Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Tamilians in SL need Indian govt's support' that was published in Newsband

Tamilians in SL need Indian govt’s support

Sri Lanka’s treatment of its Tamil citizens should be condemned by one and all. These Tamil people no more have the protection of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. That has made the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka very pathetic.

The protests and attacks have peaked at a time when a resolution on human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan military toward the end of the war with the LTTE in 2009 is before the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.

Why is Indian government not putting pressure on Sri Lanka to punish those responsible for human rights abuses and to honour its responsibilities and commitments to Sri Lankan Tamils? India should urge Sri Lanka to move towards a political settlement of the ethnic conflict. Indian government should work in coordination with other countries to ensure full and equal rights for Tamils as citizens of a united Sri Lanka.

Presumably India is keeping aloof from the Sri Lankan issue worrying too much on Chinese overtones in the southern neighborhood. China which had initiated to empower Pakistan by helping in its surreptitious nuclear projects had indirectly lobbied for Sri Lanka’s right from the investigation by U.N panel. India was rather scared of a squabble with China while putting forth the right advice to the island nation. Indian government probably feels that it cannot afford to dilute relationship with Sri Lanka by clamping trade embargo or restricted interface with technology transfers to the island nation. Many ongoing Indian projects for the benefit of the war displaced people will get bunged. Exports from India like garments facilitating re-exports will get adversely affected. There will be host of trade barriers especially in transhipments of export cargo through Colombo, if India maintains surliness with Sri Lanka.

India's strategic interests are vital but can we afford to ignore the demands of seven crore fellow Indians. Historically we have taken strong stands on human rights violations in our neighborhood and globally, we have seen daft Indian foreign policy aiding and supporting Bangladesh, Palestine where human right violations shocked the entire world. Even in the face of strong American criticism, Indira Gandhi had helped in realizing the dream of a free Bangladesh.

Sri Lankan Tamilians are ethnic Indians and we have a responsibility towards them. What happened in Northern SL was a bloody war where the LTTE used civilians as human shields. And the army had to break through that to reach the LTTE high-command. So LTTE was probably more at mistake for the final war. Sadly when that was happening, the international community stood watching and didn't act to make secure the common SL Tamilians’ life and dignity.

 We as humans must ask Sri Lankan government to treat all their people as equal. Indian did not interfere when Idi Amin ethnic cleansed around 32000 Indian origin people in Uganda. India did not interfere when Indian orgin people were attacked in Fiji. Indian government kept quiet when Hindus were massacred and ethnic cleansed in Kashmir. India is keeping quiet over the genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan. And now India is quiet when Tamilians in Sri Lanka are suffering. That’s a sad story!