Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The genie is manifestly out of the bottle! A Singhala point of view and Island newspaper editorial.

Jayalalitha lets the cat out of the bag.

That India by creating the LTTE in a bid to tame Sri Lanka made the same blunder as Pakistan, which helped the US father the Mujahidin terrorism in Afghanistan to counter the then Soviet Russia's expansionism, has today become clearer than ever. Their politico-military misreckoning or bĂȘtise has come home to roost. Mujahidin gave way to Taliban, which spawned a mixed bag of terrorists who are unleashing hell in Pakistan: India's miscalculation has given rise to a groundswell of popular support for secessionist forces in Tamil Nadu.

Even AIADMK General Secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, widely believed to be a bitter critic of the LTTE, has lent her voice to the South Indian separatist lobby which is promoting terrorism in Sri Lanka. She makes no bones about her desire to see the creation of a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka, though she says she is opposed to terrorism. She makes a vain attempt to camouflage her separatist call by claiming that she wants a separate state within a unified Sri Lanka.

This is nothing but plain baloney! Carving out a separate state is an irreversible process like scrambling an egg. After a melon is cut in half, there is no way one can put the two halves together ever again.

Jayalalitha is said to have sought to steal Karunanidhi’s thunder and play to the gallery by publicly espousing Sri Lanka's division in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. But, in so doing, she has shown her hand. Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha have the same goal and only their modi operandi differ.

What do Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha, Vaiko et al really want? Obviously, they are planning to lay the foundation of Greater Eelam by dismembering Sri Lanka. Their battle plan is to secure a base first and then build a modern-day Vijayanagar empire gradually. Unfortunately for them Sri Lanka has demolished the foundation of Eelam the LTTE painstakingly laid for over 25 years.

Jayalalitha is also repeating the propaganda lies of the Tiger backers in Tamil Nadu. Sri Lanka is committing genocide, she says flaying the Central Government for doing nothing to stop it. She is apparently trying to use the DMK's own slogans against her bĂȘte noire Karunanidhi.

It was Karunanidhi, who cried wolf first. He threatened to pull out from the Congress-led ruling coalition thus threatening the very survival of the Central Government, unless India stepped in to put an end to 'genocide' in the North of Sri Lanka.

His effort to rescue the beleaguered Tigers came a cropper and he had egg on his face, as it became evident that his campaign had a foundation of diabolical lies propagated by the LTTE.

Jayalalitha may be able to score some political points over Karunanidhi by condemning the DMK for having failed to make India intervene in Sri Lanka's internal affairs. But, she has cut a very pathetic figure in the eyes of the discerning both here and in India.

Now that Jayalalitha has accused the Sri Lankan armed forces of committing genocide, she should be asked why the LTTE has resorted to shooting to prevent civilians from fleeing to the army-controlled areas. Would victims of genocidal violence ever seek protection from the perpetrators? If Sri Lanka is unleashing genocidal violence, how on earth is it possible that the army is looking after the displaced people at welfare centres?

Jayalalitha does not seem to be au fait with international affairs. Someone should tell her what genocide really means. She needs to be told about what happened in Rwanda in 1994 and what is happening in Congo at present. In Congo, thousands of people are fleeing the marauding Lord's Resistant Army (LRA) while the UN Peace Keeping Forces are looking the other way, trotting out lame excuses for their failure to intervene to protect civilians.

Jayalalitha has proved that it is not only in Sri Lanka that one finds politicians who need some schooling.

If Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi are the messianic leaders that they claim to be, instead of making a cat's paw of others to pull Eelam chestnuts from the fire, they must fight for a separate state in Tamil Nadu. Is it that self-determination which they say is good for the Sri Lankan Tamils is bad for Tamils in Tamil Nadu in their opinion? They are in a better position to achieve the feat of secession, given the sheer numbers at their disposal and the tremendous political clout they wield.

If the DMK and AIADMK sink differences and join forces in the name of winning self-determination rights for their people, they can easily hold the Centre to ransom. It is a pity that Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha and other leaders of their ilk lack the courage to stand up for what they really want. They must be ashamed of themselves! They are only a bunch of cardboard heroes and heroines!

Now that Jayalalitha has expressed in no uncertain terms her support for Eelam in all but name, there is cause for India to be worried. India may have managed to divert the attention of the Tamil Nadu separatists by creating separatist terrorism here. But, the Tamil Nadu separatist movement has come out of a state of suspended animation after 25 years.

The genie is manifestly out of the bottle! How India tackles the situation remains to be seen. We only hope that it won't seek a solution at Sri Lanka's expense again.
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