Sri Lankan political parties are either capitulationist or chauvinist.
The recent pact of Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister and
presidential candidate, with the JVP that if voted to power he will
defend the present failed unitary constitution is a retrograde step.
This shows the Tamils are squeezed between the devil and the
deep sea.
The LTTE shadow over India
Subramanian Swamy
The assassination of Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has exposed
the fault lines in India's policy towards the internationally proclaimed terrorist
organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. On the one side, the Indian
Government has banned the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. On the other side,
despite the continuing assassinations, India does not oppose the "peace dialogue" of
the Sri Lankan Government with the LTTE, talks that could end up legitimising the
terrorist outfit and making the ban meaningless.
Although the LTTE has officially denied any involvement in the Kadirgamar
assassination, such a denial cannot be taken seriously. The organisation has always
denied its involvement in terrorist activity — murder, arson, extortion, drug trafficking,
and so on. The LTTE denied any part in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. However, the
Supreme Court of India, in its 400-page judgment delivered on May 12, 1999, laid
bare what a huge lie that was.
`Stockholm Syndrome'
That security failed to secure the neighbourhood of the Foreign Minister's residence
despite his being high on the LTTE's hit list is clear evidence that the Sri Lankan
authorities are suffering from the `Stockholm Syndrome' of capitulating to tormentors.
They are wholly incompetent to deal with the murderous LTTE. The Sri Lankan
President's first reaction was that the island government, despite the assassination of
the Foreign Minister at his residence in the capital, would not suspend the so-called
peace talks with the killers — a further indication of the tragic syndrome at work. Sri
Lanka seems to have lost its collective nerve to combat and confront terror.
India needs to consider what to do to remove the fault line in its policy towards the
LTTE — and thus secure its geographical neighbourhood. The LTTE, which could be
legitimised through the agency of an inane Norwegian facilitation, is a menace not only
to Sri Lanka's integrity, but also to India's national security. The Tigers have links with
India's terrorists such as the Maoists and ULFA, and with the ISI of Pakistan and even
Al Qaeda and with separatist Indian political parties. Even if the Congress shows scant
interest in bringing Velupillai Prabakaran to justice, patriotic Indians cannot forget
either Rajiv's martyrdom or the LTTE's unforgivable perfidy. India has to fix
Prabakaran some day by bringing him to justice for his lack of respect for India's
sovereignty.
India has a national security imperative and an unavoidable moral obligation to get
involved to help free the island nation of the LTTE's treacherous terror. I thus see four
specific reasons behind this obligation:
First, India trained the LTTE in the 1980s. The country has to atone for this by actions
to disband and unravel the Frankenstein monster it helped create. Secondly, despite
enjoying India's hospitality for years, and after welcoming the Indo-Sri Lanka
Agreement in 1987, the Tigers betrayed India by killing more than 1000 personnel of
the Indian Peace Keeping Force sent to the island to enforce the accord. The betrayal
and loss of lives of our valiant jawans have to be avenged to keep up the morale of
the Indian armed forces.
Thirdly, as the Home Ministry's 2005 Annual Report to Parliament points out, the LTTE
has been targeting pro-Indian Sri Lanka politicians and assassinating them. The latest
is of course Kadirgamar. For India, the most heinous act is the assassination of Rajiv
Gandhi. A trial court has declared Accused No.1 Prabakaran a proclaimed offender,
and the Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice for apprehending him. India is thus
obligated to search for Prabakaran — and to immobilise the LTTE and deter it from
engaging in any murderous and terrorist activities against India and Indian interests.
Fourthly, the LTTE interferes in the internal affairs of India by financing certain Indian
politicians, providing training to Indian militant and extremist organisations, and
extending insurgency infrastructure to bandits such as Veerappan. It also launders
black money from India through its illegal Eelam Bank in the Jaffna area. India cannot
allow such erosion of law and order within its own borders.
To discharge these obligations, what must India do? Obviously, it cannot depend on
Sri Lankan governments of today or the near future to bring the LTTE to book. Sri
Lankan political parties are either capitulationist or chauvinist. The recent pact of
Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister and presidential candidate, with the JVP that if
voted to power he will defend the present failed unitary constitution is a retrograde
step. This shows the Tamils are squeezed between the devil and the deep sea.
India's first move should be to initiate action to revive the hunt for those of the LTTE
who need to be prosecuted under Indian law. This includes Prabakaran and his
intelligence chief Pottu Amman — and whoever has tried to help them to escape the
arm of India's law enforcement.
In 1998, Parliament set up under the Central Bureau of Investigation a
multidisciplinary monitoring agency (MDMA) to hunt for these wanted persons. But the
National Democratic Alliance Government waffled and failed to pursue the matter. The
present United Progressive Alliance Government has done even worse. When
President Chandrika Kumaratunga came to India recently, India went along with the
proposal to take on board the LTTE as a party in the tsunami relief work and have its
share in the $ 3 billion international aid commitment.
The time has come to energise the MDMA, to get it moving to apprehend the wanted
criminals, in unconventional ways if necessary. Further, India must assist and nurture
the democratic elements in the Sri Lankan Tamil population.
These include those who have demonstrated the capacity to stand up to the LTTE
(such as S.C. Chandrahasan, and the breakaway LTTE group that opposed Rajiv
Gandhi's assassination, namely, the Karuna group), to form a non-violent and
democratic alternative to work out with the Sinhala majority a federal constitution that
would serve the purpose of power sharing. Thirdly, LTTE sleeper cells in Indian cities
need to be identified and put out of action. At present, terrorists of various hues are
active in several States and Union Territories.
One day, these terrorists and the LTTE sleeper cells may coordinate and cause a
huge bloody incident. India must guard against such contingencies through pre-
emptive action.
The time has come for India effectively to contribute to the war against terrorism and
in the promotion of democracy by targeting the LTTE sincerely and effectively in the
larger interest of security and national integrity. [Courtesy: Hindu]
(The writer is a former Union Law Minister.)