Courtesy:The Nation
“Anandasangaree maintains his independence:
V. Anandasangaree, who functioned as the leader of the TULF, had called on Thamilchelvam only once. He did not want to pay such customary visits to Vanni, because he did not want to seek instructions from the LTTE. LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, who felt affronted by Anandasangaree’s refusal to dance attendance on the LTTE leadership, had reportedly said: “It was we who sent the TNA to Parliament. Therefore, they should see us whenever we send for them.” Anandasangaree publicly denounced this LTTE stand. The LTTE did not allow Anandasangaree to participate in the re-opening of the restored Jaffna public library. However, Anandasangaree could not be prevented from reopening the library. He said that the LTTE was recognised only as the representative of Tamils at peace talks, and the TNA represents the Tamil community at all other events and forums. An irate LTTE leadership, using some MPs loyal to them, succeeded in expelling Anandasangaree from the TNA. However, he managed to retain the leadership of the TULF, which is a constituent of the TNA. Even today, Anandasangaree is the leader of the TULF.”
By a Special Correspondent
The decision taken by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to support the candidacy of New Democratic Front candidate General Sarath Fonseka has become a main moot point in the political circles today.
The TNA, a combine of several Tamil political parties was founded in 2001. Its constituents are All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), EPRLF (Suresh Wing), TELO and the TULF. It is appropriate that we discuss the TNA against the backdrop of the activism of the main Tamil political parties in our country during the last few decades.
Tamil politics since Independence
At the time Sri Lanka achieved national independence, the main political party in the North was the ACTC led by the late G.G. Ponnambalam. The political demands he presented, which later came to be widely known 50-50 demands, triggered uproar in the country. He also claimed equal status for Tamil with the Sinhala language. These demands met with stiff opposition from the parties based in the South. Meanwhile, a group which broke away from the ACTC led by the late S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, formed a new political party called Ilankai Tamil Arasukatchi, or the Federal Party (FP). This party was later to become the main political party in the North. However, several minor parties too continued to function.
The ACTC took the initiative to form another political combine called the Tamil United Front (TUF) on May 4, 1972, with the FP too joining this combine in 1976, it came to be known as the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). At the 1977 Parliamentary general election that followed, the TULF succeeded in winning 18 seats in the North and East. The SLFP, at this election, was reduced to 8 seats in Parliament. As a result, TULF leader A. Amirthalingam, as the leader of the party commanding a majority seats in the Opposition, became the Leader of the Opposition.
In 1983, the J.R. Jayewardene government introduced a Constitutional Amendment Bill to require every Member of Parliament to take an oath to uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. The Bill, passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament, became the 6th Amendment to the Constitution.
Vaddukoddai Resolution and aftermath
By 1976, the TULF had, at its Vaddukoddai special party convention, adopted a resolution calling for the formation of a separate autonomous region called Eelam for the North and East of the country, based on the right to self determination for Tamil speaking people, and in recognition of the concept of a homeland for them. Therefore, TULF MPs resigned their seats in Parliament, after refusing to be sworn in terms of the 6th Amendment.
The resignation of the TULF MPs saw the absence of a Tamil representation in Parliament until 1989. In the interim, filling the resultant political vacuum, the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran presented himself as the sole representative of the Tamil people in the North and East. Meanwhile, the LTTE, which had embarked on a killing spree, assassinated a number of TULF leaders including its head, A. Amirthalingam, and other Tamil political leaders. Apart from the LTTE, several other armed groups, including the TELO, EPRLF, ENDLF and PLOTE which had come into existence, were engaged in politics in the North and East at this time.
Ahead of the 1989 Parliamentary general election, under pressures from India, ENDLF, EPRLF and the TELO teamed up with the TULF to contest the 1989 general election under the alliance called the Ilankai Thamil Arasukatchi (ITA). They won 10 seats in Parliament.
When, in 2000, the TNA was formed, with the TULF, TELO, EPRLF and ENDLF as its constituents; many wondered how the TELO and the EPRLF, which had been bitter rivals, could together throw in their lot with the TULF, to form the TNA. Many political analysts thought that India or some other foreign country was behind the founding of the TNA, which was a collective of bitter rivals who had been at loggerheads for a long time. At the 2001 general election, 15 MPs were returned to Parliament from the TNA, and it was an open secret that most of them were either LTTE proxies or had the blessings of the Tigers.
Anandasangaree maintains his independence
The TNA has always been guided by its main policy of a separate homeland for Tamil speaking people and their right to self-determination. The TNA Parliamentary group always took decisions in accordance with directives received from the LTTE leadership. So the TNA leaders frequently visited LTTE’s political wing leader Thamilchelvam, to get instructions. However,
V. Anandasangaree, who functioned as the leader of the TULF, had called on Thamilchelvam only once. He did not want to pay such customary visits to Vanni, because he did not want to seek instructions from the LTTE.
LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, who felt affronted by Anandasangaree’s refusal to dance attendance on the LTTE leadership, had reportedly said: “It was we who sent the TNA to Parliament. Therefore, they should see us whenever we send for them.” Anandasangaree publicly denounced this LTTE stand. The LTTE did not allow Anandasangaree to participate in the re-opening of the restored Jaffna public library. However, Anandasangaree could not be prevented from reopening the library. He said that the LTTE was recognised only as the representative of Tamils at peace talks, and the TNA represents the Tamil community at all other events and forums. An irate LTTE leadership, using some MPs loyal to them, succeeded in expelling Anandasangaree from the TNA. However, he managed to retain the leadership of the TULF, which is a constituent of the TNA. Even today, Anandasangaree is the leader of the TULF.
At the 2002 general election, the TNA contested under the banner of Ilankai Thamil Arasukatchi led by R. Sampanthan, who succeeded Anandasangaree as the leader of the TNA. These MPs later conducted themselves in debates and at voting on Bills in accordance with orders received from Thamilchelvam. TNA MP Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam, who dared defy the LTTE directives, was assassinated by a Tiger hit squad. The LTTE leaders even used the TNA MPs’ vehicles imported duty free.
Many political observers expected the TNA to maintain their independent identity, following the annihilation of the LTTE as a military outfit. However, the LTTE’s international leaders, such as Rudrakumaran and the Tamil Diaspora, have now begun giving orders to the TNA. The TNA continues to uphold its original objectives such as a homeland for Tamils, right to self-government and re-merger of North and East, which are to be the milestones in their march towards a separate State called Eelam.
Why General Fonseka
The TNA, at this presidential election, is following a course of action leading to the realisation of their objectives. They recently held talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and later with common opposition candidate General Fonseka and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. President Rajapaksa refused to meet their demands, but General Fonseka and Ranil Wickremesinghe had agreed to. Therefore, the TNA has now agreed to support General Fonseka.
The TNA Parliamentary group had decided, with a majority vote, to support the main opposition candidate, amidst heated arguments for and against this decision. Several MPs including M.K. Sivajilingam, Sri Kantha, Gajendra Kumara Ponnambalam, A. Adakkalainathan, and Padmini Sithambaranathan had vehemently opposed this decision. The other Tamil political parties charge that the TNA’s decision to back General Sarath Fonseka is a capitulation to pressures from international LTTE leaders and certain Western countries.
http://www.nation.lk/2010/01/17/newsfe2.htm
