by G Pramod Kumar Sep 4, 2012
Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa asking Sri Lankan students, who
were in Chennai to play some friendly football matches, to leave the state and
suspending an official of a government stadium for granting permission for
their game is more of a statement of authority to New Delhi than to Colombo.
Not that she wouldn’t have wanted to send a message to Colombo on the
Tamil issue as well, but this time it is primarily directed at Delhi.
And within India’s political theatre she has genuine reasons to be
angry.
The centre has not only ignored her demands to cancel the training of
Sri Lankan defence personnel anywhere in India, not just in Tamil Nadu, but
also slighted her by answering her through a junior minister Pallam Raju.
She wanted New Delhi to be tough with Colombo in fixing the
responsibility for the alleged killing of thousands of Tamil civilians in the
2009 war and in ensuring that Tamils are given equal rights and entitlements as
the Sinhalese. She had made her point to New Delhi very clear on the issue by
passing a resolution in the state assembly as well.
But, Delhi has been wishy-washy on the issue and didn’t take Tamil Nadu
into confidence while it dealt with Sri Lanka. It even sent two Sri Lankan
officers for training in Wellington near Ooty without the state government’s
knowledge while knowing full well that it would anger the people of Tamil Nadu.
Not that the centre didn’t know the position and the sentiments of the
people of Tamil Nadu on the issue – it had shifted nine Lankan military
personnel, on training at the Indian Airforce station near Chennai, two months
ago on demands from the state.
Jayalalithaa was vocally upfront in airing her displeasure towards Delhi
while sending the Sri Lankan students packing. The permission for the matches
were apparently granted by the centre, and while asking the students to leave,
she said: “the decision of the Indian government had humiliated the people of
Tamil Nadu and I condemn the centre for this.”
Incidentally, her stand also slights the Sri Lankan government, which
chooses to ignore her while swaggering that its relations are with India and
not with “a state”. With this decision, she tells Colombo that in a federal
India, unlike Sri Lanka, the state is the master when it comes to the
grassroots.
Had New Delhi shown some respect for the sentiments of Tamil Nadu on the
Sri Lankan ethnic issue and employed minimum statesmanship that Indian
federalism demands, this embarrassment could have been avoided. When she
repeatedly raised the issue of training Sri Lankan military personnel in India
with the prime minister, New Delhi not only didn’t offer to talk to her, but
also chose to ignore her.
Now the other side of the story.
Jayalalithaa may be justified in her posturing to Delhi, but does it
befit her stature and the image of Tamil Nadu?
Perhaps, not.
Is there some collateral damage? Certainly yes.
Her decision is likely to inspire many Tamil chauvinistic outfits to
indulge in vigilantism as shown by the demand by Nam Thamizhar Iyakkam to send
back 200 Sri Lankan pilgrims who are in Thanjavur. Their demand came on the
heels of Jayalalithaa’s decision. The Sri Lankan government promptly issued a
travel advisory asking its citizens not to visit Tamil Nadu, implying that Sri
Lankans are not safe in the state.
This is certainly bad for the image of Tamil Nadu and India.
This is where it is going to hurt the age-old ties between the people of
Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka as well. The people-to-people contact between Tamil
Nadu and Sri Lanka is not between Tamils alone, but also between Tamils and
non-Tamils.
It’s not just Tamils who travel between Chennai and Colombo, but also a
lot of Sinhalese as well. Chennai has the maximum number of flights that
operate between the two countries and bulk of the Sri Lankan airline’s
passengers are from India, who are often routed through Chennai. The silk
sarees that the Sri Lankans shop for in Chennai, are not just a commodity, but
a cultural motif that they flaunt in the island. And it is not just Tamils that
wear Nalli’s silks.
Additionally, many Indian household brands are also well patronised in
Sri Lanka. Airtel, Tata, Maruti, TVS and a host of Indian FMCG brands are
household names in the island, not to mention the omnipresent Bollywood and
Tamil movies. Bulk of the cargo that passes through Colombo port is also from
India.
Given their network and global presence, the strong decision to send the
Sri Lankan children from the prestigious Royal College, will besmirch Tamil
Nadu and India among the future generation. The Tamil Nadu government should
have instead used the opportunity to reach out to the people of Sri Lanka and
encouraged them to demand action against the human rights violators who occupy
positions of power.
It is not the Tamils’ demands from India that Sri Lankan State
stonewalls, but also demands from within the country. In fact, the human rights
activists in Sri Lanka operate at great risks. Brushing the establishment and
the people with the same brush will only alienate the goodwill that exists
between the people of the two countries.
The chauvinists in Sri Lanka as well as the proxies of the ruling establishment
are not likely to take the decision of the Tamil Nadu government lightly. It’s
a country with a history of violent ultra-nationalism. If they reciprocate and
pick on visitors from Tamil Nadu, it might turn ugly. Earlier, Colombo had
detained Dalit leader and pro-Eelam activist Thirumavalavan at the airport and
sent him back.
It’s time New Delhi picked up the cue from Tamil Nadu and included the
state in its relations with Sri Lanka. Bilateral ties with Sri Lanka are
meaningless without the involvement of a state that is so close to the island –
culturally, economically, politically
