“They’re trampling on our graves with their boots,” mentioned Kavitha, a Tamil girl, because the torrential rain lashing our faces washed away her tears. Standing barefoot and ankle-deep in mud on the web site of a former cemetery in Visuvamadu, Sri Lanka, she was lamenting the adjoining army base constructed on the graves of fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters, together with that of her brother.
The LTTE was an armed group dominant within the Northern and Japanese Provinces of Sri Lanka that fought to ascertain an impartial Tamil state for practically three many years, till its definitive defeat and give up to the Sri Lankan state in 2009. By way of the battle, the state bulldozed and repurposed many buildings belonging to the LTTE, just like the cemetery wherein Kavitha’s brother was buried, because it recaptured territory from the armed group.
On that moist late November day, Kavitha and hundreds of others had been on the former web site of the LTTE cemetery to mark “Maaveerar Naal”- an annual occasion to commemorate LTTE fighters who died within the decades-long battle. And this was not an remoted present of nationalist dedication. In accordance with authorities figures, the scene on the Visuvamadu cemetery was replicated at greater than 200 websites – together with universities, locations of worship and different former cemeteries – throughout all the northeast of Sri Lanka, with tens of hundreds in attendance.
The extent of curiosity within the 2024 Maaveerar Naal commemorations – equal if not greater than earlier years – served as a powerful rebuke to less-than-informed Sri Lanka observers who had declared the tip of Tamil nationalism within the aftermath of the Sri Lankan elections held, two weeks earlier, on November 14.
The Nationwide Individuals’s Energy (NPP), a left-wing Sinhala coalition, secured a landslide victory, successful 159 seats in Parliament – greater than another occasion in Sri Lankan historical past. Importantly, in addition they received all bar one of many Tamil-majority voting districts within the North-East, main many exterior observers to conclude Tamil goals for autonomy and independence are absolutely deserted.
The true political scenario within the claimed Tamil homeland, nonetheless, is rather more nuanced.
The NPP rode to energy a nationwide wave of anti-establishment sentiment stemming from frustration with persistent financial failings and endemic corruption.
The autumn of the Rajapaksa household – who had dominated Sri Lankan politics since 2005 – has been gorgeous. They by no means obtained help from Tamils, who’ve accused former presidents and brothers Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa of genocide. Nevertheless, within the Sinhala south, they had been lengthy perceived as heroes for successful the battle towards the LTTE.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the presidency with a landslide simply 5 years in the past, in 2019. Nevertheless, lower than three years later, in 2022, he was deposed by a well-liked rebellion within the Sinhala south. Since then, the household quickly misplaced all political energy in Sri Lanka. Within the November 2024 election, their occasion managed to safe simply three seats in Parliament.
Gotabaya’s replacement didn’t bring the change that the general public demanded both. In consequence, this previous November the NPP secured a victory that seemingly transcended deep-rooted ethnic divisions within the nation. The left-wing coalition managed to win even the coveted Jaffna electoral district – a Tamil nationalist stronghold traditionally supportive of an impartial Tamil state.
This got here as a shock to many watching Tamil politics from exterior and led to some commentators heralding the beginning of the end of Tamil nationalism. Certainly, even some NPP officers themselves interpreted their victory in Jaffna as a rejection of “racism” by Tamils.
Nevertheless, equating the NPP victories within the North-East Province to a widespread rejection of Tamil nationalism is an apparent mistake rooted in laziness and a scarcity of significant engagement with Tamil politics widespread amongst exterior observers.
Anybody with their finger on the heart beat of the Tamil avenue can see the change within the inhabitants’s voting preferences on this election had nothing to do with any disillusionment with Tamil nationalism however every little thing to do with their frustrations with Tamil politicians. The ballot outcomes merely confirmed that Tamils, like each constituency, are pragmatic and bear in mind each financial pursuits and political preferences once they solid their vote.
Many dedicated Tamil nationalists and supporters of independence voted for the NPP within the hope that it might probably ship a greater economic system. Others merely needed to punish established native politicians they perceived as corrupt and incompetent. Strikes by the NPP to current itself as a coalition towards corrupt political elites additionally helped transfer the Tamil vote. Their show at a well-liked Colombo hangout spot of luxury cars confiscated from various ministries, for instance, was a yearned-for slap within the face of the elites. Their preliminary constructive overtures in direction of Tamils, their messaging towards racism and their guarantees to permit the Maaveerar Naal commemorations and repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, underneath which many Tamil nationalists are persecuted, all contributed in direction of their attraction within the North-East.
Even Kavitha, a dedicated Tamil nationalist, admitted to having voted for the NPP. In our dialog on the Maaveerar Naal commemoration, she drew a transparent line between her frustrations with the most important Tamil occasion ITAK, the necessity to deal with rapid financial wants, and her vote for the NPP.
However the help for the NPP from Tamils like Kavitha is contingent, and already displaying cracks. The persevering with arrests of Tamils underneath the Prevention of Terrorism Act for partaking in Maaveerar Naal commemorations are inflicting frustration and anger. In the meantime, the deadline for the elimination of a army camp in a Tamil city, introduced with a lot fanfare, passed with none indication of motion. All that is sending a message to the already cynical Tamil citizens that constructive overtures made throughout the marketing campaign season had been nothing however empty gestures.
The NPP has by no means held energy and subsequently didn’t have the identical baggage because the rulers of the previous. This doesn’t imply the NPP doesn’t have baggage. Their fundamental constituent occasion – The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, Peoples Liberation Entrance)- was additionally proscribed as a “terrorist group” on account of their violent uprisings within the Nineteen Seventies and once more within the Nineteen Eighties, which left tens of hundreds of Sinhalese lifeless. They freely advocated towards negotiations with the LTTE and performed a big half within the scuppering of the peace talks within the mid-2000s. Whereas the management strikes a unique tone now, their present actions point out that they’re both disingenuous or that they are going to discover it tough to beat the chauvinist sentiments on the core of the occasion and their citizens. As has been confirmed time and time once more, if a celebration in energy is seen to be making concessions to the Tamils, that is mobilised towards them by the opposition, which impacts their efficiency within the following elections. All main Sinhala events have engaged on this conduct, together with the JVP.
All this raises an necessary level about politics in Sri Lanka and Tamil nationalism. Sri Lanka’s nation-building challenge is essentially rooted in giving primacy to Sinhala Buddhism. Tamils had been by no means accepted as equal residents, pushed to the periphery by way of a Colombo-centric strategy not solely by the state, but additionally by an unimaginative Tamil elite. Main Tamil politicians repeatedly conceded longstanding political calls for for mere scraps, in return for membership within the Colombo elite. Whereas traditionally these events continued to realize help amongst Tamils, and this election is extra more likely to be a blip than a wholesale change, Tamil political vitality can’t be learn solely by way of electoral politics. Maaveerar Naal, and associated memorialisation and protest actions rooted in Tamil nationalist practices are extra correct representations of the political imaginary anchored deep within the Tamil psyche.
This Tamil Eelam-centric nationwide life exists past the purview of not solely the Sri Lankan state, but additionally Tamil politicians. It can proceed to thrive, on and off the island, and pursue its goals by way of means exterior the restrictions positioned on it by electoral politics. Whereas this authorities now has the chance to take Tamil issues severely and deal with longstanding calls for for self-rule, Tamils received’t maintain their breath.
To be able to make progress on these points, the NPP must make use of day by day of their five-year time period to work, methodically addressing Tamil calls for. Low-hanging fruit consists of the discharge of political prisoners, the repeal of the PTA and the discharge of land occupied by the army. Efforts to vary the demographic make-up within the North-East Province by way of landgrabs, the constructing of Buddhist temples and the growth of Sinhala settlements should even be halted directly. Kin of these forcibly disappeared proceed their protests and rejection of state mechanisms that haven’t any recourse to judiciary mechanism. Their issues should even be handled with seriousness – many have refused to carry final rites for his or her kin that had been handed over to the safety forces on the finish of the battle. Sri Lanka should disclose what it did with the hundreds of Tamils it took into custody.
Tamils have realized by way of repeated painful experiences {that a} political answer won’t come from the state. It’s due to this damaged religion that Tamils look to the worldwide neighborhood for justice and accountability. Disrupting this sample would require that the brand new authorities take clear steps in direction of dismantling the ethnocratic nature of the state and delivering significant accountability. With out this, the nation’s ongoing divisions will solely persist.
The views expressed on this article are the creator’s personal and don’t essentially replicate Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
