Dear Lilo,unfortunately,the current regime of Rajapakse,have given scant attention to the Indo-Lanka pact/whatever,and in the Gotabhaya interview,he categorically asserted the policies of the mment that there was no need for any "political settlement" after the war had been won.
Lanka is once again becoming an international issue,but the interests of those casting their eye on events in the island are quite divergent.Let me list out some points briefly and give my assessment of them:
1.The meeting between Hillary Clinton and the new TN CM,the TN factor:
HIllary's meeting with Ms.Jayalalitha was not a courtesy call.She had a hidden agenda which has now been revealed.Sri Lanka is a great embarrassment to the US as the US secretly supported the LTTE for decades,while pretending to be a friend of the island.If you look very carefully,you will see how the fascist LTTE wiped out all the other Tamil entities like PLOTE,etc.,whose ideology could be termed more socialist,assassinating leaders like Uma Maheswaran,Sabaratnam and the entire TULF political leadership of Amirthalingam upto Neelam Tiruchelvam and Lakshman Kadirgamar,Chandrika's FM.The LTTE were signiificantly supported by the US.Many on BR have also pointed out the caste and socio-religious background of key LTTE functionaries and their wetern connections.The Indian HC in Colombo allegedly intercepted communications between the LTTE and the US embassy when the IPKF were in the island.Pro-US Premadasa also threw out the IPKF after it had tamed the LTTE during the disgraceful era of the "Raja of Mandal",VP Singh.
During the last days of the LTTE,the US and other western powers who were secretly supporting it,tried desperately to save Prabhakaran and co. The US navy was allegedly on stand-by to rescue him and his key LTTE cadre by helo.Milli-Bond and the French FM flew into Colombo and tried to armtwist Rajapakse in person, and were told to "go fly a kite" as Lankans put it,Rajapakse giving them all the "upturned finger" (and India should forever remember with deep gratitude his extermination of the LTTE)! This to the US was an unforgivable act. That little Lanka could exterminate the world's worst terror outfit,that too in open defiance of the US,showed up the world's mightiest military power in a shocking light.What if other smaller nations followed Lanka's example? He is now in the firing line like Ghadaffi,Assad and co.All the warnings about an international inquiry,etc. are taking place according to plan and a specific schedule.Unfortunately,Ms.JJ is playing into the hands of opportune TN politicos and the US.While it is neccessary to underscore TN's sympoathy for suffering Tamils in Lanka,using its moral force if nothing else,she should always remember how Rajiv G. was betrayed by the very same northern Tamils and their fuhrer.As I predicted after the war,the Eelamists have regrouped in TN and using the LTTE/diaspora's vast coffers abroad,where upwards of $300M were its porfits from various illegal activities,are engaed in supporting an Eelam "resurrection" in TN.Now this will hav enot only a destabilising effect on Lanka but also a divise effect within India with parochial "splittist" voices creating mayhem,reviving one of the ancient plans to hive off TN from India in a "greater Eelam" which the LTTE subbscribed too all along.It may be a far-fetched plan today,but could add to the nation's internal difficulties already at sea with the Naxal and N-East problems which are being actively supported by China,Pak and others.
2.Rajapakse is losing the plot:
His brother Gotabhaya is no diplomat and calls a spade a spade.His interview only underscored the current GOSL's policies.In fact,the Lankans should ask the US why should there be an intl. inquiry against them when there is nothing against the US's well documented -on camers,human rights abuses and war crimes in Iraq (where the Abu Ghraib commandant,where Iraqis including women were raped ,tortured and murdered,even using dogs, is now out of jail on bail!),Afghanistan,Libya,etc.? The duplicity of the west should be warning for India to tread very carefully in the island and not lose sight of our own national and strategic interests.GOSL PR is unfortunately nowhere as sophisticated right now as it was earlier,when it had the services of its fine career diplomats-soem of whom I've known,and intellectuals serving its cause.When Kadirgamar,a Tamil,was its FM,it very effectively exposed the LTTE's fascism amd brutality an Lanka won the support of the entire international community...which is why Prabhakaran assassinated him! The GOSL must also communicate with the TN regime to show its genuine intent in ushering in an "inclusive" society.Several scribes have lamented before the neglect of the GOSL of the TN factor in diplomacy,preferring to communciate with Delhi almost always.
True,there is much work to be done to rehabilitate the displaced/affected Tamils.Demining,etc. is still going on.The Vietnam War de-mining is still ging on in Indo-China as a comparison! Here India is assisting Lanka.Some political space has been allowed with recent local elections which is a good thing.However,there must be more transparency in relieving the difficulties of the northern citizens in particular.This is where India should be more pro-active on the ground.In the time India hastaken to decide to restore the KKS port,the Chinese have built the entire port at Hambantota! If we do more and faster speed on the ground rehabilitation work in the N-East,it will not only help the GOSL but also show the TN poliicos that India (GOI) is concerned and acting in the interests of the Lankan Tamils too.This will also help us counter the massive PRC presence in the island.More on that.
The GOSL cannot imagine that a "winner takes all" policy will usher in a lasting peace.More on this phrase later.A renowned Lanka anti-LTTE Tamil,fromer VC of the Jaffna Univ.who returned to help in rehabilitation,is now returning back because he fears arrest by the GOSL.Since there is no war or armed struggle on right now,it is astonishing that the GOSL does not realise that the faster the N-East gets back to normal life and the creation of wealth through the hardworking people of the region,wounds will be healed.
3.The fishing problem:
After the war,Lankan Tamilian fishermen are returning to theri old fishing grounds.The last spat saw a fight between the TN and Jaffna fishermen,which shocked our boys.They should not be shocked at all.THis problem will continue for decades unless fishing vessels on both sides can be tracked automatically by sat/sensors and the IN/CG and SLN work out a method of cooperative/joint patrolling.
4.Lankan diplomatic shift,Indian action:
With the US and other western nations hounding Lanka on human rights/war crimes allegations,the GOSL is turning to China,Pak,Burma and pleading also with India to support it against the west/US.The BIAS bloc at the UN,where India has resisted a full condemnation of Libya indicates that the GOAL will receive from India signifucant sympathy,but expects from the GOSL much movement in restoring normality to the north and east and rehabilitation of the Tamils and other communities there.Here India should be pro-active and gaina foothold in this region of Lanka,where our ethnic ties are strongest,but always remembering how we were betrayed by the northern Tamils when Rajiv was assassinated.If I may put it very bluntly,there is more sympathy for Lankan Tamils in India and TN than sympathy for Indian Tamils and Indians when we face terrorism,etc.,from the Lankan N-East!
Rajapakse is turning increasingly to China and also Pak to ward off the US/west.India cannot alllow Lanka to fall into Chinese hands and must leverage its influence with the GOSL.Closer naval ties are on the anvil.We must checkmate the PRC by seeing that its military influence is curtailed and India gives the Lankana rmed forces the max. assistance possible.We should look at the Lankan forces in a long-term perspective as a strong battle-hardened force that could be complementary to India strategic interests.Imagine a Lankan military using Indian weapon systems like the LCA-very affordable,ALHs,upgraded T-72s and other ICVs,OPVs and fast patrol craft-Indian designed and built in Lanka which has some good boat building capability.In fact some small craft requirements forthe Indian Marine Police,etc.,could be acquired from Colombo.We have had many lankan officers at DSSC,etc.,who remember very fondly their days in India and their Indian colleagues and contacts.Indian wares should be given at "friendship" prices.When the Lankans,who are exceptionally sensitive about a division of their vcountry ,find that this relationship ensurs the stability of their nation,they will relax more internally and the political aspirations of its minorities will be fulfilled.
If India and Lanka sign a treaty,which as been gathering cobwebs for aeons,it will ensure that NO foreign power will ever gain a militayr foothold on the island,or it ne used against India.
5.Business links:
More than any other nation,being its "only neighbour" thanks to geography,India is in pole position to benefit from Lanka's relaxed investment policies.They have a well-educated people and workforce, and Indian investment should accelerate before external forcs inimical to India seize the opportunities.Tourism,IT,manufacturing,foodstuffs,infrastructure development,building materials,etc,health,auto sector,petro exploration,are some of the key areas where India could dominate the scene.Just imagine how the Gulf nations have risen from the desert sands.The tropical Lankan paradise could easily with Indian investment emulate them.
Finally,a Lankan viewpoint on the current situ from one who knows the country best.Chandrika herself,former pres.,who has experienced in her family assassinations (father and husband),attempted assassinations (mother and herself),personal physical loss (an eye),etc.,etc.and words of advice to her successor.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20110826281706600.htm
President Mahinda Rajapaksa with his predecessor Chandrika Kumaratunga at the 54th anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Colombo on September 6, 2005. Chandrika Kumaratunga has warned him of a "short-lived peace" unless the government shares power with the ethnic Tamil minority.
FORMER Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga chose a quiet July Sunday to speak her mind on the aftermath of a war that ended more than two years ago. “The victorious government and the Sinhala community must comprehend that the Tamil community is different from the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam].… I too am glad, extremely happy, that the war has ended and terrorism has been defeated. But I cannot blind myself to the fact that although we have won the civil war, we have not even begun to win the battle for peace. For winning peace implies bringing in and including ‘the others' fully and honestly not only in development but also as full and equal partners of the processes of government – to power sharing,” she said.
“An essential prerequisite for peace, a stable and strong government and prosperity, is a democratic, pluralistic state. This is the only magic potion I know to bind together diverse peoples of a multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, multi-religious and multi-cultural country like ours as one undivided and strong nation,” she added.
It was for the first time in over two years that a Sinhala politician of the stature of Chandrika Kumaratunga, who headed the government for nearly a decade, had come out openly and faulted Sri Lanka's majoritarian tendencies. Many others have admitted the calibrated exclusion of the Tamils in private, but none has spoken out for fear of being branded traitors.
There have seldom been half-measures with Chandrika Kumaratunga. Urging the government to work towards “an inclusive society”, she warned of a “short-lived peace” unless the government shared power with the Tamils. Delivering the Justice K. Palakidner commemorative lecture on July 24, she accused President Mahinda Rajapaksa of following a “winner takes all” policy after eliminating the last of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.
Citing examples from Sri Lanka's past and present, she tried to drive home the message that without pluralism Sri Lanka would have been much poorer. The greatest architect Sri Lanka has ever seen, Geoffery Bawa, was a Sri Lankan of Malay/Burgher lineage. “Could the Sinhala community alone have produced a Bawa, a Barbara Sansoni, an Ananda Coomaraswamy, a Muralitharan, a Duncan White, a Michael Ondaatje, a Shyam Selvadurai?... A massive number of our Burgher and Tamil people have left this country. If we persist in the present policy of winner takes all, we certainly will lose the remaining members of the minority communities,” she said.
She said she was shocked by the British television documentary “Sri Lanka's Killing Fields”, aired on Channel 4 about atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan troops during the final stages of the battle against the Tamil Tigers. “I shall remember till the end of my days the morning when my 28-year-old son called me, sobbing on the phone, to say how ashamed he was to call himself a Sinhalese and a Lankan, after he saw the 50-minute documentary. My daughter followed suit, expressing shock and horror that our countrymen could indulge in such horrific acts,” she said. Both her children are abroad.
Chandrika did not stop with the issues in contemporary governance. She outlined the past in detail and faulted many policies, including the Sinhala-only policy and, by implication, her own parents who had run the country. “Let us have the humility to admit that we Sri Lankans have failed as a nation. Let us look truth in the face, have the honesty and the courage to accept our mistakes and the generosity to make amendments. Continued denial of proven facts and abuse of our honest critics will not resolve the problem for anyone. Our leaders must take the lead in the noble task of reconciliation and reconstruction,” she said.
Chandrika has stayed clear of politics since she stepped down as President, but many have sought to enlist her support. Colombo's uppity party circuit is full of whispers about how some senior Ministers who are unhappy meet her regularly and implore her to make a comeback. Her only step in the recent past that can be construed as a mistake is her endorsement of former Army chief Sarath Fonseka ahead of the presidential election.
Chandrika's frank analysis is being viewed by some people close to the government as an “outburst of a leader searching for some relevance” and as unbecoming of a leader who failed the country in reining in the LTTE. Her critics received a major boost when parts of her speech were used in a new Channel 4 documentary that was released on July 21.
The whispers are now growing stronger on the timing of her speech and the release of the documentary. It appears that Chandrika Kumaratunga's days of living a quiet life behind the 10-foot-high walls of her house are over.
R.K. Radhakrishnan
I don't know who you represent here, the politicans are the Srilankans, these politicians sent your War hero to prison and I see you singing praise.