Geopolitics of the Hegemons and Genocide of

the oppressed
[TamilNet, Monday, 13 July 2015, 11:56 GMT]
The Eezham Tamils occupying the strategic coasts in North-East Sri
Lanka facing the Bay of Bengal, the Baloch occupying the coasts
where the Persian Gulf meets the Arabian Sea and the Indian
Ocean, the Kachins occupying the strategic regions of Burma and
the Rohinygas situated near the Isthmus of Kra have all been
victims of the geopolitical dynamics involved in the collusion
between competing world establishments and Asian nation-states.
Such a future scenario warrants alternative measures to overcome
the political injustice of imperialistic geopolitics, writes Norwaybased Eezham Tamil anthropology academic Athithan Jayapalan.
Eezham Tamils, being the victims of an internationally orchestrated
structural genocide, should take the lead in edifying the oppressed
nations of the world in building an alternative global political
network, writes the second-generation Diaspora academic.
Full text of the article by Athithan Jayapalan follows:

Athithan Jayapalan
The Indian Ocean region, in particular around the Bay of Bengal and the
South China Sea, has taken central stage in the accelerated global
geopolitical competition between the U.S.A and China. Chinas recent step
in launching the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the
Maritime Silk Road Initiative, have effectively challenged the U.S Japan
economical hegemony hitherto exercised through the World Bank (WB),
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF).
Paralleled with the economic dimensions the geopolitical rivalry between
China and U.S unfolds itself in the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia
through geostrategic approaches pursued systematically by both
establishments.
The U.S pursues what is called the Pivot Asia strategy, concentrating on
winning allies in the Indian Ocean and South East Asian region, while
securing military, economic and strategic interests in key locations. China is
on its hand pursuing the String of Pearls strategy, in which China facilitate
infrastructure investments and finance to countries in the Indian Ocean
region in return to gain access to or control over harbours and ports, air
fields and industry facilities.
The regional power India, guided by the Rajagurus at South Block and the
ruling elites in New Delhi, are caught in the midst of two titans.
While projecting the SAARC as an alternative platform for Indian Ocean
countries, and as independent of the U.S and China, the Indian state too
follows a free market styled state to state interaction and plays its bid in

the geopolitical gambit.

The Indian foreign policy is ought to buy friends through co-optation and
appeasement while promoting its image as a regional power at
international scenarios. Contrary to Indian officials self-proclaimed image
of an independent India, New Delhi wary of the growing Chinese assertion
maintains a strategic partnership with Washington.
The Indian strategy in regards to Sri Lanka follows structural ties with
Colombo, which proves instrumental in supressing Tamils rights. New Delhi
facilitates demands made by Colombo concerning Eezham Tamils, in return
for political, economic and military concessions.
While Colombo readily deals with New Delhi, and kept them integrated
during the conduct of the genocidal war in 2009, various elite camps
among the Sinhala political leadership are largely oriented towards either
Washington or Beijing.
In this gambit between the establishments of international power, the
oppressed, the wretched of the Indian Ocean becomes prey.
China and the U.S- U.K axis are each negotiating with and facilitating the
interests of ruling elites in genocidal nation-states such as Burma, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka.
India too has proven to practice such an approach by aiding Colombo.
Incidentally the Indian state has intensified multiple counter-insurgency
campaigns directed at the liberation movements of various nations in the

North-East of the Indian sub-continent.

In terms of overseeing counter-insurgency and facilitating economic
progress New Delhi promotes itself as a regional patron. Regionally it has
endorsed states embroiled in genocide and it has aided Sri Lankan and
Burmese authorities in arresting rebel activities.
Concerning the island of Sri Lanka, since the 1990s Indo-Lanka relations
have been characterized by increased structural cooperation between the
Indian and Sri Lankan armed forces and intelligence. This has ensured the
continuation of Indian state assistance to the Sri Lankan state and the
perpetuating of structural genocide against the Eezham Tamil nation.
In such a matrix of intrigues, games, and rivalry between the powers of the
world, the condition of the oppressed in the Indian Ocean become
inextricably linked to each other.
The present state of the Kachins and Rohyngyas of Burma, reflects the
renewed the state of aggression by the Indian state against the suppressed
peoples of Manipur, Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram in the North-Eastern
states of India. Burma and India has also been coordinating intelligence
and border patrol authorities to enhance the Indian counterinsurgency
against the liberation struggles of Assamese, Naga, Mizo and other people
of North East India.
In Burma, the state, emboldened by western appraises and interactions
following the Military juntas liberalization policies, intensified its
counterinsurgency against the Kachin nation, breaking a 17 year old truce
in 2013.

While China and the West see fit to deal individually with the Burmese
state, such dynamics serves the Bamar elites in enhancing their genocidal
policies towards non-Buddhists. Subsequently the Kachins and the Muslim
Roghingyas have been subjected to increasing violence since 2012.
As reported earlier by TamilNet, the Rohingyas have traditionally inhabited
a significant geostrategic location in the Burmese mainland near the
Isthmus of Kra, which forms a land bridge between Thailand and Malaysia,
and which holds strategic potentials in connecting the Bay of Bengal with
the South China sea.
The Burmese, Indian, Sri Lankan and Pakistani state have all interacted
with each other under the guise of SAARC and through the Washington and
Beijing centred alliances in accommodating the strategic interests of
various powers while effectuating aid in enhancing counterinsurgency and
structuralising genocide.
The modus operandi of the geo-political cold war between the
establishments in Washington, Beijing and New Delhi in the Indian Ocean
region, has hitherto followed in aiding larger nations controlling the postcolonial states in annihilating the sovereign political power and the national
characteristics of smaller nations.
In Sri Lanka, various competing world establishments each aided the state
in pursuing a genocidal counterinsurgency war to crush the Tamil rebel
movement and to beleaguer the Tamil homeland.
Recent declassified documents from the US state department revealed that

the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank alongside important
US statesmen were informed about the unfolding genocide in 2009, but
accepted civilians deaths as collateral damage as they wanted the LTTE
destroyed.
With the direct and indirect blessing of the establishments in Washington
and New Delhi, Colombo carried out the process of annihilation.
The Sri Lankan model proved paradigm setting within counterinsurgency as
the Sri Lankan state under the guise of defeating terrorism executed with
international legitimacy a genocidal military onslaught.
Since the wars end the state has enforced an omnipresent military
occupation subjugating Tamils and their homeland in the North-East of the
Island.
Military, economic and political resources are given to these nation-states in
enhancing their counterinsurgency capacities towards pursuing a military
solution to national questions of the oppressed. Such structural assistance
becomes a central component in perpetuating structural genocide and
seems to colour the character of the geopolitical dynamics of the present.
The International assistance provided to states committing genocide
against other indigenous nations, proves the complicity of world
establishments in the structural oppression.
Furthermore these establishments vie to contain the nationhood of the
oppressed nations and thus persist on denying their inalienable right to
self-determination.

Various nation-states in the Indian Ocean commit various forms of

genocidal violence while retaining the legitimacy of the international
community and in return the state clears the land and secures strategic
locations on behalf of the various international and regional
establishments.
The access to and control of strategic locations in the Indian Ocean region,
forms the central pillar of respective geostrategic policies of both
Washington and Beijing. Suh concession is meant to check each others
sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean region. The Indian Ocean is the
third largest container of water in the world, and oversees important sea
trade routes and accounts for a significant share of the world sea trade.
The drive to access economic, strategic and military interests and
concessions from nation-states in South Asia is centrifugal in the unfolding
process of geopolitical competition between international and regional
establishments in the Indian Ocean for the sea trade and lines of
communication pillared around it.
The Eezham Tamils occupying the strategic coasts in North-East Sri Lanka
facing the Bay of Bengal, the Baloch occupying the coasts where the
Persian Gulf meets the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, the Kachins
occupying the strategic regions of Burma and the Rohinygas situated near
the Isthmus of Kra have all been victims of the geopolitical dynamics
involved in the collusion between competing world establishments and
Asian nation-states.
Such a future scenario warrants alternative measures to overcome the

political injustice of imperialistic geopolitics. Eezham Tamils, being the

victims of an internationally orchestrated structural genocide, should take
the lead in edifying the oppressed nations of the world in building an
alternative global political network, narrative and platform to aide in
emancipating their respective national, linguistic and territorial rights.
Posted by Thavam