By Malin Abeyatunge
(February 15,Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) With due respect to Indian President Pratibha Patil, unfortunately she has got her wires crossed on the Sri Lankan Terrorist conflict and advising us how to run the country. According to media reports addressing the Indian Parliament, she has (a) appealed to the Sri Lankan government and to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to return to the negotiating table for a negotiated settlement and (b) that this can be achieved if, simultaneously, the Government of Sri Lanka suspends its military operations and the LTTE declares its willingness to lay down arms and to begin talks with the government,”.
To make such foolish requests either she has been ill advised or she knows nothing of the LTTE terrorist problem. Is she aware that LTTE scuttled five times when Government of Sri Lanka sat at the negotiating table with LTTE during the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in operation? Currently, there is nothing left with LTTE any more as the megalomaniac leader Prabhakaran is on the run covering behind the ordinary Tamil civilians. Once ferocious tiger has now just a paper tiger. It is now proved beyond doubt that they are not the angels but the demons of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Is she aware that LTTE has already killed 40 civilians fleeing from LTTE captivity and wounded over 170 Tamil civilians during the last two weeks? Adding insult to injury, she has asked the GoSL to suspend its military operations. After sacrificing the lives of thousands of our soldiers ( even India lost over 1000 of her soldiers when IPKF was in operation) and having reached the final assault on LTTE, does she believe that our Government will cease its operations to please India? She must be kidding. It appears that she has joined the band wagon of the western countries of the International Community who are trying to inject oxygen to dying LTTE? Or is she asking the Sri Lankan Government what the Prime Minister or the Foreign Minister in India could not make such request direct to GoSL to maintain the good relationship? Does she really believe that LTTE will ever lay down arms and surrender? If so, she must be day dreaming. So, Madam. President, instead of interfering with Sri Lankan politics, it would be more appropriate to look at your own back yard and make every Endeavour to make peace and negotiate with your own terrorist outfits like Naxalites and other Terrorist outfits operating in many Indian States.
However, our sympathies are with the Indian President Pratibha Patil if she had been led on the garden path by her political advisers to make such foolish and irresponsible statements in the Indian Parliament on Sri Lankan issue.
-Sri Lanka Guardian
Home Unlabelled President Pratibha Patil! Are you insane?
President Pratibha Patil! Are you insane?
By Sri Lanka Guardian • February 15, 2009 • • Comments : 3
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Malin Abeyatunge must ask himself a simple question. In the late 80s and early 90 it was the former President Premadasa who supported the LTTE by providing arms, funds and political cover. The LTTE was in the verge of annihilation, if not for President Premadasa IPKF would have completely wiped them off from the face of this earth. The war would not have lasted this far. Was it Indian President’s mistake or the folly of the Sri Lankan state and its political class? I hope Malin is not one of them.
One hope’s Malin is aware of the military support India provides to Sri Lanka in terms of funding, hardware, Intelligence, training and political cover in International Institutions. In other words India virtually is driving the war against the LTTE.
One hopes Malin is also aware that in the past 60 years since independence, Sri Lankan state never seriously considered addressing the minority grievances. If the state genuinely wanted to devolve power to the people it could have achieved it without the consent of the LTTE. LTTE was an excuse for not doing anything at all. It was the state’s intransigence which has prolonged the misery of the people irrespective of their race. Had Sri Lankan state unilaterally put forward a reasonable political package, it could have pulled the rug underneath LTTE. Tamil speaking people would have accepted a devolved political power sharing arrangement with or without LTTE’s approval. Was it Indian President’s foolishness which prolonged the misery of the people?
One hopes Malin is also aware of the situation where a third party would interfere in one’s domestic affairs if the husband ill-treats the wife. Had the husband behaved himself, the Indian President would not have foolishly interfered in the domestic affairs of Sri Lanka.
We who believe in democracy have been consistently campaigning against LTTE for its brutality and were aware of LTTE’s true strength. It never had mass appeal and its leader cut out a lack lustre figure. V Prabaharan is neither an intellectual nor a charismatic leader. How did he manage to build such a lethal organisation which has been wreaking havoc in Sri Lanka in the past 30 years? Not his oration which brought him the support of a section of the Tamil Speaking people but it is the state’s brutality generated the funds, recruitment and the support from the people. Sri Lankan state policies coupled with brutality of the arm forces which were the recruiting sergeants for LTTE. In other words it was not Indian Presidents’ foolishness but Sri Lankan state’s folly.
Malin should know it is not Sri Lanka which will determine the outcome of the war. Sri Lanka merely is a pawn in the game. Almost all outcomes are determined by outside forces, Sri Lanka is only the puppet and it should automatically assume that it is the puppet master. Sooner Malin and Sri Lanka understand this better for the people of all Sri Lankans. Failure to do so would only prolong the misery.
Finally, Malin and his fellow Sri Lankans may not know is what wheeling and dealing are taking place behind the closed doors. I am certain that Sri Lanka is already talking to LTTE either directly or through third party. Therefore Malin should not jump the gun which seems follish.
Reply to Mr. Naam Eelavar..Nothing to hide on Premadasa offering arms to LTTE but compared to India's coward role in nurturing LTTE from Indiara Ghandi Days, Premadasa's attempt is minimal compared to India's great role for decades.Even today Tamil Nadu jokers openly support LTTE, cry to Indian Govt. to attack SL.VP was a grade 8 thrown out, but this whole episode was an off spring of global Dravidian out cry for a country for global Tamils, thats how VP got this much of fire power with the blessings of Global Tamils + Indian contribution.President Prathiba acts like a small child who just plays with a small kitten which is actually a Tiger for decades.Again Indian funding,helping SL govt,.. Is it with 100% honesty?When SL wished to buy Radars from China, Russia, India blocked that & gave malfunctioning Radrs to SL, that is how initially LTTE was able to escape such ill equipped Radrs & attack in Colombo.No need 101 examples, India's dirty role in Sethusamuduram itself is enough to show her nudity & by force treatment on her neighbors.
Yohanne,
Your comments regarding my comments beg clarification. I am neither a “racist” Tamil nor a LTTE supporter.
1. The idea of Dravidian was first mooted by Max Muller to justify Imperial Powers possessing colonies. Recent researches clearly demonstrate there was no great Aryan Invasion of India. Please visit Cambay under water city which according to marine archaeologist practiced yoga and knew Sanskrit something like 12,000 years ago. Sanskrit according to proponents of Aryan Invasion Theory reached India only about 3,000 years ago. Therefore the myth that the Dravidians colluding together to create a Dravidian state does not hold water.
2. Indra Gandhi supported the LTTE for reasons other than creating a separate Tamil Eelam. If a separate state for Dravidians were possible she would not have trained, armed and funded the Tamil militants as that would have been inimical to Indian Union.
3. The so called Dravidian movement was dead on arrival when DMK formed its first state government in the mid 1960s. Then chief minister C Annadurai with the whole hearted support of the centre changed his state’s name from Madras to Thamilnadu. Since then centre continue to devolve powers to the states. Thamilnadu is the second fastest growing state in all of India. Thamilnadu knows why it should stay in the union. Therefore the myth of creating the Dravidian country has well passed its sell by date.
4. Sri Lankan state has been playing the Pakistani and China card against India for so long it has completely unlearned what diplomacy means in the real world. What Sri Lanka practices is political prostitution in the international arena. Successive governments go around the world with their begging bowl in order to destroy the country yet they proudly claim to possess sovereignty.
5. India did not create nor funded the JVP terrorism in Sri Lanka. As a result of JVP’s terror coupled with state terror, nearly 150,000 Sinhala youths either lost their lives or made to disappear. Why did the Sinhala youths rise up against the state twice in a short space of time? What was the underlying cause which convinced the youths to sacrifice their precious lives? Was Thamilnadu supporting the JVP to create a Dravidian homeland in Sri Lanka? In fact Thamilnadu played a crucial role in saving most of the JVP leaders including Somawansa.
6. It is not my responsibility to defend India as it is capable of doing it itself. There is no difference between Sinhalese and Tamils when it comes to being anti Indian. On the one hand you get all what you want from India including your religion, culture, dhal, etc on the other both communities have inherent hatred for your neighbour. Both races are emotionally twisted and cannot see beyond their noses. By the way now it appears that Theravatha Buddhism originated from Thamilnadu when Saivaism began its rise.
7. You and I do not know what deals are being made between various parties linked to Sri Lankan conflict. Sri Lanka may be talking to LTTE, LTTE may be in touch with India, India is hitting the tigers where it hurts, some Sri Lankans are making lot of money from the war, West is twisting President Rajabakse’s both arms, Rajabakse is making deals with LTTE or its proxies, Douglas Devananda is worrying about his future as LTTE’s imminent demise is expected, may be someone in the state agencies is planning to abduct or bump off more people considered to be the enemies of the state. You and I are speculating events without a shred of information.
What is to be done? State should be held responsible for its actions and inactions. Then deal with the ethnic issues without the historical baggage. Find a political formula to include all minorities in the state affairs which guarantee their security, dignity, identity, land and their democratic rights. Empowering the people is most important than denigrating others. In other word let us begin democratising Sri Lanka rather than shadow boxing your perceived enemy, i.e. India.
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