Weakening of LTTE gives advantage to Lanka in finding solution

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Emphasising the urgent need on the part of the Sri Lanka Government to follow up the recent military gains in the east with imaginative and sound political programmes, the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, N. Ram, on Saturday maintained that the apparent weakening of the LTTE gives a major advantage to the Government in pushing through a political solution to the ethnic conflict.

Speaking as a chief guest at the annual meeting of the Sri Lanka-India Friendship Society, Ram said "democratic governance" was the need of the hour in the East and went on to ask if the Government was ready to demonstrate the political will and take "reasonable risks" in its quest to resolve the ethnic question.

He maintained that terms or labels like "federal" or "unitary" were immaterial and said it would be worthwhile for the Government to consider a "quasi-federal system" for devolution of powers and meeting the aspirations of all sections of society, including the Tamils.

On the Indian expectations from the current regime in Sri Lanka, Ram said: "The expectation is we must overcome the gap between what we hear in private [about the intent of the Government on the national question] and what we see on the ground."

Quoting from the Indian experiences in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east, Ram said when the political leadership failed to take advantage from the gains made by the Security Forces in weakening of the militant groups, the military advances proved to be short-lived.

With LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran as the number one accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and the organisation banned, Indians would not stand any legitimacy of the LTTE and could not be expected to be part of any negotiations with the Tigers.

At the same time, India has consistently worked and will continue to encourage the Sri Lanka Government for a solution to the national question which would ensure a measure of equality for Tamils.

Ram said post-1991 India's policy toward Sri Lanka underwent a 'course correction' and despite the change of four Governments and six Prime Ministers, the policy ever since has remarkably been continuous and consistent.

"India's aspirations for Sri Lanka has been to help an equitable, moderate and sound solution to the ethnic/national question within a framework of united Sri Lanka," Ram said. He observed that whichever Government came to power in New Delhi had no option but to pursue this policy.

He was at pains to emphasise that there was 'zero support' for the LTTE in India and characterised the recent attempt by Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P. Nedumaran to cross into Sri Lanka waters with relief goods supposedly for the people of the Jaffna peninsula as no more than a political gimmick.

"They never take up these issues during elections. The publicity stunt by the likes of Nedumaran will not be tolerated. It is a clear violation of the norms of good neighbourly relations," he said.

Tracing the Indian policy toward Sri Lanka prior to 1991, Ram said the anti-Tamil riots of 1983 had a direct impact on bilateral relations from 1983 to 1991. "Today, the relations are no longer influenced entirely by events of 1983.

Following the course correction of 1991, the relations between the two countries have become more independent and stable with greater depth in terms of trade and people-to-people contacts," he stated.

He asserted that the Indian engagement with Sri Lanka was "real" and the 'distortions' of the earlier period, when India gave sanctuary and provided finance and armed support to some of the Tamil groups, should and would not be brought back.

Ram reminded the audience that in recent years, New Delhi had encouraged every attempt by successive governments in Colombo to move forward on resolution of the ethnic question.

He said though the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 was highly controversial and divisive at the time of its conception, it had substantive content and valuable lessons for both countries.

"There have been mistakes on both sides in the past but ever since we have moved on and there is a positive paradigm shift in relations between the two countries. In the last 10 to 15 years, not only vis-a-vis Sri Lanka, there has been a sea change in India's relations with its neighbours beginning with China in 1988 to normalisation of ties with Pakistan and Look East policy.

We need to sustain and build on it," Ram said. Talking about India's success story on the economic and democratic fronts, Ram said while the nine per cent growth rate was a big achievement, it would be cut short unless extra efforts were made to abolish mass poverty and bridge the poor-rich divide.

"The India Shining slogan bombed in the last general election because when it was taken to the countryside it misrepresented the reality."

He hoped that the present Government, headed by a scholarly Prime Minister, notwithstanding its difficulties on the civil nuclear energy cooperation with the US would be able to find a way out of the present problems and fulfil commitments made under the Common Minimum Programme.

High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Aloke Prasad, said India's success with democracy has made it a "universal norm" and dwelt on the economic achievements of India since Independence which helped it attain nine per cent annual growth rate.