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India has always played a decisive role in the Sri Lankan political arena and has paid special attention to the country’s ethnic conflict.

From sending peace keeping forces to training youth for an armed conflict in the country, India’s role in the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict saw a drastic decline with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Indian involvement

With his death, although India continued to keep a close watch on Sri Lanka, it reduced its involvement in trying to solve the ethnic conflict. India’s early involvement was evident by the course of action adopted by it when late President J.R. Jayewardene decided to militarily resolve the conflict.

The Indian government immediately dispatched its air force to fly over the Jaffna peninsula and drop bags of parippu and within a short period thereafter the Indo-Lanka Agreement was signed and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) made its entry into the country at the invitation of President Jayewardene.

President Mahinda Rajapakse too, having initially looked to India for help, has since veered towards Pakistan, especially to purchase arms and ammunition. Although disturbed by the news, India decided to keep mum until its state elections concluded.

Since Gandhi’s death, the people and government of South India did not play a major role in the affairs of the north and east of Sri Lanka. Interestingly, though there was anti-Indian sentiment in the late 1980s with the JVP even going on a killing spree to get the IPKF out, today the mood is different and there is a yearning for Indian involvement. Having learnt their lesson, it was India that did not want to get actively involved in Sri Lanka’s affairs this time around.

Vaiko’s stance

And there was no reason for India to get involved directly either since the issue of refugees flowing into Tamil Nadu was no longer a problem. But all that changed with the recent civilian massacres and the aerial bombardment in the north east

Firing the first salvo two weeks ago was a pro-LTTE South Indian political leader, Vaiko who wrote a letter to Indian Premier Manmohan Singh.

In his letter, Vaiko requested the central government to adopt a strong policy against the Sri Lankan government saying it was harassing the Tamils in the north east.

With the letter, the plight of Sri Lanka’s people in the north east took centre stage in South Indian politics.

It wasRamdoss, a pro-LTTE representative of the Karunanidhi Alliancewho got activated next. He told Singh that India should fight for the rights of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

The surprise however was when South Indian Opposition Leader Jayalalitha Jeyaram issued a statement saying she would take to the streets if the central government kept quiet over the problems faced by the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

The third force in South Indian politics, Vijayakanth also released a statement in favour of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

With almost every South Indian politician fighting for the rights of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi could no longer remain silent.

He summoned a meeting of all political parties represented in South India last Monday. The meeting was aimed at finding a way to address the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Plight of civilians

The plight of the Tamil civilians following the air raids carried out by the Sri Lankan forces after the massacre in Kebithigollewa was discussed at length. Also, the list of names of the Tamils killed in the north east during the last few months prepared by Indian security officials was taken up for discussion.

The plight of Sri Lankan refugees who have fled to South India following the attacks carried out by the Sri Lankan security forces was also discussed at length.

Several vital decisions were reached at the end of the discussion.

It was decided to push for the central government’s involvement in stopping the harassment of Tamil civilians in the north east by the Sri Lankan security forces.

The next decision was to send a special government representative or representatives to gather information on the present situation in Sri Lanka, based on which the next course of action would be adopted.

Karunanidhi was tasked with communicating to the Indian Prime Minister the decisions made at the meeting.

Soon after the meeting, Karunanidhi called Premier Manmohan Singh and informed him of the meeting that was held to discuss the plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka following the attacks carried out by the government security forces.

He then informed Singh of the decisions arrived at the meeting.

After paying attention to what Karunanidhi had to say, Singh observed that the central government would pay special attention to the situation. Singh promised to send a representative to meet with the South Indian political leaders to further discuss the matter.

Accordingly, the Prime Minister’s National Security Advisor, M.K. Narayanan was sent to Chennai.

Rajapakse activated

Rajapakse heard of the latest developments in South India and New Delhi on Monday (19) night.

He then held several discussions with confidants on the matter. Realising the consequences of the Indian government sending a representative to Sri Lanka on a fact-finding mission, Rajapakse decided to take necessary action to avoid such an eventuality.

The President immediately informed the Indian High Commissioner that he wouldsend a representative from Sri Lanka to India and sought an appointmentfor the representative to meet with Singh.

Rajapakse also requested the High Commission to make the necessary arrangements for the representative to meet with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

When the President was informed that a top level minister had to represent the country to make appointments with the Indian Prime Minister and the South Indian Chief Minister, Rajapakse immediately asked Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who at the time was in London, to make the trip to India.

Samaraweera, who was planning to make a trip to Paris from London, was asked to change plans and make a trip to India following the latest developments there.

Samaraweera’s visit

Upon hearing of Samaraweera’s visit to India, Singh requested Narayanan to postpone his visit to South India.

Narayanan was asked to take part in the discussion Singh was to have with Samaraweera and then make his trip to Chennai.

And when Samaraweera called on Singh, the Indian Premier made it clear that the human rights situation was a matter of serious concern, especially the aerial bombardment which was affecting the civilian population. He also said tension was rising in South India following these developments in the backdrop of refugees also flowing in and that it was important for the government and the LTTE to get back to the table.

The Indians also made it clear that the legitimate grievances of the Tamils should be addressed within a united Sri Lanka, indicating some new thinking would have to be infused in relation to the devolution of power. What Samaraweera was told in diplomatic language was that the concept of a unitary state would just not fly.

Understanding the seriousness of the message communicated, Samaraweera said the government was committed to a negotiated settlement and that war was not an option. He also blamed the LTTE for the escalation in violence, highlighting the Kebithigollewa massacre as an example.

APC initiative

But to establish the government’s bona fides with regard to a negotiated settlement, Minister Samaraweera adverted to the All Party Conference (APC) initiative and the appointment of an All Party Representative Committee (APRC) to draft a devolution package but what he did not say is that the exercise has been made redundant with the UNP opting out of it and asking the government to first state clearly its stand on the Oslo Communiqu and the Tokyo Declaration.

With Karunanidhi to be now briefed on the situation, it remains to be seen what the next move by South India will be. [PotShots - SundayLeader]