The bloody civil
war, which ravaged Sri Lanka for twenty five long years, came to an end in May
2009. However the battle of survival for the Tamils still continues in the
island nation. There are no credible statistics to prove how many people were
killed in the long civil war. Estimates put the numbers between 80,000 to
100,000 out of which close to 8,000 were killed in the final days of the war in
May 2009. The dead include the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE)
insurgents and civilians. Millions of ethnic Tamils are still displaced and
living in temporary shelters. The Sri Lankan army is accused of war crimes by
the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). On 23rd March
the UN body plans to move a resolution condemning the war crimes by Sri Lankan
army.
The ministry of
foreign affairs of India is in its usual state of flux. Newspaper reports
suggest that the India wants to adopt the wait and watch approach. It does not
want to comment without reading the text of the resolution. Parliamentarians
from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu (who share ethnic links with the
Sri Lankan Tamils) disrupted parliamentary proceedings on the government’s non committal
gesture. Most of the shouting done by Tamil parliamentarians is for their
electoral audience, but the government of India cannot ignore it. One of the
Tamil political parties (DMK) is a major coalition partner in the ruling UPA
government. The fortunes of DMK have sunk in the past state elections but
nevertheless it holds 18 seats and is crucial for the survival of the government.
India’s policy
of non interference into matters of other countries is used as an alibi. To make
matters worse this is a case of insurgency, which haunts India in Jammu & Kashmir
and some north eastern states. Supporting the Tamil cause would mean supporting
separatist insurgency, something that India clearly does not want. Supporting
the Sri Lankan government will pull India down from its self perceived high
moral ground. It is not surprising at all that India is finding hard to take a
call on the sensitive issue. But its time India takes a pragmatic approach to
the situation.
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| Monks protesting against the UN resolution in Colombo |
India should use
its influence on Sri Lanka to make Mr Rajapakse understand the follies of being
in deliberate denial. The massacre by the Lankan army in the final days of the
civil war is a reality. There are many cases with credible evidence (according
to the reports of the UN delegation in Sri Lanka and the government’s self
appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission or LLRC) of war crimes.
Notorious “white vans” roam the streets of Sri Lanka to abduct protestors who
raise voice against the president. Most of the people abducted were later found
murdered and their bodies abandoned. Reconciliation and rehabilitation of the
displaced Tamils has sadly stayed on paper with little to show to the
international community. There is a clear lack of genuine efforts by Mr
Rajapakse to assimilate Tamils into the mainstream.
India should make
sure Sri Lanka shows credible and sustainable efforts to investigate the war
crimes. Taking the “white vans” off the streets should be the first step.
Abducted protestors who are missing and if still alive should be released.
Humanitarian assistance offered by India should be made available to the Tamils
and the reconciliation process should be pursued with the same excitement as shown
in the final days of the war in 2009. An honest effort by the president will
have far reaching impact on the present situation of the country. A disgruntled
population is a sitting tinderbox, waiting for the spark.
