Confusion confounded

(October 08, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) As the Sri Lankan troops got into a position of final assault on the LTTE after surrounding the Killinochi area, the political parties in Tamilnadu, most of whom are open supporters of the LTTE, have prepared themselves for their typical verbal assault.

The PMK was the first to catch the attention by organising a demonstration in front of the Sri Lankan High Commission, followed by a one-day fast organised by the CPI, which ended as a damp squib.

The MDMK, which participated in the fast, has separately orgnaised a protest on 10 October, which would be joined by the AIADMK too.

Even the BJP never fails to take up the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils and every now and then it raises its voice for their cause, apart from sending aids to them.

AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha, who pulled out of the fast organised by the CPI at the eleventh hour due to the overwhelming participation of Vijayakanth’s DMDK, has somehow felt that she must also enact a show for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils.

A staunch adversary of the LTTE, Jayalalitha criticised the DMK for not doing anything in the interests of Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian fishermen, though it is a part of the UPA government at the centre.

The TNCC, which felt the necessity to defend the Centre and at the same time to speak for the Sri Lankan Tamils, called for a press conference, where in, the TNCC President Thangkabalu tried his best to give an impression that the Congress has always been serving the cause of the Tamils in the Island nation.

Having got isolated, the DMK decided to conduct a public meeting with the exclusive agenda of the ethnic issue. On its eve, the Chief Minister gave a call to all his party cadres to send ‘telegrams’ to the Prime Minister demanding India’s intervention in the ethnic cleansing going on in Sri Lanka.

The PMK, VCK and the DK also joined the telegram drive and as a result the PMO was flooded with millions of telegrams. The Prime Minister immediately called up the Chief Minister and assured him that he would act ‘accordingly’.

The National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, as instructed by the Prime Minister, summoned the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner and asked his government to exercise restraint in their military operations against the LTTE. He has also conveyed India’s concern over the killing of civilians and the alleged shooting of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

Meanwhile, a suspected suicide bomber from the LTTE struck in Anuradhapura killing 28 people including former war hero and UNP main functionary Major General Janaka Perera, his wife, a few district level politicians and a TV Journalist.

As the LTTE is expected to increase its final terror assaults in the event of its severe setback in its strongholds, the Sri Lankan government will find it difficult to listen to the voices coming from India. Rajapakse has proved to be a tough leader and he is determined to wipe out the LTTE menace.

He has also sent a message to the Tamil community that he would respect their sentiments and work for a peaceful solution by conducting elections in the northeast. In a symbolic show, he spoke in Tamil at the UN general assembly.

Indian government is also aware of the Sri Lankan government’s predicament and hence will keep play things in a muted manner.

The PMK and DMK, being part of the UPA government, have obviously kept quiet for four and a half years and at the fag end of the term, they have become voluble on the issue. This smacks of cruel opportunism and exposes their duplicity.

It is amusing to see PMK leader Ramadoss ridiculing Karunanithi for not going to Delhi in person to meet the Prime Minister.

Only two months back he himself went to Delhi to meet Sonia and Prime Minister for the release of his part functionary Kaduvetti guru, who was arrested by the DMK government. Even then he never talked about Sri Lankan Tamils.

Similarly, almost all the Tamil leaders including the Chief Minister visit Delhi quite often to take care of their personal and party matters, but with regards to the Sri Lankan Tamil cause, they prefer just to write letters and poems. So, it is not wrong for AISMK leader Sarath Kumar to demand the exit of the DMK and the PMK from the UPA.

If the chauvinism of certain sections of Lankan society is a reason for genocidal targetting of Tamils, then the LTTE’s blood-lustways are equally responsible for sanguinary tendencies being perpetuated.

The possible solution to ethnic Tamil issue requires a lot of diplomacy and broad-mindedness on both the sides. On the face of it, both groups don’t seem to have that. Politicians in Tamilnadu by their rabble-rousing are only adding to the confusion.

An Editorial of the “News Today”, a daily evening newspaper published from chennai in india.
- Sri Lanka Guardian