EU pressuring Sri Lanka to relent on campaign against LTTE

PK Balachandran

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s ongoing military campaign against the LTTE faces stronger objections from the European Union (EU), rather than India, though both are being heavily lobbied by elements sympathetic to the Tamil Tiger rebels, says a top official in the Sri Lankan foreign ministry.

“India is too big a power to yield to pressures from a small terrorist group, but the European Union is seeing the Tamils as underdogs persecuted by the Sinhalese majority. There are statements from EU governments and groups calling for talks and an end to the military operations,” the official told this website’s newspaper on condition of anonymity.

“The EU is overlooking the fact that a majority of the Tamils in the island (54 percent) are living in south Sri Lanka, in perfect harmony with the Sinhalese, instead of fleeing to their so-called homeland in the north and east,” he said here on Saturday.

The ranking official revealed that Sri Lanka was having a tough time persuading the EU to extend the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) Plus facility for garments exported from Sri Lanka, a concession absolutely necessary to keep lakhs of jobs for people on the island.

The EU stand very substantially owes to the growing power of the elected representatives of refugee and expatriate Tamils in the various legislatures and councils in the member countries, the official said.

“In a sense, the EU’s posture is a reflection of a functioning democracy. But then the EU must realize that by denying the GSP Plus concession to Sri Lanka, or calling for an end to the military operations against the Tigers, they would only be giving a 10-year lease of life to the most dreaded terrorist group in the world,” he said.

The European Union must help a struggling democracy face a challenge to its very existence and must realise that Sri Lanka is a democracy, where governments change at regular intervals, he added.

The Sri Lankan official refused to comment on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s statement that India should bring the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam together to find a solution.

“We can’t comment on every event in a vibrant democracy. However, India is not under pressure from the LTTE by any means, though the LTTE is desperately trying to get India to put pressure on Sri Lanka to stop the military operations,” the official said. “The LTTE is facing mounting pressure on the southern front in Mullaitivu and Killinochchi,” he added.

In an editorial published on Saturday, the leading Sri Lankan Tamil daily Thinakkural wondered if the Tamils would be “wise” to see a change in India’s policy on the ethnic question in Sri Lanka because of a recent cordial meeting between Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra, and Nalini Sriharan, who is serving a life sentence for her role in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

“We should remember that only two years ago, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi had said that India’s policy on Sri Lanka could be divided into two distinct phases – before and after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi,” it said the editorial.

It also noted that the Priyanka-Nalini meeting has drawn no comment from Sonia Gandhi, the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, her Congress Party or any major political leader in Tamil Nadu. The lack of comment is interpreted in some Sri Lankan circles as a step towards rapprochement between India and the LTTE, which is blamed for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi.