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Tamil Hindu reflections on Tamil separatism
by Arundhati Rajasingham on 17 Jul 2009 8 Comments

Tamil Hinduism versus Christianity
The Tamil Tigers under Prabhakaran repeatedly thrust war upon the Sri Lankan Tamils. It would be worthwhile to review our recent history, learn its lessons and endeavour to achieve a brighter future. The defeat of the LTTE offers us the space to change direction, revive our cultural traditions and our economic fortunes.


I shall recount the Hindu foundation of Sri Lankan Tamil identity, the real nature of the Tiger ideology and salient points in the LTTE insurrection. I argue that a return to Hindu fundamentals alone would secure Tamil cultural and economic interests in Sri Lanka on a sustainable basis.


The Tamil history in Sri Lanka is a Hindu one. Those Tamils in Sri Lanka who adopted Buddhism in the early first millennium assimilated into the Sinhalese mainstream in a generation or two. Tamils in the Western and North Western Provinces who adopted the Roman Catholic faith in the 17th century likewise became Sinhalese. The Colombo Chetties are another example. The Sri Lankan Muslims view themselves a separate ethnic group despite speaking the Tamil language. It was Saivite Hinduism alone that preserved the Tamil ethnic identity as we know it today in Sri Lanka.


The Tamils featured in Sri Lankan history since at least the second century BC. The Hindu tradition defined and inspired the Tamil identity in Sri Lanka. Pallava era influence in the 7th century and the Chola interlude in the 11th century illustrates that in Ceylon.


The Jaffna kingdom existed between the 13th and 17th centuries AD. We are a people defined by Hindu tradition. Jaffna, often independent, intermittently paying tribute to the Vijayanagara empire and once loyal to Kotte under Parakrama Bahu VI, was a maritime and agrarian political entity that upheld Saivite Hinduism. The flag of the Kingdom of Jaffna was the Nandi kodi, not the Tiger banner. The Portuguese destroyed the Jaffna Kingdom in 1619 AD. The consequent devastation to our cultural heritage was immense.


Much later, Pandara Vanian resisted the Dutch and the British in the late 1700s. A devout Hindu, he built a Sivan temple in Kat-chilai-madu before he fell resisting a three pronged British assault on his forces in 1803 in Mullaitivu. Arumuga Navalar was born in Jaffna in 1822. He was known as the father of Tamil prose and popularized the Tamil printing press. He played a key role in the Hindu revival, printed several Hindu texts and started Hindu denominational schools.


C.W. Thamotherampillai born in Jaffna in 1832 was one of the first Tamils on either side of the Palk Straits to get a university degree. A devout Hindu and high court judge, he followed Navalar’s footsteps to disseminate Saivite Hindu tradition and publish rare Tamil classics. Ananda Coomaraswamy, another Sri Lankan Tamil, was born in 1877 and was the first Hindu to interpret Hindu art to an international audience. His contributions to the Hindu aesthetic preceded Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan and Rukmini Devi’s Kalakshetra. Are we true to this vibrant Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu inheritance of ours?


The LTTE sought a separate Tamil state. But at what cost? The Sri Lankan Tamils are defined by two factors i.e. the Hindu religion and the Tamil language. The Tamil Tigers sought to defend the Tamil cause but intentionally weakened the Hindu identity. This explained their failure. The Christian influence on the top LTTE leadership was immense. This was despite the fact that Christians only constituted 14% of the Tamil population.


An internationally-financed Christian evangelism was initiated in LTTE-held areas in the 1990s. The Ceylon American Mission embarked upon a ‘church planting campaign.’ They opened new orphanages and new churches. The Methodist Church did likewise. The Roman Catholic church under its social service arm, HUDEC was not far behind. The pro-LTTE ‘TamilNet’ website was unabashedly anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist, anti-Indian and pro-Christian. ‘Tamil Canadian’ republished articles from Christian journals but failed to reproduce Hindu media clips. The ‘Tamil Nation’ in London even urged Tamils to jettison celebrating the traditional Hindu new year in mid-April.


The LTTE discouraged people from following the time-honored Tamil Hindu custom of cremation. It supported the burial of the dead. It attempted to jettison the traditional Tamil wedding ceremony introducing a civil ceremony instead. It encouraged beef-eating. It promoted the use of so-called Dravidian names that had no basis in our history. While Hindu temples flourished in Government-held areas, they were neglected in LTTE-held territory. The LTTE strategy entailed a de-Hinduization of Tamil identity. Was this not Christian evangelization under the guise of a Tamil revolt?


The continuation of the war was only intended to facilitate a gradual Christianization of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. The LTTE claimed that it was secular and neutral between the overwhelming Tamil Hindu majority and the better financed Tamil Christian minority. Religious dualism – the overt tolerance of two religions with the intent to undermine one while allowing the other to expand – was the ugly face of Tamil Tiger secularism. Its real intent was to weaken the Tamil Hindu identity under the guise of fighting the Sinhalese.


Ceaseless War


Sri Lanka had experienced a Tamil insurrection since 1981. India facilitated the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord in 1987 to help address Sri Lankan Tamil grievances. This entailed the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution. The Sri Lankan Tamils were to enjoy far reaching autonomy through newly established provincial councils. This was a power sharing between the center and the provinces.


The LTTE undermined that peace accord and initiated hostilities in October 1987 by attacking Sinhalese villages in the Trincomalee district. Many Tamils perished with the resumption of the conflict, others fled the country and our livelihood took a beating.


The opportunity for a peace settlement presented itself once again. President Chandrika Kumaratunge mooted a ‘Union of Regions’ for Sri Lanka in 1995. This implied a radical restructuring of the Sri Lankan state. It proposed a confederal constitution. Prabhakaran however abrogated the ceasefire in April that year. President Kumaratunge responded by the recapture of the LTTE-held Jaffna district. She proposed a draft new constitution once again in 1999 that offered extensive devolution to the Sri Lankan Tamil population of the North and East. The LTTE rejected both the initial peace proposal and the subsequent one. It was unsuccessful in its attempt to assassinate President Kumaratunge.


The LTTE regrouped and won several battles thereafter. However, it failed to serve Tamil interests. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was voted into power in 2001 and entered into yet another ceasefire with the LTTE. Life for us in the forgotten Sri Lankan North suddenly improved. We were free to cultivate the land, trade, travel and educate our children. The Hindu New Year in April resumed its festive air. People flocked to Hindu temples each April in joyous anticipation of a better future. The LTTE undermined that ceasefire through repeated violations and assassinations.


It prevented Ranil Wickramasinghe from winning the presidential elections in 2005. It enforced the elections boycott in Sri Lankan Tamil areas. Mahinda Rajapakse won the polls. The LTTE used that window to initiate hostilities with a succession of high profile land mine attacks that killed more than one hundred military personnel. The intention was to provoke. I need not recount the rest.


Is it not time for us Tamils to reflect on where things went wrong? What have we achieved in the political realm since 1987? Shouldn't we change track by repudiating the battles of ethnicity and instead emphasize that which safeguards the cultural traditions that define us and the economic livelihood that sustains us?


Unless we rethink our politics, we would be obliterated as a civilizational unit. It is our Hindu identity that alone safeguarded our existence through the centuries. It is Hinduism that explained our vibrancy. Minus that, we stand prone to obliteration.


The defeat of the LTTE offers us the space to change direction, revive our cultural traditions and our economic fortunes. The LTTE did not achieve what it sought to accomplish. Its time to change. The Hindu religious texts celebrate ‘Sarvodaya’ - the awakening of all. May that soon be a reality. 
 

[Courtesy Sri Lanka Guardian
http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2009/07/tamil-hindu-reflections-on-tamil.html]
User Comments Post a Comment
It is heartening that the Sri Lanka Guardian is now beginning to emphasise the point that the separatist state of Tamil Eelam was driven by the Church thru the LTTE. I have absolutely no false modesty in claiming that I was the first to break the silence on this issue publicly, not only by first exposing the Christianisation of the LTTE leadership but also the Christian angle to the protestors in Tamil Nadu, particulary the coastal people and the lawyers' agitation. More and more such columns are necessary from within the Tamil people of Sri Lanka to ensure that the LTTE or the separatist church does not rear its head again.
Radha Rajan
July 17, 2009
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We recognize your contribution Radha Ji, to exposing the LTTE-Xian nexus. There is also a Maoist-Xian nexus that has to be thoroughly investigated. From the 19th century when Baptists invaded the North-East, Xians have sought to make a Xian corridor down the east coast from Assam to Sri Lanka. Had the LTTE succeeded, the Xians also would have almost succeeded in realizing their dream of a east coast Xian corridor, especially as Orissa, AP, and TN are being evangelized at an accelerated rate with the connivance of the UPA government.
Kadaitswami
July 17, 2009
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Economic domination and christianisation go hand in hand. Even if christianisation does not literaliy occure as long as the education system is allowed to be dominated by christian churches the seads of christianisation is implanted even in Hindu or Buddhist minds. The greatest achievement of British colonialism is servility of the middle classes . This was achieved through the education system. 60 yrs after independance the shackeles of colonialism still exists. This is why christianisation can continue. It is time native religeons unite to fight this age old menace.
jan
July 17, 2009
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The maoist-church nexus was barefaced in Nepal and then in Kandhamal. One must also see the Maoist-Church nexus in Indian Buddhist strongholds like Gaya; this nexus can be discerned by those who watch the church closely. But this nexus has evaded scrutiny so far. But watch gaya closely, this is the latest trend.
Radha Rajan
July 17, 2009
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I would also like to take my share of credit. I was one of the few writers, in The Pioneer and the Organiser, to point to the fact that the LTTE leadership was totally Christian, as was the Maoist leadership in Nepal. This was hotly denied in many quarters, but eventually the truth was established and is now undeniable. We must now ensure that the Silence and Denial does not return. // I would also take this opportunity to warn, once again, that the Tibetan refugee community in India is equally overrun by Christians - via mixed marriages with foreigners who are running the show there. We are in deep trouble if we ignore this virtual foreign intelligence outpost in our sensitive regions. There is a thriving drug trade in Himachal which is growing and growing.
Sandhya Jain
July 17, 2009
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This is what they did to the Jews all over the world. I am not a Jew, but doing all false propaganda , they did untold harm to them. In South Asia , the scene is more complex , so they are resorting to all other methods.
JM Smith
July 18, 2009
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There's a famous saying : "Any cause, however righteous, cannot be supported by pillars of falsities". This saying would be apt for this article. Let's take a look:

"The pro-LTTE ‘TamilNet’ website was unabashedly anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist, anti-Indian and pro-Christian." Anti-Hindu and pro-Christian? Surprising indeed. I have been a reader of almost every article that was featured on tamilnet since its inception and cannot see how such an opinion can be formed. Tamilnet has archived all its articles and they are all accessible to the public. Perhaps Arundhati can enlighten us on which articles drew her to such an opinion. Just last week, an article was featured on Tamilnet on the Nallur Temple Celebrations. What's more surprising is that the current and former editors of Tamilnet are Hindus. TamilNet is anti-caste though, and so was the LTTE. "The ‘Tamil Nation’ in London even urged Tamils to jettison celebrating the traditional Hindu new year in mid-April." _This_ April, not only the 'Tamil Nation' in London, but the tamils the world over were not in a mood to celebrate the New Year, due to the status of the masses of people dieing back home. It is customary Hindu practice to not overly celebrate occassions in times of distress. On the other hand, Tamilnet, every year wishes its readers a happy New Year in April and even features articles about the New Year. "The LTTE discouraged people from following the time-honored Tamil Hindu custom of cremation. It supported the burial of the dead." No it didn't. It only buried its own cadres. People were free to cremate or bury their own. Cremations as per Saiva traditions were the norm for civilians in the Wanni region during the peace times. "It encouraged beef-eating." Laughable. Cows in the jungles of the Wanni? The LTTE cadres were lucky if they could find enough Dhal for a day's meal. " It promoted the use of so-called Dravidian names that had no basis in our history. " Your knowledge of our history is as abysmal as your knowledge of our religion. 'Arundhati' is hardly a popular Sri-Lankan tamil name. 'Elanthiran' on the other hand, is. "The Hindu religious texts celebrate ‘Sarvodaya’ - the awakening of all." The Hindu religious texts first uphold 'Satya'-Truth before celebrating anything. If one is going to lie and twist the Truth for whatever purpose, Awakening or otherwise, the goal, even if it be the highest awakening will never be achieved.
Rajah
August 22, 2009
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Sandhya Jain wrote: "I would also like to take my share of credit. I was one of the few writers, in The Pioneer and the Organiser, to point to the fact that the LTTE leadership was totally Christian, as was the Maoist leadership in Nepal. This was hotly denied in many quarters, but eventually the truth was established and is now undeniable. " Can you tell me what evidence you have that the LTTE leadership was "totally Christian"? And when your evidence was "hotly denied" in many quarters, how was the "truth eventually established and is now undeniable'? And when I mean evidence, I mean real evidence, not imagined fantasies. You see, the top leadership of the LTTE's families live in the west and their identities are common knowledge to the tamil diaspora and now even to the western media. This includes the top rung of leadership: Prabhakaran, Pottu Amman, and Soosai. Their families in the west are seen regularly at the temples and follow common hindu customs. For example, when the deaths of some of the leaders were announced, mourning took place using typical Sri-Lankan Tamil Hindu customs by their families in the west. When the media in Canada interviewed Prabhakaran's sister(The interview is widely available on the internet), the responses given by Prabhakaran's sister and her deeply religious husband would clearly show you their Hindu identity(Christians don't quote from the Gita and hang photos of Arjuna and Krishna on their walls). So I would be really interested to know of your 'evidence'. Perhaps the LTTE leadership were secretly Christian and did not let their own families know about it. Or perhaps the families of the LTTE leadership are living diabolical duplitiious lives, being secretly Christian and acting and living like Hindus? The bare fact of the matter is that the LTTE never held religion as a gating factor or even a factor of importance. The TIME magazine recently released an article on the Madhu Church in the Wanni and how it got bombed because the LTTE, breaking an agreement with the priests in the church, moved their guns into the church quarters and were firing at Government troops from there. The Government troops retaliated damaging the church. If you want to support Hinduism and want it to flourish, lieing to your heart's content to make it happen will only erode it further. You are destroying it from within when you do so.
Rajah
August 22, 2009
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