May Day events illustrate divisions in Jaffna, Colombo and Oslo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 May 2016, 23:44 GMT]
While R. Sampanthan of the ITAK and Gajendrakumar Ponnamabalam of the TNPF organized May Day events in Jaffna that reflected the political divide as well as funded manipulations within the ITAK, Sinhala leftists in Colombo who were calling for the release of political prisoners and political equality were disturbed as Maithiripala Sirisena’s Police intentionally allowed Mahinda Rajapaksa supporters to use the same route to travel in buses despite repeated requests in advance against the move. In Norway’s capital Oslo, Eezham Tamils marched denouncing the genocidal concept of ‘Sri Lanka’. In the meantime, two Norwegian NGOs that claim to be independent were attempting to broker ‘development assistance’ manipulated ‘diaspora engagement’ between a member of the so-called ‘Special Presidential Task Force on Reconciliation in Sri Lanka’ and invited Tamil individuals and groups in Oslo.

Eezham Tamils have been taking part in May Day Rally under their own banner since 1978

The message from the struggle-centric Eezham Tamils in Oslo was targeted to the larger and the civil society in Norway. A detailed leaflet issued by the Tamil Coordinating Committee that organized the participation of Eezham Tamils at the May Day rally in Oslo, was addressed to the civil society and the solidarity sections that are more credible and truly independent rather than the State system echoing the geo-politically manipulated interests in the foreign policy. The leaflet was also calling those attempting to enforce ‘Sri Lankan’ identity on Eezham Tamils in Norway as the real extremists.

The march organised by the Leftists and Trade Unions in Colombo went from Narahenpita to Nugegoda where the rally was held. The SL police allowed Mahinda supporters buses to use the same route on the opposite direction despite several requests by organisers not to do so. The Mahinda supporters got down from the buses and were abusive towards those in the march in support of devolution and the release of political prisoners. The Mahinda supporters were also calling the marching crowd 'Tiger lovers'.

Rajapaksa supporters abusing Leftist protesters in Colombo

Apart from the manipulations by Maithiripala regime to showcase the ‘opposition’ as coming from Rajapasa section and the courage displayed by the sections of ‘Sri Lankan’ Left in Colombo, nothing more than the banner carried by the leftists themselves is needed to express the pathetic state of equality of Tamil in the ‘Sri Lankan’ context.

The May Day procession organised by Leftists and Trade Unions. Almost every word is misspelt in Tamil, displaying the level of ignorance and disparity of Tamil along with Sinhala

The Tamil language in the Left banner was much worse than the Sinhalicisation boards being planted by Rajapaksa and Sirisena regimes in the occupied Tamil homeland.

In Jaffna, an ITAK parliamentarian who operates a ‘media foundation’ with the backing of foreign agencies was deploying 40 buses to transport the ‘beneficiaries’ of ‘humanitarian assistance’ to ITAK event to ‘engineer’ ITAK as the dominant actor within the TNA.

Such is the so-called ‘victim centered’ approach is exploiting the victim and deviatory sections in Jaffna and Oslo using the ‘development’ and ‘humanitarian’ assistance.

“If you are truly development-centered and want to maintain real independency, stay away from poking your nose as a brokering agent in trapping Tamils into genocidal Sri Lanka”, said Murali Sivanandan, the coordinator of TCC in Oslo.

Tamils in Norway are capable of addressing the issue of reconciliation in the island in a democratically acceptable way for the mainstream sections of the Tamil diaspora, the coordinator of the TCC said.

The failure of peace process was caused by State-centric attitude of ‘changing the mindset’ among the mainstream Tamil polity, including that of the Tamil diaspora. The Tamil diaspora has its own way of addressing the issue through proven majority opinion in a democratic manner, Mr Sivanandan said.

May Day Rally in Oslo

Councillors from Northern Provincial Council took part in the event organised in Ki'linochchchi

ITAK parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran (blue shirt) with Northern Provincial Council and his supporter within the NPC Kesavan Sayanthan (blue jeans) taking part in ITAK procession in Jaffna

Mavai Senthiraja and R. Sampanthan taken on ride in a ‘house’ shaped vehicle in Jaffna. Placards or banners with political slogans were absent in the procession, which was only promoting the ‘ITAK’ identity

TNPF's May Day meeting held in Vadamaraadchi, Jaffna