New Delhi: In the wake of fresh allegations of rights violations against ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, India today said there should be accountability for such issues but remained evasive on the position it will take at the UN on a resolution against that country.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid made it clear that India would not intervene directly in Sri Lanka’s sovereign affairs even as members in the Rajya Sabha expressed serious concern over the situation there and demanded an independent credible probe into the killing of LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son Balachandran.
DMK, a key UPA constituent, said it has lost faith in the government on this and its members staged a walkout along with those from AIADMK and Left, dissatisfied with Khurshid’s reply to the debate on the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
“We are totally and utterly committed to the outcome that must ensure equality, dignity, justice for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka,” Khurshid said, sharing concerns expressed by members cutting across party lines.
On the recent allegation about Balachandran being killed in cold blood by the Sri Lankan forces, he said India cannot “adjudicate” about the truth behind the incident and apportion the responsibility on anybody for the “very moving, very tragic, very sad” incident.
“That is why we are engaging with Sri Lanka... Accountability should be there...Whether it should be imposed from outside or come from within... Honestly speaking, accountability is necessary, accountability is inevitable but accountability must come from within,” the minister said.
“There is no future unless there is reconciliation, there is no future unless there is accountability,” he said but added that India cannot impose a timeline on Sri Lanka for it.
Responding to demands by members that India should vote with the US resolution in the UN against Sri Lanka on it, he said, “What point we make in the UN can’t foreclose today. We will make position keeping this debate in mind. After taking position we will disclose here...”
As members repeatedly sought to know the position of the Government of India on the resolution, Khurshid said it depended upon the actions taken by Sri Lanka.
"If Sri Lanka is able to show there is movement forward, there will be one conclusion, if Sri Lanka is not able to show there is movement forward, there will be another conclusion," Khurshid said during the debate.
The debate also saw members raising demands like disallowing Sri Lankan President to visit India and even sending Indian troops there again to check the alleged “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” of Tamils in that country.
As some members including AIADMK’s V Maitreyan objected to Khurshid describing Sri Lanka as a friendly country, the minister said, “We may have differences, pain, disappointment, anger and anguish but we should not be saying that Sri Lanka is an enemy country. It is not.”
Seeking to allay apprehensions of Sri Lanka government trying to skirt implementing the 13th amendment of its Constitution regarding the devolution of powers to Tamils, the minister said Indian government has been assured time and again that the 13th amendment is the foundation stone of the resolution of the Sri Lankan problem.
“We have been continuously and repeatedly told that there is no reason to believe that the 13th amendment will be diluted...Within the range of diplomacy and foreign relation affairs, we have been assured time and again that the 13th amendment is the foundation stone for Sri Lanka,” he said but acknowledged there are different views there on it.
As CPI’s D Raja wanted a categorical assurance from Khurshid that Sri Lanka will not ignore the 13th amendment, he said, “I cannot give assurance about what another government will do.”
The minister said he wanted to reiterate the commitment of this House, Government and people to see the end of hostilities and do “what can be done to compensate for the enormous amount of suffering” the Sri Lankan Tamils underwent.
“Government is of the view that the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka provided a unique opportunity to pursue a lasting political settlement within the framework of a united Sri Lanka, acceptable to all communities in Sri Lanka including Tamils,” he said.
On demands by members that India should take a position as taken by the United States, Khurshid said, “US has taken its independent position. We have taken our position based on the sense of the House.”
“Our initiative is to find a resolution. We want a sustainable settlement of issues in Sri Lanka....We have all suffered because of the strife in Sri Lanka,” he said.
On sending of forces to Lanka, Khurshid said, “We cannot send our forces to Sri Lanka on our own. The IPKF went there on the invitation of Sri Lanka.”
The External Affairs Minister said India did not want to become a ‘Big Brother’ to Sri Lanka and said, “We will not be Big Brother, but we will be equal partners. We will only be brothers and sisters of equal standing.”
He said our purpose is SAARC region must march together and “the Asian century has to be our century.”
Khurshid said, “We will keep engaged with Sri Lanka to see that expressions such as ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide will not be there.”
V Maitreyan (AIADMK) said the UPA Government had last year promised that it will ensure equality, dignity, justice and self respect for Tamils in Sri Lanka but it has failed to achieve anything in this direction.
He asked the Government to take up the issue of war crimes against Tamils to the UN and initiate actions against it including economic embargo on it.
The AIADMK leader alleged that after being forced to support a US-sponsored motion against Sri Lanka, India “diluted” the issue.
Maitreyan took objection over Khurshid calling Sri Lanka a “friendly country” saying it was an “enemy country”.
He said diplomats in the Ministry should change their mindsets from being Lanka-centric to Tamil-centric to help them out in Sri Lanka.
D Raja (CPI) said the government should recast its policies towards Sri Lanka as it was continuing with the "structural genocide" of Tamils.
He accused the Government of "supporting" Sri Lankan Army in war against the Tamils there saying the Sri Lankan President has said the war against LTTE could not have been won without Indian support.
Raja alleged that the Sri Lankan Army was behind rape of Tamil women there and said “Budha was bleeding in Sri Lanka and shedding tears of blood”.
He said there was a time when the world used to look at India for its stand on the Sri Lanka issue but today India was being a mute spectator by allowing US to take an important role in the issue.
“You are letting down the nation... you must play a proactive role and if time demands, vote against Sri Lanka (in the UN). The destruction of Tamil race is going on, we cannot be mute spectators and demand international investigation,” Raja said.
Tiruchi Siva (DMK) alleged that Tamil women were being “raped” by the Sri Lankan Army systematically.
He raised the issue of death of LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s son and said India should support American resolution in the UNHRC and demand an international impartial inquiry into the matter.
Siva warned the Centre against inviting Sri Lankan President as state guest in future and said the UPA Government has to choose between friendship with Sri Lanka or the people of the southern part of the country.
Venkaiah Naidu (BJP) accused the Government of having “failed miserably” in protecting the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils and people in the country were “totally disappointed” on the issue.
He said his party wanted friendly relations with Sri Lanka but “at the same time, we cannot be mute spectators to what is happening in Sri Lanka.”
Naidu said the matter was “delicate and sensitive” but India should engage Sri Lanka to make it act on the assurances given by it on the 13th amendment.
Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) said India had committed the mistake of sending its troops against the Tamil people in 1987
“If you want to make amends to that mistake of yours, you should send your troops again there to protect the rights and interests of Tamils in Sri Lanka,” he suggested.
Ram Kripal Yadav (RJD) said India cannot remain silent to atrocities on Tamils in Sri Lanka.