The great Indian sellout

16-Aug-2014By Sam Rajappa

Posted 14 Aug 2014
There has een a reset on India!s Sri "an#a poli$y %hi$h is at &arian$e %ith %hat
'arendra (odi and Sushma S%araj had stated in puli$ in the run up to the 2014 "o#
Saha ele$tion)
Addressing an ele$tion rally in *hennai on 1+ April and another in Ramanathapuram
on 1, April- (odi said that just as the Sri "an#an 'a&y targeted Tamil 'adu .ishermen-
Pa#istan!s 'a&y atta$#ed .ishermen .rom /ujarat)
Sushma S%araj and 'arendra (odi appear to ha&e $hanged their position on Sri
"an#a a.ter %inning the ele$tions 0Photo1 Indian Photo Agen$y2
The %ea# 3PA go&ernment o. (anmohan Singh
had .ailed to prote$t these .ishermen) I. the B4P %as &oted to po%er- his go&ernment
%ould prote$t .ishermen .rom oth these States- (odi said)
President (ahinda Rajapa#sa- as one o. the SAAR* heads o. State- %as an in&itee to
the s%earing-in $eremony o. (odi as Prime (inister in (ay) In his tal#s %ith
Rajapa#sa and his entourage- (odi made it $lear that his go&ernment e5pe$ted Sri
"an#a to implement the 1+th Amendment to the *onstitution- an out$ome o. the 167,
Indo-Sri "an#a agreement)
Rajapa#sa tried to pre&ari$ate- saying su$h things $ould not e done o&ernight) (odi
reiterated it %as more than .i&e years sin$e the $i&il %ar in the island nation ended and
the "TT8 %as de$apitated)
9eparting .rom the normal pra$ti$e o. issuing a $ommon statement a.ter su$h tal#s-
Sri "an#a issued a separate statement %hi$h said1 :President Rajapa#sa des$ried the
initiati&es Sri "an#a has ta#en %ith regard to rehailitation- resettlement-
re$onstru$tion and the ongoing re$on$iliation pro$ess in the $ountry)
:President Rajapa#sa and Prime (inister (odi also dis$ussed the issue o. .ishermen
o. oth $ountries and measures that $an e ta#en to .ind a permanent solution);
There %as not a %ord aout (odi raising non-implementation o. the 1+th
Amendment) In$ensed y this lapse- Sujata Singh- se$retary in the 85ternal A..airs
(inistry- joined o..i$ial spo#esman Syed A#aruddin to stress that 1+th Amendment
%as the $ore suje$t o. dis$ussion et%een the t%o leaders)
To add to the emarrassment o. the "an#an entourage- its only Tamil memer-
<oges%ary Patgunarajah- (ayor o. 4a..na representing the 8elam People!s 9emo$rati$
Party o. 9ouglas 9e&ananda- said in an '9T= programme that Rajapa#sa in his tal#s
had agreed to grant poli$e and land po%ers to the 'orthern Pro&in$ial *oun$il)
Suse>uent de&elopments in *olomo indi$ate a &olte .a$e y the B4P on the ethni$
$risis in Sri "an#a) A day a.ter his return- Rajapa#sa as#ed his minister 'irmal Siripala
de Sil&a to address a press $on.eren$e in *olomo to $lari.y his position to the Sri
"an#ans)
The minister said the 1+th Amendment %as .or$ed on Sri "an#a y India and that
there %ere pra$ti$al prolems in implementing some o. its pro&isions) Stating that
*olomo %ould al%ays $ooperate %ith India- de Sil&a said that only the Parliamentary
Sele$t *ommittee 0PS*2 $ould de$ide on the .uture o. 1+th Amendment)
9e Sil&a is the $hairman o. the 16-memer PS* to re$ommend and report on politi$al
and $onstitutional measures to :empo%er the people o. Sri "an#a to li&e as one
nation);
It may e re$alled Sushma S%araj- 85ternal A..airs (inister- led a parliamentary
delegation to Sri "an#a in April 2012 %hen she %as the "eader o. the ?pposition)
Addressing a press $on.eren$e in *olomo on 21 April 2012- she said Rajapa#sa had
gi&en her an assuran$e that he %ould implement 1+th Amendment and go eyond)
@hen a journalist pointed out that some ministers had denied su$h assuran$e y the
President- S%araj said1 :There is no >uestion o. ministers saying and denying
anything) The President himsel. said he %ould $on$ede oth the 1+th Amendment and
the plus);
/round %or# .or resetting the (odi go&ernment!s poli$y on Sri "an#a %as done y a
high po%ered B4P delegation $omprising Suramanian S%amy- Seshadri *hari o. the
RSS- Suresh Prahu o. the Shi& Sena- Pro. (adha& 'alapat o. (anipal A$ademy and
senior journalist S%apan 9asgupta to *olomo .or a seminar ostensily on :India
3nder (odi1 Rele&an$e .or the Region and the @orld-; held under the aegis o. the
Bandaranai#a *entre .or International Studies)
Introdu$ing S%amy- $hairman o. the B4P *ommittee .or Strategi$ A$tion- Sunimal
Aernando- ad&iser to President Rajapa#sa- said i. the B4P leader %as to $ontest an
ele$tion in Sri "an#a- he %ould ha&e a resounding &i$tory) A $ommon theme o. the
panelists %as that politi$al parties in Tamil 'adu had een using their politi$al $lout to
presurise the 3nion go&ernment on Sri "an#an issues)
But the (odi go&ernment %as in a position o. strength and %as not dependent on any
regional party) They %ere o. the &ie% that .oreign poli$y %as the e5$lusi&e preser&e o.
the *entre and that they $ould s%ing it to .all in line %ith %hat Rajapa#sa stands .or)
8&er sin$e the end o. $i&il %ar in 2006- Rajapa#sa has een promoting Sri "an#a as a
unitary state o. Sinhala Buddhists) Be said the $ountry no longer had minority
$ommunities) It had only patriots and traitors)
S%amy told the seminar- :@e in India are proud that your President %as ale to de.eat
terrorism %hi$h $ould ha&e gro%n into an e&en more threatening mena$e); Be
%ondered %hether the human right issues ra#ed up y the 3'BR* %ere :$ontri&ed to
elittle the importan$e o. this &i$tory);
'o $ountry had su$h a $lear su$$ess in eliminating terrorism as Sri "an#a- he said)
Re.erring to non-implementation o. the 1+th Amendment- *hari said it %as the
produ$t o. a parti$ular situation that e5isted in 167,)
In the $hanged $ir$umstan$es all sta#eholders should ha&e a reloo# at 1+A) The
pronoun$ements o. the team hogged headlines in the Sri "an#a media %hi$h le.t no
one in dout that it %as out to $ra.t a ne% a5is et%een the B4P and Rajapa#sa and the
1+th Amendment $ould e $onsigned to the %aste paper as#et)
It is note%orthy the (ar$h 2014 3'BR* resolution said in its preamle- :Alarmed at
the signi.i$ant surge in atta$#s against memers o. religious minority groups in Sri
"an#a- in$luding Bindus- (uslims and *hristians-; the Sinhala majority $onsiders its
&i$tory o&er Tamils as a rati.i$ation o. its di&inely ordained dominion %ith other
groups o$$upying a suordinate position)
?n India!s astention .rom &oting on the resolution- *hari said- :The B4P has al%ays
held &ie%s $ontrary to the .ormer Indian go&ernment on the &oting in 2012) Bo%e&er-
in 2014- good sense pre&ailed and India astained) I strongly elie&e that oth India
and Sri "an#a should resol&e this issue and $ollaorate to get the resolution $ompletely
%ithdra%n);
People li&ing in a demo$rati$ $ountry should e treated as e>uals- irrespe$ti&e o.
language- ethni$ity or religious elie.s) But in Sri "an#a- the minorities are eing
$rushed y the tyranny o. the Sinhala Buddhists %ho $onstitute nearly 70 per $ent o.
the population)
The 'orthern and the 8astern Pro&in$es- traditional homeland o. the Tamils- %ere
on$e stre%n %ith thousands o. temples- $hur$hes- mos>ues- s$hools- liraries and
statues o. eminent persons and histori$al monuments) (any o. them ha&e een raCed
to the ground)
All the .i&e reno%ned Bindu shrines that e5isted long e.ore the ad&ent o. Buddhism
in Sri "an#a- Thiru##ethees%aram- Thiru##ones%aram- 'agules%aram-
(unnes%aram and Thondes%aram are no% under the $ontrol o. the o$$upying armed
.or$es or Sinhala Buddhists)
Ba&ing sujugated the Tamils- the Sangha- as the Thera&ada Buddhist mon#s are
re.erred to- has turned its attention on (uslims- %ho are also Tamil spea#ing) In
Septemer last year- aout 100 Buddhist mon#s demolished a (uslim shrine in the
an$ient $ity o. Anuradhapura and set a (uslim .lag on .ire $laiming the land had een
gi&en to the Sinhalese 2-000 years ago)
Sin$e then- the (uslims ha&e een on the re$ei&ing end) The $urrent .o$us o. the
Rajapa#sa go&ernment appears to e to use the B4P to $onsolidate Sinhala Buddhist
ethno nationalism to usher in Buddhist&a in Sri "an#a- e&en as the RSS and the sangh
pari&ar are pushing the (odi go&ernment to step up the Bindut&a agenda)
It %ould e a etrayal o. the Sri "an#an Tamils- the majority o. %hom are Bindus)
Another &i$tim o. this reset in India!s Sri "an#a poli$y is the .ishermen $ommunity in
Tamil 'adu %hose right to .ish in the Pal# Strait is prote$ted in oth the 16,4
agreement o. $eding Da$h$hati&u to Sri "an#a and in the 16,6 agreement on redra%ing
the maritime oundary et%een the t%o $ountries)
Both (odi and S%araj assured the .ishermen during the ele$tion $ampaign that their
traditional rights in the Pal# Strait %ould e prote$ted i. the B4P is &oted to po%er) The
.ishermen are no% as#ed to es$he% their rights and s%it$h to deep sea .ishing- a%ay
.rom the rea$h o. Sri "an#an 'a&y)
Sam Rajappa is *onsulting 8ditor o. The @ee#end "eader
Posted y Tha&am