Exclusive
Exclusive
by S Venkat Narayan,-January 10, 2015
Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, January 10:
Campaigning in the Jaffna peninsula, Mahinda Rajapaksa had asked Tamils to vote for a "known devil" instead of voting for an unknown angel. Indians who dealt with him after he won his second term in 2010 found his too-clever-by-half tactics so exasperating that they now say they would have preferred to deal with just about anybody other than such a vain and immodest man who had so much to be modest about.
What has amazed analysts here even more is the fact that, after defeating one of the world’s deadliest guerrilla groups in a brutal civil war, he failed to act like a statesman to assuage the sense of collective humiliation the minority Tamils were suffering from by devolving political authority to the provinces. Instead, he behaved like any wily and selfish politician, exploited the celebrated victory over the LTTE for his own benefit.
He got himself elected for a second term, ensured his alliance’s return to power in a parliamentary poll thereafter, changed those inconvenient parts in the Constitution that stipulated only two presidential terms to an individual, usurped constitutional authority, manipulated the removal of a Supreme Court Chief Justice who refused to bend, and generally played havoc with a beautiful country’s global reputation by defying the world community on the issue of human rights violations, and refused to honour his own commitments made to India and the world community that he would offer a fair deal to the Tamils.
Clearly, he believed that the war-weary Sinhalese would be so grateful to him for ending the war that they would keep him in office as long as he lived! It was too late by the time he realised that benefits of a war victory too come with an expiry date!
India surely attaches much importance to Sri Lanka for lots of reasons, and considers it a close ally. But what angered and irritated India was the manner in which Rajapaksa was threatening to turn Sri Lanka into a strategic asset for China at New Delhi’s expense.
India’s anger knew no bounds last year when Rajapaksa allowed Chinese submarines to dock at the Colombo port twice, the second time even after National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval lodged a strong protest. The government here felt Rajapaksa was using Beijing to needle and upset India.
Even though new President Maithripala Sirisena is perceived to be a Sinhala hardliner, India expects him to be mindful of its concerns over strategic issues, particularly over any military engagement with Beijing which could hurt India’s vital interests.
Sirisena’s statement that that he will maintain equal relations with India and China is being seen favourably by policy-makers here as it comes at a time when Sri Lanka’s dalliance with China was increasingly upsetting India.
South Block has noted with interest Sirisena’s declaration that he will adopt a policy that is neither anti-India nor dependent on India. His Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and enthusiastic supporter former President Chandrika Kumaratunga visit India regularly and maintain contacts with their many friends here. As such, India is quite relaxed about the new government’s likely policy towards this country once Sirisena settles down in office.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Sirisena on Friday morning as soon as he established an unbeatable majority, congratulated him, promised to work with him, and invited him to visit India. Even though Rajapaksa invited Modi to visit Sri Lanka, the prime minister refrained from going to Colombo, primarily to convey India’s unhappiness with his policies. Modi, whose foreign policy pays a good deal of attention to India’s neighbours, may visit Sri Lanka in coming months.
