the deportation orders on the other two Eelam Tamil leaders, A.S. Balasingam and N. Satyendra (who had left before the order was served) were also withdrawn. The HINDU of 31st August reported : “Train services remained suspended in Tamil Nadu, following a one-day ‘rail-roko” agitation launched by the TESO.... though the State government and the Railways had repeatedly emphasised that there was no intention to stop the services hundreds of comuters who made a beeline to railway stations, particularly in the suburban section, even from 4 a.m. were disappointed to find that the services had been suspended ‘until further orders”.

TESO therefore had a proven record of achievement when the Madurai “Save Ceylon Tamils Conference” was called. LTTE spokesman A.S. Balasingam too was back in Madras on October 10, one and a half months after deportation. TESO had also reason to be satisfied with the response to the Conference. Apart from the nation-wide representation of Opposition parties, all five Eelam militant groups that were invited, sent their representatives - the LTTE, the EROS, EPRILF, TELO and PLOT. The TULF trinity was there - Secretary General A. Amirthalingam. President M. Sivasithamparam, and front-liner R. Sampanthan. There were the TULF radicals, the rebels and break-aways

under the banners of two other organisations- ProTEG and TELF, - S.C. Chandrahasan. A. Thangathurai, the former TULF M.P. for Muthur, M.K. Eelaventhan and Kovai Mahesan, once Editor of the powerful Tamil weekly ‘Suthanthiran”. Other Eelam Tamil organisations represented at the ‘closed door” meeting with the Indian leaders were the Tamil Information & Research Unit (TIRU), Madras, headed by S. Sivanayagam founder-Editor of the Jaff na-based “Saturday Review” and the Tamil Information Centre Madurai, headed by Maheswary Velautham. both present only as “special observers” and therefore declining to make any statements. If the “Save Ceylon Tamils” conference and the huge attendance and enthusiasm at the public rally at the Racecourse grounds that same evening gave the impression that it was more an occasion for a political and personal triumph for DMK leader Karunanidhi

“Talking to newsmen, the chief organiser of the conference Mr. Karunanidhi said that the various Tamil groups had given an assurance in the presence of the national opposition leaders (excepting the teaders of the two Communist Parties which didnot attend) that they would work together. This assumed comic proportions in the immediate background of the murderous clashes between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) resulting in the death of nearly 150 young Tamils and the former group claiming that it had disarmed the fighters of the latter. On the positive side one important outcome of the conference was the decision to set up, at the all-India level, a Co-ordination Committee to constantly monitor the Lankan developments and regulate the reactions to them. Karunanidhi said that the Committee would comprise the representatives of the BJP, Congress(S\u Desam, Akali Dal, J&K National Conference (Farooq) and Janata, besides of course the DMK. To begin with, Messrs Jashwant Singh (BJP), Upendra (Telugu Desam), Unnikrishnan Congress(S), Ramoo Walia (Akali Daf). Abdul Raheed (National conference), Subramaniam Swamy (Hindustan Front) and V. Gopalaswamy (DMK) would be members of this panel. The Janata, Lok Dal, IUML, the CPI, CIP(M) and Asom Gana Parishad would be asked to join the Co-ordination Committee....

“The TESO and DMK leader claimed that the very fact of TESO conference being attended by so many opposition stalwarts had resulted in Delhi despatching an official team to Colombo for exploring a political solution to the issue. All the Tamil groups stationed in Madras, were present at the Conference. None of them voiced , however any complaint against what India did or failed to do Karunanidhi said the second Save Ceylon Tamils Conference would be held at Andhra Pradesh. The date and venue of the conference had not yet been decided. He appealed to the tiger groups of Sri Lanka to remain united....”

While the “News Today” report remains faithful to the factual outcome of the conference the critical comments appear largely pointless. Firstly, what took place was (despite the dominant presence of Karunanidhi) not a DMK conference nor even a TESO conference but a Save Ceylon Tamils Conference of Opposition parties SPONSORED by TESO, and hence resolutions were expected to, and would naturally reflect, an Opposition consensus on the Sri Lankan Tamil question. The significance of the Conference did not lie in the resolutions it passed, but in the fact that such a conference took place. It was time to show that Indian sympathy and concern for Sri Lankan Tamils was something not confined to the boundaries of Tamil Nadu, but which involved the whole of India. The TESO-sponsored conference did precisely that. It lifted the TESO concern into an all India one, and that should surely give the government in the Centre additional political and diplomatic leverage to deal with the Sri lanka government. The strong sentiments expressed by leaders like Vajpayee, NT. Rama Rao and Bahuguna helped demolish the Sri Lankan government propaganda that it was only the Tamil Nadu factor that was determining New Delhi’s outlook on the Sri Lankan Tamil question. These were therefore positive achievements of the Madurai Conference, and if credit for it flowed to the dominant TESO partner, the DMK and its leader, it would be churlish to deny them that

Public memory being short, it has to be said that the DMK’s involvement and interest in the Sri Lankan Tamil question is not a recent one. It began in the early 70s, and the TULF leaders dedveloped a personal rapport with Mr. Karunanidhi when he was in power, at a time when the late Tamil leader S.J.V. Chelvanayakam was alive. While the question whether “bandhs” and rallies and processions which dislocate or paralyse life in Tamil Nadu are really useful or whether they are wasteful and even counter-productive is a debatable question, it must be remembered that the first successful total bandh in protest against killings of Sri Lankan Tamils was carried out, not in 1986 or 1983, but in 1977 - by the DMK. Under the headline - HARTAL ALMOST TOTAL - the Indian Express of 25 August, 1977, reported :- “The one-day hartal called by the DMK on Wednesday to express sympathy for the Tamils in Sri Lanka, was almost total in the City. The DMK also took out a huge procession from the Anna statue on Mount Road to the office of the Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka.

“Mr. Karunanidhi presented a memorandum to Mr. Gautamadasa, the Deputy High Commissioner .... The memorandum condemned the efforts to “annihilate the Tamil race in Sri Lanka” and urged those interested in human rights and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to “stop the fall of human corpses and restore to the Tamils their legitimate rights and peaceful living” Mr. Karunanidhi told newsmen later that the DMK had also sent a telegram to Mr. Jayaprakash Narayan to intervene and stop “the genocide of Tamil population of Ceylon” The TESO conference took place at a time when the conflict between the Sri Lanka government and the Tamils was moving towards a decisive phase. The impulses towards a peaceful settlement were gaining ascendancy on the one hand, while on the other, the idea of giving the Tamils a more bloody nose was increasingly tempting to a government which misread the consequences of the LTTE-TELO clash.

In the meantime, TESO chairman Karunanidhi, on the eve of the Madurai Conference made a desperate appeal to Tamil militant groups to stop fighting. “The killings were not creating the best atmosphere”, he said helplessly. At the conference itself, both warring groups were represented, and all delegations gave a pledge in turn that they would henceforth work together. But the climax to the LTTE-TELO confrontation came two days later when TELO leader Sri Sabaratnam was himself killed. That was on May 6.

On May 7, came the second bomb explosion in Colombo, exactly 96 hours after the Air Lanka blast. Eleven people died and 114 were injured when a powerful bomb wrecked the Central Telegraph Office in the heart of the busy city. The month of May ended with’another bomb blast in Colombo - at the Ceylon Cold Stores - and with several bomb hoaxes in between, Colombo residents, the Sinhalese particularly, were reduced to the same sense of insecurity that the Tamils had been experiencing for years earlier.

There is a new sense of fear that has overtaken both the Tamils in the north and east and the Sinhalese in the south. Fears can drive people into acts of desperation, and if that happens, there might be a long, long way to go before anyone can save Ceylon Tamils. But it is equally likely that fears on both sides can even push warring sides into an honourable settlement, provided a strong external force imposes its authority on both. The next month or two might give the answer.

PM favours the way forward on accountability, reconciliation

Facing criticism from parties in Tamil Nadu that his government is seeking to bail out Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought to explain that he favours a way forward on accountability and reconciliation issues without creating mistrust and confrontation.

In a letter to DMK President Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, released to the media in Chennai by the Party on March 13, Dr. Singh stated: “With regard to the resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, we are engaged with all parties in an effort to achieve an outcome that is forward-looking and that ensures that, rather than deepening confrontation and mistrust between the concerned parties, a way forward is found on issues related to accountability and confrontation.”

The text of the letter is given below:

I write with reference to your letter of March 9, 2012 regarding consideration of a Resolution on Sri Lanka by the UN Human Rights Council.

As you know, India attaches high priority to the safety, prosperity and well-being of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. Following the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009, the Government of India has consistently drawn the attention of the Government of Sri Lanka to the need for a political settlement that will taken into account the legitimate interests of the Tamil community. In our engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka, we have urged it to put in place the process of resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction, including early return of all internally displaced persons to their respective habitats, early withdrawal of emergency regulations, investigations into allegations of human rights violations, restoration of normalcy in affected areas and redress of humanitarian concerns of all affected families.

We have ordered our technical, economic and financial assistance to aid this process, I would like to underline that it is as a result of our engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka and our considerable assistance programme that the modicum of normalcy is beginning to return to the Tamil areas in Sri Lanka. The Government of India has implemented and continues to implement a wide range of projects covering housing, education, health, vocational training, agriculture and reconstruction of infrastructure. There has also been progress in the areas of withdrawal of emergency regulations and the conduct of elections to local bodies in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. We intend to remain engaged with the Government of Sri Lanka in order to take this process forward.

The Government of India has also emphasized to the Government of Sri Lanka the importance of a genuine process of reconciliation to address the grievances of the Tamil community. In this connection, we have welcomed the Report of the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). We believe that the implementation of the recommendations contained in this report would contribute to the process of reconciliation. We have also emphasized the need for an independent and credible mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights violations in a time-bound manner, which has also been recommended by the LLRC. Our focus on these issues with the Government of Sri Lanka will continue.

With regard to the resolution in the UN Human Rights Council, we are engaged with all parties in an effort to achieve an outcome that is forward-looking and that ensures that rather than deepening confrontation and mis-trust between the concerned parties, a way forward is found on issues related to accountability and reconciliation. Our objective, as always, remains the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect.

‘Lankan regime could be prevailed upon only by international pressure on human rights violations’

Pleasing Government of India to lend unequivocal support to the US resolution on human rights violation by Sri Lanka in UNHRC , DMK Rajya Sabha member Thiru Tiruchi Siva said only by international pressure the Sri Lankan government could be prevailed upon.

Speaking on the statement of External Affairs Minister in the House on March 14,  Thiru Siva said:

The statements made by our External Affairs Minister in this House appear to be a xerox copy of what the Sri Lankan Government says.  I am very sorry to say this.  Whatever we have seen on the television and the media and whatever the Sri Lankan Government says is being repeated here.  

Before stating here something that is very, very important, I would like to point out that the statement itself says, “Any assertions on our part may have implications on our historically friendly relations with a neighbouring country”.  Our ‘historically friendly relations’ have taken the lives of 40,000 innocent Tamils there.  You must think what this relationship has actually fetched us.  It has actually taken the lives of our people;  it has butchered them.   Fishermen from Tamil Nadu are not able to catch fish in the Indian waters.  The Sri Lankan Navy has been repeatedly attacking and killing them, but you talk about ‘historically friendly relations with a neighbouring country’! Such terms won’t apply, especially, to Sri Lanka because of what has  happened to the Tamils there.  I would like to say that whatever happens in Sri Lanka would surely have an impact in India.  That should not be forgotten. 

The southern part of this country is a very, very sensitive area.  It is very safe for India.  But if the colonisation that is being attempted by the Sri Lankan Government, by the Sinhalese, in Tamil areas goes on, the whole Tamil race, which is pro-India, will be wiped out.  Kindly keep it in your mind that some other people who are totally anti-India would come up there.  This is the basic point that we would like to make.  We are not prepared to accept your ‘historically friendly relations’.  So many lives of our Tamil people have been lost over all these years.  We have been making pleas again and again. Just because we have confidence in the Government and in this country, we come here and plead with you.

Our leader had written a letter and the Prime Minister has responded with a letter saying the same thing again, “I assure you that our objective continues to remain the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity and justice and self-respect”.  This is all rosy but this is not so in letter and spirit. You are not able to influence a Government that you call a ‘historically  friendly country’ to do something that they ought to.

Let me ask this of the Minister:  In his statement, he says that  tractors, seeds and agricultural implements gifted by the Government of India have greatly benefited the people in the area.  May I know who those people are that have been benefited?  Is it the Sinhalese or the Tamils who have been benefited?  Sure, it might have benefited the people but what is the monitoring mechanism to see to it that whatever the Government of India is giving reaches the Tamil people there.

There is another submission, or rather, an indirect acceptance, when during his visit the External Affairs Minister said, “In addition to houses, I also gifted bicycles to IDPs and handed over hospitals and schools rehabilitated...”  What does that mean? It means that schools and hospitals had been attacked during the conflict there.  This merciless action has never happened in any civil war or any conflict.  So, hospitals and schools were targeted and demolished in Sri Lanka, where innocent people who were undergoing treatment and children who were studying in schools were brutally killed.  And my country is not prepared to take all this into consideration.

There are two parts to this issue.  One is, post war, the  many steps which you are taking to restore normalcy. You say that you are attempting to build 50,000 houses.  Firstly, 1000 houses will be constructed under a pilot project.  But after a lapse of three years and after having spent Rs.500 crore, you say that only around 300 houses have been constructed!  What does that mean?  The construction work is not going on at the pace at which it should.  So, the IDPs are still living in camps as refugees, the worst life that one could think of anywhere, not even in Somalia. People in Sri Lanka are passing through such experience. They had said that it was the way forward.  But after three years the LLRC has submitted its report to the Sri Lankan Parliament.  

And, it has given some recommendations, on the  human rights violations, enforced displacements and killings of innocent people. On all these things you say that you would monitor and that you would ask them to have an investigation. How can you prevail upon a sovereign country when you say that you cannot, at all, interfere in its affairs?  You cannot make them have an investigation. Only an international pressure could prevail upon the Sri Lankan Government to act. That is what we have been insisting.

You said that the Thirteenth Amendment would be implemented. No, the provisions have been underscored by the Sri Lankan Government. The Sinhalese have colonized the Tamil areas. All the provisions in it are being slowly diluted. Shaking hands with you, the Sri Lankan Government is actually betraying the Indian Government. 

The international community has taken note of a neighbouring country which has made excesses. The report of the LLRC was laid in Parliament on December 16, 2011. The resolution was moved in the UNHRC on January 25, after a month. The  Statement which the External Affairs Minister has made gives a brief on the steps which have been taken on the LLRC recommendations by the Sri Lankan Government. What they are maintaining has been told by you here.  What they have briefed in the UNHRC is being said here. We are not prepared to accept it.

The point is very simple. Kindly understand the sentiments of our people. I do not want to use terms like ‘turning the blind eye’, ‘falling on deaf ears’ and all. The Government of India is impervious to the sentiments of the Tamil Nadu people. Yesterday, the House witnessed an unprecedented scene because the issue is like that. So, please do not say that the Draft Resolution is to be finalised and that we need to wait. I would like to say that nothing short of an assurance that the Government of India would unequivocally support the Resolution moved against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC will pacify us. We will not accept anything other than that. We do not want to resort to any other means. I would like to submit to the Minister that this is not the voice of one political party, this is not the voice of any one individual; but, this is the mood of the people in Tamil Nadu. The impact it will have on India is very bad. The Sri Lankan Government, if at all could be prevailed upon, it could be only by an international pressure. That has been moved by other countries. Kindly support that. Our leader has time and again written letters to the Prime Minister. We also raised our voice. This is our concern; this is our vow; this is our sorrow and this is what brings tears. Kindly understand this fact. If you do not understand tears, if you do not understand the misery of people, there can be no excuse. I urge upon you to take the decision of India’s unequivocal support to the Resolution moved in the UNHRC without any hesitation.

Govt should give a proper, clear reply on support of resolution on Lanka in UNHRC: Kanimozhi

Stating that the issue now was not a Tamil issue, but an issue of human rights, DMK Rajya Sabha member Tmt. Kanimozhi said while the world understood that the Government of India should come out with a proper and correct reply on the support of US sponsored resolution in human rights violations in Sri Lanka in the UNHRC.

Speaking on the statement of External Affairs Minister on Mar.14 Tmt. Kanimozhi said;

In the statement of the External Affairs Minister, I see a lot of hope and confidence in the Sri Lankan Government, India seems to believe that they will keep up their promises and there will be justice done to the Sri Lankan Tamil people.  But, I really like to know where this hope and confidence comes from because when the Sri Lankan Prime Minister was here, he had promised three years ago that 50,000 houses would be built for the Tamils there. Here, it says ‘300’ in the statement. In truth, I don’t think even 150 houses have been built for the Tamils living there.  So, where does this hope come from that justice  will be done to the Tamils there?  When our own External Affairs

Minister went to Sri Lanka and came back and met the Press, he promised that the Sri Lankan Government would pursue with the Thirteenth Amendment Plus approach that he had been assured by President Rajapaksa. But, within a few days the Sri Lankan President made a statement that it would not happen. And he further said that he had not made any promise of that kind to India. So, when a President promises something to our External Affairs Minister and, within a few days goes back on his own words, then, where does this hope and confidence stem from that the Sri Lankan Government will carry out its promises?  Will there be any truth in their words and will there be any justice for our people over there? Where does this confidence in them come from, I don’t understand. One more thing I really like to know is, in the Statement the Minister says that there have been inquiries into the war crimes by Lankan government, and we believe that there will be justice at the end of it.  Their own LLRC Report absolves the Sri Lankan Government of any war crimes. It says that ‘the Sri Lankan Government does not have any part in the killing of 40,000 civilians including women and children’. It absolves the Sri Lankan Government of any of these crimes, it says that Sri Lanka played no part in it. Then where does this hope, where does this confidence about the Sri Lankan government come from?

Next, we talk about traditionally India keeping away.  We say we cannot interfere with our neighbour’s civil affairs.    But, we know, the whole world knows, about the part India played in the 1971 Bangladesh War.  Recently when our Prime Minister went to South Africa, he proudly proclaimed, ‘Even before our Independence, in 1946, we have taken apartheid as an issue in the United Nations, And we also supported when the UNHRC had brought, on January 9, 2009, a Resolution against human rights excesses by Israel in the Gaza Strip. India did support it.’  So, when it comes to Tamils in Sri Lanka, when it comes to the sentiments of South India and Tamil Nadu people, why should we remain silent from commitment?  Why should we say that we cannot make a clear statement?  We have to wait.  We are not asking for anything more. We are just asking whether the Government of India will support an enquiry into the human rights excesses which have taken place in Sri Lanka. Nobody in this world can say that it has not happened. 40,000 people have gone missing; 40,000 lives have gone away or they have been wiped out.  How can we be silent spectators?  Everybody keeps talking about Tamil sentiment, Tamil sentiment.  It is not just a Tamil sentiment. It is the issue of human rights violations.  Tamil Nadu, we believe, is still a part of India.  When we raised this issue, people talk about us as if we are separatists.  No, we are not.  We are looking at you for a solution. And, you have to reply to this.  It is not a Tamil issue; it is the issue concerning India.  It is the issue of human rights.  The world understands that.  The Government of India should also understand and give us a proper clear reply.  We cannot accept a statement like this.

Why Self Respect Movement was started?

Thanthai Periyar

I started a movement and named it as the ‘Self-Respect Movement’ in 1925. It is known to all. I am bound to state why it was started. Many may like to know the objectives of the movement. At the outset, I must say a few words about myself. Then only it will be possible to conclude whether what I did was right or wrong..

I had no feelings about caste or religion from my childhood days. In other words I did not follow them. But when circumstances forced me I pretended to observe them. Similarly I had no faith in God. In all matters I did, I never thought whether God would punish me! I did not do anything thinking that it would please God. In my early years, I had no remembrance I have ever believed in god or religion or caste really! I have to reminisce about this many times in the past also. I do not know as to when I really lost faith in all these.

CASTE - FANATICISM   EVEN   IN   DRINKING   WATER

When I was just six years old, I was sent to a pial school. It was just at a short distance from my home in Erode. Around the school there were few houses inhabited by Chettiars, trading in oil. Oil mills were working always. A few people residing on platforms were manufacturing mats and baskets out of bamboo. Some Muslims too were residing in that area. It was clear that Chettiars, bamboo article makers and Muslims were dwelling in that area.

In those days, other caste people would not take any food in their houses. So before sending me to school I was advised  not to move with these people. I was strictly warned not to eat or drink in their houses. If at all I felt thirsty, I was asked to take water from the teacher’s house. The teacher was a strict vegetarian. He belonged to a caste called ‘Odhuvar’. In his house a small girl used to place a brass tumbler on the ground, and pour water into it. I was instructed to lift the vessel and drink without sipping. After drinking I was asked to keep the vessel upside down. After that she would pour water on the vessel, lift it and then take it into the house. That was the normal practice adopted in those days by high-caste Hindus to ‘purify’ the vessel touched by a person belonging to a low-caste.

Because I was not allowed to sip water from the vessel, a part of the water would fall on my body. Only a little water would go into the mouth. Some times water would enter my nose and cause trouble. I had to spit out water instantly. Sometimes the girl would get angry on seeing this. So I decided not to take water from the house of the teacher.

The boys of Vania Chettiar community never went to the teacher’s house for drinking water. They will stand in the class, show their thumbs and the teacher would let them go out and return soon. They would take water from the Chettiars’ houses nearby.

One day I thought that I could join them and take water in a Chettiar’s house. When a Chettiar boy showed his thumb I also stood up and showed my thumb. The teacher permitted both of us to leave the class. The teacher asked me where I was running to. “For drinking water”, I replied. “Are you going with him?” asked my Master. So I went to the teacher’s house. When I returned, my body was wet. My dhotis too were partly drenched in water. Next day I decided to accompany a Chettiar boy for drinking water. I made the necessary arrangement previously. I stood up in the class first and showed my pointing finger as though I am going out to pass urine. The teacher nodded his head. I went out and stood behind the house of the teacher. The Chettiar boy took the permission from the teacher to quench his thirst. He came out. We both joined together and ran up to his house. He brought me a glass of water.

PUNISHMENT FOR MOVING WITH LOW CASTES

I drank that water by sipping, as I would do in my house. Seeing this the lady of the house asked me whether I would not be punished for drinking water in her house. I said no one in my house would take me to task. She asked my friend Palaniappan to wash the glass I used. Then I ran back to the school.

On another occasion I drank the water in the house of a person who made bamboo articles. Gradually I began to taste the dishes prepared in their houses. Somehow this matter reached my house. At that time my family was very rich. Our people were observing the rituals like orthodox Brahmins. Always there was talk of divinity in my house. But my father was not much worried. He simply chided me saying , ‘Don’t behave like that again.’ But my mother was very much perturbed. She would feel as though she had lost something precious. But nothing stood in my way. I even ate whatever the Muslim boys offered me. My parents came to know about this also. By this time my school career was stopped. I was then only ten years old.

I was very closely associated with those with whom I should not. I was not expected to move freely. My close movement with communities, which were considered low and despicable, was the main impediment to my education. I was considered to be a ruffian because of my movements and behaviour. My feet were chained to logs of wood. Yet I used to move about with my usual company. This continued for fifteen days!. I used to carry the logs on my shoulder and go about on my usual rounds. At last I was taken away from that school and sent to a government school. Even there I was stopped in two years. I was only 12 years  at that time.                                                               

RATIONAL QUESTIONS TO RELIGIOUS PREACHERS

I was sent to our own business shop. My work was to mark the bags and auction the goods. During my leisure time, I took keen interest in discussing the puranas (mythologies). In those days Sanyasis (Saints), Bhagavathars, religious mendicants  had great sway over our family. I disliked them. I used to heckle them and make fun of what they said. I used to pester them with questions and make them feel embarrassed. Gradually this practice led to my taking interest in chatting. This also helped me to spend my leisure time usefully. In fact this practice gave me lively interest.

Moreover the religious pundits (scholars) of Vaishnavism and Saivism were performing ‘Kalatshepams’ (Story Discourse with songs) in our house. This was done to gain a status and name in the society, as my family was rolling in money. My mother used to hear the religious discourses with devotion. My father was simply pleased with all these. So far as I was concerned, I naturally learnt all about the Hindu religion and its puranas. I used to put a volley of questions to the pundits. For some, they struggled to answer. Different pundits gave different clarifications. This made me more enthusiastic and incisive. Neighbours were struck with my intelligence. Though sometimes my father felt annoyed, in his heart of hearts, he appreciated my brilliance.

Out of all these I began to lose faith in castes, religions, God and Sastras (Hindu Doctrines).

NOT  A  VICTIM   TO  LIQUORS

It is said that one’s association and surrounding, give scope to the individual to determine one’s life, mission and ideals. By experience it may be true. But in no field of activity I was influenced by association or surrounding. On the contrary I was never a victim of my surrounding and association. Let me explain this further. When I was in my youth I was surrounded by friends who were mostly accustomed to drink. This was during the period when I was 20 to 30 years of age. Further the government officers, Zamindars and Mirasdars who were very affectionate also had the habit of consuming liquor. Many nights I used to enjoy their company and take leave of them in the morning. Every night I used to spend Rs.40, 50,60 on liquor like brandy. I would myself mix the liquor with soda in glasses and offer them as a mark of respect. When they got intoxicated some of them used to spit the liquor on me. On one occasion, a deputy collector and a salt commissioner pushed me to the ground and forcibly tried to pour liquor into my mouth. I say this to prove that association or surrounding had no power to influence me, I never had the interest to taste any liquor. Yet my wife used to suspect me because of my association and surroundings. She would ask me to open my mouth and try to smell whether I had consumed any liquor. Then only she would be satisfied.

Inspite of my being associated with this sort of society, I was very successful in my business. My father reposed great confidence in me. He removed the name board of the shop bearing his name and replaced it with my name. Even in public matters he deputed me to represent him.

The works of temples and devasthanams were conducted as if they were purely personal affairs. In this aspect also my father made me prominent. By doing this, he expected a change in my life. He might have thought that I would become religious and have faith in god.

I acted as the secretary and president of the Devasthana Committee.

ERADICATING  EVILS  OF  CASTE  AND   RELIGION

While the matters were such, whatever responsibility I accepted, I did the duties as they should be done. Even in matters which I disbelieved, I was very honest, sincere and more careful.

My real interest and resolve slowly grew towards eradicating the evils of caste and religion. Even in that lofty ideal, I did not deem that I would be the only fit person to do it. Somehow we were leading a very happy life. Without depending on anyone for anything our family flourished. What else is needed for a happy life. In other words, a man needs a healthy body and determination to work hard for his ideals. He should not be lazy or dependent on others for anything.

One should not change or give up his ideals for selfish gains or for getting the favour of others. A man must have such a freedom to pursue his ideals till his death.

I think I had that freedom and unique status. It is this freedom I enjoy and values most, that enables me to pursue my ideals. I am in no way blindly resolute.

If my senses are sensitive at the time of my death, I would feel happy about my life and die peacefully. I will be completely satisfied. I will not have any grouse or complaint. I will not feel that I have left anything unfinished.

Because I am alive, my life must have some work. There is no life without work. My mission was decided by me. I resolved to eradicate the evils of casteism. I decided to crusade against god and superstitions. My aim was to work with interest for the welfare of the society. I do, what all I can to better the society. When this feeling gradually developed, I took it as my full time life-work to reform the society.

WHY SELF-RESPECT MOVEMENT WAS STARTED?

I started the Self - Respect Movement with the same motive. If my ambition is fulfilled, the class hatred in society will cease. Individuals will have no grievances. All these may exist in society merely for recreation! Even as people play or gamble on holidays, meet with dejection, worries, dissatisfaction, by nature’s action the society may be unnecessarily annoyed. It is common not only to human beings but to all living beings. So any man will have to face the good and the bad in life. With awareness of this I have launched the movement. This is otherwise interpreted as ‘Nish Kamiya Karma’, that is discharging duties without expecting good reward. Why should anyone do so? When a man does something expecting some good, he will have to meet with worries. But in reality a living being has to choose some work or other. I have undertaken the Self-Respect movement as the work for me in life. But in this work I did not get myself dejected. It always gives me interest.

The philosophy of Self-Respect Movement is known to the world. The cause and effect theory is accepted by the wise world. The human being seeks the reasons for everything. He has begun to conduct research of nature. A life with ignorance is considered as a slave’s life. This is the doctrine of Self - Respect Movement. Before doing anything, one should think whether it is right or wrong, see the causes, analyse things, do research, and respect the truths. This is what the Self-Respect means. Freedom and Self-Respect are closely related.

Those who are for freedom today are neglecting the self­-respect and human dignity of man. This is nothing but absurd. Without self-respect, there will be no good of freedom.

It is the self-respect ideal that commands feelings of freedom. The freedom of the self-respect prevails strikingly. But the freedom of the real freedom lover will not be clear even to himself. Even if he understands, it may be only in the case .of particular thing.

WRONG CONCEPTIONS OF GANDHI

For example, take the concept of political freedom. Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Jawaharlal are the two luminaries in politics.

Gandhi says, revitalising Hinduism and old method of Varnasharma Dharma (Code of Casteism) is freedom. Deliverance from British rule is considered as freedom. Prevalent sorrows in the human society cannot be wiped out because, that freedom will create more problems than solve some. It is said that British subjects enjoy the greatest freedom. But you know the king himself had to abdicate the crown to marry the lady he loved and that too it was precipitated by the so-called elected representatives. If it is so, do you believe that there will be any self-respect in the freedom of Gandhi or Nehru? Do you think the British king would have forfeited the right to marry, if there was self-respect with freedom? There is nothing so precious to man in life as self-respect and basic human right.

Though the Self-Respect Movement made a very humble beginning, it had to face many obstacles and repression. At many stages, there were critical dangers. Why? The Self­-Respect Movement has created a stir in Tamil Nadu, Malayala Nadu, Andhra Nadu in the social sphere. It has made Gandhi also do somersaults. Men are now demanding rights. High and low caste significations(distinctions) are fast fading away. Bible and Quran are now given, new interpretations. If only congress had not counteracted, the Self-Respect Movement would have spread even throughout the length and breadth of India. Brahminism would have been completely routed and effaced out of existence.

We are going to propagate the ideals all over India. Now our youths are eager to undertake the task. Youths, get ready for the task!

SELF-RESPECT AND GOD AND   RELIGION

Religion is the sum of the rules related to cooperative living and code of conduct needed for a society. Self-Respect Movement is not against such a harmonious society. Even if it is said that religion is needed to reach god we will not interfere. It is after all an individual’s personal affair.

But, if religion destroys the wisdom in the society, if it endangers the self-respect, if humanity is differentiated as high and low, if it brings disunity and demolishes freedom, our Self­-Respect Movement will not leave it. Take for example numerous religions. Let us not worry about the religions of foreigners. Let us consider Hinduism, which is said to be our religion of India.

Is there any other reason for Indians to be so disunited? Is not Hinduism responsible for the creation of so many divisions and differences? Is not Hinduism responsible for the creation  of so many castes, that too some as high and some as low?

The Vedas and Sastras (Hindu Doctrines) prove these. If we are to get rid of castes and untouchability without converting to other religions like Islam, think over whether anyone else except Brahmin is enjoying so much facility and freedom in social and economic fields. What else is needed to prove that Hindu religion should be destroyed? No one thinks about what religion has done to humanity.

The evils caused by the intoxicating drinks are lesser, when compared to the evils caused by religious fanaticism. Liquor spoils only when consumed. Religion spoils you the moment you think of it.

Religion not only creates the high and low discrimination in our social life, but also establishes high and low discrimination in our economy. Think over!. Has not religion created a separate class of people who are hard working and a separate class of people who enjoy without any hard work?

The wealth of the world is denied to the toiling masses. Lazy fellows who do not exert or work are able to enjoy the wealth of the world. Is it not because of religion? Common man is in poverty. He is made a slave, a low caste and heinous human being. Those who have got exemption to work by religion are free from worries and are able to amass wealth and subordinate all others on account of this religion.

NO CASTEISM AMONG BIRDS OR ANIMALS

Birds, animals, worms, which are considered to be devoid of rationalism do not create castes, differences as high and low, in their own species. But man considered to be a rational being is suffering from all these because of religion.

Amongst dogs you don’t have a brahmin dog and pariah  dog. Among donkeys and monkeys we do not find. But amongst men you have. Why? Is it not because of our religion? How many years old is Hinduism? What good has it done to society so far.? The low caste existed even in the days of Rama who was considered as an incarnation of god. In the days of King Harichander, there existed a pariah in the burial ground. Selling away one’s wife too was prevalent. To this day these evils are seen in our society. How are we to say that Hindu religion helped the people to progress?

See, what foolish notions are taught to the people by religion. The dead bodies are burnt to ashes and the ashes are immersed in water. But they are believed to be alive. The descendants of the dead hand over rice, dholl, vegetables, footwear etc., to a Brahmin to be safely and surely passed over to the dead.

How are we to believe that a man has an iota of sense or rationalism in doing all these. Why should you give things only to Brahmins? Why should you fall at his feet? Why should you wash his feet and drink that water? If this is Hindu doctrine and philosophy, such a religion must go. Take the other rituals. Christening, house warming, marriage, puberty or anything, all are for Brahmin’s gain. Do people of other religions and countries behave like this? We do not respect our knowledge nor are we ashmed of our actions. Are we merely a mass of flesh and bones? Why should anybody get angry when I say all these to make you to think over. Who is responsible for our degradation? Is it religion or government?

ONE GOD OF CHRISTIANS - MUSLIMS

In the scientifically advanced world, we are talking of gods and their great deeds. This is nothing but barbarous. Because our enemies find no reasonable charges against us, they are calling us atheists, with a bad motive and to create mischief.

So far as god is concerned we find the Christians and Muslims, somewhat reformed from the olden days of barbarians. They say that there can be only one god. They say that it is beyond human comprehension. They say that god does good to those who are good and punishes those who are bad. They say that god has no name or shape. They talk of good qualities. We need not worry about their god. Wise people accept their gods because they feel that their god would serve the purpose of creating a better society. What about Hindus and their thousands of gods created by Brahmins.? Why should Hindus worship so many gods? How did they come? See what are all made as gods! From cow, horse, bullock, monkey, bandicoot, stone, birds, metals, paper, all are deemed as gods. When I was in Kasi (Varanasi in North India - a holy town for Hindus), I saw two dogs being worshipped. Moreover gods have wives, concubines, and prostitutes. These gods are believed to eat, sleep and reproduce. They also have marriages and funerals.

Let them attribute anything to these gods. Kidnapping girls, gods enjoying with prostitutes are celebrated as festivals. Crores of rupees are wasted for these. The precious time of the people is wasted. Think over, whether all these are things to be done in the 20th Century.

IDIOTIC   MARRIAGES - EXPENSES - OFFERINGS

Should we not feel ashamed of all these? Is it just or right to call us atheists? If there are gods, should they be like this? Will any intelligent man accept this? Does god require all these things we do, as pooja (prayer), offerings, marriages etc.,? Does any god approve all these? Seeing the gods as mere toys, we perform marriage thrice a year to them, why that? If gods really need wives, should we not find out what happened to the wives married last year? Were they divorced? Were they segregated? Have they deserted their husbands and ran away or have all died? Should we not think of all these? Why celebrate marriages every year for gods? Why Music, show, pomp and expenses? Do you know who eats the feast at marriages? How many festivals every year and at various places? What have we gained by all these? So far as our education is concerned 95% people are illiterate. In the world, our India is a very poor country. Should we not think why we should squander money in the name of god?

How many times do we perform poojas (prayers) and place offerings to god a day? How many measures of rice, dholl, and other articles are placed before god? People have no education, no work, no meal. Please consider how many crores of rupees are wasted year after year for celebrating Eakadasi, Arudra, Thai Poosam, Karthigai, and for visiting temples at Tirupathi, Thiruchendur and Rameswaram.

If we consider what pains are taken for these expenses, none could assert that gods have done good to our people in any manner. If the huge amount spent this way is diverted to other fields, we can run the government without taxes. If we create new industries and educational institutions we can solve the problems of illiteracy and unemployment. There will be no exploitation by foreign countries. Just to make a particular section of people (Brahmins) remain lazy and yet lead their lives well, why all others should bestow their hard earned money foolishly for all these?

How senselessly are we behaving in the name of god and devotion? How ugly do we seem when we carry the kavadi (a bent pole with metal vessels at both ends) on our shoulders!

Wearing saffron colour cloth people mill about the streets! People shave their head, smear mud and ashes on the body! People prick themselves with small arrows into their tongue and other parts of body. People bathe in dirty water. All these in the name of god and devotion!

Moreover, milk, ghee, curd, honey, fruit, juices are being poured on the stone idols. They flow into gutters. All eatables are wasted. Are we to see this as mere fun? Do all these gods need gold jewels worth crores? Are costly silk garments needed? Why tall towers and big compound walls? Why gold and silver ‘Vimanas’? Are they not public property? Does religious duty mean that we should waste money on idols and thus help the lazy Brahmins to loot our money, enabling their people to become Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S) Officers, Judges, State Diwans etc.? If all these are for god’s blessings, should there be such gods? Think over.

Do the Muslims follow this sort of worship of god? Do the Christians do? Will the rationalist Indian accept all these?

MONOPOLY   OF   BRAHMINS

When are we to get into the right path of devotion to god? When I ask this, the Brahmins dub us as atheists. Believing these Brahmins and their hirelings, the ignorant people raise the cry against us that god is in danger, religion is in danger! Is behaving in this barbarous way, theism or atheism? Whatever it be, we will not be cowed down by their hindering activities. Whatever we feel right, we will boldly say. We say Hindu religion and gods are dreadful diseases. Unless they are effaced out of existence our people cannot and country would not prosper. We say what we feel.

It is for you to think and act. We don’t compel you to believe what all we say as the Brahmins do. They say that if anyone believes in god he will go to heaven. If anyone does not believe he will go to hell.

When I left the Congress party in 1925, I realized that our politics was under the monopoly of Brahmins. In the name of struggle for freedom of India it is the Brahmins who played the major role. Their struggle was not for establishing a good government for the people. There was no common cause behind the struggle. I was for crushing the Brahmin monopoly. I realized that god, religion and castes make them strong to exploit others and lead a happy life. I started the Self-Respect Movement myself and enlisted the co-operation of others. Congress pursued a policy of concentrating only on political reform. It neglected the social field. In the name of implementing a constructive programme, the Congress wanted to grab power and establish political domination. While my main aim was social reform and as I was doing my best to eradicate the evils in the name of god, religion, caste, dharma and sastras (Hindu Doctrines), I had to take steps to prevent Brahmin domination in politics.

My public life was multi-faceted. My responsibilities increased. I had to swim against the current. My work was in fact a very tough one. If I counter the Brahmins politically, they made a march in the social field. If I countered them in the social field, they cleverly made a march in the political field. I had to arouse the feelings of the innocent Dravidian people in both the fields. I had to face a lot of difficulties in this task.

With all that, there was yet another trouble to me from my own men. Those who have become my followers attained maturity in many matters and gained publicity among the public. They became pawns in the hands of the enemies. Many actually opposed me and my work. I could only say that they did so as Prahaladan or Vibishanan did. After serving the public for 40 years I don’t find any other reason for their acts. It is for the wise people to assess the value of my service in the past 40 years.

WHY   DRAVIDIANS   DEMAND   EQUAL   STATUS?

We find Brahmin-Sudra differentiation in temples, shrines, schools, public roads, hotels, etc. Were the high and low discriminations, created by us or by Brahmins? If anyone should think over all these, no one will dare to call us communalists.

The Brahmins do not for a moment realise that it is wrong to lower us to disgraceful state and at the same time raising themselves as the highest and respectable. What all we demand is equal status with self-respect. But  this is considered as a great sin or blunder.

They call it a godly movement or theist movement by safeguarding Aryan doctrines and Varnashrama Dharma (colour based casteism code), at the same time making others as Sudras and Untouchables. But our Movement which stands for the destruction of Sudra name and untouchability is dubbed as atheists. They say that to talk with us (Dravidians), or to see us is sinful. But they say it is not sinful to fall at their feet. They say it is not sinful to call them ‘Samy’ .

They say it is not sinful to see or touch the things to be offered to Brahmins. Nothing should be distributed to us first, they say. They insist that we should take them only after they have touched and tasted. They say we go to heaven by prostrating before them and drinking the water after washing their feet. They tuck the sacred thread they wear in the ear as they pass urine or motion. They say that they escape pollution by this. They will wear the thread only after a bath or when they deem they are pure and clean. Similarly they tuck the thread in the ear when they talk to the Sudras. Is it all non­-communalism? We are asked to close our mouth with the hand or anything, when we talk to them. They object to the sound waves touching them.

We can cite thousands of such examples. Yet they, who stand in the way of our progressive life call us communalists and atheists. Many of us forfeit our human rights. Many are afraid of Brahmins. We should deem it a duty to make our people aware of their rights.

Look at what is happening in our politics. The Congress movement, started to get posts for them, was named as a national movement. They (Brahmins) are heaping evils on us as partners. They help the govt., and occupy high posts fetching 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000 rupees as salary. They live, by supporting the government enjoying its favour, to grab high positions in the courts and educational institutions.

When we aspire for any of these, the Brahmins say that we are not fit. When we want to get ourselves made fit, they say we are unpatriotic and communalistic.

So it is absolutely desirable to have a separate Movement for us. Only then we will be able to solve our problems. We need a Movement to face our difficulties. We need a Movement to find a solution to our problems. We should gain freedom with self-respect. We should all come together and work hard in the Movement. Everyone should play his part in the Movement.

UNHRC voting trashes Jaya’s mean attempt to politicise Lankan issue

When Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh in his reply on Mar.19 in Lok Sabha, to the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s Address announced that India is inclined to support and vote in favour of US sponsored draft resolution on human rights violations in the United Nations Human Council (UNHRC) 19th session in Geneva on March 23, “it was greeted by the members of the AIADMK, the DMK and other parties, with the thumping of desks.” (Report on page 1 of The Hindu, March 20). The live relay of the Lok Sabha proceedings also showed ADMK and CPI members welcoming it with the thumping of desks immediately after the PM’s announcement.

By then the DMK had already announced the convening of the party’s high-level executive committee meeting on Mar.20 and Kalaignar in the morning on the day had announced the fast to be undertaken by Party throughout the state on March 23 and himself undertaking the fast to urge the Centre on supporting the resolution against Sri Lanka in UNHRC. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, Kalaignar told mediapersons of the cancellation of the proposed fast and executive committee meeting.

‘The Hindu’ on March 20, published the following report on P.17 about Kalaignar’s press briefing under the headline, “DMK was on verge of quitting UPA Ministry” :

“The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam revealed on Monday that it was on the verge of pulling its Ministers out of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, but dropped the idea after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured Parliament that India would vote in favour of a resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

DMK president M. Karunanidhi read out to reporters extracts from a resolution prepared for consideration at a meeting of its high-level executive committee scheduled for Tuesday to discuss the U.S.-sponsored resolution. However, there was no need now to release it, he said.

Besides withdrawing its proposal to come out of the Union Cabinet and instead offer the government issue-based support, the DMK called off Tuesday's meeting and a State-wide fast it planned for Thursday to demand that the Centre to back the resolution at the UNHRC.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Singh told Parliament that India was inclined to vote for a resolution, if it covered India's objectives: “The achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is based on equality, dignity, justice and self-respect.”

“The high-level committee reiterates that the Indian government support the resolution, taking into consideration not just the DMK's request but also the aspirations of the entire Tamil community. If the Indian government says it cannot support the resolution, the DMK has to consider whether it should be part of the government when it is not even possible to support a resolution against the Sri Lankan Army that was responsible for the killing of over 40,000 Tamils. The meeting decides that the DMK Ministers in the Union Cabinet will quit their posts, and the DMK will be forced to offer only issue-based support to the government,” Mr. Karunanidhi said, quoting from the resolution.”

Expressing happiness at Dr. Singh's announcement, he said the Centre's latest stand was a victory for the struggle in support of Sri Lankan Tamils and those fighting for their cause.”

Kalaignar was magnanimous and humble enough not claim credit solely for him and the DMK and ascribed the victory ‘to the struggle in support of Sri Lankan Tamils and those fighting for their cause.’

However neutral political observers and common public could easily understand that the credit goes only to the DMK and Kalaignar.

Late in the evening of Mar.19, Jayalalitha, unable to digest the credit for Centre’s stand on UNHRC resolution going to Kalaignar, issued an avaricious statement calling Prime Minister’s announcement ‘evasive and useless’ and ‘helping Karunanidhi in ending his deceitful drama of fast.’ (Kalaignar’s rejoinder to Jayalalitha on P. ........................)

Panicked by their Amma’s vicarious mood, the ADMK group leader in Rajya Sabha gave notice for amendment to the Address on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Surprisingly, from the CPI, whose members in the Lok Sabha including senior CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta welcomed Prime Minister’s announcement without any reservation, D.Raja also gave a notice for amendment. Reporting the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha after Prime Minister’s reply on March 20, ‘The Hindu’ on Mar.21 under the headline, ‘CPI, AIADMK corner DMK in Rajya Sabha, said:

“The Communist Party of India, along with the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on Tuesday sought to corner the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the Rajya Sabha, asking it to take a stand on an amendment on the Sri Lankan Tamils' issue.

The parliamentary manoeuvre — insisting on recording a vote — came after these two parties expressed dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the government was inclined to vote in favour of the resolution, promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka, at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

When the amendment moved by D. Raja (CPI) came up for vote, the DMK under its leader Tiruchi Siva made attempts in vain to avoid a division of votes even as B.S. Gnanadesikan (Congress) said Dr. Singh's assurance in the Lok Sabha was welcomed by all political parties in Tamil Nadu.

The CPI amendment regretted that the President's address to Parliament did not mention the need for a political solution to the Tamils' problems in Sri Lanka, and the issue of violation of human rights and war crimes against the Tamils, particularly in the last phase of the war in 2009. Nor did it take serious note of the continued attack on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy and the need to review the Kachatheevu agreement.

However, just before recording of votes, Mr. Siva along with party MP Kanimozhi stepped out of the House, which rejected the amendment 81 to 9.

Earlier, Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan asked Dr. Maitreyan not to wave a copy of a compact disc which, the member said, contained video of “war crimes” and the draft text at the UNHRC.

The Prime Minister, in his reply to the motion of thanks to the President's address, reiterated his government's stand as articulated in the Lok Sabha on Monday. He said India hoped to advance its objective of achieving a future for Tamils in Sri Lanka “that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect.”

Although Raja (CPI) insisted on the amendments the ADMK members did not at all propose their amendments is the fact. Even if the ADMK members had proposed their amendment it would have ended in ridicule because their amendment was worded as follows:

“That at the end of the Motion, the following be added, namely:

“but regret that the Address does not mention about the failure of the Government  to protect the Sri Lankan fisherman  from  the atrocities of Sri Lankan Navy”

(Instead of Indian fishermen they had mentioned as Sri Lankan fishermen)

After members of all parties welcomed the PM’s announcement in the Rajya Sabha, Raja’s insistence on discussion did not seem to be concerned with Lankan Tamils interest and considered by many as intended for the political gain of an individual. DMK member Tiruchi Siva said, “Apart from the 'ifs' and 'buts' that my colleague has mentioned, it is the Prime Minister of the nation who has given an assurance on the floor of the House. His assurance is of paramount importance. We repose our confidence in the Prime Minister's assurance. We hope that India would take a positive decision of supporting the Resolution in Geneva”, and Minister for Shipping Thiru G.K.Vasan pleaded saying, “I would request the AIADMK Members not to deviate from the issue and give a wrong message to the world.”

The DMK did not participate in the voting because this attempt amounted to show divided opinion when the whole people of Tamil Nadu stood united on the issue.

If ‘The Hindu’, which generally does not politically interpret news, more particularly Parliamentary proceedings, has gone to this level of reporting ‘the DMK was cornered in the Rajya Sabha’, least could be expected from such a ‘viewspaper’ like Dinamalar, which published a report under the bold letter headline ‘DMK gave slip without voting on Lanka resolution. Jittery over ADMK – Leftists maneouvres’ and telling as if the DMK did not support a resolution against Sri Lanka. Neither ‘The Hindu’ nor the viewspaper questioned why the ADMK and CPI, which did not propose any amendment in the Lok Sabha after PM’s reply did propose amendment the next day in Rajya Sabha to the same reply of the PM? Of course, the ADMK is known for shifting its stands in tune with the whims and fancies of their Amma!’ But why should CPI’s Raja (and D.Pandian) try to play second fiddle to Jayalalitha, differing from his comrades in Lok Sabha? What did he achieve by pressing for a division, which was voted out by all other parties except ADMK and CPI members? It undermined the united and solid stand taken by the whole of India against Sri Lankan regime.

Notwithstanding the trashes raised by Jayalalitha and seconded by D.Raja and D.Pandian, the effect of PM’s announcement on India’s stand on UNHRC resolution, the Sri Lankan regime and Sinhala chauvinists are jittery and India’s stand has catalysed support for the resolution against Lankan regime from many more countries, as reported by ‘The Hindu’ itself on March 21 and 22.

On Mar.21, under the caption ‘Reconsider stand, Sri Lanka tells India:

“As parties continued to raise the Sri Lankan Tamils issue in Parliament, Colombo on Tuesday sought India's support in the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Parliament that India was inclined to vote for the U.S.-sponsored resolution.

Minutes before Dr. Singh rose in the Rajya Sabha to reiterate India's position, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna received a call from his Sri Lankan counterpart G.L. Peiris from Geneva.

Mr. Peiris urged that India reconsider its stand, given the close ties between the two countries, and said Colombo was hopeful of New Delhi's support. Sources in the Ministry told The Hindu that during the conversation, Mr. Krishna referred to India's suggestion that Sri Lanka take steps to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee.

Expressing the hope that Sri Lanka would implement these measures, Mr. Krishna said political parties in the country were voicing concern over the issue and both countries should remain engaged.”

and under the headline ‘Indian stand, a game-changer at Geneva?’:

“As the deadline approaches for a possible vote on the U.S.-backed resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, diplomats following the developments concede that Sri Lanka was putting up a tough fight.

The Indian change of stance on single-country resolutions had made a few countries look favourably at the resolutions, said diplomatic sources in Colombo and Geneva.

Earlier this week, it appeared that Sri Lanka had considerable support in the Council of 47 nations. Sri Lanka had lobbied hard to get at least 18 countries on its side as of Monday. Many of these countries did not go into the present case per se, but were more bothered of the torch of inquiry turning in their direction at some later date. There were at least 10 nations in the undecided category. The Indian stand seemed to have made some of the 10 countries re-think. Plus, the U.S. has put in additional resources on Ground Zero in Geneva, and has been working overtime to persuade the fence sitters. “The Indian Prime Minister's statement will make other countries think carefully about their positions,” said a Western diplomat.

The U.S. has maintained that the resolution expresses the international community's concern about the delays in implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee report and called for action on important steps towards reconciliation and accountability. Sri Lanka says the resolution is against it. “Against is the operative word,” said Bandula Jayasekara, President's spokesperson.

Protests

Sri Lanka also continued to witness protests outside the Indian High Commission. On Wednesday, it was the turn of monks and Tamil fishermen to put pressure on India.

Buddhist monks, who said they belonged to the ‘National Sangha Council,' marched to the High Commission demanding that India should not support the proposed U.S. led resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council.

The monks, supported by the ultra nationalist JHU, carried a banner which read “Leaders of India — do not break the long standing friendship between Sri Lanka and India by supporting U.S. resolution”. The JHU is a constituent of the UPFA, Sri Lanka's ruling alliance.

A group of Tamil fishermen from the Northern Province also marched to the High Commission. The ‘United Tamils of Sri Lanka' members held a demonstration in front of the High Commission and urged India “not to do anything which will affect their livelihood and harmony”. Both groups handed over separate memoranda to Deputy High Commissioner P. Kumaran.

Caution

The High Commission posted a ‘Consular Notice for Indian Nationals' in its Facebook site to “inform all Indian nationals in Sri Lanka” of the “mechanism has been put in place to address their grievances and contingency situations.” Indian nationals have also been requested to register online on the HCI, Colombo website www.hcicolombo.org.”

All these developments and ultimately the voting in UNHRC to adopt the resolution against Sri Lanka trashed the inimical and cynical remarks of Jayalalitha and their attempt to politicise even the Sri Lankan Tamils cause, which will not be absolved by Tamils all over the world