An Open Letter to Indian Decision Makers!

(PARIS, France) - First of all let me give a brief introduction about myself. In the 1980s I was one of the people who wrote a few articles and letters to Editors of various newspapers, justifying India’s support to the Tamils including Indian food drops in Jaffna. Then, I became a victim of both Sri Lanka security forces and the IPKF. Not as a person who was fighting against them or for any political involvement. Our house was looted as were those of many others and valuable items including a few sovereigns of gold worth a few hundred thousand (Lakhs) of rupees were taken.

Despite these experiences I am not prejudiced against India. Of course, I have strong reservations however, about the aggressive governments of Sri Lanka. Talking about what happened to me personally is neither going to isolate India in the international arena nor is it going to achieve the Tamil Nation getting its independence.

I can still identify the Indian soldiers but not the Sri Lankan soldiers who were responsible for looting our house. It is a long story.

I am one of thousands who, whatever their personal circumstances, believe that only India can save the Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka. Also India has a legal obligation.

As I have written in a few recent articles, both parties took revenge on each other and Sri Lanka benefited from this situation. Enough is enough!

I said in one article that, “India was very keen in taking revenge without realising the consequences and now India has lost the region to third and fourth parties.”

Now let me tell you that this open letter may give rise to me being targeted sooner rather than later. I am prepared to face the consequences.

Let us turn the pages of the book written by D. R. Kaarthikeyan (Inspector General of Police and Chief of the Special Investigation Team – SIT) and Radhavinod Raju entitled “The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination”. In this book, in Chapter -14, Kaarthikeyan’s "My visit to Sri Lanka during IPKF operations” (p.186 -199) should be re-visited by Indian decision makers.

Even after so many decades of bloodshed and casualties on all sides – why has no peaceful political solution been found for the Tamils in Sri Lanka?

India is a regional super-power, yet has not found a remedy for the situation which it is obliged to solve.

Can India ignore what is happening to the Tamils in Sri Lanka? It is an open fact that for obvious reasons India played a major role in supporting Sri Lanka in bringing this armed conflict / war to an end.

What has India achieved today by helping Sri Lanka in the recent past or even earlier? As Kaarthikeyan’s book states, “No one is grateful for what India did by spending a huge amount of money!”

Why is India silent? Is it because Tamils are Dravidians and the Singhalese are considered to be an Aryan race?

None of the Tamils are asking India to come and save them from the day to day atrocities that they undergo in the North and East. In fact, it continues to be a very dangerous situation.

They earnestly appeal to India to implement the Indo-Lanka accord signed in 1987, which gave rise to certain expectations and a sense of relief from atrocities.

I have learned that Doctors do not prescribe any medicines for fever, for those who suffer from ulcers. The Doctors’ logic is that when the ulcer is cured, the fever disappears.

It is the same logic here. If India can implement the Indo-Lanka accord, many problems that people face in the North and East would be brought under control.

Each day, the Tamils in Sri Lanka become more and more enslaved and move even further away from statehood. India’s involvement backed with legal authority is needed at the earliest.

If you think of involving yourself later, you could be accused of violating international law. The Indo-Lanka accord is still credible and has not been cancelled by either party. Of course Sri Lanka has violated it on numerous occasions.

D. R. Kaarthikeyan’s book (p.212) clearly indicates that the Indo-Lanka accord had the approval of the Indian parliament. It was not brought into being for the personal benefit of any Indian leader.

Your silence and reluctance to implement the Indo-Lanka accord is giving out wrong signals and full licence to Sri Lanka to carry out mass murders, abductions, rapes and gang rapes of Tamils.

If you fail to understand this reality, there will be a day when you will realise that you waited too long to intervene. By that time the problem will be on your doorstep, and will certainly destabilise your country and the region.

Hope India has not forgotten that, initially when the IPKF arrived in Jaffna, the people there, cordially welcomed them with open arms as their saviours.

What is your response?

Are you going to be a spectator and allow the Sri Lankan government to wipe out the Tamil Nation and permit Sinhala colonisation in the North and East?.

If so, this will be another enormous mistake. Once the North and East become the land of the Sinhala Buddhist settlers, the next target will be India with the help of third and fourth parties. Then where will you end up?

Support the people to whom you gave a solemn promise and guarantee that you would protect their political rights and interests.

Sri Lanka has a double tongue, double standards and has shifted the goal posts routinely during this long drawn-out ethnic conflict.

The sooner you act, the sooner the hardship of the people in the North and East will come to an end. Do remember that your involvement in this conflict will not be seen as an “intervention”, it will be a legitimate act of utmost and urgent importance.

If Sri Lanka disagrees with your involvement, you can take this matter to the world court, because the breaching of an international agreement (Indo-Lanka accord) is causing regional instability.

Regarding the third and fourth parties, it is worth bearing in mind that during the last Indo-Pakistan war, Sri Lanka made their International airport available to Pakistan and China is against the Tibetan's non-violent freedom struggle. (end)

S. V. Kirubaharan

Paris, France
6 January 2013