Unholy agenda of New Delhi, Colombo, continues unchecked
[
TamilNet, Friday, 10 August 2012, 21:20 GMT]
During the Vanni War, every visit of New Delhi operatives to Colombo
was followed by escalation in genocide. The pattern continues unabated
after the war that every Indian visit would follow with further economic
inroads into the island, exchanged for Colombo’s bailout and
confirmation of its militarisation and structural genocide of the
country of Eezham Tamils. The latest example is the ‘economic’ mission
of Anand Sharma followed by the visit of Shiv Shankar Menon. While New
Delhi deceives gullible Tamils that ‘economic integration’ would resolve
the national question, genocidal Colombo prioritises the annihilation
of the nation of Eezham Tamils, to outsmart India later. As only a
collective Tamil Nadu could blast the vicious circle, TESO has to be
orientated and accommodated appropriately by all concerned, said Tamil
activists in the island.
The recent months have seen massive inflow of Indian money and
investments into the island. When genocidal Colombo was targeting for
2000 million dollars of direct foreign investment for this year, New
Delhi came out with 4000 million dollars to get an enclave at
Trincomalee in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils.
India to
set up a ‘dedicated’ economic zone in Trincomalee, Indian private sector
would invest in ports in Sri Lanka, India to modernise textile mills in
Sri Lanka, Indian Oil to set refinery for SLR 20,000 crores (20
billion), Indian mantra for merry ties, first bi-lateral forum of CEOs,
agreement on customs, relaxation on employment visa to India, Indian
investors make a beeline for Sri Lanka, ball rolling on doubling
bi-lateral trade, Sri Lanka is a land of ‘limitless opportunities’ for
India– these were in the headlines of Colombo-New Delhi orchestrated
media, during the visit of New Delhi establishment’s minister of
commerce, Anand Sharma.
The minister didn’t forget to come out
with the rhetoric that all are done for the benefit of the war-torn
people. But so far, not a single project of substantial local industry
is permitted to the local people, accuses the Jaffna Chamber of
Commerce.
Just a week before the Indian minister’s visit, the
occupying Sinhala military in Vanni entered into 30 schools in the
Poonakari region in Vanni, stopped the school exams of around 3000
students and forcefully took them in military vehicles to participate in
a ‘sports meet’ the military was organising at Thu’nukkaay to entertain
dignitaries from the South. This is only a small example showing the
extent of the subjugation of Eezham Tamils by the occupying genocidal
military.
New Delhi’s direct patronage to the genocidal military, with which it has ‘military to military’ relationship, is not a secret.
Nothing
of what takes place in the country of Eezham Tamils is unknown to the
New Delhi establishment, but peoples of India largely don’t know and are
even misled. A media such as The Hindu in India that brings out issues
of peoples all over the world is venomous when it comes to the question
of Eezham Tamils.
A few days ago, IPKF intelligence chief Col.
Hariharan wrote a feature in The Hindu, comparing India’s missions in
Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka.
The comparison and contrast misses a
point. There is no precedent for what New Delhi is now doing with
Eezham Tamils. At no time before, India has planned its economic
expansion over the genocide of a people in any of the neighbouring
countries or elsewhere.
The blatantly unholy experiment of India
is for the first time tried only with the Eezham Tamils. Tamil Nadu as
well as the entire global Tamils should comprehend the utter contempt
for Tamils with which the bunch of elements steering policy in New Delhi
is dared to carryout this experiment.
There are alternative ways
for New Delhi to concede righteous solutions to genocide-facing Eezham
Tamils and at the same time address its insatiable economic greed, but
it doesn’t care to explore.
* * *
Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa and the State Assembly should
carefully note the point that policy designers in New Delhi act totally
opposite to what the State Assembly has resolved.
When the
Assembly has resolved for economic sanctions against Colombo,
unprecedentedly massive amount of Indian money is spent in buttressing
the regime in Colombo.
Another development that followed Shiv
Shankar Menon’s recent visit is Colombo agreeing to the UNHRC
procedures. New Delhi will use it and its monitoring position at the
UNHRC to save the Rajapaksa regime from any international investigation,
demanded by the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister should now seriously think about the next step. What is needed is collective action.
Leaving
aside the personal agenda or party agenda and issues related to the
modus operandi of Mr. Karunanidhi, when a mainstream party such as the
DMK comes out with a programme like the TESO conference, it has to be
approached with an attitude of improving it to become more positive. Mr.
Karunanidhi has historically tilt from his duties at a crucial point of
time, but he is not an enemy to the cause. A Prodigal Son shouldn’t be
denied of chance.
News reports show that TESO is finding pressure
from New Delhi to compromise with fundamentals so that the ‘economic
integration’ approach in the island will not be affected. Pressure and
discouraging tactics were also applied on prospective participants.
As
the unrealistic pressure is not much effective, and fearing foreign
participants inspiring the course of the conference, New Delhi now
sabotages the participation of Eezham Tamils by cheap tactics of
avoiding the issue of visa.
After keeping the participants
waiting for days, the Indian foreign ministry came out with a clearance
letter of further hitches timed for Thursday, when the following three
days would be holidays. Besides, the MEA clearance came with an
inflammatory demand to drop the word “Eelam” from the identity of the
Eelam Tamils.
According to informed sources, the other pressure
faced by TESO and personally by Mr. Karunanidhi is internal. This comes
from those who argue against asserting to fundamentals. They want
discussions and resolutions to confine to current and day-to-day issues
faced by Eezham Tamils. This is in fact the agenda of New Delhi as well
as some of the crisis managers of the International Community of
Establishments (ICE) as well.
If the conference is deviated to
talk about day-to-day issues faced by Eezham Tamils, then there are
hundreds of them and the list is inexhaustible. It will be like counting
the trees in the wood.
Besides, anyone who has experience in
dealing with genocidal Sri Lanka knows well that this state is capable
of coming out with new and new devils and evils, when issues are raised
individually. The US Asst. Secretary of State Robert Blake had the
experience of talking about ‘grease devils’ in Jaffna, as though he has
the reins, but only to find new forms of devils coming up later.
* * *
If
TESO wants to contribute anything substantial, it should fundamentally
set the line of thinking in India as well as in the international arena.
The
LLRC implementation approach of Washington-led ICE and the 13th
Amendment approach of New Delhi are currently the two curses that muffle
righteous solutions to Eezham Tamils and encourage Colombo in the path
of structural genocide and annihilation of the nation of Eezham Tamils.
Both
the approaches have to be rejected outright, in order to impel the two
powers to come out with alternatives and also to ‘release’ sections of
Tamil politicians in the island and sections of activists in the
diaspora who are at the moment ‘political captives’ of the two powers
for various reasons ranging from funds and leadership offers to
institutional affiliations and intimidation.
TESO will be doing a
great service if it could come out with an independent voice of mass
backing in this matter, for the structural liberation of Eezham Tamil
polity that is currently facing a heavy pressure to play treachery to
the cause of its own people.
Therefore, any noble and universal
fundamental in the context of the genocide-affected, military-less
nation of Eezham Tamils could be nothing less than calling for a mass
struggle for liberation and freedom to exercise the democratic right to
self-determination.
The DMK chief has already come out with a
call for an internationally supervised referendum to be conducted among
Eezham Tamils and the TESO concept paper has a brief reference on it.
This has to be made into the pivotal point setting a global agenda.
Internationally
guaranteed solution to the question of Eezham Tamils is now inevitable,
as India by its own actions in the last six decades and abuse of
opportunities particularly in the last 30 years has lost the chance of
resolving it in its backyard.
As the phase of the struggle has
become international as well as addressing the world powers, credibility
for any move from Tamil Nadu would come only when it is mass-oriented,
kept above party politics and becomes a global movement.
From its
side, TESO has to lay foundations especially for taking the cause above
party politics and this has to be reciprocated by the other mainstream
parties and grassroot organisations as well.
A constructive
criticism against the current TESO move is that it should improve in its
rigours of professionalism needed for an international struggle and
international presentation, to match the onslaught of the adversaries,
their institutions and media. Given the resources and experience of the
constituent bodies of TESO, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Chronology:
8/11/2012 2:46:00 PM