Meena
Kandasamy is a poet, fiction writer
and an activist. She plays a crucial role in building campaigns such as Tamil
Solidarity and has been a strong voice against the murderous Sri Lankan regime.
1. Thank
you for giving this interview to the Tamil Solidarity. According to Indian
media, Prime minister Manmohan Singh will not take part in the commonwealth
heads of government meeting (VHOGM). However rest of the Indian delegation will
take part. Do you think Indian government is playing a ‘trick’ on us.
While it is
clear that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision to not visit CHOGM
in Sri Lanka is clearly a response to the protest movements in Tamil Nadu, and
while it is also a decision made keeping in mind the elections early next
year—we have to reiterate that this is not enough. India must press for an
independent international inquiry, it must demand a demilitarisation of the
North, it must ask for an end to the ongoing systematic repression against
Tamils in Sri Lanka. In the abstract, we can discuss what India can and what
India should do. However, the reality is that not only Sri Lanka’s closeness
with Pakistan and China weigh heavily on India’s choices, but, India’s own
multinational corporations will be exerting a different kind of pressure. Tata
holds the entire bid for rebuilding Slave Island, and many Indian businesses
are all involved in their exploitation. They will be lobbying for their own
interests in the end, and they will be able to arm twist the government into
doing what they want. After all, if there is anything the 1.76 lakh crore 2G
scam revealed, it is that the Indian political system is nothing but a puppet
in the hands of these corporates. And given how Rajapakse’s family runs the
crucial businesses in Sri Lanka, this nexus will operate against the interest
of the Tamils in every which way possible.
2. As a
writer you have been relentless in your criticism of the Sri Lankan regime.
More importantly you actively participated in many actions against the regime
and against the on-going horror unleashed on Tamils. Please tell us a bit more
about why you continue to do this and what other Indian writers can do on these
issues.
Why do I do
this? Because I’m informed of what’s going on the ground (in Sri Lanka) and
because my anger would break me if I remained silent and helpless. Indian
writers (especially those who are not Tamil) might not be fully aware of what
is going on there, and sometimes, they become unwitting pawns of Sri Lanka’s PR
machinery. When Indian writers visit literary festivals in Sri Lanka for
instance, they legitimise Sri Lanka’s culture of repression of writers,
journalists, cartoonists. I’ve always been pressing for a cultural boycott of
Sri Lanka. South Africa under apartheid was boycotted, Israel is being
boycotted, why should Sri Lanka be treated any differently?
3. TNA’s
main propaganda in the last NPC election was that the Indian state will somehow
help the Eelam Tamils. Similarly a number of Diaspora groups want to keep a
friendly relationship with the Indian government. They argue that India is a
regional power so Tamils cannot win anything without winning the Indian
government to our side. But they appear blind to the treatment of oppressed
people in India – and their resistance to the suffering at the hands of the Indian
government. How can this lack of understanding be overcome? And how can we
bridge the struggles of Eelam Tamils and Indians – particularly those
struggling in Tamil Nadu.
I think the
Indian state—that kills its adivasi people under Operation Greenhunt and
through elaborate structural genocide, that denies Kashmiri and Manipuri people
the right of self-determination, that has its own mass graves for Kashmiris—is
not going to do some dramatic turn-around for geopolitical reasons and “help”
the Eelam Tamils. We have to snap out of such idyllic daydreams and confront
the reality of what the Indian state machinery is all about. Not only does
India kill in its own national interests, but it has also become a mercenary
state that sometimes wages war on its own people in defence of toxic corporates
like Vedanta. Big businesses have a big say in India.
When I was in the UK, I
was surprised by how many first-generation Eelam Tamils saw “hope” in Modi’s
rise to power, and how they really believed that he would do good to them. They
had no answer to the question: how is Modi different from Rajapakse? After all,
the state-sponsored riots in Gujarat in 2002, saw the rapes and killings of
thousands of Muslims. Their so-called strategy, that a non-Congress alternative
will benefit the Tamils, is very short-sighted besides being extremely
dangerous. Why should the people, who are victims of a genocidal-scale of
killings, seek support from a man of Modi’s history? It is depressing. The BTF,
GTF, TGTE have no embarrassment in shaking hands with Modi. The only
progressive voice from the Tamil community was the Tamil solidarity campaign.
When news of Modi’s proposed UK visit came, Keerthikan, your joint-national
coordinator was actually suggesting that we greet him by throwing eggs! A Modi
should be treated no differently from a Rajapakse!
I was
disgusted when I saw Tamil media in the Diaspora play up the story of Anbumani
Ramadoss making some presentation in the United Nations about Eelam Tamils. How
could you forget Dharmapuri? After all, PMK, the party to which Ramadoss
belongs, burnt 300 homes of dalit people in three villages. They gave death
threats to Dalit men who marry caste-Hindu girls. They decried the idea of
love. It is a first-rate casteist party that has no space in a democracy. Why
was the Tamil Diaspora sucking up to the Ramadosses? These hate-mongers
forfeited their rights to speak on any issue the minute they indulged in such
ruthless violence. And yet, we allowed these filthy, reactionary politicians to
represent us? How could we allow such a disgrace to take place?
4. In
India, both central government and state governments appear to have mastered
the art of supressing emerging struggles. Discrimination and attacks vary with
regular atrocities perpetrated against those oppressed on the basis of
nationality, caste, gender or class. Some argue that the focus of activists
must be limited to one issue – ie national liberation, for example. We think
this tactic will alienate the struggling oppressed caste activists and others.
At the same time some argue that every other struggle against oppression stands
in opposition to the national interest of the Tamils in general. How do you
look at this.
I think
this is a question that the Tamil society must ask itself: Do we need a
liberated nation that still ingrains the idea of caste discrimination,
patriarchal attitudes, religious hatred? I do not think any self-respecting
Marxist will support reactionary nationalism. To simply join the chorus of
these reactionary, casteist, feudal, patriarchal forces and to cry for a
separate nation—without paying any attention to solving these problems—would be
nothing but rank opportunism. We cannot turn a blind eye to these issues. We
cannot become “patriots” merely because we oppose imperialist and
state-terrorist forces, we need to encourage and stand alongside the
progressive forces among the Tamil community. We do not have to become
card-carrying supporters for bourgeois nationalism that seeks a nation for
itself only so that it benefits the swindlers. If we agree on this basic
principle, we can achieve a lot. The struggle of the Dalit people against
caste, the struggle of women against violence and patriarchy, the struggle of
the working people for their rights—these are in no way in any conflict with
the national interest—they are only against casteist, patriarchal and
exploitative capitalist interests. These movements do not sabotage the national
cause, they do not approve of imperialism, they only dig the graves for
centuries-old oppression. We must ensure that the Tamil struggle for
self-determination is inclusive, and in fact, propelled by these movements.
This is not something that we are dreaming about today. This is not something
that has arisen now. There are several Tamil critics, who lose their cool
whenever the question of caste or women’s rights crop up. Addressing caste for
instance is as old as the Vaddukoddai Resolution. Did that manifesto not ask
for the annihilation and eradication of caste? Why are the Tamil nationalists of
today silent on this question? I think that instead of having sword-fights with
these imaginary ghosts, the Tamil nationalists can get their act together and
address the contradictions in society. If I say this I will be immediately
labelled a Marxist and a feminist and as a traitor. No one believed in the
Indian nation as much as Dr.Ambedkar, and no one fought the caste system as
vigorously as him. If people are getting upset when the questions of caste, or
the oppression of women arise, it only means that they are afraid of losing the
privileges bestowed on them by caste system and patriarchy. In that case, all
talk of nationalism is only a shield to protect their own elite interests.
4. A
discussion has emerged recently on the best strategy to organise against CHOGM.
As you know the fast unto death was used as a focal point but, in some ways
hijacked by Dravidian parties. This appears to have effectively cut off the
possibility of a strong movement emerging – can you tell us bit about this?
I think
that we have to creatively reimagine our basic modes of protest. I believe that
democracy subsists on a daily dose of drama—that’s why theatrical forms of
protests—such as an indefinite fast are good tools to reach to the people.
However, passive resistance is good if you are building a sustained
campaign—like Irom Sharmila’s campaign against the atrocities of the armed
forces in India’s North-East—but if you seek a clear-cut, short-term goal, I am
not sure if such Gandhian-style protests serve their purpose. In this case, I
personally felt that the DMK-Congress combine cleverly played into comrade
Thiyagu’s fast, which started with the right motive and momentum. A line of
assurance, which vaguely spoke about considering various sentiments, was enough
to fold up the fast. Did the prime minister write to Thiyagu? Did the
powers-that-be actually tell him that they see the reason for the fast? No, he
was writing to Karunanidhi. In that pretentious letter, which said a lot, but
meant absolutely nothing, there was no condemnation of the atrocities of the
Sri Lanka regime, India did not distance itself from the Rajapakse regime, the
Centre was merely placating the Tamil people and using the ruse of a letter to
diffuse the anger on the ground. I also believe that fasts, or events centred
around one individual, often do not give us leveraging power unless a mass
students/youth/people’s movement grows around it, which in turn becomes the
plank from which to place demands. Historically, we may be trying to recreate
the atmosphere of what followed Thileepan’s fast, however, to succeed one has
to embrace martyrdom like he did and wait long enough for the ruling powers to
expose themselves.
We have also seen instances
of how the “indefinite fast” (often misleadingly called fast-unto-death, though
no one really entertains suicidal intentions) become a tool of the elites
themselves who want to appear as if they are championing a cause, or who want
to wear the mask of sacrifice for narrow electoral gains. How can people forget
Karunanidhi’s fast during 2009, in the most intense period of war in Sri Lanka?
Did Chidambaram not “assure” Karunanidhi to withdraw his fast on the basis of
an assurance from Sri Lankan Government that they would continue their
“humanitarian operation”, “stop using heavy artillery” and “follow a zero
civilian casualty” policy? Why did Karunanidhi buy into that trap and withdraw
his fast? Was the killing of close to a hundred thousand people any kind of
humanitarian operation, is that how zero civilian casualty works? Clearly, what
Karunanidhi was doing was just an eyewash. It was a brilliantly orchestrated
drama—DMK, Chidambaram, Sri Lankan state, Rajapakse family—everyone had their
vested interests in this absurd theatre.
On the other hand, I also think Tamil
society has to rethink its approach to self-immolation. While it is certainly
an act of sacrifice, it signals absolute desperation. It means we have resigned
to fate that there is nothing we can do, and, that we no longer believe in our
power as a collective. I think it is extremely self-defeating
http://www.tamilsolidarity.org/?p=3392z
http://www.tamilsolidarity.org/?p=3392z
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