A tiger by its tail

As the battle for Jaffna rages, the Sri Lankans want India to ``do something'', though there is no one view on what that ``something'' ought to be, writes NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN.

IN BUDDHISM, existence is a never-ending cycle of birth and death. The pattern of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict seems to closely mirror this concept of its predominant religion, dying and flaring up again and again. Today, as Sri Lanka looks to India for assistance to solve its crisis, the wheel can be said to have turned yet another cycle.

Only 13 years ago, when India stepped into the crisis, the Sri Lankan Government had little choice but to accept the intervention. It sparked a huge public outcry against India, setting off an armed insurgency that took two years to put down.

In contrast, this time, as the battle for Jaffna rages, there is outrage against India for ``doing nothing''. Analysts, foreign policy makers, Buddhist monks, politicians, newspaper leader writers, and ordinary people, Tamil and Sinhalese - all want India to ``do something'' though there is no one view on what that ``something'' ought to be.

With the expectation is deep anxiety at India's perceived inaction till now. ``We understand India's constraints for not doing what it should do, but still, we are deeply disappointed,'' said Mr. Nanda Godage, who was Deputy High Commissioner in India when the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed in 1987. ``The statement about providing `humanitarian assistance' is wholly inadequate. India must be seen to be on the side of the democratically-elected Government of this country and helping counter a terrorist organisation that is banned in that country,'' Mr. Godage said.

Unlike in the 80s, the majority Sinhalese community is today more assured of India's avowedly anti-LTTE stand and quite convinced that New Delhi will never allow the formation of an independent Eelam. In contrast, the motives of western countries, especially those from which the LTTE operates, are still suspect. That is why the same Buddhist monks who last month burnt the Norwegian flag to protest that country's attempts to facilitate a dialogue between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, are today in the forefront of the demand for India's involvement in the crisis.

Given New Delhi's position vis-a-vis the LTTE now, analysts believe that more than a plaintive cry for help by Colombo, painting a grim picture for India's own security may work more effectively at enticing it into helping Sri Lanka.

``The fall of Jaffna would send out an important message to separatist groups on the subcontinent. It would inspire the Bodos, the Kashmiris, the naxalites and even the somewhat dormant Tamil Nadu secessionist movement. They would be able to obtain the expertise necessary from across the waters. The Canadian Sikhs would seek the support of Eelam groups in Canada to see whether the Khalistan movement can be revived. The impact of an LTTE victory on subcontinental politics cannot be underestimated,'' said Mr. Godage.

A senior official in the Foreign Ministry, who did not want to be named, painted a scenario in which the Sri Lankan armed forces, in their desperation, resort to the aerial bombardment of Jaffna, leading to civilian deaths in the densely-populated region. ``If that happens, passions in Tamil Nadu will rise again. Can India handle that? Is it not better to pitch in now and avoid such a situation altogether,'' he asked.

There is also the view that India's role in fanning the flames of Tamil militancy placed an obligation on it to douse the fire now. In a heavily-censored editorial last week, the influential Sunday Timesnewspaper castigated India for not standing by Sri Lanka in its hour of crisis. ``For all his pious talk of eliminating cross-border terrorism vis-a-vis Kashmir, Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee has been unable to respond to the needs of this country today, which trace back to a brand of cross-border terrorism spawned by India several years back.''

Despairing that the influence of politicians in Tamil Nadu had paralysed the Centre, the editorial said: ``It is chronic sentimentality to have visions of India as the land of the Buddha, of the Mahatma or of Nehru and so forth. The fact is that India has changed to our detriment. The sooner we square with that reality, the better for all of us.''

While these views represent, more or less, the majority point of view, the minority Tamils are also seeking India's help, but from a different perspective.

Mr. Dharmalingam Sithadthan, leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and member of Parliament, neatly summed up the range of views across the communal divide: ``While the Sinhalese want India to do a repeat of 1971 (when Indian forces helped crush an armed rebellion by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna against Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike's Government), against the LTTE, the Tamils want India to mediate and force both sides (the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE) to go for a settlement.''

Underlying the Tamil point of view is the belief that India understands these aspirations better than any other country. ``We know it will be difficult, and no one has any moral right to ask any help from India after all that has happened, but if India is prepared to forget all that and come forward as a mediator between the Government and the LTTE, we would be very happy,'' said Mr. V. Anandasangaree, vice-president of the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).

Mr. A. Varatharaja Perumal, now the most openly anti-LTTE Tamil politician left in Sri Lanka, who returned to the island in 1999 after years of a self-imposed exile on Indian soil, went one step further. He demanded that India not only help Sri Lanka retain Jaffna against the LTTE, but also help reach a political settlement among the Government, the Opposition, and all anti- LTTE Tamil parties, and stay to implement it. ``Without the participation of a third force, no political solution can be arrived at or enforced,'' he said.

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