India & the Struggle for Tamil Eelam
A.P.Venkateshwaran, Former Indian Foreign Secretary
[see also
Rajiv
Gandhi's War Crimes
- நெற்றிக்கண் திறப்பினும் குற்றம் குற்றமே...]
"...as an Indian I feel ashamed that under the
Indo Sri Lanka agreement, our forces are fighting
with Tamils whom they went to protect. Speaking of blaming the Indian soldiers, soldiers
are meant to carry out commands, but I do believe that in our own Indian ethics, soldiers
are not merely meant to carry out commands because if you look at the history and the
mythology and the culture which is Indian...We are supposed to fight only for Dharma. Only
if the war is righteous shall you fight it.... I believe that the Indian Government had betrayed its own culture and
ethics. For the first time, it has sent out soldiers to fight when there was no cause for
us to fight. There was no purpose for us to fight. When I speak to the Indian army
officers, whom I know and who have come back after serving in Sri Lanka, they are the most
puzzled and most unhappy people because they do not know the cause for which they are
fighting. The guilt, therefore, rests entirely on those who sent them to do this dastardly
business of fighting in Sri Lanka against our Tamil brothers and sisters..."
Tamils are the
oldest inhabitants of the sub-continental region...
I am truly happy to be in your midst identifying myself with your hopes and
aspirations. When the meeting started, it was done in a very picturesque and poetic manner
with the lighting of a lamp and it reminded me of a Vedic hymn which is very appropriate
when we remember the struggle which is taking place in Sri Lanka.
When there is a conflict, truth is the first casualty. The first line says, 'lead us
from untruth to truth', the second, 'from darkness lead us into light', and the third,
'from death lead us to immortality'. I think everyone who has died in this struggle has
become immortal.
The Tamils are the oldest inhabitants of the sub-continental
region; this is accepted by historians peeping into the mists of time. There is
evidence to show this in the inscriptions of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, the Indus Valley
civilisations. They are supposed to have moved down further south with more powerful
invasions and, don't make a mistake, the successful invaders are usually the barbarians.
Throughout history, civilised nations have been conquered by barbarians, not by the
civilised. So the Tamils moved out and populated further southerly parts of the Indian
sub-continent. So to try and deny them the right to their own homeland, when all others
who had come after them were already there, is the height of irony. I believe that this is
the root of the problem which we see today, that is, the world does not recognise the
injustice which is sought to he done to the Tamils of Sri Lanka.
I think the
Tamils taking to arms
in Sri Lanka was more than justified...
What has been the character of the Tamils? Generally speaking, in the sub-continent, we
have been a peace loving and law-abiding people. The Tamils have been especially so; even
amongst the sub continent we are e the most peace-loving and the most law abiding people.
So what has made the Tamils now from that earlier categorisation to be described almost as
a martial race. Why are they fighting? Why are they dying? What is behind their struggle?
I believe that it is a gross injustice which has been done to them.
The fact is that their rights have been totally removed, and
that they have been humiliated.
Pacts have been made only to
be broken. So in this situation what will not justify a person taking to arms.
I think the Tamils taking to arms in Sri Lanka was more than
justified.
And as an Indian I feel ashamed that under the
Indo
Sri Lanka agreement, our forces are fighting with Tamils whom they went to protect.
Speaking of blaming the Indian soldiers, soldiers are meant to carry out commands, but I
do believe that in our own Indian ethics, soldiers are not merely meant to carry out
commands because if you look at the history and the mythology and the culture which is
Indian, we do not believe in the British concept of the Charge of the Light Brigade,
'Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do and die'. No. We are supposed to fight
only for Dharma. Only if the war is righteous shall you fight it.
The Indian Government had betrayed
its own culture and ethics...it is a dastardly business..
By that yardstick I believe that the Indian Government had betrayed its own culture and
ethics. For the first time, it had sent out soldiers to fight when there was no cause for
us to fight. There was no purpose for us to fight. When I speak to the Indian army
officers, whom I know and who have come back after serving in Sri Lanka, they are the most
puzzled and most unhappy people because they do not know the cause for which they are
fighting.
The guilt, therefore, rests entirely on those who sent them to do this dastardly
business of fighting in Sri Lanka against our Tamil brothers and sisters.
And why should this have happened, despite repeated knowledge of the nature of the
gentleman with whom our Prime Minister has signed the Accord, that he is the most slippery
customer, that he has consistently over all the years of his life (in which I don't think
he has really achieved a single constructive creative thing), always gone back on
his word?
We know that Mr. G.Parthasarathy, Chairman of our Policy Planning Committee, went to
Colombo after the atrocities were committed on the Tamils all
over the island, (and these atrocities were clearly inspired by the Sri Lankan
Government and many lives were lost and many displaced from their homes) and that
Annexure C scheme was agreed upon between President
Jayewardene and Mr Parthasarathy and no sooner had Mr Parthasarathy come back immediately
after concluding this understanding than Mr Jayewardene went back upon it..
In the two or three years
when I dealt
with the affairs of the foreign office in Delhi, there was not a single instance where the
Sri Lankan side had not gone back after giving certain assurances...
In the two or three years when I dealt with the affairs of the foreign office in Delhi,
there was not a single instance where the Sri Lankan side had not gone back after giving
certain assurances concerning the situation of the country.
It was a regular feature and it really puzzles me and strains my credulity as to how
anybody could take this gentleman's word at its face value. When I was at my desk, we did
send the TULF delegation twice to Colombo. The reason for that was that the TULF members
represented the parliamentary constituencies of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. They had
discussions, some of which appeared hopeful and worth pursuing but on which the Sri Lankan
side began sliding back. Then on 19th December 1986 there was a ministerial delegation
which went to Colombo led by Mr Chidambaram and
certain
under standings were reached but not implemented. When the
Indo- Sri Lanka Accord was suddenly concluded, what
was agreed upon in 1986 was further changed.
I am not sure whether many of you know that the
Indo-Sri
Lanka Accord came about in a matter of two weeks. The first draft came from Colombo.
There was not really too much for negotiation on it. That itself should make any normal
person very suspicious as to why there had been a change of heart in a gentleman who had
not been willing to give even a fraction of what is in the Accord, at least in words,
earlier. The reason became very clear for the Accord, because
in the December 1986 discussions the maximum that
could be achieved was the agreement on the part of the Sri Lankan Government that there
would be an association between the Northern and Eastern Provinces but the Eastern
Province would be minus the district of Amparai. As you know, Amparai had a much less
Tamil population than the other two districts of the Eastern Province. So there was a fair
chance that such a union could survive.
All right, even if it looked generous on the part of Mr Jayewardene that the agreement
included this Amparai district when the Accord was being concluded, anybody should have
had alarm bells ringing in his head when a further clause is put in the Accord
that
there would be a referendum taken regarding union by the end of 1988.
Of course, none of the points which had been included in the Accord has really been
implemented. In fact, the developments in the Accord have been most tragic in the reverse
direction than in the direction which people were hoping things would move. So in a sense
what happened to the Accord was a self destructive agreement. The Sri Lankan side is
ensured that they get merit for doing something which they knew well before hand would not
work, but would blow up. And this is exactly what has happened because I don't think
anyone, even the most optimistic observer anywhere in the world, can say that the Accord
has succeeded in what it set out to achieve.
It is a grotesque travesty that the Indian
Peace Keeping Force should he now so clearly on the side of the Sri Lankan Government in
its oppressive actions....
The story of the conflict with the IPKF is also equally disastrous. It started on 10th
October, after the arrest of 17 LTTE cadres by the Sri Lankan Navy. The President
requested them to be sent to Colombo; they all swallowed cyanide capsules and 14 of them
died. The result of this action was the inflammation of opinion and the fighting which
started then has not ceased. But I have never understood how when you have a peace keeping
force, the efforts of the peace keeping force are to continue this conflict. In any peace
keeping force anywhere in the past, under the UN now, the peace keeping force would shoot
back only if it were shot at. A peace keeping force also by definition never took the side
of one party or the other. So it is a grotesque travesty that the Indian Peace Keeping
Force should he now so clearly on the side of the Sri Lankan Government in its oppressive
actions.
I am afraid that what is happening now would lead to bitterness for many decades to
come, in our own kith and kin in Sri Lanka and ourselves. Barbara Tuchman, the well known
historian, in a recent book called 'The March of Folly', makes a comment. She says a
phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of the place or period is the pursuit
by governments of policies contrary to their own interests. She defines folly as 'the
pursuit of policy contrary to the self-interest of the constituency or state involved'. I
think the Government of India's action in this particular. ease-comes very clearly into
the definition of folly as stated by Barbara Tuchman.
Where do we go from here?...
One last word before I leave you in peace and that is "where do we go from
here?" I think the only way we can go is to have an immediate cease-fire. There was a
cease-fire in Sri Lanka some months ago at a time when I believe some 18 Indian soldiers
were being handed back by the LTTE which was received with very grudging acceptance by the
Indian side which again was most peculiar. In fact they even went on saying that they were
dead and would not be handed back. When they were handed back I do not think there was
even a sense of appreciation, or let alone appreciation, of even acceptance that something
decent had been done. But at that time there was a 48 hour cease-fire and after the 48
hour cease-fire the fighting was resumed; not by the LTTE, it was resumed by the IPKF.
Pirabaharan has sent a number of messages asking for a cease-fire and there have been
messages from civilian groups in Sri Lanka asking for a cease-fire and they are falling on
deaf ears. Here I believe what is necessary is a greater effort on the part of the Sri
Lankan Tamil community in educating the Tamils in Tamil Nadu. They have done a good job
educating Tamils in the United Kingdom and in organisations in Europe and other countries.
But the biggest group of Tamils obviously lives in Tamil Nadu and unless that
effort is made, a true Tamil consciousness cannot develop and unless that true Tamil
consciousness is developed inside India we would not be able to get the constituency in
India which we need to strop this kind of situation which has taken place due to the Indo
Sri Lanka Accord.
The only way that the Government in India can be made to move in the proper direction
would be by influencing opinion in Tamil Nadu which has changed a bit already because
earlier there was a chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr M G Ramachandran, who was not keeping
good health and he was persuaded to go along with the policy of the central government. At
that time since the people in Tamil Nadu adored him, they felt that going against what he
felt was right would be an act of disloyalty to him. But he is now dead and many are
now struggling to take his place.
This is the right time for you to take initiatives.
Tamils
from all over the world, not only Tamils from Sri Lanka, should carry the message to
the Tamils in Tamil Nadu that they are being fed a type of lies through the television,
the radio and the press. One-sided pictures are being presented to them and they have
really no way of understanding what the truth is. But if people who have connections,
relations, friends, speak to them, write to them, it would make a very big difference and
once that tide starts to develop I do not believe that the Government, even the Government
of India under the present Prime Minister, can carry on such a foolish policy
