India’s indirect campaign backs Sri Lanka’s military and genocide

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 September 2011, 09:36 GMT]
Choosing a time when Geneva is supposed to decide on investigating Sri Lanka’s war crimes, New Delhi has scheduled a large-scale joint military exercise with Sri Lanka in Trincomalee in the country of Eezham Tamils. Meanwhile, a senior leader of India’s major opposition party, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi of BJP, chose to deliver a lecture in Colombo on Saturday commemorating a Sinhala-Buddhist revivalist, and according to The Hindu, Dr. Joshi “was left with the impression that everyone wanted an early solution leading to a united Sri Lanka under one constitution.” Both the Administration and Opposition of New Delhi indirectly signal against investigating genocidal Sri Lanka’s war crimes and the ‘impression’ Joshi conveyed to The Hindu has no moral validity as Tamils are constitutionally prevented from telling their opinion on the national question, commented a Tamil politician in the island.

The naval exercise New Delhi is conducting with Colombo beginning from Monday is of a larger scale compared to the earlier ones, Times of India reported Sunday, citing an Indian official.

Though India trains soldiers from several countries, ranging from Maldives, Mauritius and Mongolia to Botswana, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the facilities extended to Sri Lanka are much more, Times of India further said.

Meanwhile, Joshi’s impression reflecting the same line of thinking of New Delhi’s ruling alliance came after his meeting with SL prime minister DM Jayaratne, SL foreign minister G L Peiris and TNA leader R Sampanthan, The Hindu said on Sunday.

When asked why the BJP had of late begun talking about the Tamil issue, Joshi said that as a “responsible and constructive opposition.” it was the duty of the party to raise issues of national interest and national wellbeing.

Immediately after the genocidal war, Prof. Romila Thapar who is ideologically opposite to Dr. Joshi also chose to deliver a lecture in Colombo, harping on ‘Buddhism’.

If Joshi and Thapar work in the same lines in talking about Buddhism and in buttressing the integrity of a genocidal State, then there must be something wrong in the Buddhism exported by India, the Tamil politician in the island commented.

Dr. Joshi delivered a lecture commemorating Anagarika Dharmapala who tagged the Indians and Tamils in the island with a term 'Para', which in Sinhala means foreigners as well as 'untouchables'.

Politicians like Joshi are allowed to ‘fabricate’ impressions in the name of the ‘national interest’ they imagine, because Tamil Nadu is yet to openly make a stand on the independence of Eezham Tamils and Tamil Nadu is yet to embark on the edification of Joshi’s ilk on what is India’s national interest in the southern flank, was the comment heard from alternative political circles in Tamil Nadu.