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Sambandan's dream
Rex Benjamin
@ CDN / 22FEB2006
Responding to a summons from the Political Head of the LTTE S. P. Tamilchelvan, R. Sambandan, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) recently paid visit to Kilinochchi with his fellow TNA MPs to be instructed as to what they should do in the present situation. After a hearty meal, as he was resting on a reclining chair, Sambandan dosed off and had a dream reminiscing his past and present roles:
First they went for Mayor Alfred Duraiappah
I applauded, because he was a branded 'traitor',
and traitors are there to be eliminated.
* * *
Then they went for policemen like Bastiampillai,
I did not bother, because they were of the verminous
variety helping and working for the enemy.
* * *
Then they went for St John's Principal Anandarajah
I did not care, because he was branded a
'collaborator'.
* * *
Then they went for fellow militant leaders
Sabaratnam, Nabah and hundreds of others,
I did not care, because they were branded RAW agents.
* * *
Then they went for academics and activists
- Rajani Thiranagama, I did not worry too much,
because they had over-reached themselves
in speaking out in the 'Broken Palmyra'.
* * *
Then they went for public officials like
Government Agent Panchalingam and others,
I did not mind, because they were not
that important.
* * *
Then they went for MPs Dharmalingam
and Alalasundaram, I did not trouble myself,
because there were other Tamil MPs remaining.
* * *
Then they went for Sinhalese leaders,
Premadasa, Lalith, Gamini, Ranjan et al,
I did not worry, because they were our enemies.
* * *
Then they went for MP Sam Thambimuthu
and his wife Kala, I did not take it seriously,
because they belonged to a rival militant group.
* * *
Then they went for my fellow Tamil leaders,
Amir, Siva and Yoges and his wife Sarojini,
Thangathurai and a number of others,
I did not speak out because I was frightened.
* * *
Then they went for the Muslims killing them
in mosques and chasing them out of Jaffna,
I did not care too much, because
they were branded as enemies from within.
* * *
Then they went for the children, girls and boys,
snatching them from homes and schools,
to be turned into cannon-fodder
and suicide bombers, I did not speak out
because my children were not involved.
* * *
Then they went for Rajiv Gandhi, who had
given us political and military support,
I thought they had gone mad but didn't speak out
because I wanted to continue living.
* * *
Then they went for that gentle giant
Neelan Tiruchelvam, though he was for years
my closest colleague, I did not speak out,
because it is not the done thing for a Tamil leader,
if you don't desire to be shot like a stray dog.
* * *
Then they were coming for me and the rest of us,
so we joined their TNA and do what pleases them,
because I do not want to die other than
a natural death,
and that is my only dream now, no longer
Tamil Eelam which has turned into a nightmare.
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