Sri Lankan tourists sent back home

[Skyline]

Either you are lying or you are misinformed.

Rajapaksa does a U-turn on 13th Amendment - The Hindu

do you know about my country and its systems better than me huh?

 

[Sashan]

That was primarily because the GoI was more concerned with the elimination of the LTTE. Support for the SAL Tamils before the war ended would have ended up as support for the LTTE & India was interested as much as the SL government in eliminating them. I have to say that I agreed then & I still do with GoI's position of that time.

We don't have any stick, of war-crimes or any other. There is simply no way the GoI will touch that position because of any possible blow-back. The GoSL knows that any such threat is a hollow one & will react accordingly. We need to stick to the doable which involves less threats & shouting & more behind the scenes pressure.

And for the same reason i.e fear of blow-back , I would say India should wound up their dreams of a regional power - In the same token I would suggest India should let go of Akshai Chin(which I believe is what China wanted and still wants) and cut down military expenditure. Why does it need a hawkish policy on one front (Akshai Chin was not India's for ages) and follow a dovish policy on other front(I am talking historically including the ceding of Katchatheevu to SL)

 

[KS]

That was primarily because the GoI was more concerned with the elimination of the LTTE. Support for the SAL Tamils before the war ended would have ended up as support for the LTTE & India was interested as much as the SL government in eliminating them. I have to say that I agreed then & I still do with GoI's position of that time.

So for the elimination of Indian Mujaheddin shall we start sending the Muslims perse to gas chambers ? This amounts to the same thing.

And the thing was most of the brutalities occured in the aftermath of the war. After the LTTE had been vanquished. I, for one, dont care about the defeat of LTTE as long as the aspirations of the Tamils are met in a fair and dignified manner within the Lankan constitution itself. Like a political autonomy and stopping the forced cultural homogenization that is going on there.

The Congress party had a personal vendetta against the Tamils and they chose to settle their scores in this way. This is not in any way new to Congress. In 1984 it was Sikhs for Indira, in 2008-2009 it was the Tamils for rajiv.

We don't have any stick, of war-crimes or any other. There is simply no way the GoI will touch that position because of any possible blow-back. The GoSL knows that any such threat is a hollow one & will react accordingly. We need to stick to the doable which involves less threats & shouting & more behind the scenes pressure.

Behind the scenes pressure. There is no such thing on the Lankans by the GoI. And as much as I would like the GoI to do something, they will not do. Not because of any morals or higher notions, but simply they too were involved in that.

This is for this reason, I hope atleast the West takes a stand, for whatever it is worth.

 

[Rocky25]

do you know about my country and its systems better than me huh?

Ha ha ha... If you living in a country doesn't mean that you know everything..

 

[KS]

And for the same reason i.e fear of blow-back , I would say India should wound up their dreams of a regional power - In the same token I would suggest India should let go of Akshai Chin(which I believe is what China wanted and still wants) and cut down military expenditure. Why does it need a hawkish policy on one front (Akshai Chin was not India's for ages) and follow a dovish policy on other front(I am talking historically including the ceding of Katchatheevu to SL)

Precisely.

India, atleast under the present dispensation, - simply put - does not have the heart of a big power or they do and are wilfully ignoring the plight of the Tamils in their own backyard against the wishes of a segment of its own population.

 

[Skyline]

Ha ha ha... If you living in a country doesn't mean that you know everything..

Than a totally foreigner/outsider I know our system well.

 

[KS]

do you know about my country and its systems better than me huh?

Same story every guy in online forum uses when called out about something in his country he does not know.

 

[Bang Galore]

So for the elimination of Indian Mujaheddin shall we start sending the Muslims perse to gas chambers ? This amounts to the same thing.

It is not India doing that. SL Tamils are not Indian citizens. While we can be concerned, there are limitations to what we can do as is seen now.

The Congress party had a personal vendetta against the Tamils and they chose to settle their scores in this way. This is not in any way new to Congress. In 1984 it was Sikhs for Indira, in 2008-2009 it was the Tamils for rajiv.

I disagree, you are not being rational here.

Behind the scenes pressure. There is no such thing on the Lankans by the GoI. And as much as I would like the GoI to do something, they will not do. Not because of any morals or higher notions, but simply they too were involved in that.

It is still the only option left.

This is for this reason, I hope atleast the West takes a stand, for whatever it is worth.

Will never amount to anything. The Americans & the Europeans can say anything, SL is not their neighbour. In any case, if given an opportunity, the west will have no compunctions with tarring India with the same brush in other matters.

And for the same reason i.e fear of blow-back , I would say India should wound up their dreams of a regional power - In the same token I would suggest India should let go of Akshai Chin(which I believe is what China wanted and still wants) and cut down military expenditure. Why does it need a hawkish policy on one front (Akshai Chin was not India's for ages) and follow a dovish policy on other front(I am talking historically including the ceding of Katchatheevu to SL)

Blow-back in terms of people living in glass houses..... Don't do something today that may be used against you later. Precedence counts. Do not confuse national interests with the SL Tamil issue. Indian national interests are not at stake there (regardless of what some people feel)

 

[Sashan]

Precisely.

India, atleast under the present dispensation, - simply put - does not have the heart of a big power or they do and are wilfully ignoring the plight of the Tamils in their own backyard against the wishes of a segment of its own population.

But I do not think GOI has any other way other than accomodating TN tamils' wishes - Here is why - when Rajiv died, the SL tamil movement lost its support with many within TN. With the elimination of LTTE and the war crimes in the later stages of SL, whatever the dormant feelings has woken up in TN. And added to that, the coalition politics at the center where different states want a piece of the pie, GOI can't ignore TN leaders and TN leaders can't ignore the popular sentiment in TN anymore(like how Karunanidhi used to get away with few sympathetic words for SL tamils while focusing on his family's welfare)

 

[Sashan]

Blow-back in terms of people living in glass houses..... Don't do something today that may be used against you later. Precedence counts. Do not confuse national interests with the SL Tamil issue. Indian national interests are not at stake there (regardless of what some people feel)

What defines Indian national interests? If 60 million people's sentiments are not part of the Indian national interests, so be it as it is the day of the coalition politics and GOI will be left with no choice - see my response to KS above.

And Bangalore - what has Kashmir issue got to do with TN? But don't we see it as something of Natonal interest and echo the sentiments of the rest of the Indians? Why aren't the rest of the Indians seeing the SL tamil issue as not related to India when a part of its population has always had ties for ages - we grow up reading popular historical novels in tamil which talks about SL and TN - very few novels talk about North India - so for us culturally SL is closer than the North India and you want to cut off those ties just because an artificial boundary was drawn in 1947??

 

[Bang Galore]

What defines Indian national interests? If 60 million people's sentiments are not part of the Indian national interests, so be it as it is the day of the coalition politics and GOI will be left with no choice - see my response to KS above.

It is not in our national interest to get involved in SL. It may still be something that we need to do to assuage the feelings of people in TN. Do not confuse the two. What national interest is served according to you, sentiments alone do not qualify. Anymore than Kannadiga sentiments being hurt by releasing water to TN or having TN politicians try & protect from hanging Veerappan's associates who killed Karnataka police officers. National interests cannot be defined with as narrow a perimeter as you seek to do.

 

[Yogi]

Expect worse when Modi/BJP come into office.

A Modi/BJP victory will take Indian diplomacy back 50 years.

IDK what ur talking about, last i remember it was BJP who tried its best to amend our relations with PAK during Mushy's era n again it was BJP who set the foundation for Indo-Israeli friendship whose fruits we r enjoying now...

 

[junaid1]

Expect worse when Modi/BJP come into office.

A Modi/BJP victory will take Indian diplomacy back 50 years.

i read some where that modi's got %43 of support .Alarming situation ,that shows how much popular extremist personalities are in india .

 

[Sashan]

It is not in our national interest to get involved in SL. It may still be something that we need to do to assuage the feelings of people in TN. Do not confuse the two. What national interest is served according to you, sentiments alone do not qualify. Anymore than Kannadiga sentiments being hurt by releasing water to TN or having TN politicians try & protect from hanging Veerappan's associates who killed Karnataka police officers. National interests cannot be defined with as narrow a perimeter as you seek to do.

We may agree to disagree. You feel that not getting involved in SL is not in India's national interest - what I see is different stance in different regions - in Kashmir and Akshai Chin it is Hawkish policy but elsewhere it is dovish. Having stated that, getting involved in SL is what India has been doing for ages - if GOI has not got involved since 1947 then I see a reason. Conveniently getting involved and staying away ignoring the TN tamils' interests is what is India's game, so be it - I am not going to be overtly worried as these are the days when different states get their own piece of pie.

 

[KS]

It is not India doing that. SL Tamils are not Indian citizens. While we can be concerned, there are limitations to what we can do as is seen now.

It is not in our national interest to get involved in SL. .

So if what happens in Lanka is not our concern, then why actively help the Lankan Army in hounding out its own citizens ? Why supply arms, ammo, helis, radars etc to them ? Why task the Indian Navy from busting the arms routes of the Tigers which were only used in Lanka and which is of no concern to us ? If we were not involved why shield Lanka from each and every international commission that was formed in the aftermath to investigate the war crimes ? Why did Lanka even promise to implement the 13 th Amendment in the first place if that was none of our concern.

Sorry, "they are not our citizens" line sounds so hollow and cliched when the actions on ground are taken into account.We were neck deep involved in the **** that was going in our neighborhood and as the pre-eminent power in the area it our responsibility and as an issue that directly affects the sentiments of 72 million of its own citizens it was the duty of the GoI to step in.

I disagree, you are not being rational here.

That is it bro. That is the bottom line of this whole issue. The Congress govt had a score to settle with the Tigers and instead of just singling them out, they settled scores with the innocent Tamils there. And that is the reason why GoI is even now refusing to go ahead on this issue even though it has all reasons to go forward.

Will never amount to anything. The Americans & the Europeans can say anything, SL is not their neighbour. In any case, if given an opportunity, the west will have no compunctions with tarring India with the same brush in other matters.

We'll see when it comes to that. If you think India has the same stature of Lanka in international affairs then this "lack-of-heart" and "lack-of-confidence" is what I am lamenting about.

Blow-back in terms of people living in glass houses..... Don't do something today that may be used against you later. Precedence counts. Do not confuse national interests with the SL Tamil issue. Indian national interests are not at stake there (regardless of what some people feel)

There is no glass house or precedence here except in our own mind where we still fear the Westerners due to a colonialist mentality. Big powers use hypocrisy every time according to their whims and fancies.

----

Oh, it is, regarding the national interests. Cant you see the naked encircling of India by China from BD to Lanka to Maldives to Gwadar ?. Lanka is in bed with Chinese in a full blown way. It is just that we constantly refuse to see that to defend the assumed positions and not give into the demands of these "Tamils". That is what it is.