Recall envoy BJP tells Govt; Analysts say Jaya Plank is road to nowhere

By M Rama Rao, India Editor, Asian Tribune

New Delhi, 27 April (Asiantribune.com): Jayalalithaa’s Former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinhaendorsement of Eelam for Lanka Tamils is fast becoming the new rallying point for pro-LTTE Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu which are keen to cash in on the issue for their short term electoral gains. The Congress and the BJP however find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. Political analysts like Cho S. Ramaswamy aver that the new Jaya plank is a road to nowhere.

The Congress has so far been targeting LTTE to circumvent the new euphoria generated by AIADMK electoral pitch – Vote for our Front and we will get you Eelam for Lankan Tamils. Its thinking may become clear when its top leaders, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are expected to hop across Tamil Nadu in about a week to drum up support for the candidates fielded by Cong, DMK and their allies.

On its part, the BJP has made it clear that it is not for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka but it is not very clear as to how Delhi should proceed in the face of President Rajapaksa going ahead with his military option with an eye on his own electoral fortunes.

Senior BJP leader, and former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha Sunday proposed that India should impose sanctions on Colombo and recall its High Commissioner if the killing of innocent Tamils is not stopped.

‘We are not in favor of a separate nation created out of Sri Lanka, but totally against butchering of Tamil civilians. They have to be protected. The party is for giving rights to Northern Tamils within the integrity and territorial unity of Sri Lanka’, Sinha told reporters in Bangalore.

According to him, ‘The time has come. India must make its intentions very clear to Sri Lanka. With diplomatic channels and a high power delegation not working, the only option left is imposing sanctions on Sri Lanka if it goes ahead and disregards Indian advice’.

But the former minister is not very clear how the sanctions would work. He is only prepared to say that it was for the government of India to decide on the kind of sanctions and whether they should be economic or otherwise and what part of it should be economic.

Sinha made it clear that the BJP had no sympathy for LTTE chief Prabhakaran and his outfit. ‘He is a proclaimed offender. LTTE is a terrorist organization’.

He added, ‘Our only concern was, is and will remain the plight of the civilian Tamil population, who are suffering untold misery through military action of both LTTE and Sri Lankan government’.

Rahul Speak

Rahul Gandhi, who has emerged as the authentic Congress voice on the campaign trial, has again slammed the LTTE. He branded it as ‘killer of innocent people' and said the Tigers were responsible for killing his father Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

’LTTE is banned. It is a terrorist organization personally responsible for killing my father and innocent people’, Rahul said during a 'Meet the Press' programme.

The Congress leader asserted that it is India's duty to reduce sufferings of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka. ‘We are concerned about the plight of the Tamil civilians. We have to reduce their sufferings’.

Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi criticized the Sri Lankan government for not extending the 48 hour ceasefire announced last week. He said the UPA Government would continue to take steps in safeguarding the lives of Sri Lankan Tamils.

PMK-MDMK Stand

For PMK and MDMK and their ilk, however, LTTE is a liberation movement and Prabhakaran is not a terrorist leader.

PMK leader S. Ramadoss has compared Prabhakaran to Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat and Subash Chandra Bose.

‘Tigers' leader Prabhakaran is a freedom fighter and like Nelson Mandela and late PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) chief Yasser Arafat is heading a 'liberation organisation' of the Tamils’, the PMK founder who is with AIADMK led alliance told reporters in Chennai.

Ramdoss slammed Chief Minister Karunanidhi for doing little for the "liberation" of Tamils.

‘Karunanidhi has been issuing platitudes for Eelam and has referred to Prabhakaran as a friend and freedom fighter only to retract later’, the PMK chief said and asked Congress and DMK leaders to endorse (Saturday's) announcement by Jayalalithaa that termed Tamil Eelam as the only acceptable solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka.

Taking a dig at Karunanidhi, he asked, ‘Though the DMK Chief had also said the same thing, what has he done to achieve Tamil Eelam? What is his contribution in achieving the separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils?’

MDMK General Secretary, Vaiko is happy at the turn of events. So, he is thundering that the DMK and the Congress would draw a blank in the May 13 ballot for the Lok Sabha seats from Tamilnadu.

Road To Nowhere
Speaking at Gudalur in the Nilagiris, he claimed that women and youth in Tamil Nadu have been greatly impacted by the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and therefore it would lead to defeat of the DMK-led alliance in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

He added while the UPA government and its Chairperson Sonia Gandhi kept quite in the last six months (on SL Tamils), nearly 14 persons in the state had committed suicide on the issue.

Political analysts like Cho S. Ramaswamy however do not see new Jaya Plank as a way out. It is road to nowhere, according to them. Cho, who is said to be close to Jayalalithaa, for instance, is clear that separate Tamil Eelam is not possible for Lanka Tamils.

‘A separate Tamil Eelam isn't possible as the Tamils in Sri Lanka are of four different kinds - those belonging to the north and north-eastern parts, plantation workers of Indian origin, the business community in Colombo and the Tamil speaking Muslims. Only sections of the first kind have been clamoring for Eelam while the others have not’, he remarked in an interview.

-Asian Tribune -