by Rajasingham Jayadevan
Tamils in Sri Lanka are hapless and in the motherless child status and are being battered and bruised on all fronts for the past six decades in general and in the past thirty years in particular.
The Indian Foreign Minister’s opening comment of ‘Romba santhoshama irruke’ (I am so happy) speaks volume for the battered Tamil people of Sri Lanka including the Tamils in the Diaspora. It comes at the time when Tamils are standing on the cross roads directionless and being whipped by the state to follow the un-accommodative root it is engineering.
We Tamils too humbly reciprocate with our utmost deepest feelings and say to the Indian Foreign Minister ‘romba santhoshama irukku’ to hear his profound comments.
I have touched on many issues in my open letter to the Indian Foreign Secretary (www.srilankaguardian.org/.../open-letter-to-indian-foreign-secretary.html) following her last fact finding mission to Sri Lanka and shall not repeat them here.
Foreign Minister stated: India's relations with Sri Lanka would be incomplete without highlighting the special relationship between the people of the Northern Province in general, the Jaffna Peninsula in particular, and those of southern India’.
This is indeed very laudable recognition. The Minister rightly recalled the nature of the bonds that existed before the Tamil people in the north plunging into the nasty war that inevitably brought untold misery and hardships. His recognition is very appropriate and important at the time when servitude of the Tamil people has come almost to a point of no return in Sri Lanka, with ever progressing political dominance of the un-accommodative majority rule in the island nation.
The relationship of India with the Tamils must be revitalised with a clear sense of purpose. The purpose must be beneficial for Sri Lanka and the regional safety, security and stability of India. This can only be achieved with India’s wider influence in the socio-political level to bring about stability in the island nation under a much wider devolvement of powers to the Tamils and the other minorities to live with respect and security in a united Sri Lanka.
What British succeeded in India in the federal constitutional making and failed in Sri Lanka in not making such arrangement must be a lesson that India should be guided to achieve a much wanted federal structure to unify the island for its real progress.
What Tamil people experienced in the calamitous three decades old war was the product of the failures of the majority rule in Sri Lanka that used legislative and administrative means to downsize the minorities to a manageable lot- the process even now pursued covertly by the state sponsored colonisations and militarization of the Tamil areas.
The LTTE and the other Tamil militant groups that dictated the politics of the Tamils since 1977 is the product of the failures of the island nation and they are the illegitimate babies of the immoral crusade of mother Sri Lanka against its national minorities. Even after defeating the LTTE, without any mitigation it is still playing its dishonest politics with the Tamils with the help of gun wielding Tamil paramilitary groups and its jumbo sized military machinery.
The government of Sri Lanka promotes it had liberated the Tamil people from the clutches of the LTTE and extends its insult by pandering with the paramilitary groups and the state army, thus extending its age old agenda to continue with its marginalisation processes.
For India to rejuvenate the bondage with the Tamils, it must help find ways to influence Sri Lanka to strip its un-accommodative egalitarian conduct and help bring about a clearly defined federal structure of governance for all the people in Sri Lanka to live with honour and respect.
Foreign Minister stated: While the armed conflict that ended last year impacted on all sections of this country, it did so disproportionately on the civilian population of the Northern Province, as innocent men, women and children were caught in the crossfire not of their own making.
I am a victim of the IPKF operation that killed my innocent mother and brother in 1987. Despite this adversity, I can sincerely acknowledge the honest feeling expressed by the Foreign Minister.
It is one and a half years since the LTTE was defeated, the government of Sri Lanka has not come out with any political way of dealing the conflict, except for promoting its only economic development plan and the trilingual theory. It is harping on the economic development theory by pampering and panegyrizing the violent Tamil paramilitary groups and the exploits in the Tamil society.
The deep rooted causes cannot be allowed to be suppressed by camouflaging the development programs and to allow the unscrupulous behaviour of the government to undermine an honest and much broader approach with the Tamil community.
It is vitally important that all the paramilitary groups backed by the government is disarmed and rehabilitated and a conducive climate is created with the disengagement of the army to the barracks for the Tamil people to emerge out of this crisis.
Foreign Minister stated: We are convinced that a meaningful devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment, would create the necessary conditions for a lasting political settlement. We hope that this process of dialogue and discussion would start soon with the participation of all communities. The ultimate goal is to live in dignity and peace.
Six two years of independence from Britain had taken away almost all the constitutional safeguards for the minorities and the present safeguards brought upon due to political compulsions are mere lip service to propagate that the minorities are well safeguarded in Sri Lanka.
Any constitutional safeguards without devolvement of powers and good and transparent governance practices will not prevent undesirable consequences for the country in the future.
Without the engagement of India, even the devolvement of powers under the 13th amendment would not have materialised. The centralised powerbase of Sri Lanka has even failed the provincial governance and this regional empowerment needs much broader transformation and constitutional safeguards must be enshrined to ensure it not being tampered heavily by the state.
Yes, the Indian Foreign Minister has rightly asserted that we must build upon the 13th amendment. The status quo for such process must predate and all the damage done to this process since the departure of the IPKF from the shores of Sri Lanka must be restated as a starting point to further progress a viable devolution of powers.
Any immediate resolution based on the 13th amendment must consider:
- Merger of North and East as a unit and powers being devolved within the structure based on the present provincial and district demarcations.
- The concurrent list must be taken away and government interference in the provincial administration must only under a court decision or under any defined failures in the administration of the Province.
- The financial allocation to the provinces must be independently assessed and approved by the state.
- The provinces must have defined legislative powers.
- There must be provision for other provinces to merge on socio-political and economic compulsions and these must be through legal and democratic processes without the undue pressures from the government.
Economic development
India’s financial contributions for the development projects in the north are welcome. It will help rebuild disconnect for the past thirty years. These rebuilding processes must be an honest and transparent process and should empower the local people in the service delivery and must be out of the heavy influence of the politicians and the paramilitary groups.
It is important that economic development of the war ravaged Tamil areas must be concurrent with the proactive political devolvement process. Economic development process must not be allowed to stubbornly overshadow the government’s insincere and unrelenting devolvement of power. There is no LTTE any more to blame for any failures and the government cannot state any further excuses or create conditions for excuses to undermine any political process.
India’s contribution comes at the time when the President Mahinda Rajapakse had publicly stated that any donor funds must reach all the communities equally and his son Namal Rajapakse and his gang forcefully grabbing some hand-held mini tractors donated to the IDP’s by the ICRC and handing them over to the Sinhalese. These are symptoms that could disadvantage the very good intentions of the government of India. Unless India overseas the whole process, there will be determined effort to weaken the good intensions of India.
Experience always remembered
I have been to Karanataka twice recently. The state that the External Affairs Minister served as Chief Minister and presently representing the Karanataka state in the Rajya Sabha is a place I am keen to retire. Amongst the states I have visited in India, I have great feelings for Karnataka state. It is the typical pre-war Jaffna, Trincomalee and Batticaloa and the tranquillity prevailing there tells me to pass my later years there if Sri Lanka fails to absorb me back as its citizen with honour and dignity.
During my both visits, I stayed in the Maharajah Palace Hotel and enjoyed the live environs of the Maharajah Palace. During my second visit, the tranquillity of the Palace vicinity was compromised to the security against terrorism. But the place was full of enthusiasm.
My last visit to the palace was very rewarding for me when I listened to Pancharatna Krithis by the police orchestra. Whenever I think of Karanataka, the melodious and tantalising Krithis played by the police orchestra energise me so much. I am longing for this to happen in war ravaged Tamil areas one day.
There is no difference between the melodious Krithis of the police orchestra and all what I read to be said by the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna.
Tamil people humbly wait for the translation of India’s vision into practical reality in Sri Lanka.
 The official visit of the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna took pla...){kind=link}
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