Dilrook Kannangara

There is nothing good about the 13A which was enacted under duress. It must be scrapped or made powerless. However, India insists on its full implementation. According to the extreme left (admirers of the Cuban dictator) and the extreme right (the bankrupt liberals), India is LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s gateway to the world. Sadly almost all the neighbours of India find it the gateway to hell! Owing to IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s meddling in internal affairs of all its neighbours, they have drifted away from the South Asian giant. Pakistan, Kashmir (which is considered a separate nation by some powerful neighbours of India), China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Arunachel Pradesh (which is considered a separate nation by some powerful neighbours of India) and the Maldives have teamed up with the Asian superpower to ward off Indian pressure. IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s only friend in the region is Sri Lanka but most Sri Lankans find no nation more spiteful than India due to Indian interference in the island nation.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Pushing Tamil Separatists to Lanka

From terrorist leaders to their kith and kin and from peaceful separatists to their followers, India has always pushed them towards Sri Lanka. While India maintained its ban on the LTTE since 1991, it wanted Sri Lanka to talk peace with the LTTE and give a political solution to the problems created by the LTTE. This position temporarily changed following the fall of Kilinochchi when India feared its total isolation following the total annihilation of its offspring – the LTTE. Even the Madras High Court does not conduct its business in Tamil but India wants Lanka to adopt Tamil fully. India backed down from its responsibility of wiping out the LTTE as per the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord. In commercial law, that would signal the termination of the contract between the parties absolving Lanka from discharging its contractual obligation – implementing the 13A.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This was the third time India willfully neglected its part in agreements with Sri Lanka. In 1974 India and Lanka agreed on paper to handover the control of the Kachchatheevu island to Lanka but to this date India has not fulfilled its responsibility. Around the same time the Sirima-Shasthri agreement made it IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s responsibility to take in Indian illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka but the Indians skillfully evaded this responsibility and pushed them to Lanka.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ After a lengthy honeymoon with the Soviet Union, now India goes to bed with the US. Making good use of this dependency, US officials call on India to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-play a more crucial role in the regionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to promote US geopolitical interests. By creating a suckling in parts of the island that would depend on India for everything, Indian rulers plan to extend its sphere of influence to the island to counter other regional nations.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A Muslim Eastern Province is the Last Thing India Wants

From the start, India insisted that the north and the east must be merged. They were ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-temporarilyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ merged for 20 years until they were duly separated in 2007. Indian sponsored terror groups and Tamil communal politicians echoed this demand. That would not surprise anyone. However, it is not going to happen now as the east has emerged as a distinct province from the north.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When the north and the east were merged, the merged province had a Tamil majority. Tamil political leaders always look to Indian and Tamil Nadu politicians for help. But the eastern province is a Muslim majority province today. Tamils are no longer the majority in the east. To make matters better, Sinhalese and Muslims are politically united in the east. Muslim political parties in the east always supported both main national political parties. In wide contrast, Tamil communal political parties refrained from joining with national parties. This means Tamil parties can never hold power in the east again. This trend is getting strengthened as the Muslim population in the east grows at a staggering pace.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The 2007 election was an exception where a multi-ethnic political party – UPFA – won the election and appointed, not elected, a Tamil as the Chief Minister. However, it is not rocket science that the TMVP is extremely unpopular in the east today and at the next provincial election most Tamil votes will go to the uncooperative TNA. It also means a Muslim Chief Minister.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Add to IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s worries, Arabic influence in the east grows fast. Arabic schools are mushrooming everywhere in the east, even some road names are written in Arabic, Arabic sponsored Islamic teaching is growing and fast spreading, Arabic political influence is also growing and various other Middle Eastern and Pakistani influence is on the upward trend.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ All this happens in the backdrop of Muslim becoming the single largest minority group in Sri Lanka. If it hasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t happened yet, it will soon become a reality. Ceylon Tamils and Upcountry Tamils are distinct and separate ethnic groups and the population percentage of Ceylon Tamils was 12% in 1981 and it was 8% for Muslims. Due to large-scale emigration of Ceylon Tamils and the above average population growth rate of Muslims, it is inevitable that Muslims will become the single largest minority.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Christian influence on the Tamil community is growing thanks to heavy western influence. A large number of Hindus convert to various Christian sects every year. At this rate, Islam will be the largest minority religion in Sri Lanka very soon taking it from Hinduism.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These two events mark a turning point in Indian influence in Sri Lanka which come trough Tamil and Hindu populations of the island and IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s pretended concern for them. Soon this Indian tool will be less influential.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Although these may have some adverse impacts on Sri Lanka, they can be more unsettling for India. The Southern and South-Eastern front of India which was hitherto an unconquered territory for elements India abhors is now beaming with influence from Middle Eastern and Pakistani connections.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This was why India insisted on a merger. And this is why Sri Lanka should insist on not merging these two provinces. The more the power is devolved to the north under 13A or 13A plus, the more will be the power devolved to the eastern province.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Not the Best Thing but a Clever Counter Measure

This is not the best thing for Sri Lanka but it certainly is a good counter measure for IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s insane insistence on the full implementation of the 13A. With its very long term strategic planning and a fear of Islamic influence from its west, north, east and now south, India will be compelled to reconsider its stand on the 13A.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Keeping growing Islamic influence in the east well under Sri Lankan control is the key to the success of this strategy. So far they have generally conducted in a manner that would not jeopardize Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s national security. By aligning Muslim politicians with national politics, this trend can be sustained. With Indonesia, Pakistan and India itself having the first, second and third largest Muslim populations in the world, further Islamic power projection in itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s southern border will have India and its new found western allies guessing. Moreover, India share sea and/or land borders with both Pakistan and Indonesia.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s overrated fear of Islamic influence in the island was amply seen from its absurd claim last year that LeT (Lakshe-e-Toiba) had training facilities in Sri Lanka. This absurd claim was rejected by the Defence Secretary.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The second case in point is the incident involving a Tamil Muslim man from Tamil Nadu by the name Mohammad Niaz Abdul Rashid, who has allegedly associated with SIMI a Jihadi movement. He was arrested by the French police recently and India is in close contact with French officials on the matter. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/radicalised-moslems/794595/)

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ India created a Frankenstein monster that came to bite it in 1991. India is back in square one. Full implementation of the 13A will have India in trouble partly from its leadersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Islam-phobia and partly due to how western nations that wage a global war on Muslims would perceive it.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So it is in IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s best interests not to push the 13A too far as it would create what India fears most in its southern border.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And we are not even talking about the China factor yet!