One of the significant tenants of queerness is thriving beyond normative ways of living and making sense of lives. First and foremost, queerness begins with a critique of heteronormative beliefs and practices. This critique is born when one realises that they do not resonate with the dominant world designed through the lenses of heteronormativity. Since this inception, it evolves throughout the lifespan of every queer life. Be it at the level of an individual or a community or a nation, queerness profoundly shapes the lives lived as queer and those around them. Often, there is a strong sense of community around queerness and queer politics.

Time and again, many queer lives across continents have reiterated that queerness does not fall into any rigid categories. It is a spectrum and always fluid as any other identity. Neither queerness nor queer politics could promote prejudices and divisional politics. If they do, that must be critiqued. There are various ways to be queer (although primarily associated with sex/gender identities and/or sexual orientations). Also, people have different ways of connecting with queerness. It is always contextual and grounded in everyday realities of people from all walks of life, especially those that are marginalised!  

I do not think there is any queer person on this planet who does not understand the realities of a marginalised life. I firmly believe that queerness provides an essential lens not only to be critical of heteronormative beliefs and practices that marginalise the queer but also to be self-critical of their privileges across various other hierarchies and power relations. A profound sense of consciousness emerges in this journey of continually navigating a heteronormative (and lately homonormative) world. This consciousness often leads to shaping and reshaping a dynamic queer politics that does not compromise critiquing at any cost.

I wish to emphasise the word critique. It is NOT a criticism, which is to engage in the act of criticising based on beliefs that do not allow nuances to emerge (that queerness must not associate itself with)!

Critiquing is very popular in academia. However, I first learned it from intersectional feminist queerness. Over the past couple of decades, it has become the essence of life in the process of evolving with queer experiences from different countries. It started in Sri Lanka [I use the name Lanka from this point onwards – the most ancient name of this beautiful island (Jayewardene, 2017)].

Due to centuries of colonisation and a protracted ethnic war, Lankans have learned the hard way that divisional politics – known as divide and conquer in colonial terms – take us nowhere. This learning is yet to be translated into actions – like in policies and practices. We are a wounded nation and it takes time to heal these wounds and start moving towards positive changes based on progressive politics, including decriminalising and ‘normalising’ queerness. Lankans understand what we have lost in the past 30 to 40 years due to the ethnic war. We are still grappling with the consequences of colonisation. The population in the North and the East of the country holds a profound place in bearing the direct effects of a brutal war that only ended in May 2009. We are communities who have already lost a lot and still struggling to be alive and make ends meet. Due to the ethnic war and it’s focus on Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic identities, the notion of identity politics has been dominated by nationalistic ideologies, which was also primarily determined by language politics that did not recognise nuances within each language or the ethnic group. In the fight with the dominant ‘other’, they brutality crushed the ‘minorities’ within.    

Simultaneously, many critiqued this binary with the hope to build a better Lankan society where, despite the differences, everyone is treated equally, with dignity, and most importantly, not violated! Lanka has an aching history of persons who were brutality murdered for voicing such critiques. However, never silenced. Over the years, we have learned that every challenging situation reminds us to be creatively innovative and expand critiquing practices.

Queerness in Lanka is one such platform where critiquing has a history of challenging limited perspectives based on classism; castism; nationalisms that promotes exclusions, sadly violence of all forms, and othering; tokenism; patriarchy/sexism; cultural relativism dominated by social hierarchies; heterosexism and homophobia; and the gender binary. I am a proud queer from Northern Lanka. That makes me a Tamil queer who has survived the brutal ethnic war. Although I escaped the war in the late 1990s by moving to Eastern Lanka where there was no shelling and bombing every day, I chose a life that never let me lose the sight of complex realities of people from the North and the East. When my life was embraced by queerness sometime in the early 2000s, it brought a lot of contradictory emotions and experiences – yet, never compromised the practice of critiquing – that primarily meant to point out and/or challenge one or more elements in dominant norms and practices that oppress or marginalise people and invalidate their feelings and experiences. Also, critique my friends and colleagues as I nurtured the practice of self-critiquing, which paved the way to embrace meaningful collaborations and friendships that lasts long!

I learned the essence of critiquing from feminists, queer feminists, leftists, journalists, rights advocates, practitioners, artists, activists and many more who did not identify with such labels, however, carried out same and/or similar ethics/work. The kind of critiquing that I am talking about is always grounded. It is not hypocritical. It critically locates itself with the painful history of this land and it’s people. It makes genuine efforts to understand the ‘other’ by making themselves available to listen with an open mind. It is mindful of continually searching for those who are left out, even within progressive/equal spaces. It not only acknowledges privileged positions of the self but also continue to be critical even at the cost of losing some or all of their privileges. It is never tokenistic. It embraces friendships with like-minded people. It believes in building solidarities – sometimes based on the unlikeliest sense of connection.

Earlier, I said – it makes me a Tamil queer. I do not identify as Tamil queer. Because often, the Tamil identity is not inclusive of Tamil speaking population of Lanka. Besides, I am critical of the dominant Tamil identity that is oppressive towards me as a woman-identifying person. However, I am a proud queer. That does not mean that I do not speak of the intersections of queerness in relation to my ethnicity, which is heavily marginalised in the context of Lanka. However, I do that to add nuances to queerness and NOT as a point of reference to differentiate from the ethnic other, including Sinhalese. Also, Sinhala and Tamil are not the only two ethnicities in Lanka. Hence, the queer experiences in Lanka are not divided by ethnicity. I say this as a Tamil speaking queer person from the North who’s life has been shaped by many acts of marginalisation based on ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. I have also been painfully aware of privileges that are available to me due to specific social locations that I belong to – for instance, caste, class and the dichotomy of sex and gender. The narratives of queer lives in Lanka have been mainly controlled by the legal status of sexualities other than heterosexuality – yet, not limited by it.

In my experience from the past couple of decades, queerness is something that profoundly brought us together beyond the apparent divisions based on ethnicity, language, religion, class, caste and region. Sinhala speaking queer friends have saved me more times than I could count. I have had the pleasure and the privilege of making queer friendships and sustaining them. Our collaborations expand to South Asia and beyond. Our ideological beliefs continue to evolve progressively through practices of knowing and relating to experiences of people of colour across the globe. Coming together beyond our differences NEVER meant that we assimilated with the dominant identity – which would be the Sinhala Buddhist identity of a particular class in the context of Lanka. That never happens. If it does, then we are not critical enough.

On the contrary, we make sure that everyone’s experience is heard. It is complicated! The process of nurturing safe spaces where everyone feels at ease and trust one another beyond what has been the bitter experience of the past – especially alongside ethnic divisions – is tenuous. However, never impossible. It took me a while to be able to relate to someone from the Sinhala community. It took me a while to make an effort to learn the Sinhala language.

Until I left Jaffna in 1995, I thought all Sinhalese are bad and Sinhala is the language of the oppressor, which I must never dare to speak. When I first started to make friends with Sinhalese sometime in the latter part of the 1990s, it felt like I was betraying every experience of oppression that I and other Tamils, Tamil speaking people and other minorities of Lanka have undergone. For a late teen, this was profoundly overwhelming and daunting. So, do not get me wrong. I am not trying to romanticise the alliances/collaborations that we worked hard to build across divisions and fractures. Not just between ethnicities. Often, within too! It was/is never easy. However, it was the critical consciousness around our identities – including queerness, but not exclusively so – and how we addressed those to make our lives better that helped us to move forward with hope. Indeed, there is much more to be done and we remain hopeful!

In this context, I am super excited to watch the film “Funny Boy” by Deepa Mehta. I had the pleasure of reading Shyam Selvadurai’s Funny Boy sometime in the early 2000s when my English language skills developed to the point of understanding a novel written in English. At that point, as a Tamil woman from the North who has gone through painful experiences due to my Tamil identity (not physically though), I remember struggling to identify with Tamil characters in the novel. I knew it was a different kind of Tamil experience. However, everything about the nuances of love and connections – again beyond our apparent and assumed differences – and navigating lives amidst everyday violence were profoundly relatable. Reading the book was an awakening experience on so many levels. I instantly developed an intellectual crush on Shyam Selvadurai. Almost 20 years later, I am thrilled that he collaborated with one of the eminent and talented filmmakers of our times – Deepa Mehta – that had resulted in the film Funny Boy. In one the interviews of Deepa Mehta, Mehta points out the challenges of making this film – including the time it took to get the permission to shoot in Lanka and the post-production work in the wake of a global pandemic. I thought to myself – well, it is based on lives in Lanka. Anything related to Lanka can never be simple or easy. We are known for the complicated relationship with power and hierarchies that profoundly influence everyday lives. I see strength when people navigate through such complex realities to make the best out of them in relation to the external conditions.

I gather from what I have read so far is that the team of the film Funny Boy seems to have done that too. They negotiated and waited for a year to get the approval and to find the appropriate cast. I also learn that there are criticisms of the film based on sentiments of ‘Tamilness’, representation and it’s intersection with queerness. Again, in the light of everything that I have shared above, I wish to reiterate strongly – queerness in Lanka (and across the world too) is anything but limiting and compartmentalising based on narrow politics and/or political benefits. It must be beyond prejudices and divisional politics. As for the claims of the kind of Tamil that is spoken in the film, I like to remind that the Tamil language has a range of dialects in practice across Lanka. The kind that is spoken by the Hindu elitist from certain castes in Jaffna is NOT the only Tamil to be accepted or recognised. I also like to remind that the conscious public of Lanka does not believe in divisional politics. We have experienced enough to be critical of it. So, if anyone wants to help Lankan society to heal and move forward, do not try to destroy voices even before they are expressed. Indeed, critique it within the ethics of critiquing to move forward together for a better future. Do not try to seek alliances to promote hate and divisions. In Lanka, we understand what could be at stake if we give in to this divisional politics a little too well. Finally, let us always remember that beliefs that practices that want to marginalise the ‘other’ tend to speak the language we recognise and relate to get across their messages effectively. One sensitive word that triggers a lot of emotions pretty much does the work of grouping people against one another. It is time we push ourselves to see beyond such manipulations!  

However, I understand that it is challenging to resist the portrayals/symbols used by those who promote divisional politics. They use material that are often too personal and emotionally devastating. Their aim is to thrive on people’s pain and suffering. The assumed authoritarianism and ownership of experiences in such portrayals must be rejected and/or critiqued.

The fact that we even have a film based on marginalised experiences in Lanka must be celebrated. Thank you to the team of Funny Boy for producing it despite the challenges and compromises. It is a step forward in the struggles of marginalised communities in Lanka. Makes me hopeful of generating more dialogues around the issues that need to be addressed. We need to have those difficult conversations that challenge the core of our prejudices about one another. Films and books like Funny Boy provide the space for it. Let us use it, innovatively!  

#Funny Boy #Queerness #Lanka   

Photo credit: Hasanah Kavitha

References

Selvadurai, S. (1994). Funny boy: a novel in six stories. Penguin Books India.

Leader of People’s Liberation Organization of Eelam (PLOTE) Dharmalingam Sithadthan said that at this juncture, there is a belief that Rajapaksa may do well at the upcoming elections. If that happens, then the whole process of finding a political solution for the national question will be disturbed or even shelved.

“Definitely no Sinhala leader will go against the will of the Sinhala people, in such a situation there will be no hope for the Tamils to go forward in the process of finding a political solution. We have seen such changes over the last 60 years. I think in the current context the government is reasonably unpopular,” he said.
Following are excerpts of the interview:

Two coalition parties, the TELO and EPRLF had disagreements within the TNA. The EPRLF recently left the coalition. Why did TNA face many internal problems a few months back?

A: This is mainly because of the attitude of ITAK who takes almost all the decisions. They do not really discuss or consult with the other constituents. This issue is faced by all three constituents, PLOTE, TELO and EPRLF. Recently even TELO threatened to walk out of TNA, purely on issues relating to the local government elections, especially regarding the allocations on the number of Pradeshiya Sabhas. Although they threatened, they did not leave the coalition.

EPRLF had complaints mainly relevant to the attitude of the ITAK with the other parties. They continued to complain that other parties were not consulted on any of the matters, but were just taking individual decisions. Whenever elections are over, any decisions relating to appointments to a bonus seat, national list or ministerial were decided alone by ITAK. They failed to get any of our views. Initially these issues were small matters, but later it accumulated into a bigger issue. Thus, Suresh walked out. However, if he contests as part of the TNA, in the current context, he will only manage to secure a few seats for his party. Yet if he contests alone, he can win that numbers of seats as EPRLF.

Currently I don’t understand why he aligned with TULF. He had joined with Anandasangaree and they have formed a new alliance. I’m unsure how far this will work. But as far as we are concerned, we are very firm that our party, PLOTE, will never breakaway from the TNA as far as the constitutional process are moving forward. We feel that we should not excuse from the government or southern political parties that TNA has split and thus a settlement cannot be reached.

We believe that we should travel with TNA until we find a solution to the national question.

So do you mean to say that PLOTE never had any disagreements within the coalition?

A: We do have. Not only with the Leader of TNA, even with the ITAK, we have many disagreements. We had issues on the allocations of the Pradeshiya Sabhas and the seats. However, we overcame all the issues and today we are contesting as TNA. We are not complaining about those issues. Our main aim is to win the local government elections with maybe 60 or 70 percent of the votes. We want the TNA to be strong and then we will continue to get recognition as the representative of the Tamil people.

Why do you have doubts about the newly formed TULF-EPRLF coalition? Some say it would be a turning point in Tamil politics. How do you assess it?

A: I don’t seriously believe it, because the TULF and EPRLF cannot travel together for a long period. Both parties are not strong enough to show to the Tamil people that they are the alternative to the TNA. Even though there are complaints against the TNA, or ITAK, people feel that there is no alternative as such. I don’t seriously believe this coalition or the All Ceylon Tamil Congress led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam is seen by the Tamil people as an alternative to TNA.
Unless there is a viable alternative among the Tamil people, they will continue to vote for TNA.

There were criticisms among EPRLF as well as TELO members that Leader Sampanthan and Sumanthiran are taking all the decisions in the coalition. Do you agree?

A: Certainly these complaints are still there, especially when there are appointments for bonus seats and even on constitutional matters. Leader Sampanthan at least explains the situations at the Parliamentary Group meeting, however members of other three parties like us feel that he only tells few of the developments and not the entire decisions or happenings.
Not only us, but all three parties were of the opinion that Sampanthan and Sumanthiran take decisions on many matters, this is true to a certain extent.

But our party is of the belief that if there are any secret deals with the government or with constitutional matters, it should be openly expressed. All decisions must be there at the final constitutional draft. Therefore the decisions shall be included in the final report of the constitutional reforms and our party will not stress much over this issue. We will somehow be aware of their decisions when the final report arrives.

Is it true that ITAK grabbed members of other constituent parties as their party cadres?

A: Yes, that is happening. A Parliamentarian and two Provincial Councillors have recently joined the ITAK. This situation arose because we contest under the ITAK symbol. ITAK deals with the elections commissioner apart from giving nominations and selecting people. Therefore prospective candidates, even current Parliamentarians think that if they want to ensure their candidature, it is better to join the ITAK. Within the TNA they choose to join the ITAK as they are of the view that the party will provide them candidature in upcoming elections. They get more chances if they are part of ITAK.

However, this situation had brought in disappointments within other parties. PLOTE has still not faced any such problem. EPRLF in particular, lost three of their members.

What repercussions do you think the new electoral reforms will have, at the upcoming local government polls?

A: The electoral reforms are a mixed system of ward and proportional representation of 60:40 and is problematic, especially to political parties contesting as an alliance. In our coalition, TELO and ITAK as well as us will aim for the same vote. There will be problems in allocating the votes. This was the main issue that created recent chaos within the TNA coalition.
The last two or three days, just before nominations, thousands of people gathered at the ITAK head office in Jaffna. Before that, hundreds of them came to our party office asking for candidature.

This election has currently got undue importance. Every political party in the country is trying to establish their dominance. We are working to show our political power. This may create many contradictions and sometimes violence too. Many people wanted to contest.

There were arguments among ITAK members before nominations.

While the electoral reforms introduced female representation which is mandatory, female candidates had to face many challenges in obtaining candidature. What was the situation in the North?

A: Unlike the South, northern women’s participation in politics is very minimal. We had to go after them to collect female candidates and get them to sign nominations. Females did not face such challenges and it was not a big problem for them, only that we faced a big challenge in finding female candidates.

They are bound to follow a conservative tradition even if they are educated. The number of Tamil female parliamentarians has been always less.

But a large number of women are engaged in social and village level women association activities, especially after the war. Still they are reluctant to enter politics.

There are various opinions that there will be a need for an alternative Tamil leadership if TNA does not perform at their best. Some suggest Northern Chief Minister Wigneswaran as an alternative leader. What are your thoughts?

A: I don’t think so. He is a newcomer to politics and therefore he may think the party will have to always follow whatever it said. I don’t seriously think the TNA or especially ITAK can accept something that cannot be agreed to by the Tamil community. Sampanthan had said this in and out of Parliament that he will not accept it.

Therefore currently, personal statements have become political statements.

Why did you recently say there is no hope for a solution to Tamils?

A: Due to the local government elections where President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe are contesting separately, while former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is also contesting independently. At this juncture, there is a belief that Rajapaksa may do well in the elections. If that happens, then the whole process will be disturbed or even shelved.

This is my analysis of the upcoming local government elections. Definitely no Sinhala leader will go against the will of the Sinhala people, in such situation, there will be no hope for the Tamils to go forward in the process of finding a political solution. We have seen such changes in the last 60 years. I think in the current context the government is reasonably unpopular. Unless they are very popular among the people, it is very difficult for a government to go for radical changes. It cannot happen.

But still we will go along with the government and try our best to see that the current process of working for a political solution will proceed well.

Email:che.myhero@gmail.com

(thanks Ceylon Today 02.01.2018)

]]> https://globaltamilnews.net/english/government-is-reasonably-unpopular-sithadthan/feed/ 0 https://globaltamilnews.net/english/the-attempt-of-seizing-the-lands-in-vadduvakal-halted-following-the-fierce-opposition-of-the-people/ https://globaltamilnews.net/english/the-attempt-of-seizing-the-lands-in-vadduvakal-halted-following-the-fierce-opposition-of-the-people/#respond Thu, 04 Aug 2016 12:01:54 +0000 http://viewwriter.com/english/?p=78 -Reporter for Global Tamil News –Mullaitivu-

The land measuring activities with the intention of seizing the 617 acres of land located at the vicinity of Vadduvakal naval base has been halted following the fierce opposition of the people.

It was announced that the land surveying activities would be carried on the 3rd of this month. Thus, the area fenced by the Sri Lankan navy was to be measured yesterday. The people who got to know this were ready to stage a protest against this.

Meanwhile, about 250 land owners gathered in front of the naval base and showed their fierce opposition to the activities of seizing their lands permanently.

In addition, the people staged protest by blocking the Mullai- Paranthan road. Consequently, the land measuring activities have been halted. The transport through this particular area was affected for a few hours following this protest.

The representatives of the TNA and the TNPF participated in this protest.

The people, who stated that the land measuring activities with the intention of seizing the lands were halted temporarily, demanded that all should be united to voice for the release of the lands occupied by the Sri Lankan navy.

-Reporter for Global Tamil News-

The one who has scammed the relatives of those who were disappeared and abducted by stating that their loved ones would be recovered died after consuming potassium liquid, the Judicial Medical Officer of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital U. Mayuran stated.

The one who scammed the relatives of those who were disappeared and abducted is identified as Kandaswamy Krishnan (age 57). He was caught by the affected people and handed over to the Police on Monday.

This particular person was admitted in the hospital after consuming a liquid when he was in the police custody.

He died due to the treatment given to him was not successful. According to the autopsy of his corpse, it is confirmed that he died due to the liquid mixed with potassium was drunk by him.

Intimidation on the ex-cadres should be stopped -Reporter for Global Tamil News- Killinochchi-

The relatives of the ex-cadres expressed their suspicions with regard to the continuous deaths of the rehabilitated ex-cadres. Also, they demanded the International Medical Study in this regard.

This was stated by a person when he was commenting before the presidential task force on reconciliation.

In addition, many of those who participated at this session organized by the presidential task force on reconciliation demanded that intimidation on the ex-cadres should be stopped and the military soldiers should be dispelled from the lands of our people.

Furthermore, it was stated by many that the devolution of power should be done without disregarding the rights of Tamil people.

-Reporter for Global Tamil News-

People of Mullivaikal are shocked following the attempt of seizing more than 617 acres of land belonging to Mullivaikal East GS Division for the occupation of Vadduvakal naval base.

The affected fishermen and farmers request everyone to take part in the protest, opposing the attempts of seizing the lands, which is going to be staged on 3rd of this month.

-Reporter for Global Tamil News-

On third of this month, more than 617 acres of land belonging to Mullivaikkal East GS division is going to be measured by the Surveying Department with the intention of seizing it for the occupation of Vadduvakal naval base.

This announcement was publicly issued by P.NAvajeevan, the government land surveyor.

According to this announcement, this land measurement activities carried out by Land Surveying Department will take place from 3rd of this month to 5th of this month. It is also noticed in this announcement that if there are landowners of this particular area which are going to be measured, they are asked to present on the mentioned date with their proper land documents.

This notice was posted at the Mullivaikkal East GS Office for public view.

-Reporter for Global Tamil News –Killinochchi-

People of Killinochchi together demanded the Presidential Task Force on Reconciliation that they want Martyrs’ monuments in order to commemorate their relatives who sacrificed their lives.

This demand was demanded at the second session held at Karaichi Divisional Secretariat on last Saturday.

Following are further added by them;

We want Martyrs’ monuments to pay tribute to our dead relatives and to express our sorrow feelings. We demand that the day (May 18) on which war victory is celebrated should be declared as the day for paying tributes to our deceased relatives.

Injections injected to us -According to the testimony testified by an ex-cadre- -Special Correspondent for Global Tamil News-

“When we were being detained at the detention centers, we were given the foods which had harmful chemicals. Injection was injected to us. One of our cadres died once he was injected with this injection. Something odd was targeted against us when we were being detained at the detention centers”, one of the ex-cadres testified.

A session with the intention of getting the public opinion with regard to the Reconciliation Mechanism held at Oddisuddan yesterday. One of the ex-cadres has testified like this during this session.

Following are revealed in this regard;

Many evidences for the surrendering of cadres with the white flags were published in the websites. There are many witnesses for this also. They do not speak in this regard out of fear. There is no protection for them to talk.

The Sri Lankan government is not going to give us justice. Even the Tamil political parties are also in “Backtrack”. Therefore, the fair countries in the International Community should help us to get justice for us.

There are ethics in war. Sri Lankan military has to be taught about the war ethics. It is not fair to shoot those who got surrendered. Those who were surrendered to the Sri Lankan army were disarmed when they were getting surrendered.

I am an ex-cadre. We keep aloof from the war mentality after being rehabilitated.  When we were being detained at the detention centers, we were given the foods which had harmful chemicals.

Injection was injected to us. One of our cadres died once he was injected with this injection. I could be able to run with hundred kilograms of weight to several kilometers. I couldn’t even carry small weights after being rehabilitated. My eye sight is also getting reduced. From these experiences, I could feel that something had happened to us when we were being detained at the detention centers.

Vaccine was injected to us

When we were being detained at detention center, so-called vaccine was injected to us. We did not know for what that injection had been injected to us. One of our cadres who had been injected with this so-called vaccine was dead the same day on which he was injected.

In addition, this particular ex-cadre stated that if the 12,000 cadres are rehabilitated, the resurgence of the armed struggle would not be possible.