Sri Lanka Perspectives - February 2013

Col R Hariharan

Highlights

Rajapaksa’s no to devolution: President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his Independence Day speech on February 5 made it clear that it would not be practical for Sri Lanka to have different administration based on ethnicity, going back on his promise to implement 13^th amendment in full to devolve powers to Tamil minority. This provoked yet another wave of protest when Rajapaksa made a two-day “pilgrimage” trip to Gaya and Tirupathi in India.

Human rights abuses and war crimes: There is a lot of interest in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session started in Geneva in the last week of the month as Sri Lanka figures on top of its agenda. It was preceded by unprecedented orchestration of protests by Tamil Diaspora organistions, Channel 4 videos and INGOs on Sri Lanka’s alleged gross human rights violations and war crimes. As before India has come under increasing pressure from Tamil Nadu politicians to vote for the U.S. draft that seeks follow up action from Sri Lanka on its March 2012 resolution at UNHRC.

Sri Lanka: Comments on India and the resolution in UNHRC

Col R Hariharan

[This summary contains comments made by Col Hariharan to different print and TV media from 5 to 7 March 2013 on specific issues raised by them on India’s response to the U.S. draft resolution on Sri Lanka’s accountability now under consideration at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva.]

Information update

The Congress-led coalition came under intense pressure in parliament to back the U.S. sponsored resolution at the UNHRC, when almost all parties condemned the alleged atrocities against Sri Lanka Tamils and wanted the government to act. Though the External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid did not make a commitment, he informed that the government would keep the concerns of the MPs in mind while taking a call on voting on the resolution when it comes up on March 21, 2013.

Sri Lanka: U.S. ‘Procedural’ resolution at UNHRC

By R. Hariharan

A U.S. draft resolution on Sri Lanka’s accountability for alleged war crimes being brought before the 24^th meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) now in circulation (received from an Indian TV news channel) is at Annexure. While it is not an official version, in this article I have analysed its contents in the belief it is probably the real one.

There is a feeling of déjà vu about the US draft. So far the reaction of the important players both for the U.S. move to bring a “procedural” resolution as a follow up to the UNHRC in March 2012 is almost the same as before. However, the protests were less shrill in Colombo (or is it too early for protests?) perhaps due to the realisation of the inevitability of karma catching up with inaction; or as we say in army “if it is inevitable better to grin and bear it.”

Quick take: Hyderabad blasts

Col R Hariharan

[This background paper was used for a TV discussion by Col Hariharan on February 22, 2013. It was based on open source information]

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Two improvised explosive devices (IED) kept in tiffin boxes strapped to bicycles had exploded minutes apart, in Dilsukh Nagar, a congested Hyderabad suburb, around 7 pm on February 22. So far 17 people are reported to have died. Over 100 people were injured – some of them seriously – in the explosions. The area, which was also the scene of an earlier terrorist strike, has two cinema theatres. The explosions occurred 200 yards from a popular Sai Baba temple which is located in the area where devotees throng on Thursdays.

Scams and system paralysis

Col R Hariharan

The latest scandal in the purchase of a dozen August Westland helicopters, dubbed by TV talk show honchos as Bofors-2 the vexing question why there are so many scams in our defence purchases? The biggest reason is globally there is a lot of money in it. According to a 2009 estimate, the world spent annually $1.6 trillion - 2.6 percent of world GDP – on things military including arms, equipment and services. A third of this amount was probably spent on buying arms and munitions. And India is the biggest buyer of them all; according to SIPRI statistics for the years 2007-11, India with a ten percent share tops world’s top 20 importers. But that is no consolation to the tax payer who is expected to pay 40 percent of this year’s budgeted Rs 193,000 crores defence expenditure on imports.

Media bytes: India and Sri Lanka war crimes issue

Col R Hariharan

[This is a summary of the comments made by Col Hariharan in TV discussions and to print media on February 20 to 22, 2013.]

On photographs showing Prabhakaran’s son’s death

On the eve of the release of a full length film on Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes, the British daily the Independent carried an article along with two photographs showing Prabhakaran’s son eating a snack before his Sri Lankan captors allegedly shot him dead in cold blood. This serious allegation pertaining to a war India supported. It is about a brutal and heinous act by a state with very friendly to India. So apart from humanitarian concerns, India in its own interest, needs to get the allegations investigated impartially. If proved true it will undoubtedly be considered a war crime committed by Sri Lanka.

Terrorist threat to India after Afzal Guru’s hanging

Col R Hariharan

[This is an updated summary of comments made by Col Hariharan on some of the questions raised in a TV discussion on February 11, 2013.]

Question: After the hanging of Afzal Guru, curfew has been imposed in Jammu and Kashmir and the situation is volatile. Will there be retaliatory strikes from the terrorist groups in J and K?

In J and K, the main terrorist threat is from Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) and its clone Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) and the Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) who have camps on the Pakistani side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These two powerful non Kashmiri terror groups had a hand in the parliamentary attack carried out on Indian parliament in December 2001.