Mgr Made Rajiv Change His Mind On Anti-Ltte Operation

A former Sri Lankan envoy to India has claimed that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi initially supported the Sri Lankan military action in Jaffna in May 1987 but was persuaded to change his mind by then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran.

Former high commissioner Bernard Tilakaratna said Gandhi was apprised of the operation to recapture Jaffna in May 1987. Gandhi told the Lankan envoy very clearly and categorically that he himself was tired of the continuing violence and that Sri Lanka should go ahead with Operation Liberation with all the resources at its command, the former envoy said.

Tilakaratna recalled that Gandhi expressed the hope that Sri Lanka would make a success of the operation and told him - Please ask (President JR) Jayewardene to inform me when the job is done.

 

I was overjoyed to hear this and I promptly reported this to the President and to national security minister Lalith Athulathmudali, Tilakaratna told IANS. However, when the forces made rapid advances into Jaffna, Gandhi was pressured to change his views. Besides the advice of his core group, great pressure was brought on him by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran himself on behalf of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and MGR even threatened non-cooperation with the central government if this was not swiftly condemned and stalled, Tilakaratna added, saying this fact had been omitted from former Indian envoy JN Dixits recent book Assignment Colombo.

This was followed by the Indian governments decision to send food shipments which were stopped by the Sri Lankan Navy, which has been detailed out in Dixits book. An important detail curiously omitted in Dixits book was that President Jayewardene had offered to send foreign minister ACS Hameed to discuss the crisis, the former envoy said.

Tilakaratna said he was called to the South Block by minister of state for external affairs K Natwar Singh at 2.30 pm on June 4, 1987, and was informed that Indian planes would airdrop food over Jaffna half an hour later. The cargo planes were to be accompanied by Air Force bombers, he was told.

I informed (the Indians) that was a blatant violation of our territorial integrity and interference in our internal affairs, the former envoy said.

Tilakaratna said he called Colombo using Natwar Singhs telephone and reported the matter to the government and was advised by Hameed to write a protest note immediately.

Admitting that Dixit had direct access to President Jayewardene bypassing the foreign secretary and foreign minister, Tilakaratna said the President made that possible so as to get his views across directly to New Delhi.

Tilakaratna said when he discussed the matter with Jayewardene, the latter quipped: Has it ever occurred to you that to Mani (JN) Dixit, his bypassing ministers, senior officials and all others would have been such a satisfying achievement that he would accept without reservation all of what I told him about any happenings at this end.

Tilakaratna denied two points about him in Dixits book. He said it was wrong to say that he had advised then Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, who later became President, to seek membership of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Although some ASEAN members wanted to admit Sri Lanka, I advised the then Prime Minister Premadasa against seeking ASEAN membership, Tilakaratna claimed. The former envoy admitted that he worked closely with President Premadasa as foreign secretary.

I have worked with equal acceptance with all the Prime Ministers and Presidents, he said.

Former Sri Lankan high commissioner Bernard Tilakaratna recalls his meeting with Rajiv Gandhi during which the former Prime Minister told the envoy that he was tired of the continuing violence in Sri Lanka