BETA

The situation in Sri Lanka is clearly an armed conflict governed by only humanitarian law. But the Sri Lankan authorities never failed to make serious efforts to seek to avoid application of humanitarian law at all but rather to have the international community view the armed conflict as a ‘terrorism/counter terrorism’ conflict. In this regard the United States has been very forward, putting a great deal of pressure on other states, notably the U.K., Canada, and the EU, to join it in listing the LTTE as a terrorist group.

 It is in fact unfortunate that these great nations failed to understand or rather appreciate that there is no rule in international law that forbids either civil wars or wars of national liberation in the exercise of self-determination. These struggles are simply not terrorism. Also obvious is the fact that the LTTE is not seeking the Sinhalese areas in the south but seeks to defend itself and the Tamils in the traditional Tamil areas. In this sense, the Tamil areas, the Sri Lankan forces are seen as a Sinhalese occupation.

Sri Lankan government has twin intentions. One was to seduce the international community by their charm offensive and to engage in a covert and overt genocide war against the Tamils. It is a natural event that the International Community is gradually and carefully coming out of the seduction. The actions of the USA, the UK, the EU in particular attributes to this state of affairs. It is high time that they accepted that Sri Lanka is a failed state: an out-law state that has the blood of the Tamils in their hands which has no regard for international law. The West can not be pretending any longer to be snoring while being wide awake.

India’s probity has always been doubtful. She was supportive of the division of Pakistan into West and East with an ulterior motive of overpowering them. But in the case of Eelam Tamils, she is aiding and abetting the Singhalese rulers to discriminate and deny the basic human rights of them. Tamils have to remember that the famous Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord of 29th July, 1987, does not provide even ‘The Federal Solution’ prevalent in India.

On a perusal and scrutiny of events that took place as from the date of arrival to the date of departure of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), it would be evident that the IPKF landed in Sri Lanka under the pretence of peace makers to disintegrate the infrastructure of the freedom struggle of Eelam Tamils. India had both overtly and covertly helped Sri Lanka now and then, militarily and shared military and naval intelligence with the Sri Lankan armed forces, especially the Navy. LTTE merchant ships were sunk in international waters with logistics provided by the Indian Navy.

Would the old Indian bureaucracy, lead by M.K. Narayanan who is the National Security adviser with his anti-LTTE conviction and with bias and fossilized ideas to discredit the noble cause of the militants struggling for equal rights and other stalwarts like B.Raman, who headed the counter-terrorism division at the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external espionage agency would have the common decency or magnanimity to get rid of the obsession, vengeance and vindictiveness and move on. It is only a wishful thinking. At least B.Raman has shown that he is at least half holy, by his disclosure.
Ref: Paper no. 2218 of 27.04.07, www.saag.org.
“I have been consistent in my views that:

(a) The Sri Lankan Government has been trying for a dictated peace. This should not be accepted by India and other members of the International community.
(b) The Sri Lankan Tamils need the LTTE to protect them from the Sinhalese extremists, but it should be the LTTE minus Prabhakaran and others involved in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
(c) India should not have anything to do with LTTE so long as it is led by Rajiv’s assassins. If it removes them, the Govt. of India should give it its full backing.
(d) The LTTE should not be allowed to have its own air and sea capabilities under any circumstance. If it gets away with them, we can’t control our own terrorist organisations tomorrow.”    
                  
The man who killed Mahatma Gandhi was linked to the RSS, and yet, the RSS is a major organisation in India today. Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31st October, 1984 as a Prime Minister by her 2 Sikh bodyguards, and jet today, a Sikh is India’s Prime Minister.
If India can pardon RSS and Sikhs, why cannot the alleged suspects of the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, whoever it may be, is pardoned. 

                                                                                          (To be continued)