15-July-2011 Guest Column: Dr Kumar David
The much-watched rebroadcast of the Channel-4 video on an Indian TV network has heightened Indian public opinion about the Sri Lankan civil war and it is reported that a version with Tamil subtitles is being produced for broadcast on the Jaya-TV channel said to be associated with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha. It is certain to anger Indian Tamil opinion, but in Lanka, the Sinhalese in return, are becoming enraged and isolated; the government is like a caged animal under attack on all sides. The conflict is set for collision course and a quick or amicable settlement seems impossible since the protagonists on the two sides, Jayalalitha and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, are playing to diametrically opposed galleries.
From considerations of tactics and instincts of self-preservation alone, leaving aside moral judgements, it would seem unwise for the Lankan government to assail the Ceylon Tamil community at this time. Is it not suicidal to have the army break up lawful Tamil National Alliance (TNA) meetings, to attempt to rig the July 23 local government elections, behave in bestial ways by cutting of the head of a Tamil MP’s pet dog and impale it on his gatepost? To provoke a Tamil Nadu backlash by waving a red flag at a worked up Indian public seems like a death wish.
Therefore there must be immense contrapuntal forces that the government is subject to and it cannot restrain itself from engaging in certain actions that appear to spell disaster. Perhaps the government reckons the ‘play fair and square by the Tamils option’ will bring disaster in other ways? I will return to this crucial question, but after a narrative detour.
A statement tabled in Sri Lanka’s parliament Full Stry>>>
