"To us all towns are one, all men our kin. |
"To us all towns are one, all men our kin. |
| Home | Trans State Nation | Tamil Eelam | Beyond Tamil Nation | Comments |
Home > Struggle for Tamil Eelam > International Frame of Struggle for Tamil Eelam > India & the Struggle for Tamil Eelam > A Tribute to a Friend - Ashok Mehta in the Pioneer, 23 August 2005
A Tribute to a Friend
Ashok Mehta in the Pioneer, 23 August 2005
"(Government TV Channel) Rupavahini showed no British or American at the state funeral, though the representatives of these governments were doubtless present. Seated on President Kumaratunga's right was Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. On her left was Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and next to him, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh. India's representation was a clear message to the LTTE as well as the international community of Delhi's solidarity with Colombo... (Kadirgamar) was for active intervention by India during the standoff at the strategic Elephant Pass in 2000, the turning point in the battle for the north by Sri Lankan security forces..."
[see also Sachi Sri Kantha - The Spin and Swing of RAW Orchestra ]
Coming to Colombo immediately after the murder of Lakshman Kadirgamar - Foreign Minister, lawyer, a true patriot and a dear personal friend - was a surreal experience. True, I never knew Lakshman while he was in England, learning law.
But I did meet him several times in Delhi and Colombo - both when he was in office and out of power and we spent several afternoons and evenings together, talking about our two countries, our affection for each other but also about our distrust of each other. These were candid conversations and when I think back to them, I cherish the chance I had of making friends with a man who has been called the best Foreign Minister Sri Lanka has had....
Government TV channel Rupavahini showed the funeral live. Symbolically, the funeral was held at the Independence Square, the place where Sri Lanka was formally handed over to Sri Lankans after achieving independence from Britain in 1948. Equally symbolic were the seating arrangements. Rupavahini showed no British or American at the state funeral, though the representatives of these governments were doubtless present. Seated on President Kumaratunga's right was Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. On her left was Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and next to him, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh. India's representation was a clear message to the LTTE as well as the international community of Delhi's solidarity with Colombo...
Why was it necessary for the LTTE to kill Kadirgamar? It was quite simple: The LTTE considered Kadirgamar a traitor. It was bad enough that he was opposed to the LTTE. But he did not keep quiet about it and leave the country, as many other Tamils have done in the past.
He campaigned vigorously to have their organisation outlawed by the West, especially Britain and the United States. There was a long protracted wrangle over the dispensing of tsunami aid. The effects of the tsunami were felt the most in Tamil areas. The Tigers wanted the funds to be given directly to them because they said they did not trust the administration in Colombo to do right by the Tamils. For Colombo, because the aid was coming from several foreign governments, it was a question of division of sovereignty and the effective division of the island into two.
Several politicians, including the opposition United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickeremesinghe, believe that the best way to prevent the division of Sri Lanka is to bestow formal recognition to the LTTE. They argue that by doing so, at least the chain of ethnic killing will be broken. But Kadirgamar, who has studied in Kandy, was loath to the idea, the logical culmination of which was that one day Sri Lankans might need a visa to travel to Jaffna. At the heart of the complex negotiations on autonomy was this idea that Kadirgamar could spot coming. ...But I believe the death of 73-year-old Kadirgamar was the death of an idea. He was not a special friend of India - indeed, we differed often on what India must do in Sri Lanka (he was for active intervention by India during the standoff at the strategic Elephant Pass in 2000, the turning point in the battle for the north by Sri Lankan security forces. I was not.) But he was a democrat and a truly decent man: The two qualities that all leaders must have. At that time, the Buddhist clergy was appealing to the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo to get the IPKF back.
Kadirgamar's assassination is going to lead to a full review of the ceasefire agreement through the first direct talks between Government and Tigers since the latter walked out of the sixth round of talks in April 2003. Last Sunday, a leading Sinhala newspaper quoting a Federal Minister lamented Sri Lanka's decision to ask the IPKF to go back before it had 'tamed the Tigers'... India has to review its role in Sri Lanka as the present strategic and security architecture of its relations has holes.
