JULY 2009

Indocentric view

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From the Editor’s Desk Learning to live with each other and reconciling to live as a nation with equal rights is what the Tamils can hope for. Commerce , is the cause of the Tamil-Sinhalese issue, to work in their tea gardens the British brought Tamils from mainland India, mostly from then Madras Presidency, the same way to further commerce the British brought Africans to work in American cotton fields. In both cases, a commercercial solution seem to have caused problems with dimensions that were never thought. Peace could have been restored in February 2002, when both sides signed a cease-fire with the government lifting the ban on Tamil Tigers, and the Tamils dropping their demand for a Tamil –Eelam, but sadly the cease-fire did not last. The Sri Lankan government badly needs international aid to get the country’s infrastructure in place, and the economy back working to provide jobs to both Tamils and Sinhalese. For all round growth of any country, wealth is a great healer and peace creator. With the end of the war, trade between India and Sri Lanka, will grow. India has given a substantial development aid to Sri Lanka, for various purposes. As one writer has attributed number of factors which contributed in great measure to the military successes of the Sri Lankan state. This military achievement shows that if a war against terrorism is fought with strong determination, adequate military programme and strategy with proper co-ordination, it is not at all difficult to eliminate militant terrorism militarily. But in any case, military solution to terrorism can never be a long term solution. As it seems, in a triumphant military victory, the Sinhalese nationalism is bound to ascend further keeping in mind the downward swing of the Tamil psyche in Sri Lanka. The roadmap for a viable political settlement to the ethnic Sri Lankan problem should be prepared in such a manner that it should acknowledge first of all, that military victory over the LTTE is not the end, but appeasing the minds of the minority Tamils. Another writer concludes that no ethnic strike can be settled without addressing its root causes. Besides, in the absence of LTTE, it is important that people of different view point with in the Tamil groups should be united and only then a negotiated settlement with a single entity can take place keeping in mind the interest of the Tamil community in general. In one of the thought provoking articles, a contributor feels that India as a powerful neighbour can wield a strong influence over Sri Lanka including the future of Tamil militancy. But changed international environment with low tolerance limits for the activities of non state actors will make it rather difficult for use of overseas soil for the growth of Tamil militancy. I could not have compiled this edition of World Focus encompassing most of the topics concerning the Sri Lanka issue but for the help of Manohari Velamati, Research Scholar South Asian Studies Division, SIS, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi G. Kishore Babu July, 2009 Editor

Defeat of the LTTE and the Future of Tamil Militancy

Col R Hariharan

Any leader now trying to revive the LTTE or start a new Tamil militant movement has to live up to the larger than life image of Prabhakaran created in public mind. Otherwise he will not be able to motivate his followers and build up the organization. Secondly, Prabhakaran’s strength of conviction enabled him to build one of the strongest insurgent organisation in the world in a span of two decades. So any leader undertaking the task now will have to sustain his conviction for at least one to two decades.

Though he understood tactical operations better, Prabhakaran’s major shortcoming had been his inability to respond to political demands with finesse. The chances of success of any potential leader to revive militancy will increase only if he is politically savvy.

It is not only the potential of the leader that is important. It was largely the environment that shaped Prabhakaran’s mind to become a committed leader to his cause and build a strong organization. And both the internal and international environments have become more unfriendly than ever before to the idea of secession.

So a charismatic and responsive leader to revive Tamil militancy is like to emerge only when the environment turns extremely repressive and hostile to Tamil population at large. With greater awareness among the population and India acting as a subtle but continuous pressure point on Sri Lanka on the issue of devolution of equitable rights to Tamils, such “pressure cooker” situation is unlikely to develop. Thus even in a decadal time frame, the opportunity for emergence of such a leader may never come through.

Sri Lankan State and its Military Successes

Gulbin Sultana

On 19 May 2009 President Mahinda Rajapaksa formally announced the military victory of the Sri Lankan state over the LTTE. The article has attributed number of factors which contributed in great measure to the military successes of the Sri Lankan state. This military achievement of the Sri Lankan state shows that if a war against terrorism is fought with strong determination, proper military programme and strategy and solid coordination and cooperation, it is not difficult to militarily eliminate the militant terrorism. However, it is very important to understand that only military solution to terrorism is a short term solution. If the root cause of the terrorism is not addressed and solved on time through political negotiation and consensus, terrorism will re-emerge.

Sri Lanka and the Refugee Crisis

S. Murari

The refugees have lost all that is precious to them-- their homes, their near and dear and their hopes for a peaceful and dignified life as equal citizens in Sri Lanka. Integrating them with the society and giving them a sense of belonging to Sri Lanka will be a daunting task.

It was surprising that the Sri Lankan Government chose to send back a ship carrying relief materials collected by Tamils in Europe and sent to Colombo for distribution among the refugees. The ship with over 800 tonnes of relief materials, including medicines, had to drop anchor off Chennai harbour. The Sri Lankan Government's unstated objection was that it came from the diaspora and it does not want its citizens to be emboldened to them. A mindset displayed by the Tigers when they turned back thousands of Buddhists who crossed Vavunia with relief materials in a spontanous outpouring of sympathy for the Tamils after the tsunami. Maybe, the Government was put off by the defiant name the ship sported, Vananga Mann( Unconquerable Land).
Now thanks to Government of India's strong stand, no doubt under pressure from Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka has agreed to take the relief materials to be transported in another container ship.

While the focus of the world is on the Tamils displaced two months ago from the war zone, no one remembers the 90,000 Tamil-speaking Muslims driven out of the north way back in 1990 by the LTTE and who have since been living in refugee camps in Puttalam. They have as much right to their homes as the recently uprooted Tamils. How is the Government going to tackle this problem?

A Roadmap for a Viable Political Settlement to the Sri Lankan Ethnic Issue

N. Manoharan

Since the LTTE is no more, which actor should be in a position to negotiate with the Sri Lankan government on behalf of Tamils? The LTTE did not allow or accommodate different political view points. It focussed all its energies on military strategy, but forgot to foment a political strategy. The LTTE also totally failed to cultivate bridges and alliances with other communities of the island i.e. Sinhalese and Muslims. Since the LTTE is gone, the present Tamil political leadership is unconstrained. But the main issue is fragmentation in the Tamil polity. There are three different viewpoints among the Sri Lankan Tamils: pro-government, anti-government, and the one in-between. However, to gain a viable political settlement, it is important that all these three groups are united and negotiate as a single entity keeping in mind the interests of the Tamil community.

Influence of Tamilnadu in India’s

Sri Lanka Policy

V.Suryanarayan

How does one explain the paradigm shift in New Delhi- Chennai equation? Was it due to the “coalition dharma” practiced by the central government, in which the DMK is an important partner? Was it due to Karunanidhi’s keen desire to strengthen his political links with Congress President Sonia Gandhi at a time when sections within the Congress were toying with the idea of a coalition with the AIADMK in the post election scenario? Was the policy dictated by the Chief Minister’s desire to ensure important cabinet berths to his near and dear ones in the Central Government?

Post-Prabhakaran Reconciliation:

The Non-LTTE Dimension

Sitakanta Mishra

The democratic, non-LTTE Tamil groups need to be engaged vigorously and mobilised to reach out the Tamils by addressing their concerns adequately. The challenge before Sri Lanka now is not how to strike a deal with the LTTE as it has been crushed. The real challenge is to dialogue with, heed the concerns of and strike a deal with, the non-LTTE democratic Tamil leaders that are left standing after the operation. Few would accuse the Sri Lankan Government for having failed to strike a deal with the LTTE, but many would certainly blame if Rajapaksa fails to strike a deal with the moderate, non-violent, non-LTTE, Tamil political leaders. Conversely, all along, many of these non-LTTE Tamil groups have contested the very notion of LTTE as the sole representative of Tamil cause. Now when LTTE is grounded, these groups are warranted to prove their credentials by coming up to the occasion and be a part of the reconciliation.