“They are trampling our graves with their shoes,” said Kavitha, a young Tamil woman, as heavy rain fell on our faces, washing away her tears. Standing barefoot and stuck in mud at the site of a former cemetery in Visuvamadu, Sri Lanka, she was mourning the nearby military base built over the graves of fallen LTTE fighters, including the grave of her brother.

The LTTE was a dominant armed group in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, which fought to establish an independent Tamil state for nearly three decades, until its final defeat and surrender to the Sri Lankan state in 2009. Through the war, it bulldozed the state and reused many of its Buildings belonging to the LTTE, such as the cemetery where Kavitha’s brother is buried, as it reclaimed territory from the armed group.

On that rainy day in late November, Kavitha and thousands of others were at the former site of the LTTE cemetery to commemorate the “Mavirar Nal” – an annual event to commemorate LTTE fighters who died in the decades-long war. . This was not an isolated display of nationalist devotion. According to government figures, the scene at Visuvamadu Cemetery was replicated at more than 200 sites – including universities, places of worship and other former cemeteries – across northeastern Sri Lanka, with tens of thousands in attendance.

The level of interest in the 2024 Mavirar Nal celebrations – equal if not higher than in previous years – was a strong rebuke to uninformed Sri Lankan observers who declared the end of Tamil nationalism in the wake of the Sri Lankan elections held two weeks ago, on 14 November.

The National People’s Power Party, a left-wing Sinhalese coalition, achieved a landslide victory, winning 159 seats in Parliament – ​​more than any other party in Sri Lanka’s history. More importantly, they also won all but one of the Tamil-majority voting areas in the north-east, leading many outside observers to conclude that Tamil dreams of autonomy and independence had been abandoned entirely.

However, the real political situation in the claimed Tamil homeland is much more nuanced.

The PNP rode to power a national wave of anti-establishment sentiment stemming from frustration over persistent economic failures and rampant corruption.

The fall of the Rajapaksa family – which has dominated Sri Lankan politics since 2005 – has been stunning. They received no support from the Tamils, who accused the former presidents, the Mahinda brothers and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of genocide. However, in southern Sinhala, they have long been seen as heroes for winning the war against the LTTE.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidency by a landslide just five years ago, in 2019. However, less than three years later, in 2022, he was ousted by a popular uprising in southern Sinhala. From then on, the family quickly lost all political power in Sri Lanka. In the November 2024 elections, their party managed to obtain only three seats in Parliament.

Gotabaya The replacement did not bring change The public demanded the same. As a result, last November the anti-establishment National Progressive Party achieved a victory that seemingly transcended the country’s deep-rooted racial divisions. The leftist coalition even succeeded in winning the coveted Jaffna constituency – a stronghold of Tamil nationalists who have historically supported an independent Tamil state.

This came as a shock to many following Tamil politics from outside and led to some dismay Commentators herald the beginning of the end of Tamil nationalism. In fact, even some New Patriotic Party officials themselves interpreted their victory in Jaffna as a victory Reject “racism”.“By Tamil.

But equating the NPP’s victories in the north-eastern province with a widespread rejection of Tamil nationalism is a clear error, rooted in laziness and a lack of serious engagement in Tamil politics, common among outside observers.

Anyone who has his finger on the pulse of the Tamil street can see that the change in the voting preferences of the population in this election has nothing to do with any disillusionment with Tamil nationalism, and everything to do with their frustration with Tamil politicians. The survey results simply showed that Tamils, like all constituencies, are realistic and take into account economic interests and political preferences when they cast their votes.

Many committed Tamil nationalists and supporters of independence voted for the New Patriotic Party in the hope that it could achieve a better economy. Others simply wanted to punish entrenched local politicians whom they considered corrupt and incompetent. Moves by the NPP to present itself as a coalition against corrupt political elites also helped mobilize the Tamil vote. Show them at a popular hangout in Colombo Confiscation of luxury cars from various ministriesFor example, it was a slap in the face to the elites. Their initial positive overtures towards Tamils, their anti-racism messages and their promises to allow the commemoration of Mavirar Nal and to repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, under which many Tamil nationalists are persecuted, all contributed to their appeal in the North-East.

Even Kavitha, a committed Tamil nationalist, admitted that she voted for the New Patriotic Party. Speaking at the Mavirar Nal commemoration ceremony, she drew a clear line between her frustration with the largest Tamil party, ITAK, and the need to address urgent economic needs, and her vote for the New Patriotic Party.

But the support the NPP enjoys from Tamils ​​like Kavitha is conditional, and some cracks are already showing. Continuous Arrests Tamils ​​under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for their participation in the commemoration of Mavirar Nal caused frustration and anger. Meanwhile, the deadline for the removal of an army camp in the Tamil town was announced, with great fanfare. Pass Without any indication of action. All of this sends a message to already skeptical Tamil voters that the positive initiatives introduced during the campaign season were nothing more than empty gestures.

The PNP never took power and therefore did not carry the same baggage as rulers of the past. This does not mean that the NPP has no baggage. Their main constituent party – the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (People’s Liberation Front) – was also banned as a “terrorist group” for their violent uprisings in the 1970s and again in the 1980s, which left tens of thousands of Sinhalese dead. They have publicly advocated opposition to negotiations with the LTTE and played an important role in thwarting peace talks in the mid-2000s. Although the leadership is adopting a different tone now, its current actions indicate that it is either disingenuous or will find it difficult to overcome the chauvinistic sentiments at the heart of the party and its voters. As has been proven time and again, if a party in power makes concessions to Tamils, this is mobilized against them by the opposition, affecting their performance in the next election. All major Sinhalese parties have engaged in this behaviour, including the ULFA.

All of this raises an important point about politics in Sri Lanka and Tamil nationalism. Sri Lanka’s nation-building project is fundamentally based on giving priority to Sinhala Buddhism. Tamils ​​were never accepted as equal citizens, but were pushed to the margins through a Colombo-centric approach, not only by the state, but also by an unimaginative Tamil elite. Senior Tamil politicians have repeatedly acknowledged their long-standing political demands for mere crumbs, in exchange for membership in Colombo’s elite. Although these parties have historically continued to gain support among Tamils, and although these elections are likely to be just a bump and not a comprehensive change, Tamil political energy cannot be read through electoral politics alone. Mavirar nal, and related commemoration and protest activities rooted in Tamil nationalist practices are more accurate representations of the political imaginary embedded deep within the Tamil psyche.

This national life centered around Tamil Eelam exists outside the authority of not only the Sri Lankan state, but also Tamil politicians. It will continue to flourish, on and off the island, and will continue to achieve its goals through means outside the constraints imposed on it by electoral politics. Although this government now has an opportunity to take Tamil concerns seriously and address long-standing demands for autonomy, the Tamils ​​will not hold their breath.

In order to make progress in dealing with these issues, the NPP must use every day of its five-year term to work, by systematically dealing with Tamil demands. The low-hanging fruit includes the release of political prisoners, the repeal of the preferential trade law, and the release of territories occupied by the military. Efforts to change the demographic composition of the northeastern region through land grabbing, building Buddhist temples, and expanding Sinhalese settlements must also stop immediately. The families of the forcibly disappeared continue their protests and rejection of state mechanisms that cannot resort to the judicial mechanism. Their concerns must also be taken seriously – many of them refused to perform the last rites of their relatives who were handed over to the security forces at the end of the war. Sri Lanka must reveal what it did to the thousands of Tamils ​​it detained.

Tamils ​​have learned through repeated painful experience that the political solution will not come from the state. Because of this broken faith, Tamils ​​look to the international community for justice and accountability. Disrupting this pattern will require that the new government take clear steps towards dismantling the ethnic nature of the state and achieving meaningful accountability. Without it, the country’s ongoing divisions will continue.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.