Transcript Tamil Eelam Struggle for Freedom The International Frame - some aspects a presentation by www.tamilnation.org 3 September 2007 Struggle for Tamil Eelam is a National Question… … and it.

Tamil Eelam
Struggle for Freedom
The International Frame
- some aspects
a presentation by
www.tamilnation.org
3 September 2007
Struggle for Tamil Eelam
is a National Question…
… and it is therefore
an Inter – National Question
The Struggle of Tamil Eelam
for freedom is lawful & just
“Throughout the ages the Sinhalese and Tamils in the
country lived as distinct sovereign people till they were
brought under foreign domination.. 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 a regrettable fact that successive
Sinhalese governments have used the(ir) power …to
deny us our fundamental rights and reduce us to the
position of a subject people…I wish to announce to my
people and to the country that I 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.”
- Statement by Gandhian Tamil Leader
S.J.V.Chelvanayagam Q.C. M.P. 7 February 1975
The Struggle of Tamil Eelam
for freedom is lawful & just


…because democracy means the rule of
the people, by the people, for the
people and therefore, no one people
may rule another; and
…because the struggle of the people of
Tamil Eelam is about securing freedom
from alien Sinhala rule…
Sinhala rule is alien rule …

… because the Sinhala people speak
a different language to that of the
Tamil people; because they trace
their history to origins different from
that of the Tamil people; and
because their cultural heritage is
different to that of the Tamil people.
…it is alien Sinhala rule

… because the political consciousness
of the Sinhala people and the way
they exercise their vote, is clearly
determined by their separate
language, by their separate history
and by their separate cultural
heritage - in short by their own
separate Sinhala national identity
…it is alien Sinhala rule


… because no Tamil has ever been elected
to an electorate which had a majority of
Sinhala voters and no Sinhalese has ever
been elected to an electorate which had
a majority of Tamil voters; and
…because a Sinhala Buddhist ethno nation
masquerading as a civic ' multi ethnic Sri
Lankan nation', will always have a Sinhala
Buddhist as the executive head of
government.
it is alien Sinhala rule …

…because the record proves and
proves beyond any reasonable
doubt that the practise of
democracy within the confines of
a single state has resulted in
genocidal rule by a permanent
Sinhala majority…
the charge is genocide – the
struggle is for freedom …

“…Communal riots in which Tamils
are killed, maimed, robbed and
rendered homeless are no longer
isolated episodes; they are beginning
to become a pernicious habit." Paul
Sieghart , International Commission
of Jurists and British Section, Justice,
March 1984 [see 1956, 1958, 1961,
1974,1977, 1983]
“Secession/partition of the two communities
is the best outcome overall” …

"...The problem in nationally divided societies is
that the different groups have different political
identities, and, in cases where the identities are
mutually exclusive (not nested), these groups see
themselves as forming distinct political
communities. .. if the minority group seeks to be
self-governing, or to secede from the larger
state, increased representation at the centre will
not be satisfactory. The problem in this case is
that the group does not identify with the
centre, or want to be part of that political
community...One conclusion that can be drawn
is that… secession/partition of the two
communities, where that option is available, is
the best outcome overall. .." Normative
Justifications for Liberal Nationalism - Margaret
Moore,2001
Inviolability of borders against outside invasion
must be separated from right to statehood of a
people within a state's borders…

“… the principle of territorial integrity protects a state
only against invasion of its borders and not against
internal rebellion... Lord Robert Cecil once justly
observed that the main cause of recurrence of wars
was precisely the permanent freezing of state frontiers.
In a recent New York Times article, human rights
activist Yelena Bonner (widow of Andrei Sakharov)
writes that "the inviolability of a country's borders
against invasion from the outside must be clearly
separated from the right to statehood of any
people within a state's borders." Visuvanathan
Rudrakumaran in The Tamils' Quest for Statehood
Restrictions on self-determination
threaten democracy…

“... Restrictions on self-determination
threaten not only democracy itself but the
state which seeks its legitimation in
democracy...Let us accept the fact that
states have lifecycles similar to those of
human beings who created them. … hardly
any Member State of the United Nations
has existed within its present borders for
longer than five generations. The attempt
to freeze human evolution has in the past
been a futile undertaking…" Self
Determination & the Future of
Democracy - Prince Hans-Adam II of
Liechtenstein, 2001
Legal scholars and non-governmental organizations
have been vocal in their support for the right to self
determination of the people of Tamil Eelam…

"We request that the delegates to the 49th Session of the
Commission on Human Rights.. accord open recognition to the
existence of the Tamil homeland in the North and East of the
Island; and recognise that the Tamil population in the North and
East of the island constitute a 'people' with the right to self
determination'‘ Joint Statement by 15 NGOs consisting of the
International Organisation for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination, International Educational Development, Centre
Europe Ties Monde, International Indian Treaty Council, Fedefam,
Association paur la Liberte Religiose, Codehuca, World Christian
Community, Pax Christie International, International League for
the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, Movement contra le Racisme,
International Association of Educadores for World Peace,
International Association against Torture, World Confederation of
Labour, and International Movement for Fraternal Union among
Races and Peoples. at United Nations Commission on Human
Rights, Geneva 8 February 1993
…in sum, the Struggle of Tamil Eelam
for freedom is lawful & just


…because it is about the democratic
right of the people of Tamil Eelam to
govern themselves in their
homeland… and
because it is about reversion of
sovereignty - a sovereignty that the
Tamil people enjoyed before the
British unified the administration of
the island of Sri Lanka in 1833.
but… the world is not rotating
on the axis of law & justice…
“The world is not rotating
on the axis of justice…It is
economic and trade
interests that determine the
order of the present world,
not the moral law of justice
nor the rights of people…
International relations and
diplomacy between
countries are determined
by such interests ...”
– Velupillai Pirabakaran,
Leader of Tamil Eelam,
November 1993
…and inter-state relations are not
governed by the logic of morality


"Inter-state relations are not governed by the
logic of morality. They were and they remain an
amoral phenomenon.." Jyotindra Nath Dixit
Indian Foreign Secretary in 1991/94 and National
Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of India
2004/05, speaking in Switzerland, February 1998
"We have no eternal allies and we have no
perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and
perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to
follow." British Foreign Secretary, Lord
Palmerston (1784-1865) - 150 years ago
…inter-state relations
are governed by realpolitik…

'‘…When governments pretend not to notice
suffering, to whom can peoples.. turn for help?
The United Nations? Alas, the deeper you delve,
the redder the faces. The cynicism of
realpolitik extends even to the UN Commission
on Human Rights... When Amnesty attended the
Commission in Geneva last month to urge action
on Indonesia and East Timor, we met only
embarrassment. The governments to which we
spoke repeated what they have been promising
us for thirty years: they will pursue a policy of
'quiet diplomacy''' Amnesty in a full page
advertisement in the London based Guardian on
12 March 1994 quoted in Cynicism of Real
Politick, Nadesan Satyendra, March 1994
…the cynicism of real politik which
led US to declare in May 2000…

“…As I have said in both India and
Pakistan, the U.S. does not envision
or support the establishment of
another independent state on this
island, nor do we believe other
members of the international
community would support it.” US
Under Secretary of State, Thomas R.
Pickering Press Conference,
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 29 May 2000
…a cynicism which led the Massachusetts
House of Representatives to resolve in June
1981…

“..Resolved, that the Massachusetts House
of Representatives hereby urges the
President and the Congress of the United
States to support the Struggle for
Freedom by the Tamil Nation for the
Restoration and Reconstitution of the
separate sovereign state of Tamil Eelam
and to recognise publicly the right of self
determination by the Tamil people of Tamil
Eelam" House of Representatives
Resolution, the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, USA, 18 June 1981
…a cynicism which led India to train Tamil
militants in the 1980s…

"...Most Tamil separatists from Sri Lanka had
accepted the Indian offer (to provide arms and
training) at its face value, thinking that New Delhi
was reaching out to them out of genuine concern
for their condition. However, an extraordinary
revelation began to unfold as the training started.
Many guerrillas realized that the training was just
a subterfuge for a larger strategic game that
India was attempting to play, a game in which
the Tamil rebels may end up being just
expendable pawns…” Narayan Swamy, M.R. Inside an Elusive Mind - Prabhakaran Published
by Literate World, Inc, USA, 2003
… a cynicism which seeks cover as
‘disinterested’ good Samaritans…

The ‘international community’ are not
“disinterested” good Samaritans
concerned primarily with securing justice
for the Tamil people and bringing peace to
a troubled island.… The actions of the
Trilaterals (US, EU, Japan) on the one
hand and India & China on the other
hand, are directed to stabilise Sri Lanka in
such a way so as to advance each of
their own (conflicting) strategic interests
in relation to the uneasy balance of power
that prevails in the Indian Ocean Region.
…the prevailing uneasy Balance of Power in
the Indian Ocean Region…

“The dynamics of
the region .. call
for a balance of
power approach
rather than a
straight alliance. ..”
Adam Wolfe,
Yevgeny
Bendersky, Dr.
Federico Bordonaro
- India's Project
Seabird and Indian
Ocean's Balance of
Power, PINR, 20
July 2005
… the uneasy balance of power in the Indian
Ocean region has impacted on the Tamil
Eelam Struggle for Freedom…



Here, two frames may be usefully
looked at…
One… the Strategic Significance of
the Indian Ocean Region, and
Two… the Strategic Significance of
Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean Region
Let us examine each in turn…
One… the Strategic Significance
of the Indian Ocean Region

The Indian Ocean is
nearly 6,000 miles wide
at the southern tips of
Africa and Australia and
its area is 2.8
million square miles,
about 5.5 times the size
of the US. The Indian
peninsula projects 1240
miles into the Indian
Ocean. 50% of the
Indian Ocean basin lies
within a 1,000 mile
radius of India. 47
countries have the
Indian Ocean on their
shores.
… a Strategic Significance which
Germany recognised in World War II
" ...Next to nothing has been written about
the U-boat war in the Indian Ocean… The
battle began in August 1943, when a
German submarine arrived in the
Malaysian harbour of Georgetown. In
total, nearly fourty U-boats were assigned
to penetrate the Indian Ocean, serving
alongside troops of the occupying Imperial
Japanese forces..." Lawrence Paterson Hitler's Grey Wolves: U-Boats in the
Indian Ocean
…German U Boats Operating in the
Indian Ocean in World War II
Today… the Indian Ocean
remains a Critical Waterway
The Indian Ocean is a critical waterway for
global trade and commerce… thro’ which
passes half of the world’s containerized
cargo, one third of its bulk cargo and two
third of its oil shipment. Its waters carry
heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum
products from the oilfields of the Persian
Gulf and Indonesia, and contain an
estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil
production...
The Sea Lanes of the Indian Ocean
… in the 21st Century the destiny of the
world will be decided in these waters…
“…Whoever controls the Indian
Ocean dominates Asia. This ocean is
the key to the seven seas in the
twenty-first century, the destiny of
the world will be decided in these
waters." US Rear Admiral Alfred
Thayer Mahan quoted by Cdr. P K
Ghosh in Maritime Security
Challenges in South Asia and the
Indian Ocean, 18 January 2004
Critical Choke Points
of the Indian Ocean

“… The Ocean features four critically
important access waterways facilitating
international maritime trade - the Suez
Canal in Egypt, Bab-el-Mandeb (bordering
Djibouti and Yemen), Straits of Hormuz
(bordering Iran and Oman), and Straits of
Malacca (bordering Indonesia and
Malaysia). These “chokepoints” or
narrow channels are critical to world
oil trade as huge amounts of oil pass
through them. The role of the Indian
Ocean in Facilitating Global Maritime
Trade, Nazery Khalid, June 2005
80% of Japan’s & 60% of China’s Oil
shipped through Malacca Straits

Oil-tanker traffic
through the narrow
strait, which already
carries most of North
Asia's oil imports, is
projected to grow
from 10 million barrels
a day in 2002 to 20
million barrels a day
in 2020 - much of that
oil will be destined for
the fast-growing
market of China.

“ 80% of Japan’s oil
supplies and 60% of
China’s oil supplies are
shipped through the
Straits of Malacca.
US$ 70 billion worth
of oil passes through
the straits each year.”
India, the Indian
Ocean and Geopolitics Posted on
06.12.06 by Jaffna in
the Indian National
Interest
US, India & China: Strategic Interest in
Malacca Straits & Andaman Sea…

In recent years, in addition
to the US, whose navy has
long had a presence in the
Indian Ocean and has been
stealthily sailing the waters
of the Bay of Bengal, China
has also shown a
considerable interest in
utilizing the Andaman Sea
as an outlet to the Indian
Ocean in the near future.
India bids to rule the
waves, Ramtanu Maitra,
19 October 2005, Asia
Times
China & India scrambling for
advantage in the Indian Ocean Region

“… Let this be clear: the two major powers
of the region, China and India, are
scrambling for advantage around the
Indian Ocean's rim. China is building
military and naval links with Bangladesh
and Myanmar. The cooperation between
China and African countries is now getting
more and more visible, particularly after
the China-Africa summit in Beijing in
November 2006... Reports available
indicate that both India and the
United States are studying intensely
this rise in Chinese activity. Atul Dev
on The Indian Ocean: Current Security
Environment, 25 May 2007
Indian Ocean Strategic Landscape is
being transformed…

"…the emergence of new powers like
China and India is expected to transform
the regional strategic landscape in a
fashion that could be as dramatic as the
rise of Germany in the 19th century and
the United States in the 20th century"
Barry Desker, Director IDSS, Singapore in
Maritime Balance of Power in the AsiaPacific - Report of a Conference Organised
by the Institute of Defence and Strategic
Studies, Singapore, 8th – 9th March 2005
Indian Ocean Region has become
Strategic Heartland of 21st Century…

"…The Indian ocean region has become
the strategic heartland of the 21st
century, dislodging Europe and North East
Asia which adorned this position in the
20th century.. the developments in the
Indian Ocean region are contributing to
the advent of a less Western centric and a
more multi-polar world..." Donald L.
Berlin, Asia Pacific Centre for Security
Studies, Hawaii , 13 December 2006
Setting the Stage for a New Cold War

"..China, which has been a net oil importer
since 1993, is the world's number two oil
consumer after the U.S. and has
accounted for 40 percent of the world's
crude oil demand growth since
2000…China is stepping up efforts to
secure sea lanes and transport routes that
are vital for oil shipments .."Setting the
Stage for a New Cold War: China's Quest
for Energy Security - PINR, 25 February
2005
US Strategic Interests in the Indian
Ocean Region…

“US strategic interests in Sri Lanka are
intertwined with its military objectives in South
Asia and Asia … Central to the US strategic
objective in Asia is the desire to “preclude the
rise of a regional or continental hegemon.” The
US believes that no nation in Asia poses such a
threat to it at the moment. But it believes that
China, India and Iran have the potential to
develop into continental hegemons either on their
own or as partners of regional coalitions including
Russia that could threaten US interests in Asia
and, in the long run, in the world.” US Strategic
Interests in Sri Lanka - Dharmaretnam Sivaram,
30 July 2005
Indian Ocean – US & Diego Garcia

“ The (US) base
improvements will allow
its new class of SSGN
nuclear submarines to
operate from Diego
Garcia.. the SSGNs.. carry
up to 154 Tactical
Tomahawks, robot
kamikaze jets which can
be remotely piloted to
strike locations a
thousand miles
inland..." US Navy builds
Stingray-esque base in
Indian Ocean - Frogmen,
mini-subs to operate from
nuke motherships - Lewis
Page, 7 April 2007
Indian Ocean – US & Diego Garcia
US – India: a Strategic Partnership
or…

At the last meeting of the Indo-US Defence Joint
Working Group held in New Delhi (on 10 April
2007), China's 'growing naval expansion in
the Indian Ocean' was noted with concern.
The meeting also noted: ''China is rapidly
increasing military and maritime links with
countries such as Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and
Madagascar… The 200 years of the Anglo-Saxon
presence in the region has now been replaced by
the US-China presence to further and protect
their interests. Isn’t it time for the ‘owners’ of
the Indian Ocean to get together to protect
their own interests? " Atul Dev in the
Mauritius Times, 25 May 2007
or… an evolving entente… or…

"...Last April, at a two-day workshop at the Indian
Defense Studies Analysis (IDSA), a New Delhi-based
think tank, discussions took place on emerging U.S.Indian strategic relations. One Indian analyst pointed
out that although Indians are eager to obtain U.S.
technology… Indians worry that at a crucial time
they might not be supplied with replacement
parts if the relationship goes bad again.... A senior
Indian military official delivering a luncheon address to
the conference cautioned that Indo-U.S. relations ..
can be better described as an "evolving entente,"
and argued that given its size, location, and ambitions,
India will always march to the beat of its own
drummer..."Geostrategic Import of the Coming Bay of
Bengal Naval Exercise - Ramtanu Maitra, Executive
Intelligence Review, 27 July 2007
or… will India always try to march to
the beat of its own drummer

"...In the current international landscape, there is only one country
which has a truly global agenda and also a global reach, which is
the United States. However, there is also a cluster of major powers
with strong regional profiles but increasingly global impact. These
include the E.U., Russia, China, Japan, India, Brazil and South
Africa. While U.S. pre-eminence is unlikely to be reversed in the
foreseeable future, the relative importance of the other major
powers is likely to increase. We are already in a world of what I
would call "asymmetric multipolarity" with the asymmetry
progressively diminishing over a period of time. India has an
instinctive preference for multipolarity… this is a trend which is
positive from India’s standpoint as an emerging power…” Shyam
Saran, Special Envoy to Indian Prime Minister, Indian Foreign
Secretary 2004 – 2006, Address at the Institute for South Asian
Studies, Singapore, 30 August 2007
India in Madagascar
“India is reportedly planning
to set up a high-tech
monitoring station in
northern Madagascar … It
would be the first such
facility New Delhi has
opened in another
country.. India will pay
US$2.5 million to lease the
station, because it
apprehends threats to its
strategic naval assets and
its political, economic and
military interests in Africa..”
Delhi all ears in the Indian
Ocean - Sudha
Ramachandran in Asia
Times, 3 March 2006
China in Gawdor, Pakistan

"Four months after the
U.S. ordered its troops into
Afghanistan to remove the
Taliban regime, China and
Pakistan joined hands to
break ground in building a
Deep Sea Port in Gwador
on the Arabian Sea…
Gwadar is nautically
bounded by the Persian
Gulf in the west and the
Gulf of Oman in the
southwest “China's Naval
Outpost on the Indian
Ocean, Tarique Niazi, The
Jamestown Foundation, 28
February 2005
Japan’s Indian Ocean Deployment

"By most standards, Japan is now the world’s
number two naval power....the primary reason for
dispatching the Kongo-class Aegis ships (to the
Indian Ocean) ...was... undoubtedly...to do with
the prodigious area-wide surveillance and
tracking capacities of the Aegis air defense
system operated by the Kongo-class ships .
These would have enabled the MSDF ships
to cooperate with both US and UK navy and
air units operating not only in the Indian
Ocean, but possibly over Afghanistan
itself..." Japan’s Indian Ocean Naval
Deployment: Blue water militarization in a
“normal country” - Richard Tanter in Japan
Focus, 21 March 2006
Stirling in Australia – de facto US Base
in the Indian Ocean
“… In late 2002 the Australian government
agreed to allow the US military to use the
HMAS Stirling naval base in Cockburn
Sound on the west coast of Australia to
trial its new “sea-swap” program. The plan
is aimed at boosting US naval firepower in
the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. Critics
charge that the Australian Federal and
State Governments are working to
make Cockburn Sound a defacto base
for the US navy.” Stirling Naval Base
at Global Security
China calls for exclusion of outside
powers from the Indian Ocean…

At the UN Ad Hoc Committee on Indian
Ocean, 451st Meeting (PM) on 26 July
2005 the representative of China "called
for common efforts for countries inside
and outside the region to maintain peace
and stability in the region and to establish
the Zone of Peace at an early date. To
that end, the major Powers outside the
region should eliminate their military
presence in the Indian Ocean
region." Declaration of the Indian
Ocean as a Zone of Peace
China’s Geo Political Strategy:
“String of Pearls”

“The geopolitical strategy dubbed the
“String of Pearls” is arising as foreign oil
becomes a center of gravity critical to
China’s energy needs. China’s rising
maritime power is encountering American
maritime power along the sea lines of
communication (SLOCs) that connect
China to vital energy resources in the
Middle East and Africa.” String of
Pearls:Meeting the Challenge of China’s
Rising Power Across the Asian Littoral Lt.Col. Christopher J. Pehrson, July, 2006
China’s String of Pearls

“Each “pearl” in the “String of Pearls” is a nexus of
Chinese geopolitical influence or military presence.
Hainan Island, with recently upgraded military
facilities, is a “pearl.” An upgraded airstrip on
Woody Island, located in the Paracel archipelago
300 nautical miles east of Vietnam, is a “pearl.” A
container shipping facility in Chittagong,
Bangladesh, is a “pearl.” Construction of a deep
water port in Sittwe, Myanmar, is a “pearl,” as is the
construction of a navy base in Gwadar, Pakistan. …
China is building strategic relationships and
developing a capability to establish a forward
presence along the sea lines of communication
(SLOCs) that connect China to the Middle East”
String of Pearls:Meeting the Challenge of China’s
Rising Power Across the Asian Littoral - Lt.Col.
Christopher J. Pehrson, July, 2006
And now, let us turn to Sri Lanka’s
Strategic Importance …



(1) Sri Lanka is strategically
situated in the Indian Ocean
(2) It is ideally situated to
be a major communication
center, and
(3) It has Trincomalee,
described by the British
Admiral Horatio Nelson as
“the finest harbour in the
world”. Ramesh
Somasundaram of Deakin
University quoted by P.K.
Balachandran in Hindustan
Times, 30 May 2005
Sri Lanka’s Strategic Importance
was recognised by UK in 1948

1948 Defence
agreement with UK,
essential prerequisite to
independence - “United
Kingdom may base such
naval and air forces and
maintain such land forces
in Ceylon [as may be
required for the security of
their territories, for
defence against external
aggression], and as may
be mutually agreed.”
Ceylon - United Kingdom
Defence Agreement, 1948
Sri Lanka’s Strategic Importance
was recognised by India in 1987

“Trincomalee or any other ports in Sri Lanka will
not be made available for military use by any
country in a manner prejudicial to India's
interests. The work of restoring and operating the
Trincomalee Oil Tank will be undertaken as a joint
operation between India and Sri Lanka. Sri
Lanka's agreement with foreign broadcasting
organisations will be reviewed to ensure that any
facilities set up by them in Sri Lanka are used
solely as public broadcasting facilities and not for
any military or intelligence purposes.” Exchange
of Letters between India & Sri Lanka immediately
preceding the signing Indo - Sri Lanka Accord, 29
July 1987
… the Significance of Trincomalee…

“Trincomalee has immense
significance in this age of nuclear
weaponry and nuclear submarinebased missile systems …
Given the depth of the harbour,
nuclear submarines are able to dive
low within the inner harbour to
effectively avoid radar and sonar
detection” Ramesh Somasundaram
of Deakin University quoted by P.K.
Balachandran in Hindustan Times,
30 May 2005
US Presence in Sri Lanka – a politicostrategic pressure point against India in
1980s & today…

“The rise of Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka and the
Jayawardene government's serious apprehensions about
this development were utilised by the US and Pakistan to
create a politico-strategic pressure point against
India, in the island's strategically sensitive coast off the
Peninsula of India. Jayawardene…established substantive
defensive and intelligence contacts with US, Pakistan and
Israel… Tamil militancy received support both from Tamil
Nadu and from the Central Government … also as a
response to Jayawardene's concrete and expanded military
and intelligence cooperation with the United States, Israel
and Pakistan. The assessment was that these
presences would pose a strategic threat to India..”
Jyotindra Nath Dixit Indian Foreign Secretary in 1991/94
and National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of India
2004/05, speaking in Switzerland, February 1998
Sri Lanka: Another US Base in the
Indian Ocean?

“The ten year Acquisition and CrossServicing Agreement (ACSA) signed by
the United States and Sri Lanka on March
5, which provides for among other things
logistics supplies and re-fuelling facilities,
has major ramifications for the region,
particularly India. For all the sophistry
and spin by the Americans, the ACSA
is a military deal and, on the face of
it, is loaded in Washington's favour “
B. Muralidhar Reddy in Acquisition and
Cross-Servicing Agreement & the Indo Sri
Lanka Accord 9 March 2007
But… former US Ambassador Lunstead says
that US has no interests in military bases in
Sri Lanka…

“..With the end of the Cold War, U.S. interest in Sri
Lanka waned. As recently as 2000, the United
States Agency for International Development
(USAID) was planning for significantly reduced
development assistance levels. The enhanced
engagement that commenced in 2001 occurred
despite the absence of significant U.S.
strategic interests in Sri Lanka. Politicalmilitary interests are not high, and the U.S.
has no interest in military bases in Sri Lanka.
From an economic and commercial standpoint, Sri
Lanka is unlikely to be a major U.S. trading
partner in the near future. There is not a large
enough Sri Lankan-origin community in the U.S. to
have an impact on U.S. domestic politics. “United
States Role in Sri Lanka Peace Process 2002-2006,
Jeffrey Lunstead, 15 May 2007
The Cynicism of Real Politick…

Ambassadors are honest men
sent abroad to lie for their
country?
Like humans, countries also lie…
Because they want to cover up
the real reasons for their actions
 Because the real reasons will not
stand up to public scrutiny, and
governments risk losing the
support of their own voters
within their own country…

Therefore, in Iraq the lie was
‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’…

America, America, American War Paar Ada!
- Audio Video Presentation
… and in Sri Lanka the lie is
Terrorism…

“..The main U.S. strategic interest in
Sri Lanka is in ensuring that a
terrorist organization does not obtain
its goals through the use of terror…”
United States Role in Sri Lanka Peace
Process 2002-2006, Jeffrey Lunstead,
15 May 2007
But what is Terrorism?

"'When I use a word,'
Humpty Dumpty said in a
rather scornful tone, 'it
means just what I choose it
to mean, neither more nor
less'. 'The question is,' said
Alice, 'whether you can
make words mean so many
different things'. 'The
question is,' said Humpty
Dumpty, 'which is to be
master - that's all'." Alice in
Wonderland, Lewis Carrol Through the Looking Glass,
c.vi quoted in
What is Terrorism
International failure to agree on a
definition of terrorism…

“…The most problematic issue relating to
terrorism and armed conflict is distinguishing
terrorists from lawful combatants… in terms of
combatants in legitimate struggles for selfdetermination … States that do not recognize a
claim to self-determination will claim that those
using force against the State’s military forces are
necessarily terrorists…The controversy over the
exact meaning, content, extent and beneficiaries
of, as well as the means and methods utilized to
enforce the right to self-determination has been
the major obstacle to the development of both a
comprehensive definition of terrorism and a
comprehensive treaty on terrorism…” Terrorism
and Human Rights Final Report of the Special
Rapporteur, Kalliopi K. Koufa, 25 June 2004
Are there any circumstances in which a people ruled by
an alien people may lawfully resort to arms to liberate
themselves?...
 "...Do we not deliberately obfuscate when we
conflate the two words 'terrorism' and 'violence'?
...The war against Hitler was violent but it was not
terrorism... What are the circumstances in which a
people ruled by an alien people may lawfully resort to
arms to resist that alien rule and secure freedom? Or is
it that there are no circumstances in which a people
ruled by an alien people may lawfully resort to arms to
liberate themselves? And if all resort to violence to
secure political ends is not terrorism then, by all means
let us address the question: what is
terrorism? Domestic law cannot define terrorism
by ignoring international law concerning the right
a people have, as a last resort, to take up arms to
free themselves from oppressive alien rule…” On
Terrorism & Liberation , Nadesan Satyendra, 23
September 2006
Is the charge of terrorism in Sri Lanka like
the allegation of WMDs in Iraq - a cover up
for advancing national strategic interests?

“…As the country that benefits most from
global economic integration, we have the
responsibility of making sure that this new
system is sustainable.. The hidden hand
of the market will never work without
a hidden fist - McDonald's cannot
flourish without McDonnell-Douglas, the
designer of the F-15. And the hidden fist
that keeps the world safe for Silicon
Valley's technologies is called the US
Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine
Corps.... " Thomas Friedman, "A
Manifesto for the Fast World", New York
Times Magazine, March 28, 1999
… a cover up for strategic interests that
may be denied but cannot be hidden…

“..US Marines will conduct exercises with the
Sri Lanka Navy later this month, deploying
more than 1,000 personnel and support ships
for amphibious and counter-insurgency
manoeuvres with the aim of 'containing'
growing Chinese presence in the region
and to test its latest theories on 'littoral battle'
without putting American soldiers at risk…” US
- India - China - Sri Lanka - Pakistan: Matrix Rahul Bedi, 25 October 2006
China: Sri Lanka’s Benign Friend

'China, a benign and sincere friend of
Sri Lanka' - Sri Lanka Foreign Minister
Lakshman Kadirgamar, 9 April 2005
China – Sri Lanka – India: Matrix

"China is all set to drop anchor at
India's southern doorstep. An
agreement has been finalized between Sri
Lanka and China under which the latter
will participate in the development of a
port project at Hambantota on the island's
south coast.” China moves into India's
back yard Sudha Ramachandran in Asia
Times, 13 March 2007
Hambantota – a Pearl
in China’s String of Pearls

“…Chinese role in the Hambantota project is not
just about influence in Sri Lanka. .. The
Hambantota port project is the latest in a series
of steps that China has taken in recent years to
consolidate its access to the Indian Ocean and to
secure sea lanes through which its energy
supplies are transported. It has adopted what
analysts describe as a "string of pearls" strategy,
building strategic relationships with countries
along sea lanes from the Middle East to the South
China Sea. “ China moves into India's back
yard..” Sudha Ramachandran in Asia Times, 13
March 2007
…international frame of the struggle of
Tamil Eelam for freedom - the harsh
reality…


“ the harsh political reality is that, on the one hand, the US is
mindful that it was after all President Jayawardene's 'growing
togetherness' with the US which led to New Delhi's support of
the Tamil militant movement in the early 1980s. At that time
the US kept its oars in Tamil waters with efforts such as
hoisting the Eelam flag in the State of Massachusetts. Today,
the same US continues to speak of the 'legitimate aspirations'
of the Tamil people.
On the other hand, New Delhi has no desire to lose its ability
to play the 'Tamil card' to keep Sri Lanka in line in the years
to come - even after the successful annihilation of Velupillai
Pirabakaran and the weakening of the LTTE. And so New Delhi
too proclaims ad nauseam that they are concerned to secure
the 'legitimate aspirations' of the Tamil people. Additionally it
builds its own network amongst dissident Tamils both in Sri
Lanka and abroad to propagate its interests.” Black Pebbles
& White Pebbles
but…what ‘should’ be the ‘legitimate’
aspirations of the people of Tamil Eelam?...

“ And to those in the international community who
continue to speak of their willingness to recognise the
'legitimate aspirations' of the Tamil people… the time
has come to reiterate that which Gandhian leader
S.J.V.Chelvanayagam declared 32 years ago and say
that it is the legitimate aspiration of the Tamil people
to be free from alien Sinhala rule. Does the
international community agree that the aspiration of
the Tamil people to be free from alien Sinhala rule is a
'legitimate' aspiration? … If it does not, has not the
time come for the international community to explain
to the people of Tamil Eelam its reasons for insisting
that the Tamil people be ruled by a permanent Sinhala
majority within the confines of a single state - with a
Sinhala army occupying the Tamil homeland? “The
Charge is Genocide, the Struggle is for Freedom,
Nadesan Satyendra, 14 August 2007
…the refusal to recognise the justice of
the Tamil Eelam struggle for freedom…

exposes the harsh reality of the
impact of the uneasy balance of
power in the Indian Ocean… “… US
and India may find common cause in
annihilating the Tamil Eelam Struggle
for freedom … but they seek to do it
in such a way that thereafter each of
them may successfully jockey
(against each other) for position and
influence in the Indian Ocean
region…” Black Pebbles & White
Pebbles, 2006
It is true that geography plays a silent and
important role in the affairs of nations…
… but any foreign force can have its way in a
Tamil Eelam only if its people are divided &
politically obfuscated…

“…Today it is clear beyond all reasonable doubt
that India and the US-UK-Japan Bloc are trying
to influence and manage Sri Lanka's peace
process to promote and consolidate their
respective strategic and economic interests...
We already hear fools (and there are many of the
educated variety among Tamils) declaring that we
should swallow our pride and yield to the dictates of
the world's sole super power, that the US would
bomb the Vanni back to the stone age if the LTTE
does not toe the line. Any foreign force can have its
way in a country only if its people are divided,
politically obfuscated and are irredeemably sunk in
political stupor…” D.Sivaram in The Folly of Eelam
Punditry , May 2003
… The creeping intellectual/political barrenness
(amongst Tamils) should be stopped without
further delay…

"The creeping intellectual/political barrenness
(amongst Tamils) should be stopped without further
delay. LTTE officials too should stop making
pedestrian, boringly predictable utterances on public
forums and, instead, make every endeavour to stir
the people's reason, intellectual curiosity, their sense
of community, their imagination and their intellectual
fervour. This is the only way forward to
decisively break the vicious circle of political
obfuscation by which our people are deeply but
blissfully afflicted today. "D.Sivaram in The Folly
of Eelam Punditry , May 2003
… the strength of an aspiration towards
liberty, cannot be estimated in terms of so
many guns, such and such laws…
 "..A feeling or a thought ...the aspiration
towards liberty, cannot be estimated in the
terms of concrete power, in so many
fighting men, so many armed police, so
many guns, so many prisons, such and
such laws, ukases, and executive
powers. But such feelings and thoughts
are more powerful than fighting men and
guns and prisons and laws and ukases.
Their beginnings are feeble, their end is
mighty. But of despotic repression the
beginnings are mighty, the end is
feeble...". Sri Aurobindo in Bande
Mataram, 1907
…and the demand for national self
determination is a struggle for democracy

"...Demands for 'national selfdetermination' are in one sense, a
struggle for a higher form of
democracy...It must then be recognised
that 'post-colonial liberation movements',
far from being inherently 'undemocratic',
'subversive', 'terrorist' ad infinitum, are
often the most effective medium for
democratic assertion by social groups who
have been deprived of equal citizenship
rights, who have been subjected to denial
and state oppression..." Sumantra Bose in
Reconceptualising State, Nation and
Sovereignty, 1994
The Tamil Eelam Struggle for Freedom
is just – and it is lawful…

"...The Tamil struggle for freedom is just because it
arose in response to decades of ever widening and
deepening oppressive alien Sinhala rule. It is lawful
because every people have the right to freely choose
their political status - and no people may seek to rule
another. It is lawful because Tamil sovereignty which
had lain dormant during the period of successive British
and Sinhala rule, was resuscitated with the break in
legal continuity in 1972. The Tamil struggle for freedom
is principled because the Tamil people do not deny the
existence of the Sinhala nation but seek to associate
with it freely and on equal terms ...”
Nadesan Satyendra in Power and Principle, 1994
Velupillai Pirabaharan,
Leader of Tamil Eelam, 1992…

"...It is the Sri Lanka government which has failed
to learn the lessons from the emergence of the
struggles for self determination in several parts of
the globe and the innovative structural changes
that have taken place... We are not chauvinists.
Neither are we lovers of violence enchanted with
war. We do not regard the Sinhala people as our
opponents or as our enemies. We recognise the
Sinhala nation. We accord a place of dignity for
the culture and heritage of the Sinhala people. We
have no desire to interfere in any way with the
national life of the Sinhala people or with their
freedom and independence. We, the Tamil people,
desire to live in our own historic homeland as an
independent nation, in peace, in freedom and with
dignity.."
But, it is a vain dream to suppose…

"..It is a vain dream to suppose
that what other nations have
won by struggle and battle, by
suffering and tears of blood, we
shall be allowed to accomplish
easily, without terrible sacrifices,
merely by spending the ink of
the journalist and petition
framer and the breath of the
orator..." Sri Aurobindo in Bande
Mataram, 1907 quoted in The
Charge is Genocide, the Struggle
is for Freedom, Nadesan
Satyendra, 14 August 2007
“இலட்சியத்தால் ஒன்றுபட்ட, எழுச்சி
க ாண்ட, மக் ளை எந்த ஒரு
சக்தியாலும் ஒடுக் ிவிட முடியாது” Velupillai Pirabaharan, Leader of Tamil Eelam
Further Reading at
www.tamilnation.org
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International Frame of the Tamil Eelam Struggle for Freedom
http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/tamileelam/index.htm
Indian Ocean Region
http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/indian_ocean/index.htm
Australia http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/australia/index.htm
Canada http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/canada/index.htm
China http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/china/index.htm
Commonwealth http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/chogm/index.htm
European Union http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/eu/index.htm
India http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/india/index.htm
Japan http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/jp/index.htm
South Africa http://www.tamilnation.org/diaspora/southafrica.htm
Switzerland http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/switzerland/index.htm
United Kingdom http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/uk/index.htm
United States http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/us/index.htm
International Relations in an Emerging Multi Lateral World
http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/index.htm
Vannakkam