BJP and Pro-BJP, Congress and Pro-congress, or pro-development

Is it possible if somebody is pro-BJP then he/she could also be pro-Congress or some other party which is not ally to the congress? Does BJP match with hindutwa idelogy or Hindu Rashtra completely? and Congress opposes the same idea of Hinduism. Are they ( Congress ) scientific minds? Guarantor of  new  modern and progressive India. or Who can care about so called minorities? Minorities, Hindu-Muslim-Cristian-Parsis-Tribals-Jats-Jains-Gorkhas-SCs-STs.
if BJP talks about development and make it an agenda for last legislative assembly then congress also talks about the development with their own perspective but opposes BJP. This happened with both parties at same time. But if it is the democracy and lets assume the definition of development is same then how both parties can strech people along different directions to propose the idea of development which is not happening from last 60 years.
Either BJP or Congress or any other party, India still facing the bad time on political front. We as people are manupulated over certain issues many a times and again and again. We, who represents democracy, we represent parties.

Telangana

Jawahar Lal Nehru again made a mistake when he constuted SRC ( state reorganization commission ) to prepare states on linguistic lines. And when this commission led by Justice Fazal Ali submitted the report not to  merge the two states Telengana and the then Andhra Region, because the common opinion was going against the merger, again then home minister Govind Vallabh Pant and congress party role out the unification of Telengana and Andhra State.
There was one agreement formed during the merger famously known as "Gentleman's agreement" between both stakeholders in which it was decided that developmental efforts will be put equally for both the regions and "Gentlemen's agreement" provided reassurances to the Telangana people as well to Andhra people in terms of power sharing as well as administrative domicile rules and distribution of expenses of various regions in both parts.
The movement of separating both states taken shape again in 1960 onwards when defected leader from congress Mr. Chenna Reddy formed the Telengana People's association as these leaders complained that Telangana region is discriminated again and any of the point in Gentlemen's agreement never implemented or followed.
In view of such opinions students from Osmania University helped in intesifying the movement and later on it was joined by people from the Telangana Region with big support. Despite electoral successes, however, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 and, much to the disgust of many separatists, rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.
Despite lessenning popularity of movement BJP ( Bharatiya Janta Party ) again promished a separate state to people in that region only if then came to power in 1990. BJP could not created the separate state as opposed by their coalition Telegu Desam Party. These development braught separate life to the movement by year 2000. Congress party MLAs from the Telangana region, supported a separate Telangana state and formed the Telangana Congress Legislators Forum.
In another development, a new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (or TRS) was formed with the single point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state, with Hyderabad as its capital lead by Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao popularily known as KCR^. Proponents of a separate Telangana state feel.. all the agreements, accords, formulas, plans and assurances on the floor of legislature and Lok Sabha, in last 50+ years, could not be honoured and Telangana was forced to remain neglected, exploited and backward. The experiment to remain as one State proved to be a futile exercise and therefore, separation is found to be the best solution.
In 2004, assembly and parliamentary elections Congress formed the alliance with TRS with a promise of separate telangan state. Congress came to power in the centre and TRS joined the alliance and praposal for creation of separate Telengana state entered to the common minimum programme ( CMP ). In September 2006 TRS withdrew support for the Congress led coalition government at the centre on the grounds of indecision by the government over the delivery of its electoral promise to create Telangana.
Later on the movement again picks up and left the political mileage for TRS. Which again forced congress to rethink about the demand for separate Telangan state. Again TDP devided and then Nava Telangana Praja Party was created in which Devender Goud led the party which was deputy to the TDP.
In october 2008 TDP also shared the willingness to make separate Telengana state to loosen the grip of Congress led by YSR Reddy. After that all oposition front along with newly formed party Praja rajyam used the movement issue for gaining political mileage in the region. And there was motive to loosen the grip of congress over the state.
Congress party still says it is committed to Telangana statehood to gain political support from people in that region but it does not have convincing answer when it asked why it could not create Telangana state in last 50 years.Also it claims Muslim minorities are opposed to creation of separate state along with majority people.

After when TRS chief KCR pick up the fast untill death unless congress reached to conclusion point, what I found that reason for such pickup point is devided congress leadership in AndhraPradesh, missing YSR and madness among people for their leaders. I see these thing in people from southern states. When YSR dies few days back atleast 10 people died of suiside. Yesterday atleast 10 people again burned their ownself with Karocene on road for this movement. School , colleges , work arround the hyderbad and other parts have been closed down. Andhra people have became thougtless at this point of time when they require most of their thinking tht what they actually have and what exactly they need from government, from stateleaders and from whole India. Though our past was highly manupulated, though Telangana was merged because of political gains. But it is the time when we need to think, what innocent people's life metters. 10 people those who lost their lives yesterday never going to come back to see a separate state of Telangana or the prosperity of their people and leaders. It was possible only when they would be among people who are still fighting and never left the hope that they can not win their movement of any time unless they have to give their life. People from southern place need to think about this sincerely.

'84 again : Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Sometimes I or we forget the issue or concern very easily with time. And when news channels in today’s world highlight that tragedy with a sense of agonizing people, it comes to our mind. It may be a case again when we forget the story next day eventually but here I'm trying it to remember for some more time than usual. 

It happened in the night of 3 dec 2009. A US company Union Carbide which produced fertilizers in Bhopal, one of the underground tanks containing Methyl Isocyanides blasted due to pressure and low safety measures in the factory cost almost 3000 lives in few hours immediately. And over 50000 people were treated over the period of 3-4 days caused with swelling over eyes, blindness, and kidney or lever failures. Problems like Cancer, undeveloped organs during birth, malfunctioning of kidney and liver , respiratory problems manifested till date due to that tragedy. And responsibility held with people, government and Union carbide management who were responsible for such homicide which caused loss of thousands of lives because of their carelessness and ignorance ( as per the different reports and sources inadequate safety measures were taken and continual reminder of workers out there management took no decision to rethink about that. Few of the questions were left unanswered like why such vulnerable plant was put near to city? Why management did not take any action of the suggested standards? Where were Government at fault? Why people's voice never heard of unless they came out on the road or to extreme situations? Why justice still pending to the victim or survivors of Bhopal Gas tragedy?

"Mothers didn't know their children had died, children did not know their mothers had died and men didn’t know their whole families had died." --Ahmed Khan, Bhopal resident 

Well there are certain facts when NGOs and activist fought for the compensation then in Union carbide had paid 470 million $ to victims but people complain that it is inadequate in some senses. 

Indian government still waiting for the outcome of the US court hearing for Dow chemicals ( who owns the Union Carbide now ) to clear the site. The former chairman of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, still faces charges of manslaughter in India but refuses to return to the country. After 25 years of tragedy people of Bhopal still waiting for the right judgment and compensation to come which can at least give them a feeling of beginning of fresh life without any cyanide killer around them , not even in the dream. Also justice is pending from the Indian government and law regulators whose negligence or compromise with whom those who have actual power( money ), left impression of such incident on the hearts and minds of their own people, which left nothing but only pain.

Initial deaths (3-6 December): more than 3,000 - official toll

Unofficial initial toll: 7,000-8,000

Total deaths to date: over 15,000

Number affected: Nearly 600,000

Compensation: Union Carbide pays $470m in 1989

Source: Indian Supreme Court, Madhya Pradesh government, Indian Council of Medical Research

 
There was one movie on this tragedy, Bhopal Express. It was very touching in some senses.

Details are also vailable at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster





.

it's my life

"It's My Life"

This ain't a song for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for the faith-departed
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd
You're gonna hear my voice
When I shout it out loud

[Chorus:]
It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just wanna live while I'm alive
It's my life

This is for the ones who stood their ground
For Tommy and Gina who never backed down
Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake
Luck ain't even lucky
Got to make your own breaks

[Chorus:]
It's my life
And it's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive
'Cause it's my life

Better stand tall when they're calling you out
Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down

[Chorus:]
It's my life
And it's now or never
'Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive

[Chorus:]
It's my life
And it's now or never
'Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive
'Cause it's my life!

Mother India

Well a bit unusual flick from bollywood. A female character was in the lead role in and around the movie. No drastic changes were made throughout the movie like Nargis ( Radha ) never motivated or try to change her any of the family members to do some exceptional things out of the box as if she also belong to the same place and she looked like a complete village woman, filled with courage and patience.  Nothing likes if Birju got inspired by his girl and try to get educated to put Lalaji on some hard rocks. Sunil Dutt saab was good and played a very sensitive role of that time.On one part of the story tells about the exploitation of Farmers, villagers and on the other hand it deals with the rage, agony in the heart of common Indian people against the money lenders and so called capitalists. Also it showed the age old clutches of poverty and illiteracy over Indian people mostly residing in villages.

When I was watching this movie,  some of the scenes were looking as real as if I have been part of the same story. Sometimes in past I have also seen such cases in my home town or near by villages. Though it may be 10 years back but I have seen farmers from nearby villages pleading in front of bank managers,  local money lenders, doctors, Government clerks , Rashanwallas and even seed distributers for least of their help or minimal cooperation. But as usual I had seen what I saw in the movie.

Best scene of the movie was when Nargis got angry over Sunil Dutt, his son and both of her son cooked food for Nargis and they try to convince her that Sunil Dutt ( Birju ) will never poke over other village girls.

Casino

I saw it with great interest but I found it as a clone to Good Fellas. Director, Writer seems to have same style of screenplay that I saw in Good Fellas. Else Ray Liotta was missing from the movie. Anyways I like the movie and finishing  line was Joe pescy and Robert de Nero were as good as they were in Good Fellas. Martin scorsese must have expertise on such subjects.

What is a screen play

Go to link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenplay

What's eating Gilbert Grape

I dont know what I saw in the movie, it was complex. Simplest character was of Arnie's as he was flowing like a mad river here and there. But in a great control. May be Leonardo was actually talented boy at that time as well. But surely  Johnny's character was even more complex that why he let things away always from his hands. Lack of authoritative hand. He acted in the character brilliantly. Johnny was the central character, whose affinity towards his brother and family was very well shown in the movie. But strength in his role came after when  Becky ( Juliette Lewis ) came into different frames. Which let him think little about himself. That was the interesting part for the change which was coming into his character.
Sometimes I surprised that what sort of societies are they, which creates a different origin for writers who dealt with such stories and imagine such characters.
During the play sometimes I thought that I should not complete the movie because a sad yet happy ending was expected but not like this. In India it is almost impossible to fabricate characters and stories on such dimentions.
And also it depends if people are going to like such movies or not, which is a subject of great debate. Because in our part of society when does it happen like this?

I would surely be able to say one can watch this movie but not if not so then he had not miss anything.

After Maharashtra Vidhansabha fiasco, who got what?

Newspapers : Front Page news for a day and ofcourse the redmarked photo for the Abu Azmi saab.

News Channels: Whole day intellectual or non- intellectual engagements to show related to the incident.

Congress-NCP alliance: Another chance to weaken the MNS, Shiv Sena hold ( atleast in nagarpalika )in Maharashtra by projecting as this issue at the core of big blunder.

BJP: Nothing but a chance to stifle their own mistakes, ideology and to show sympathy with the victim ……….. (Fill in the blank) Abu Azmi Saab. Also in my opinion they should not have any alliance with a weak party like Shiv Sena.

Samajwadi Party : For them nothing exists out of Uttar Pradesh, But they can ban Maharashtrians in Uttarpradesh, when Mulayam would be in UP government next time after Mayavati. Also they can make some sort of propaganda to hurt Marathis in Mumbai or related areas ( Its hypothetical completely, If it takes place, then don’t blame me ). Or also they can educate people about the falsehood created by Raj thackrey.

MNS ( Maharashtra NavNirman Sena ): They are in limelight again. But for how much time? I guess until Marathi People don’t understand the actual value to Maharashtrian-pride.

Abu Azmi Saab : Another chance to learn Marathi.

Barkha Dutt : Topic to stop the Buck. I don’t know who many identities are going to be stopped by her. Actually today she asked one question to Abu Azmi saab that ,” Sir, Ab aap Marathi seekhenge ki nahi “. In reply to her he told him that “ Madam, Main Jaroor seekhonga, Marathi Meri Maa ki tarah hai, Lekin main apni Matra bhasha ka bhi apmaan nahi sehs sakta. Main Marathi seekhoonga , taki Maharashtra ke logo ki problem sahi se samajh sakoo, na ki raj thackrey jaise logo ke dar se, is galatfehmi main von na rahe” .

MTV: May be, they might found some thing on this as well to show something on Yungistan. In India they can connect to any political issue these days through their program.

NDTV : They don’t show news these days but try to opinioned people from the view of congress window. So congress’s view on this is their opinion as well as the news for them.

Aaj tak news channel :This channel has real potential to create an animated view of How Azmi Saab was beaten up in Vidhaan Sabha by MNS MLAs and give elongated version of the incident.

India TV new channel: Chance to show bullshit as always.

People of Maharashtra and India: They can have opinions like “ Ye Desh kha jar aha hai” , “ Jai Maharashtra” , “ Baat to sahi hai, Marathwada main Marathi nahi bolenge to kya bolenge” etc. etc.

Home Minister R R Patil : By change he completed his oath, otherwise I could not have chance to write about him assuming him as home minister. By the way he don’t do anything.

What is law? any thoughts??

How image works?

Complexity starts when image created inside our mind. Then we correlate it with imagination. But all senses decide over creation of image or imagination at the same time. And its very less time taking. Again if a sense is down then the otherone will help in creating an image or imagination. I mean if image are only captured through eyes then when it is not with human then other senses will help in creating imagination but still I think that area as unexplore for me atleast because Ihave never talked to a blind but definitly other senses must create a sense of imagination which should be completely different from any sort of imagery which we can imagination. Infact we can say in short that it is out of our language which is completely full of symbols again or again certain kind of images.But surely all these symbols or images captured in the memory over the period of time till you are able to see through eyes or feel through your other senses. So one can sense anything and which lead to individual talent to be imaginative. But one sense can supress the imagination of the the other. Very complex!!huh

Violence within the violent self.

Few days back I was just thinking about thinking, my thinking. Which allows me to think about a situation when I felt very violent about being violent of feeling the things around me. I felt, what is the need to go for job every day if I dont want to do the same everyday, but at the same time why to shit everyday as well or to eat everyday? How have we modulated or accommodated our self/myself to such an unwanted situation of following things in which I'm least interested into. And after that I felt that I should break everything coming into my way. I mean, not very violently but silently by improving upon the control schemes exists with in ourselves. Do we actually thing what we need actually or are we only fighting for survival?
I somehow feel, if education and our culture have played a crucial role in developing our perspective and behavior. I seriously noted few points on the behavior and style of life that we practice without any reason and cause. Like we don’t do anything on Sundays and Saturdays and why do we feel for not doing any thing on these days. No one knows, but it is habitual. It was written in our spiritual textbooks that one should wakeup early in the morning but how is it missing in urban people. More people are involved in political commentaries as they know everything about future and past of India and her inhabitants. Violence inflicted upon them if What are we replenishing continuously? Where do our interests lie? Do we believe in our action? And what I do?

Love, Aaj kal

Surrprise....It is ofcourse a movie from the time of Aaj Kal. I dont understand if Aaj Kal was used for our times or both but significantly the older part of movie was visibly eloquent . But today's part was hard to digest and the 'Khula Saand' phrase for Saif is rubbish to use. Couple was in relationship but I felt if they are biologically professional. Missing with dialogues. Even I feel the dialogues were quite random or week when value was given to individual people on the screen. The expressions by Harleen on some places were priceless. That reminds of the times in 50es if I want to be there to observe such a beauty and value to individual characters and their expressions. However, characters of Saif and Deepika were built along weak lines..ofcourse the one one from our times which was quite unrealistic to talk about at all. But how does movie performing in the market if it is not as good as the 'Jab We met'? So there could be possibility of No good Movie time zone recently and Saif/Deepika factor. However, one can watch this movie but can not remember; of course it is without any message.

Gandhi, Nehru, Gaffar Khan, Patel and Maulana Ajad

From left to right : Pandit jawahar lal nehru, Khan abdul gaffar khan, sardar vallabh bhai patel, Maulana Azad and Mohan das karamchand gandhi.

Jawahar lal Nehru's family

The family of Motilal Nehru, who is seated in the centre. Standing (L to R) Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Krishna Hutheesingh, Indira Gandhi and Ranjit Pandit; Seated: Swaroop Rani, Motilal Nehru and Kamala Nehru.

Black and White ( V1)

TiTle-Tree

U.S. President Harry Truman signs the bill ratifying the North Atlantic Treaty, part of creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/north_atlantic_treaty/

Question me: Third Front

Among the big casualties of the recent general elections was the “Third Front” which had been the centre- piece of the left’s political strategy to push the Congressinto a corner and cut the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) down to size. Unfortunately for its promoters, who pitched it as the electoral and policy alternative to the Congress and BJP at the national level, it was largely rejected by the voters and has now been accepted, by its very advocates, as a non-starter.
The reasons for this crushing defeat are not difficult to spot and have already been identified by the principal players them­selves. It was an ad hoc arrangement cobbled together under the initiative of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] after its bitter parting with the United Progressive Alliance gov­ernment over the nuclear deal in July last year. The primary binding factor of the constituents was opposition to the Congress. Yet this opposition to the Congress was of a contingent nature for most of them. Even though, ostensibly, they all were opposed to the BJP, they had, other than the left parties, often shared power with this “communal” party. Crucially, there was no coherence in the policy and ideological positions of its constituents. If the All- India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had construction of the Ram temple and protection of Ram’s bridge (Sethusamudram) in its manifesto, the Telugu Desam Party had for long been the World Bank’s global poster boy for “economic reforms”. While the Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s (TRS) demand for a separate Telangana sat uneasy with its ally, CPI(M)’s insistence on a unified Andhra Pradesh, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s pitch for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s Prabhakaran was equally at odds with the positions of other parties. Further, it was clear that each of its non-left constituents had kept their options of joining a BJP-led government open. Lastly, all the main third front con­stituents, including the CPI(M), faced significant erosion of popu­lar support due to their policies in government and were basing their chances of victory on the unpopularity or division of their opposition, rather than on any positive agenda of change.
Given this context, one is sorely tempted to repeat Marx’s oft-abused line that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce. The present, happily deceased, attempt at a third front government at the centre has a genealogy which stretches back to the post-Janata Party period when parties which represented regional economic and social interests came together against the domi­nance of the Congress. Their strength came from two social strata: one was the peasantry led by the dominant castes of each region and the other was the non-metropolitan urban popula­tions of professional middle classes, businessmen and industrial­ists. These social classes were in a struggle with the big industri­alists and metropolitan middle classes for political power and economic resources. This struggle expressed itself in a political agenda of federalism, democratic reforms and redistributive eco­nomic policies. It provided coherence and strength to their unity, gave them a radical edge and they, in turn, helped democratise Indian politics by breaking the dominance of the Congress. Their decade-long struggle for political power culminated in the defeat of the Congress in 1989 and the formation of a true third front govern­ment which was anti-Congress yet distant from the BJP.
This third front was repeated in the form of the United Front govern­ment of the mid-1990s, which, in hindsight, can be labelled a “tragedy”. Not only did it give a big push to neoliberal economic reforms, it paved the way, politically, for the emergence and con­solidation of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The third front provided the personnel, training in running national coalitions of regional powers and political space for the expansion of the NDA. If that was a tragedy, the present attempt has surely been a “farce”.
It is not enough to merely dismiss the third front in such terms but is necessary to understand why it has come to such a pass. Today all the parties which potentially make up the third front, whether it be the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, Deve Gowda in Karnataka, Telugu Desam and TRS in Andhra Pradesh, Nationalist Congress in Maharashtra, Biju Janata Dal in Orissa, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand, Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and Bahujan Samaj Party or Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, have a distin­guished track record of opening their states to the most rapacious exploitation of humans and nature by capital while peddling var­ious forms of cultural and regional chauvinism to mobilise the masses. In this they are led by the rich peasants who are clamour­ing to commercialise agriculture and thus transform themselves into rural capitalists, and by industrialists in the states who have seen their capital grow exponentially under the policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation and are now among the biggest champions of such economic “reforms”. In pursing this agenda, these social classes and their parties are natural al­lies of the Congress and BJP and, therefore, do not show any in­terest in bonding together like they did two decades ago. Where is the space, in this transformed agenda of the regional parties, for any form of radical or democratic politics?
The CPI(M), which has been the main proponent of the third front, should have very little in common with these policies of the third front parties. Unfortunately, in the recent past, its Bengal unit has shown a similar inclination, allowing special economic zones, dispossessing poor peasants for big industrialists and encourag­ing Bengali chauvinism to counter the Gorkhaland demand. It is crucial for the health of Indian democracy that the CPI(M) in particular and the left in general, dump this poisoned chalice and reaffirm their commitment to their own legacy of building mass movements on a radical transformative agenda.

The Civil War ends, but....

The death of Velupillai Prabhakaran signals the end of the civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). For nearly three decades since its formation, the LTTE had relentlessly pur­sued its aim of achieving a separate state (Eelam) to be carved out of the northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka. In the course of its single-minded drive to achieve “Eelam”, the organisation ruthlessly decimated other militant organisations and voices among the Tamils – many of whom were willing to accept autonomy or federal rights for the Tamils. But by accepting no com­promises and by continuing to use tactics such as assassination of perceived “enemies of the cause” and violent retribution, the LTTE brought about its own doom.
Despite a systematic shelling and bombing campaign that killed or incapacitated thousands of civilians, the Sri Lankan army did not receive anything more than token disapproval or humanitarian appeals from the international community. The Sri Lankan government’s ruthless drive to vanquish the “terrorist” LTTE was never halted in the final phase of war by an international community tired of “terror” – a stigma that the LTTE car­ried for its past actions. The LTTE’s own cynical moves to use Tamil civilians as a shield, a fact that was brushed aside by the organisation’s propagandists, only alienated them even further in the eyes of the international arbiters such as the United Nations or India. The events leading up to the end of the battle – with the Sri Lankan army’s capture of the last remaining areas of the Vanni region under LTTE control, and the killing of the outfit’s senior representatives and leaders – are murky. Questions remain about the way the LTTE leader and founder, Prabhakaran, his family members and the organisation’s political representatives were killed and war crimes by the Sri Lankan army cannot be ruled out. But the general lack of sympathy for the vanquished among the international community is itself a consequence of the LTTE’s intransigence in its ways and means.
Thousands of Tamil civilians now live in “appalling conditions”– as the visiting UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon called them – in internment camps after displacement because of the war. Despite claims by the Lankan government about commitment to “early resettlement”, its actions in restricting access to these camps by humanitarian agencies and its callous treatment of the displaced people in the camps in the name of security do not inspire confidence. These actions in tandem with the triumphalism dis­played by the Sri Lankan polity would only make one more scepti­cal about the Lankan government’s claims of bringing about a democratic solution to the problems of the Tamil minority after the defeat of the “terrorist” LTTE. A lasting peace after the defeat of the outfit would remain a chimera if the Sri Lankan polity refuses to acknowledge the plight of the displaced Vanni residents or indeed of the genuine grievances of the Tamil community.
The LTTE’s inflexibility and rejection of any compromise, say a federal solution to the conflict, its dwindling legitimacy internationally and the internal split, with the defection of erstwhile eastern commander, Vinayagamurthy Muralidharan, were ulti­mately responsible for its defeat. Several moments capture the cynical single-mindedness of the group. It rejected an offer from the ex-president Chandrika Kumaratunga, which provided powers of devolution even greater than what the Thirteenth Amendment in 1987 (that provided for provincial councils) envis­aged. After a ceasefire agreement in 2002, the LTTE signalled a willingness to discuss a federal solution, but backed out of peace talks for no valid reason. It also engaged in violent acts in viola­tion of the agreement (something which the Lankan government was also guilty of). It even called for a boycott of elections by the Tamils, an action that helped hardliner Mahinda Rajapaksa become the president of the country with the support of other Sinhala chauvinist parties and thus resulted later in the recently concluded violent phase of the civil war.
The intractable positions taken by the LTTE were partly due to the enthusiastic material and arms support that the organisation received through funding and donations from the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora over the years. After the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York, the LTTE, which had been proscribed in 32 nations, found its material support drying up because of tough actions against its sympathisers in many countries where toler­ance for support to “terror” outfits became negligible.
Among the Tamil community in Sri Lanka and in the vast diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamils, there is a deep sense of despond­ency following the defeat of the LTTE. Many of the latter’s sympa­thisers are still in denial about the death of the outfit’s leader. These sympathizers should introspect about the reasons for the bloody end to the war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. Far from realising the aspirations of the minority Tamils, who aimed for self-rule, the LTTE’s actions have only resulted in a traumatised Tamil population disaffected both by the “Eelam cause” and with the government ruling from Colombo.
There remains no excuse for the Sri Lankan government to avoid addressing the grievances of the Tamils now that the LTTE is vanquished. Anything short of a federal set-up that grants political rights for the oppressed Tamil population would only lead to a further festering of the deep wounds from years of mar­ginalisation and alienation of the Tamils. In the provision of relief to the displaced Tamils and in their resettlement, the international community, through its various humanitarian agencies, must play an important role. Also, the international community must be vigilant and should pressurise the Sri Lankan govern­ment to arrive at a political solution to the conflict that takes account of its root causes. In the absence of this, the seeds would be sown for another militant organisation – one that would have learnt from the past mistakes of the LTTE – espous­ing complete separation.

EPW

P