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Constructing a Nation Online:Tamil Nationalism and the Internet
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Constructing a Nation Online: Tamil Nationalism and the Internet
A case study of how the Tamil separatist movement of Sri Lanka has used the Internet
to create a virtual Tamil nation and a Tamil national identity online.
Introduction
Nations that don’t exist on any map and are not recognized by other nations are emerging as virtual nations in cyberspace and challenging the old-world view of what constitutes a nation. Many ethno-national movements across the world from the Kashmiri and Sikh separatists in India, to the Kurds of Iraq, the Moro people of Indonesia and the Tamils of Sri Lanka are using the Internet to create nations online. They have governments, flags, national leaders and a network of social and political organizations. Increasingly new communication and media technologies are enabling such movements to redefine established notions of nation and national identity, including the primary historical prerequisite for nationhood status -- the concept of physical territory.
The Internet has enabled the creation of computer mediated social networks populated by individuals of different national origins and backgrounds and is home to a variety of digital nations and online communities. The online networks of dispersed Diasporas who use the Internet to communicate with others from similar ethnic or national backgrounds and to keep abreast of news from ‘home’ are a key factor in analyses of online communities and identity building (Mallapragada, 2000; Smith and Kollock, 1999). Recent research in international terrorism also points out an emerging aspect of online diasporic communication - the growing support of diasporic communities for political/separatist movements in the homelands they have left behind (Nichiporuk, 2000; Gunaratna, 1997; and Tekwani, 2003). The emergence of the Internet has enabled diasporic communities to become more vocally and visibly involved in the politics of their homelands and the struggles of their co ethnics back home. On a parallel plane, ethno-nationalist groups fighting for separate homelands across the globe have expanded the zone of conflict to the Internet in recent years. Many of them maintain websites hosted by supporters and members on servers in Western nations. While local guerrillas are fighting often bloody wars at home, their international support network comprising both active militant cells and their diasporic support networks are busy drawing international attention to their politics in cyberspace. Many separatists’ movements have websites that serve as a news/propaganda source to an international audience. Such movements also use the Internet to create virtual homelands, replete with maps and flags in the image of the homeland they are fighting for on the ground. While some of these sites are created and maintained by the ‘political’ representatives of militant groups abroad, as in Tamilcanadian.com, or by the militants themselves, such as that of the Moro National Liberation Front (http://mnlf.net//), many others are hosted and maintained by members of ethnic diasporas who have settled in the West and use the Internet to maintain links with the homeland and other members of the
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1
Constructing a Nation Online: Tamil Nationalism and the Internet
A case study of how the Tamil separatist movement of Sri Lanka has used the Internet
to create a virtual Tamil nation and a Tamil national identity online.
Introduction
Nations that don’t exist on any map and are not recognized by other nations are
emerging as virtual nations in cyberspace and challenging the old-world view of what
constitutes a nation. Many ethno-national movements across the world from the
Kashmiri and Sikh separatists in India, to the Kurds of Iraq, the Moro people of
Indonesia and the Tamils of Sri Lanka are using the Internet to create nations online.
They have governments, flags, national leaders and a network of social and political
organizations. Increasingly new communication and media technologies are enabling
such movements to redefine established notions of nation and national identity,
including the primary historical prerequisite for nationhood status -- the concept of
physical territory.
The Internet has enabled the creation of computer mediated social networks populated
by individuals of different national origins and backgrounds and is home to a variety
of digital nations and online communities. The online networks of dispersed
Diasporas who use the Internet to communicate with others from similar ethnic or
national backgrounds and to keep abreast of news from ‘home’ are a key factor in
analyses of online communities and identity building (Mallapragada, 2000; Smith and
Kollock, 1999). Recent research in international terrorism also points out an emerging
aspect of online diasporic communication - the growing support of diasporic
communities for political/separatist movements in the homelands they have left
behind (Nichiporuk, 2000; Gunaratna, 1997; and Tekwani, 2003). The emergence of
the Internet has enabled diasporic communities to become more vocally and visibly
involved in the politics of their homelands and the struggles of their co ethnics back
home.
On a parallel plane, ethno-nationalist groups fighting for separate homelands across
the globe have expanded the zone of conflict to the Internet in recent years. Many of
them maintain websites hosted by supporters and members on servers in Western
nations. While local guerrillas are fighting often bloody wars at home, their
international support network comprising both active militant cells and their diasporic
support networks are busy drawing international attention to their politics in
cyberspace. Many separatists’ movements have websites that serve as a
news/propaganda source to an international audience. Such movements also use the
Internet to create virtual homelands, replete with maps and flags in the image of the
homeland they are fighting for on the ground.
While some of these sites are created and maintained by the ‘political’ representatives
of militant groups abroad, as in Tamilcanadian.com, or by the militants themselves,
such as that of the Moro National Liberation Front (http://mnlf.net//), many others are
hosted and maintained by members of ethnic diasporas who have settled in the West
and use the Internet to maintain links with the homeland and other members of the
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