THE Indian government may find it difficult to deal with a Sri Lankan government flush with a historic victory under its belt. Senior Indian officials who recently visited the island nation fear that there is a danger of Sinhala chauvinism running amok once again after the heady military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the death of Velupillai Prabakaran. Another development that they are wary of is the rise of the Sri Lanka Army as a separate power base after its achievements on the battlefield.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in a speech after the final victory over the LTTE, promised reconciliation and an equitable share of power for the Tamils. But, in what many observers have interpreted as a snub to New Delhi, he also said that the government would not try out solutions suggested by outside powers. Senior Indian officials have been insisting that they would ensure that the Jaffna Tamils would be able to lead a normal life after the cessation of hostilities.
New Delhi wants Rajapaksa to spell out the details of the devolution package he has been promising the Tamil population. The Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 specifically emphasises the need to devolve power to the Tamil and Muslim populations in the north and the east of the country. The accord was ratified by the Parliaments of the two countries. The Sri Lankan government gave it legal teeth by enacting the 13th Amendment to its Constitution whereby there could be a genuine decentralisation of power. However, the LTTE rejected the accord outright within a few months of its signing. Soon after Prabakarans death was announced, the Indian government dispatched National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon to Colombo. This was their second visit to the island nation within a span of two weeks. The first visit was before the last round of the general elections in India. During that visit, the two senior Indian envoys apparently succeeded in convincing Rajapaksa to scale down the use of firepower against the civilians and the Tigers holed up in the last sliver of territory the LTTE held. During their latest visit, the two Indian envoys must have no doubt tried to impress upon the Sri Lankan President the urgent need to start the process of devolving power to the Tamil minority so that it can live with dignity. The Indian government is also concerned about the welfare of the hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees living in camps. International observers have described the camps as being akin to prisoner-of-war camps. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he was appalled at the conditions in which the displaced people were living. Rajapaksa has denied international humanitarian agencies full access to the camps despite an open appeal by Ban Ki-moon.
Narayanan met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on his way to Colombo. He assured Karunanidhi that the interests of the Tamils in Sri Lanka would be suitably taken care of. Before the visit of the two envoys, the Indian government had announced a Rs.500-crore rehabilitation package for Sri Lankan Tamils.
Though both India and Sri Lanka are loath to publicise it, the help New Delhi provided the Sri Lanka Army played an important role in the ultimate defeat of the Tigers. Indias non-lethal assistance helped the Sri Lankan forces destroy the arms-smuggling ships of the Tigers. India has been training hundreds of officers from the Sri Lanka Army every year.
Eric Solheim, who was the chief negotiator in the abortive attempt to bring a lasting peace between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government, has warned that despite the clinching military victory over the Tigers, peace is long from being won. Solheim, currently Norways Minister of International Development, said that this was the time for the Sri Lankan authorities to demonstrate generosity towards the Tamil population and grant Tamils autonomy and create a state that includes everyone. Sri Lanka announced in April that Norway was no longer in a position to play an impartial role as an official peace facilitator. Norway had been playing this role since late 2001 and was accepted by both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE.
The European Union (E.U.), reflecting the hardening stance of the West over the alleged atrocities committed by the Sri Lanka Army in its war against the LTTE, has called for war crimes investigations into the killings of innocent Tamil civilians. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that there had been allegations of war crimes from both sides of the conflict. He said that these allegations should be properly investigated. Seventeen members of the U.N. Human Rights Council, headed by France and Britain, pushed for a special session to debate the war crimes issue.
Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the council that both the Sri Lanka Army and the Tigers had grossly disregarded the fundamental principle of the inviolability of civilians. She said that it was important for the international community to set the record straight regarding the conduct of all the parties in the conflict. Navi Pillay highlighted the claims that government forces fired heavy artillery in densely populated civilian areas and that the Sri Lanka Army killed rebel combatants who wanted to surrender. She also told the council that the Tigers may have been guilty of holding civilians against their will and using them as human shields. The U.N. estimates that more than 100,000 people have been killed in the 26-year-long conflict, including 6,000 in the last five months alone.
The Sri Lankan government has reason to be worried. For some sections in the U.S. and the E.U. are debating the merits of granting an International Monetary Fund loan to Colombo if it does not address the concerns of Washington and Brussels. The E.U. is upset with the Rajapaksa government for having repeatedly ignored its calls for a ceasefire even as civilians were getting increasingly caught in the crossfire. The E.U., supported by the U.S., wants the U.N. to be provided immediate access to the refugee camps to ascertain claims that the Tamil people are being interned against their will.
China and Russia have emerged as the strongest backers of Sri Lanka in the international arena. The two countries blocked a binding motion in the U.N. Security Council over Sri Lanka. China and Russia also led a 12-member bloc, which included India, Egypt and Cuba, in tabling a counter-motion against the U.N. Human Rights Council to thwart the plans of the European nations. The resolution praised Sri Lanka for winning a war against a terror group and called for international funding to bail out the war-ravaged economy of the island. The resolution supporting Sri Lanka was adopted by 29 votes to 12 against, with six abstentions. It condemned the LTTE for using civilians as human shields and described the war conducted by Sri Lanka as a domestic matter that did not warrant outside interference.
Although India put its name to the counter-motion, it shares some of the apprehensions of the West, especially on matters relating to the expansion of Chinese influence in what it considers its backyard. Because of its political compulsions, India had to stand aside and see other countries sell advanced military weaponry to Sri Lanka as the war against the LTTE escalated. China reportedly provided six fighter bombers free of charge. Sarath Fonseka, the Sri Lanka Army chief, said recently that it was the refusal of the Indian government to sell offensive weapons that made Sri Lanka turn to China.
He revealed that Pakistan was not able to meet the requirements projected by Sri Lanka and that the prices quoted by countries such as Russia and Ukraine were too high. The government, the army chief said, had no other option but to source most of its weaponry from China. According to Fonseka, the prices quoted by Beijing were almost half the price quoted by Moscow. Last year, China provided $1 billion as aid to the island nation. Most of the money was spent on building a highway, two power stations and the port of Hambantota, which happens to be in Rajapaksas home town. The Sri Lankan government had first offered the Hambantota port project to India.
Chinas help has evidently generated a lot of goodwill in the Rajapaksa regime. China insists that its relations with Sri Lanka are not going to adversely impact the strategic goals of Sri Lankas neighbours.
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