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Jayalalithaa's Sri Lanka muddle will have consequences
Tuesday September 04, 2012 12:51:59 PM,
M.R. Narayan Swamy, IANS
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Related Article |
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Jayalalithaa orders Sri Lanka football teams
to return
Reinforcing
her anti-Sri Lankan stance, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.
Jayalalithaa Sunday ordered the return of two football teams from
the island nation that are in the city to play friendly matches.
Jayalalithaa also ordered not to hold any football matches
involving Sri Lankan players in the state. »
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.
Jayalalithaa appears dead set on taking on the ordinary Sinhalese
for her inability to influence the Indian government to pursue a
Sri Lanka policy of her choice.
It is plain ridiculous to suspend an officer of Chennai's
Jawaharlal Nehru indoor stadium for allowing the use of the ground
for a football match between a Sri Lankan team and a local team.
The game, we are told, had hurt the "sentiments" of Indians
Tamils, because of the excesses that took place during Sri Lanka's
war against the LTTE that also killed many innocents (mostly
Tamil).
The Sri Lankan football team was asked to go back. Another Sri
Lankan student team also faced hostility. If this wasn't enough,
Tamil groups have taken upon themselves to oppose the visit of
some 200 Sri Lankan pilgrims to Tamil Nadu.
At this rate, will Jayalalithaa call for an end to India-Sri Lanka
cricketing ties?
After all, if a football clash between two unknown teams - an
event which would have gone unnoticed but for the chief minister's
action - can hurt "Tamil sentiments", a high-profile cricket match
between the national teams of India and Sri Lanka is bound to
cause the same effect. (India won 4-1 an ODI series in Sri Lanka
in as July-August and is set to visit Sri Lanka again.)
What more? Will New Delhi be asked to shut its high commission and
two consulates in Sri Lanka? Maybe India should also sever trade
links with Colombo. Will Indian tourists be told to boycott Sri
Lanka?
In as much as none of these has any logic, the same applies to
Jayalalithaa's action against the football team.
It is one thing for the chief minister to rant against India's
military relations with Sri Lanka.
It is insane to tell ordinary Sri Lankans - whatever the ethnicity
- that they are not welcome to Tamil Nadu on account of the
supposed wrongs of the regime in Colombo.
This would be akin to punishing the Indian Muslim today for
whatever Mughal kings of an earlier period did.
The Indian government was wrong in stating that it would continue
to provide "training" to Sri Lankan military officers. It was a
badly worded statement.
What should have been stated is that the Sri Lankans are among
military personnel from many countries who come to India for
routine refresher courses. India is not teaching these soldiers
how to kill; they already know it.
The only Sri Lankans India trained to kill belonged to Tamil
groups including the LTTE.
Despite Islamabad's undisguised backing to terrorist groups in
India, no sensible Indian wants an end to people-to-people
contacts with Pakistan. Nor has anyone said 'no' to Chinese
investment since Beijing occupies Indian territory.
Jayalalithaa's actions - and those who think on similar terms -
can only strengthen the Rajapaksa regime, which will point at
Tamil Nadu to maintain its military presence in predominantly
Tamil areas.
None of what is taking place in Tamil Nadu - which itself is
linked to the traditional DMK-AIADMK rivalry - will prove in
anyway useful to the ordinary Tamil in Sri Lanka.
Many in Sri Lanka and around the world have legitimate concerns
about human rights abuses and reconciliation issues there. There
is nothing wrong if these are discussed threadbare - or if people
feel frustrated vis-à-vis Colombo.
But the anti-Sri Lanka tendencies Jayalalithaa is fanning in Tamil
Nadu will have long-term consequences -- for India.
The views expressed are personal. M.R. Narayan Swamy
can be contacted at narayan.swamy@ians.in
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