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We die before we fall
Jagmohan Singh
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As the three decade long battle of Sri Lankan Tamils nears its
military end, Jagmohan Singh writes an Open letter to an unknown
Eelam Tamil soldier who managed to escape death while pursuing
the struggle for self-rule of the Sri Lankan Tamils. He points
out that the battle may appear to have been lost, the struggle
for rights of the Tamil people will continue and the
international community must make immediate political and
humanitarian intervention. |
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 Dear
Eelam Soldier:
As the world
looks in awe at the virtual end of the military engagement of the
Sri Lankan army by you and your comrades in the bitter and long
drawn three decade struggle for freedom for Tamil Eelam, I take this
opportunity to salute you for your determination and sacrifice.
Through you I pay tributes to the thousands who laid down their
lives to combat the violent face of what is considered a docile and
non-violent Buddhist religion.
The more I
ponder over the Tamil struggle for self-rule in a small area of Sri
Lanka bordering on India, I deeply wonder about this aspect. While
the world community has noticed, though not acted against state
terror of the Sinhalese government in Sri Lanka, though human rights
bodies, including the ICRC and HRW have documented in detail the
humanitarian crisis that now prevails in post-war Sri Lanka,
military analysts, journalists, chroniclers and historians have
failed to see this violent face of Buddhism. It is quiet
distressing to note that ninety-eight percent of the Sinhalese
population is Buddhist and they have been supporting, edging and
spearheading the campaign against Tamil rights.
The open and
flagrant manner in which they have celebrated the death of Tamil
fighters and the crassness with which the military and political
leadership has orchestrated the death of Tamil fighters on
state-controlled television is nothing but shocking. Equally
disturbing is how Indian channel CNN-IBN had the gumption to say,
‘we are the first Indian channel to beam the pictures of the corpse
of Vellipullai Prabhakaran.” They have failed to note that
Prabhakaran may be dead; Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is also
dead, but the spirit of freedom is alive, it cannot be killed, it
cannot be snubbed, it cannot be subdued, it will live till eternity.
I am a little
amazed that this aspect has not been touched in great detail and am
curious to know whether it crossed your mind while you were fighting
in the jungles of Mullaitivu that a peace leader like the Dalai
Llama could have had some impact on the Sri Lankan government.
Perhaps. I do not even know why he has chosen to remain silent. Did
his conscience not prick him all this while when thousands were
being massacred in the name of Buddhism?
While you were
fighting, you braved all difficulties. Whatever the media may have
called you, courage, bravery and determination stood as hallmarks of
your commitment and served as an inspiration to all struggling
peoples and nations. Many a people in the subcontinent, whom you do
not know, whom you may never know, have shed a tear watching the
present fall of Tamil fighters.
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Now it is time to keep the idea afloat. The idea that every man
has the right and liberty to live as per his or her choice. The
acceptance of the gory fact that countries in South Asia have
yet to evolve a pluralistic model for the respect of rights of
all sections of society. The idea that it is better to rebel,
oppose and dissent, if required to rebel and die, than to live a
life of subservience. |
During the
course of your fighting you saw many ups and downs…friends turning
into enemies, supporting nations becoming killers, Tamil political
leadership in India vacillating like a pendulum from being foes to
friends to foes to rehabilitators, but during all this death never
deterred you and your ilk from your avowed goal of achieving a place
for your people wherein your civil and political rights are fully
protected.
The last decade
also saw the international community doing a complete U-turn against
you. In this day and age, the Sri Lankan government succeeded in
having an iron curtain separating it from the rest of the world.
Even today, the disdain for the collective leadership of the world
by the Buddhism-driven Sri Lankan leadership is not only symbolic
but frightening. “We need homegrown solutions,” said Sri Lankan
president Rajapakse, while celebrating his victory over you. He did
not acknowledge or accept any of the submissions of the
International Committee of the Red Cross that a humanitarian
catastrophe of a gigantic magnitude stood in the face, though I am
sure that the Sri Lankan government will shamelessly accept the
millions of dollars which India will give as rehabilitation aid.
What will you do
now?
It is a miracle
that you are alive. There will be some who would call you names.
There are others who think that you would soon become a fighter
again. Think about it.
It may sound a
little disturbing to you for death was never a worry for you. I
think, in the interest of your people, it is necessary to live. May
be live to die at some time in the future, but for the present it is
necessary to live. It is time to accept the hard reality that your
struggle for Eelam rights has to still continue, its paradigm, shape
and idiom has to change.
For no fault of
yours and because of events over which you had no control, while you
were fighting, the world changed its strategies. Sadly, most of your
leadership has been killed. Take time and evolve a new leadership.
Do not rush to die.
I know it is
very easy for someone like me to talk about strategies in the
drawing room. Fighting a battle is a different cup of tea. A
similar situation prevailed in Punjab some time ago and an almost
similar situation prevails in
Kashmir
today. Key leadership fighting a fierce battle on the ground has
been killed in both these places.
Like your
leadership, in Punjab and Kashmir, political input was either absent
or not a front runner of the armed struggle. Though it must be
admitted that the Tamil Diaspora was active on this front but the
cohesiveness was a little missing.
Now it is time
to keep the idea afloat -the idea that every man has the right and
liberty to live as per his or her choice. The acceptance of the
gory fact that countries in South Asia have yet to evolve a
pluralistic model for the respect of rights of all sections of
society. The idea that it is better to rebel and oppose and
dissent, if required to rebel and die, than to live a life of
subservience. The idea that “we die before we fall.”
I salute the
thousands including your leaders who attained martyrdom fighting for
their homeland. May God bless you and your people so that some day
they too can stand on their own feet and not be dependent on the
temporary and expedient goodwill of those who claim to be your
masters, supporters or well-wishers.
I hope to live
to see that day.
Fraternally
Jagmohan Singh
Jagmohan Singh
is a columnist based in
Ludhiana.
He may be contacted at
jsbigideas@gmail.com.
20
May 2009
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