Focus

Bankers who bankroll an endangered species (aka Tamil Tigers) in Sri Lanka

On the very same day of the announcement by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) about a Stimulus Package for Finance and Leasing Companies of Sri Lanka in order to weather "some stresses.observed in a few Registered Finance Companies (RFCs) and Specialized Leasing Companies (SLCs)" as a result of the global and domestic financial crunch, not to be outdone, few members of the Tamil Diaspora in North America "suggested donation" of "US$50.00 or more" (per person) in order to prevent the extinction of an endangered species (aka Tamil Tigers) in their imagined homeland of Tamil Eelam at a "MEGA Rally" organised by the "Tamils Against Genocide" (TAG) in Washington, DC, U.S.A on Friday, February 20.

Although the pretence for the solicitation of the aforementioned donation was to cover the expenses for "blown-up photographs of refugees, placards, banners, rally mega-phones, water bottles," as usual the intent was bankrolling the dwindling species of their tribe back home. 

Although majority of the Paper Tigers among the Tamil Diaspora communities crossed the border from Canada to participate in the anti-genocide rally against the Sri Lankan state (because the organisers could not mobilise critical mass of people in previous attempts at such antics in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC on January 23 and against the Independence Day celebrations of the Sri Lankan Embassy on February 7 at the University of District of Columbia), handful of the prominent organisers of and participants in the rally were bankers who hold top positions in the largest multilateral bank on Earth and two of the largest private commercial banks in the Untied States (one of which is, in fact, bankrupt but rescued by the government) and boffins from remote universities in the United States.

Besides, we also learn from couple of enlightened members of the Tamil Diaspora communities that, many of the participants and indeed organisers of the aforementioned protest demonstrations in the US were Tamils of South Indian origin. 

In the same way the chairpersons and CEOs of RFCs and SLCs met with the President of Sri Lanka on January 29 to seek state assistance to weather the financial crunch, we learn that few Tamil bankers and boffins met with certain sympathetic members of the House of Representatives (the Congress) and the Senate on February 20, seeking their assistance to save the endangered species in Sri Lanka, and probably to obtain a tiny share of the US$ 800 billion stimulus package announced by President Obama and approved by both the Congress and the Senate for re-arming and re-grouping of the endangered species in Sri Lanka to continue the Lions versus Tigers duel.

Moreover, "Tamils For Obama" campaign is alive and kicking even after the incumbent President of the United States assumed office on January 20, but said to be under scrutiny on suspicion of soliciting funds to save the endangered species in Sri Lanka, which is outlawed in the US.

Both the chairpersons and CEOs of RFCs and SLCs and the Tamil bankers and boffins attempting to save the endangered species in Sri Lanka have one thing in common; i.e. in spite of their espousal of downsizing (or right sizing) the Sri Lankan state or evicting the Sri Lankan State from their envisioned Tamil Eelam State respectively, they run to the state (host state in the case of the latter) with begging bowls at times of distress or desperation. It appears that these hypocrites do not practice what they preach, and hence expect the state to become the rescuer or lender of last resort. Thus, Marx has triumphed over markets! 

Ironically, few unrepentant Tamil bankers and boffins in the US and around the globe continue to bank on the reincarnation of the endangered species in Sri Lanka, viz. the Tamil Tigers. They stubbornly refuse to learn lessons from the global financial crisis and continue to offer lending hands to an un-creditworthy client in the pretext of "Stop Sri Lanka's Genocide of Tamils."