The Fear Mongering Over Modi’s Anticipated Attitude Towards Sri Lanka Seems Premature.
Posted on May 19th, 2014
LankaWeb Weekly Editorial,
May 17th.2014
The Indian Prime Ministerial victory of Indian Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi has hardly settled in its global impact but already alarm bells seem to be ringing in the minds of some about a likely scenario comparable to Russia and Crimea as well as the ongoing tirade of actress turned politician Jayalalitha whose bellyaching over Tamil issues in Sri Lanka never seems to end and there are fears indicated by these skeptics that she too will be instrumental in an anticipated Indian aggression towards Sri Lanka. where the likes of Karunanidhi and Vaiko also deserve an honourable mention.
All this in the face of Mr Modi issuing an official statement that he looks forward to strong ties with Sri Lanka after his party’s ( the BJP) has won the Indian elections resoundingly by a landslide and appears to have taken charge as a leader far removed from his predecessor with an assertive and positive attitude towards Sri Lanka it is anticipated.
While Mr.Modi’s response to Sri Lanka President Rajapakse’s congratulatory message sounded very cordial where he has said as quoted from press reports that” It was wonderful speaking to you earlier today. I look forward to strong relations between Sri Lanka & India, it also seems to allay the fears of the skeptics and fearmongers who should in all probabilities tone down their rhetoric and wait for the initial moves of Mr. Modi and the manner in which he will set up his foreign policy which will surely affect Sri Lanka in the long run and hopefully for the better by comparison with the Manmohan Singh era There should surely be a peaceful co-existence between the two countries as before, Tamil Nadu’s agitations notwithstanding where no anxieties relative to Indo-Sri Lankan relations should ever be a concern given the assertive leaderships of both countries and the pragmatism of Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa who seems to know how to manouevre his way through the intricacies that have been for time immemorial, particularly salient matters related to India and Sri Lanka quite apart from the Tamil issue which by definition is an issue created to a greater part by Tamil Nadu itself and the need to carry the responsibilities for same with heads hung in shame an entitlement !In his typically magnanimous manner President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited prime minister designate Modi to visit Sri Lanka during a phone call to congratulate him on the Indian election victory as released by the Presidents information sources.
Hopefully he will respond where its outcome will be beneficial for both countries beyond the spectre of Tamil Nadu dissentors and promote a greater understanding towards resolution of related issues, in this case the Tamil Issue. While the Indian victory should boost the condfidences of the Sri Lankan people about a probable new era of better relations between India and Sri Lanka rather than have apprehensions it should also invoke a dialogue of exchanging ideas between the two neighbouring countries towards co-operating with eachother over many issues related to development and progress while it should also give rise to Indian cognizance of the efforts on the part of the Sri Lanka Administration towards encompassing the needs of all citizens including Tamils where the clarion calls of the likes of Jayalalitha, Karunanidhi and the rest of that cacaphonous brigade that seems to think that Sri Lanka belongs to the Tamil minority ( a miniscule one at that in Sri Lanka) whose attempts to overwhelm through Tamil Tiger terrorism a formidable majority of the Sinhala Nation ended up in failure despite the input and support of Tamil Nadu.This is something that should never re- manifest itself for all the grievous harm it caused to Sovereign Sri Lanka while those still in pursuit of the effort if applicable should also remember that Sri Lanka has many allies today who recognize the need to support her and stand by her in case of any crisis that could transform the peace and tranquility into one of mayhem and aggression and should govern themselves accordingly as the harm it would cause is more than likely to have a global impact with dire reprisals.
This said for the specific benefit of the Tamil Nadu agitators who continue to attempt targetting Sri Lanka perhaps for lack of better things to do with their time and moreso being non academics thrust into self acclaimed political leadershipm which sometimes is somewhat amusing despite the consternation !! It is indeed true that there have been fears by some analysts on the policy Modi will adopt with regards to Sri Lanka with Tamil politicians like Vaiko by his side during the elections where during the election campaign Vaiko had said that “a Modi-led Government at the Centre would not repeat the blunders of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government on the Sri Lankan Tamils and fishermen issues.” he has further emboldened himself to suggest that “I guarantee the voters that he will never betray the Tamils.” Vaiko’s rhetoric leads many to believe that he is inciting the Modi Government already and needs to be dealt with accordingly inasmuch as the previous Indian Government did in a show of faith towards Sri Lanka irrespective of the Tamil issue which has nonetheless been one that the Government of Sri lanka has prioritised towards resolution albeit not in the crude manner invoked by the Tamil Nadu deadbeats who seem to prefer confrontation over negotiated settlement, the latter which will take time due to the many complexities it involves.While Mr.Modi himself has said that “with Tamils living all over the world, including in Malayasia, Sri Lanka and Fiji, it should be a priority of the Indian government to take care of their well being and he promised to do so if a BJP-led Government assumed power after the elections.” a statement that should not be misconstrued as it does not indicate a Modi assumption of Carte Blanche towards aggression against Sri Lanka but should be infered as a hand of support extended to the Tamils around the world that India will certainly participate in attempts to address their issues, some of which given the situations in countries such as Malaysia, Fiji and a host of others have precious little to do with Sri Lanka also bearing in mind that the Tamil community has its roots in India rather than Sri Lanka and has spread globally and at times mistakenly assumed it has its roots in Sri Lanka.
All in all it does seem a bit premature however to spread fear mongering about Mr. Modi’s anticipated responses to the related Tamil matters outlined and only fair to exercise understanding and co-operation towards his projected plans both for India as well as Sri Lanka in the expectation that it will be in the best interests of both countries rather than jumping the gun with unsolicited paranoia.
May 22nd, 2014 at 5:41 pm
The LankaWeb Editorial is Absolutely Correct! We should not PREJUDGE India’s new Premier Narendra Modi … there is a good chance that he would befriend Sri Lanka.
However, Federal Governments of India will come and go, while Tamil Nadu remains an important part of India, with INCORRIGIBLY RACIST leaders pursuing TGreater Tamil Nadu objectives in Sri Lanka.
Given that IMMUTABLE FACT, Sri Lanka should continue to develop its economic, diplomatic and military strength and work towards ESCAPING India’s DEADLY EMBRACE from suffocating our Motherland. That objective has NOTHING to do with Narendra Modi, but is an IMPERATIVE given the limited lifetimes of any friends we can cultivate in India.
We Sri Lankans have to HOPE for the BEST, and PREPARE for the WORST firm in our belief and our hardwon experience over several millenia that the pendulum of India’s internal politics swings randomly for and against us.
Sri Lanka needs to innoculate itself against all Indian diseases that inevitably will blowi across the Palk Strait!
In support of this view, I recently commented as follows:
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Bravo Senaka!
Your article confirms what I have been preaching to those who vilify Modi as a one-dimensional Hindu nationalist.
Modi’s Hindu credentials are tempered by his experience of not only the Discrimination his low caste has earned him from his Hindu high-caste countrymen, but also his Buddhist heritage in Gujerat that has opened his eyes to anti-caste message of the Lord Buddha. He knows that Buddhism incorporates the BEST of Vedic Hinduism and none of its vices as practiced by its caste-bound followers.
Modi is not the ONE DIMENSIONAL man defined by his critics; he may yet surprise them by what he achieves in the Best Interest of India!
Certainly, we Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka wish him well, and invite him to guide India in the direction of FRIENDSHIP towards Sri Lanka, rejecting both the Racist Tamil Nationalists of Tamil Nadu seeking to divide and conquer Sri Lanka, and the siren songs of the Neocolonialist West seeking to pit India against China and exacerbating in India’s own internal divisions.
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How Modi resolves objections by Tamil Nadu party leaders to his inviting President Mahinda Rajapaksa to his inauguration will provide an early indication of his attitude towards Sri Lanka in the future, and his willingness to use his lanndslide victory to discipline India’s internal administration.
Will he have the backbone to enforce foreign policy in the National Interest, or will Modi buckle in face of the IMPLIED THREAT by the Racist leaders of Tamil Nadu, to agitate for secession of the Dravidian South, and Tamil Nadu in particular, from the Indian Union?
Will Modi have the GUTS, as Jawarharlal Nehru did, to come down forcefully on upstart states that threaten TREASONOUS SECESSION with India’s SEDITION Laws?
This issue of reigning-in UNRULY States that increasingly challenge the power of the Union Govt is an issue that will be central to the future teritorial integrity of India. If every regional power having an axe to grid with a neighboring country tries to blackmail the Union Govt and vetos National Policy, India will disintegrate fast, as neighboring countries and the Neocolonialist west intervenes to create power blocks within India.
We saw this in action already during the last UPA Govt when Hillary Clinton vited Tamil Nadu ignoring India’s Federal Govt and plotted strategy against Sri Lanka, and perhaps, even helped to engineer Jayalalitha’s landslide Lok Sabha election victory.
If Modi fails to assert his authority NOW, it may be viewed as a sign of weakness, and we may increasingly see regional powers attempting carve out their fiefdoms independent of the federal authority.
What Modi does now on this issue will signal his willingness to fight for the unity and integrity of India even as he moves to deliver on his election vows to develop India’s infrastructure, streamline and improve the efficiency and honesty of its administration, and grow the economy to uplift its people.
May 22nd, 2014 at 5:58 pm
Mark my Words …. Five years from now, Tamil Nadu leaders will be backing the Congress Party, hoping to undermine Modi’s electoral strength at the Centre, and create a weaker Union Govt that they can blackmail … as they did before!
That will UNDERSCORE my warning that Sri Lanka has to use the intervening 5 years to raise itself into an UNASSAILABLE POSITION to weather the return of POLITICS AS USUAL in India .. 5 years from now!
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Tamil Nadu CM not happy with Indian PM’s invitation to Sri Lankan President
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 22,Chennai: Beginning to exert pressure on the new Indian government even before the incoming Prime Minister is sworn-in, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has expressed her dismay on the new PM’s invitation to Sri Lankan President to attend his inauguration.
In a statement Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said today that the new Government taking charge in a few days in New Delhi no way alters the already existing strained relations between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
The new Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has invited all the heads of SAARC countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – for his swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 26.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, keen to better the strained relations with the neighbor, has accepted the invitation to attend the ceremony.
Recalling that the Tamil Nadu government over the last three years had passed numerous resolutions against Sri Lanka including an economic embargo, the Chief Minister said the previous government chose to ignore the resolutions and “trampled the sentiments” of the Tamils.
With the election of the new government, she said, her state had hoped that the new Government to be formed at the Centre would be sympathetic to the cause of Tamils and friendly to the State of Tamil Nadu.
“However, even before the new Prime Minister and the new Government assume office and begin functioning, this unfortunate move of inviting the Sri Lankan President to attend the Swearing-in Ceremony of the new Prime Minister of India has deeply upset the people of Tamil Nadu and wounded their sentiments all over again,” Ms. Jayalalithaa said.
She said the invitation to Sri Lankan President is “tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the already deeply injured Tamil psyche.”
The Chief Minister suggested the new Central Government that it would be better for the relationship with the state government if this “ill-advised move” had been avoided.