Our memories are full of your footsteps

Our memories are full of your footsteps

“If the Sri Lankan government recognizes the Tamil nation, two prosperous nations will emerge on the island of Sri Lanka with power. They will share friendship and prosperity with each other”

Anton Balasingham

“The doors of peace of Tamils have been kept open for a long time. National leader Prabhakaran has opened the peaceful path wide to allow peace messengers to come here, whoever they may be, at any time and under any circumstances.

Many have come here many times through these doors of peace. They have carried the message of peace of the LTTE to South Sri Lanka. But the Sinhala nation has so far refused to open the doors of peace. It has been pushing back to stop the fighting and create a peaceful environment.

The first to enter through the doors of peace of the LTTE was the Norwegian government. In the late 1990s A high-ranking official from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry came to Yarlpanam. He held talks with us. He said that the international community wanted peace talks. Norway wanted to mediate. The talks could be held in Oslo, the capital of Norway. He insisted that the first step for peace talks should be a ceasefire by both sides. We agreed to that. “If you really want to prove to the world that you want peace, you should be the first to declare a ceasefire. You should declare it unilaterally. If you do that, we can put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to make them agree to a ceasefire,” he said. We agreed to that too.

The LTTE unilaterally declared a ceasefire from January 1, 1991. But the Sinhalese government rejected the ceasefire. It continued the war more vigorously. The Norwegian government remained silent as if it knew nothing. That year, the West provided Sri Lanka with a lot of aid.

Next, the Quakers Goodwill Group entered through the LTTE’s peace gates. It came and went several times. It said that it could hold talks in London with the blessing of Britain. It said that it would prepare a comprehensive peace plan with Kittu. India also agreed to transport through the subcontinent. We also agreed to cooperate in every way. What happened in the end? The Quakers’ peace efforts ended in Kittu’s life being unjustly sacrificed. We have already explained this sad story. When the LTTE peace boat was sunk by India in the Bay of Bengal, neither Britain nor the West opened its mouth. The world also hushed up the objection statement issued by the Quakers that he had sailed to Tamileelam as a peace envoy.

Aside from this, on April 22, 1992, a peace delegation consisting of Buddhist monks arrived in Yarlpanam. The delegation was headed by Ven. Siddathiya Mahanayake Thero of the Amarapura Buddhist Peetham. They toured the entire Yarlpanam peninsula under the protection of the LTTE. They listened to the aspirations of the Tamil people. They saw the disasters of the war. Shocked by the plight of the people, they promised to do their utmost to end the war and create an environment of peace. This Buddhist peace delegation had come with a plan that included some ideas. The Tamil homeland theory was rejected in this plan. We met and spoke to them. We emphasized that ‘Tamil homeland’ is the basis for any solution. We also emphasized that it is necessary to create a peaceful environment for the talks. They said that they would hold talks with the Sinhala political leadership and create a peaceful environment. They would come to Yarlpanam with a new solution plan. But those who left did not come. None of the Sinhala leaders in power wanted to meet these people who returned to Colombo. As a result, their peace efforts failed.

Despite these events, the LTTE did not close the doors of peace.

Next, early last year, the Anglican Bishop Kenneth Fernando came to Yarlpanam. He said that the season of peace had come. He said that the national leader of the LTTE should be met in person. The Sinhala nation wants to hear what he has to say through his own mouth. There is no point or need in meeting others. We conveyed the Bishop’s desire and insistence to the national leader. The national leader agreed to meet the Bishop. The meeting took place on January 10, 1993. National leader Prabhakaran held a discussion with the Bishop for two and a half hours. He spoke openly about all matters.

Tamileelam welcomes peace. We are ready to resolve the problem peacefully. We extend the wheel of love to the Sinhala nation. But the Sinhala government refuses to accept it. If the fighting stops, economic sanctions are lifted and normalcy is restored, peace talks can begin. This is what the national leader said.

The national leader also condemned the Sinhalese government’s attempt to divide the Tamil homeland. The Tamil homeland is our fundamental demand. The national leader also firmly emphasized that there can be no political solution to the Tamil national problem unless the Sinhalese nation accepts it.

“If you really want peace, will you release two prisoners of war and hand them over to me as a token of your goodwill?” asked the Bishop. Without any hesitation, the national leader Prabhakaran agreed. The Bishop’s face lit up with surprise.

I will try to bring an end to the war. I will explain the unbearable suffering of the Tamil people in South Sri Lanka due to the economic sanctions. I will urge the government to create an atmosphere of peace. This is what the Bishop promised.

Bishop Kenneth Fernando returned to Colombo, bringing with him two released prisoners of war as a sign of the honesty of national leader Prabhakaran and as a witness to the LTTE’s quest for peace. Speaking to a journalist in Colombo, he said, “I saw the face of humanity in Prabhakaran.” That was it, and Sinhala chauvinism boiled over. Mud was thrown at the Bishop and the LTTE. “The Bishop has gone mad. That is why he saw Prabhakaran as a human being,” wrote one newspaper.

Despite the Bishop’s best efforts, the then President Premadasa refused to meet him.

Sinhala chauvinism did not want peace, so another year of war was spent. The army was crushed like never before, and the capital was crushed. “If it is crushed, the mother will move.” But the Sinhala chauvinist mother did not move at all.

As usual, following the birth of the peace season at the beginning of the year, spiritual pilgrimages to Yarlpanam began. This time, the leaders of the three major religious denominations of Christianity came here to assess the situation. A group of monks from the Buddhist Maha Sangha will follow them to visit the face of Yarlpanam destroyed by the war.

We met with the leaders of the Catholic, Methodist and Anglican churches and explained our position.

It is only right that peace talks take place in a peaceful environment. Only then will it be a free and unforced discussion. It is not fair to try to force the Tamils to talk by applying military and economic pressure. It is impossible to talk with friendship, goodwill and trust while being under pressure. Therefore, it is fundamentally wrong for the government to think that it can impose some solution on the Tamils by applying pressure, threatening and intimidating them. First, a peaceful situation must be created. For this, a ceasefire is necessary. Economic pressure must be removed. The government can do these things to show its goodwill towards the Tamils. If such a peaceful situation is created, we are ready for talks. This is how we explained our position. The Bishops also realized that there was justice in our ideas.

The Anglican Bishop expressed his willingness to meet the national leader Prabhakaran again. But he did not insist. He has already met the national leader once. The national leader has come in person, extended the wheel of friendship and even signaled peace. Even so, it is the Sinhalese nation that has kept the doors of peace tightly closed. In this situation, there is no point in meeting again and again and repeating the same thing. How many times will the politically deaf in Colombo hear the conch-blow from here? The bishop is knowledgeable. That is why he did not insist on another meeting.

When the Bishops came here, Sarvodaya leader Ariyaratne also came here. Karikalan, the political deputy in charge of the LTTE, met him. He was told what the Bishop was told.

Those who came have returned. They have not brought anything new. They have not brought anything new. The Tamil people want peace. The LTTE also want peace. They have brought this same old message. This is what they are going to say in Colombo. There will be no new twist in Colombo.”