Cho t-shirt image by Anand Krishnamoorthi
This is a very interesting interview with Cho S. Ramaswamy, editor of the (Indian) Tamil weekly Thuglak. He says: “Suppose the US or some other country sponsors a similar resolution tomorrow on Kashmir. Are we going to honour it? We will say that the UN has no right to do this. The LTTE was the most powerful and ruthless terrorist group.” This is in regards to the ongoing brouhaha about America’s chiding UN resolution, even though they have their own issues with the UN.
On Angry Naduans And Hypocritic America
The US resolution does not speak of war crimes. It speaks of human rights violations. Even the rights activists in Sri Lanka have expressed disappointment with it. I don’t know whether they have read it, but there’s nothing in it to demand such vehement support here.
What happened when the UNHCR spoke about (alleged violations by) Israel? The US attacked it and said that this is becoming political. Why target Israel when there are violations all over the world? You are doing all this country-specific thing and that won’t do, the US had said. And that’s what India says. Perhaps, the US has come up with this resolution just to show that there are human rights violations elsewhere, too, in order to divert the world’s attention from Israel. Why should India be interested in it? Why should the Tamil champions be interested in it?
On No War
He even goes a bit far for me here, but interesting:
What do you think should be done to bring to book the perpetrators of war crimes?
There was no war. Is there a war between the Naxallites and the Indian government? Is there a war between the Islamic militants and the Indian state?
There is no war; there is terrorism; there is internal insurgency. The government puts it down with a firm hand, with the use of the military if necessary. Was there a war in the Golden Temple when Bhindranwale was shot down? Would you call that war because the military was there?
On Civilian Casualties
But there were thousands of civilians killed in this war, or whatever you call it, in Sri Lanka.
Because the civilians were used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as shields. Nobody speaks of that now. They can use civilians; they can use children as shields and as suicide bombers.
Do you think Tamil nationalism is going overboard?
There is no doubt about that. It has been doing that persistently for many years. The insurgents need not follow any rules but the state should always be mindful of international law or rules of war etc. How is that possible? In that case no state can put down terrorism. It is as if we are asking the state not to act against terrorism.
On Discrimination
If we look back, this terrorism itself was the result of discrimination against the Tamils by the Sri Lankan state.
I entirely agree with you. But that alone does not justify what the LTTE did. They did something worse than what the Sri Lankan government did. They wiped out the entire Tamil leadership, Amirthalingam downwards. The Sri Lankan government did not do that. The LTTE massacred Muslims in mosques, alienating them totally. They eliminated other Tamil militant organisations, too.
On The Role Of India
They were definitely anti-India, and that’s why they maligned the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) there and made that operation a total failure. Let me ask, are all the Tamils in Sri Lanka united? Are the Tamils in Colombo and the Tamils in the north united? Are the Tamils in the east and those in Jaffna united? The Tamil diaspora are also not united. Of course, the Sri Lankan government has been behaving unfairly towards the Tamils — their rights are being denied; they are not equal citizens there.
This must be addressed by Sri Lanka, but militancy is not the solution. Suppose the US or some other country sponsors a similar resolution tomorrow on Kashmir. Are we going to honour it? We will say that the UN has no right to do this. The LTTE was the most powerful and ruthless terrorist group. They even had submarines and warplanes, apart from rocket launchers. The LTTE killed thousands of Tamils and executed them, calling them betrayers. And they decimated the entire Tamil leadership so that there could be no other representation for the Tamils except them.
Very interesting interview from the Deccan Chronicle. Worth a read in full.
Whoa :O
Unfortunately, a ‘sensible perspective’ from Tamil Nadu is like finding a needle in a haystack. Chances are Cho S. Ramaswamy will be demonized, hounded and cursed for this interview even though what he says makes perfect sense.
The only downside of the proposal is that howling woman being the monitor for sri lanka. She’s never going to do anything constructive.
Actually the truth of the matter is that we’ve already won the UN battle. If you read the new drafts the language and tone of the resolution has changed considerably. the condemnatory tone is gone. What ever is left is something every sri lankan should expect the GOSL to work towards. The only hiccup is that woman pillay being the monitor.
At least he has accepted that the Sri Lankan government does not treat Thamils equally and is denying their rights. So what does he expect us to do? Just let it happen?
Given the history of Sri Lanka, the Sinhala political leadership has never given anything of its own. They have given in only through external intervention like India pushing the 13th amendment. That’s why I believe some kind of external pressure is needed to push for equality and rights. The Sinhala political leadership’s dishonesty and betrayal has led us down this path.
As for LTTE being the most ruthless, he seems to be repeating what others said just to have some effect. But it is not completely based not what the LTTE actually did.
Yes, the LTTE recruited children and also adults and decimated other Thamil militant groups and assassinated the Thamil political leadership.
But the LTTE did not bomb hospitals and schools in the south and did not attack the media in the south. All of which the Sri Lankan government did.
The LTTE did not gang rape and shove grenades into women’s virginas like the Sri Lankan armed forces did.
Sri Lankan government assassinated Thamil political leaders ex: MPs of the TNA.
So when you look at it from that perspective the LTTE isn’t as bad as the Sri Lankan forces, are they?
The LTTE routinely pushed their own women to blow themselves up, abducted their own children, interfered with their brains, gavethem arms and sent them to the frontlines and made them swallow cyanide. They routinely robbed food and medicine supplies meant for civilians. They held hundreds of thousands of their own people as hostages with no access to basic necessities and shot at them when they tried to escape to safety.
And Myil thinks the LTTE wasn’t as bad for the Tamil people as the Sri Lankan forces.(SIGH)
This is nothing new.Cho Ramaswamy held these views for many years just like N.Ram & Dr. Subramaniam Swamy.That’s because they are brahmins.The Brahmin elite in Chennai never liked mass Tamil movements and despise Tamil nationalism.
But to say that Cho’s views are echoed throughout Tamil Nadu is a lie.He is similar to George Galloway or Vikramabahu Karunarathna.
Recently Neth FM did a program on harassment faced by Sri lankans in Chennai & TN.That gives an indication about Tamil Nad sentiment on island lanka.If there are misconceptions about Sri lanka,it is better for the government to engage TN and rectify our image there as TN is important for us in business etc.
CHO SAYS “Of course, the Sri Lankan government has been behaving unfairly towards the Tamils — their rights are being denied; they are not equal citizens there.”
This is universally accepted.Until Lanka sorts out its issues with Tamils,there is always going to be pressure.Make friends with your own Tamils,then the world will be friendly with you!
otherwise sri lanka will remain isolated!!!!!
Not the mention the whole fiasco about shelling hospitals was an LTTE concoction. Even the heavily biased UNSG report said that the LTTE would move their artillery next to a hospital and attack the SLA positions.
Much of Tamil society, especially in Tamil Nadu do not consider Brahmins to be “real Tamils” – they are considered North Indian impostors pretending to be Tamils. They are considered to be supporters of the Indian government, the Hindi language, and purveyors of “Brahmanism” (Davidian nationalism is as much anti-Hinduism as anti-north Indian). However without the Brahmins, Tamil society in general would be lacking in classy, educated and intelligent individuals. They are a very small minority in Tamil Nadu, yet face a lot of hatred from the Tamil population.
Thanks for the insight,Omr.I agree with a lot of what you say but some brahmins like N.Ram are really snobby.But these guys are classy and eloquent unlike the rugged types in Tamil Nadu.Most brahmins are pro-centre and pro-establishment.Cho has been a longstanding critic of LTTE but even he admits that Tamils are discriminated.
Hope Indi Samarajiva gets a clear picture about these intra-Tamil Nadu politics.Before he appears on indian tv Otherwise he will make a disastrous appearance like he did in Aljazeera Stream!!!!!!!!
Because cho is no saint!!!!!!