So many Vijayakalas

Before Vijayakala, many, including BBS have commented positively on the LTTE

First, the New York Times helped the Government, especially, the United National Party (UNP), the main party in the Government to divert the people’s attention from the Opposition’s criticism on economic problems to an alleged huge fraud by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Subsequently, Vijayakala Maheswaran, the State Minister of Child Affairs came forward to help save the besieged Rajapaksa and the Opposition by diverting the people’s attention from the New York Times issue, with a pro-LTTE statement.

Now, both the Government and the Opposition, led by the former President, are vying to outsmart each other using the two issues.

Since the amount of money involved in the New York Times story was in millions of dollars rather than lakhs and crores (Koti) of rupees, which is too familiar and graspable to the ordinary Sri Lankans, it did not seem to have attracted much interest of the people.

Besides, people were divided over it along political party lines, from the very beginning of the revelation by the paper, making it less advantageous to the UNP.

She was referring to the recent brutal killing of six-year-old girl Sivanesan Regina in Chulipuram, Jaffna on previous Monday (June 25)

However, since Vijayakala’s statement was more sensational, there are more takers for it in the south that even the UNP was on the defensive with Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake suggesting to send her for rehabilitation along with Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran and Northern Provincial Councilor M.K. Sivajilingam.

He might have put Wigneswaran and Sivajilingam in the same basket in order to dilute the seriousness of Vijayakala’s statement.

UNP Parliamentarian S.M. Marikkar went one step further, suggesting to send her for psychiatric treatment.

Ms Vijayakala whose husband was shot dead at the Sri Ponnambalavaneswarar Kovil in Kotahena, Colombo on January 1, 2008, allegedly by an LTTE cadre told on Monday that the LTTE must make a comeback as there were safety and security for Northern Tamils when the outfit was active.

She was referring to the recent brutal killing of six-year-old girl Sivanesan Regina in Chulipuram, Jaffna on previous Monday (June 25).

The reactions to her statement in the south and the north were diametrically different with south making an unprecedented furore over it, while the north had almost ignored it.

The northern cool reaction, which can be attributed to the occasional similar statements being made by various local politicians was such that some Colombo based Tamil newspapers did not carry that story next day, interestingly with Veerakesari carrying it on its page 14.

The agitation in the south is somewhat puzzling considering the less or no rumpus over similar statements made by Tamil politicians in the recent past. For instance, a week before the State Minister made these controversial remarks at a State function named Janapathi Nila Mehewara, Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan said that what the LTTE had launched was a just struggle and accused the international community of destroying the organisation.

He was speaking at Veerasingham Hall in Jaffna on June 24 when a book penned by Northern Chief Minister under the title Neethiarasar Pesukirar (The Justice Speaks) was launched.

There was no difference in essence between the two statements made by Vijayakala and Sampanthan.

Days prior to this, the Jaffna Municipal Council adopted a motion to renovate the monument built in the name of Thileepan in Nallur and to renovate and rename the Sankilian Park in Jaffna as Kittu Park.

Thileepan and Kittu (Sathasivam Krishnakumar) were two prominent commanders of the LTTE in the yesteryears, who were in charge of Jaffna at different periods.
Also, the Jaffna Municipal Council had passed another motion during the same week calling for an international investigation into what it said to be the Tamil genocide.

It was adopted unanimously in spite of reservations by Mayor Emmanuel Arnold at the beginning.   

One might recall that two similar resolutions were passed in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) in 2014 and 2015.

In the wake of the current Government assuming office in January 2015, the resolution moved by Chief Minister Wigneswaran and adopted on February 10, 2015, called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to refer the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka since 1948 to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Later Wigneswaran had told the media that he brought this motion in protest against a statement by State Minister for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene that the Army would not be withdrawn from the north.

The Joint Opposition and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) have been attempting to say that it was under Ranil-Maithri Government that the northern politicians have been encouraging separatist forces.

Yet, it was not the case. 

The NPC had passed three such resolutions in January 2014 with one calling for an international probe into the ‘war crimes’ allegedly committed by the security forces.

A second resolution called on the international community to reject Sri Lanka’s own mechanism to inquire into the alleged human rights violations during the last phase of the war, while the third one called for the building of a monument at Mullivaikkal in memory of civilians killed in the final war in 2009.

During the campaign for the election for the NPC in 2013, Wigneswaran, as the Chief Minister candidate of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had glorified Velupillai Prabhakaran by saying at a public meeting as well as during interviews with Times of India and a private radio channel that the LTTE leader was not a terrorist, but a freedom fighter.

He had gone on to compare Prabakaran with Monerawila Keppetipola Disawe, the hero of the Uva-Wellassa Rebellion of 1818.

Can we recollect any furore in the country over that statement?

Responding to the Vijayakala controversy National Coexistence, Dialogue and Official Language Minister Mano Ganesan had told that the same sentiments were expressed by Bodu Bala Sena Chief Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera during an encounter with him in the presence of the media.

The Minister had quoted the Ven. Thera as saying that Prabakaran, who was a good and talented man should have lived.

“We had been in haste to kill him. He had been true to his policies unlike the southern politicians” the Thera had said, according to the Minister.

The politicians are a strange lot, who can say anything diametrically opposite to what they had already said.

Vijayakala is one of the best examples. She, according to Tamil Guardian had stated last year that the previous Government had killed children and elderly and had those deceased been LTTEers, she wouldn’t have questioned those killings. Now, she wants a comeback by the same LTTE.

Wigneswaran opposed the term genocide when his council adopted the above three resolutions in 2014 whereas he himself moved another resolution claiming that genocide of Tamils has been taking place in the country since 1948.

Wigneswaran is the Prabhakaran’s avatar according to the Joint Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and many politicians in the south.

Nevertheless, Mr Rajapaksa gave a different picture of the Northern Chief Minister at a meeting with Tamil journalists on October 3, 2016. He said that Wigneswaran was not a racist but a politician.

“He is trumping up nationalism in order to make the people forget their problems for which he has no solutions,” Mr Rajapaksa said.  (An interesting definition of politicians indeed which is applicable to himself as well)

With regard to the LTTE suspects in prisons, Rajapaksa had said that he wanted them to be rehabilitated and released but their lawyers wanted them to be produced in courts.

Otherwise, they would have been free by now, he had stated.

However, in spite of many others having justified or venerated the LTTE or politicians blowing hot and cold on sensational issues, it is no doubt that Ms Maheswaran’s statement was utterly provocative and outrageous.

Tamil politicians seem to have forgotten the fate of their leaders of 1970s and 1980s who perished at the hands of their own youth, who had been emotionally charged by the very leaders.

A rare editorial had been published in a Colombo based Tamil newspapers recently, which also had warned the Tamil leaders of emotionally charging the youth.