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India
cannot lift ban on LTTE, says Dixit Former foreign secretary J N Dixit, speaking on LTTE chief Prabhakaran's press statement on Wednesday says the Tamil Tiger's demands are the same as always, but only stronger this time, and India should definitely not get involved in Sri Lanka. What is your
reaction to the LTTE chief Prabhakaran's press statement yesterday? So you do not see any major change in his thinking or approach? No. Only that his stance this time is somewhat harder than in 1987. At that time he did not stress so hard on Eelam. Over the years, his position has been strengthened a lot and he is in a far better position today than he was 15 years ago. He is a stronger leader today than he ever was. From the Indian government's point of view, how are we looking at the ongoing peace processes in Sri Lanka? We are supportive. We are always supportive of any peace process that takes place in Sri Lanka. We have always tried to look for solutions to the ethnic conflicts and for alternatives. The Indian government will welcome any peace process that looks at the solutions to the conflict. But the second point he made about India… About India's involvement? Yes, about India helping in the negotiations. I don't think we should get involved at this stage at all. The Indian government will not get involved right now. We have tried to negotiate and get involved in the process, but have failed. I don't think the government can think of doing it again. You mentioned
the fact that we got involved once…. What are our stakes at
this stage? India's stakes? That's very simple. We are basically
a pluralistic society. We are against any sort of division on the
basis of ethnic background and religion and other such criteria.
Our main concern is the stability of Sri Lanka. Whatever ensures
a legitimate status for the Tamils is welcome by us. The point is
that this could lead to serious fallout among the Tamils in India.
In Tamil Nadu. That's our concern. We can't do that. There's no way India can lift the ban on the LTTE. We tried to help them once in the 1980s; we tried to get involved, as Prabhakaran says, and what did he do? He assassinated our former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The man who tried to help the most. No. We most certainly cannot lift the ban on the LTTE. Peace
means a lot to Lankans After I retired from international cricket, for almost a year I was busy looking after my insurance brokerage firm, P&A. Even though at home we used to discuss issues that concerned Sri Lanka, I had no intention of joining politics. But when the president asked me to contest, I had no choice. I realised I could do something for the country, more than what I had been doing playing cricket for 18 years. Predictably, my family, wife Samadara and children, were not very keen to see me in politics. They were worried about my safety. Even some of my friends were wary. But when I explained to them what I intend to do, they gave me their blessings. We have a ceasefire agreement with the LTTE and I hope that it continues. President Kumaratunga started the peace process and it is now almost a month since it has been holding. Peace is good not just on the economic front, but for the country as a whole. It is two decades since the problem started and if we can arrive at a solution without dividing this small, wonderful country that will be the best thing to happen. We have a terrorist problem, not an ethnic issue, and we have to sort it out. There is no war being fought now and it is my fervent wish that the situation remains calm. Like in cricket, in politics we have to think about the country and make the right move. Treat the country as one and most problems can be solved. Even before the 1996 cricket World Cup we were a good side. We won the cup because we had a lot of planning, a lot of thinking and a lot of discussions. Our success lay in the fact that we implemented everything in the middle. Likewise, if all politicians think about the country and work for its betterment, Sri Lanka would no doubt become a wonderful place. Peace means
a lot for the people of my country. They would love to have it in
the long term. Hands
off: India watches from the sidelines Sources, apart from Gandhi, are being used. One of them is Madumarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko, who has close links with LTTE supremo V. Prabhakaran and other militant Tamil leaders. Vaiko wants India to push Sri Lanka to yield on the demand for a Tamil homeland to be administered by an armed LTTE. He had conveyed to Prabhakaran the Indian wish for a ceasefire, but he has not been able to do much on the organisation's wish to re-establish its links in Tamil Nadu. The one woman in Sri Lanka who does not trust the LTTE is Chandrika, and in India, it is Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. She put her foot down when the LTTE, which is banned in India, requested that its chief political negotiator, Anton Balasingham, be based in Chennai, and negotiations with Sri Lanka be held in Chennai, Bangalore or Thiruvananthapuram. Another woman not in favour was Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whose husband Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE suicide bomber Dhanu 11 years ago. The RAW and Intelligence Bureau, too, opposed granting access. They said if the Sri Lankan navy stopped patrolling the international waters during the ceasefire the LTTE would sneak out supplies of food, fuel and arms from Tamil Nadu. The cadres could slip back into India, undoing the good work of the police for the past decade. The Indian Army, whose peace-keeping force was engaged in a war by the LTTE during 1987-90, has bitter memories and feels the organisation will concentrate on India if access is achieved. The home ministry says it has no intention of lifting the ban on the LTTE. Hence New Delhi
politely told Norway that it could not provide the base for talks.
Vajpayee told Wickremesinghe that India would support the peace
initiatives provided it was within the territorial parameters of
Sri Lanka. Interestingly, as Prabhakaran emerged from his jungle
nest and posed for photographs, there was some stirring in the Multi-Disciplinary
Monitoring Agency (MDMA) tucked away in a corner of the CBI in New
Delhi. The MDMA, which was established four years ago to complete
the unfinished investigation of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination,
is entrusted with the task of getting Prabhakaran, a proclaimed
offender in the Rajiv case. But the agency, whose term expires in
May, has not made any move, as it knows that there is no point in
asking for the extradition of a person who is also wanted by the
Sri Lankan police. |
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