By Col R Hariharan
Sri Lanka appears to be following Hindu philosophy’s four ways of dealing with people - Sama, Dana, Bheda and Dand - in defusing the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora’s potential to incubate separatist militancy of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) kind.
While Sama uses logical reasoning and common sense to explain one’s position, Dana is the classical carrot ploy of offering incentives – as Americans say ‘if you can’t win them, buy them.’ Bheda the third option is the one that politicians indulge all the time – create a split to win over a section. Dand, the last resort is to use force (or the stick, the other half of the proverbial carrot ploy).
The recent high profile public projection of the former LTTE international affairs representative and a high security prisoner Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) is apparently a part of Sri Lanka’s Bheda strategy. It fits in well with the larger Sri Lankan game plan to handle the Tamil Diaspora. Already it seems to have worked as a few known personalities of the Tamil Diaspora (who had supported the LTTE in the past) have agreed to join hands with KP and participate in the reconstruction process in the North.
KP had confirmed this in a series of media interviews recently. According to him his newly formed NGO outfit ‘The North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation' (NERDO) located in Vavuniya, was preparing to play a key role in the rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement processes. With years of overseas exposure in his LTTE days, KP had built influential Diaspora connections. While all of them may not join KP’s efforts, he seems to have thrown a spanner in the works of sections of the Diaspora to rebuild a unified organisation to carry forward the LTTE cause. Of course, hard boiled LTTE acolytes would now find justification to call him a quisling.
Justifying his action to collaborate with the government, KP said it was essential for Tamils to realise the ground realities in a post-LTTE era in the island nation and review its strategy to meet the new challenges. His said he was only “concerned about the welfare of the people, particularly children, though some seek fresh funding to cause mayhem. People are fed up with war and every effort should be made to alleviate their suffering without playing politics with a purely humanitarian motive.” This is so true. Logical reasoning with LTTE supporters had never worked successfully in the past when the LTTE’s flag was flying high. But words coming from a senior leader like KP in times of adversity would definitely create at least second thoughts in their minds.
In his interview, KP comes out as a man of sound common sense and pragmatism. He attributed the defeat of the LTTE to the change in global political leaders’ attitude to the LTTE after the 9/11 al Qaeda attack and the US led war on Jihadi terrorism in its wake. Prabhakaran did not realise the urgent need to change the LTTE strategy to suit the new environment. KP’s observation “there is a new world order today, which does not tolerate armed campaigns and that is the hard reality,” showed a realism much needed by those still voicing LTTE slogans.
The increasing public projection of KP in spite of his detention has caused uneasiness among Tamil politicians who consider it as Rajapaksa’s ploy to destabilise them. This fear is probably justified as KP is no ordinary prisoner. Normally as a member of the inner cabinet of Prabhakaran he should be cooling his heels in the Sri Lankan version of the Guantanamo Bay, where his former colleagues are awaiting prosecution. His arrest in Malaysia and rendition and rendition was the biggest story of the year after the defeat of the LTTE.
But even before KP completed his first year of imprisonment, rumours are thick that the elusive former chief arms procurer of the LTTE, may rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes of Tamil militancy to join the political mainstream. And if the media space he is already hogging, even as a prisoner, is any indication the process for his political anointment has already started. It fits in well with a series of stories that started with his much publicised visit to Vanni in the company of Tamil Diaspora leaders to look at the state of rehabilitation and the formation of a NGO for canalising contributions from the Diaspora thereafter.
KP’s candid interviews bearing his views not only on the LTTE’s defeat and Tamils suffering but also his favourable comments on the Defence Secretary and the President came as icing on the cake of his publicity blitz. There is no doubt that KP’s privileged public access is part of a Sri Lankan game plan. However, his political rehabilitation may come through only after his evidence as a crown witness is fully milked during the prosecution of 737 LTTE hard core cadres in custody. This process could take a year to complete unless special courts are set up. If this surmise is correct, probably KP is slated to occupy a place in the political firmament in 2011.
Even before the war, Sri Lanka had embarked upon an effort to make it difficult for LTTE to retain its foothold in many countries. The President, prime minister, and the foreign minister in the past had stressed this aspect in their international visits and appearances. Apart from these efforts, Sri Lanka said it was launching with the help of INTERPOL a coordinated effort to dismantle LTTE’s international network. These efforts got a big push when Sri Lankan military intelligence recently unearthed highly classified documents and diaries of Castro, former head of the LTTE's international wing, at Viswamadu. These documents have provided details of LTTE international activists engaged in human trafficking, arms smuggling and financial bases in East Asia, Western Europe, Canada and Africa.
In this context it is interesting to note that the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa touched upon this aspect while addressing the Galle dialogue on maritime security conference over the week end. He said, “no matter how powerful we are individually, so long as we act in isolation, we will be ineffective against threats arising from the trans-national operations of non-state actors.”
Can Sri Lanka wean over the Tamil Diaspora from the Eelam cause and support to resurrection of Tamil militancy?
To answer yes to this question would be oversimplifying a complex problem compounded by uneven composition of the Diaspora. And it would also be ignoring the historical realities of how the Tamil Diaspora became the main supporters of Tamil militancy. The Tamil Diaspora is neither uniform nor clearly segmented in their support to the Eelam cause.
Basically they act in two planes. One is on the emotional plane based upon their own bitter experience over the years, having lost their kith and kin. Their inability to directly go the aid of their kin when they are still suffering makes them angry now. Swayed by emotions on happenings in Sri Lanka the majority probably belong to this category. The Sri Lankan strategies aided by KP would probably work on this segment, provided political initiatives are also taken in tandem.
The other segment has a much deeper ideological belief in preserving the Tamil identity and creation the Tamil Eelam as the only process to do it. This segment has its origins even before the LTTE was born. This segment is deeply suspicious of majority Sinhalese’s political intentions due to historical experience. And it had been the fountainhead of separatism. It would probably be never wholly won over by the reasoning of the type KP dispenses. However, he may make a dent in its system of beliefs.
This segment needs political solutions to disprove their ingrained beliefs. These have not been forthcoming for the last three decades from successive Sri Lankan governments. And even now little has been done, other than talking about implementing even a half way house solution like the 13th amendment to the constitution.
Prof Rohan Gunaratne, Sri Lanka’s own high profile terrorism analyst of international repute, touched upon this home truth while speaking on post war challenges of Sri Lanka in Colombo last week. He said “failure of Sri Lankan leaders to govern a multi-ethnic and a multi-religious society since independence precipitated Sri Lanka ’s ethno-political conflict. Sri Lanka ’s political masters compromised Sri Lanka’s long term national and strategic interests for short term political gain. Unless Sri Lankan politicians build the understanding to never again to play ethnic and religious based politics, poison the ground by radicalizing its youth, and reinforce ethnic and religious divisions, the country is likely to suffer a repetition of its unfortunate past.”
The Sri Lanka government and the national leadership would do well to heed his words of caution as there is no indication they are attending to this vital aspect of political confidence building.
Unless this is attended to mere Machiavellian strategies in handling the Diaspora would not provide a satisfactory solution.
Courtesy: South Asia Analysis Group
www.southasiaanalysis.org
Monday, 9 August 2010
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Tales of Honour and Uniform-2
By Col TN Raman (retd.)
1964-65
The role of the Commanding Officer (CO) in moulding the psyche of Young Officers (YO) in a unit is extremely important. After they are commissioned, the young lads replace their own fathers in their mind set, to that of their CO. In their subsequent career, these Officers often replicate the behaviour, style & man management techniques adopted by their COs. No wonder, the CO is always referred to as the old man. Not to ridicule him, but an honest expression of the void filled in their young lives by the absence of their own fathers. They trust their CO. If the CO reciprocates that trust, the unit does wonders. That is the essential difference between the regiments or the battalions, when we categorise them as good, bad or ugly.
Sarma had the good fortune of serving under some great COs, none of them made to the rank beyond that of a brigadier (in those days the rank to a Lt Col was a brigadier), barring only one. When Sarma joined one of the Artillery’s elite units, the CO looked like a constipated chap. But the lessons he taught them during the informal interactions like the mess parties or briefings before an exercise, were worth their weight in Gold.
He used to say, “Well boys, tomorrow we are leaving for Babina for our Annual Training Camp. The road journey is more than 8 hours. While you are sitting in your jeep, keep talking to the driver as well as the members of your detachment. You will develop an intimacy with them by knowing their back ground, about their village, about their family and above all their personal problems. This simple act will go a long way in telling them that you really care for them”.
On another occasion he advised the YOs to care for their sahayaks (orderlies). “You need not tip him every day with a peg of rum. Just present him with a shirt or a sweater when he goes home on annual leave. If he has children, buy suitable presents for them also; if nothing else a box of sweets. Make him realize that your gifts are in appreciation of his care for you and how grateful you are for his indulgence.”
In 1964, Sarma’s regiment had some veterans of Second World War also. Out of them, two were unforgettable. The first was, Nb Sub Chhotelal. He always boasted that he was the second driver of Field Marshal (FM) Slim, during the Burma Campaign. One evening the YOs were just making jovial comments about his boasts in the field mess during an exercise. The CO present was also laughing.
After some time, he asked the youngsters, “How many of you are confident in getting selected as ADCs to Generals or the President. Here is a JCO who as a Havildar was selected to be FM Slim’s driver. Just imagine. The Army would have called for suitable candidates from more than 15 divisions. Each divisional commander would have personally interviewed the selected candidates of their own division. Finally at the Army level the Chief of Staff (COS) would have interviewed the few whetted ones. Chhotelal had crossed all these obstacles and became the driver. Is it not a credit worthy achievement for a NCO?” If he boasts about it is there any thing wrong”.
There was a pin drop silence. But the CO did not want to leave the youngsters in a sullen mood. “Boys, cheer up. The next drink is on me. By the way, if any of you volunteer to become my ADC, you will have just one hurdle. That is your 2 IC (second in command).”
The next Character was Subedar Kashmira Singh. He always used to wear a pair of leather glows during winter. Sarma asked him about it. His story was unique.
“Sahib, in 1939 I was part of the British Indian Army. In 1941, I was part of a Line Laying Party, in Burma. The Japanese surrounded us suddenly. None of us knew as to where from they came. They took us to a camp, where Netaji Subash Chandra Bose addressed all the Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army. He exalted us to join the INA (Indian National Army). There was no choice. The Japanese soldiers were there and were looking menacing.
"We were marched to some camp on the shores of Irrawaddy River, and were given ill fitting uniforms of the INA. While we were preparing for an assault on a British company position, the British troops surprised us in an ambush. There was some gas attack and my eyes got affected. We were taken to a British PW (prisoner of war) Camp. While in British PW Camp, some International Red Cross volunteers saw my condition and evacuated me to France by a ship. I was given treatment and luckily my eyes were cured. Unfortunately, by that time France was over run by Germany and once again I was taken as PW by the Germans. But my ID from INA saved me further harassment by the Germans. In the hospital I was presented with these gloves. In 1944, after the end of the War, I was repatriated to India, again to become a PW of the British.
"In 1946, a team of lawyers under Jawaharlal Nehru pleaded for amnesty to all the former INA soldiers. I was one of the lucky ones to be released.
In1947, when India got its Independence, I joined the Army again. And I am Sub (Assistant Inspector of Gunnery) now. Sir, I may be the only soldier to have been taken as PW by all the three warring parties. First the Japanese, second the British and the third time by the Germans."
Sarma’s head was already reeling with so much of military history. Finally, he asked Kashmira Singh, “ Sab, you must be happy to have joined our Army again”.
He said: “Yes Sir, but a lot of injustice had been done to me. Mind you in all the four years of war, I never fired a single round from my rifle. Still, I had to see three PW Camps!!”
1964-65
The role of the Commanding Officer (CO) in moulding the psyche of Young Officers (YO) in a unit is extremely important. After they are commissioned, the young lads replace their own fathers in their mind set, to that of their CO. In their subsequent career, these Officers often replicate the behaviour, style & man management techniques adopted by their COs. No wonder, the CO is always referred to as the old man. Not to ridicule him, but an honest expression of the void filled in their young lives by the absence of their own fathers. They trust their CO. If the CO reciprocates that trust, the unit does wonders. That is the essential difference between the regiments or the battalions, when we categorise them as good, bad or ugly.
Sarma had the good fortune of serving under some great COs, none of them made to the rank beyond that of a brigadier (in those days the rank to a Lt Col was a brigadier), barring only one. When Sarma joined one of the Artillery’s elite units, the CO looked like a constipated chap. But the lessons he taught them during the informal interactions like the mess parties or briefings before an exercise, were worth their weight in Gold.
He used to say, “Well boys, tomorrow we are leaving for Babina for our Annual Training Camp. The road journey is more than 8 hours. While you are sitting in your jeep, keep talking to the driver as well as the members of your detachment. You will develop an intimacy with them by knowing their back ground, about their village, about their family and above all their personal problems. This simple act will go a long way in telling them that you really care for them”.
On another occasion he advised the YOs to care for their sahayaks (orderlies). “You need not tip him every day with a peg of rum. Just present him with a shirt or a sweater when he goes home on annual leave. If he has children, buy suitable presents for them also; if nothing else a box of sweets. Make him realize that your gifts are in appreciation of his care for you and how grateful you are for his indulgence.”
In 1964, Sarma’s regiment had some veterans of Second World War also. Out of them, two were unforgettable. The first was, Nb Sub Chhotelal. He always boasted that he was the second driver of Field Marshal (FM) Slim, during the Burma Campaign. One evening the YOs were just making jovial comments about his boasts in the field mess during an exercise. The CO present was also laughing.
After some time, he asked the youngsters, “How many of you are confident in getting selected as ADCs to Generals or the President. Here is a JCO who as a Havildar was selected to be FM Slim’s driver. Just imagine. The Army would have called for suitable candidates from more than 15 divisions. Each divisional commander would have personally interviewed the selected candidates of their own division. Finally at the Army level the Chief of Staff (COS) would have interviewed the few whetted ones. Chhotelal had crossed all these obstacles and became the driver. Is it not a credit worthy achievement for a NCO?” If he boasts about it is there any thing wrong”.
There was a pin drop silence. But the CO did not want to leave the youngsters in a sullen mood. “Boys, cheer up. The next drink is on me. By the way, if any of you volunteer to become my ADC, you will have just one hurdle. That is your 2 IC (second in command).”
The next Character was Subedar Kashmira Singh. He always used to wear a pair of leather glows during winter. Sarma asked him about it. His story was unique.
“Sahib, in 1939 I was part of the British Indian Army. In 1941, I was part of a Line Laying Party, in Burma. The Japanese surrounded us suddenly. None of us knew as to where from they came. They took us to a camp, where Netaji Subash Chandra Bose addressed all the Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army. He exalted us to join the INA (Indian National Army). There was no choice. The Japanese soldiers were there and were looking menacing.
"We were marched to some camp on the shores of Irrawaddy River, and were given ill fitting uniforms of the INA. While we were preparing for an assault on a British company position, the British troops surprised us in an ambush. There was some gas attack and my eyes got affected. We were taken to a British PW (prisoner of war) Camp. While in British PW Camp, some International Red Cross volunteers saw my condition and evacuated me to France by a ship. I was given treatment and luckily my eyes were cured. Unfortunately, by that time France was over run by Germany and once again I was taken as PW by the Germans. But my ID from INA saved me further harassment by the Germans. In the hospital I was presented with these gloves. In 1944, after the end of the War, I was repatriated to India, again to become a PW of the British.
"In 1946, a team of lawyers under Jawaharlal Nehru pleaded for amnesty to all the former INA soldiers. I was one of the lucky ones to be released.
In1947, when India got its Independence, I joined the Army again. And I am Sub (Assistant Inspector of Gunnery) now. Sir, I may be the only soldier to have been taken as PW by all the three warring parties. First the Japanese, second the British and the third time by the Germans."
Sarma’s head was already reeling with so much of military history. Finally, he asked Kashmira Singh, “ Sab, you must be happy to have joined our Army again”.
He said: “Yes Sir, but a lot of injustice had been done to me. Mind you in all the four years of war, I never fired a single round from my rifle. Still, I had to see three PW Camps!!”
Sri Lanka Perspectives - July 2010
By Col R Hariharan (Retd.)
Initiatives to win over Diaspora
Sri Lanka appears to have scored a major success in winning over a section of the Tamil Diaspora that had actively supported the LTTE to participate in the reconstruction process in the Tamil areas. This was confirmed in a newspaper interview by Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) who was the LTTE’s international affairs representative now in Sri Lankan custody. His newly formed outfit ‘The North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation' (NERDO) located in Vavuniya, was preparing to play a key role in the rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement processes in the war ravaged areas. He expected the support for the move from the Tamil Diaspora. KP had influential connections in the Diaspora in his LTTE days.
Justifying his action to collaborate with the government, he said it was essential for Tamils to realise the ground realities in a post-LTTE era in the island nation and review its strategy to meet the new challenges. His said he was only “concerned about the welfare of the people, particularly children, though some seek fresh funding to cause mayhem. People are fed up with war and every effort should be made to alleviate their suffering without playing politics with a purely humanitarian motive.” His effort could find favour with sections of Diaspora who are still suspicious of Sri Lanka government moves.
In his interview, KP attributed the defeat of the LTTE to the change in global political leaders’ attitude to the LTTE prompted by the 9/11 al Qaeda attack and the US led war on al Qaeda. Prabhakaran did not realise the urgent need to change the LTTE strategy accordingly. KP’s observation “there is a new world order today, which does not tolerate armed campaigns and that is the hard reality,” showed a lot of pragmatism.
Apart from these efforts, Sri Lanka with the help of INTERPOL has launched a coordinated effort to dismantle LTTE’s international network using information gathered by the Sri Lankan military intelligence from captured documents. In particular the recent unearthing of highly classified documents and diaries of Castro, former head of the LTTE's international wing, at Viswamadu has given details of LTTE international activists engaged in human trafficking, arms smuggling and financial bases in East Asia, Western Europe, Canada and Africa. This carrot and stick method could induce more Diaspora to support KP’s rehabilitation effort as many sections of Diaspora who consider rehabilitation as the priority.
The increasing public projection of KP in spite of his detention has caused jitters among Tamil politicians who consider it as Rajapaksa’s ploy to destabilise them by allowing KP to participate in politics.
LTTE prisoners
The Commissioner General of Rehabilitation in a media interview has said that 7,948 former LTTE combatants, including about 1,100 females were still undergoing rehabilitation. He said 700 of the 1,100 females were now working in the garment trade. About 400 are being trained as Montessori teachers while others were learning English, IT and drama ‘therapy’. He said families of detained persons were regularly allowed to visit them.
When the war ended last year the army held 11,686 LTTE cadres, including members of the suicide squad as prisoners. They were kept in more than 20 detention centres after the war. Now only 12 such centres, including two meant for women, were operational. All ex-LTTE child soldiers have been handed over to their parents after undergoing rehabilitation training.
Among the detainees 737 hardcore elements have been identified and charge sheets are being prepared to prosecute them.
Conditions in Northern Province
The Ceylon Communist Party has come out with a detailed field report on the prevailing conditions in war ravaged Northern Province. The report has said though the government’s massive physical infrastructure programme was going on, many old and new issues in the environment have denied the people any sense of liberation. On the contrary, they felt betrayed both by the LTTE and the State though both had promised them liberation. People were in a confused, disillusioned, abandoned and demoralized state of mind.
The physical reconstruction programme was focusing on basic infrastructure such as roads and telecommunication. Reconstructed government departments, modernized urban commercial centres and towns were active and flourishing with 15 major banks and financial agencies opening offices in Jaffna. However, vast majority of the population were leading a life below subsistence level.
Army was present everywhere along the roads, in villages and towns. In many areas landmine clearance has been undertaken. Army’s continued presence, reinforcement and expansion of the security forces have become a cause for concern for the people. People were anxious about role of the security forces in controlling and monitoring their social, cultural and religious activities for fear of reprisals. However, incidence of abductions, rape and torture and generalized abuse has drastically come down.
The report said the government simply lacked the political will for undertaking an accelerated, comprehensive and integrated process of resettlement, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development. The rehabilitation effort was pitiful, since the general public and civil society of the country was not being mobilized in the relief process. The government gave permission to only a selected few of them to operate in the Province.
Attack on media network
A dozen men armed with assault rifles and petrol bombs attacked the offices of privately owned Voice of Asia Network in the early hours of July 30. The network controls three FM stations including Vettri FM, a Tamil one. According to the management said in the attack its studios, control room and library were destroyed. Two persons were injured.
The owners had backed the main opposition candidate, ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, in the last presidential election. Another journalist Eknaligoda, a critic of the government and supporter of Fonseka, who disappeared two days before the election in January has still not been traced. The attacks have not enhanced Sri Lanka’s reputation as a state where media criticism is not tolerated.
Increasing Chinese footprint
Zhang Ze - Deputy Director of the Department of treaty of and Law of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of China and ten Chinese army officers including senior colonels, lieutenant colonels and majors were on a visit northern and eastern provinces East including Kilinochchi, Mannar and Mullaitivu to advise on use of de-mining equipment supplied by the Chinese and to provide knowledge on de-mining tasks.
China has also assisted the army re-deployment process in the north after the war.
Chinese pre-fabricated technology was being used in permanent buildings constructed for the forces. Already the army has established the 68 Division headquarters at Sugandirapuram, Puthukudirippu east of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road. According to the army commander, although the Jaffna peninsula had seen the largest concentration of forces before Eelam war IV, today the biggest deployment was in the Vanni. With permanent buildings coming up for army in government land, the army hopes to vacate private buildings and land occupied by them.
EU tariff concessions
The European Union has officially announced that Sri Lanka would lose the GSP+ trade concessions in August after it failed to respond to a set of conditions laid down by the Commission. However it was open for negotiations with the Sri Lankan government despite the decision.
The EU also expressed regretted Sri Lanka’s decision to remain silent on the proposals by the EU for Sri Lanka to obtain a temporary extension of the trade tariff benefits by meeting some conditions. In June the EU had offered to delay the suspension of GSP+ trade concessions by six months if Sri Lanka responded to its questions on tangible progress on shortcomings in its implementation of three UN human rights conventions a number of outstanding issues. However, the government had firmly rejected the EU conditional offer.
31 July 2010
Courtesy: South Asia Security Trends,Vol 4 No 6 July 2010
www.security-risks.com
Initiatives to win over Diaspora
Sri Lanka appears to have scored a major success in winning over a section of the Tamil Diaspora that had actively supported the LTTE to participate in the reconstruction process in the Tamil areas. This was confirmed in a newspaper interview by Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) who was the LTTE’s international affairs representative now in Sri Lankan custody. His newly formed outfit ‘The North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation' (NERDO) located in Vavuniya, was preparing to play a key role in the rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement processes in the war ravaged areas. He expected the support for the move from the Tamil Diaspora. KP had influential connections in the Diaspora in his LTTE days.
Justifying his action to collaborate with the government, he said it was essential for Tamils to realise the ground realities in a post-LTTE era in the island nation and review its strategy to meet the new challenges. His said he was only “concerned about the welfare of the people, particularly children, though some seek fresh funding to cause mayhem. People are fed up with war and every effort should be made to alleviate their suffering without playing politics with a purely humanitarian motive.” His effort could find favour with sections of Diaspora who are still suspicious of Sri Lanka government moves.
In his interview, KP attributed the defeat of the LTTE to the change in global political leaders’ attitude to the LTTE prompted by the 9/11 al Qaeda attack and the US led war on al Qaeda. Prabhakaran did not realise the urgent need to change the LTTE strategy accordingly. KP’s observation “there is a new world order today, which does not tolerate armed campaigns and that is the hard reality,” showed a lot of pragmatism.
Apart from these efforts, Sri Lanka with the help of INTERPOL has launched a coordinated effort to dismantle LTTE’s international network using information gathered by the Sri Lankan military intelligence from captured documents. In particular the recent unearthing of highly classified documents and diaries of Castro, former head of the LTTE's international wing, at Viswamadu has given details of LTTE international activists engaged in human trafficking, arms smuggling and financial bases in East Asia, Western Europe, Canada and Africa. This carrot and stick method could induce more Diaspora to support KP’s rehabilitation effort as many sections of Diaspora who consider rehabilitation as the priority.
The increasing public projection of KP in spite of his detention has caused jitters among Tamil politicians who consider it as Rajapaksa’s ploy to destabilise them by allowing KP to participate in politics.
LTTE prisoners
The Commissioner General of Rehabilitation in a media interview has said that 7,948 former LTTE combatants, including about 1,100 females were still undergoing rehabilitation. He said 700 of the 1,100 females were now working in the garment trade. About 400 are being trained as Montessori teachers while others were learning English, IT and drama ‘therapy’. He said families of detained persons were regularly allowed to visit them.
When the war ended last year the army held 11,686 LTTE cadres, including members of the suicide squad as prisoners. They were kept in more than 20 detention centres after the war. Now only 12 such centres, including two meant for women, were operational. All ex-LTTE child soldiers have been handed over to their parents after undergoing rehabilitation training.
Among the detainees 737 hardcore elements have been identified and charge sheets are being prepared to prosecute them.
Conditions in Northern Province
The Ceylon Communist Party has come out with a detailed field report on the prevailing conditions in war ravaged Northern Province. The report has said though the government’s massive physical infrastructure programme was going on, many old and new issues in the environment have denied the people any sense of liberation. On the contrary, they felt betrayed both by the LTTE and the State though both had promised them liberation. People were in a confused, disillusioned, abandoned and demoralized state of mind.
The physical reconstruction programme was focusing on basic infrastructure such as roads and telecommunication. Reconstructed government departments, modernized urban commercial centres and towns were active and flourishing with 15 major banks and financial agencies opening offices in Jaffna. However, vast majority of the population were leading a life below subsistence level.
Army was present everywhere along the roads, in villages and towns. In many areas landmine clearance has been undertaken. Army’s continued presence, reinforcement and expansion of the security forces have become a cause for concern for the people. People were anxious about role of the security forces in controlling and monitoring their social, cultural and religious activities for fear of reprisals. However, incidence of abductions, rape and torture and generalized abuse has drastically come down.
The report said the government simply lacked the political will for undertaking an accelerated, comprehensive and integrated process of resettlement, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development. The rehabilitation effort was pitiful, since the general public and civil society of the country was not being mobilized in the relief process. The government gave permission to only a selected few of them to operate in the Province.
Attack on media network
A dozen men armed with assault rifles and petrol bombs attacked the offices of privately owned Voice of Asia Network in the early hours of July 30. The network controls three FM stations including Vettri FM, a Tamil one. According to the management said in the attack its studios, control room and library were destroyed. Two persons were injured.
The owners had backed the main opposition candidate, ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, in the last presidential election. Another journalist Eknaligoda, a critic of the government and supporter of Fonseka, who disappeared two days before the election in January has still not been traced. The attacks have not enhanced Sri Lanka’s reputation as a state where media criticism is not tolerated.
Increasing Chinese footprint
Zhang Ze - Deputy Director of the Department of treaty of and Law of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of China and ten Chinese army officers including senior colonels, lieutenant colonels and majors were on a visit northern and eastern provinces East including Kilinochchi, Mannar and Mullaitivu to advise on use of de-mining equipment supplied by the Chinese and to provide knowledge on de-mining tasks.
China has also assisted the army re-deployment process in the north after the war.
Chinese pre-fabricated technology was being used in permanent buildings constructed for the forces. Already the army has established the 68 Division headquarters at Sugandirapuram, Puthukudirippu east of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road. According to the army commander, although the Jaffna peninsula had seen the largest concentration of forces before Eelam war IV, today the biggest deployment was in the Vanni. With permanent buildings coming up for army in government land, the army hopes to vacate private buildings and land occupied by them.
EU tariff concessions
The European Union has officially announced that Sri Lanka would lose the GSP+ trade concessions in August after it failed to respond to a set of conditions laid down by the Commission. However it was open for negotiations with the Sri Lankan government despite the decision.
The EU also expressed regretted Sri Lanka’s decision to remain silent on the proposals by the EU for Sri Lanka to obtain a temporary extension of the trade tariff benefits by meeting some conditions. In June the EU had offered to delay the suspension of GSP+ trade concessions by six months if Sri Lanka responded to its questions on tangible progress on shortcomings in its implementation of three UN human rights conventions a number of outstanding issues. However, the government had firmly rejected the EU conditional offer.
31 July 2010
Courtesy: South Asia Security Trends,Vol 4 No 6 July 2010
www.security-risks.com
Friday, 6 August 2010
Darkness at Noon
Does the Supreme Court ban on brain mapping and narcoanalysis deny interrogators scientific tools?
by Col R Hariharan
A half-naked man is hung upside down and a police officer is beating him with an iron rod. Though this typical movie scene is often over-dramatized, it is not far from the truth. The police regularly uses violence and torture to extract “confessions” from suspects despite knowing full well it is illegal. They have even evolved “special techniques” to ensure the bodily damage is not visible. Even as I write, a TV news channel is telecasting live the scene of a policeman beating a 75-yearold suspected thief hung upside down from a tree.
The use of violent methods, including torture and deprivation, has always been accepted by society as an inevitable part of interrogation. The lack of professionalism among law enforcers and interrogators is the main reason.
In South Asia, the callousness associated with increasing politicization of crime is also responsible. Politicization is throttling both the rule of law and the administration of criminal justice, and allowing criminals to operate beyond the pale of law. In the process of foisting guilt on an innocent person, torture becomes a handy tool to obtain a “confession”.
However, law enforcement and intelligence agencies have to get at the facts rather than relying on “confessions” to bust crime and defuse security threats. So, not all interrogation depends on torture. Investigative bodies regularly use physical and mental stress induced in the subject to gain cooperation.
After carrying out a few hundred intelligence interrogations in both war and peacetime, I have found violence an overrated instrument of interrogation. Often, it is counterproductive because the suspect, in fear of pain, agrees to sign on the dotted line.
The suspect or prisoner is in shock at the time of his arrest or captivity. And the fear of the unknown is his enemy during interrogation. I have found that leveraging this fear rather than using violence can yield quick results.
The methods that leverage fear have a number of variations – from taking the suspect to a dummy burial ground (created with mounds of earth) and asking him to dig his own grave before he is buried alive to what Lt Col Oreste Pinto (the Dutch counterintelligence officer of “Spy Catcher” of World War II fame) practised. To create bonhomie, he offered the suspect plenty of beer but did not allow him to use a toilet. I once tried it out on a Pakistani Lt Col and it worked beautifully! But there are limitations in using such interrogation methods. They are not torture in the classical sense but, as psychological torture, are equally condemned by human rights activists now.
So it has become common for investigative agencies like the CBI to use modern forensic tools like brain mapping (Brain Electrical Activation Profile), the polygraph (popularly known as the lie detector test), and narcoanalysis as aids to interrogation of suspects. Though these tests may not yield 100 per cent accurate results, they do provide useful pointers in gathering vital evidence.
However, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, when US intelligence personnel subjected Iraqi prisoners to physical and psychological torture and degradation in 2004, raised a furore worldwide. As a fall out, the CIA’s use of questionable physical and psychological methods came under legislative scrutiny. Its political impact was demonstrated in the 2004 US presidential poll. It also triggered a revision of the CIA’s interrogation techniques.
Thereafter, this issue has been taken up by human rights activists everywhere. Even the traditional physical and psychological stress methods like sleep deprivation, restricted diet and solitary confinement are now becoming passé. So it was not surprising when India’s Supreme Court recently ruled that compulsory brain mapping, polygraph tests and narcoanalysis violated Articles 20(3) and 21 of the Constitution.
Article 20(3) says: “No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself” while Article 21 guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except under the procedure established by law. The court has held that a person’s right to make a statement or remain silent involves the exercise of the right to privacy.
These tests have been challenged in court in the past. In a 2006 judgement, the Madras High Court held that subjecting an accused to narcoanalysis is not tantamount to testimony by compulsion. In 2004, the Bombay High Court had ruled in the Telgi multicrore-rupee fake stamp paper case that subjecting an accused to tests like narcoanalysis does not violate the fundamental right against self-incrimination.
However, now the three-member Supreme Court Bench rejected the argument of “compelling public interest”, especially against terror suspects, as reason enough for employing these tests. The Supreme Court order is in conformity with the increasing awareness of human rights and humanitarian concerns worldwide. This awareness is overtaking national security imperatives in handling and interrogation of prisoners and suspects.
CBI Director Ashwani Kumar has called the Supreme Court verdict a setback for forensic science. In a media interview, he agreed with the verdict on the intrusive nature of narcoanalysis but suggested that Parliament be persuaded to allow non-intrusive tests such as polygraph tests and brain mapping.
His point is valid. Unless we use all the available forensic tools in crime investigation, law enforcement will not be able to perform at its best. The fat cats of the criminal world will get away and the politico-criminal nexus will only grow. National security could run the risk of compromise.
The interrogation process is becoming a minefield of sorts for the interrogator. On the one hand, he has to extract information from a suspect unwilling to part with it while, on the other, he has to be wary of legal restrictions that deny him modern tools to fulfil his task.
Undoubtedly, the interrogation methods of law enforcement agencies have to be brought within the ambit of legality. A methodology has to be evolved that will be fair to the interests of the state without curtailing the individual’s basic rights. Knowing our system, it might be years before such changes are put into practice. In the meanwhile, if the interrogator is prevented from using scientific aids how does he successfully conduct an interrogation? I am glad I am retired now.
Courtesy: GFiles India, August 2010
by Col R Hariharan
A half-naked man is hung upside down and a police officer is beating him with an iron rod. Though this typical movie scene is often over-dramatized, it is not far from the truth. The police regularly uses violence and torture to extract “confessions” from suspects despite knowing full well it is illegal. They have even evolved “special techniques” to ensure the bodily damage is not visible. Even as I write, a TV news channel is telecasting live the scene of a policeman beating a 75-yearold suspected thief hung upside down from a tree.
The use of violent methods, including torture and deprivation, has always been accepted by society as an inevitable part of interrogation. The lack of professionalism among law enforcers and interrogators is the main reason.
In South Asia, the callousness associated with increasing politicization of crime is also responsible. Politicization is throttling both the rule of law and the administration of criminal justice, and allowing criminals to operate beyond the pale of law. In the process of foisting guilt on an innocent person, torture becomes a handy tool to obtain a “confession”.
However, law enforcement and intelligence agencies have to get at the facts rather than relying on “confessions” to bust crime and defuse security threats. So, not all interrogation depends on torture. Investigative bodies regularly use physical and mental stress induced in the subject to gain cooperation.
After carrying out a few hundred intelligence interrogations in both war and peacetime, I have found violence an overrated instrument of interrogation. Often, it is counterproductive because the suspect, in fear of pain, agrees to sign on the dotted line.
The suspect or prisoner is in shock at the time of his arrest or captivity. And the fear of the unknown is his enemy during interrogation. I have found that leveraging this fear rather than using violence can yield quick results.
The methods that leverage fear have a number of variations – from taking the suspect to a dummy burial ground (created with mounds of earth) and asking him to dig his own grave before he is buried alive to what Lt Col Oreste Pinto (the Dutch counterintelligence officer of “Spy Catcher” of World War II fame) practised. To create bonhomie, he offered the suspect plenty of beer but did not allow him to use a toilet. I once tried it out on a Pakistani Lt Col and it worked beautifully! But there are limitations in using such interrogation methods. They are not torture in the classical sense but, as psychological torture, are equally condemned by human rights activists now.
So it has become common for investigative agencies like the CBI to use modern forensic tools like brain mapping (Brain Electrical Activation Profile), the polygraph (popularly known as the lie detector test), and narcoanalysis as aids to interrogation of suspects. Though these tests may not yield 100 per cent accurate results, they do provide useful pointers in gathering vital evidence.
However, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, when US intelligence personnel subjected Iraqi prisoners to physical and psychological torture and degradation in 2004, raised a furore worldwide. As a fall out, the CIA’s use of questionable physical and psychological methods came under legislative scrutiny. Its political impact was demonstrated in the 2004 US presidential poll. It also triggered a revision of the CIA’s interrogation techniques.
Thereafter, this issue has been taken up by human rights activists everywhere. Even the traditional physical and psychological stress methods like sleep deprivation, restricted diet and solitary confinement are now becoming passé. So it was not surprising when India’s Supreme Court recently ruled that compulsory brain mapping, polygraph tests and narcoanalysis violated Articles 20(3) and 21 of the Constitution.
Article 20(3) says: “No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself” while Article 21 guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except under the procedure established by law. The court has held that a person’s right to make a statement or remain silent involves the exercise of the right to privacy.
These tests have been challenged in court in the past. In a 2006 judgement, the Madras High Court held that subjecting an accused to narcoanalysis is not tantamount to testimony by compulsion. In 2004, the Bombay High Court had ruled in the Telgi multicrore-rupee fake stamp paper case that subjecting an accused to tests like narcoanalysis does not violate the fundamental right against self-incrimination.
However, now the three-member Supreme Court Bench rejected the argument of “compelling public interest”, especially against terror suspects, as reason enough for employing these tests. The Supreme Court order is in conformity with the increasing awareness of human rights and humanitarian concerns worldwide. This awareness is overtaking national security imperatives in handling and interrogation of prisoners and suspects.
CBI Director Ashwani Kumar has called the Supreme Court verdict a setback for forensic science. In a media interview, he agreed with the verdict on the intrusive nature of narcoanalysis but suggested that Parliament be persuaded to allow non-intrusive tests such as polygraph tests and brain mapping.
His point is valid. Unless we use all the available forensic tools in crime investigation, law enforcement will not be able to perform at its best. The fat cats of the criminal world will get away and the politico-criminal nexus will only grow. National security could run the risk of compromise.
The interrogation process is becoming a minefield of sorts for the interrogator. On the one hand, he has to extract information from a suspect unwilling to part with it while, on the other, he has to be wary of legal restrictions that deny him modern tools to fulfil his task.
Undoubtedly, the interrogation methods of law enforcement agencies have to be brought within the ambit of legality. A methodology has to be evolved that will be fair to the interests of the state without curtailing the individual’s basic rights. Knowing our system, it might be years before such changes are put into practice. In the meanwhile, if the interrogator is prevented from using scientific aids how does he successfully conduct an interrogation? I am glad I am retired now.
Courtesy: GFiles India, August 2010
Sunday, 1 August 2010
TALES OF HONOUR AND UNIFORM -I
By Col TN Raman (Retd.)
In Army career, we come across various incidents. Apart from the battle field, the emotions expressed by the characters involved are typically human and that also peculiar to our own soil. In this series, I want to bring out some such tales. They may look like fiction, but are true.
The year was 1979.
This is the story of Gunner Sardhool Singh form Punjab and Havildar Abdul Hameed from Chennai, Tamilnadu. Sardhool Singh was from Artillery and Abdul Hameed was from Army Service Corps. They met each other in tragic circumstances. They were travelling in a 3-ton vehicle, which was part of a convoy from Srinagar to Jammu. Both were proceeding on their annual leave. Short of Udhampur, their vehicle skidded in the snow and plunged into a deep ravine, 300 feet down. Most of the occupants of the vehicle died. But both the characters mentioned above survived and were evacuated to Miltary Hospital, Chandigarh, by helicopter.
Sardhool had both eyes damaged and escaped with slight bruises. But, Hameed was in a precarious state. At the Hospital he was placed in DI List, admitted in the ICU. By mid night, he came to his senses and asked the nursing sister attending him as to the fate of “the tall handsome Sardar Gunner”. She told him that he was out of danger but both his eyes were damaged. Out of curiosity she asked him as to how he knew him. Hameed said, “while travelling, that boy was quite anxious to get home fast, because he told me that he was married just six months back. He wanted to present his wife with the Pashmina shawl he bought in Leh.” After some thought, he requested the Sister to kindly let him know of his condition in the morning.
After two nights, Sister Anasuya Theresa, was on duty again in the ICU. Hameed’s condition had further deteriorated. He was in life support system. With great difficulty, he gestured her to remove his mask so that he could speak. The Sister placed her ear close to his mouth. Hameed told her that he wanted to donate his eyes to the ‘Handsome Sardar’ if that could help him getting his vision back. The sister immediately rushed to the Office Cub board and came back with a form. He signed it. Then he made one more request. He wanted to meet Sardhool immediately. The Sister, knowing from her experience that this might be the last wish of the patient, brought Sardool in a wheel Chair. Sardhool was overwhelmed and tears were pouring from his bandaged eyes. Hameed was quite composed, like most of the human beings who reach their final moments. “ Sardhool, I had an ambition to make a pilgrimage to Haj, in my life time. Now it is impossible. Though you will have my eyes, being a non Muslim you cannot make it either. But, try and visit Nagoor Dargha once, any time convenient to you”.
Years rolled by. Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. The anti Sikh sentiment led to many meaningless violence across the nation, reverberating even in the South as far as Coimbatore . The surgeons could save one of Sardhool's eyes, with the other getting partial vision. In December 1988, Sardhool decided to fulfil the ambition of his benefactor. He found out about the Nagoor Dargha, which is visited by the people of all faiths. He reached Chennai by train. Colonel Sarma, who was his Battery Commander in 1979, was in Chennai, with the IPKF. Learning from Sardhool, who was a Havildar by now, the purpose of his visit, he immediately arranged for his onward journey.
Sardhool returned from his trip looking emancipated. Sarma called him over for a dinner at his flat. After a couple of drinks, Sardhool opened up.
“Saheb, after the accident, I felt that I also should have died instead of living as a blind man. Suddenly the Sister in the Hospital told me about the offer made by Havildar Hameed, whom I befriended only during our short journey together. I could only hear his voice. I felt that it was not Hameed but one of our own Gurus speaking. His last wish was so simple and practical, considering the great sacrifice he was making. Till I today revere him as my 11th Guru. To me it was not a request. It was a command from our own Guru.
"But, it had taken me nearly 10 years to fulfil his request. I am really ashamed. The visit to Nagoor Dargha taught me many great lessons. In every religion, there are outstanding men, who live a normal, ordinary life, but full of pure thoughts. The man who is devoted to his own religion will never dare to insult other religions. In Nagoor I saw people from all faiths paying their homage, but none sacrificed his own faith. I went around the Dargha four or five times, as if showing Hameed through his own eyes, the place he revered so much".
Sarma was impressed by his narration. Simple but great truth coming from a Sikh Soldier. “Okay, Sardhool, what have you resolved after your visit to the Dargha? Every one who visits the Dargha, I am told, takes a vow”.
“Saheb, I have taken two vows. First, to follow the footsteps of Hameed in helping others”.
“That is commendable. What about the Second Vow?”
“Saheb, I will never trim my beard in future”.
Col TN Raman is a retired artillery officer. He is probably the Col Sarma who figures in this tale.
In Army career, we come across various incidents. Apart from the battle field, the emotions expressed by the characters involved are typically human and that also peculiar to our own soil. In this series, I want to bring out some such tales. They may look like fiction, but are true.
The year was 1979.
This is the story of Gunner Sardhool Singh form Punjab and Havildar Abdul Hameed from Chennai, Tamilnadu. Sardhool Singh was from Artillery and Abdul Hameed was from Army Service Corps. They met each other in tragic circumstances. They were travelling in a 3-ton vehicle, which was part of a convoy from Srinagar to Jammu. Both were proceeding on their annual leave. Short of Udhampur, their vehicle skidded in the snow and plunged into a deep ravine, 300 feet down. Most of the occupants of the vehicle died. But both the characters mentioned above survived and were evacuated to Miltary Hospital, Chandigarh, by helicopter.
Sardhool had both eyes damaged and escaped with slight bruises. But, Hameed was in a precarious state. At the Hospital he was placed in DI List, admitted in the ICU. By mid night, he came to his senses and asked the nursing sister attending him as to the fate of “the tall handsome Sardar Gunner”. She told him that he was out of danger but both his eyes were damaged. Out of curiosity she asked him as to how he knew him. Hameed said, “while travelling, that boy was quite anxious to get home fast, because he told me that he was married just six months back. He wanted to present his wife with the Pashmina shawl he bought in Leh.” After some thought, he requested the Sister to kindly let him know of his condition in the morning.
After two nights, Sister Anasuya Theresa, was on duty again in the ICU. Hameed’s condition had further deteriorated. He was in life support system. With great difficulty, he gestured her to remove his mask so that he could speak. The Sister placed her ear close to his mouth. Hameed told her that he wanted to donate his eyes to the ‘Handsome Sardar’ if that could help him getting his vision back. The sister immediately rushed to the Office Cub board and came back with a form. He signed it. Then he made one more request. He wanted to meet Sardhool immediately. The Sister, knowing from her experience that this might be the last wish of the patient, brought Sardool in a wheel Chair. Sardhool was overwhelmed and tears were pouring from his bandaged eyes. Hameed was quite composed, like most of the human beings who reach their final moments. “ Sardhool, I had an ambition to make a pilgrimage to Haj, in my life time. Now it is impossible. Though you will have my eyes, being a non Muslim you cannot make it either. But, try and visit Nagoor Dargha once, any time convenient to you”.
Years rolled by. Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. The anti Sikh sentiment led to many meaningless violence across the nation, reverberating even in the South as far as Coimbatore . The surgeons could save one of Sardhool's eyes, with the other getting partial vision. In December 1988, Sardhool decided to fulfil the ambition of his benefactor. He found out about the Nagoor Dargha, which is visited by the people of all faiths. He reached Chennai by train. Colonel Sarma, who was his Battery Commander in 1979, was in Chennai, with the IPKF. Learning from Sardhool, who was a Havildar by now, the purpose of his visit, he immediately arranged for his onward journey.
Sardhool returned from his trip looking emancipated. Sarma called him over for a dinner at his flat. After a couple of drinks, Sardhool opened up.
“Saheb, after the accident, I felt that I also should have died instead of living as a blind man. Suddenly the Sister in the Hospital told me about the offer made by Havildar Hameed, whom I befriended only during our short journey together. I could only hear his voice. I felt that it was not Hameed but one of our own Gurus speaking. His last wish was so simple and practical, considering the great sacrifice he was making. Till I today revere him as my 11th Guru. To me it was not a request. It was a command from our own Guru.
"But, it had taken me nearly 10 years to fulfil his request. I am really ashamed. The visit to Nagoor Dargha taught me many great lessons. In every religion, there are outstanding men, who live a normal, ordinary life, but full of pure thoughts. The man who is devoted to his own religion will never dare to insult other religions. In Nagoor I saw people from all faiths paying their homage, but none sacrificed his own faith. I went around the Dargha four or five times, as if showing Hameed through his own eyes, the place he revered so much".
Sarma was impressed by his narration. Simple but great truth coming from a Sikh Soldier. “Okay, Sardhool, what have you resolved after your visit to the Dargha? Every one who visits the Dargha, I am told, takes a vow”.
“Saheb, I have taken two vows. First, to follow the footsteps of Hameed in helping others”.
“That is commendable. What about the Second Vow?”
“Saheb, I will never trim my beard in future”.
Col TN Raman is a retired artillery officer. He is probably the Col Sarma who figures in this tale.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Looking back at the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
By R. Hariharan
It is 23 years since the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement was signed on July 29, 1987. The agreement is popularly referred to as the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord, after its architects — Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayewardene.
Unfortunately, the event is today remembered only for its unpleasant fallout after India unwittingly got entangled in a counter-insurgency war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from 1987 to 1990. After sacrificing the lives of over 1,200 of its soldiers, India felt cheated when President Ranasinghe Premadasa joined hands with the LTTE to send the Indian troops out of Sri Lanka before they had completed their job.
But India had an even worse experience after the troops were pulled out: in 1991, an LTTE suicide-bomber killed Rajiv Gandhi at the venue of a public meeting near Chennai. The killing, masterminded by LTTE chief V. Prabakaran, had more than a symbolic impact. It ended the popular support Tamil militants had enjoyed in Tamil Nadu. India scaled down its active involvement in Sri Lanka, and adopted a passive approach to the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. Prabakaran's strategic blunder ultimately cost him his life: Sri Lanka, helped by India, crushed the LTTE in the fourth round of the war in 2009.
The Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord was perhaps too ambitious in its scope as it sought to collectively address all the three contentious issues between India and Sri Lanka: strategic interests, people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka and Tamil minority rights in Sri Lanka. Its success depended on sustained political support from both the countries. So the Accord got sidelined when political leaders who were unhappy with the Accord came to power in both countries almost at the same time. As a result, the Tamil minorities, who had put their faith in it, were in limbo. These unsavoury developments have clouded the understanding of the positive aspects of the Accord. After all, it was the Accord that enabled Sri Lankan Tamils to gain recognition for some of their demands in Sri Lankan politics and in the Sri Lankan Constitution.
The Accord was unique as it marked a new beginning with respect to India's articulation of power, never exercised after India's war with Pakistan in 1971 that helped the birth of Bangladesh. India's Sri Lanka operation was more complex than the Bangladesh war on a few counts. The operation had to be carried out in an island-nation; this imposed severe strategic constraints. It was an unconventional war waged against a Tamil insurgent group with strong connections in Tamil Nadu. And, India's vague articulation of its military intervention in support of the Accord triggered an emotional backlash against it in both countries.
The focus of the Accord, signed in the waning years of the Cold War era, was undoubtedly strategic. It aimed to keep Americans from gaining a foothold in Sri Lanka. This was a departure from India's traditional policy that was fixated largely on two issues — the status of people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka, and the Tamil minority's quest for democratic rights. India's new-found articulation of military power in Sri Lanka, though halting and probably unintentional, sent a strong message to its neighbours and global powers. This was further reinforced in 1989 when India sent a military contingent in response to a request from the government of Maldives — another island neighbour — and crushed an attempted coup there.
India's military intervention also demonstrated the country's readiness to fulfil its commitments to its neighbours. Significantly, it delineated India's strategic zone of influence in the Indian Ocean region. Since then, India has expanded its real-time naval capability. This was seen during the December 2004 tsunami strike: an Indian naval ship was at the scene on the Sri Lankan coast within a matter of hours to bring succour to the affected people.
India's strategic strength in this part of Indian Ocean is now recognised by the major powers. Perhaps this influenced the U.S. decision to build its strategic security relationship with India. India's keenness to find a lasting solution to Sri Lanka's Tamil issue was again demonstrated during the international peace process in Sri Lanka in 2002. Though India was not actively involved in it, the sponsor-nations, notably the U.S. and Norway, regularly sought India's counsel during the implementation phase. It is a pity that India failed to use its influence to ensure the success of the peace process.
India's military foray into Sri Lanka also proved to be a unique learning experience for the Indian armed forces in conducting operations across the seas. It brought home the nitty-gritty of joint operations command for smooth overseas operations. Carrying out counter-insurgency operations that had political ramifications both at home and abroad highlighted the limitations of New Delhi's decision-making process. The absence of a structure at the top to coordinate political and security decision-making did affect India's campaign. These lessons have greater relevance for India now as global and South Asian regional strategic security architectures change rapidly.
India had consistently affirmed its support for a unified Sri Lanka and opposition to the creation of an independent Tamil Eelam. At the same time, India was sympathetic to the Tamil quest for equitable rights in Sri Lanka. Even the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord had its roots in India's effort to give form and substance to it. The strong sympathy of the people of Tamil Nadu for their brethren in Sri Lanka was an important factor in shaping India's policy on this issue. Sri Lanka had to reckon with this factor in its strategic calculus in its three military campaigns against the Tamil militant group.
However, India's benign Sri Lanka posture after its ill-fated military intervention and gory aftermath enabled Sri Lanka to build bridges with India. Wisely, India also did not allow the frictions of the intervening decades to come in the way and reciprocated Sri Lanka's efforts. Both countries have adopted a win-win strategy to build upon the positives of their relationship. These efforts culminated in the signing of India's first-ever free trade agreement with Sri Lanka in 2000. As a result, India-Sri Lanka relations now have a unique status in South Asia.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President in 2005; his campaign focus was on defeating the LTTE and crushing Tamil separatism. The advantages of close relations with India came in handy when he decided to clip the LTTE's wings after the peace process of 2002 failed to make progress even in three years. Though India was not a significant arms-supplier during Eelam War 2006, it had helped train the Sri Lankan armed forces and provided valuable intelligence inputs on the LTTE's intricate international logistic and support network. Sri Lanka managed to dismantle this apparatus and crippled the Tigers, paving the way for their defeat. More than all this, the governments in New Delhi and Chennai together managed the tricky fallout of the Eelam war in Tamil Nadu and saw to it that things did not get out of hand. This thwarted the efforts of the pro-LTTE parties and supporters in Tamil Nadu to create a pro-Tiger upsurge.
As a result, the LTTE could neither use Tamil Nadu as a logistic and support base nor influence India's political decisions during the war. India's own bitter experience with the LTTE probably shaped its public posture during Sri Lanka's war. At the same time, perhaps India realised that it would be untenable to allow the LTTE, which had grown into one of the world's strongest insurgent groups, to operate as a loose cannon in its strategic neighbourhood. This was perhaps one of the reasons for India's hands-off attitude as the Sri Lankan Army relentlessly pursued and ultimately crushed the LTTE.
Unfortunately, India was unable to significantly influence the Sri Lankan government in the aftermath of war. Even a year after the war ended, a political solution to meet the Tamil minority's demands has not been evolved. Normal life has not been restored to a sizeable population affected by the war in the Northern Province. They are yet to recover from the trauma of war as the pace of reconstruction is not consistent with their colossal needs.
It is people, not treaties, which make relations between nations meaningful. Unless India makes a difference in the lives of the people of both countries, its relations with Sri Lanka will not address the broader aspects of strategic security. This is the important takeaway as we look at the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord after over two decades.
Courtesy: The Hindu, July 29, 2010
It is 23 years since the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement was signed on July 29, 1987. The agreement is popularly referred to as the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord, after its architects — Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayewardene.
Unfortunately, the event is today remembered only for its unpleasant fallout after India unwittingly got entangled in a counter-insurgency war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from 1987 to 1990. After sacrificing the lives of over 1,200 of its soldiers, India felt cheated when President Ranasinghe Premadasa joined hands with the LTTE to send the Indian troops out of Sri Lanka before they had completed their job.
But India had an even worse experience after the troops were pulled out: in 1991, an LTTE suicide-bomber killed Rajiv Gandhi at the venue of a public meeting near Chennai. The killing, masterminded by LTTE chief V. Prabakaran, had more than a symbolic impact. It ended the popular support Tamil militants had enjoyed in Tamil Nadu. India scaled down its active involvement in Sri Lanka, and adopted a passive approach to the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. Prabakaran's strategic blunder ultimately cost him his life: Sri Lanka, helped by India, crushed the LTTE in the fourth round of the war in 2009.
The Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord was perhaps too ambitious in its scope as it sought to collectively address all the three contentious issues between India and Sri Lanka: strategic interests, people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka and Tamil minority rights in Sri Lanka. Its success depended on sustained political support from both the countries. So the Accord got sidelined when political leaders who were unhappy with the Accord came to power in both countries almost at the same time. As a result, the Tamil minorities, who had put their faith in it, were in limbo. These unsavoury developments have clouded the understanding of the positive aspects of the Accord. After all, it was the Accord that enabled Sri Lankan Tamils to gain recognition for some of their demands in Sri Lankan politics and in the Sri Lankan Constitution.
The Accord was unique as it marked a new beginning with respect to India's articulation of power, never exercised after India's war with Pakistan in 1971 that helped the birth of Bangladesh. India's Sri Lanka operation was more complex than the Bangladesh war on a few counts. The operation had to be carried out in an island-nation; this imposed severe strategic constraints. It was an unconventional war waged against a Tamil insurgent group with strong connections in Tamil Nadu. And, India's vague articulation of its military intervention in support of the Accord triggered an emotional backlash against it in both countries.
The focus of the Accord, signed in the waning years of the Cold War era, was undoubtedly strategic. It aimed to keep Americans from gaining a foothold in Sri Lanka. This was a departure from India's traditional policy that was fixated largely on two issues — the status of people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka, and the Tamil minority's quest for democratic rights. India's new-found articulation of military power in Sri Lanka, though halting and probably unintentional, sent a strong message to its neighbours and global powers. This was further reinforced in 1989 when India sent a military contingent in response to a request from the government of Maldives — another island neighbour — and crushed an attempted coup there.
India's military intervention also demonstrated the country's readiness to fulfil its commitments to its neighbours. Significantly, it delineated India's strategic zone of influence in the Indian Ocean region. Since then, India has expanded its real-time naval capability. This was seen during the December 2004 tsunami strike: an Indian naval ship was at the scene on the Sri Lankan coast within a matter of hours to bring succour to the affected people.
India's strategic strength in this part of Indian Ocean is now recognised by the major powers. Perhaps this influenced the U.S. decision to build its strategic security relationship with India. India's keenness to find a lasting solution to Sri Lanka's Tamil issue was again demonstrated during the international peace process in Sri Lanka in 2002. Though India was not actively involved in it, the sponsor-nations, notably the U.S. and Norway, regularly sought India's counsel during the implementation phase. It is a pity that India failed to use its influence to ensure the success of the peace process.
India's military foray into Sri Lanka also proved to be a unique learning experience for the Indian armed forces in conducting operations across the seas. It brought home the nitty-gritty of joint operations command for smooth overseas operations. Carrying out counter-insurgency operations that had political ramifications both at home and abroad highlighted the limitations of New Delhi's decision-making process. The absence of a structure at the top to coordinate political and security decision-making did affect India's campaign. These lessons have greater relevance for India now as global and South Asian regional strategic security architectures change rapidly.
India had consistently affirmed its support for a unified Sri Lanka and opposition to the creation of an independent Tamil Eelam. At the same time, India was sympathetic to the Tamil quest for equitable rights in Sri Lanka. Even the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord had its roots in India's effort to give form and substance to it. The strong sympathy of the people of Tamil Nadu for their brethren in Sri Lanka was an important factor in shaping India's policy on this issue. Sri Lanka had to reckon with this factor in its strategic calculus in its three military campaigns against the Tamil militant group.
However, India's benign Sri Lanka posture after its ill-fated military intervention and gory aftermath enabled Sri Lanka to build bridges with India. Wisely, India also did not allow the frictions of the intervening decades to come in the way and reciprocated Sri Lanka's efforts. Both countries have adopted a win-win strategy to build upon the positives of their relationship. These efforts culminated in the signing of India's first-ever free trade agreement with Sri Lanka in 2000. As a result, India-Sri Lanka relations now have a unique status in South Asia.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President in 2005; his campaign focus was on defeating the LTTE and crushing Tamil separatism. The advantages of close relations with India came in handy when he decided to clip the LTTE's wings after the peace process of 2002 failed to make progress even in three years. Though India was not a significant arms-supplier during Eelam War 2006, it had helped train the Sri Lankan armed forces and provided valuable intelligence inputs on the LTTE's intricate international logistic and support network. Sri Lanka managed to dismantle this apparatus and crippled the Tigers, paving the way for their defeat. More than all this, the governments in New Delhi and Chennai together managed the tricky fallout of the Eelam war in Tamil Nadu and saw to it that things did not get out of hand. This thwarted the efforts of the pro-LTTE parties and supporters in Tamil Nadu to create a pro-Tiger upsurge.
As a result, the LTTE could neither use Tamil Nadu as a logistic and support base nor influence India's political decisions during the war. India's own bitter experience with the LTTE probably shaped its public posture during Sri Lanka's war. At the same time, perhaps India realised that it would be untenable to allow the LTTE, which had grown into one of the world's strongest insurgent groups, to operate as a loose cannon in its strategic neighbourhood. This was perhaps one of the reasons for India's hands-off attitude as the Sri Lankan Army relentlessly pursued and ultimately crushed the LTTE.
Unfortunately, India was unable to significantly influence the Sri Lankan government in the aftermath of war. Even a year after the war ended, a political solution to meet the Tamil minority's demands has not been evolved. Normal life has not been restored to a sizeable population affected by the war in the Northern Province. They are yet to recover from the trauma of war as the pace of reconstruction is not consistent with their colossal needs.
It is people, not treaties, which make relations between nations meaningful. Unless India makes a difference in the lives of the people of both countries, its relations with Sri Lanka will not address the broader aspects of strategic security. This is the important takeaway as we look at the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord after over two decades.
Courtesy: The Hindu, July 29, 2010
Speaking from the heart
By Col R Hariharan
[A review of the book “Courage My Companion” by RV Rajan, published by Productivity & Quality Pubishing Pvte Ltd, Chennai-600017, 2009. Price: Rs 295]
Rural India continues to remain a conundrum for everyone – the administrator, businessman, and the social activists. Most of us brought up in urban environment with its self-centred lifestyles find it difficult to unravel rural India. Advertising to the rural audience becomes a difficult proposition. Veteran ad man RV Rajan created a niche for himself as a pioneer in this field. “Courage my companion” the book under review is a candid memoir of Rajan’s journey through life.* It is not merely the story of an advertiser but of a boy from lower middle class background in Bombay growing up on his own strengths to found his own premier ad agency “Anugrah.”
Writing memoir is a difficult art. Authors of memoirs generally suffer from two ailments. One: they become ‘I’ specialists flogging the use of first person singular ‘I’ to death. This makes very dull reading for others. The second is inability to look at ourselves objectively. Will Rogers described this characteristic beautifully; he said “When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do well, that's Memoirs..” However, Rajan’s book does not suffer form these common ailments.
The memoir follows the story teller’s mode, cruising chrono-logically rather than jumping from spectacular episode to episode. The advantage of the method is it is not all about advertising and how Rajan grew up to be a whiz kid in the ad world. He comes out as humble human being looking at himself with humour, particularly while talking of his early days. It contains his successes and failures, from his calf love to married life and family to early days in ad world, rise in Clarion and finally the growth of Anugrah into Anugrah-Madison.
His style of writing is direct and style is simple one-to-one narrative. This comes as a surprise because generally ad guys who use words as stock in trade. His simple honesty is so patent in his writing when he describes a few instances, like the problem with Clarion union or his marital problem when he failed to empower his wife. The tongue in cheek humour is interspersed throughout the book. His tribute to his ‘gurus’ for teaching the craft shows lack of ego when he writes about his successes.
There are very few books written by advertising practitioners in India. And that makes it Rajan’s memoir a welcome addition to this niche among business and management books.
I have only two observations on the book. One is the title “Courage my companion,” personally I would have preferred “Speaking from heart” as it reflects Rajan’s approach to memoir writing. Second is about part II – My parallel life. Undoubtedly Rajan is a man of many talents and he brought them to bear upon on many other social activities not connected with his profession. Part II is all about this aspect - life other than as an ad man. It is about his participation in the Round Table and Rotary Inter-national movements as well as in national and international ad forums. The activities are so varied and with a little tighter editing they would have knitted better.
Notwithstanding the above, the book is good value for money. After both Bill and Hillary Clinton published their memoirs American stand up comedian Jay Leno said: “Is’t this amazing? Clinton is getting $8M for his memoir. Hillary got $8M for her memoir. That is $16M for two people who for eight years couldn’t remember anything.” You cannot fault Rajan on this count. At Rs 295 in his book you get everything from life in Matunga in the 60s to his great faith in God to see him through business problems at 63.
[A review of the book “Courage My Companion” by RV Rajan, published by Productivity & Quality Pubishing Pvte Ltd, Chennai-600017, 2009. Price: Rs 295]
Rural India continues to remain a conundrum for everyone – the administrator, businessman, and the social activists. Most of us brought up in urban environment with its self-centred lifestyles find it difficult to unravel rural India. Advertising to the rural audience becomes a difficult proposition. Veteran ad man RV Rajan created a niche for himself as a pioneer in this field. “Courage my companion” the book under review is a candid memoir of Rajan’s journey through life.* It is not merely the story of an advertiser but of a boy from lower middle class background in Bombay growing up on his own strengths to found his own premier ad agency “Anugrah.”
Writing memoir is a difficult art. Authors of memoirs generally suffer from two ailments. One: they become ‘I’ specialists flogging the use of first person singular ‘I’ to death. This makes very dull reading for others. The second is inability to look at ourselves objectively. Will Rogers described this characteristic beautifully; he said “When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do well, that's Memoirs..” However, Rajan’s book does not suffer form these common ailments.
The memoir follows the story teller’s mode, cruising chrono-logically rather than jumping from spectacular episode to episode. The advantage of the method is it is not all about advertising and how Rajan grew up to be a whiz kid in the ad world. He comes out as humble human being looking at himself with humour, particularly while talking of his early days. It contains his successes and failures, from his calf love to married life and family to early days in ad world, rise in Clarion and finally the growth of Anugrah into Anugrah-Madison.
His style of writing is direct and style is simple one-to-one narrative. This comes as a surprise because generally ad guys who use words as stock in trade. His simple honesty is so patent in his writing when he describes a few instances, like the problem with Clarion union or his marital problem when he failed to empower his wife. The tongue in cheek humour is interspersed throughout the book. His tribute to his ‘gurus’ for teaching the craft shows lack of ego when he writes about his successes.
There are very few books written by advertising practitioners in India. And that makes it Rajan’s memoir a welcome addition to this niche among business and management books.
I have only two observations on the book. One is the title “Courage my companion,” personally I would have preferred “Speaking from heart” as it reflects Rajan’s approach to memoir writing. Second is about part II – My parallel life. Undoubtedly Rajan is a man of many talents and he brought them to bear upon on many other social activities not connected with his profession. Part II is all about this aspect - life other than as an ad man. It is about his participation in the Round Table and Rotary Inter-national movements as well as in national and international ad forums. The activities are so varied and with a little tighter editing they would have knitted better.
Notwithstanding the above, the book is good value for money. After both Bill and Hillary Clinton published their memoirs American stand up comedian Jay Leno said: “Is’t this amazing? Clinton is getting $8M for his memoir. Hillary got $8M for her memoir. That is $16M for two people who for eight years couldn’t remember anything.” You cannot fault Rajan on this count. At Rs 295 in his book you get everything from life in Matunga in the 60s to his great faith in God to see him through business problems at 63.
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