Talk of the Palk
There is no shortage of ferment in India’s relations with Sri Lanka. Some of it is manufactured, some of it is genuine and some of it is India’s fault. But compared to the mess it was during the civil war, bilateral relations at the government level are arguably the best they have been since independence.
This is not the impression you would get the ground level. Take a closer look at some of the present sources of friction.
One are the supposed attacks on Indian Tamil fishermen. This has nothing to do with Tamil vs Sinhala squabbles. In fact, many of the incidents are pitching Indian Tamils against Lankan Tamils. The source of the problem: the Palk Straits haven’t been fished for decades and are now a treasure trove of catch. “Lobsters like this,” said one US diplomat to me, stretching his arms to their maximum. Indian fishing armadas, say Indian diplomats, of several hundred ships have been on the prowl. Mark the incidents on the map and the clear majority of them are in Lankan waters.
Two is the issue of a Tamil political settlement in Lanka. This is the nub of the problem. Here Colombo is to blame.
By the end of the civil war, partly thanks to the Tamil Tiger’s silly actions, sympathy among Indian Tamils for their brethren was at a minimum.
A political settlement would have sealed the peace. But the President Mahinda Rajapaksa regime decided not to. Or more accurately it endorsed a political package, promised to implement and then did nothing. The Tamil areas are now a military protectorate.
It didn’t take long for the Indian Tamil parties to realise that the Lankan Tamil issue was about to be resurrected. J. Jayalalitha’s lobbying was the primary reason that New Delhi voted against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in August.
This was a clear sign that Eelam was back, even if only rhetorically. Jayalalitha was a sworn enemy of the Tamil Tigers. But she was inoculating herself against what she saw as the coming Eelam virus.
What is needed is a Sri Lankan explanation for their refusal to carry out the political settlement. One hears of theories: hubris after the war, fears about the oversized military, etc. But it hasn’t been made clear to Indians let alone Tamils. New Delhi is sending the message that Rajapaksa is kindling a Tamil problem across the Palk Strait but hasn’t gotten a clear response.
The irony is that in every other way, Lanka has been as agreeable to India as possible. Even on China, they have followed the maxim that running, using ports are fine but don’t allow the Chinese ownership. And Trincomalee remains effectively Indian. Naval cooperation is as close to inter-operability as the Indian system allows. India and Lanka would be in a bilateral golden age — if they got over one small thing.
Hindustan Times





Anonymous Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at 7:49 am
@ Raja
Sir, let me continue the debate we were having in the last blog.
My first grouse against Islamic belief and practice is that the Quran is just addressed to men. When my sister read it the first time, she commented that the entire discourse is addressed to a man.
“You can marry two, three or four times… you can cultivate your women… you should do etc etc….”
In the context, it gives a deep disadvantage to women. That they can only be viewed as a sub text of men.
This mindset places most Muslims a step behind other religions and atheists who have broken the bonds with scriptures.
I am not comfortable that my sister’s husband tomorrow view her in this light or for that matter my daughter (if I ever have one) is viewed as a appendage of her man.
In your reply on the status of women you were trying to point out that though polygamy is allowed in Islam, in practice it does not happen. Well, a wrong is a wrong. There is no point in saying that the law is bad… but since the crime rate is not so high, why change it. And frankly in my experience in Moradabad and in Saudia, I have seen that multiple wives are not rare. That women are perpetually under threat and feel insecure.
Anyway I am typing between college assignments. Will continue the discussion later.
[Reply]
Anonymous Reply:
October 3rd, 2012 at 5:07 am
Parvez,
I have read your posts on this blog and earlier blog of Mr. Zia Haq.
I am extremely happy to read your views and am surprised and pleased at your wisdom . Though you being much younger than
me, the respect for you in my heart has grown manifold. May your tribe increase. With your permission may I copy and post your above views on another blog. I will only do it if you allow me.
[Reply]
Anonymous Reply:
October 3rd, 2012 at 7:03 am
@ Mohan
Well, I comment on my religion only for the purpose to make the world a better place. I am Muslim by birth , but I claim the right to question. You have full right and permission to copy my views– if they are worth anything!
Abid Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 11:02 am
Mr. parvez, pls read the Quran carefuly u will find at many places Allah addressed to both men/women. you pls read the Quran translation in urdu maulana Abulalamaududi with muqtasar hawashi which is so simple in understanding. Regarding the polygamy which is allowed in Islam but subject to the condition that u will be justifide o/w better to have one wife. Tks n Rgds. Abid
[Reply]
ssraja Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 11:29 am
sumitji what u r talking about backwardness of muslim community is because of the government policiesand the bureacrates mostly from the rss background.specially not educating them .lets go to the facts what u r india is today because of muslim community .u r top industrialists of this country have made their fortune by serving the muslim countries . today’s reliance industries which has made its fortune by exporting groceries to middle east muslim countries.and hindujas has made their fortune by entertaining the iran shah(the king then).in the 80’s when india was going through foriegn exchange crisis
the indian muslim who worked in middle east send their hard earned money which helped india’s foreign exchange defict.u r corrupt leaders and industralists what they did for the country they stashed money in swiss banks and other taxheaven countries.what other communities educated brahmins ,gujratis and other communities have done for this country they got educated here by using the infrastructure and sbubsidies. instead of serving the indians they settled in developed countries for their selfish motives.where as the partition is concerned muslim community is not the culprit gandhiji has opposed the division, but the hindu leaders rejected him and he has to leave the congress .jinnah is not a muslim nor he practicesed namaz in his life .he was a secular indian.he worked as sectary for then a hindu party congress.latter some muslimleague members has requested mr jinnah to lead the party with some conditions jinnah accepted.
both the community leaders want to rule the country because of their selfishness the country is divided not because of the muslims nor hindus .with this division the most loosers r the muslims more than a million lost their lives and other community which suffered is the sikhs who were displaced and lost many lives by this division.and the muslims have lost every thing after partition in india they were treated as second class citizens and in pakistan as mohajirs.where as world is concerned the west has unleashed the terror for oil on muslim countries and blaming the innocent muslims.
Anonymous Reply:
October 5th, 2012 at 4:47 am
I think you are suffering from a victimhood mindset. If Indians worked in the gulf and got paid for it… then those countries also got excellent workers. Please get out of this slave and master mindset.
Gulf Shiekhs never employed Indians for charity. Neither did Indias do charity by runing their establishment and making them rich. It is a two way street.
ssraja Reply:
October 5th, 2012 at 6:42 pm
i said mr rss that the foreign exchange came to india by muslims working in middle east which helped india when there were no reforms no IT industry there were no exports
then india was in need of foreign exchange.
Anonymous Reply:
October 9th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
I know everyone in the world is wrong, while the Taliban, the LeT , the IM the harkat are lollipop chewing infants.
Anonymous Reply:
October 9th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
I know everyone in the world is wrong, while the Taliban, the LeT , the IM the harkat are lollipop chewing infants.
Anonymous Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
let us not try to dodge the issue. Can you quote the exact verse literally rather than an intrepretation.