India is with Sri Lanka - Dr. Subramanian Swamy

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

India would not let Tamil Nadu harm Sri Lanka and India would be there to protect the island, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, India’s Janatha Party leader and former Union Cabinet Minister, said. “Tamil Nadu can do no harm to Sri Lanka. We are there and we will not allow anything to happen to Sri Lanka”, he said in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer.

Dr. Swamy, revealing the motive behind the Tamil Nadu politicians to take a pro-LTTE stance, said Sri Lanka should not pay much attention to them and Sri Lankans should learn to ignore them as the majority of people there would not support Eelam.

An academic and economist, Dr. Swamy was invited by the Sri Lanka Army to deliver a lecture on ‘Reconciliation and India’s concerns’ at a three-day international conference on the Five Rs – Reconstruction, Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Reconciliation, which concluded last Friday.

Speaking at the seminar, he said, “The credit for this victory over terrorism naturally must belong to the political leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his ability to inspire the Armed Forces to fight on and die for the cause. The people of India recognise this as a contribution to our national security and deems it fit to be honoured with India’s highest award in the future”.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: At the seminar Sri Lanka’s efforts in the five Rs were expressed. What are your views on Sri Lanka’s progress towards peace during a short period of three years?

A: My main topic at the seminar was reconciliation. It must come along with the recognition that, strictly speaking, there is no fundamental difference between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. The difference was created by the West. It is nonsense. Studies show that the Sinhalese and the Tamils have the same DNA. They also have a common religion, in the sense that Hindus accept the Buddha as a god. There are no religious differences either. Linguistic differences also do not exist because we have common words derived from Sanskrit. The Tamil language has 40 percent of words from Sanskrit.

First, you must get close and say that we are one community and not two communities. There should be Sinhalese in the North and Tamils in the South. There should be a mixture and this is the best way to unite Sri Lanka.

Q: We know that India has assisted us in many ways, before ending the war on terrorism and also after. What is your view about India’s contribution to Sri Lanka’s post-conflict era?

A: In the elections, we expect the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) to come to power and the Janatha Party is a part of the NDA. We certainly will be much closer. There will be some differences when it comes to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) because I think there are some forces which supported the LTTE. Fortunately, due to pressure from people like me, the Government had to extend the ban on the LTTE by two more years. I think, in an election year, Sri Lanka and India will have a close relationship.

For patriotic Indians of our calibre, national interests come first, and if state, sectarian or regional interests clash, it is the latter, provincial interests, that will be sacrificed.

I am confident that Indians wish Sri Lanka well. We in India, in fact, feel kinship with Sri Lankans, emotionally, historically, religiously and linguistically and also for the benefit of our mutual national security. Indians do not necessarily agree with our Government on every decision it takes against the interests of Sri Lanka on political compulsions, which is not unusual in a democracy. For example, an overwhelming majority of Indians disapproved of the Indian Government’s decision to support the US-sponsored Resolution in the UN Human Rights Council.

Healing wounds

Q: At a time the two communities are in the process of healing their wounds, South India creates issues that disturb the peaceful environment and overlook ground realities in the North. What is your view about their motives?

A: Yes, I think problems are created by certain parties. The LTTE tried to prove that it could bring about a separate country called Tamil Nadu which included Jaffna, but it was badly beaten. Now this idea is almost dead. However, some still want to keep the LTTE alive as some politicians in Tamil Nadu also continue to get financial assistance from the LTTE diaspora. They are compelled to make noises to justify their stand.

Q: Do you mean to say that the ordinary people of Tamil Nadu don’t support the LTTE anymore?

A: Yes, there is no big support among the public. Whenever elections take place, they lose. Jayalalitha’s actions are basically to be in competition. However, when it comes to action there is nothing they can do. A separate Eelam state will not be agreed to by the majority of the people there.

Q: They have the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) to show their support for the LTTE cause. Your comments?

A: Karunanidhi has been warned saying if he talks about Tamil Eelam, action would be taken because people like me always go to Courts and ask for redress. I can register a FR case against him. I think Sri Lanka should not pay much attention to them. The people of Sri Lanka should learn to ignore these politicians of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu can do no harm to Sri Lanka. We are there and we will not allow anything to happen.

The UPA has some compulsions in their coalition so they make small adjustments here and there. But when it came to extending the ban on the LTTE, there was no question of Karunanidhi opening his mouth. There will be nothing exclusive in the TESO conference. They will pass resolutions, but will not pass resolutions for a separate Eelam.

Q: What is your view on Sri Lanka’s efforts in reconciliation?

A: I think history was distorted and poisoned by the British that we derive from Aryans and that Dravidians must get out of the system. Ravana, whom Karunanidhi and everyone claims as a great Dravidian hero, was apparently not born in North India, but in the borders of Delhi. His wife Maduri was born in Mihirat. Later, he went to Kailash and after getting Shiva Bagawan’s blessings, he came to Sri Lanka.

He was jealous about the wealth here and came here. I think the whole history has been re-created deliberately to cause problems. Then the British here kept the Tamils in high positions and that had to be corrected, but then those again created problems.

I think Sri Lankans must now live like in India, where all ethnicities live together. At the end, we know we are the same people. Sri Lanka must foster a concept where Tamils and Sinhalese feel that they are the same people. You should drop the idea that Sinhalese are Aryans and Tamils are Dravidians. It is nonsense now.

Sri Lanka should, we feel, respond to the regional aspirations of Sri Lankan Tamils and chart a mutually acceptable path to reconciliation within a fixed target date. It is India’s concern, but the choice on how to do so lies with the sovereign Government of Sri Lanka.

I think reconciliation has to go on and I believe that within the present Constitution of Sri Lanka, it must create provinces to give a certain amount of power.

Autonomy

Q: Do you mean giving autonomy to the provinces?

A: No, I am not talking about autonomy, but to give local power to a Chief Minister. He can be allowed to have an independent police, but there will also be a central police. In case they misbehave, the central government can dismiss the provincial administration.

I make it clear at the same time, even the most ardent well-wisher of Sri Lanka in India wants to see the present feeling of marginalisation that seems to have gripped the Tamil community, for real or imagined reasons, including sections which were never with the LTTE such as the plantation Tamils, ended by a reconciliation process wherein the Tamils feel empowered to participate in nation building.

This empowerment would require devolution within the basic structure of the unitary Constitution of Sri Lanka, for which the exact proposals must come from the Parliament of Sri Lanka, and can never be successfully imposed from abroad. This devolution is moreover not an Indian demand, but certainly it is our concern and expectation as well-wishers of Sri Lanka who stood by you in your gruelling fight against terrorism. Devolution must come within the comfort zone of Sinhala majority feelings and at the same time be considered adequate by the Tamil minority.

Q: Although Tamils here and in Tamil Nadu reject the LTTE and Eelam, politicians such as Nedumaran and Vaiko still clamour for Tamil Eelam. Your comments?

A: Yes, Vaiko was screaming that the ban on the LTTE should not be extended, but we extended it for another two years. He was saying Nalini should be set free, but it didn’t happen.

A future Indian government, which hopefully is not so precariously placed, will ensure love and support for a united cultural sibling nation of Sri Lanka, so that hot heads in Sri Lanka and in Tamil Nadu do not rear their ugly and violent heads again. Sri Lanka thus must build a reconciled society on the historic victory achieved in 2009 against the LTTE.

Q: Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu live in very poor conditions. How does India look at their grievances?

A: They all want to come back to Sri Lanka. I think Chandrahasan is working on it. I think it is a question of time and they will all come back.