Kumar-the man and his politics

Point of view

The murder of Kumar Ponnambalam, leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, on January 5 by a lone assassin has given rise to problems that did not arise with the murders of Neelan Tiruchelvam, Sarojini Yogeswaran, A.Thangathurai and several other Tamil leaders, nor with the assassination atempts on President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Lucky Algama.

Mr. Ponnambalam had been a part of that social ferment within the Tamil elite that spawned and sustained the politics of the LTTE. Its ultimate purpose to unreasonably vilify, provoke and bring out the worst in the Sinhalese. This is done by harping on the very real suffering of the Tamils often through the sheer callousness of the state but, refusing to acknowledge the instrumentality of the LTTE in this or the role played by a segment of the Sinhalese polity which is also challenging the status quo. This is then used to argue that nothing good will come out of the Sinhalese.

To see Mr. Ponnambalam merely as an individual is to miss the point. Seeing his political career as simply opportunistic is also to miss the wood for the trees. If one goes into the past of individuals uncompromisingly backing the LTTE, one would very likely find elements which the LTTE in theory finds far from congenial others have been killed for much less.

Among this group one finds a secretary to the Ministry of Labour under the UNP as well as a vice president of Gamini Dissanayake' trade union ' the LJEWU, former central committee members of the EPRLF and a public relations officer of the former North-East provincial administration. Mr. Ponnambalam too ridiculed separatism when the TULF advocated it, supported the Indo-Lanka Accord and pledged to bring in the Tamil groups to implement it (Sunday Times 20.9.87) and asked President J.R. Jayewardene for a place for his party in the proposed Interim Council, all of which the LTTE leader wanted for his appointees (Sun 3.10.87). A year later he joined forces with the SLFP and campaigned on an anti-accord platform. At least one candidate ' M.P.Sivagnanam ' on his party' list of candidates for the Jaffna District in the February 1989 general elections was shot dead by the LTTE on 25. 1 .89.

Mr. Ponnambalam well understood the LTTE, which had given a clear message that he should keep out of politics in Jaffna. Five years later, prior to the August 1994 general elections, in an address to the Rotary Club in Trincomalee he took a frankly pro-LTTE separatist line and denounced the other Tamil parties as traitors. This was the prelude to his unsuccessfully contesting the parliamentary elections from Colombo. From this time, he was a vocal and insensitive advocate of the LTTE. His advocacy was blind to Tamil history and offensive to many Sinhalese and Tamils alike.

There was also the endearing side to him. He was affable and many a Tamil youth, who had gone through Sri Lanka' prisons as a PTA detainee, had his case taken up by Mr. Ponnambalam free of charge.

Pushing an ultra-Tamil nationalist line against his chequered background entailed a rhetorical approach that was not mellowed by reason. Ironically, the same private media that gave him publicity were also the same ones that promoted Sinhalese extremist opinions. A characteristic which explains the latter was that they could not make out the difference between Dr. Tiruchelvam and Mr. Ponnambalam. The result was growing suffocation in the political atmosphere with reasoned discussion becoming increasingly difficult. With the LTTE' suicide bomb attacks thrown in, there was much potential for things to spin out of control.

To call the politics of those like Mr. Ponnambalam sincere or insincere is misleading. Sincerity applies where there is constancy and a commitment to human values. The politics of those like Mr. Ponnambalam is rather, obsessive, blind to history and rooted in the present. In a sense it could be sincere in its blind obsessiveness and is not necessarily cowardly.

Mr. Ponnambalam went on despite being warned of dangers and asked by his family and his friends to tone down. His friends in the media who encouraged both Sinhalese and Tamil extremism egged him on and finally were themselves in no position to control the fallout.

The posthumous denunciation of Dr. Tiruchelvam by members of the Tamil elite signified an obesessive hatred.

The actors were themselves fast losing control of their emotions, words and actions. It was a state of mind heading towards breakdown, careless of the dangers to themselves and those around them.

On the other hand, the popularity Mr. Ponnambalam built up among a significant section of Tamils in the south was because he gave voice to the gut feelings of resentment harboured by many Tamils against the state. This section does not represent all the Tamils who have grievances against the state, but is a segment of a very divided community. In the absence of freedom to discuss choices owing to internal terror, this community takes a diversified approach to both the state and the LTTE, often based on immediate experience. If Mr. Ponnambalam did not exist, the situation of the Tamils in the south would have demanded one like him to articulate their gut feelings.

We are indeed faced with a most perilous situation when a large section of the community is driven by this psychology. These are thoughts the people regularly encounter in the Tamil media and also in what is passed on by word of mouth. It justifies and white-washes the systematic repression faced by people living under the LTTE. Among the Sinhalese, this psychology exposes the Tamils to silent resentment. In the hill country this ultra-nationalism is being fed to an alienated and discriminated population by politicians who hope to translate resentment into votes, as politics in the North-East did a generation ago. Expressions of hate such as 'traitor' and 'he deserves to be lampposted' have long found their way into common parlance in the hill country.

The fallout from this situation can only be handled by sensitive understanding and timely reform. Is the country equipped for this? In particular the law enforcement machinery should be seen to be credible. (UTHR(J) Information Bulletin.)

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