Open the gates of Hell - and let my people go ...
(By: Selva Gnanam- Melbourne)
I was not at all surprised to read the article by Dr.
Nadesan in the 'Asian Tribune' explaining why it was time to release the
long suffering people from the clutches of the LTTE and their despotic
leader. I applaud him wholeheartedly for writing what most Tamils wanted
to say, but did not have the 'ticker' to take the first step. I, as he
once was, was an ardent supporter of 'Eelam'.
I came to this country by using the excuse of
'genocide' by the Sinhala-Buddhist people, when in reality I left the
country with a passport issued by the Sri Lankan Government, and boarded
a plane from her international airport. Before 'becoming a refugee', I
lived amongst the Sinhala people all my life, went to school with 99% of
my friends from that community, enjoyed life with them and graduated
from one of that country's premier universities. I was able to find
gainful employment (yet it was more difficult then back there, because
of my so-called 'Indian accent') in this country because of the quality
of education I received, free of charge.
As soon as I landed in Australia, I began working
towards obtaining my Permanent Resident Visa by betraying and demonizing
my best and dearest friends. I used the '1983 Black July' riots to
justify my case, when I knew very well that no decent Sinhala person was
even remotely involved in it. I knew it was not an 'ethnic problem'. I
knew it was a 'social' problem whereby the people living on the fringes
of society, made use of the situation to loot and grab whatever they
could from wherever they could. They came from all ethnic groups,
including Tamils. I was frightened but I also knew that it was
temporary. All thewhile, the people whom I demonized (when I came here)
were my 'guardians'. They lived in our homes till the situation became
normal. I blamed the government of the day entirely for letting the
situation get out of control, and I still do.
As time passed, I began reflecting on what I had done
and was continuing to do. As a devout Hindu, I could not justify my
support for an organisation that had decimated the Tamil population,
eliminated its academics and leaders, taken our youngsters and turned
them into killers but claimed to be our 'sole representative'. I read of
young girls (who had escaped from the Vanni) being raped by senior LTTE
cadres and later offered to foreigners as'entertainment' (these girls
would later volunteer as suicide bombers because they were not 'pure'
any more).
Then I realised why so many Westerners came to the
Vanni for 'direct negotiations' with the LTTE, and why they were backing
the LTTE in Sri Lanka, while fiercely opposing terrorism in their
countries. It was an 'erotic escaped' in an exotic island, far away from
wife/husband and family. I heard of Tamils terrorising their communities
in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, etc. to collect funds for the
'cause'. I heard of some of them 'living it up' with these funds. I
realised, slowly and painfully, what was happening to our people in the
guise of 'liberating' them.
We had created a huge monster which was devouring our
people but had no power to destroy it. A 'global business' with ships,
credit card frauds, people smuggling, narcotic trading, arms smuggling,
a bandwagon of NGOs and the 'international community' to support the
'cause' But the 'cause' itself was now nowhere in the picture. The
'effect' or the outcome of the cause was far better than the actual
'cause'. It was big money and living the good life in the West, as it
also was for the Tiger 'big wigs' in the Vanni. So who cared about the
helpless people in 'Eelam'.
First the Tamil Diaspora began whispering these
concerns. Now they have began writing about them. Soon it will become be
a huge roar. But will it be too late for our people back home.
We need to act immediately. Let the people living in
the Vanni decide their future. Let the 'international community' the
NGOs, church leaders, Human Rights organisations and everybody
supporting the LTTE come and observe who decides to leave 'Eelam'.
Let the Government afford safe passage to anybody who
wants to leave. Offer them decent living conditions in safe refugee
camps, till they are able to go to their homes once the fighting ends.
Let us add a little prefix to Dr. Nadesan's article
heading and say "Open the gates of Hell - and let my people go in peace,
to wherever they want to go".
Courtesy: The Island
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