Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada

February 13, 2010

OPEN LETTER toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Madam Sushma SwarajƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
Leader of the Opposition in IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s LokƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ SabhaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
Bharatiya Janata PartyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (BJP)
11 Ashoka RoadƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
New Delhi, India , 110001ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Dear SushmaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Swaraj:

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was worrisome to read in IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Economic Times that you had requested Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s President Mahinda Rajapaksa to free former Commander of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Army Sarath Fonseka immediately who had been arrested and facing a possible court martial.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-As the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s largest democracy we cannot approve of this particularly when it is happening so close to us.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  We call upon President Rajapaksa to ensure the safety and well-being of the opposition leader and request his release immediatelyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, you said in the Lok Sabha.

What is amazing about this statement is that you Indians in saffron Swami colours still want to wield your Big Brother stick on Sri Lanka, and keep forgetting the past what happened to you all when you put your nose into Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s internal affairs in the 1980s and 90s.

Now that you have forgotten let me remind you lot how the Kali Curse followed you Indians for doing just that to your friendly neighbour, the puny tear drop from your IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s face that was attached together once upon a time, long, long ago, during the Miocene times almost 25 million years ago.

Here are the reminders Sushma:

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When your Prime Minister Indira Gandhi decided to hegemonically destabilize Sri Lanka in 1983/84 and wanted the support of the Tamil voters of Tamil Nadu because her party was running third in the polls, in September 1983 she took 2000 ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ bare-footed Tamil guerrillas from Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s north, trained them in Indian military camps to fight the Sri Lankan armed forces and create mayhem by killing innocent civilians, and sent them back to Sri Lanka having graduated them as terrorists in Tiger fatigues with festoons of bullets around their necks, cradling Kalashnikovs like babies, their kaki back-packs filled with hand grenades, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and having taught them how to walk straight in bulky gum-boots.

The camps that they were trained how to manufacture bombs, jungle warfare, weapon training and military tactics et cetera, were in places close to Grater Kallas 11, in New Delhi; Parangimali and at a place about 40 km from the Madras airport; Salem Kollimalai Kanjipuram, Kollimalai, Kakavel; ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sengalpattu, Thanathur; Kongurukolam in Erod; Sadtagen Development Area adjoining Cannal Park in New Delhi; and a Camp in Uttar Pradesh close to the foothills of the Himalayas.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And there were few others.

And the Kali Curse struck her and she was shotƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ dead by two of her own Sikh bodyguards in November 1984, but her trained Tamil Tigers went on killing innocent civilians in Sri Lanka for the next 27 years until they were finally wiped out by the Sri Lankan armed forces on May 18, 2009.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Poking your nose in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s internal affairs Sushma was iffy, and wasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t nice for a Big Brother, was it now?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Unfortunately, you folk still havenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t learnt the precious geo-political lesson to mind your own business, and leave your neighbour alone.

Then came her reluctant heir, her son Rajiv Gandhi who continued his Mums madness when the world witnessed the flagrant high handedness with an attempt to bring Sri Lanka to her knees by sending Indian Air Forces Transport planes escorted by screaming Mirage 2000 fighter jets over Sri Lanka to drop a meagre 25 tons of so called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”reliefƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ supplies over Jaffna peninsula which had a population of nearly 800,000.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That was a deliberate act of arrogance and stupidity, wasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t it?

In case you had forgotten, this Mirage flight was preceded by the farcical naval operation and a virtual orgy of hand wringing and lamentation by Indian authorities led by Rajiv Gandhi himself, who charged Sri Lanka with the deliberate starvation and genocide of Jaffna residents.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  So you all dropped 25 tons of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”parippuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (lentils) and watched 800,000 Tamils clawing each other to get at those grains.

With such belligerent acts India forced Sri Lanka to sign the Indo-Lanka Pact in July 1987 and four years later the Kali Curse struck Big Brother India again, when one of the Gandhi protƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚©gƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚©s a Tamil Tigress, Danu, assassinated Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991 during his hustings at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by triggering her RDX explosive body-pack which was stuck underneath her dress.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  So, you BJPiers havenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t learnt your lesson not to poke your nose into Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s internal affair as yet, havenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you?

Remember how the Kali Curse struck you all one more time when the Indo-Lanka Pact brought the IPKF forces into Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s north and east with a boast that Big Brother, the largest democracy ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and the 3^rd powerful world army will disarm the Tamil Tigers that you all trained within 72 hours.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  You know what happened, donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The 3rd biggest armyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s butts were kicked by the Tamil Tigers that you all trained and they sent back to India 1,500 of your soldiers in body bags.

These are the lessons that ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ India still refuses to learn from.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Economic Times says that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Already the party feels, there was a growing international outrage over the latest developments in Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The BJP leadership is grappling with the idea of urging Manmohan Sing government to leverage its position with Sri Lanka to ensure that Gen. Fonseka was accorded his basic rights.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It is also toying with the suggestion, made by sections within the party, of raking it up in Parliaments during the ensuing Budget Session.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Well, Sushma, stop worrying about Sri Lanka, and direct your ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-grapplingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ concerns towards your own people.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They need your help more than General Sarath Fonseka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He is a big boy; he knows what he did and what the consequences would be as a military man with a 40 year service in the armed forcers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He was no Babe in the Woods, who needs you to hold his hand or sing an Indian lullaby with a Made in India soother in his mouth to get to sleep.

The bottom line is no one in Sri Lanka is above the law and that includes former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka.

His latest public expression that he will call for the prosecution of anyone who committed war crimes under his command during the islandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s war with the Tamil Tiger terrorists shows that he is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”hell-bentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ on betraying the gallant and disciplined Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s armed forces who fought the war shoulder to shoulder with him. That is when he lost his military charm of being an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”officer and a gentlemanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

With this messy scenario at play, I tell you folks at BJP just mind your own business without poking into Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s internal affairs and keep your noses clean.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Believe me, Big Brother India, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ with such discipline it will not bring you folks at BJP untold embarrassment as your Indian KaliƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Curse is still IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s psyche and hovering over you lot when it comes to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s internal affairs.

Sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe