Recently I have watched the movie Hostel in which a bunch of sick people kill their fellow human beings to relieve from stress or as an act of hobby (This is a must watch movie). Killing Tamil fishermen by srilankan navy (as it is alleged) is an act similar to the sick people in Hostel movie. When we talk about genocides of our time we only think about Hitler’s massacre. Being right wing is not wrong, the Sinhalese might have their own reasons why they want to consider Tamils as sub-humans but we are living in a world which is a liberal democrat and we are expected to honor human rights. The British (for that matter even missionaries) played their card by playing the divisive politics to further their own agenda. Between Sinhalese and Tamils we have a strong genetic link as we are from the same part of sub-continent. There is a theory which confirms that Sinhalese only inhabitated Ceylon only 100 years before the Tamils have set their foot so tamils are not aliens in srilanka.Month on Month we have a significant number of people getting killed by the srilankan navy as a result governments(centre and state) in India cries foul and for some time there is a truce and again the killing resumes.
Historically Indian government’s response was really pathetic on instances of this kind. Jayalalitha former CM of TN commented that citizens of such a mighty country like India which has a powerful military are killed by a tiny country like Srilanka is really unacceptable and in these circumstances if the PM does not know what to do he should quit. Her demand is convincing. This time there seems to be sudden interest may be because it is an election time in TN and the centre wants to show that they are defending their country men by sending the foreign secretary to Colombo and taking few series of measures which would project that GOI (government of India) is serious. But no body knows about results of the actions and steps which were taken already when similar incidents happened in the past. It is a matter of envy to any sovereign country when China showed its strong protest with Japan as its citizen was arrested on Diaoyu Island issue. China went on to suspend the export of rare earth. Not surprisingly Srilanka denies its Navy’s involvement in the killing of Indian fishermen and says it has ordered for the enquiry and we hope the report is out before the state elections in TN or at least after the elections. In India especially in TN this is mostly seen as an election issue, which is a black spot on the Indian democracy. When a fisherman of srilankan origin runs in to Indian waters we never kill them but follow the internationally acceptable legal/diplomatic process like deporting to their home land and/or trying them in a court of law which never happens in Srilanka.
India through its mighty soft power should compel this tiny nation to follow these acceptable procedures instead of exhibiting its behavior which is akin to racism. Politicians in TN assert that giving away the Katchatheevu in Palk Strait is an act of foolishness and reclaiming this territory is one great step towards solving the problem of fishermen killing. All rhetoric will sound like babble unless concrete steps are taken to solve this problem.
We can constitute a joint force of both the navies and monitor the troubled waters and identify the root causes. Also appoint a tribunal to try these cases of excursions as this will instill confidence especially to the Indian populace. Above all the governments of centre and state must pursue Srilanka to take effective steps to end this barbarian act of killing people of another sovereign simply because they have unknowingly crossed the international maritime border while fishing.
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