What “friend” India did to Sri Lanka

 

– by Shenali D Waduge –

It’s getting a little tiresome hearing speeches and reading diplomatic statements that claim Sri Lanka is a friend of India’s. In our dictionary a friend does not act like a traitor but India’s dictionary is obviously different. What friend would secretly create terrorists on Indian soil that has resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 people since early 1980s?

The conniving manipulations behind the diplomatic chivalry helps disrobe India’s false friendship revealing its role in creating terrorism in Sri Lanka and we are fools if we continue to give stakes to India in Sri Lanka. None of these crimes can be forgiven.

India violates Sri Lanka’s Territory

Operation Poomalai (Operation Garland – Eagle Mission 4): At Vadamarachchi  when the Sri Lankan army had encircled and trapped Prabakaran, India orders Sri Lanka to cease hostilities and Prabakaran is evacuated to India. Indian Air force support LTTE by dropping food violating Sri Lanka’s air space giving Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Delhi just 30 minutes notice by Foreign Minister Natwar Singh before forcefully dropping 25tons of food (hardly sufficient) in Jaffna on 4 June 1987 at 4p.m.

On 2 June 1987 Rajiv Gandhi sent a flotilla by sea which was sent back by the Sri Lankan Navy. 5 AN-32s (would become the 1^st Indian aircraft to transgress airspace of another country after 1971 Pak War) escorted by 5 Mirage 2000s (armed with 2 Matra Magic AAMs and 3 drop tanks) from Bangalore Airport under supervision of Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall S. Raghavendran. 35 national and international journalists joined this flight with 7 each boarding the 5 planes.

The Sri Lankan Ambassador was also told that any opposition by the Sri Lankan Air Force “would be met by force” (this is nothing but a CRIME OF AGGRESSION on a Sovereign Country). The mission was complete by 1813hrs. Sri Lanka accused India of violating its sovereignty but India defended action claiming it a “mercy mission”.
It was a consequence to this high-handed action that the next aggression of the Indo-Lanka Accord took place on 29 July 1987 drafted by India’s Foreign Ministry to suit India’s interests and not Tamil Nadu or Tamils of either Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka.

EAGLE MISSION-4 : Antonov-32 transports of PTS taxiing for take off from Bangalore for the supply drop (Left)

the parachutes drifting down onto the Jaffna Peninsula (Right).Pictures Courtesy: INDIA TODAY

IAF aircrew being congratulated by the ground crew on successful completion of the supply drop after landing back at Bangalore Airport on the evening of June 4th, 1987

The next day’s newspapers carried the supply drop as Headlines as this picture of THE HINDU, a newspaper published from Madras shows 

Arrival of IPKF:

· India’s intelligence boasts they “”We will have Prabhakaran in our custody within 72 hours.”  Ultimately the IPKF ended up gunning down Tamils, raping Tamil women, attacking Sinhalese villages and killing them until LTTE itself turned against the supposed “Indian Savior” and had to be asked to leave Sri Lanka by President Premadasa. IPKF arrived in Sri Lanka on 30 July 1987 and left by March 1990 taking their 72hr heroics!

· IPKF would not have withdrawn if not for Premier V P Singh primarily to prove Rajiv Gandhi had made a mistake in sending IPKF.

LTTE in India:

· 1982 shoot-out in Pondy Bazaar – criminal case filed against Prabakaran (former V P Singh in deposition)

· February 1990 – police constable killed at Pattinamkathan in Ramanathapuram district.

· June 19, 1990 – massacre of 13 EPRLF leaders, including EPRLF secretary-general K. Padmanabha and two local people, at Kodambakkam in Chennai.

S.C. Chandrahasan (deposition 11 August 1996) mentions LTTE offices in Tamil Nadu:

” LTTE had its office in Madras in 1983 but they were operating clandestinely. The main base then of them was in Madurai. Once they had their office in Adayar area in Madras. By that time that office had become prominent. They used their office basically for propaganda. I had not been to that office. Balasingham had come to Madras and thereafter the office became prominent. He was their spokesman. I know Raghu @ Gundappa. He was responsible for the weapons for LTTE.”

Anita Pratap, journalist (deposition 17 August 1996) also mentions LTTE offices in Tamil Nadu:

“LTTE had started the office, I think, in at the beginning of 1984. It was located at Besant Nagar, South Madras. There were several LTTE cadres operating the office. Lawrence Thilagar, Yogi and others. At any given time there were 5- 6 LTTE cadres operating the office. Periodically, there used to be some spokesman of the LTTE. In 1985, Balasingham had come. He was the official spokesman of the LTTE and he still is. He was in charge of propaganda as well as negotiating with Governmental authorities, RAW and other Agencies. Till I remained in Madras, Lawrence Thilagar, Yogi and Balasingham remained official spokesmen of the LTTE.”

Admission of India training LTTE before 1983 riots:

“Intelligence agencies (RAW) said….these are boys who were trained by us from 1977” (Dixit, Assignment Colombo)

Shri M. Karunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (affidavit no. 187/94) :“It is a well known fact that the LTTE and other Sri Lankan Militants camps were established in India ever since 1982 in tune with the policy of the Central Government at that time. The Tamil militants were given military training and allowed to have their own training camps in India.”…

“I state that the Congress Governments under the Prime Ministership of late Smt. Indira Gandhi and late Thiru Rajiv Gandhi encouraged, trained and supported the LTTE and other Tamil Militant groups.”

Shri K. Mohandas – then Dir Gen. Police (affidavit no. 64/92-JCI) “….The issue had become very sensitive, and meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s advisors were working overtime, giving facilities to the militants, particularly the TELO (Tamil Ealam Liberation Organisation) to be trained in the use of modern arms in the camps organised in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi and elsewhere. The idea was that after the training, they would be supplied with arms and sent to Northern Sri Lanka to engage the Sri Lankan troops in guerrilla action. It was supposed to be a top secret operation without even the knowledge of the State Government and its Intelligence agency. (at least as far as Tamil Nadu was concerned.”….. “The insurgency operation was so clumsily organised that it was, before long, an open secret. Each training camp was a mini Union Territory completely controlled by Central agencies, into which the State Intelligence or the State Police had no access.”

RAW handling LTTE:

“RAW helped to train and arm the LTTE in the 1970s” (Council of Foreign Relations)

Indira Gandhi entrusted the full military training of Tamil militants to the RAW – Research and Analysis Wing. Two officers Samy and Ravi Menon who colluded with Sri Lankan Tamil Chandrahasan formerly of TULF. RAW wanted LTTE to liaise with only itself instead of directly with the GOI and when LTTE did so RAW began to divide the different militant groups. LTTE-EPRLF / LTTE-TELO clashes of 1986 directly attributed to RAW.

April 5, 1988 Wikileaks cable quotes J N Dixit that India had agreed to pay LTTE Rs.50lakhs per month which was paid in July 1987. This was to make up for the tax loss for the LTTE upon IPKF arrival. It was also a payment that sealed Prabakaran’s agreement to the Indo-Lanka Accord.

Incidentally, Rajiv Gandhi gifted his own bullet proof vest to Prabakaran just before the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord.

Indian camps for Sri Lankan militants:

K. Mohandas, then Director General Police (Intelligence), Tamil Nadu in letter dated 8 Feb 1986 included particulars of strength, weaponry and type of training given in camps.

Summary of information:

LTTE:- 6 camps were reported being conducted by the LTTE in the districts of Anna (1 camp), Thanjavur West (1 camp), Thanjavur East (1 camp), Salem (1 camp, Madurai (1 camp) and Ramnad ( 1 camp) of Tamil Nadu. The total strength of trainees in these camps was reported to be 495 cadres including 90 female Tigers. The camp at Sirumalai (Anna district) was the only camp were all the 90 female Tigers were getting training along with 40 male Tigers. The largest LTTE camp was located at Kumbarapatti in Salem district. The training comprised Arms Training, swimming, boat driving and physical training. The camps were equipped with transport facilities such as Jeeps, Vans, motor cycles etc.

TELO:- Five camps organised by Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) were reported to be running in the districts of Ramnad ( 3 camps) and Salem ( 2 camps). There were totally 233 male cadres undergoing this training which comprised Physical Training, Arms training, swimming and boat driving.

EROS:- Eelam Revolutionary Organisers (EROS) were reported to be conducting two camps in the districts of Ramnad and Pasumpon Muthuramalingam districts. There were 8 male trainees in these camps which were imparting Physical Training and Arms Training.

EPRLF: The Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) was reported to be conducting 7 training camps in the districts of Thanjavur West (3 camps), South Arcot (2 camps), Trichy ( 1 camp) and Ramnad (1 camp) with a total strength of 73 male trainees who were being trained in Guerilla warfare, Physical Training and Arms training. These camps reportedly possessed sophisticated weapons such as Light Machine -guns as well as transport vehicles.

PLOT:- The Peoples Liberation Organisation for Tamil Eelam (PLOT) was conducting training in 18 camps located in the districts of Thanjavur West (11 camps), Pudukottai ( 4 camps), Tirunelvei East (2 camps) and Thanjavur East (1 camp). Totally 2236 cadres in addition to 94 female cadres were getting trained in these camps. The camps possessed transport facilities, boats and some weapons. Predominantly, the training comprised guerrilla warfare and also Physical Training, Swimming and Boat Driving.

Other assorted organisations were also conducting their camps in Tamil Nadu such as Tamil Eelam Army (TEA) – 2 camps, 31 trainees; TELA -Kanthan group ( 3 camps, 117 trainees); TELA-Rajan group (1 camp, 10 trainees); TENA (1 camp, 25 trainees); RELO ( 1 camp, 13 trainees; NLFT (1 camp, 2 trainees); ECRP (1 camp, 4 trainees) and TMPP ( 1 camp, 6 trainees).

Thus a total of 3179 males and 184 females (3363 cadres) were trained by the Indian Government in India in secret during 1983-1986. These groups were allowed to run their own offices in Tamil Nadu.

Rajiv Gandhis’ death did not stop India’s links with LTTE

The wildly publicized notion that India broke all ties with LTTE following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi is a total lie. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 why did India’s Premier Narasimha Raw file a special leave petition before the Indian Supreme Court to restrain the Jain Commission from going into any aspect dealing with the role of the LTTE and to specifically exclude period 1981 to June 1987 since India was secretly training LTTE and other militant groups. The Narasimha Rao Government even attempted to wind up the Jain Commission’s role in 1992 and even backed a private petition by Mushtaq Ahmed but was rejected by the Delhi High Court in 16 Nov 1995 . http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?200578  Moreover, Subramaniam Swamy has openly accused the spouse and widow of Rajiv of links with LTTE in smuggling Indian artifacts out of India to be sold in Italy.

Indian Mischief in 1983 July riots

Affidavits of the following reveal the domino effect needed for India to justify its right to interfere in the “Sri Lankan Tamil” issue. In creating an exodus of Tamils fleeing to Tamil Nadu and Tamil Nadu Government in turn making pressures upon the Indian Central Government, the scenario would be perfect and give India necessary ammunition to bring down the pressures it already had planned for Sri Lanka. 1983 riots could well have been one such created scenario given that LTTE-RAW were well acquainted to fool handful of hooligans to do the necessary dirty work to point fingers at the Sinhalese.  So we can but wonder if the situation in July had the hands of other forces to create the necessary impact for India’s involvement. India had more to gain by the riots than the Sinhalese who ended up being placated inspite of protecting their Tamil neighbors.

Shri Salman Haider, Foreign Secretary (affidavit no. 343/96-JCI) Para 6(ii) :- “The ethnic riots of July 1983, in which Sri Lankan Tamils greatly suffered at the hands of Sinhala community, led to a significant upsurge in public sentiment in Tamil Nadu in support of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The large number of Tamils killed in the riots led to calls for Indian military intervention in Sri Lanka.”

Books written by Indians also prove the traitor India is.

From “Jain Report-Buried Facts” by T. S. Subramaniam

· Interim Report of Jain Commission claims the growth and survival of LTTE in Tamil Nadu was nurtured by DMK led by Karunanidhi in 1989-1991. Pre-1987 the Indian Government stands accused of same. Karunanidhi’s response to Congress Jitendra Prasada was “If Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi support the LTTE, they become desh bhakts (patriots). If Karunanidhi supports it, the LTTE becomes anti-national. This is the argument put forth by the Jain Commission’s report.” also asking why India did not declare LTTE anti-national when it was fighting the IPKF?

· India trained Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups. Training covered camps set up in Tamil Nadu, guerilla warfare, Tamil groups were supplied arms, ammunition and financial support and supervised by Indian intelligence.

· Training camps were in Chakrata (near Dehra Dun) in Uttar Pradeesh, in Karnataka (Bangalore cantonment). 30 camps were set up in Tamil Nadu (Koli Hills, Magaral, Kulathur, Sirumalai, Orathanad, Theni, Pattukottai, Kumbakonam, Uchipuli, Vikravandi, Aranthangi were some)

· Trained cadre were housed in safe locations at Uchipuli, Mantapam, Thangachimadam (all around Rameswaram) and Arcotthurai, Vizhunthamavadi, Vedaranyam and Point Calimere (around Nagapattinam) and were later ferried to the Jaffna peninsula to fight the Sri Lankan Army. Injured cadres were similarly brought back to Tamil Nadu for treatment.

· MGR preferred LTTE and donated large amounts of money to the LTTE.

· The Indian Government arranged supply of arms, rifles, pistols, rocket propelled grenades, rocket launchers and rockets to the militant groups.

· Under Rajiv Gandhi the Indian Government continued to supply arms and ammunition including anti-aircraft guns to the LTTE and EROS and cadres were brought to India for military training where they were taught to fire surface-to-air missiles. EROS cadres were also taught to lay sea mines.

From “The Man and the Myth” K. Mohandas, former Director-General of Police (Intelligence), Tamil Nadu

· “…each training camp was a mini-Union Territory completely controlled by Central agencies, into which the State intelligence or the State police had no entry. It was almost a take-over of chunks of Tamil Nadu territory by the Centre, but MGR was unmoved.”

From “The IPKF in Sri Lanka” by Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh, Overall Force Commander IPKF

· “In one of his many informal chats with me later on, Prabakaran was to confide that they received massive doses of financial and military assistance from India and were provided training facilities in Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, during 1983 and 1984, the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing (the two Indian intelligence agencies) got directly involved in training the militant Tamil groups and providing assistance to them.”

From “Assignment Colombo” by J N Dixit, former Foreign Secretary and Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka

· “It is a fact that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran provided sufficient finances to the LTTE to purchase arms and supplies even after the IPKF was launched against this militant group.”

What emerges from all this is that Sri Lankan Tamil militants were being secretly trained well before 1983 riots took place and one has to wonder if the riots itself triggered by the killing of 13 Sri Lankan soldiers could have been planned by India itself for not only did this single event enable the direct interference of India but also enable the formation of a Tamil Diaspora. These were all factors that chock Sri Lankan Governments. On the one hand the Diaspora with its kitty are able to silence foreign parliamentarians who have no integrity while India uses Tamil Nadu factor to do the rest of the dirty work forcing Sri Lanka to strike all sorts of deals to enable India to gain a foothold in Sri Lanka by economic, cultural, educational and now even infrastructure not to mention the large influx of illegal immigrants an issue that Sri Lanka needs to have the pluck to address. In a game of manipulations the manipulator also becomes victim thus today India does not know whether it is coming or going because its now the turn of nemesis. What goes round does come round.

The public of Sri Lanka has not forgotten what India has done and continues to do – Geneva is just one example. The public also do not wish to see its Government give in to a country that has for decades functioned no different to Prabakaran, afterall LTTE and other militants were trained to kill civilians, to bomb civilians by India and we now wonder if the use of children, suicide missions and cyanide capsule also originated from India!

Given all this knowledge – would you consider India a friend?