| Declaration of Independence of Kosovo and its analogue with Tamil Eelam |
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By: Ivan Pedropillai B.Sc., M.Sc., FCCA, FCMA
The birth of a new state, born out of the fire and fight for liberation is an occasion for us to celebrate and welcome to the assembly of free nations. We believe that man was created to be free and that any form of subjugation is a fundamental breach of human nature. It is indeed a sad commentary that in the twenty first century, despite the manifold attempts of mankind to be truly liberated in body and mind, there are still severe constraints on man's ability to be truly free of oppression; ! be it political, economic, cultural, religious or racial. The United N ations has done its best to promote freedom and human rights but sadly the committee structures within it have proved weak and contentious to act decisively to enforce the charter and codes that it has so bravely proclaimed, in member countries that have chosen to flagrantly flout it. The former Republic of Yugoslavia was one of them and it took years of inaction on the part of the UN and EU to stop the psychopathic Serbian leaders Slobodan Milosovec or Radivic Karadzic from operating a vicious and obnoxious ethnic cleansing policy to achieve Greater Serbia. The EU and NATO did eventually get their act together to stop this rape and murder within Europe. Kosovo, predominantly for the Kosovan Muslims although there is a minority of Serbs, was born out of this conflagration. Former U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who led the NATO alliance during the 1999 Serbia - Kosovo conflict, said of Kosovo's independence "There was no way beyond moving to this step." But he urged the international community to work with Serbia to keep the country moving toward integration with Europe and "to help them understand their situation." "I'm very sad that the Serbs are unable to understand what's happened," Clark told CNN, "But the magnitude of Serb repression of the Albanian majority there and the violence that accompanied the ethnic cleansing in 1998 and 1999 was just so overwhelming that I think the Serb people have to understand that the Albanians themselves have to have this separation." If there are any Tamils still remaining along with those in the international community who are so ignorant of the strength of our claim in international law for a separate state of Tamil Eelam, they have only got to look at the current declaration of independence of the new state of Kosovo to know that those who are scornful of our claims are being deliberately mendacious. Of course the Sri Lankan government will refuse to recognise Kosovo but that is what they will do to protect their invidious claim over our homeland. However, the USA, Canada, Australia and the EU (including France, Germany and the UK) have already indicated their willingness to recognise Kosovo. Russia (a Slav country) with her grip on Chechnya and China with her occupation of Tibet are the totalitarian states that will seek to justify their position by withholding recognition of Kosovo. In essence, the free world will recognise Kosov! o and the case for Tamil Eelam is irrefutably made in the process. The severity of Serb repression or the duration of it was nothing compared to the ruthlessness of the Sinhala war to exterminate the Tamils in their own homeland. It would indeed be duplicitous for the US or EU or the Sinhalas or even some Tamils to contend that Tamil Eelam should remain within the failed state of Sri Lanka merely on the grounds of limited size or the self-serving autochnous Sinhala constitution which disenfranchised the Tamil people. This dishonest and dishonourable position will now be seen in light of Kosovo to be invidious in international law and utterly hopeless in reality. There is a de facto state in existence in Tamil Eelam and it is supported by the fundamentals of its histo! ry and de jure situation. If the Sinhalas and their fellow travellers choose to ignore the incontrovertible claim of the history of the Tamil nation over two millenia on the island of Sri Lanka in order to continue with their hegemony and instead point to the size of the land mass or the population of Tamil Eelam and argue maladroitly that it cannot sustain an independent state, the facts about Kosovo will bite back at them. Kosovo at 4200 sq. miles and a population of 2 million is much smaller than the proposed independent state of Tamil Eelam at 7500 sq. miles and a population of 4 million. Not that such figures have troubled the sterile argument of these doom-sayers in the past when confronted with mini states the size of East Timor. Eritrea, or Singapore. But the immediacy of the birth of an independent Kosovo out of their war against the genocide perpetrated by the Serbs in territory that historians consider to be the birthplace of the Serbian nation is a powerful argument for the establishment of Eelam in our own historical homeland ! on which the Sinhalas have no claim whatsoever. It is indeed a great day for Kosovo and a greater day for the indomitable free spirit of mankind. Never let it be said that it is only the people of Europe who are entitled to freedom from oppression. The free spirit of a people encompassing an ancient culture, language and traditions of the Eelam Tamils also needs the free world to set them free. Genocide in Sri Lanka should be confronted and defeated by the international community, if the problems obtaining there are not to reach the levels of intractability of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. It was ignored by the West for far too long and has made the Middle East the tinderbox that it is now. The Tamil Diaspo! ra in the West and India through to its next generation, is gaining st rength and position of influence and it behoves the international community to act with proper consideration to stop the extermination of the Tamil people before the issue becomes internationalised. A first generation Afro-American, Barrack Obama, born of a Kenyan Muslim father is today's front runner for the Democratic Party's nomination and it gives hope to all of us who are hardworking immigrants. There must be many Members of Parliament (MPs) in Britain and Canada who must know that their Tamil constituents who form a significant minority in their electorates are watching their MPs with close interest. They wish to see that their MPs understand the merits of this conflict and are able to disentangle themselves from the pejorative label of terrorism that is employed by the rapacious Sinhala state of Sri Lanka in order to cover up their ethnic genocide. They also wish to see their MPs disavow the 'Milosovec' like Rajapakse fascist state of Sri Lanka and to show their suppo! rt for a free and democratic Tamil Eelam to join the free world, with a Tamil nation complete with its educated and sophisticated meritocrats. The free will of the Tamils will ultimately prevail. That is the lesson of history. |
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