If India is a friend of Sri Lanka it should have accepted the Sri Lanka Government’s denial of shooting Indian fishermen.
Posted on February 20th, 2011
By Charles.S.Perera
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Much has been written on IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s pseudo-friendly relationship with Sri Lanka. I am sure the government of Sri Lanka is aware of this dubious role of India, but does not want to openly accept it as India is capable of even intervening militarily with Sri Lanka just to please the Tamil Nadu politicians who lack political intelligence, and are politically infantile.
In other words the TamilNadu politicians are foolish and emotional, rather than being intelligent and mature. Therefore they are capable of even breaking away from India merely to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-teach a lessonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to the Central Government for not giving into their absurd demands. Hence the present intolerable attitude adopted by a weak Indian government towards Sri Lanka-which does not want to antagonize its neighbour with all the problems it has with a grossly vindictive West.
TamilNadu political maniacs are forcing India to a military confrontation with Sri Lanka. That is the reason for this fiasco about the shooting of Indian fishermen which is a plan hatched by the Tamil Nadu political ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-terroristsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to strain what ever ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-cordialƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ relations India may have with Sri Lanka.
The killing of Indian fishermen if there had been any must have been the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-workƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the cohorts of the TamilNadu extremists to implicate the Sri Lanka Navy. The Central Government of India is undoubtedly aware of it but havenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t got the guts and the political strength to openly tell the TamilNadu political militants who are feeding on their animosity towards Sri Lanka, that the Sri Lanka Navy cannot be responsible for the killing of the fishermen and that Tamilnadu should not embarrass the Central government demanding its intervention on a matter without substantial evidence against the Sri Lanka Navy.
Any nincompoop can understand that the Sri Lanka Navy will not shoot at innocent fishermen whether they are Indian or Sri Lankan. If at all the Navy were to have shot, it would have shot into the air as a warning and definitely not directly at the Indian fishermen nor will they take fishermen on board to tie a noose round their necks and throw them into the sea. This is high ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-dramaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ that no intelligent person could even imagine.
The fact that all these complaints of Navy shooting at the Indian fishermen have been planned by the Tamil Nadu politicians is evident from the latest incident where the local fishermen of Jaffna had seized 136 Indian fishermen who had been poaching in Sri Lanka waters.
In this incident it is not the Sri Lanka Navy that is involved but the Jaffna Tamil fishermen themselves. If TamilNadu political Tamils are sincere about their claim of ethnic attachment to Sri Lanka Tamils how is it that TamilNadu political leaders are depriving the Sri Lanka Tamil fishermen their livelihood in peaceful fishing in their own maritime waters, without demanding Indian fishermen not to adventure in to the maritime area which rightly belongs to the Sri Lanka Tamil fishermen ?
In this incident a more serious situation has come to light. It had been often pointed out by many writers to the Lankaweb that opening Consular Offices by India in Jaffna and Hambantota should not be allowed as India has ulterior motives, and that these Consulates are more likely to be manned by Indian RAW Agents, who were, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- once upon a timeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ responsible for training Tamil youth from Sri Lanka in terrorist war fare in special camps in the jungles of TamilNadu . What is the guarantee that the India RAW will not try it out once again, now with the RAW Agents probably acting as personnel of the Consulate offices in Sri Lanka ?
This suspicion appears justified, as we learn that the Indian Consulate Office had intervened when the 136 Indian fishermen and their boats had been seized by the local fishermen and handed over to the police.
It is definitely not a matter for the Consular Office, which has been set up to facilitate people in the area to obtain visas to India, to have intervened on behalf of Indian fishermen captured while they were illegally fishing in the maritime waters of Sri Lanka. It may have been more appropriate for the Indian Consulate Office to have requested the Indian High Commission Office in Colombo to intervene in the matter.
But the Indian Consulate General V.Mahalingam in the Jaffna Consulate Office had acted in a very high handed manner in intervening with the Sri Lanka Judiciary in Jaffna to have the 136 Indian fishermen released from custody.
This is a matter for the Government of Sri Lanka to take up with the Indian External Affair Minister S.N Krishna, as an offensive intervention into the legal procedure of a Sri Lanka Court of Law by an Indian Consulate General acting beyond his authority.
The Government of Sri Lanka should also demand India that it should warn its Consulate Generals to strictly keep within their Consulate duties without abusing their Consular position to interfere with administrative and Judicial matters of the Government of Sri Lanka.
If not these Indian Consulate Offices will become centres to undermine our independence and Communal unity, with India already treating the Tamil Community in Sri Lanka differently from the other Communities
The Indian Government should appreciate that while our High Commission Office in Chennai is more often put into inconvenience if not danger by the manifestations of the TamilNadu Tamils, the Indian Consulates and the Indian High Commission are in perfect safety without being put into any inconvenience by Sri Lankans manifesting to show their disillusionment of Indian ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendlinessƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and condemnation of the Indian interference into, not only the control and surveillance of the maritime space of Sri Lanka by its Navy, but also into its Judiciary by a mere Administrative Officer of the Indian Consulate.
This should be quite an eye opener to our own Tamil Community and the TNA politicians who make pilgrimage to TamilNadu to make complaints against their own Sri Lanka government to these hybrid Tamilnadu Tamil politicians of no consequence.
These Tamil Nadu politicians have amply demonstrated by their arrogant, vengeful attitude on the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-fishermen issueƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ that they have no real interest in the Tamil Community in Sri Lanka. They pretended that they were really acting in the interest of their ethnic counterparts the Sri Lanka Tamils by mollycoddling Prabhakaran and his terrorists and demanding the Indian government time and again to intervene to end the military operations of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces against the terrorists.
But their real interest, as we now see had been to help the terrorist Prabhakaran to divide Sri Lanka and create a Tamil Eelam which they could later annex as a part of TamilNadu State. Having failed in that now they are vindictive against the government of Sri Lanka and condemns the Tamil fishermen of Sri Lanka for taking the law into their own hands.
It is strange that through out this episode the TNAMPs had maintained a holy silence. The TNA MPs who are vociferous about the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka so much, should if they are genuine speak on behalf of the Sri Lanka Tamil fisher folk, and condemn outright the TamilNadu politicians for supporting without protest the Indian Fishermen poaching in the maritime space of Sri Lanka that is open only to our fishermen.
This is also a matter that should interest the Sri Lanka Tamil Diaspora, to understand that the Sri Lanka Tamils are a part and parcel of the Sri Lanka citizenry and cannot be separated from the rest of the Communities in Sri Lanka, and that the Tamil Nadu Tamils are different and have no social or cultural connection to the Tamil Community in Sri Lanka. Therefore it is time that the Tamil diaspora rallies round Sri Lanka and contributes to its development to make Sri Lanka a great Nation where communal differences have been eliminated in the greater interest of being Sri Lankans.
With India as a friend Sri Lanka needs no enemies. It had bee reported that the Indian External Affairs Minister Krishna had ,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦. expressed his deep regret on Sri Lankan fishermen taking law into their own hands and warned that they too have to be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-very cautiousƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ when they are getting into Indian waters.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
The Sri Lanka Tamil fishermen had ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-taken the law into their own handsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ as the Indian authorities had failed to stop their fishermen from poaching in Sri Lanka waters, and for falsely accusing the Sri Lanka Navy controlling the maritime area belonging to Sri Lanka for killing Indian fishermen.
Further more It was reported that, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦the Indian Foreign Minister has suggested to the Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister that fishermen associations from both sides should discuss and come to an agreement with regard to fishing in international waters.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
This shows that the Central Government of India is unable on its own to control the movements of the Indian fishermen as it is afraid of antagonizing the Tamil Nadu politicians.
India is profiting from the Sri Lanka GovernmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s meek acceptance of Indian demands as a sign of weakness . India is pretentious and lacks the sincerity to accept the word of the Government of Sri Lanka when it denied that its Navy had not killed Indian fishermen, preferring to accept the word of the Tamil Nadu Tamil politicians who are vindictive towards Sri Lanka for the elimination of their terrorist thalaivar Prabhakaran and his terrorists cohorts.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
February 20th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
Read Tamilnet.com 02-18-11 Under the heading “Indian Fishermen released, Indian Consul General Intimidates tamil Judge in jaffan”. Indian Consul General in Jaffan, Mahalingham (in english BIG PENIS) visited judge Srinidhi Nathasekeran’s home in point Pedro, and demanded the imidiate release of the fishermen, so she did. May be he showed her his Lingham one dosen’t know!
February 21st, 2011 at 5:44 am
Indian fishermen are just the thin end of the wedge. These are the scout parties testing the way SLK reacts to larger future raids on our resources and eventually the land. What Prabhakaran could not do, these vermins will do, and then Indian Army and Navy will come to defend them.
Just like the Portuguese were allowed to build a fort at Colombo, SLK government has allowed Indians to hold minor forts of intelligence gathering in Jaffna and Hambantota. With so many commercial contracts on development projects with Indian companies, SLK’s economy has been allowed to be controlled by Indians. The top people in the government are already in the Inidian Governments pocket, as far as we can figure out from common sense.
Every time an Indian fisherman gets scratched, Mother India sends a high level delegation to beat around the President’s ears. SLK has been allowed to become a vassal state of India. This is disgraceful, and tantamount to our security and independence being made subservient to Indian interests. India has more or less made SLK government impotent.
Meanwhile, SLK government, having made our armed forces from a force to be reckoned with to just street cleaners and garbage collectors, and vegetable vendors overnight after their major campaigns (figuratively speaking mind you) we no longer seem to have the capacity to defend our land. What is this mockery on our nation?
I am no politician or some kind of power broker, or a journalistic critic; I am just a worried citizen, expressing an average man’s concerns through this website. What is the government doing about this sorry state of affairs?
February 21st, 2011 at 7:06 am
We all have the same concern regarding Indians. I wrote many articles and at the same time so many members in this forum wrote about Indian conspiracy but unfortunately our Government nor anybody care a damn about it. Those who tried to destroy our country once with the help of Terrorist murderers and never came to our rescue at any time will never be our friend at all. We know that all these politicians some way or the other have connection to India including the President. Our Opposition leader always creep thru the back door to India to see what or talk what we dont know. Indians were coming in droves to the Temple Trees and discussing what we dont know. Very strange of this sudden friendship? We wrote about openning counsels in Jaffna and Hambantota but in vain they already opened. Charles,Radha and Kitul you were all correct. We are not politicians but not fools either and futhermore we love our country. If Sri Lankan Government doesnt wake up from this dream we will be in trouble in the future. I agrre with Radha about our heros selling vegetables etc but never mind that’s o.k because this is our country we must all get together and work till we raise our heads after the war. In China soldiers were helping the Government in every emergency. We cannot let them stay in barracks doing nothing and pay them high salaries. It’s not shameful to do odd jobs. This is our country and we must help the Government at this hour without asking help from outside but they should listen to citizens concerns too. Our Armed forces are more disciplined and smart than many Armed Forces in this world. India should know better about our forces and should respect rather than accusing for murder of their fisherman. In our history we have never heard our Navy was doing such things. They were one of the best in the world. Sri Lankan Government should not allow Indians to come and do things as they pleased. If they push us too much we must boycott Indian products to show them our displeasure to them. Mr.President show the same courage you had during the war not only to Indians but to the whole world.We are with you if not dont blame us later.
February 21st, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Aren’t Tamil Nadu elections going to happen soon ?
When elections happen, TN dictates terms to Delhi which in turn appears to shake the forefinger at Lanka. Are we to get used to this silly game ?
Tamil Nadu has problems they can’t solve in a hurry such as the Caste & Poverty Issue. They will keep on doing silly acts to distract their people, as they can’t face voters with solutions to problems.
When will TN folk ever get free education ?
Sri Lanka seems so attractive to their bottom layer of society. Watch out for illegal migrants from Tamil Nadu. Make sure they go back.
February 21st, 2011 at 7:45 pm
Please read the news item in Tamilnet.com which I have referenced above.
1. No democracy allows a judge to over ride the law of the land.
2. Judge reports to the country’s Chief Justice (CJ) and CJ cannot force the judge to change a verdict.
3. Here INDIAN PUNKS violated the SRI Lanka LAW. This is a forign government (INDIAN PUNKS) doing what an occuping force will do when they capture a Country.
4. law of the land can be violated because we have captured the land. This is what Rajiv Gandhi told Tamil Nadu Tamils when he introduced the 13th amendment to the JR government.
5. why are there no Sinhala protesting in front of the Indian high commission in Colombo? There ia a disjoint between Jaffna Tamil fishermen and Sinhala. Only the Navy has established this connection with Tamil Fishermen.
6. No oppersition politician or government politician wants to talk about this incident in parliament. No editorial writer so far has not written about this visit to judge’s house by Mahalingham
7. May be they are scared of one foot long PENIS (Mahalingham means BIG PENIS)
8. This is the PRELUDE to capture Katchchve Island by Tamil Nadu Tamils
February 21st, 2011 at 8:16 pm
‘If India is a friend of Sri Lanka’ – Is that a question that needs to be asked?
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:09 am
If India is a friend…. Is not a question but a conditional clause.
Between two good friends there is confidence. Therefore a good friend will always accept his friends word without question. If India is really a friend of Sri Lanka , India should have accepted the word of Sri Lanka government that its Navy did not kill the Indian Fishermen.
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:45 am
Word of a friend? Huh, are Sri Lankan journalists so nieve? The idea of school age “amba yalauwa”, or “Kalyana Mitra” in Pancha Tantra does not apply to international politics. Certainly not nowadays.
In any event, friendships last only as long as there are common mutual interests. When interests conflict friendships fall apart. It happens within families, between neighbours, ethnic groups and nations. Otherwise why there are protected boundaries?
If India would want to behave like a friend, then she should deploy her ample Naval and Coast Guard resouces to police their fishermen; this is not too much to ask as the sea separation is so narrow, and the areas in conflict are so close to each other. If they stand aside, aloof, and force the meagre SRL Naval resources to face a mass flotilla of fishermen, then it amounts to deliberate provocation to act. I see India’s deliberate apathy to police their own unruly fishermen as a long term political strategy to wear out SLK resistance and to open up SLK’s legally owned assets for Indian consumptions.
If as MR says in today’s news, this kind of thing has been going on for ages, then it is about time that they are stopped henceforth, instead of wasting time talking empty words. Why is he allowing this unresolved problem to drag on. It may be alright for the high and mighty to have their balls and cocktails in palaces in Colombo, as they always get their food free of charge. But the citizens and fishermen of SLK, going to sea for a catch is their livelihood and a way of eeking out a few rupees to feed their families, and to pay taxes to the government. This is the point at issue and not friendships or empty words.
The President has been elected to look after SLK citizens interests, and that is what he should do in my opinion.
Sorry folks for having to talk straight; I dont like weasel wording even in public when I can see that SLK citizens are being short changed by its political leaders.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Tamil Nadu elections are going to happen soon. The Congress Party is eager to win these elections there. So this is the right time for TN to act up acts of mischief against Lanka, and have Delhi take a light/or “do nothing” view of the whole event.
If TN fishermen really want to solve their problems, there are many ways to do so !
* They can have inland fisheries easily, and also grow their fish in nurseries in corralled areas in the sea.
* The fishermen can carry GPS equipment on board and avoid straying into Lanka waters. Someone had suggested that solar powered indicators can be floated out on buoys to mark sea borders between TN & Lanka.
Causing trouble between Lanka & India is a TAMIL NADU speciality, mainly during election time – it is not coming from Delhi govt. Make sure of the difference here.
When TN acts up, best ignore, or let India handle it. Lanka has enough troubles without getting into Tamil Nadu issues. In fact, most of Lankas problems are because of Tamil Nadu issues !
It would be true to say that India is generally our friend, but Tamil Nadu frustrations with their life there keep banging on Lanka – it has been so historically speaking. Does Tamil Nadu want to be part of Sri Lanka ?!!!
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Correction: Congress Party is eager that their allies in TN win the elections there.
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:16 pm
OK. I’ll re-phrase my earlier statement. Is India a friend of any country in the region?
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Please go to Infolanka web site, there is an excellent account of how Big PENIS got the fishermen released. “Lanka in HOT Water as India Rocks the Boat”. But the Daly Mirror Author suggests that SL should surrender to India.
February 27th, 2011 at 3:58 am
How come India our friend? Except dead and unborn every one knows that India is the creator of all most all the racist tamil terrorist gangs against Sinhala nation. LTTE, TELO, EROS,TNA, EPRLF, are some examples of Indian funded terrorist groups. Those entire racist tamil terrorists trained by India, funded by India, weapons supplied by India and guided by India to kill Sinhala in their own country. This is none other than state sponsored terrorism against a neighboring country and if correctly international law and order applies then Indian leaders should take in to International Criminal Courts for the terrorism and genocide several thousand Sinhalese.
In additionally they use ITAK,TULF, CWC, UF against Sinhala nation and destabilized political, economical and social system of Sri Lanka. All most all these are tamil racist parties and depend on Indian funds and most are RAW agents.
This is a short picture of India and us and as an ordinary Sinhala I don’t find India a friend to Sri Lanka. I always feel India a curse of Sri Lanka than a friend.
April 21st, 2012 at 4:21 am
I am from Andhra Pradesh India. I speak Telugu. I find this site very interesting. Every nation needs a website like this to discuss issues of patriotic interest. I wish you all the best.
The patriotic concerns of the Sinhalese are worth considering and sympathy. I agree that the Lankana nation has undergone a lot of indescribable agony because of a particular race belonging to our territory. We, the rest of the Indians are not particularly interested in co-operating with their nefarious designs against Sri Lanka. Perhaps I should not say anything against them because they are our permanent neighbours. But I know that the Tamils are notorious even in India for their linguistic and regional chauvinism. As things stand now, they are friends to nobody.
Many a time they wanted us (the rest of Indians) to help them break Sri Lanka into pieces, not in a direct language but in veiled phrases. We, the non-Tamil Indians always condemned their plans. Yet, at the same time, we wanted security for the Sri Lankan Tamil citizens, which we believed, was possible only in a peaceful and integrated Lanka. They did not listen. They won’t, because they need not. Because they have occupied the highest bureaucratic positions in the Union Government of India. The Central Govt. mostly listens to them, not us. We are not in a such a big number there to influence the Govt. of India’s decisions, though our populations and States are far bigger than Tamilnadu.
Except TN, the rest of Indian people are with you. I am not sure about politicians. We the Indian people have no axe to grind against you. It is a pity that our collective might was used to trouble a small country like SL which was not done intentionally. Most of this had taken place during the reign of an immature first time PM who brought us the same type of headaches with his rude style of funtioning with Nepal. I don’t know about the rest of India. But in my home-state of Andhra, people were up against India’s interference in SL’s internal affairs. I was one of those Telugu writers at that time who wrote criticizing India for that strategic and political mistake. I was particularly aghast at the way the Central Govt. made us, all Indians participate in a Sri Lankan civil war which we have nothing to do with. This is not to say that we are in disagreemenet with each other.
BTW, India harboring hegemonistic ambitions against Sri Lanka or India wanting to invade Sri Lanka, or balkanize her – these are all pure fiction born out of paranoia and a sense of insecurity. Please don’t succumb to them. Please don’t propagate these ideas. Don’t supply novel ideas to people when they don’t have them. If you say certain things over and again someday they will come true. So, please don’t utter these things even in a lighter vein. If India really has these things in mind, SL would have long long ago lost the oppotrunity to celebrate her Independence Days. India has been a brother to SL and will remain as such for many centuries to come. We have no enthusiasm to lord over other nations when we have, in our own country, 28 very big sub-nations which are fighting among themselves.