The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, in this month of Karthikai, the rains strive to wash the blood-soaked soil of our martyrs. It is raining heavily in Jaffna now; the seeds sown by our deities cool there now.

¶ 02 “As for the wings of sacrifice who gave their lives for the Tamil nation, They were not defeated by enemies; they ignite our resolve; Heroes are not buried in graves; they are sown in our dreams.”

¶ 03 With Ussai Mani’s verses, I begin. As a Tamil who speaks forthrightly yet is loved by many Sinhalese for speaking my mind, I am proud to stand here. Today, someone—known as the “323 containers thief,” you know who—said in Sinhala that the National Leader and 44,000 cadres “sold drugs” in the Northern Province. He thinks he can escape by saying it in Sinhala. But I speak Sinhala and Tamil; I understood it. You will soon see its recording. It is worrying that those who once called themselves “Sinhala Prabhakarans” now sit in President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Government and make such claims. Our people, who have too often believed lies, made the historic mistake of voting this NPP Government in, thinking perhaps they too struggled for an ideal.

¶ 04 When our National Leader governed the North-East, no Sinhala person’s boat could operate in those seas without permission; if he tried, he would be beaten and thrown out. Now you call him a “drug seller.” From the North, every Tamil person is ashamed of each vote cast.

¶ 05 When you call our heroes soldiers and your soldiers “war heroes,” I, a Tamil, called them war heroes. Those who bore arms are gods to us, or above. Yet a group here—[Expunged on the order of the Chair.] When you call our National Leader an insurgent, remember, you too had thousands who bore arms. Will you not eat? Do you not think? The Northern people will see you. Even today I am told I have a security risk; I do not mind. But when you suppress a voiceless Tamil-speaking people, I feel shame. Even if we Tamils and Muslims sit in Opposition here and say “we are not racist,” please think, if you drank your mothers’ milk and not that of dogs.

¶ 06 People in Puttalam cry daily; in Trincomalee they cry. I must speak of Jaffna now, but one day I will speak for all peoples. I can go and live in Sinhala areas even today. Can any one of you come live in the Northern Province? You cannot—because you are entrenched in racism!

¶ 07 I am ashamed that you called our National Leader a drug peddler. Those who said it, how will they come to Jaffna? The Fisheries Minister runs; Bimal Rathnayake runs.

¶ 08 You shame great leaders like Rohan Wijeyweera when you slander the dead; had he known you would sully his name here, he would have lived quietly abroad with his children. That is how low this is.

¶ 09 The only Tamil who still stands and says: for me, my Leader is God. Even if you shoot me, kill me, bury me, my ashes will rise and say my Leader is my God. Is that not shameful to you? You came to Parliament on Northern votes. How did you get the heart to call my Leader a drug seller? Think!

¶ 10 You take Colombo’s garbage and dump it in Puttalam. Can any Tamil-speaking MP from Puttalam tell your Government not to dump it there? I wish to be Tamil; I will speak for Tamil-speaking Muslims too. If the National Leader once removed Muslims from the North for security, I am ready to apologize for that. Kill me if you wish; I will say it in Sinhala as well.

¶ 11 Where are the MPs representing Trincomalee? None here. Where is Arun Hemachandra? [Expunged on the order of the Chair.] What sin did our people commit? We took up arms because you kept beating us. We built and preserved “Tamil Eelam” for 30 years because you denied us entry to campuses—when in the 1970s you removed merit for university admissions and brought district quotas.

¶ 12 Today, shamelessly, Hon. Bimal Rathnayake utters Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam’s name and says everyone in the North is racist. We are not racists. I have fought with Hon. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam against an illegal Vihara built on my relatives’ lands in the North; I still fight. “No more racism,” I said then. But now it seems he was right—because no matter what this supremacist Government does, it will not change. When I came into politics, I thought: no more—let us stop here and speak in Sinhala and Tamil. But seeing your actions, I am ashamed. Do you eat rice with your right hand? Please eat with your left from today!

¶ 13 After the Easter attack, blame was unjustly cast upon the Muslim community. What did they do to you? Is it wrong for them to have a culture or history? For decades you beat Tamils and then Muslims, set us against each other, gave weapons to Muslims to beat Tamils and to Tamils to beat Muslims. Finally two communities speaking the same language fight each other, while you quietly grab Kinniya, then place a Buddha statue in Trincomalee. If I were to place a Pillaiyar statue here in the middle of Parliament, would you be silent? If I removed the Buddha statue in front of Parliament and placed a Pillaiyar, would you allow it? You would beat me to death. Because in your hearts is the frenzy of “Sinhala only.” You keep beating us; we keep watching. But as long as one last Tamil who drank his mother’s milk lives, not a single vote of our people will go to you again. Only those born next door to you will vote for you. I am ashamed. Where are Rajeevan MP, Ilangkumar MP, Faisal MP? Can any of you speak a word on these issues to Government? I drank Tamil mother’s milk, but Muslims are my blood. Whatever you say, I will take the blows. If ever our National Leader wronged Muslims, I have the courage to ask forgiveness and to defend every Muslim.

¶ 14 Now let me speak a little in Sinhala for five minutes.

¶ 15 You said “idol worship is tribal”—when told “Sir,” you all keep silent. You called them “Ranaviruvo” and us “Sebaliyo.” Those who died were your people, dying for you. I should speak of chauvinism. Shall we ask for votes in the South? I can win more in the South than your President. I never speak against the Sinhala people. I can repeat in Sinhala what I said in Tamil. Thank you, Hon. Chairman, for allowing a Tamil to speak in Sinhala; that should be done, as some do not understand us. We are not here to fight but to voice the pain in our chests. One day I wept in the Opposition Leader’s office; he knows this. What is being done to Tamil MPs—until I went to the IPU with a complaint, which I withdrew a day later. How much you push down the Tamil!

¶ 16 Take the Trincomalee incident: did we Tamils ask to remove the Buddha statue? Did we ask to install it? You did both—put it at night, removed it at night, then reinstalled in the morning—and then blame us. If you want to kill a Tamil, kill me. You did not kill Prabhakaran—if you think you did, and if you wish to kill a Tamil again, kill me. But do not play both sides. You got votes on trust. I came to you with so much love; how much trouble have you given me here? Yesterday someone assaulted the Police; nothing happened today. But if stopped on a yellow line—because I am Tamil? If our people learn Sinhala one day, they will write books. Our mothers and sisters were raped by some in your Army—let me say that plainly.

¶ 17 Hon. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam did not say what Minister Bimal Rathnayake claimed—that all war heroes are on drugs. None of us said such a thing. We only say many in the North do those jobs, and it should stop. But now certain Ministers—earlier they brought drugs by vehicle; now your bosses bring them. [Expunged on the order of the Chair.] Be ashamed. We trusted you; that trust remains, but if this continues, there will soon be a parliamentary election. Do not go down this path. I speak with harshness because I voice the anger in our people’s hearts.

¶ 18 Thank you.