B.RAMAN
If the political parties in Tamil Nadu do not
conduct themselves with a sense of balance and responsibility and indulge in
competitive exploitation of the discontent in certain sections of the
population over Sri Lanka-related issues, they may end up by creating passions
beyond control in both countries.
2. All right-thinking Tamils should be concerned
over the acts of anger directed against two football teams of Sri Lankan
students in Chennai and against Sri Lankan Christian pilgrims in southern Tamil
Nadu in recent days. This resulted in the football teams having to go back to
Sri Lanka and in anxieties over physical security among the pilgrims. There is
a reason to suspect that some of these incidents were more
politically-orchestrated than spontaneous expression of anger by the local
people against the Sri Lankans.
3. There is a genuine anger among sections of the people
of Tamil Nadu against the Sri Lankan Government over the following aspects of
its policies towards the Sri Lankan Tamils:
( a ).The lack of progress in finding a political
solution to the aspirations of the Tamils.
( b ).The lack of a sincere enquiry into the death of a
disproportionate number of Tamils during the last hours of the Sri Lankan Army’s
assault to kill Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), and capture the LTTE
headquarters thereby defeating the LTTE’s insurgency.
( c ). The perceived use of disproportionate force
by the Sri Lankan Navy against Indian Tamil fishermen who mistakenly fish in
Sri Lankan waters, leading to frequent deaths of our fishermen.
4. This anger has been turned by the local
political parties against the Government of India also for the following
reasons:
( a ). The perceived reluctance of New Delhi to exercise
adequate pressure on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to make him fulfil his
commitments to the Tamils and the Government of India on their political future
and protect our fishermen.
( b ). The unwillingness of the Government of India
to take any punitive action against the Sri Lankan Government by way of
suspending the military-military relationship between the Armed Forces of the
two countries. Under this relationship, officers of the Sri Lankan Armed forces
are permitted to join training courses in different training institutions of
our Armed Forces.
5.In view of the forthcoming elections to the Lok
Sabha in 2014, there has been a competitive exploitation of all these issues by
many of the political parties including the ruling AIDMK and the
opposition DMK in the hope of winning poll dividends.
6. The anger, which was initially against the Sri
Lankan Government, has been turned into anger against the Sri Lankan people,
mainly Sinhalese, coming to Tamil Nadu for private reasons such as pilgrimage,
tourism, sports etc. Fortunately, till now, the exploited anger has not led to
any untoward incident of violence
against the Sinhalese. If the temptation to politically exploit this anger by
different parties is not resisted, there is a danger of a backlash by the Sinhalese
against the Indian nationals ( not necessarily only against the Sri Lankan
Tamils) working in Sri Lanka.
7. In recent years, India’s economic relations with
Sri Lanka have considerably improved and a number of Indian companies have
established their branches in Sri Lanka. There has also been an increase in the
number of Indian Tamil tourists visiting Sri Lanka. If there is a backlash
against them, we might be faced with a
vicious circle of ethnic violence in the two countries.
8. There never was much popular support for the
LTTE in Tamil Nadu. Nor were there strong feelings of solidarity between the
people of Tamil Nadu and the Sri Lankan Tamils living in refugee camps in Tamil
Nadu. When the LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan Army and Prabhakaran killed
in May,2009, the reactions among the people of Tamil Nadu were fortunately low.
9. If a politically-motivated attempt is made now
to rouse the feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu over the attitude of the Sri
Lankan Government towards the Sri Lankan Tamils, the resulting passions may
take unpredictable shape.
10. The Government of India finds itself in a
dilemma. The protection of the people of Sri Lanka visiting Tamil Nadu is the
responsibility of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Government of India cannot
act unilaterally in the matter. In view of the 2014 elections, no party is
prepared to adopt a reasonable attitude. Even the DMK, which supports the
Dr.Manmohan Singh Government in the Centre, has joined the anti-Sri Lanka campaign
in Tamil Nadu unmindful of the difficulties of New Delhi.
11. The Government of India is not in a position to
exercise adequate pressure on the Rajapaksa Government either on the issue of
the political future of the Sri Lankan Tamils or for the protection of our
fishermen. Nor is it in a position to force the Government of Sri Lanka to hold
an enquiry into the violation of the human rights of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
12. In view of the strong political and economic
support for Sri Lanka from China and Sri Lanka’s developing relations with
Pakistan, we do not have much of a card for coercive diplomacy against Colombo.
The Government of India has to do the
best of a bad bargain.
13. The dilemma
faced by the Government of India is partly the result of its failure to foresee
and pre-empt the politically caused emotions with an eye on the 2014 elections.
Unless it persuades the ruling ADMK to tone down any politicisation of the
problem, the DMK, its ally, is unlikely to co-operate with it. It would not
like to be projected by the ADMK as not being supportive enough of the Sri
Lankan Tamils and our fishermen.
14. The only way of dealing with this issue is
through a possible quid pro quo by conceding the demands of the Tamil
Nadu Government in other matters not having an impact on our foreign policy in
return for its giving up its present policies relating to Sri Lankans.
15. To address the sensitivities of the Tamil Nadu
Government, the Government of India could also modify its policy in relation to
the training of Sri Lankan Armed Forces officers in our training Institutions.
In future, training slots could be offered to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces only
in respect of those courses where the training is imparted in institutions
outside Tamil Nadu.
16. This is a tricky political matter to which a
solution based on an all-party consensus with the political parties of Tamil
Nadu has to be found by our Prime Minister asserting his authority and taking
the necessary initiative. His reluctance
or inability to exercise authority could make the situation messier. ( 4-9-12)
(The writer
is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi,
and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate
of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com Twitter @SORBONNE75)
2 comments:
I am sure you have much more information and insight on the issue. However, based on the commonly available information and facts stated in your article, I do not agree with your deduction.
Loss of life of an Indian citizen (fishermen) is unacceptable. If it is allowed because of foreign policy considerations, then in a democracy it is a political issue to be addressed one way or another.
As for China, I do not think we can go to war with them or hope to win against them in any forum, irrespective of their presence and influence in Sri Lanka and as such should not be a factor in Foreign Policy related decision making except for economic parameters.
As for Sri Lanka and Pakistan closeness in relations - everyone is free to develop their relations. It cannot be accepted as blackmail if any such insinuation is made. And trying to buy security at the cost of money and lives of its citizens demonstrates an incompetent leadership. Historically all administrative units/nations/states with such policies have been eventually destroyed at great cost to its citizens.
There is security only in your own strength. But as I understand, we may be the weakest at present since the formation of this country.
Why aren't the Sri Lankan Tamil politicians work together with tamil nadu politicians towards a solution??
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