India: The Brother who Betrayed ?
India, the closest nation to Sri Lanka, having its people there being killed in last civil war, did not interfere much intending to save them. For being unmoved and not showing interest in saving its own people, India is criticized as the “Betrayer of its Brother” by its own people in India, particularly by the people of the state Tamil Nadu. How far is it true? Had India not shown interest ever to save its people? If they had it shown before why not during the last war? Will they do something in future, least after the civil war? To answer these there has to be a pretty clean explanation of India’s role in the past, present, and future, in maintaining peace in Sri Lanka, intending to save its people. Well I couldn’t promise you that what I had collected is what has happened on whole, but I do can assure you that I had tried my best to collect the following details from various sources with neutral view. Hoping this might bring a picture of India’s stand. To make sure that I don’t present any nationalistic views, being an Indian, I did have the incidents revised in different point of views. Let’s dive in to the “Indian Episodes”!
The IPKF – Indian Peace keeping Force:
In the 1970s-1980s, private entities and elements in the state government of Tamil Nadu were believed to be encouraging the funding and training for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist insurgent force. In 1987, faced with growing anger amongst its own Tamils, and a flood of refugees, India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time after the Sri Lankan government attempted to regain control of the northern Jaffna region by means of an economic blockade and military assaults. India supplied food and medicine by air and sea. After subsequent negotiations, India and Sri Lanka entered into an agreement. The peace accord assigned a certain degree of regional autonomy in the Tamil areas with Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) controlling the regional council and called for the Tamil militant groups to lay down their arms. Further India was to send a peacekeeping force, named the IPKF to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament and to watch over the regional council. Even though the accord was signed between the governments of Sri Lanka and India, with the Tamil Tigers and other Tamil militant groups not having a role in the signing of the accord, most Tamil militant groups accepted this agreement, the LTTE rejected the accord because they opposed the candidate, who belonged to another militant group named Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), for chief administrative officer of the merged Northern and Eastern provinces. Instead the LTTE named three other candidates for the position. The candidates proposed by the LTTE were rejected by India. The LTTE subsequently refused to hand over their weapons to the IPKF.
The result was that the LTTE now found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army, and launched their first attack on an Indian army rations truck on October 8, killing five Indian para-commandos who were on board by strapping burning tires around their necks. The government of India then decided that the IPKF should disarm the LTTE by force, and the Indian Army launched number of assaults on the LTTE, including a month-long campaign dubbed Operation Pawan to win control of the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. When the IPKF engaged the LTTE, the then president of Sri Lanka, Ranasinghe Premadasa, began supporting LTTE and funded LTTE with arms. During the warfare with the LTTE, IPKF was also alleged to have made human rights violation against the civilians. Notably, IPKF was alleged to have perpetrated Jaffna teaching hospital massacre which was the killing of over 70 civilians including patients, doctors and nurses. The ruthlessness of this campaign, and the Indian army's subsequent anti-LTTE operations made it extremely unpopular amongst many Tamils in Sri Lanka. The conflict between the LTTE and the Indian Army left over 1,000 Indian soldiers dead. The rebel LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka have maintained that it was an unprovoked massacre of civilians. The Government of Sri Lanka in 2008 termed it a Crime against humanity. A number of independent observers such as University Teachers for Human Rights, a premier Human Rights organization from Sri Lanka, and western observers such Mr. John Richardson and others maintain that it was a massacre of civilians.
The Indo-Sri Lankan Accord, which had been unpopular amongst Sri Lankans for giving India a major influence, now became a source of nationalist anger and resentment as the IPKF was drawn fully into the conflict. Sri Lankans protested the presence of the IPKF, and the newly-elected Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa demanded its withdrawal, which was completed by March 1990. On May 21, 1992, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and the LTTE was alleged to be the perpetrator. As a result India declared the LTTE to be a terrorist outfit in 1992. Bilateral relations improved in the 1990s and India supported the peace process but has resisted calls to get involved again. India has also been wary of and criticized the extensive military involvement of Pakistan in the conflict, accusing the latter of supplying lethal weaponry and encouraging Sri Lanka to pursue military action rather than peaceful negotiations to end the civil war.
The Jaffna Hospital Massacre:
The hospital massacre is a well known one, which earned a bad remark on the Indian government for their management of the IPKF in Sri Lanka. Before detailing the massacre it is indeed required to know what lead the IPKF, who were supposed to bring peace, fight against the LTTE.
Version one: From J.N.Dixit(Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka
J N Dixit was India's high commissioner to Sri Lanka from 1985 to 1989. He played a major role in drafting the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord in 1987, and the subsequent induction of the Indian Peace Keeping Force to implement it.
Days after Indian troops arrived on the island, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam started what it was best at: guerrilla attacks in the jungles and shanty towns of north-east Lanka. It killed over 1,200 soldiers, maimed thousands, and forced the IPKF to abandon its task and retreat.
As then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi government's key man in Sri Lanka, Dixit was in the hot seat and privy to all the greenroom drama. Giving a clean chit to Gandhi, he blames the heavy casualties India suffered in the initial fighting for Jaffna on Major General Harkirat Singh, the IPKF's first commander.
The following are few extracted from his interview,
“I think the Indian forces went to ensure the implementation of the agreement of July 1987, not to fight the Tamils or the Sinhalese. It was the LTTE that primarily created a situation that resulted in the Indian army having to fight them. And also, the Sri Lankan government ministers like Lalith Athulathamuthali and Premadasa, who sabotaged the agreement.”
“Despite these limitations, the Indian army did a very effective job of restoring stability, organising a democratic government in the north-eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. In my judgment, we withdrew in haste. Had we stayed on perhaps for eight months or a year, we could have established the situation and generated sufficient persuasion on [LTTE chief Velupillai] Prabhakaran to come back to the political path.”
“The army did not brief its own people why they were going in. But that is the armed force's responsibility. I had specifically asked [then army chief Krishnaswamy) Sunderji in the presence of Rajiv Gandhi, suppose you face a situation where you have to fight the LTTE, what will you do? He said, no, it will take a fortnight to take care of them. And the chief of intelligence said, These are our boys, once they have agreed they will not betray. Anand Verma said this to Rajiv Gandhi.”
“When you take a decision, you are in the middle of a situation. Nobody sitting in a chair 10 years later, five years later, is competent to judge whether it was necessary or not. Whether it was necessary or not was decided upon by the then government, then prime minister, on the basis of information and analysis that were available."
"The army went in in 87. Between 77 and 85, [Indian prime minister] Mrs Gandhi would have been given information about all sorts of security equations, intelligence equations, that Jayewardane was developing with Pakistan, with Israel, with the Americans. Mind you, the Cold War had not ended. Plus, the compulsion of Mrs Gandhi was not only external, you have 60 million Tamils in your country. It is one of the most important states in our republic, and which has a history of secessionism. In 67 they threatened to separate on the question of language.
So she had take care of the sentiments of 60 million people who send out messages to her. In fact they went to the extent of saying that, Achcha, when the Bengalis were in trouble you gave support. When the Tamils are in trouble, because we are from the South, you are not giving us support. It is all easy to sit on moral judgment and say, No, no, we should not have done it, we should not have interfered, non-alignment, Mahatma Gandhi's country etc. The political pressures of that particular point of time must have made the then government consider it necessary. It is a different matter that it did not come through as we desired. It did not come through as we desired because we did not have the grit to follow through a policy decision which we took. You have to look at it in two contexts: Either you are a totally committed moral country. In that case, you should have said that it is a problem of another country, it is an internal problem, do sort it out [yourself]. And to the extent possible, we will receive the refugees. Then you are safe and nice. Or, because of consideration of our politics, and our internal political pressures, external consequences, we have taken an initiative that is strictly not moral. In that case, we should finish the task that has been undertaken. If you leave it half way, then you have the perceived lack of judgment, lack of performance. This is what has happened.
If you look at the newspapers of the first two-and-a-half months, from July to October, the Indian papers were full of praise. Even the Americans came and told the Government of India that you assume responsibilities which are yours, we are glad. The moment you do not do it fully, everybody will say that you are no good!”
When questioned about the reason to fight the L.T.T.E and the heavy loss of IPKF soldiers during the Jaffna Mission, he said,
“It is the foolishness of [IPKF's first commander, Major General] Harkirat Singh. You don't do a helicopter attack in full moonlight after giving advance notice to the enemy."
“Once in August, perhaps in September with General Sunderji. No, not Sunderji, Mr K C Pant. He never came otherwise. In fact, he was so wooden that when those fellows where arrested and brought to the Palami airbase, I told them to take them into protective custody and not let the Sri Lankan authorities get to the LTTE cadre.
"The fellow said, No, no you are not in my chain of command. Please don't tell me. You first send it to the ministry of external affairs, they should send it to the ministry of defence, they should send it to army headquarters, they should send it to Southern Command. Then Southern Command should tell Madras. Then they should tell me, then only I will act. I said, By then the game will be over. I am telling you I am fully responsible. No, I will not do it, he said. The result was that the 17 fellows were killed. That is the origin of where we had to fight the LTTE. The LTTE got an excuse. [Thanks to] this man's foolishness.”
When questioned about if India should further interfere in Sri Lankan issue, he said
“Each human being is subject to his own experiences, consciousness, inadequacies. Having gone through that, I would never again want to interfere in anybody's matters. Not because such interference becomes necessary, but I don't think as a State we have either the necessary political will or the inner grit. If you don't have it, why get into all that?”
Version 2 – From Maj Gen. Harkirat Singh(IPKF):
MAJOR General Harkirat Singh (Retd.) is an upright gentleman and a fine soldier; altogether a man of integrity. He was Divisional Commander of 54 Infantry Division when, on July 29-30, 1987, he was sent to Sri Lanka as General-Officer-Commanding (GOC) of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF).
In his memoirs Maj Gen. Harkirat Singh has reproduced contemporary documents that reveal a lot that was not known about the IPKF in Sri Lanka.
The “cheerful and enthusiastic” soldier had the misfortune of having to work with two egotistic and flamboyant figures, the Army Chief Gen. K. Sundarji and the High Commissioner J.N. Dixit. On retirement as Foreign Secretary in 1994, Dixit lost no time in setting a unique and disgraceful record as the first officer to denounce his successor publicly in a press interview
The author writes: “I am unsure of what prompted the Army Chief, Sundarji, to shift me out of Sri Lanka, but one of the factors must have been the letter that India’s High Commissioner J.N. Dixit reportedly wrote to Sundarji in September 1987 since I did not accept his order to shoot/arrest the LTTE supremo. Moreover, someone in the governments of India and Sri Lanka took exception to my remarks to the media in December 1987, that the IPKF took its orders from the Indian government and no one else, and that Indian troops would not leave the island ‘until the Tamils are satisfied and their aspirations are met’. It was probably the turning point which eventually led to my transfer out of Sri Lanka.”
This brings us to three important disclosures. First, RAW began rearming other Tamil groups even while the LTTE was being disarmed in August 1987. The author gave Dixit the damning videotapes which the LTTE had given him. Secondly, on September 11, 1987, he met Dixit.
He says “According to Dixit, the ultimate objective of the IPKF was to discredit the LTTE in the eyes of the local Tamil population. In short, the IPKF was expected to play a double game. I realized that these tactics would not work since the Tamils had already understood that their aspirations for Eelam could be met only by the LTTE. Dixit then turned towards me and said, ‘General, please ensure that the actions of the IPKF are in line with my discussions with the Prime Minister at Delhi. You should adopt a posture of gradual change from negotiations to coercion. The junior commanders during their contact should ascertain the view of the Tamils on the above approach.’”
The last one he says is shocking,
“On the night of 14/15 September 1987, I received a telephone call from Dixit, directing me to arrest or shoot Pirabakaran when he came for the meeting. Telling Dixit that I would get back to him I placed a call to the OFC. Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh directed me to tell Dixit that we, as an orthodox Army, did not shoot people in the back when they were coming for a meeting under the white flag. I then spoke to Dixit in Colombo and conveyed the message, emphasizing that I would not obey his directive. I pointed out that the LTTE supremo had been invited by the IPKF in order to find a solution to the problems in the implementation of the Accord. Dixit replied, ‘He [Rajiv Gandhi] has given those instructions to me and the Army should not drag its feet, and you as the GOC, IPKF will be responsible for it.’ The next morning I received a call from Lt. Gen. B.C. Joshi, the then Director General Military Operations, who supported my stand on Dixit’s directive. However, the COAS, Gen. Sundarji, expressed his annoyance.” In fairness to Rajiv Gandhi, Dixit’s claim that he spoke on his behalf must be rejected. Dixit was prone to bragging and braggadocio.
"A meeting was fixed at which Depinder Singh, Dixit and Prabakaran were present. “The talks took place and were very successful and most of us concluded that the IPKF would be out of Sri Lanka by December 1987. All those who attended the meeting felt that the deadlock had at last been broken and that peace was in sight.”
That was not to be. The boat tragedy in October and the suicides by the captured LTTE men led to the break. Dixit and Sundarji thought that Harkirat Singh was soft on the LTTE. The texts of his assessments on September 17 and 20 and on December 5, 1987, show him to be far more perceptive and realistic than Dixit. The Army lost 1,155 men when the IPKF withdrew.
Conclusion?
From the above, can we conclude whose error it was? There is no way we can. We have two versions, with the two responsible persons blaming one another for the fault, the same as what the Sri Lankan government and the rebels of Tamil do. The IPKF that went to Sri Lanka to keep peace, returned back with all sorts of humiliations failing to complete the mission, and adding to it was the Jaffna hospital massacre. It was collectively the failure of a Government. The Indian government indeed tried its best (could have been better any ways) to show its intention of saving its people in Sri Lanka, but sadly it ended in vain. It was the confusion and chaos that baffled the IPKF, resulting in an undesired event.
The Massacre: A well balanced Error
The Jaffna hospital massacre happened on October 21 and 22, 1987 during the Sri Lankan Civil War, when soldiers of the Indian Army entered the premises of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in Jaffna, and killed about 68–70 patients, nurses, doctors and other staff members. When talked about the Jaffna hospital Massacre, it is said in short that the IPKF soldiers went mad shooting the civilians and the workers in the hospital. For sure it was an act of non-violence to the extreme. But is that all what happened? Why haven’t we ever thought about the IPKF soldiers, were they insane to shoot at civilians, where they not humans, they were sent by India to keep force and why in the world should they do so. Was that just an act of revenge for the IPKF men killed by the L.T.T.E by wearing rubber tires on their head and burning them? Why should they go to a hospital in the first hand? If there where just civilians in the hospital, who killed the IPKF soldiers, the snipers that hit them, the mines on the Jaffna football ground, the bullets that pierced the choppers, and almost the complete Sikh regiment being killed? Why has it always been an one side narration. The one side narration was very much in advantage for the Sri Lankan government as well, that which made the IPKF to leave Sri Lanka with the mission being incomplete. No one cared about the 1200 Indian soldiers who died in this battle filled with confusion fighting with the LTTE soldiers among the civilians, where it was difficult to identify the rebels among the civilians; The IPKF soldiers who where hit by the L.T,T,E were also deceived by the tricks of Sri Lankan government. As a result, intending to help they lost their lives by the hands of their brothers. A tale of misery! This is a vivid example, a scar, which always reminds us the effect on Non-Violence. May it be the IPKF or the L.T.T.E or the Sri Lankan army, whoever started it, the end was a tragedy for all the three, and unfortunately, taking the lives of the civilians as well, may it be Sri Lankans or the Tamil, in between this mad chaos of war! The one side stories are never going to help any one. When it is non-violence it doesn’t matter with the numbers, it is just “non-violence” and it should be condemned.
To know more about the Jaffna hospital massacre in detail I suggest we read all the three links below, to picture the incident as it happened. The pain, confusions and sacrifice of the IPKF during the heli-drop at Jaffna and the mistakes of the IPKF as well. To be precise it was a well balanced Error from both the sides! The IPKF for their miscalculation and the rebels for fighting from the hospital mixing with the civilians, creating a great confusion, both resulted in a blood clouded Diwali! That wasn’t an one man show!
After all these bitter experiences it is indeed quite natural for a country to stand apart rather than involving in the senseless chaos and non-violence committed by both the Sri Lankans and the rebels of Tamil. And on the other hand it is not possible for a nation to lend an open support to an organization which was announced internationally as a terrorist organization after the assassination of the Indian Prime minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi by them. Though, India tried from its side by negotiating with the Sri Lankan government, it ended up in vain. One has to understand that there is a limit for a country to interfere in these kinds of issues, like the Indians don’t like other nations to involve in their issues of Kashmir with Pakistan.
The Present Projects:
While not interfering in the last civil war, what support is being lent by the Indian government in other means?
Below are a few of those,
Funds: India has provided Sri Lanka with US$ 100 million for capital goods, consumer durables, consultancy services and food items, US$ 31 million for supply of 300,000 MT of wheat and US$ 150 million for purchase of petroleum products. All of these lines of credit have been fully utilized. Another line of credit of US$ 100 million is now being made available for rehabilitation of the Colombo-Matara railway.
A number of development projects are implemented under ‘Aid to Sri Lanka’ funds. In 2006-07, the budget for ‘Aid to Sri Lanka’ was Rs 28.2 Crs.
Infrastructure: The Indian government has awarded the Erode in Tamil Nadu-based RPP Infra Projects 50-crore (USD 11.3 million) pilot project to build houses for the internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sri Lanka. Under the project, the infrastructure company would build 1,000 houses for IDPs in two packages in Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mannar districts in the northern and eastern provinces within an execution period of six months, India`s Business Standard reported.
Health: India has supplied medical equipments to hospitals at Hambantota and Point Pedro, supplied 4 state of the art ambulances to the Central Province, implemented a cataract eye surgery programme for 1500 people in the Central Province and implemented a project of renovation of OT at Dickoya hospital and supplying equipments to it.
Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Ashok. K. Kantha and Sri Lankan health department officials had laid the foundation stone for the construction of a 150-bed hospital at Dickoya near Hatton in the Central province on Monday. The hospital will offer specialized services in the hill areas of Sri Lanka. The Tamil people who work in the plantations and tea estates in the Hill districts had come from India. India had launched a series of measures, in cooperation with the Sri Lankan government, for their welfare. Preliminary work on the site had commenced in April. The project will be completed in early 2013. The hospital will cost about Rs. 50crores.
Transport: With an Indian de-mining team clearing the 107-km stretch of a railway alignment from Medawachchiya to Talaimannar in record time, the Indian Railway Construction Corporation (Ircon) has shifted gears on the construction of a railway line. Ircon is aiming to complete the sections allocated to it in a year-and-a-half.
During the armed conflict between the government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that lasted more than 20 years, infrastructure development in the LTTE-controlled areas remained stalled and existing infrastructures were damaged. After the conflict came to an end in May 2009, the government started major reconstruction program in the North and the East. India is funding some of the projects.
Future Projects:
Small Development Projects: A MoU on Cooperation in Small Development Projects has been signed. Projects for providing fishing equipments to the fishermen in the East of Sri Lanka and solar energy aided computer education in 25 rural schools in Eastern Sri Lanka are under consideration.
Education Projects: Upgradation of the educational infrastructure of the schools in the Central province including teachers’ training, setting up of 10 computer labs, setting up of 20 e-libraries (Nenasalas), Mahatma Gandhi scholarship scheme for +2 students and setting up of a vocational training centre in Puttalam. India also contributes to the Ceylon Workers Education Trust that gives scholarships to the children of estate workers.
Infrastructure: India has undertaken to build 50,000 houses for the Internally Displaced People(IDP) through the project. A to Z Maintenance and Engineering Services Ltd. of Gurgaon would also be executing a part of the IDP projects under RPP Infra Projects in Sri Lanka, the statement said. The Indian housing project, which is targeted to meet the bulk of the housing needs of IDPs in the foreseeable future, is being carried out in close consultation with and cooperation of the Government of Sri Lanka.
Health: The hospital with 150 beds will be built by 2013.
Transport: The Indian government has agreed to provide financial assistance to develop Kankasanthurai (KKS) Harbor in two phases.KKS harbor is one of the 10 sea and air entry points to the country.
Trust the Brother!
Presenting all the above information and my opinion on those doesn’t mean that India has done its best to help its people in Sri Lanka or that India’s efforts were not understood by the Indians and others. But I do intend to say that lets stop blaming India, presenting negative opinions about its efforts so far. Instead its time we understand reality, the limits and the true facts and try supporting India to bring more positive plans to normalize the life of Tamils. I’m not here intending to “justify” anyone or any incident, rather to bring the story from two-sides which is predominantly being narrated as one-sided, that creates more hatred. When injustice is accepted by both sides, possibility for a halt of more injustice is brighter.It is clearly seen that there is something that the Indian government is trying out, intending to help the Tamils. Now, one would for sure have a big question that “does the support being lent by India reaches the Tamils”, or even could say that, “these aren't to help Tamils but for commercial purpose”. Here again the blaming begins and critics begin. That wouldn't help either. The truth is that I have hardly come across any person or organization, who are so emotional towards the civil war and the death of the Tamils, giving a suggestion or a positive idea of how the problem can be solved. I have seen through my eyes and heard through my ears all these days, the blaming, emotional retaliations, support to the rebel group for their non-violence, justifying it as the one and best way for a separate nation. Emotional retaliations are temporary solutions, but its time all unite together to create positive concepts to stop any further war, and provide practical suggestions to the Indian Government and support them to do their best for the Tamils and make sure the suggestions do include how about making the help reach the Tamils with no hindrance, as India is the only hope! It was the “brother who betrayed” once, and its time for the bitter title to be replaced.
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