Despite the occurrence of the worst calamity since the 2004 tsunami, in which the whole of Sri Lanka has been devastated by nature’s fury, the Maaveerar Week (Great Heroes’ Week) was observed recently in the north and east with unprecedented fervour and with the participation of thousands.
Some media outlets, which reported on the huge turnout at the main commemorative events on the final day, 27 November, said that the event had never seemed so grand even during the time of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Although the LTTE continues to be a banned movement, celebrations also marked the 71st birth anniversary of its Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on 26 November, with portraits of him being put up at various places in the north and east.
Although the Government initially warned that it could not allow events to glorify the LTTE in the guise of remembering the war dead, neither the Police nor the armed forces took any action to prevent the celebrations of Prabhakaran’s birth anniversary.
Maaveerar Day under the NPP Govt.
This is the second time that Maaveerar Week has been celebrated since the National People’s Power (NPP) came to power. Two Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) from the Eastern Province lit candles in front of the Karthigai Poo (Gloriosa superba), the symbol for Maaveerar Day which blooms during November, in a room in the parliamentary complex and posted pictures on social media.
We saw that when members of the Tamil parties from the north and east participated in the Budget debate in Parliament, they made it a point to begin their speeches paying tribute to ‘fallen Tamil heroes’ and wished Prabhakaran on his birthday. But no one from the Government or the Opposition objected to it.
Last year too, the NPP Government allowed peaceful celebrations of Maaveerar Day. But this year’s event was even more exciting than last year’s. Tamil political parties in the north and east, particularly the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) and ITAK, earnestly took part in the commemorations.
Politicians like former MP and ITAK General Secretary M.A. Sumanthiran, who previously did not show much interest in the commemorations, also actively participated in the celebrations held at various places last week.
Ramalingam Chandrasekar, one of the key Ministers in the Government, also paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle. However, TNPF Leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam critically observed in the House during the Budget debate that members of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), who had served as the ideological guide for President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government to carry out the war in full swing, had no moral right to commemorate the heroes who had sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the Tamil people.
In any case, it is certainly a welcome move for the NPP Government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to allow the Tamil people to freely commemorate those who lost lives during the civil war without any hindrance, unlike previous governments.
It seems that the leaders of the Government, who have been annually commemorating their former leaders, including JVP Founding Leader Rohana Wijeweera, who were killed by the State forces, as well as the members of the movement who perished in the two armed uprisings in the south, were themselves forced to allow the Maaveerar Week to be held freely on the basis of the logic that it was unfair to prevent the commemoration of Tamil militants and victims of the civil war.
JVPers have been holding the Commemoration of November Heroes since 1994 when they rejoined democratic mainstream politics during President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s regime. Since Wijeweera was assassinated on 13 November 1989 in Colombo, the JVP selected that date for its annual commemorative event.
Recently, on 14 November, the Commemoration of November Heroes was observed at a grand event at the Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo under the leadership of President Dissanayake, who is the Leader of the JVP.
History of Maaveerar Day
The LTTE started observing Maaveerar Day in 1989. It was held each year on 27 November, the date on which the first LTTE cadre, Shankar (Sathiyanathan alias Suresh) died in combat in 1982. Prabhakaran’s birthday falls on 26 November.
When the first Maaveerar Day was observed in the jungles of Mullaitivu, Indian soldiers were stationed in the north and east. After their complete withdrawal in March 1990, the LTTE expanded the commemorations to the areas it had brought under its control. It was also customary for Prabhakaran to deliver his annual speech explaining his movement’s policies on that day.
Since the end of the civil war in May 2009, during the Rajapaksa regime, Tamils were unable to hold commemorative events publicly. However, with the help of a few civil society organisations, ‘fallen heroes’ and the war dead are remembered in a simple manner in a few places.
After the change of regime, the events were gradually organised in an elaborate manner. Tamil political parties are actively involved in the events of Maaveerar Week, which are held with massive public participation.
It is natural that victims of war and the families of missing and dead combatants assemble in large numbers at commemorative events to vent their anguish at the lack of justice even after many years have passed since the end of the war.
However, the Tamil parties, which have been unable to take the legitimate struggle for the rights of Tamils to the next stage in a practical manner that suits the current domestic and international situation, are insistent on keeping the Tamil people bound to the memories of past struggles full of sacrifices and destruction, without any meaningful political mobilisation.
For most Tamil parties, commemorations are the most important political activities they participate in or organise, apart from contesting elections. Unable to formulate policies on their own and lead the Tamil people, these parties only parrot obsolete emotional political slogans.
The road ahead for Tamil politicians
It is a political truism that no one can continue these struggles from the point where Wijeweera or Prabhakaran left them. With a clear understanding of this political reality, the JVP had prudently joined the democratic political mainstream and eventually captured power through parliamentary politics. Now the party doesn’t talk much about Wijeweera’s policies, except to remember him once a year.
The JVP is ruling the country today under a new avatar as the NPP. Its leaders publicly state that they have abandoned many of their previous policies and strategies and have adjusted themselves to what is warranted by the present situation.
Wijeweera waged two armed rebellions at different times to seize State power and both of them were crushed cold-bloodedly. However, those who were left behind in his movement had the acumen to devise a new approach to stage a political recovery in a new political landscape.
Prabhakaran waged war for the formation of a separate state for the Tamils in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. However, as far as his movement is concerned, there is no possibility of such a revival. The LTTE continues to be a banned outfit not only in Sri Lanka, but also in many other countries, including India.
Even though some of the former militants formed a political party and contested elections separately and in alliance with a few other Tamil parties, they have been unable to secure seats even in Pradeshiya Sabhas.
Against this backdrop, Tamil politicians need to think of how far they can take the Tamil people by continuing with the politics of commemoration alone.
These remarks need not be interpreted as intended to denigrate the militants who sacrificed their lives for the emancipation of Tamils. They are directed at Tamil politicians who are trying to mask their political incompetence by eulogising past struggles and those who participated in them, without sacrificing even an iota of their own interests.
Finally, the leaders of the NPP Government should not think that they have made a great compromise with the Tamil people by allowing the celebration of Maaveerar Day. They say the new constitution will abolish the Provincial Council system, the only devolutionary provision in the present Constitution.
Tamil political leaders should realise the gravity of the situation. In the end, the Tamil people will receive nothing, even after unimaginable sacrifices and losses, if their political leaders dwell in illusions.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication)