June 30, 2006
 

Tigers in lambs' clothing

It is in India's interest to not take heed of the LTTE's admission that it regretted the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and that India should put the past behind. Anton Balasingham actually has the temerity to ask India to alter its viewpoint on the violent civil war which has affected Sri Lanka for over a quarter of a century.

We call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind and to approach the ethnic question in a different perspective.

While this is as close to the LTTE admitting that it did assassinate Rajiv Gandhi, it is perhaps worth considering that with the DMK in power in Tamil Nadu, refugees have started pouring in, especially in Rameswaram in the last month or two. Add in the MDMK's presence in the central government and the LTTE's apology of an apology will be presented as the LTTE indulging in self-moderation.

Balasingham's veiled threat that "A civil war will destabilise region and have political consequences in Tamil Nadu" needs to be handled in the most appropriate manner, i.e. by warning the members of the Union Government who harbour a soft corner for the LTTE that any attempts by them to raise the Sri Lankan Tamil issue in any forum and for any purpose would result in appropriate action being taken.

India needs a peaceful Sri Lanka. But there're more important things within India which need immediate attention. I don't think India should involve itself in the Sri Lankan Tamil issue any more. India's interference in that issue will result in Pakistan and China poking their head in to say a 'hello' as well. That'd pretty much end any hope of a peaceful negotiation process in Sri Lanka.
Since a peaceful Sri Lanka is in India's geo-political interest, I find it hard to accept his claim.

It's up to them because we have already pledged that we will never to do anything or act anything inimical to the geopolitical interest of India.

I assume he implies the various bomb blasts etc. over the last couple of weeks are in India's geo-political interest.

Nitin argues in his post that the LTTE will need to hand over everyone convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to give the impression that they're really sorry.

Update #1: The LTTE has since denied that Balasingham's words were an admission of guilt. Of course, he didn't apologize/admit explicitly, but the fact that he used words like 'deeply regret', 'put the past behind' etc. do indicate a change in the LTTE's 15-year old stand.

Update #2: 'The Hindu' carries my letter based on this post.

Labels: ltte

Rambled @ 3:01 PM

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