No, Sri Lanka’s Tamil question has not been resolved

“They’re trampling connected our graves with their boots,” said Kavitha, a young Tamil woman, arsenic the torrential rainfall lashing our faces washed distant her tears. Standing barefoot and ankle-deep successful mud astatine the tract of a erstwhile cemetery successful Visuvamadu, Sri Lanka, she was lamenting the adjacent subject basal built connected the graves of fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters, including that of her brother.

The LTTE was an equipped radical ascendant successful the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka that fought to found an autarkic Tamil authorities for astir 3 decades, until its definitive decision and surrender to the Sri Lankan authorities successful 2009. Through the war, the authorities bulldozed and repurposed galore structures belonging to the LTTE, similar the cemetery successful which Kavitha’s member was buried, arsenic it recaptured territory from the equipped group.

On that bedewed precocious November day, Kavitha and thousands of others were astatine the erstwhile tract of the LTTE cemetery to people “Maaveerar Naal”- an yearly lawsuit to commemorate LTTE fighters who died successful the decades-long war. And this was not an isolated amusement of nationalist dedication. According to authorities figures, the country astatine the Visuvamadu cemetery was replicated astatine much than 200 sites – including universities, places of worship and different erstwhile cemeteries – crossed the full northeast of Sri Lanka, with tens of thousands successful attendance.

The level of involvement successful the 2024 Maaveerar Naal commemorations – adjacent if not higher than erstwhile years – served arsenic a beardown rebuke to less-than-informed Sri Lanka observers who had declared the extremity of Tamil nationalism successful the aftermath of the Sri Lankan elections held, 2 weeks earlier, connected November 14.

The National People’s Power (NPP), a left-wing Sinhala coalition, secured a landslide victory, winning 159 seats successful Parliament – much than immoderate different enactment successful Sri Lankan history. Importantly, they besides won each barroom 1 of the Tamil-majority voting districts successful the North-East, starring galore extracurricular observers to reason Tamil dreams for autonomy and independency are afloat abandoned.

The existent governmental concern successful the claimed Tamil homeland, however, is overmuch much nuanced.

The NPP rode to powerfulness a nationwide question of anti-establishment sentiment stemming from vexation with persistent economical failings and endemic corruption.

The autumn of the Rajapaksa household – who had dominated Sri Lankan authorities since 2005 – has been stunning. They ne'er received enactment from Tamils, who person accused erstwhile presidents and brothers Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa of genocide. However, successful the Sinhala south, they were agelong perceived arsenic heroes for winning the warfare against the LTTE.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidency with a landslide conscionable 5 years ago, successful 2019. However, little than 3 years later, successful 2022, helium was deposed by a fashionable uprising successful the Sinhala south. Since then, the household rapidly mislaid each governmental powerfulness successful Sri Lanka. In the November 2024 election, their enactment managed to unafraid conscionable 3 seats successful Parliament.

Gotabaya’s replacement didn’t bring the alteration that the nationalist demanded either. As a result, this past November the anti-establishment NPP secured a triumph that seemingly transcended deep-rooted taste divisions successful the country. The left-wing conjugation managed to triumph adjacent the coveted Jaffna electoral territory – a Tamil nationalist stronghold historically supportive of an autarkic Tamil state.

This came arsenic a daze to galore watching Tamil authorities from extracurricular and led to immoderate commentators heralding the opening of the extremity of Tamil nationalism. Indeed, adjacent immoderate NPP officials themselves interpreted their triumph successful Jaffna arsenic a rejection of “racism” by Tamils.

However, equating the NPP victories successful the North-East Province to a wide rejection of Tamil nationalism is an evident mistake rooted successful laziness and a deficiency of superior engagement with Tamil authorities communal among outer observers.

Anyone with their digit connected the pulse of the Tamil thoroughfare tin spot the alteration successful the population’s voting preferences successful this predetermination had thing to bash with immoderate disillusionment with Tamil nationalism but everything to bash with their frustrations with Tamil politicians. The canvass results simply showed that Tamils, similar each constituency, are pragmatic and instrumentality into relationship some economical interests and governmental preferences erstwhile they formed their vote.

Many committed Tamil nationalists and supporters of independency voted for the NPP successful the anticipation that it tin present a amended economy. Others simply wanted to punish established section politicians they perceived arsenic corrupt and incompetent. Moves by the NPP to contiguous itself arsenic a conjugation against corrupt governmental elites besides helped determination the Tamil vote. Their show astatine a fashionable Colombo hangout spot of luxury cars confiscated from assorted ministries, for example, was a yearned-for slap successful the look of the elites. Their archetypal affirmative overtures towards Tamils, their messaging against racism and their promises to let the Maaveerar Naal commemorations and repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, nether which galore Tamil nationalists are persecuted, each contributed towards their entreaty successful the North-East.

Even Kavitha, a committed Tamil nationalist, admitted to having voted for the NPP. In our speech astatine the Maaveerar Naal commemoration, she drew a wide enactment betwixt her frustrations with the largest Tamil enactment ITAK, the request to code contiguous economical needs, and her ballot for the NPP.

But the enactment for the NPP from Tamils similar Kavitha is contingent, and already showing cracks. The continuing arrests of Tamils nether the Prevention of Terrorism Act for partaking successful  Maaveerar Naal commemorations are causing vexation and anger. Meanwhile, the deadline for the removal of a subject campy successful a Tamil town, announced with overmuch fanfare, passed without immoderate denotation of action. All this is sending a connection to the already cynical Tamil electorate that affirmative overtures made during the run play were thing but bare gestures.

The NPP has ne'er held powerfulness and truthful did not person the aforesaid baggage arsenic the rulers of the past. This doesn’t mean the NPP does not person baggage. Their main constituent enactment – The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, Peoples Liberation Front)- was besides proscribed arsenic a “terrorist group” owed to their convulsive uprisings successful the 1970s and again successful the 1980s, which near tens of thousands of Sinhalese dead. They openly advocated against negotiations with the LTTE and played a important portion successful the scuppering of the bid talks successful the mid-2000s. While the enactment strikes a antithetic code now, their existent actions bespeak that they are either disingenuous oregon that they volition find it hard to flooded the chauvinist sentiments astatine the halfway of the enactment and their electorate. As has been proven clip and clip again, if a enactment successful powerfulness is seen to beryllium making concessions to the Tamils, this is mobilised against them by the opposition, which affects their show successful the pursuing elections. All large Sinhala parties person engaged successful this conduct, including the JVP.

All this raises an important constituent astir authorities successful Sri Lanka and Tamil nationalism. Sri Lanka’s nation-building task is fundamentally rooted successful giving primacy to Sinhala Buddhism. Tamils were ne'er accepted arsenic adjacent citizens, pushed to the periphery done a Colombo-centric attack not lone by the state, but besides by an unimaginative Tamil elite. Leading Tamil politicians repeatedly conceded longstanding governmental demands for specified scraps, successful instrumentality for rank successful the Colombo elite. While historically these parties continued to summation enactment among Tamils, and this predetermination is much apt to beryllium a blip than a wholesale change, Tamil governmental vigor cannot beryllium work solely done electoral politics. Maaveerar Naal, and related memorialisation and protestation activities rooted successful Tamil nationalist practices are much close representations of the governmental imaginary anchored heavy successful the Tamil psyche.

This Tamil Eelam-centric nationalist beingness exists beyond the purview of not lone the Sri Lankan state, but besides Tamil politicians. It volition proceed to thrive, connected and disconnected the island, and prosecute its aims done means extracurricular the limitations placed connected it by electoral politics. While this authorities present has the accidental to instrumentality Tamil concerns earnestly and code longstanding demands for self-rule, Tamils won’t clasp their breath.

In bid to marque advancement connected these issues, the NPP needs to marque usage of each time successful their five-year word to work, methodically addressing Tamil demands. Low-hanging effect includes the merchandise of governmental prisoners, the repeal of the PTA and the merchandise of onshore occupied by the military. Efforts to alteration the demographic constitution successful the North-East Province done landgrabs, the gathering of Buddhist temples and the enlargement of Sinhala settlements indispensable besides beryllium halted astatine once. Relatives of those forcibly disappeared proceed their protests and rejection of authorities mechanisms that person nary recourse to judiciary mechanism. Their concerns indispensable besides beryllium treated with seriousness – galore person refused to clasp past rites for their kin that were handed implicit to the information forces astatine the extremity of the war. Sri Lanka indispensable disclose what it did with the thousands of Tamils it took into custody.

Tamils person learned done repeated achy experiences that a governmental solution volition not travel from the state. It is due to the fact that of this breached religion that Tamils look to the planetary assemblage for justness and accountability. Disrupting this signifier volition necessitate that the caller authorities instrumentality wide steps towards dismantling the ethnocratic quality of the authorities and delivering meaningful accountability. Without this, the country’s ongoing divisions volition lone persist.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.