Sri Lanka’s President must protect Sri Lanka’s National Security from India
Posted on September 4th, 2012

Shenali Waduge

When the majority of Sri LankanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s however fascinated they are with Hindi movies remain concerned about the prominence given to India in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s post conflict developmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  that concern should not be ignored. The concern is nothing that India can be upset about. There is a history behind Sri LankanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s resentment of IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s action. It was the very person who India assisted to reign terror in Sri Lanka that kept India at bay and despite militarily defeating the LTTE we are now faced with a precarious situation that Prabakaran ironically kept away from Sri Lanka. Where are we going wrong?

An Eelam exclusively for Tamils was not in any part of the western or Indian agenda inspite of supporting LTTE. It was the followers and those who believed an Eelam was possible who ended up being fooled and continue to be fooled. This is so because if Eelam was ever the goal, Eelam would have been created (just as Bangladesh was) whether Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Governments agreed to it or not. Moreover, with President Rajapakse being such an accessible person was there any need for the embarrassing way India exerted pressure on Sri Lanka through the final months of the conflict when in over 30 years numerous Indian Governments seemed to care little about the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils to make similar demands on Prabakaran. Had India been so concerned about Sri Lankan Tamil citizens they should have done something to at least stop LTTE from kidnapping children and making them into child combatants instead of giving a carte blanche for the LTTE to use Tamil Nadu as a safe haven. Yet it was the Sri Lankan President who offered these child combatants a Presidential pardon and reintegrated them into society and reunited them with their families.

What we fail to understand is why an India that nurtured terrorism in Sri Lanka, threatening to invade the island if Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s troops captured Prabakaran (1987), used the existence of terror to highlight its concern over its own security and forced Sri Lanka to sign the Indo-Lanka Accord and amend its constitution to introduce the 13th amendment, merging the North and East of Sri Lanka with the foresight of annexing Sri Lanka if PrabakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s eelaam got out of control with external partnerships should be given any stake in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s post-conflict?

Can our President and our policy makers explain to us the rationale of doling out key economic stakes and nationally important strategic points to India on the excuse that India is helping us with ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-economic developmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ when it is blatantly clear India is putting into motion IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s real agenda of annexing Sri Lanka to protect its turf?

We cannot understand how economic development can ever compromise national security? Taking care of national security means nothing other than securing the safety of our island nation and the future of its citizens. The fact that policy makers have ignored this all important area has resulted in a surge in Indian labor (legally and illegally), takeover of private enterprises that are now dominated by Indians, Indian CEOs and key personnel holding important portfolios that ultimately decide the fate of Sri Lanka. Are we geared to handle any situations that are likely to be detrimental to Sri Lanka? As citizens our concern regarding trusting India is such that following the manner India voted against us and influenced other nations to vote against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights sessions we can never stop doubting IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s motives.

Aiming to achieve FDI flow of $3b-$10b is one thing but what is more important is ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ whom we are inviting as investors. No amount of FDI inflow will be beneficial if there is no country to call our own and there is little use in thinking IMF or World Bank can provide answers ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” their objective is to keep nations in debt and to amass interest payments to give to the developed world!

From $18m FDI flow, IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s FDI reached $126m in 2008. It is believed to be $457m currently. In 2011, 8 out of 9 projects to which Sri Lanka granted approval is estimated to be $168m compared to 2010 when 15 investments brought $72m and 2009 when investment was $77m. From just 10 or less companies during LTTE reign there are over hundreds of Indian companies and single entrepreneurs set up in Sri Lanka whilst others running through Sri Lankan proxy make a larger list.

While on the surface we can quote FDI flow, India has strategically ironed out its economic takeover of Sri Lanka ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” India has made a stake in oil, oil exploration, telecommunication, banks, tourism and hotel industry, vehicles and machinery, utilities, renewable energy, plantations, fertilizers, ago-processing, food processing, pharmaceuticals, education and knowledge industries, IT, bio-tech and their interest in real estate has resulted in a $460m proposed Tower in the heart of Colombo with a 99year lease which spells further dangers for our national security. The Tower will be able to watch every vessel coming in and going out, it can overlook our naval establishments and other key stakes ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” it is perfectly based to completely undermine our security and that surely must spell danger. This together with the interest shown in expanding IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s role in Mannar and Cauvery basins calls us to take a deeper look at the geographical location of Mannar to understand what Indian policy makers have in mind.

On the magnanimous gesture of improving bilateral economic trade, improving job opportunities for ONLY Tamil ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-victimsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ India is building homes, schools, vocational training, Sampur thermal power auto components, pharmaceutical industries by creating a Special Economic Zone in Trincomalee. Trincomalee belongs to the Eastern province of Sri Lanka which was liberated far before the North, its ethnic composition leaves Tamils in the minority and this certainly reiterates our previous belief that the very reason why India insisted on the merger of the north and east through the 13th amendment was in order to secure the Trincomalee natural harbor. That interest has been clear since World War 2 when it was leased Trincomalee for oil storage. It is Trincomalee that prompts IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s outsourced local mouthpieces to demand a remerge of north and east through the TNA. It is therefore, beyond our comprehension why we are offering these key security hubs to India on a golden platter and begs to question whether our policy makers are providing proper advice to the President!

We find no fault with Indian policy makers. They are afterall working towards securing the interests of their countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s security as rightfully they should. We need to know what our policy makers are doing to secure Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s national security interests?
India is not naƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¯ve not to be aware of the status quo of its own country. Its selfish policies have left its neighbors hating India. IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s politics in its modern context is being steered West not out of popular consensus but because of the Italian influence. It is probably the Indian bureaucracy that is keeping India from seeing the fate of what befell the Soviet Union trapped into a Glasnot and Perestroika. We are well aware that Western diplomacy is all about shaking hands, making deals and conducting parallel programs to adopt limited intervention depending on the scale of their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-interestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” thus Obama smiles with Manmohan and Hillary plans dissent with Jayalalitha! The West is using India to one day attack China. Whatever India has done to us we do not want India to be divided.

In Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s case the national security must never be left to the sole decision making of the external affairs ministry! As a unit more concerned about pleasing their counterparts and establishing diplomatic relations it is doubtful that they will have any plan to counter let alone establish ways and mean to protect Sri Lanka or a blueprint to follow to ensure whatever economic stakes we give does not compromise our country or its people. At this crucial juncture it is better that we put all our efforts towards agriculture and take that to the level that it deserves. The future conflicts will be about food and water, food security is the key area that we now need to concentrate onƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.we should not destroy what we naturally have or hand it over to foreigners.

As things stand we have reason to be alarmed. Those bothered only about the rise in gas prices or vegetables will never know the magnitude of that concern. In reality their voice is just 1% of the population ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” many of them hardly pay their taxes to the State though ever ready to point fingers.

Unfortunately, we are faced with the scenario of deciding which powerhouse to lean towards. Power politics are such that countries as small and economically drained as Sri Lanka cannot realistically follow a non-aligned approach though ideally we should. It is AsiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s century which means the rise of two powerhouses in India and China. China is gathering its pearls while India has fallen prey to Western promises though it is securing links with South-East Asia. The game of politics is all about securing interests and Sri Lanka is a focal point. A question obviously asked is with whom our allegiance should be. ChinaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s pearls have been established through state-backed programs that have had more give than take. Its associations with Russia and Pakistan have given similar incentives to Sri Lanka. Giving military bases to these is better than a country that is taking over the economy of Sri Lanka. IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s on the other hand has been nothing but take and that take has been strategically planned cohesively to take over areas that hold strategic interest to them with the eventual plan of tying up Sri Lanka for good. Is it so difficult for us to decide where our allegiance should be given that we have little choice to stay single?

We are not asking GOSL to sever ties with India all we say is that a Sri Lankan economy controlled by India offers little benefit to the natives of Sri Lanka!

Our goodwill has been returned only be continued harassment by India ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” our pilgrims are being attacked, our tourists to India are being attacked and so too are our sportsmen and those undergoing training so much so that finally Sri Lankan Government has taken action with a travel warning. It is now time for the Government to realistically view the dangers of India in Sri Lanka.

The national security of Sri Lanka must take precedence over all decision making.

 


21 Responses to “Sri Lanka’s President must protect Sri Lanka’s National Security from India”

  1. Lorenzo Says:

    SL’s national security is MOST SACRED and SUPREME to everything else including religion.

    If national security is not protected nothing else will survive.

    But the govt is destroying it after 2009. Indians, Arabs and Americans rule SL. They get what they want FIRST. SLs get whatever remains (IF ANY).

  2. aloy Says:

    This is a very good and timely article that should be reproduced in all Sri Lankan news papers.
    Thank you Shenali for this effort.

  3. nandimitra Says:

    Sri Lankans are deprived of adequate discussion on the main issues of economic development, Indian interference with below the table agreements.The rulers no best like JRJ who claimed he could do any thing except make a man a woman. This is the philosophy.In their endeavour to achieve their personal aims , Security and the economic independence are ignored. In addition the politicians are weak because their actions are with out the political weight of the public. That weakness is exploited by India. It is time the Sri Lankans respond the same way that indians behave, Chase the whole lot away.

  4. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:

    India threatened England in order to take Gurduspur and Ferozpur allocated to Pakistan
    India swallowed Junagarh on the basis of majority Hindu against the wishes of its nawab who had acceded to Pakistan.
    India swallowed Hyderabad on the basis of majority hindu against the wishes of its nizam
    India swallowed Kashmir on the basis of the maharaja ‘wishes’ irrespective of the muslim majority’s wishes. The instrument of ascension was conveniently “lost”.
    India swallowed the princely state of Bantva-Manavadar and it 26 Muslim villages.
    India invaded and absorbed Goa 4,000 Portuguese security with a force of 30,000 on the basis of a foreign presence on “republic of India’s” land. Portugal broke relations with India.
    India annexed Sikkim by formenting a coup against the Buddhist king manipulating the grievances of his subjects. The prime minister that supported India was labelled a traitor by his own people. 5,000 Indian soldiers stormed a force of 243. 1 nineteen year old palace guard was killed. Sikkim the tiny country was no more
    India maintains contested boundary sections with Nepal including 400 sq. km over the Kalapani River.
    India continues to stall negotiations on disputed territory in Sir Creek with Pakistan
    India invaded Siachen Glacier
    India swallowed Muslim-populated Minicoy Islands (forgotten by the British) without any negotiation with the other dominion (pakistan) nor the Maldives who also lay claim to the island.
    Indian encroached on Nepali lands and committed atrocities along the border villages of western district of Dang. These actions resulted in the displacement of more than 6,000 people from their homes. Cases of rape and disappearance have been reported.
    From Jhapa in the east all the way to Darchula in the west (where the Indian military has even set up a permanent base), the pattern of border encroachment is repeated, with forceful displacement, shifting of border markers and appropriation of territory.
    India has already appropriated some 59,970 hectares of Nepali territory at 54 points in 21 districts.

    India arrested the PRIME MINISTER ABDULLAH of Kashmir in 1953 when he did not tow the Indian line.

    India rejected UN proposals to keep 16,000 troops until plebiscite is held.

    India has banned Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International from Kashmir over 20 years. Recently to AI personnel were allowed into Kashmir. They are Indians! Their first course of action was to call Kashmir an integral part of India (a fact disputed by almost all countries in the world… except India).
    Indian Armed Forces are allowed to arrest non-violent protesters and are slapping them 2 years imprisonment under PSA laws
    Kashmir WAS under direct President’s rule in the 1990s, after the state legislature was dissolved (the federally appointed governor had admitted that the Kashmiri legislature had a history of rigged elections).
    India also regularly refuses visas for international rights advocates. In 2003, India denied a visa to the head of Amnesty International, Irene Khan
    A delegation from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a congressionally mandated body, was denied Indian visas.
    The Indian security forces have flouted all norms of civilized conduct. Kashmiri youths have been murdered in cold blood in fake encounters and Kashmiri women of all ages were and are gang-raped in the prescence of their families. International human rights organizations and the international press has been refused entry into the State by the Indian government.
    Even this horrifying imbalance of 1 soldier for every 6 Kashmiris (majority of whom are old men, women and children) has failed to suppress the freedom movement.
    India did not outlaw hindu practice of forced temple prostitution until 1988.
    RAW has responded to Pakistani arms and training for Muslim militants in the disputed region of Kashmir state. RAW allegedly executed a hijacking of an Indian Airliner to Lahore in 1971 which was attributed to the Kashmiris, to give a terrorist dimension to the Kashmiri national movement. However soon the extent of RAW’s involvement was made public.
    RAW has a long history of activity in Bangladesh, supporting both secular forces and the area’s Hindu minority. The involvement of RAW in East Pakistan is said to date from the 1960s, when RAW promoted dissatisfaction against Pakistan in East Pakistan, including funding Mujibur Rahmanh’s general election in 1970 and providing training and arming the Mukti Bahini.
    In Nepal, India backed a feudal aristocracy for four decades, reinstating the monarchy by force after repeated popular revolts. It trained the Nepalese military, and orchestrated political marriages between Nepalese aristocrats and wealthy Indian families.
    India has supported “Baluchistan liberation army” and related terror outfits.
    India supported the Northern Alliance against the Pashtuns majority but blames Pakistan for interference
    India financed anti-Pakistan Northern Alliance. NA is responsible for many massacres in Kabul.
    India imposed an economic blockade on land-locked Nepal in 1989
    In 1971, Elements of the Indian Army looted Bangladesh while the high command benefited from the loot.
    India supported Shanti Bahini insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts according to Bangladesh
    “Ignoring and reputing Sri Lanka’s sovereign and independent status, and violating all limits of shamelessness, M K Narayanan, India’s National Security Advisor, on May 13, 2007, thundered out like a so-called superpower declaring, “We are the big power in this region. Let us make it very clear. We strongly believe that whatever requirements the Sri Lankan government has, they should come to us. And we will give them what we think is necessary. We do not favour their going to China or Pakistan or any other country
    Indian conducted military regime-change operations in the Maldives
    In Sri Lanka, India funded SWRD, trained Tamil terrorists in Palestine camps and in Tamil Nadu, brought CBK back and funded her, resurrected JVP with funds then SF.
    During the course of its investigation the Jain Commission received testimony on the official Indian support to the various Sri Lankan Tamil armed groups in Tamil Nadu. From 1981, RAW and the Intelligence Bureau established a network of as many as 30 training bases for these groups in India. Centers were also established at the high-security military installation of Chakrata, near Dehra Dun, and in the Ramakrishna Puram area of New Delhi. This clandestine support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), some of whom were on the payroll of RAW, was later suspended. Starting in late 1986 the Research and Analysis Wing focused surveillance on the LTTE which was expanding ties with Tamil Nadu separatist groups.
    The RAW and the Ministry of External Affairs are provided Rs 25 crore annually as “discretionary grants” for foreign influence operations. An extensive network of Indian operatives is controlled by the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. The Indian embassy’s covert activities are reported to include the infiltration of US long distance telephone carriers by Indian operatives, with access to all kinds of information, to r blackmail relatives of US residents living in India. In 1996 an Indian diplomat was implicated in a scandal over illegal funding of political candidates in the US. Under US law foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to federal elections. The US District Court in Baltimore sentenced Lalit H Gadhia, a naturalized US citizen of Indian origin, to three months imprisonment. Gadhia had confessed that he worked as a conduit between the Indian Embassy and various Indian-American organizations for funneling campaign contributions to influence US lawmakers. Over $46,000 from the Indian Embassy was distributed among 20 Congressional candidates. The source of the cash used by Gadhia was Devendra Singh, a RAW official assigned to the Indian Embassy in Washington. Illicit campaign money received in 1995 went to Democratic candidates including Sens. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.), Paul S. Sarbanes (D -Md.) and Reps. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.)
    RAW began its activities much earlier in what was then East Pakistan. The short-sightedness and neglect of Bengali sensitivities by successive Pakistani governments since independence provided the perfect milieu for RAW to lay the seeds for wrecking Pakistan from within.
    The Indians played upon Bengali sentiments in the aftermath of the 1965 Pakistan-India war through RAW so that when opportunity struck the Indians were well-prepared. It was RAW that gradually converted Sheikh Mujibur Rehman from being a staunch supporter of Pakistan as a student leader to envisaging himself as the possible ‘Father’ of a new nation – Bangladesh. Indian sources, including journalists, have put on record how much before 1971 RAW had established the network of a separatist movement through ‘cells’ within East Pakistan and military training camps in Indian territory adjoining East Pakistan. The Mukti Bahini were all in place organizationally to take advantage of the political trouble in 1971 and carry out acts of sabotage against communication lines so that Indian forces simply marched in at the ‘right’ time. RAW agents provided valuable information as well as acting as an advance guard for conducting unconventional guerrilla acts against the Pakistani defence forces. A Bengali, who was a Mukti Bahini activist, Zainal Abedin, has written a revealing book which includes his personal experience in Indian training camps, entitled RAW and Bangladesh. It was the post-fall of Dhaka period which exposed the Indians’ true intentions and made Abedin realize that It was evident from the conduct of the Indian Army that they treated Bangladesh as a colony … It is now evident that India had helped the creation of Bangladesh with the aim that it would be a step forward towards the reunification of India.Because Mujib returned, Indian forces could not remain in Bangladesh permanently and so it fell on RAW to initiate other fronts to undermine the sovereignty of Bangladesh. RAW has since been seeking to create I Indian dominance culturally, ideologically and economically in Bangladesh. In addition, RAW has also created another insurgency force: The Shanti Bahini (Fighters for Peace). This force comprises the Chittagong Hill Tracts Hindu and Buddhists tribesmen (the Chakmas) and the intention is to bleed the Bengali military and keep the border area tense. The Chakmas used to embarrass the Bangladesh government especially when the latter protested over Indian policy on the sharing of waters’ issue

    Inheriting an “undivided” India conquered by the Mughals and consolidated by the British into an administrative unit called “British India”, the Indians maintained an aggressive stance in the 50s as seen by this poster. This sense of self manifested itself in the provocative forward policy which resulted in a catastrophic defensive defeat at the hands of the Chinese.
    India started the nuclear arms race in South Asia in 1974 called “peaceful”.
    “During the spring of 1979, when Washington made unsuccessful attempts to frame a regional solution involving ‘mutual restraint’ by India and Pakistan of their nuclear activities, Indian prime minister Morarji Desai declared that ‘if he discovered that Pakistan was ready to test a bomb or if it exploded one, he would act at (once) to smash it
    The Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Mr. Sood, interfered in the choice of Nepal’s Commander-in-Chief. By doing so, he has made it clear that Nepalese right to choose their government remains a right as long as their choice does not contradict with Indias’ vested interest in Nepal
    India started the nuclear provocation by testing nuclear weapons on Pakistan’s border in 1998 leaving Pakistan no options to demonstrate her nuclear deterrents.
    India border forces have killed hundreds of Bangladeshi border guards.
    India continues to fence the disputed borders with Bangladesh regardless of the Bangladeshi protests.
    India continues to support the Dalai Lama & Tibet Separatists to instigate the Chinese
    Indians government warned: “If the Chinese will not vacate the areas occupied by her, India will have to repeat what she did in Goa. She will certainly drive out the Chinese forces.” India initiated the Forward Policy setting up checkpoints north of the McMahon line.
    Bangladesh often finds itself on the receiving end of Indian development projects utilizing the numerous rivers that flow through the country apart from the constructing of Indian fences along the Bangladeshi border to placate Indian xenophobia resulting in ruined commerce interactions and livelihood for villagers on either side of the border.
    Up to the mid-seventies the Sri Lankan government had kept India happy by following policies which followed the Indian line – domestically and externally. The trouble began in 1977 when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) lost power to the Jayawardene-led United National Party in elections. He moved towards a more cooperative policy with the United States and Sri Lanka chose to oppose the Indian demand for the withdrawal of all foreign naval forces from the Indian Ocean. Mrs. Gandhi had already been irked by Sri Lanka’s support to Pakistan during the 1971 war when it allowed landing and fueling facilities to Pakistan’s East-West commercial flights. So RAW saw a perfect opportunity to exploit within the prevailing dispute between the Sinhalese majority (74 percent) and Tamil minority (14 percent) over distribution of economic and social spoils of independence. Before the two sides could work out a compromise, India, through its RAW, managed to polarise the two sides as well as militarise this essentially political conflict. On the Mukti Bahini model, RAW built up terrorist training camps in India for a number of Tamil terrorist organizations, while India suddenly began orchestrating a public campaign feigning concern because of the links the Tamils had with the 50 million Indian Tamils of Tamil Nadu state – which was separated from Sri Lanka by the Palk Straits. It was only a matter of time before the militants trained in India began sidelining the moderate Tamils and instead demanding complete independence – Eelam. Ironically, the presence of Tamil training camps in Tamil Nadu often created a law and order situation when large arms were captured by the state police. The surprise for the state government came when New Delhi ordered that such captured material be returned. RAW waged a secret war in India beginning 1983 so that when the Sri Lankan armed forces launched a major offensive against the Tamil militancy in 1987, the Indian government had already ensured that the Tamils were well supplied and were able to conduct terrorist acts that brought the war closer to Colombo. Tamil Nadu had become the sanctuary for the Tamil terrorists in their hit-and-run tactics. Already, a year prior to this offensive, that is by 1986, there were over 20,000 Indian trained and financed Tamils and India forced Sri Lanka through this militant pressure to alter its foreign policy. But even more crucial, India by now was systematically destabilizing Sri Lanka. Being unable to resist the temptation to now intervene directly, India used the Sri Lankan offensive against the Tamil terrorists to force Sri Lanka to accept India’s armed intervention ostensibly to save ‘ innocent Tamil civilians’. Unfortunately for India, the controversial Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987 proved to be as much of a failure as India’s policy of direct intervention. The result was India’s massively assisted LTTE turned on its benefactor and declared war against the Indian forces in Sri Lanka. All in all, this Indian adventure killed 60,000 men, women and children and forced the Indians to withdraw their forces without successfully completing their mission. The price has been steep for both India and Sri Lanka and even today Sri Lanka is paying the price for this Indian-initiated and RAW inspired polarised conflict.
    Before the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan altered the dynamics of the whole Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship, RAW sought to nurture the Pakhtunistan issue clandestinely even as the Indian government sought to overtly cosy up to certain members of the political elite in the NWFP.When RAW saw an opportunity in Balochistan in the form of Baloch discontentment – especially in the face of ZA Bhutto’s dismissal of the elected government of that province – it moved in fast to play up the issue of Punjabi dominance. While the Baloch insurgency may have had indigenous roots, it was nurtured and sustained with external aid and assistance and RAW’s trademark was clearly evident through the Afghan route.
    India continues to stall resolutions with Bangladesh over river boundaries, hundreds of enclaves.
    India forced China into war due its inflexibility with border territories unjustifiably ‘inherited’ from the British Raj and India’s provocative “forward” policy.
    Indian governments have refused to sign nuclear testing and nonproliferation agreements — accelerating a nuclear arms race in South Asia. (India’s second nuclear tests in 1998 on Pakistan’s border led to Pakistan’s decision to detonate its own nuclear weapons.)
    India supported the illegal, immoral and brutal Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Unlike the rest of South Asia, India did not boycott Moscow Olympics along with other democracies of the world.
    India rampaged through the sacred Sikh golden temple, killed sikh leaders and humiliated its followers.
    India used artillery against its own Sikh people in the residential neighborhoods of Amristar
    Indian police and para-military stood by idly as 3,000+ Sikhs were murdered during the Sikh Riots sponsored by the govt..
    India government stood by idly as the destruction of Babri Masjid took place
    Indian state government of Gujrat headed by Modi committed a state-sponsored pogrom in gujrat killing 2000+ Muslims and displacing 100,000.
    India has slaughtered 70,000-130,000 civilians in Kashmir
    Indian forces have raped 9900 women in Kashmir
    India maintains an army 0f 700,000 soldiers in Kashmir (50% of its total army and greater than the entire Army of neighboring Pakistan) against the civilian population of that small state which numbers less than 4 million people.
    India massacred peaceful Kashmiri protests in Gowkadal, Maisuma and Bijbehara
    human rights organization like Amnesty International and Asia Watch constantly report of indescribably inhumane treatment meted out to Kashmiris in government run torture cells and elsewhere
    “The Armed Forces (J&K) Special Powers Bill (1990), which have been passed by the parliament of world’s largest “democracy”. This Bill grants authorization to members of Indian Security Forces to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death against any person” without fire orders. 100,000+ people have been brutally murdered by the Indian Security Forces in the past 20 years and thousands more have been intimidated and terrorized
    According to a recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India’ s population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India. Most victims are of grisly INFANTICIDE not ABORTION.

    After 1971 war, the world chose Pakistan for Security Council instead of India due to India’s aggression:
    Pakistan triumphed over India in the 1976 elections to the Security Council, India’s then permanent representative, Rikki Jaipal, confided ruefully that he had received written commitments from well over a two-third majority of the General Assembly membership required for election. But India’s policies of the time — its 1971 military intervention to dismember Pakistan, absorption of Sikkim and the 1974 ‘peaceful nuclear explosion’ — had created disenchantment within the international community and played in Pakistan’s favour in the election. Indeed, these considerations were factored into the calculation that led prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to decide to challenge India’s bid for the Security Council seat that year.
    Pakistan and Bangladesh became friends in 1974. Bangladesh terminated its treaty of friendship with India.

  5. Dham Says:

    Timely reminder from Shenali and a presice detailed description of Indian aggression by NT. Thanks.

    Before anything, Sri Lanka should get India to accept all wrong doings. Then only a friendship can be pursued again.
    Another way is to set up hidden traps to stop Indian agression.
    But what is happening now is Mah(endra)Raja(pakse) is pleasing India unconditionly.

  6. Dham Says:

    F—Tamil,
    No. Jeyalalita is the one.

  7. Fran Diaz Says:

    Shenali, you sak : “What we fail to understand is why an India that nurtured terrorism in Sri Lanka, threatening to invade the island if Sri Lanka’s troops captured Prabakaran (1987), used the existence of terror to highlight its concern over its own security …”

    Before the Cold War, Sri Lanka had excellent relations with India. It was the Cold War and a sense of Regional security that prompted India to act in the way India did toward Sri Lanka. It is always mostly SECURITY issues that will prompt India to act as friend or foe.
    Let us not forget that India too was Colonised, same as Sri Lanka. India wants to feel SECURE & PROGRESSIVE – same as us.
    Sri Lanka has to Secure the country from within. Guarding the coastline against illegal migrants, revamping Education to suit the needs of the country, are but a few items that need serious attention. Toward this end, I for one would love to see a National Government in Sri Lanka, paving the way toward political unity with genuine concern and progress for the PEOPLE of this land. Political infighting is a waste in every sense of the word.

  8. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:

    Yes, it was true that the only thing that JR could not do was to change a man into a womam. That was during his era.

    In Thailand, thirty per cent 30% of the Teen age boys, are going through Surgery to transform themselves to Females, for economic reasons. JR never envisaged this era.

  9. Voice123 Says:

    I see, the administrator of Lankaweb has exercised censorship and deleted the earlier comments of the poster calling himself “fortamil”. Retaining one or two of them would have been a good illustration to the whole world, their pettiness and a reflection of the threats and realities we face. Now subsequent readers have to guess what Dham was replying to. However we have to give the administrator the credit for exercising self-restraint and not overwriting the words with comments based on his or her own ill-informed and subjective perceptions, something quite unique to Lankaweb. Read this while you can.

  10. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:

    VOICE123…………..Fortamil in this web site made a crude comment, vis-a-vis LORD BUDDHA ALSO A PARIAH, which is offensive to the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, and to the Buddhists of the World. It is down right Sacrilegious.

    I srongly objected right here to the Editor, that it was very offensive.

    Well I firmly believe he is now at Nandikdal resting in pieces.

  11. Dilrook Says:

    There is a larger and more dangerous issue here.

    The very same will happen if Sri Lanka share power with Tamil parties (TNA, TULF, etc.) or Muslim parties (SLMC) in whatever devolution model.

    Nationals from pro-Sri Lankan countries including China, Russia, Pakistan will be attacked by TNA, TULF crowds in areas under their control. That will land Sri Lanka in a very difficult position. It can even strain relations with these countries. It is no secret India and USA using Tamils as tools to attack their opponents which further raises its possibility.

    In fact it happened many a time during the war. In 2003 Tamil armed groups (losely called LTTE) attacked a Chinese trawler and killed 15 Chinese on board. In 2007 the Pakistani High Commissioner was the target of a similar attack.

    With the booming tourism industry, Indian and Tamil groups will be looking at ways to atatck their opponenets (or the proponents of Sri Lanka) while they visit the island.

    The same can happen with Muslim controlled areas. Intersted Muslim groups may attack US, Chinese, Israeli, Indian, rival Islamic groups or other tourists while visiting the regions controlled by them.

    Therefore it is imperative Sri Lanka refrain from any devolution model that will empower Tamils or Muslims in any region, province, state or district. Devolution can have very nasty international and diplomatic repurcussions. This is an area less explored.

    Punishing wrongdoers or law and order cannot resolve this problem. Firstly, it happens after the event. Secondly law and order is not perfect in a third world nation. Thirdly, political clout can make the wrongdoers immune from any action as in India. There is nothing India can do to prevent Tamil hooligans attacking Sri Lankans and invaing the island’s territorial waters. It is a tragedy of ethnicity based devolution.

  12. Fran Diaz Says:

    It is also Tamil Nadu’s “Ego-Antics” that spell more dangers for Sri Lanka. Ever since loss of popularity to lead all the southern states, TN politicos have been consistently using Sri Lanka as the place for dispossessed (Caste/poverty) Tamils to grab at, and use as a distraction from the real socio-economic problems of TN. Tamil Nadu is the difficult spot for both Sri Lanka and the rest of India. Ever since India’s PM Nehru brought in laws prohibiting secession, TN politicos have been eyeing parts of Sri Lanka as the place to grab. Foreign sources use these negative aspects to further their own gains, not necessarily gainful for Sri Lankans.

    The other downside is that most of the Maldives may go under water due to global warming. Sri Lanka must make sure that Lanka is not used as a place for Maldivians to exit to. Indonesia being a large Muslim state (earlier mostly Buddhist), is a far better destiny for Maldivians.

    Considering all the warning facts put forward by Dilrook too, it is imperative that Sri Lanka guards herself well. To this end, we suggest that the 13-A be removed from the Constitution of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lankans secure their country from within through all means possible.

  13. Fran Diaz Says:

    Correcting a typo : read ‘destiny’ as ‘destination’.

  14. Marco Says:

    One eminent Foreign Policy expert observed ” If India sneezes, Sri Lanka catches a cold”.
    Economically, India is not dependent on Sri Lanka, wish we could say Sri Lanka is not dependent on India.
    India is strategically placing itself to pick up the pieces when the “soft” loans from China come up for repayment.
    The next generation of Sri Lankans would be “cursing” the likes of Rajapakse clan, Cabraal, PBJ and the like.

    Try and equate the “Tamil minority in Sri Lanka” against the “Sinhala minority in South East Asia”

  15. Lorenzo Says:

    Micro’s racist Tamil Elam hallucinations won’t work.

    SL does NOT depend on India!! Get the facts right.

    SLs will be cursing people like you for plotting the Tamil Elam agenda even after the DEFEAT in Nanthikadal.

  16. Kit Athul Says:

    Susantha Wijesinghe, why bring JR and the change sex theory? JR has nothing to do with what Shenali is writing about. Can you prove that JR actually said this? I don’t think so. Time you got focused on what is happening today in SL not yesterday.

  17. Voice123 Says:

    Susantha Wihesinghe. Yes, “fortamil” is an obvious stirrer – probably from Tamil Nadu. Leaving one or two comments of his would remind us all of the ignorant, petty and envious mentality of many of his countrymen. If you live in Sri Lanka, you are not exposed to anti Sri Lanka Indians (and others) on a daily basis so you wont really know. We need to be forever on our guard for this. Otherwise our politicians will keep chanting “India is our friendly relative”, like a mantra, and many Sri Lankans will be misled and it would be easier for them to annex us.

  18. Voice123 Says:

    Marco etc – “fortamil’s” taunt about transvestites is easy to understand if you understand traditional Hindu and Muslim culture of the Indian subcontinent. For the rural masses in particular, women and girls are usually kept at home, are not sent to school and married off with dowry at puberty. Exception is the aristocracy like Gandhis and Butthos. In fact due to female infanticide etc there is a gender imbalance and many Dalit boys etc are forcibly made into Eunuchs (sometimes known as transvestites) to satisfy perverted men. Women are not expected to openly comment on politics etc so for “fortamil” probably a traditional Hindu recently hooked up to laptop and internet, for a South Asian, especially a “lowly Sinhalese” woman to comment in this way is a shame (Lajja) or “loss of honour” for all Sinhalas. They don’t know our culture is different. We must understand neighboring country’s mentalities better.

  19. Dham Says:

    F—Tamil is in fact MS Mudali coming with new name sice cannot get through the editor.

  20. Voice123 Says:

    Family is an Indian from Tamil Nadu. Sri Lankans Aren’t so stupid!

  21. Voice123 Says:

    I meant f-Tamil.

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