{"id":82468,"date":"2018-10-28T11:31:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-28T17:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=82468"},"modified":"2018-10-28T04:21:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T11:21:18","slug":"sirisena-and-mahinda-averted-another-indian-invasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/10\/28\/sirisena-and-mahinda-averted-another-indian-invasion\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirisena and Mahinda Averted Another Indian Invasion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dilrook Kannangara<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

What happened on October 26, 2018 was far more than what is on the surface. India was on the verge of another invasion \u2013 the sixth attempt since 1972. The 1973 lopsided Sirima-Shastri Pact saw the invasion of the island by half a million Indians. Kachahativu deal was no better which has resulted in South Indian fishermen invading Lanka almost daily. In 1983 August India threatened to invade Lanka until a senior minister cautioned India of violence against Indians in the island in case of invasion. However, in June and July 1987 India invaded Sri Lanka. That invasion lasted 3 years until close defence relations with China forced India out. Fifth Indian invasion attempt was in May 2009. It was averted only with Indian fears for the safety of 300,000 Tamil IDPs in camps in case there was a larger war. Since 2012 India followed an open hostile and anti-Sri Lankan policy of voting against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. The sixth Indian invasion was on in 2018 when it tried to take over Mattala airport, Colombo Port East terminal and Palaly airport. It was averted at the last moment by a decisive Sirisena supported by Rajapaksas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sirisena Assassination Plot by Indians<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/p>\n

Having assassinated two Sri Lankan leaders for siding with China in 1959 and 1993, India was planning for the third kill. However, it was foiled by courageous action of a local. He revealed Indian plans to assassinate Sirisena and Gotabaya. Hidden animosity between Sirisena and India was simmering. A few months ago, Sirisena alleged that Tamil terrorists operating in South India were planning to attack Colombo during the last stages of the war. It is a fact that Tamil terrorists operated and still operate terrorist bases in India. This has been the case since 1970s. Sirisena and Ranil openly clashed over the latter\u2019s attempt to sell iconic local assets to India. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ranil, as he always does, record Sirisena\u2019s angry rant and revealed it to India in a recent trip. As the Indian assassination plot came to light, things had come to a head. Sirisena had to take decisive action and thankfully he did.<\/span><\/p>\n

In doing so Sri Lanka achieved the best of both worlds. Hambantota port was leased to China for the long term \u2013 a wise decision under the circumstances. And avoided handing over Mattala airport, Colombo Port East terminal, Trincomalee Port and Palaly airport to India.<\/span><\/p>\n

So far only China welcomed Mahinda\u2019s return to power.<\/span><\/p>\n

India condemned it in diplomatically deceptive statements. They insist following the Constitution. However, that is subject to interpretation. One interpretation is that Sirisena was right in doing so while the other says he was unconstitutional once again. The irony is that the President can violate the constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

We Have Not Seen the End of Indian Invasion<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/p>\n

However, it is foolish to think that this will be the end of Indian invasion attempts. India will try again until it is matched by an equal power. India plans to set up camp in the island to disrupt China, colonize the island with Indian language speakers and exploit the economy of the island. <\/span><\/p>\n

India is very likely to unleash Tamil terrorists once again on Sri Lanka. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka cannot take a chance with another Indian invasion. As a matter of urgency, Sri Lanka must invite China to set up a military base in Trincomalee. In return, a waiver on Chinese loans can be obtained.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sirisena is in Danger of Impeachment<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/p>\n

UNP, TNA and JVP together have 120 seats in parliament. Pro-Indian MPs outside these parties number over 20. They can come close to 140 seats. With other UPFA MPs opportunistically voting, they can get 150 seats in parliament and impeach Sirisena. Thereafter the Supreme Court will have to decision if Sirisena violated the Constitution. <\/span><\/p>\n

While it helps Rajapaksas to impeach Sirisena, it is highly disadvantageous for Sri Lanka. Sirisena will not go down without a fight and the ensuing political turmoil may turn violent allowing an Indian invasion. The events of last Friday showed again that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. Whatever one\u2019s views on Sirisena, he must be supported at this decisive moment. Only he has executive powers that can be used to destabilize the nation. The military must be put on alert to face any security threat. Government must also have a plan to arm millions of able-bodied patriotic civilian population to face a possible Indian invasion\u2019s local supporters.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dilrook Kannangara What happened on October 26, 2018 was far more than what is on the surface. India was on the verge of another invasion \u2013 the sixth attempt since 1972. The 1973 lopsided Sirima-Shastri Pact saw the invasion of the island by half a million Indians. Kachahativu deal was no better which has resulted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dilrook-kannangara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}