All this would have been worth learning about if TN parties starting with the AIADMK had not boycotted the trip to the island. Considering they whip up emotions about Tamils in Sri Lanka at election time and to score political points, the least they could have done is to be open to the visit. But apparently, their heart only bleeds for Sri Lankan Tamils while sitting here and issuing thunderous statements not if they have to experience on the ground interactions.
That is why CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said that instead of keeping away from the delegation, the DMK, an ally of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, and the AIADMK should have been part of it. “Representatives of the CPI and the Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi too should have been included in the team,” he said.
Weeks after getting the centre to change its foreign policy vis-à-vis Sri Lanka (India voted against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council on March 23 at Geneva), on the grounds that a genocide of Tamils was committed, parties in TN have played politics on the issue once again. First Jayalalitha withdrew her MP from the all-party delegation led by Sushma Swaraj (that visited SL between April 16- 21) calling it a “farce” and that she did not wish to be a party to a “feast” with SL top brass when the itinerary did not mention an interaction with Tamils. She has not said a word even if reports have emerged that the delegation did meet Tamils.
Vaiko, although his party was not part of the delegation, called it a farce too. PMK’s Ramadoss, no friend of Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi on many issues, supported the CM. Again he has no MP to send but he, like Vaiko, makes a noise about SL Tamils all the time.
Karunanidhi, who is at odds with the CM on every other issue, agreed with her on this and withdrew his MP too. Actually he had no choice in the competitive politics played by parties on the Tamil issue. He chose to put it this way while withdrawing T. K. S. Elangovan from the delegation. “There are examples in the past that tell us that such delegations would not serve any useful purpose.” So, was he rubbishing the outcome of the MP visit that he swung after LTTE chief Prabhakaran was killed in May 2009 by Sri Lankan defence forces?
Mostly DMK MPs including Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi were sent to SL by him then. Jayalalitha, then opposition leader, had accused Karunanidhi of letting his MPs “be wined, dined and to accept gifts” from the SL government instead of bringing succour to the Tamils. Have they taken the easy way out now and Tamils are forgotten in this debate?
And they don’t count, really!
Finally Five
Finally only five MPs from TN went (4 Congress and 1 CPM). Congress MPs E. M. Sudarshana Natchiappan, Manicka Tagore, M. Krishnaswamy and N. S. V. Chithan came back and said they had urged Rajapakse to resettle the displaced Tamils and expedite the implementation of the 13th amendment and recommendations of the LLRC (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission) report. But on the war crimes that agitates the other political parties here, there was not a word. With the Congress at the centre supporting SL as a policy, their hands were tied, of course.
When asked about DMK and AIADMK boycotting the trip, Natchiappan said, “They have certain aims and goals. In a democracy, we cannot expect everybody to be uniform. They have their goals and we have ours.”
While there is the argument that India sent the delegation only to mollify SL after voting against it, TN MPs let go an opportunity to focus on Tamils in SL just to score political points. The fact that DMK joined AIADMK in pulling out means they were trying to appease pro-Tamils here.
Junket Justice
Unless there’s politics involved, most MPs would not pass up a junket. And in that spirit hear it from state president of the Indian Union Muslim League K.M. Kader Mohideen. He was upset that no Muslim MP was part of the delegation. According to him, only a Muslim MP could have done “justice” to Tamil Muslims in Sri Lanka who are about 45,000.
Amma Intervenes