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Tamil
Eelam demand in
International Law
The Tamil Eelam concept first came into political currency
in 1959, when in the aftermath of the 'Sinhala-only' official
language law of 1956, the 1958 abrogation of the 'Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam
Pact', the Sinhalese riots of 1958, the 'Emergency-1958',
the stationing of a permanent army unit in Jaffna and the
detention and incarceration of all Tamil F.P.M.Ps in 1958,
C. Suntheralingam M.P. for Vavuniya formed the Eela Tamil
Ottrumai Munnani (Unity Front of Eelam Tamils) and called
for a 'Eela Tamil struggle for independence'.
In a booklet,
published the same year, Suntheralingam wrote:
"In
the history of Ceylon.. the Eela Tamils never lost their
kingdom entirely, except for two short periods of 16 and
6 years, while for much longer periods Tamil kings have
ruled over all Ceylon, history is repeating itself and must
indeed repeat itself, adapted to modern conditions. When
dharma decays and adharma prospers providence intervenes
to destroy the wicked and to protect the weak. That ear
has dawned once more in Ceylon, Will the Ela Tamils in this
hour of danger and disaster to their nation, show their
worth and their valour? Will they do their duty, unite as
brothers... and join in the Eela Tamil struggle for independence?"
Suntheralingam's
call for the struggle for the independence of Eelam made in
1959, did not strike any responsive note or popular interest
among the Tamils in the sixties.
1972
republican constitution repealed safeguards
It came
into public focus when a feeling of the irrevocable end of
the road came into the minds of the Tamils when the United
Front government under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike,
in 1972 repealed the independence constitution. With the repeal
went the entrenched and inviolate section 29 anti-discriminatory
safeguards, which the Privy Council in 1964 stated was "the
solemn balance of rights between the citizen of Ceylon, the
fundamental condition on which inter se they accepted the
constitution and are therefore unalterable under the constitution."
The Republican
constitution, which replaced the independence constitution,
consolidated in constitutional provisions all the gains the
Sinhala-Buddhists had made in asserting their supremacy and
so excluding the Tamils from any power sharing.
It emphasized
the rejection of Tamil demands for federal autonomy, regional
devolution of powers, and Tamil as the official language of
north and east, in these provisions: "The Republic of
Sri Lanka is a Unitary State"(Art 2), "The National
State Assembly may not abdicate, delegate or in any manner
alienate its legislative power, nor may set up an authority
with any legislative power, other than the power to make subordinate
laws" (Art. 45(1)),"The Official Language of Sri
Lanka shall be Sinhala as provided by the Official Language
Act. No. 33 of 1956" (Art. 7) and "The Republic
of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and
accordingly it shall be the duty of the state to protect and
foster Buddhism" (Art. 6).
To underscore
the rejection of the Republican constitution by the Tamils
and in response to the mounting clamour from them to back
Tamil equality or withdraw from the unitary state, Chelvanayakam,
the F.P leader resigned his seat in the House and demanded
a by-election to test the acceptability of the new constitution
by the Tamil people. On winning the by- election held more
than two years later, Chelvanayakam declared:
"Throughout
the ages the Sinhalese and Tamils in the country lived as
distinct sovereign people till they were brought under foreign
domination. It should be remembered that the Tamils were
in the vanguard of the struggle for independence in the
full confidence that they also will regain their freedom.
We have for the last 25 years made every effort to secure
our political rights on the basis of equality with the Sinhalese
in a united Ceylon. It is regrettable fact that successive
Sinhalese governments have used the power that flows from
independence to deny us our fundamental rights and reduce
us to the position of a subject people. These governments
have been able to do so only be using against the Tamils
the sovereignty common to the Sinhalese and the Tamils.
I wish to announce to my people and to the country that
consider the verdict at this election as a mandate that
the Tamil Eelam nation should exercise the sovereignty already
vested in the Tamil people and become free. On behalf of
the Tamil United Front, I give you my solemn assurance that
we will carry out this mandate."
Radicalisation of struggle
With Prime
Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike and her United Front Ministers
constitutionally defining the exclusion and separateness of
the Tamil people and holding them subjugated in their own
Tamil territory by the use of coercive force, Tamil politics
became radicalised by the intervention of the young Tamils
who suffered incarceration and torture and had been released
from police detention without any charges.
Demand
for Eelam
Amidst
the fast growing insecurity for the Tamils, the Tamil political
leadership formed the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)
in 1976, and at its inaugural convention, presided over by
Chelvanayakam resolved to restore and reconstitute the state
of Tamil Eelam. Their resolution stated.
"The
first National Convention of the Tamil Liberation Front,
meeting at Pannakam (Vaddukodai constituency), hereby declares
that the Tamils of Ceylon, by virtue of their great language,
their religions, their separate culture and heritage, their
history of independent existence as a separate state over
a distinct territory for several centuries till they were
conquered by the Armed might of the European invaders and
above all by their will to exist as a separate entity ruling
themselves in their own territory, are a nation distinct
and apart from the Sinhalese and their constitution announces
to the world that the Republican constitution of 1972 has
made the Tamils a slave nation ruled by the new colonial
masters, the Sinhalese, who are using the power they have
wrongly usurped to deprive the Tamil nation of its territory,
language, citizenship, economic life, opportunities of employment
and education and thereby destroying all the attributes
of nationhood of the Tamil people. And therefore... this
Convention resolves that the restoration and reconstitution
of the Free, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of Tamil
Eelam based on the right of self-determination inherent
in every nation has become inevitable in order to safeguard
the very existence of the Tamil nation in this country."
1977 general election mandate
At the
1977 general election, the TULF went to the Tamil people seeking
a mandate from them to establish an independent State of Tamil
Eelam. Its election manifesto stated to the Tamil people:
"What
is the alternative now left to the nation that has lost
its rights to its language, rights to its citizenship, rights
to its religions and continues day by day to lose its traditional
homeland to Sinhalese colonization? What is the alternative
now left to a nation that has lost its opportunities to
higher education through "standardization" and
its equality in opportunities in the sphere of employment?
What is the alternative to a nation that lies helpless as
it is being assaulted, looted and killed by hooligans instigated
by the ruling race and by the security forces of the state?
Where else is an alternative to the Tamil nation that gropes
in the dark for its identity and finds itself driven to
the brink of devastation?
"There is only one alternative and that is to proclaim
with the stamp of finality and fortitude that we alone shall
rule over our land our forefathers ruled. Sinhalese imperialism
shall quit our Homeland.
The
Tamil united Liberation Front regards the general election
of 1977 as a means of proclaiming to the Sinhalese Government
this resolve of the Tamil nation...Hence the TULF seeks
in the general Election the mandate of the Tamil Nation
to establish an independent, sovereign, secular, socialist
State of Tamil Eelam that includes all the geographically
contiguous areas that have been the traditional homeland
of the Tamil-speaking people in the country.
"The
Tamil nation must take the decision to establish its sovereignty
in its homeland on the basis of its right to self-determination.
The only way to announce this decision to the Sinhalese
Government and to the world is to vote for the TULF. The
Tamil-speaking representatives who get elected through these
votes while being members of the National State Assembly
of Ceylon, will also form themselves into the National Assembly
of Tamil Eelam which will draft a constitution for the state
of Tamil Eelam and establish the independence of Tamil Eelam
by bringing that constitution into operation either by peaceful
means or by direct action or struggle."
The Tamil
people voted in their thousands in the 1977 election and returned
17 TULF Members throughout the north and east. They voted
for them primarily as their representatives to the promised
proposed National Assembly of Tamil Eelam, which would draft
a constitution and "establish the independence of the
Tamil Eelam."
Tamil nation born out of oppression
Tamil
separatist nationalism was born of subjugation and oppression
and as resistance to it. That nationalism of an oppressed
nation cannot be contained by repression and force but will
have to flower and consummate in the birth of the new nation-state.
The attempts of the Sri Lankan government and its repressive
agents to oppress, terrorise and drive the Tamil people as
refugees will prove to be ineffectual. The earlier this is
realised the better it is for future understanding as equal
friends of neighbouring sovereign states.
When the
past determinations have brought about the present oppressive
system, the future is certainly not going to be within the
past or present.
In the
face of early repression, the Liberation Tiger movement was
born to resist that repression (see below- note 1), and as
state repression took genocidal proportions (see below -note
2) the Tiger guerrilla strategy was supplanted by the Tiger
regular army to defend the Tamil people and their homelands
and achieve Tamil freedom.
International
Law supports Tamil demand
The UN
international Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Racial Discrimination (G.A. Resolution 2106 of 1966) defines
"racial discrimination" as any distinction, exclusion,
restriction or preference based on race, descent, colour,
or national or ethnic which has the purpose or effect of nullifying
or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an
equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in
the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field
of public life"
The whole
of the Sri Lankan state system- political, economic, social,
cultural, educational, and every other field of public life
is based upon the racial discrimination of the Tamil people.
Sri Lanka is a state violative of the UN charter obligations
and provisions on human rights.
The UN
Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples (G.A. Resolution 1514 of 1960) states that "the
process of liberation is irresistible and irreversible and
all people have an inalienable right to complete freedom,
the exercise of their sovereignty."
In this
Resolution, The General Assembly proclaimed "the necessity
of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism
in all its forms and manifestations."
The
Declaration stated:
"The
subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and
exploitation constitutes denial of fundamental human rights,
is contrary to the Charter of the UN and is an impediment
to the promotion of world peace and co-operation."
The UN
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (G.A
Resolution 2200 of 1966, ratified by the Sri Lanka government
in June 1980) in Article 1 states:
"All
peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue
of that right they freely determine their political status
and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."
And
Article 3 states:
"States
Parties to the present Covenant.. shall promote the realization
of the right of self-determination and shall respect that
right".
The Tamils
are seeking precisely this right to self-determination to
which they are entitled according to this UN Covenant, which
the Sri Lanka government by ratifying has agreed to promote
its realization.
The UN
Declaration on the International Status of "peoples"
and their Right of Self-Determination (G.A. Resolution 2625
of 1970) states:
"The
establishment of a sovereign independent state, the free
association or integration with an independent state or
the emergence into any other political status freely determined
by the people constitute modes of implementing the right
of self-determination by that people".
The Sri
Lanka government has not simply been against but openly oppressive
of the Tamil people, as a nation and its political, economic
and ethno-cultural interest and advancement. As such the Sri
Lanka Tamils have no state and are seeking to create their
own sovereign state of Eelam in their own homelands based
on their right to self-determination.
They proudly
announced their desire for self-determination at the 1977
general election and their political right and their resolve
for self-determination must be recognized and supported by
the UN and Member States.
The Tamil
freedom fighters today assert and bear arms in pursuance of
their internationally recognized right to self-determination.
Practical
need for
constitutional formula for secession
In practical
terms, what is now necessary is a constitutional formula for
secession.
In this,
the Tamil people need the help of the international community,
as the oppressor does not recognize its own international
obligations. Otherwise, the state of international relations
would be seen to one of paralysis and bankruptcy, the inaction
dictated by out-dated clichés of 'Internal affairs',
'territorial integrity', 'national unity', etc.
To avoid
further unnecessary violence, turmoil and loss of lives, on
both sides, it is the right and the duty of the UN and Member-States,
to intervene in recognition of their own obligations and the
right of the Tamil people to self-determination.
Secession
to day to the Tamil people is not a matter of choice but one
of ineluctable necessity for Tamil national self-preservation.
"Territorial separation when demanded by cohesive groups
with a strong sense of separate identity is essential for
human dignity." (Suzuki, Self-determination and World
Public Order, 16 Va. Journal of International Law, 779-862
(1976)).
The UN
Declaration on the principles of Equal Rights and Self-Determination
(G.A. Resolution 2625 of 1970) gives the right of self-determination
to peoples within existing independent states when government
fail to "conduct themselves in compliance with the principles
of equal rights" and when the state does not "represent
the whole of the people belonging to the territory without
distinction as to race, creed or colour."
Internal
violence has many a time threatened international peace and
it must be avoided by the timely intervention of the international
community.
Henkin,
Pugh, Schachter and Smit, the eminent American professors,
in their treatise on INTERNATIONAL LAW set down the present
practice of States in regard to demand for secession:
"Demands
for territorial separation or autonomy will continue to be
made, and under the pressure of particular circumstances they
may be supported by external states and by international organizations"
(p.212).
Professor
Robert Jackson of All Souls College, Oxford, in his study
of South-Asian Crisis (Bangla Desh) of 1971, concluded with
these words:
"The
main lesson of the South-Asian Crisis of 1971 was that the
working out of historical antagonisms may prove too strong
a force for the diplomacy of the great powers to arrest. The
appropriate conclusion may be that it is unwise to invest
too heavily in the preservation of states-systems whose future
is cast in doubt by the operation of local forces."
The particular
justifiable circumstance of the Tamil peoples separationist
demand is that it developed out of the dynamic of national
oppression and resistance and has generated its own momentum
and it perceived solution. It is a national liberation sui
generis and in the words of David Selbourne of Ruskin College,
Oxford, it is "a true national question, if ever there
was one."
There
is need for enlightened and progressive realization that self-determination
necessarily involves attack on existing union, territorial
unity and state sovereignty.
But that
is for the higher cause of human liberation, human rights
and human dignity. The existing state structure cannot be
regarded or defended as permanent and immutable in the face
of internal colonialism, racial subjugation, genocidal repression,
organized programs and massacres of a nation of people. The
liberation force of Tamil separatism seeks to achieve for
the oppressed and enslaved Tamil people what liberation movements
the world over achieved for their people from overseas colonialism.
It can be furthered by early recognition and support of Tamil
peoples right to secede on the basis of self-determination
to establish the state of Tamil Eelam in their own homelands
of the north and east Sri Lanka in order to promote, protect
and safeguard their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
[NOTES
(1) The Tiger movement was born in 1972 and at the time of
its formation it called itself 'The Tamil New Tigers'. Later,
on 5 May 1976, the organization re-named itself the 'Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam'(LTTE). In an interview given by V.
Prabhakaran, leader of the LTTE. to Anita Pratab, which appeared
in SUNDAY (News Magazine of India of 11-17 March 1984), Prabhakaran
said: "I originally formed the movement with a group
of the dedicated youths who sincerely believed that armed
struggle was the only way to liberate our people. I named
the movement 'Liberation tigers' since the Tiger emblem had
deep roots in the political history of the Tamils, symbolising
Tamil patriotic resurgence. The Tiger symbol also depicts
the mode of our guerrilla warfare."
(2) On
15th of July 1979, after enacting the prevention of Terrorism
Ac t(far more draconian than the notorius Terrorism Act of
South Africa) and having declared an Emergency in Jaffna and
also having despatched the military to the Tamil north under
the command of Brigadier Weeratunga, J.R. Jayewardene, the
President of Sri Lanka gave a special directive to the Brigadier
in these words: " It will be your duty to eliminate in
accordance with the laws of the land the menace of terrorism
in all it forms from the Island and more especially from the
Jaffna District. I will pace at your disposal all resources
of the state. I earnestly request all law-abiding citizens
to give their co-operation to you. This task has to be performed
by you and completed before the 31st December 1979."
]
(Source
fromThe above paper was presented by International Federation
of Tamils at the seminar TOWARDS A JUST PEACE (organised to
examine the issues that confront the struggle of the people
of Tamil Eelam and suggest steps to a just peace in the island
of Sri Lanka), 15th February 1992 at the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London )
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