Sri Lanka has been at the receiving end of a plethora of accusations regarding the manner it is looking after the Tamil civilians who are fleeing from LTTE controlled areas. India’s concern is so great that it has sent consignments of food to Sri Lanka & also went to the extent of declaring that the LTTE does not represent the Tamil people but quickly retracted the statement & the Indian external affairs minister immediately requested a ceasefire on the grounds that the Tamil civilians can move to safety. Yes, election time was round the corner & India’s Government had to appease its partners. The fact these civilians have to flee LTTE control leaves little doubt that whatever number of civilians there are the LTTE prefers to use them as human shields. Therefore, how worthwhile is a ceasefire & for whom is the most important question.
Those who are aware of the LTTE through its 25 year terror campaign will know how artfully it has used ceasefires, peace talks & negotiations to rearm & prepare for more devastating attacks. Little do many remember that it was during the infamous 2002 ceasefire that the LTTE has to its credit over 3000 ceasefire violations & the annihilation of 2 Tamil personages who were serving in the Sri Lankan Government – the foreign minister Lakshman Kadiragamar, tipped to be the next Prime Minister & Jeyraj Fernandopulle the Chief Government Whip…..& the LTTE says that Tamils are being discriminated!
When India sends Indian foreign envoys on flying visits all we need to conclude is – Elections in India which means canvassing for alliance partners & appeasing them. It is tragic that Sonia Gandhi whose husband was assassinated by the LTTE is aligned to the DMK whose leaders name popped up in the Jain Commission report for connections with the LTTE supremo. Time & time again we hear vociferous bellows from Tamil Nadu against Sri Lanka …leaders like Vaiko, Nedumaran in fact openly declare their support for the LTTE despite India having banned the LTTE. Arrests are made but very little has happened thereafter. Sri Lanka’s military has now revealed various photos of MDMK leader Vaiko & P. Nedumaran visiting Sri Lanka’s north – Vaiko is even wearing LTTE uniform, firing pistols with Prabakaran & delivering lectures to LTTE terrorists – did we not continuously say that the Tamils desire a separate homeland if not in Sri Lanka (as will be the case) but certainly in Tamil Nadu by virtue of the state being home to over 65million of the 80million Tamils.
It has become a very tiring feature for Sri Lanka to have to be humiliated with Indian foreign ministry visits & chiding statements just to appease the Tamil Nadu leaders. The guilt factor for India is that when the ‘We Tamil Movement’ started in 1960s it was successfully crushed by Nehru & his daughter artfully diverted separatist sentiment towards Sri Lanka through the RAW operation. Today, separatism in Sri Lanka is going to be more than a day dream thus it is most likely that India will need to quickly devise how best to stall separatist sentiment from arising in Tamil Nadu. Whatever be the case we are continuously having to answer to India on Sri Lanka’s civilian situation which rightly should be looked after by the Government of Sri Lanka. Of course, sending essentials as a friendly gesture is welcome but certainly not when a sovereign nation is humiliated which is what India is continuously doing & what wrong have we done to India.
So by virtue of what the Tamil Nadu leaders, some movie stars of Tamil Nadu & several other Tamil Nadu businessmen feel that Sri Lanka is purposely ill-treating the Tamil civilians ….this argument is very interesting for why would then the Government of Sri Lanka send almost 80,000 metric tons of food to these areas, fuel & other essentials …. It could easily have allowed these civilians to die. Many seem to forget that even the LTTE is being fed by the Sri Lankan Government.
Obviously the propaganda channels seem to favour the “ill treatment” “discrimination” theme & therefore it is only fair that something be done to solve the issue. The simplest solution to this in my opinion is for India to offer citizenship to any Sri Lankan Tamil desiring to live in Tamil Nadu where obviously the Tamil Nadu leaders promise to look after these people better than how the Sri Lankan Government is treating them. There may be Sri Lankan Tamils who may take up this gesture but it certainly has to be accepted by some Sri Lankan Tamil leaders who seem to love to rush to India for consultation & openly declare that nothing can be done without India’s tacit approval.
In the 1970s the Indian Tamils who were brought to work on the tea plantations during the colonial rule were offered their choice of residence. Some Indian Tamils chose to return to India & some chose to make Sri Lanka their home – today they make up 5% of the Indian Tamil population in Sri Lanka.
Dilly-dallying with issues is likely to create further problems …it is only fair that India acknowledge its wrongdoing in Sri Lanka by the manner in which it trained, armed & financed militancy in Sri Lanka & the creature India created in the form of the LTTE was responsible for killing over 2000 Indian Peace Keeping Force military personnel & injuring an equal number. Did any Indian care to use their Right of Information to ask how much of Indian taxpayers money went into the covert operation on a friendly nation by India? – Not many North Indians seem to really care …the Indian nation today has become Americanized ….it is fast loosing its cultural heritage especially in cosmopolitan areas thus before India is shaken from North to South ….Indians should at least proactively question the decisions & actions of its Government.
Can our nations continue to suffer ordeals like Mumbai & Lahore….?
Author:
Shenali Waduge is an independent author based in Sri Lanka and she contributes articles for Asian Tribune and Lankaweb. She can be reached at shenaliwaduge@gmail.com
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