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| Saturday, 29 May 2004 |
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India - some lessons of verdict On my watch by Lucien Rajakarunanayake NRam , Editor-in-Chief of "The Hindu" whose quote from the "New York Times" on the recent Indian elections that voters "turned on those who were callous to it or perceived to be pro-rich or didn't do enough in a drought", which concluded this column last week, was in Colombo over the weekend, when he said that Prabhakaran could never come into the open even as a future Chief Minister in Sri Lanka, because the issue of his extradition was something India could not abandon. He was here at the invitation of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) to lead a lecture/discussion on the Indian elections and its possible consequences. It is a tradition the ICES has carried on for some time to invite Mr. Ram to share his insight into Indian politics with Sri Lankan audiences. The lecture by Mr. Ram was titled "India Shines Through Verdict 2004". It had wide pre-publicity in the print media. Regrettably, the local media seemed to have very little interest in reporting what he had to say or questioning him about the election and emerging developments in India. Similarly, I also noticed only one senior officer of the Foreign Ministry present at a lecture where one would have expected many of those in the India or South Asia desks of the Foreign Ministry to be present. However, the auditorium was full of persons glad to learn from the speaker's hands-on experience and keen study of Indian politics. His analysis of the Indian elections threw new light of what appears to be emerging trends in South Asia. While drawing comparisons with the results of April 2 in Sri Lanka, where he saw some similarities and much dissimilarity too, it was clear that both the major parties the ruling BJP alliance and the Congress-led alliance had been the losers, although Congress emerged as the party with the largest number of seats. He saw the value of strategic alliances that Congress had made give it the decisive advantage in defeating the BJP alliance. This was an unusual move for Congress that had for many years avoided going into such alliances. There was also the significant fact of the strong emergence of the left parties as a force in India, just as what we have seen in the emergence of the JVP as a major political force. He explained how Vajpayee as Prime Minister pushed behind the curtain the extreme Hindutva demands of the Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VSP) the Hindu extremist organizations that are the power base of the BJP, and successfully steered the country till he made the wrong calculations about the success of the Indian economy and its impact on the people. At the same time he said the BJP did not hesitate to lend not so covert support to the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat and how it continued to support its Chief Minister Mody, unrepentant in his Hindu extremism. India and the LTTE In answering detailed questions about the role of India vis-a-vis the LTTE, Mr. Ram was quite emphatic that India had every interest in ensuring the success of the peace process in Sri Lanka, but considered the LTTE as a terrorist organization that remains a fugitive from justice in India. He was quite open in his admission that India had suffered a great deal though the mistakes it made in giving initial encouragement and support to the separatist policies of the LTTE. This lesson was something India would not easily forget. As for being facilitators or playing a more active role in the peace process, it was his candid view that this would not be possible because of the attitude of India towards the LTTE. More importantly, in response to a question whether India would accept Prabhakaran as the Chief Minister of a possible future devolved region in Sri Lanka, Mr. Ram was emphatic that Prabhakaran could never come into the open in such a manner, because the issue of his extradition was something India could not abandon. The ball in this regard was now in the Sri Lankan court he said, while admitting that India was conscious of the various implications the extradition issue would have on the peace process. Further, he said that Prabhakaran should be glad that India did not try an accused in criminal activity, in absentia. He explained that Sonia Gandhi's plea to commute the sentence of the Sri Lankan woman who was found guilty of implication in the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi, was a humanitarian act, and did not in any way show a softening of the Congress or India's position on the LTTE. He did admit that small groups such as Vaiko and even a Congress ally such as the DMK may be supportive of the LTTE. However, this was not the attitude of the larger India, which supported peace within a united Sri Lanka, ensuring its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Significantly, he said had the situation that took place in the districts of Sri Lanka's Northern Province in the April 2 polls taken place in India, the Elections Commission there would have had no hesitation in declaring those elections null and void. There is still room for hope that such powers will be given to Sri Lanka's Independent Elections Commission too, whenever it is properly constituted, sooner rather than later. |
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