Ceylon Today Editorial

Setting the record straight

08 February 2017

 

This newspaper on its Monday's edition published an article from the 'The Hindu,' which purportedly gave the reason behind India's military involvement in Sri Lanka.

The report, allegedly quoting a declassified report of the CIA's said that President J.R. Jayewardene invited the Indians because his own troops refused to takeover Jaffna due to fear of casualties.

The principle actor behind these so-called declassified reports, Jayewardene is long dead. Therefore, it's difficult to verify this claim.

But, from a historical perspective, this report is wrong.

'Operation Liberation,' launched on 26 May, 1987, was a military operation conducted by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) in the Northern Peninsula to rid the country of Tamil terrorists.

It's in and around this time that this allegedly declassified CIA report refers to.

That was also during this period that the Bank of Ceylon Headquarters building in Colombo was opened by Jayewardene.

Jayewardene, speaking at this occasion and referring to the then military operation said, 'Either they (terrorists) win or we'll win.

If not, we will pack our bags and go home.'

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops, which landed in Vadamarachchi (under Operation Liberation), the northern most tip of the Jaffna Peninsula which houses Point Pedro, made rapid progress and within days were in the outskirts of Jaffna.

In the days or hours preceding India's military involvement, firstly, Premier Rajiv Gandhi's acolyte, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, politically nurtured by Gandhi's mother Indira, the immediately preceding Indian Premier to wage a phoney war against Jayewardene's Sri Lanka, who was a person she desisted, sent so-called food shipments to the allegedly 'starving' Tamils in Jaffna.

These shipments were however, not allowed to cross the Sri Lankan maritime zone by the Sri Lankan Navy. This was on 2 June 1987, just a week after the launch of 'Operation Liberation.'

Not to be dictated to by Jayewardene, Rajiv then launched his trump card, his 'secret weapon' on tiny Sri Lanka on 4 June 1987. That was the Indian military airdrop over Jaffna for the allegedly starving people of Jaffna, which blatant aggression over Sri Lanka's airspace was complemented by Rajiv coming on the 'hotline' and telling Jayewardene, 'We will not allow you to takeover Jaffna.'

That ended Sri Lanka's military operation over the Tamil terrorists for fear of further Indian military intervention and the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord (ILPA) nearly two months later, on 29 July 1987, which, simultaneously saw the induction of Indian troops, the so-called Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) into the Northern and Eastern parts of the island, and the barracking of Sri Lankan troops.

While, virtually all of the Tamil terrorist groups laid down their arms under the ILPA, the only recalcitrant outfit was the LTTE, which, ipso facto, refused to give up arms.

They continued with their acts of terror in the North-East.

With the Sri Lankan troops barracked under the ILPA and the IPKF turning a Nelsonian eye to these atrocities committed by the LTTE, the Sinhala villagers in the East and in particular Trincomalee, were virtually defenceless.

Things came to a head when the LTTE killed a Buddhist monk in Trincomalee, leading a peaceful protest against the LTTE's acts of terror against the Sinhalese.

In the interim, Sri Lanka's majority 75% Sinhala population, not least the Sri Lankan troops, was agitated over this forced accord of the Indians. That gave birth to the second JVP uprising in Sri Lanka, with the South virtually in flames and a state of near anarchy, gripping the island, then.

After this Buddhist monk was killed and the government virtually out of control due to the events that followed, beginning with India's military, air aggression on 4 June, Jayewardene in exasperation called Rajiv over the hotline and 'demanded' from him that the IPKF disarm the LTTE as per one of the conditions of the ILPA.

That set the ball rolling, with Rajiv acceding to Jayewardene's request, resulting in the deaths of over 1,200 Indian troops in the hands of the LTTE, which 'The Hindu' had also referred to, not forgetting the blowing up of Rajiv by an LTTE human bomber in Chennai on 21 May, 1991, which, once and for all seemingly neutralized India's military involvement in Sri Lanka.