In a first in 10 years, Lankan Tamil parties back DMK, hail Stalin ‘leadership’

Two weeks ago, a letter was sent by six Tamil parties to the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo in this regard, while on Friday, M A Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance and Suren Surendiran of the Global Tamil Forum issued a statement praising the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.

The statement said Chief Minister M K Stalin “has become the envy of many leaders across India”. It was perhaps the first such statement by Lankan Tamil parties for the DMK since 2009, when the Indian party was seen to have betrayed the Tamil community in the final war against the LTTE. The DMK was part of the UPA government at the time.

The Tamil National Alliance and Global Tamil Forum said Stalin had taken steps to promote the commonalities and cohesiveness of the global Tamil community, “arguably more so than any other Tamil leader in recent history” and “consistent with the long tradition of Dravidian political leaders of Tamil Nadu”.

They listed as Stalin’s achievements the appointment of a dedicated minister for the welfare and rehabilitation of non-resident Tamils, declaration of a World Tamil Diaspora Day, institution of Tamil studies in international universities and of Tamil Chairs at Harvard University and the University of Toronto.

Tamils in Sri Lanka were “at a critical point”, the parties said. While the progress on “war-related accountability” was marginal, “Tamils face many existential challenges – to protect their land and to preserve their identity… against rampant militarisation and State-sponsored initiatives aimed at altering regional demography.”

This appeared to be a hint at the Lankan government’s plans for Chinese projects in Tamil-dominated northern Sri Lanka.

Ananthi Sasitharan, a former northern provincial minister and the wife of an ex-LTTE fighter who disappeared from Lankan army custody, said Stalin should do more to bring a solution to Lankan Tamils. “India, as a country, their diplomacy is in ruins… Like J Jayalalithaa passed a resolution seeking a trial on war crimes, Stalin can also raise his voice,” she said.

Otherwise, she feared, the statement by the Tamil parties may be just a “strategy to patronize Stalin’s contributions to refugees and the Tamil diaspora”.

Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), one of the six parties which wrote to the Indian High Commissioner and sought appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. said they all wanted to hear from Stalin. “We will be meeting him very shortly,” EPRLF leader Suresh Premachandran said.

The endorsement of Stalin by Tamil parties will have resonance for the DMK in the state where sympathy for the community in Lanka runs strong. While they may have frowned on LTTE terror activities, both the DMK and AIADMK have spoken out in support for the Lankan Tamils, with former CM J Jayalalithaa seeking a probe on war crimes as well as other issues involving them.