Tamil bravery and sacrifice, a new definition of freedom -
by Jay Tharan
"He was assigned to spy into a 20 square mile Sri Lankan base, manned by 10,000 troops and surrounded by Tamil soldiers. He was assigned to find the details of the enemy defence. He crawled in camouflage for many days and nights. He had to stay calm when a poisonous cobra was about to bite. He was sometimes soaked when Sri Lankan soldiers' urinated on him thinking it is just a bush. All he had to live with was dry food and bit of water......."
The life story of a military intelligence unit of the Tamil rebel forces continue. He returned with valuable data whilst the enemies were not aware that their defence plans were exposed. Then the operation to capture the base began. Enemy with air & sea support and their huge weapons hit back, with great force in order to save their base. The brave men and women entered the base like waves; led by the same spy teams. Within minutes of initial battle enemy’s artillery base was destroyed and the arms store blasted. Enemies realised that Tamil soldiers had reduced the artillery fire power; which they relied mostly in the battle. The men who spied had to sacrifice their lives on the first hour of the battle. Few hundred Tamil soldiers made thousands of Sri Lankan soldiers run from their base seeking safety. Military base was run over by Tamil rebels and once again Sri Lankan military saw another defeat.
The military reviewers tried identifying the reasons for defeat, was it weak defence? Bad air-sea support? Were the rebels out scored in numbers?. They found it difficult to establish the causes for the failure. They could not evaluate the determination of those young men from the initial spying to the final battle ending in the remarkable victory. The determined warriors who valued their freedom more than their lives, joined voluntarily to fight for the freedom of our homeland. Their determination could not be defeated. The forces being paid to invade the Tamils’ land would have never made such sacrifices. It’s not about the number of weapons that marks this victory, but the bravery and the sacrifices our men made.
The story above is neither fiction nor a Hollywood movie. It’s the single real life story of the thousands that exist about the war between the Tamils and Sinhala militaries on the Tamils homeland in Sri Lanka. Reading many stories of the freedom battle, we wonder in amazement as to how these soldiers would have built so much courage to sacrifice their lives and their families for the freedom of Tamils. It’s the secret of how a small team of rebels with only a small number of weapons could defeat the most highly equipped military in South Asia.
It is the bravery which made our enemies run. It is their sacrifice which made the many victories. It is their determination which made enemies fear. It is the value of freedom they praised above all, which the oppressors could not resist. The cause they fought for was murmured even in their last breath.
There cannot be a price paid for freedom the way the Tamils did. A 3 million strong nation had lost 50,000 volunteer soldiers with another 300,000 massacred in the fight for the same struggle that we still endure today. After millions of Tamils have fled their homeland, Sri Lanka is ruling another 2 million civilians, with 200,000 strong military men standing at every corner of their houses watching their everyday activities. Even a small gathering of local Tamils is watched by a military officer. The Tamil homeland is a classic example and symbolisation of what we call a hegemonic military ruling.
The value of freedom is felt more and more strongly now than never before. The military won the battle with the support of Chinese military, but the war is far from over. The sacrifice of our soldiers and our people is remembered every minute of everyday, and continuously encouraging the international Tamils worldwide that the struggle will continue until our aim is reached. The families who have lost their loved ones are crying rivers without the right to pay respects to their loved ones The pain is carried out around the world by Tamils.
Sri Lanka's inhumane act of destroying the graves of fallen Tamil soldiers has poured scorching oil on our wounds. Bulldozing somebody’s grave is condemned by the UN and many more organisations as it is an act of cruelty. New Sri Lankan military bases have been put up on these very graves, in evidence that there is no place even for the dead Tamils on our homeland. Pain is widely created in the hearts of Tamils over and over again. Every Tamil child born will never forget this and will reiterate this history for as many generations. Destroying the garden of remembrance will not wipe out the 37 years of history created by the millions of stories. Every story will tell them something new, the sacrifice made by many through the barbaric acts of the Sri Lankan government.
Another pain Tamils carry is the situation of capture of Tamil soldiers or suspected Tamil soldiers. In 2009 Sri Lanka put all the people aged between 15 to 30 into concentration camps and after world wide condemnation, it had to release them. At the same time Sri Lankan forces are running secret camps in former jungle based former rebel camps. The young Tamil women are kept in these camps as sex slaves for the military commanders for last 2 years. Since nobody can enter these areas which are accessed only by certain part of military, the women have no choice to let the outer world know about their situation. This is another pain world wide Tamils are carrying and waiting for a day to put everybody involved in international tribunal for war crimes.
So it apparently clear, that why Tamils around the world have added November 27th to their calendars as a customary day because it is indeed a very special day in their history to remember and shred some tears for those still suffering. The only place they can pay respect is now restricted to foreign soil. Tamils live in 27 countries or more and in all countries every single Tamil will at least think about the people who sacrificed their lives on the front line allowing others to flee the genocide. All children born in a new Diaspora generation of Tamils in these foreign countries will understand that their parents are lucky to be alive today. Beneath the Sri Lankan air strike if it wasn’t for our soldiers, their parents would not have been able to flee the country and they would not have been born into this world. So there we have it, a huge payout of lives for the eyes of the international to accept the genocide that had occurred and that continues to do so.
Today, I sit back and think about my life. My family and I would not be alive today without somebody fighting persistently for our justice? How many thousands of lives saved and a small fraction to the number of lives that we lost? The number of sacrifices and losses our homeland had to make in order for the international eyes to see clearly what was going on. Sri Lanka needs to understand this small victory in a battle does not mean they will win the war. Sri Lanka is now in the process of learning a lesson as a consequence of the genocide.
Tamils gathered once again to pay their tribute, on a land they love for allowing them to live freely, with freedom of speech - UK.This will be one of the 23 countries conducting this Remembrance Day, where approximately one million Tamils will pay their respects for the fallen. It’s the Tamils version of poppy day. November 27th will not just be a Remembrance Day, but a day full of emotions and tears. Especially as they are not able to go back to their own land to pay such respect, what with the graves/cemeteries being destroyed. The souls of these noble men and women will empower the Tamils to ensure that the determination never dies down until our freedom, justice and peace is achieved. Once again they will take oath on their national slogan which means,
“The thirst of Tamils, Tamil Eelam Homeland!!”
