Mahindas Appeal To The World

Must Be Understood!
Assertive Indian foreign policy needed!
| by Rajasingham Jayadevan
( June 9, !"#, $ondon, %ri $an&a 'uardian( A fine toothcomb is not needed to understand
)resident *ahinda Rajapa&se+s psyche on the resolution to the historical conflict ,ith the
-amils.
/is t,o prong strategy to the issue gives a very clear message. %ome say it is his split approach
to respond to the t,o distinct audiences dissimilarly. -he first is his belligerent portrayal to the
local audience and then the much desperate appeal to the outside ,orld. -he million dollar
0uestion is, is it really a cat and mouse game or a genuine offer to the ,orld to help him
overcome his o,n difficulties at home1
If the government of %ri $an&a plays its historical deceptive games to undermine
any Indian efforts, India must go further to muster the international support to hold a
free and fair referendum for the -amils to consider a federal solution either to stay
,ith %ri $an&a or to join India as its 2!th federal state.
Is his uncompromising stance indoors is to belittle the international community to buy time to
e3tricate himself from the barrage of issues fraught upon him is a matter to be ans,ered by the
international community. -he judgement day is not far a,ay as to ,hether the global village or
the village in the globe, ,ill succeed.
4ithin the borders of %ri $an&a, *ahinda Rajapa&se portrays him as a hard5line leader ,ho
,ill ensure to repudiate any claim of empo,erment of -amils. /e has further strengthened the
government machinery ,ith his hard5nosed stand that has transformed the ,hole body politics
of governance ,hich has no, circumstantially and viciously ensnaring him personally, thus
preventing him from even mentioning about devolvement of po,ers locally.
/e is entrapped. 6or him it is a life and death situation. 7ne must analyse ,hether he is
authoritative enough to e3ercise the absolute po,ers vested upon him under the constitution.
8nfortunately, he is not. /e is in fact enslaved by his o,n over blo,n right,ing machinery to
ta&e a definitive stand on the issue. An established, reprehensible, anti5-amil and anti5
minorities government mechanism have been further strengthened during his presidency and
the situation has made him a symbolic authoritarian leader ,ho is unable to e3tricate himself
from the snare that threatens his o,n survival.
It is his brother 'otabaya Rajapa&se ,ho is moving the dice all the time and acting as the
po,erful )resident from the shado,s. /e has strengthened his hold to such an e3tent that
)resident *ahinda Rajapa&se is unable to sideline him. %hado, )resident 'otabaya Rajapa&se
has consolidated his po,erbase ,ith the defeat of the $--9 and has further strengthened his
influence ,ith the e3tremist :uddhist hierarchy by radicalising them further. /e controls the
defence forces and the saffron robed brigades of the *al,atte Asgirya :uddhist chapters.
'otabaya has, at his disposal, the po,erful state defence machinery and the mon&s brigades to
cause havoc if the )resident or anyone concede devolution of po,ers to the -amils.
-he )resident also evidently gambles that any international effort must out5beat the radicalised
mon& brigade that has the outright bac&ing of the military.
-he )resident is unable to deal ,ith the unruly :uddhist clergy brigades patronised by his
brother even through legislative provisions to tame and confine them to their religious
monasteries. -he government proscribed over #; dead, dying and the retired $--9 activists
internationally at a stro&e but there is no ,ill to deal ,ith saffron robed brigades in the same
scale. A simple statutory provision to isolate the saffron clad from entering politics ,ithout the
robes ,ould be the biggest for,ard step to put the country in the right path. -he )resident is
curtailed by his o,n stigmatised political position < a position that is the only hope for his
political survival.
)resident *ahinda Rajapa&se+s predicament is no different to the final years of )iraba&aran as
the very machinery )iraba&aran founded put him on the sidelines in the bun&ers to be portrayed
as a figurehead. -his ,as also the fate of *anmohan %ingh ,hen he ,as over,helmingly
shado,ed by the no3ious anti5-amil %onia 'andhi. :oth )iraba&aran and *anmohan %ingh are
the victims of their o,n failures and their end has still not steered the momentum to settle the
crisis in %ri $an&a but sentiments are pitching for the emergence of a ne, era.
)resident *ahinda+s predicament is such that he has out5rightly portrayed to the ,orld a
posture to resolve the conflict through meaningful devolution. /is repeated statements to India
of devolving po,er beyond the "2th amendment and confirming that to the 8= %ecretary
'eneral must be ta&en seriously. It may be an effort to liberate himself from his o,n local
entrapment. -he turn of events have changed ,ith the election of )rime *inister =arendra
*odi and in his first bilateral meeting the ne,ly elected )rime *inister has demanded the
)resident to translate his offer of going beyond the "2th amendment to the constitution into
practical reality.
-he indecisive outgoing government of *anmohan %ingh that defined its foreign policy on the
emotions of the %hado, )rime *inister %onia 'andhi failed to understand the desperate
)resident *ahinda Rajapa&se. /er subdued non interventionist, non assertive anti5-amil
political stance ,as aimed to cause havoc on the -amils for the death of Rajiv 'andhi in the
hands of the $--9. -his empo,ered %ri $an&a to go on to commit heinous crimes against the
-amil civilian population. India+s post ,ar effort of reconstruction and redevelopment is
synonym to providing guns to the &iller and sending the ambulance to the victims of the gun.
-he tragic Indian foreign policy that has reached the malignant state needs to be revamped to
an assertive one to deal ,ith %ri $an&a ,ith due authority.
)rime *inister =arendra *odi+s counterclaim of "2th Amendment plus to the )resident of %ri
$an&a must be seen as his assertive stance to start the process ,ith %ri $an&a. )resident
*ahinda Rajapa&se has so far done everything to undermine the Indo5%ri $an&a agreement
signed in "9>? and further gone on to malign the "2th amendment by refusing to honestly
implement it. India+s assertive re5engagement must restore ,hat ,as achieved in "9>? and
strengthen it further to ensure "2th amendment is implemented ,ithout the over,helming
influence of the impeding provisions of the concurrent list. India must negotiate to trim do,n
the concurrent list to energise the provincial governance.
If the government of %ri $an&a plays its historical deceptive games to undermine any Indian
efforts, India must go further to muster the international support to hold a free and fair
referendum for the -amils to consider a federal solution either to stay ,ith %ri $an&a or to join
India as its 2!th federal state. %uch merger ,ill ma&e the 2!th state of India an inspirational one
that ,ill help India+s regional authority in a ,ider sense and for the -amils an environment to
gro, as a secure and rich federal state of India.
-he restless governance of %ri $an&a must be brought to a halt once and for all.