The Hindu Business Line : Trouble in the neighbourhood

Sandwiched between conflict zones in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, India has to achieve the right balance in neighbourly priorities — deciding how far to go in dealing with the Tamil Tigers while leaving Pakistan strictly alone to tackle its problems. RASHEEDA BHAGAT on the turmoil in the sub-continent. We don't need to play the Good Samaritan supporting the "aspirations" of the Balochis.

It is a piquant situation for India in the neighbourhood. Pakistan wants us to mind our own business and not "meddle" in its internal affairs vis-à-vis its Army's operation in Balochistan, in which the Baloch rebel leader Nawab Akbar Bagti, his two grandsons, and several others were killed.

An increasingly desperate Sri Lankan Government, on the other hand, wants India to play a much bigger role in solving its long-raging ethnic conflict. In recent weeks, as the military engagement between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers spread and intensified, the Sri Lankan President, Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, admitted that much more than any European negotiator or peace-broker, India can play a definitive role in solving the problem with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

While the Norwegians have for long tried to broker peace in the island-nation, the SLMM (Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission), which managed to get a ceasefire agreement (CFA) in place between the government and the Tamil Tigers in 2001, is now faltering with the CFA shot to pieces and all the players in the conflict, including civil society spokespersons, acknowledging that the agreement was just on paper, with both the sides flouting its provisions.

A political analyst in Colombo recently told this correspondent: "The other day, BBC reported how in the old days in Europe, countries would be fighting one another, only they wouldn't tell anybody they were fighting a war! We are in a similar state in Sri Lanka. There is a war going on, only both sides haven't told anybody in so many words that they are engaging in one."

This sarcasm barely hid his anguish and anger at what was happening to his country.

Belonging to an illustrious political family, the well-qualified young man was engaged in research on conflict resolution and shook his head vigorously when asked if he had considered settling for a job in a western country.

"All around me a lot of young educated people are leaving Sri Lanka and opting to work abroad. But this is my country; and it's such a beautiful country. If only we can get our act together and solve this problem, this is paradise on earth."

"Mess created by politicians"

Asked if, given his political lineage, he had considered joining politics, his anguish and anger turned to contempt as he said: "It is our disastrous political policies and short-sighted politicians who have made such a mess. I'd like to keep far away from politics."

The "mess" that he referred to is on the verge of getting bigger, with the Tigers obviously having used the few years of peace to rearm and reorganise themselves for a bitter military conflict ahead. From the LTTE's point of view, the four-year lull hardly gave it any political or economic mileage.

As the Ranil Wickremesinghe government kept it engaged in negotiations under the umbrella of the Norwegian peace initiative, the Tigers felt that, at the end of the day, they had got few concessions.

Even the rebellion of `Colonel' Karuna was seen by them as the machinations of the Sri Lankan armed forces, with fingers also being pointed at India. And throughout the "peace" years, each side accused the other of violating the CFA.

Concern in Tamil Nadu

As the military conflict rages in the north and east of Sri Lanka, and harrowing tales emerge of Tamils fleeing the conflict zone, often risking their lives — as when a boat capsized killing some people who were trying to cross over into India — emotions are once again running high in Tamil Nadu.

Each of the allies in the Democratic Progressive Alliance led by the DMK, except the Congress(I), is trying to outdo the other in urging the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to stop helping the Sri Lankan government in any way.

Outdoing everybody else is the MDMK chief, Mr Vaiko, who has come out openly in favour of the Eelam and even warned the Centre that if it did not stop "helping" in different ways the Sri Lankan government that was "massacring" innocent Tamils in the island-nation, Tamil Nadu could turn into another Kashmir.

Ironically, the AIADMK chief, Ms Jayalalithaa, who had put Mr Vaiko behind bars under POTA for saying much less, is his ally now. And so eager are all the State's political parties to espouse the cause of the Tamils, that even when the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress party lodged a strong protest and urged the Chief Minister, Dr M. Karunanidhi, to take action against Mr Vaiko for hailing the LTTE chief, Mr V. Prabhakaran, all that its MLAs got from Dr Karunanidhi was a homily on how all the political parties in Tamil Nadu should remain united so as not to "dilute" their objective of urging the Centre to do all it could for the safety and well-being of the Tamils.

The Foreign Secretary, Mr Shyam Saran, has, of course, put an end to any call for a separate Eelam from within India by saying unequivocally on Monday, while addressing diplomatic correspondents in New Delhi, that India believed that war was not a solution, it was for a peaceful resolution of the Sri Lankan conflict within the framework of its Constitution, and was against a separate Eelam.

In the midst of this cacophony of sounds emerging from Tamil Nadu, Mr Rajapakse has turned the problem on its head by asking the political leaders in Tamil Nadu not to aid any "terrorist activity" on Sri Lankan soil, and prevent arms being smuggled into the island-nation via Indian waters.

In an interview to India Today, he said: "We make a special appeal to India's Tamil leaders to take the initiative in helping even the misguided though small section of our Tamil population to unite behind peaceful solutions to their problems." In the same interview he reiterated that, "India is the main country that can bring about peace. (It) is our first option — not only in Defence, but in everything. Only then we go elsewhere."

Pakistan sees red

Against Sri Lanka's plea for help, an angry Pakistan has found New Delhi's comment that the Baloch rebel leader should not have been killed and it was time the Pakistan administration tried to address the aspirations of the Balochi people as an interference in its internal affairs.

In a surprising, ill-advised, and above all an unwarranted move, India has advocated negotiation rather than military action against Balochi rebels, inviting an expectedly sharp response from the Pakistan Foreign office. Slamming India for its "ill-advised concern" Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson, Mr Tasnim Aslam, has advised India to "focus on putting its own house in order" and follow its own advice in the insurgency-ridden areas of India.

The sharpness of the response is understandable given the problem the Pakistani government has been facing in both Balochistan and the North-West Frontier, where the Taliban is not only active but has a lot of sympathisers, making a mockery of Pakistan's claim that it is an important ally of the US in the pompously termed "war against terror".

Of course, Pakistan has any number of times read us homilies on human rights violations in Kashmir, how the security forces were oppressing people there, etc. But rather than indulge in tit-for-tat, an irked New Delhi would perhaps be better advised to simply ignore the goings on in Pakistan.

Putting the Indo-Pak dialogue on the backburner is justified after the Mumbai blasts, which point to continued cross-border support for terrorist activities on Indian soil. We don't need to play the Good Samaritan supporting the "aspirations" of the Balochis.

The last time we tried to do so in Bangladesh it did not exactly get us any great appreciation from the Bangladeshis. If anything, there seems to be increasing support and hospitality for anti-Indian and terrorist activities on that soil. Let Pakistan face its problems; our government can concentrate on solving the problems of millions of Indians with labels of BPL, illiterate, marginalised, tribals, insurgents, terrorists... and more.

(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)

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