National

The Politics Of Dislocation

The fresh influx of Lankan refugees could be a diplomatic minefield for the Indian Government

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The Politics Of Dislocation
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"You want events, numbers, case histories?  Not now please, because my mind is strangled I know it's strange, but, that is what I feel  That is what we live  Pain, agony and fear—always fear  I ask you, could you write straight  When people die in lots?  When you find them dead like flies..."

THIS poem written by Rajani Thiranagama, the founder of the University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna, who was assassinated in 1989—succinctly summarises the fresh influx of refugees into Tamil Nadu from war-torn Sri Lanka. While the present flow of 1,000 refugees is almost a trickle compared to the three lakh deluge of the '80s, it has other ramifications that could alter the politics of Tamil Nadu.

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After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, there was virtually no influx of refugees into India. The increased hostilities across the border were seen largely as 'an internal problem' and the Government of India decided to follow a hands-off approach towards the ethnic crisis in the island. Subsequently, the capture of Jaffna peninsula by the Sri Lankan forces in December 1995 and the fairly recent attempt to 'clear' the Killinochi region did not, surprisingly, result in a mass exodus. Even now the people who are crossing the Palk Strait and seeking refuge in India are not from Jaffna or Mullaitivu or Killinochi or Trincomallee district.

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The 1,000-odd refugees are from the Mannar district right across the strait. The escalation of war in the region and the alleged wilful denial of food by the Sri Lankan Government is forcing them to cross the sea braving the Sri Lankan army, navy, the LTTE, the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy.

This movement from across the strait could set off a chain reaction. Firstly, the opposition parties can raise the bogey of LTTE penetration into the Indian mainland. Secondly, it will force the Union Government to do the impossible—publicly take a stand on the ethnic issue. If the Government of India supports the war, the DMK as a constituent member of the United Front Government will be branded as "a traitor of Tamil interests". If the Government condemns the war, the disgruntled Congress leadership could invoke the ghost of Rajiv Gandhi and destabilise the Government. Hence, the best option before the United Front regime would be to pretend as if nothing is happening in Sri Lanka.

Thirdly, the Indian fishermen issue could take new twists and turns. Already, for the past three weeks, the fishermen have not gone out to the sea in protest against the Government's decision to seize three boats that were used to ferry the refugees from Sri Lanka.

And in the ensuing storm of accusations and counter-accusations, the plight of the refugees and their tales of unending woe get totally buried deep under. Most of the present refugees are from the Pessalai Forest Hospital refugee camp in the army-controlled Mannar district of the Northern

Province of Sri Lanka. These people returned to Sri Lanka following Chandrika Kumaratunga's election victory in 1994. But they couldn't reach their homes which were under the occupation of the army and had to stay at the refugee camp at Pessalai. When the insensitive Sri Lankan army and the intransigent LTTE brought the war to their doorsteps, they had no choice but to flee.

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The ever greedy Indian fishermen fleece Rs 1,000 to transport an adult and Rs 500 for a child. The money they make in this process is nearly 300 times what they could make through fishing. The first batch of 20 refugees reached Indian shores on July 31 and the inflow has been steadily rising and by August 18 as many as 435 refugees crossed the strait, provoking the state government to reach for the panic button.

The Sri Lankan Government blames the LTTE for the exodus. "Tigers want to internationalise the domestic issue once again. Only a mass exodus will turn the gaze of the international community towards our efforts in curbing terrorism," says a Colombo-based Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

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But the refugees blame the Kumaratunga government squarely for their present plight. Says Christoraj, a fisherman from Vangalai in Mannar district: "After every attack by the Tigers, we are beaten black and blue. Our boys are taken for interrogation on a regular basis and they simply vanish."

According to A. Ismail, who has fled to India with his widowed mother, the Tamil community is sinking in the mire of terror and violence. "Exile is my protest against the violence," he declares softly. The common refrain of the refugees is: every 'sane' person is fleeing that burning country. Its hospitals have no doctors; its universities no teachers; its crumbled, war-torn buildings cannot be rebuilt because there are no engineers or masons or even a labour force; its families are headed by women; the old, the sick and the weary die without a family to mourn or sons to bury the dead.

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Tamil Nadu then becomes their natural place of refuge as it is only an hour's sail from their coast. Says Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi: "It is not that we are inviting them over here, but when they come here, seeking refuge, we can't turn them back. It is our duty to take care of them." But the Government is terribly cut up with local fishermen for exploiting this goodwill and forcing a mass exodus to the Indian mainland. Hence, the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department has issued a circular to seize boats used for bringing in refugees.

The fishermen in turn blame the Tigers. Says M. Devadas, secretary, Rameswaram Motorised Boat Owners' Association: "The LTTE men force us to ferry these refugees at gun point. The district administration seizes our boats if we bring the refugees. We seem to be trapped between the devil and the deep sea, literally." 

But not a single refugee corroborates this theory. Says P. Balakrishanan, a refugee who reached India on August 25: "Indian fishermen know that more than 10,000 people are waiting all over the Mannar district to seek shelter in Tamil Nadu. Nearly 2,500 people in Pessalai camp are willing to sell everything they have and come to India just to be alive. At a rate of Rs 1,000 per head, imagine how much money they can make in ferrying us?" 

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The state intelligence authorities are also convinced that the Indian fishermen are lying through their teeth. "The Sea Tigers are in the east and in the north; the western boundary is under the control of the , Lankan navy. Our fisher men enter the international waters, evade the Lankan navy and bring their 'human cargo'Seizure of refugee boats is the only legitimate strategy we can adopt to curb the influx," says a senior naval officer.

Despite the inhospitable situation, what forces the Sri Lankan Tamils to seek refuge in India? Apart from the geographical proximity and the linguistic affinity, this politics of migration and dislocation follows but the age old cycle of life and death: 

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"It is not death that is important But the manner of dying Like a child's first poem Wiped by a careless eraser." 

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