Vaiko not a joker

by K. Godage

Vaiko is scum and to describe him as a Joker is to be kind. He, a supporter of terrorism in Sri Lanka, is a despicable scoundrel.

Yes, we have been far too tolerant of him. How could we ever forget his statement after the attempted assassination of President CBK "She needs to be lucky every time but WE need to be lucky only once", which you reproduced at the commencement of your editorial yesterday? The wretched man was associating himself with the LTTE which had attempted to kill our President! He should have been charged for being an accomplice. We in this soft country did nothing about it. And that guttersnipe has the temerity now to demand an apology from our army commander, who is a living hero of this country for calling this scavenger a 'Joker'. We should ask his friend Jayalath Jayawardena, (who had his photograph taken with this terrorist and got it published in the local newspapers), to invite him to come to this country to receive the apology.

I am more than shocked to learn that the Indian High Commissioner lodged a protest with our authorities. It is India that should even now apologise for what she has done to this country, which was recounted in great detail (quoting Indian sources itself) in an issue of your paper last week. I presume the High Commissioner may have received 'instructions' but this is not acceptable. Even if he did receive 'instructions' I would have thought it incumbent on him to advise his government that such a protest would not contribute towards improving relations with this country.

Vaiko would, no doubt, have been elated at the killing of Indian soldiers of the IPKF by the LTTE; I reproduce a photograph which tells its own story.

I am also surprised to learn that some Lake House editors were removed from office because they printed the Army Commander's views and ruffled Indian feathers. I wonder who advises the Government on its India policy. It could well be some self-proclaimed experts whose knowledge is based on them knowing a few Indian Ministers.

There is absolutely no reason for us to be servile or subservient. We need at all times to be conscious of India's security concerns and conduct our policy in the same manner as the late Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. We swam close to the shark without being eaten! India has no lessons to teach us with regard to dealing with minorities. She is today paying a huge price for having alienated the Muslim "minority', which consists of 140 million and form 13% of the population. There have been token appointments such as that of President Abdul Kalam but they fool no one. Muslims consider themselves second class citizens, who have been discriminated against in every sphere of life. It is reported that the Indian Administrative Service has less than three percent Muslims. Do we not remember that more than one thousand Muslims were killed in the bloody Gujarat riots in 2002 and no one was charged? This is why the Muslims of India have turned violent.

India should put its house in order before preaching to us. India also has separatist insurgencies in eight States and the Naxalites are gaining ground in many states. In addition to this messy situation she has to deal with the situation in J and K and with it Pakistan and the ISI. Her hands are indeed full. Her involvement in our country is merely to appease a small vociferous Tamil minority in Tamil Nadu, we should put their interest in context and not get hyper sensitive and over react. There is not much that they could do; let us pre-empt by reaching out to our Tamil and Muslim minorities and empower them politically.

To conclude, the headline in the respected Hindu newspaper of the 6th of December – read "India angry and hurt as never before – Prime Minister Manmohan". How much more angry and hurt should we be that our giant neighbour with whom we have a 'blood relationship' should have funded, armed, trained and let loose on our small country over 5000 terrorists who have killed thousands and desecrated our holy places in the process killing hundreds who were at worship?

Should we not also be angry that India continues to seek to bully us. Why should any Sri Lankan apologise to a filthy terrorist from the slums of Tamil Nadu? India should perhaps apologise for what she has done to us and resume our relations afresh based on principles of mutual respect and non interference in our internal affairs.