It is surprising to see Tamils who are surprised by India’s abstention vote at the UNHRC on Sri lanka. But it is pathetic to see Tamils not even able to express their disappointment at it.
Tamils speaking to the Sunday Time here.
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140330/columns/90860-90860.html
Sampanthan of TNA is quoted as saying India “.. has to maintain some principles and we respect that.” He added, “India still has a role to play and we are confident it will address our needs.”.
And Suren Surendiran of GTF, followed up saying “It is diplomatically naïve and immature to interpret abstentions as being somehow supportive of the Government of Sri Lanka”
Diaspora organizations self- restricting their operational space to match that of the constricted space of the TNA is bad. It is more so when India is about to overhaul its foreign policy initiatives under a new administration.
The policy announcements of India and the US are not secrets. They have been expressed and demonstrated many a times before.
India's:
1) Sri Lanka should not go beyond 13A. It is okay if Sri Lanka is slow to implement the 13A.
2) There should not be any other international interference in the neighborhood.
USA's:
1) There can not be a separate country.
2) Will not take unilateral decisions against India’s wishes in the region.
And both countries acknowledge and support the structural supremacy of the Sinhala nation over the Tamil nation.
It is also factual that America along with India helped to destroy the LTTE. And willfully looked the other way during the genocidal onslaught. And both of them wanted the Srilankan government to implement the 13A in return for that help. But when Sri Lanka gave them the finger on the 13A, America chose to act but India chose not to.
During the peace talks, Eric Solheim and others thought keeping India informed was sufficient. But India played the spoiler at the very end by encouraging Srilanka to go, literally, for the kill. It then proceeded to shield the regime from any outside investigations. Coincidently, after the UN vote, in a pointed reference to India, US repeated the similar language as Norway that they had kept other stakeholders informed .
The marked difference this time is that US chose to express its disappointment openly over India’s vote .
According to another set of informed people, America took in the suggestion of India to explicitly refer to 13A in the resolution. Apparently this reference was also supported by the TNA. Primary reason for the 13A reference in the resolution is to set the ceiling for a solution. NOT necessarily to “encourage” Sri Lanka to implement it as it is made to sound.
For whatever its worth, this blog has been repeating about how Tamils have become an unnecessary variable in this game. I wrote
“Tamil discourse is now juxtaposed between the likes of ever compromising TNA on one hand and never relenting Tamilnet on the other. “
This binary mindset, that you have to either fully support something or oppose it entirely was again at display during the UN resolution debate. There was limited debate about the options, both pro and con, available. A collective opposition to the references of 13A and LLRC while welcoming an international investigation would have been prudent. Someone should have ensured Delhi tipped its hand much earlier than it had been doing at the UN.
So at the end, India chose to keep Sri Lanka even if it meant losing Tamilnadu.
repeating from the same past blog post,
“Only when Eelam Tamil problem becomes a national security issue for India, would there be any direct intervention. This is why a stronger and inseparable relationship with the people and leaders of TamilNadu is a predestined safety valve for Eelam Tamils. “
American policy makers have been frustrated with India in recent times. Frustrated because India has not fully embraced America as the strategic partner in the regional affairs. Indian officials are still suspicious of the US motives.
I shared this article with a friend when it came out last December with the words “ Why US would continue to put pressure on India in multilateral forums like UN.”
The author, @MohanCRaja, asked “that New Delhi discard its traditional impulse to view Asia through the anti-Western prism. The idea of Asian solidarity against the West, developed during the colonial era, has long been presumed to be a fundamental principle of India's foreign policy.”
and then concluded
“Managing these regional contradictions will be a major challenge for India's Asia policy in the coming years. Non-alignment, strategic autonomy and Asian solidarity might be attractive slogans for some, but offer no guidance for the conduct of India's foreign policy in East Asia and the Middle East. To cope with the new geopolitical imperatives, India must learn to deal with Asia on its own terms and stop imposing its ideological preferences on the region.”
(Note: Reminded of an old Tom Clancy Novel, Debt of Honor. re Asian solidarity. Truth is stranger than fiction indeed.)
From the previous blog post, March Madness. is it USA Vs India,
But would the US push through the resolution if India chooses to sit on the fence?
Answer is now known.
America’s dealing with India has been forceful. Whether it is the diplomat’s issue , or about Bangladesh, and now on Sri Lanka.
[ India, US at odds over Bangladesh policy
India-US chasm opens over Bangladesh
America wants to force India out of the sideline, non-committal, backdoor diplomacy. It wants India to take similar positions as the US. America intends this at the new administration in Delhi which will overhaul its foreign policy for certain. But many Tamil activists still continue to see the US & India as the same collective they were in 2009. Principally that still remains true. But the fissures have been visible.
Few Tamil Nadu organizations like the May 17th, despite their best intentions and noble goals, squandered precious time and efforts on Anti American rhetoric and taking over KFC’s. Repeating from the previous blog post wrote weeks before UN voting.
Tamil Nadu activists have chosen to protest against the American resolution because it does not include charges of Genocide. While that is reasonable request, protesting it, misses the tree for the wood. Tamil Nadu’s immediate focus should be in getting Delhi to take a public position within the next few weeks. Letting Delhi wait until the voting time, is a strategic mistake by the Tamil Nadu brethren. Tamil Nadu activists should first mobilize towards getting Delhi to openly support an International Investigation mechanism. Without that, protesting the resolution for what it does not include is premature and above all not prudent. It only helps Delhi’s agenda of deflection.
Would Tamilnadu brethren make wise choices in the upcoming elections and hold their politicians accountable so that India does not stop the OHCHR investigations even before it starts?
