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India, stop interfering with Sri Lanka’s sovereignty

Malin Abeyatunge

The Hindu on 3/12/2008 reported that the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh has said "India would do everything possible to find a solution to the Sri Lankan Tamils issue in view of their sufferings due to ongoing fight between the armed forces and the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam".

This assurance was given by him to an all party delegation of MPs from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Wasn’t India aware of the sufferings of Tamils under the jack boot of tyrannical Prabhakaran all this time? Why Manmohan has suddenly got concerned of the sufferings of the Tamils in the war torn areas when he has thousands of problems to solve in his own backyard.

PM Manmohan Singh has made this statement soon after Mumbai was attacked by a group of terrorists. When he says that he would do everything possible is a broad statement which Sri Lanka should scrutinize very closely. Sri Lanka as a sovereign nation should not allow or do not want India to interfere with our sovereignty or for that matter any other country. It’s true that India has extended the ban on LTTE for another two years because she has accepted LTTE as a terrorist organization. So instead of dangling the stick, India should help Sri Lanka to get rid of the LTTE menace completely as having a rogue state as a neighbour will be a disaster to India and will lead to destabilisation of Indu-Pacific Region. In one of my earlier letters, I said "No to Tamil Nadu Parippu" when Tamil Nadu offered food aids to ID"s in the North, because my instinct said that they are dangling this carrot with some ulterior hidden agenda. Quite rightly, this hidden agenda is out and India now pressurized by Tamil Nadu is asking GoSL for a ceasefire with LTTE Tamil Tigers.

There is no doubt that the Indian State Tamil Nadu has become a gateway for smuggling of lethal weapons, fuel, narcotics, speed boat motors and many other war paraphernalia to LTTE camps in the North and East. Has PM Manmohan ever taken any action to reprimand Tamil Nadu to stop its affiliations with LTTE? Instead, the Indian Government after Mumbai aftermath albeit has vowed to defeat scourge of terrorism in her country, she has become a prisoner of Tamil Nadu politics and treats LTTE differently hence promoting ceasefire with GoSL and LTTE. When smuggling boats of LTTE are bombed and destroyed by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu will be up in arms blaming Sri Lanka Navy that they have bombed fishing boats killing innocent fishermen and scream at the centre government to take action against SL Navy. This is Tamil Nadu’s hackneyed cliché but centre government’s silence implies its endorsement of such blames.

PM Manmohan should now be well aware that Sri Lankan President and his government is doing everything possible to find a solution not only to Sri Lankan Tamils but to all citizens but not at the expense of bowing down to Tamil Tiger Terrorists. If India with the pressure from the other Tamil States like Tamil Nadu is thinking of pressurizing the GoSL for a cease fire, just forget it. Latest news being Indian PM Manmohan Singh is expected to send his External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee (Pranab) to Sri Lanka to persuade our President to agree for a ceasefire with LTTE Tamil Tigers which reminds the stoppage of Vadamarachchi operations at India's influence. Our current President Mahinda Rajapaksa will not cow down to such pressures and will definitely not stop the on going war on LTTE in Wanni and Killinochchi until the LTTE is militarily defeated and the last terrorist is killed even if the whole world say "STOP IT". Our President should refuse to see Pranab Mukherjee on his agenda of a ceasefire or postpone to see him or buy time until our forces finish its task of quashing LTTE in Wanni and Killinochchi. After the Mumbai attack, Pranab speaking to the press said that if Pakistan does not cooperate with India to hound the terrorists that India will not hesitate even to declare war against Pakistan. Imagine that Pranab declares war against Pakistan on Mumbai attack and at the same time coming to Sri Lanka to persuade the GoSL for a cease fire with LTTE. Isn’t it a damn mockery of Indian politics? Mind your politics. What is good for the goose is not good for the gander.

Our President has confidence that all Sri Lankans consisting of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and other ethnic groups want to see an end to LTTE terrorism and it’s going to happen very soon. Even the moderate Tamil leaders like Ananda Sangaree, Douglas Devananda are of the view that LTTE should be militarily defeated. They categorically say that LTTE is not the sole representative of Tamils and LTTE should not be a party to any discussions unless LTTE lay down arms completely. Southern Politicians in India as represented by this delegation has the audacity to tell what sort of constitution we should adopt. They should and need not tell us that. We should reject or ignore any constitutional changes recommend by Tamil Nadu or India outright. Well, it’s left to the people of Sri Lanka to decide any changes to the present constitution as sovereignty finally rests with the people. So the Tamil Nadu and other States should stop dictating terms to Sri Lanka and as a real leader and statesman, Manmohan should reprimand politicians who give him such advice.

It’s true that India is our big Brother but it does not mean it can whip us the way it wants. India is not that powerful as she claims to show the world. It took 4 solid hours for the Indian elite task force to come for the Mumbai rescue operation. What a shame? As in Sri Lanka, India is also faced with terrorist problems based on separatism, tribalism, ethnicity, religions and ideologies (Naxalites) etc,. Kashmir problem still lies in doldrums while India is trying to solve our problem. Millions are dying in India of starvation. Farmers are daily committing suicide because of poverty. India may send satellites to orbit, show their nuclear prowess as a show peace to the world in the midst of thousand of domestic problems but should stop interfering with Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. We do not need their expertise or advice on political matters. India cannot appease one terrorist outfit outside India (LTTE Tamil Tigers) and try to eliminate scourge of terrorism in her own country and advise neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh how to curb terrorism. It’s like a crab asking her siblings to crawl straight whilst she crawls crooked.

It was India that trained and nurtured LTTE Tamil Tigers during the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s rule in order to destabilize Sri Lanka. She schemed it thro LTTE but Indira Gandhi’s son Rajiv Gandhi had to pay for his mother’s action.

Unfortunately, India has a Tamil population of 60 million and if India tries to appease the Tamil Nadu politicians (to save her government) very soon there will be a cry for Eelam in South India by Tamil Nadu Tamils. SO INDIA SHOULD CLEAN ITS OWN BACKYARD BEFORE CLAEANING UP OTHERS’ BACK YARDS.

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