| by Upul Joseph Fernando
( April 11, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Just after the US resolution at the UNHRC in Geneva was successfully carried through with India’s backing, President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a telling remark, pregnant with futuristic meaning. In essence, what he revealed was a conspiracy by the US and Western interests using the Tamil Diaspora as a cat’s paw to destabilize India through Tamil Nadu, in advance of a future separate State in the State; all the while pinning the blame on him (Rajapaksa) for the many sins of commission and omission. If on the other hand Rajapaska acted as India expected after defeating the LTTE, none of those parties would be in a strong position to play Tamil Nadu against India under any circumstances.
Right after the conclusion of the war, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, had remarked; “If a political solution is to be sought for the North-East Tamil people, it shall become necessary to deal with Mahinda Rajapaksa.” Tellingly, he had added that this solution cannot be accomplished by colliding with Rajapaksa; rather it should be secured by coaxing him.
As a further step towards appeasement, Karunanihi followed his favourable remarks on Rajapaksa, by sending an all-party delegation to visit the North, with his daughter as one of the delegates. After the observation tour by the delegates, Karunanidhi issued a statement appreciative of the Sri Lankan President and his resettlement programme of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Unmitigated hostile attitude
The present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayeram, who was in the opposition during the war, also condemned the atrocities committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), against the Tamil people, and unequivocally declared the LTTE should not be shown any mercy. It was due to her unmitigated hostile attitude towards the LTTE that she became a terrorist target, as reported in Indian media.
Both Jayalalithaa’s and Karunanidhi’s subsequent change of attitude was caused not by the US or any Western powers but by Mahinda Rajapaksa’s own Government, by its failure to devolve power to the North and work towards reconciliation. If a rift is created between Tamil Nadu and India on the Sri Lankan Tamil problem, it squarely rests on the Rajapaksa Government, not on US or Western powers.
After the defeat of the LTTE, Sri Lanka and India revelled in the fact that the war was successfully concluded and that it was the end of the terrorist outfit. Writing an article titled ‘Prabhakaran’s ghost haunts India’ to the Daily Mirror on 23 September 2009, I pointed out the Tamil problem will raise its head again, not in Sri Lanka but in Tamil Nadu. It was written at a time when India’s Congress Government and the Sri Lankan Government were celebrating the victorious conclusion of the war. Following are a few of the ideas I had highlighted in that article.
“There are views expressed that after the death of Prabhakaran and the conclusion of the war, ostensibly under the name of Democracy, if the Tamil Tigers struggle surfaces, chances are that it can begin in Tamil Nadu targeting Sri Lanka. This is the result of the deep-seated detest the Tamil Diaspora has against the policies India followed regarding the Sri Lankan war. This abhorrence was clearly manifested via the Tamil Diaspora’s media.
“A lethal revival of the Tamil armed struggle can spell doom. The revival of it in Sri Lanka can be most lethal. The Tamil Diaspora must be looking out for a venue to start the struggle. The only place they are searching for and which comes within their gaze is Tamil Nadu, for they have no need to start their struggle afresh. All that is needed is just some ‘manuring’ – the seeds sown are already there. There is a possibility that the struggle can commence under the guise of Democracy, and later metamorphose into an armed struggle. The survival of the struggle will depend on the methods and measures adopted by the Indian Government to control the armed struggle emerging from the Democratic image.
“The development is most likely, after the leaderships of Chief Minister Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, cease. After Karunanidhi’s and Jayalalithaa’s exit, there is room for profound changes in Tamil Nadu politics. The Tamil Diaspora is aware of this.
“Their resentment and rancour against India is much bitter today than before. They reckon India as the first cause, and not Sri Lanka, as being the most responsible for the annihilation of their armed struggle. They do not harbour so much hatred against China and Pakistan who helped Sri Lanka crush the Tamil Tigers. It is their perception that the war which was instigated by India to achieve its designs by arming their brothers and sisters, and had used them, finally destroyed them. They also claim that India was the cause of them losing their children, families and lands. India, after using them, has via the war, taken over the Trincomalee Harbour and their lands. After accomplishing its designs, it betrayed them, they charge.
“It is unfathomable in what form and on what day, this deep inveterate hatred of the Tamil Diaspora will rear its head and explode against India.”
According to the political script
All matters I had raised in that article have come to pass with only a slight change of the format; that is, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa have taken over Sri Lanka’s Tamil problem into their hands and now act according to a political script written by the Tamil Diaspora. By the look of it, India considers it has only two alternatives to save Tamil Nadu from the clutches of the Tamil Diaspora. For India’s deliverance from the Diaspora tentacles gripping Tamil Nadu, India seems to think it should either tame President Mahinda Rajapaksa or seek a regime change.
( The write is a seniors journalist based in Sri Lanka)
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