Very few grasped the significance of his critical remarks on Lanka’s handling of its Tamils
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks on Bangladesh during his interaction with senior editors last week have received extraordinary attention, both in Dhaka and in Delhi, but his forthright comments on Sri Lanka are equally deserving of scrutiny.
In contrast to the widespread unhappiness in Dhaka and subsequent damage control undertaken by the Indian establishment over his Bangladesh remarks — which culminated yesterday in a phone call by the PM himself to his Bangladeshi counterpart, Hasina — there has been a deafening silence in Colombo over the PM’s remarks on Sri Lanka’s Tamil population as “second-class citizens”.
For the first time since the end of the Lankan civil war in 2009, the PM has gone public with criticism of Mahinda Rajapakse’s government, saying “Sinhala chauvinism is a reality” and these “hotheads” refuse to allow the Tamil population to live with equal dignity and respect.
At the same time, the PM directly linked the situation in Sri Lanka with what prevailed in Tamil Nadu, conceding it was “our (Delhi’s) challenge to keep the Tamil Nadu government on our side”.
Describing India’s Sri Lanka policy as a “difficult balance”, Manmohan Singh noted the reaction in Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka’s chauvinism was a reality on the ground. He implied the unanimous resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in early June on Sri Lanka was such an example.
According to the Jayalalithaa government’s resolution, the Centre must take immediate steps to impress upon the United Nations that all those responsible for large-scale civilian deaths in Sri Lanka’s war be declared war criminals. And, economic sanctions be imposed on Colombo until all displaced Tamils were adequately rehabilitated.
The resolution was a direct attack on President Rajapakse. In the immediate aftermath of the civil war, which ended with the killing of LTTE supremo Prabhakaran, the Lankan army had been accused by civil rights groups of severe violations. These included the massacre of Tamil civilians who had come out with white flags, signalling surrender.
A recent Channel Four documentary broadcast in the UK has shown chilling footage of the maltreatment of LTTE soldiers, as well as the rape of Tamil civilians by Lankan soldiers. Delhi had abstained from comment on the charges.
In her June 8 resolution, Jayalalithaa described the Lankan Tamils as “second-class citizens,” the exact phrase used by the PM in his interaction with editors last week.
Down the line
Manmohan Singh’s detailed description of the linkages between Colombo and Chennai is, in fact, leading observers to believe there are new political equations afoot between Delhi and Chennai. The stink from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s involvement in the 2G spectrum scam is said to have embarrassed the Prime Minister no end, who places high value on integrity and financial honesty.
Although the DMK is considerably weakened after its recent rout in state elections, which means its support of 18 MPs to the Congress-led government at the Centre comes with fewer strings attached (Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK has only nine MPs), the PM knows that in the public mind he continues to be implicated by association.
While ruling out a realignment of forces between the Congress and the AIADMK for the moment, political observers say it would be silly to rule out anything for the future. They noted how the PM described her government as a challenge to the Centre, but also complimented her for her political dexterity.
“I have had good cooperation with Jayalalithaaji…Whatever be the resolutions that were passed in the assembly, I found her fully conscious of the complexities and the realities of managing this (India-Sri Lanka) relationship,” the PM said.
In fact, the PM’s remarks on Sri Lanka are in such vivid contrast to his “off-the-record” diplomatic gaffe on Bangladesh, that observers said the marked silence in Colombo was also a result of Rajapakse’s muffling the media.
In his interaction with the editors, the PM had said: “The decimation of the LTTE was something which is good. But the Tamil problem does not disappear, with the defeat of the LTTE. The Tamil population has legitimate grievances. They feel they are reduced to second-class citizens.”
By breaking his silence on Rajapakse, analysts said, the PM was giving in to Jayalalithaa’s political demand and, coincidentally, agreeing with a similar US demarche on the subject.
Only privately
Indian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained how and why India had shrugged off charges of human rights violations on the part of Rajapakse’s army at the end of the civil war. Rajapakse had been the only Lankan leader to have succeeded in killing Prabhakaran, the man who ordered the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, the officials said.
They implied the killing of Tamil civilians amounted to the “cost of war.” So, even when Rajapakse advanced the presidential election last year and won handsomely, Delhi refused to publicly press him to settle the Tamil issue honourably.
Admittedly, behind the scenes, Delhi tried to persuade Colombo to devolve political power to its Tamil population, including changing the 13th Amendment of its Constitution, which only allows for a unicameral legislature.
National Security Advisor Shiv Shanker Menon, who visited Colombo within days of the Tamil Nadu Assembly passing its resolution on Sri Lanka, told the press the “quicker Sri Lanka arrived at an arrangement in which all communities are comfortable…the better”.
Menon refused to be tied down by language, whether or not this “arrangement” was the “13th Amendment” or the “13th Amendment-plus”.
Clearly, though, he was telling Rajapakse to do something to assuage the fears and insecurities of the Tamil population, something India had been trying to do since the Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene accord of 1987.
But Rajapakse seemed unmoved. There was no pressure from India to offer the Tamils a political solution, or any reference to the 13th Amendment or 13th Amendment-plus, he told his press.
Asked about in the Lankan parliament about Jayalalithaa’s resolution, Rajapakse’s government avoided a direct answer. According to foreign minister G L Peiris, all criticism against Sri Lanka was led by “hostile forces who are attempting to launch an onslaught against the country”.
