Global consortium of Tamil corporates needed to address Eezham question
[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 April 2010, 09:35 GMT]
In the present world of corporate colonialism, the national question and the liberation of Eezham Tamils have to be negotiated with the international community in the language of the corporates. But the Tamil corporates, existing in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora across the world, are yet to be awakened to the prospects of forming a consortium among them to deal with the situation in a concerted way for the mutual benefit of them and the Eezham Tamils. The potentiality of the Tamil corporate world and what it could achieve by coming together globally are still not realised due to lack of initiatives and lack of insight in Tamil political thinking.
TamilNet Editorial Board
The political leadership in Tamil Nadu is poised well in undertaking an initiative in this respect. But succumbing to the system in New Delhi and hijacked by petty prospects of family empires, it has not so far shown any creative approach in empowering Tamils to have political discourse with the world corporate scenario by mobilising economic institutions of global Tamils.
At least in matters of Tamil affairs, Tamil Nadu is bestowed with all potentialities under the current world system to exercise its own foreign policy transcending the constitutional confines of India, through organising global Tamil economic corporation. But so far Tamil Nadu has not even explored the possibility.
A positive trend noticed in the Tamil Nadu diaspora in the USA, after seeing what India and the World did to Eezham Tamils in the war, is that the Brahmin sections and the ‘Dravidian’ sections have now come together united by Tamil nationalism. But polity in Tamil Nadu neither matches itself nor makes the best out of the emerging diaspora realities.
The economic brain of a personality like that of Mr. P. Chidambaram that comes from the heritage of ancient trade guilds of Tamils, serves the systems in New Delhi and Colombo to oppress Eezham Tamils rather than effectuating politico-economic realities to justify their liberation.
The outlook of leading media like The Hindu, owned by Tamils, only champions corporate support to Colombo-centric system at the cost of Eezham Tamil independence and emancipation from genocide.
By crushing the military strength and by engineering elected representation to denounce the cause, the political organisation of Eezham Tamils at home has been made powerless for any independent negotiation with the world of corporates. The diaspora’s political organisation is only in the making and it remains to be seen how effective it will be in such matters.
The net result is that the corporates don’t find any force comfortable for them to deal with among Tamils.
The mechanism is that corporates seek contacts with local corporates for mutual benefits and expansion of the system.
Obviously the choice for the world corporates and the governments behind the corporates is to operate in the island through the Sinhala-owned corporates in the South. This strengthens the Colombo-centric system further and constantly blunts the cause of Tamils.
This is how the land of Tamil nation has become an open hunting ground.
To cite a few examples: The US embassy proudly advertises its exploits in Tamil land through Sinhala-led corporates. Indian intelligence writers now talk of similar corporate to corporate collaboration between India and Sri Lanka to counter China. Like the US Senate Committee report they also advise India to invest more in the South. Aid agencies in the West want to entrust development in the North and East with Sinhala NGOs.
Even Tamil diaspora corporates such as in Malaysia and money-owning individuals among Eezham Tamils are no exceptions in entrusting faith in Colombo’s system.
This is why the brokers of the system in their language tell that Tamils have to be ‘realistic’ and should not ‘confuse between politically achievable and the impossible.’ We already find some of our mainstream politicians too speaking that language.
But a liberation struggle is to make impossible possible.
Of course the corporates will not tell us how to do it. They will not even care for political solutions or for humanitarian situations unless those are inevitable for the ‘stability’ in the ground needed for their operations.
Political struggle at home, in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora, with political organisation steadfastly committed to the cause, is therefore of supreme importance in creating necessary ground realities and in ensuring whatever benefits the nation get are equally distributed.
But simultaneously on another plane the nation has to negotiate with the corporate system to find overlapping interests with the Eezham Tamil cause.
This task of genuinely supporting the cause and negotiating on its behalf with the corporate world in its language has to be carried out by a world consortium of Tamil corporates.
To the understanding of Eezham Tamils, initiating efforts to bring out global Tamil economic corporation has been vested with the Global Tamil Forum (GTF). Soon they are going to ask what progress has been made in this respect.
Chronology:
Related Articles:13.04.10
Diaspora and Tamil Nadu have to play their cards 05.04.10
USA aids, awards Colombo supplier 30.03.10
Why welcome and caution to Transnational Government