Col R Hariharan served in Sri Lanka as the head of intelligence for the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990 and is still well connected with the Indian security services.
In his interesting analysis of how the LTTE was defeated, and the strength and weaknesses of today’s Sri Lankan security forces, Hariharan concludes by saying:
“The time for implementation of 13th amendment even with additional palliatives is well past and it is unlikely to satisfy all parties. It is essential for India to take two initiatives to bring ethnic amity and normalcy. It can use its good offices with Sri Lanka Tamil Diaspora to open a positive dialogue with Sri Lanka government while prevailing upon President Rajapaksa to come up with a political agenda for implementation without any more delay. Secondly, extend large scale aid and credit for the reconstruction and development of war ravaged north and east to enable speedy return to normal life in these provinces.”
Hariharan is unlikely to really believe India has “good offices” with Tamil Diaspora! Many in the international community, leave aside the Tamil Diaspora, hold India particularly to blame for acting as the anaesthetist that helped the international community ignore the atrocities as they were happening and protecting the Government of Sri Lanka since.
Viraj Mendis, a Sinhalese lawyer with the International Human Rights Association, has recently said that “if not for the position that India took on the Tamil struggle, the international perception about the oppression of the Tamils would not have occurred.” According to Mendis, India turned 180 degrees on the Tamil question in Sri Lanka, and that “without this change the genocide would not have happened.”
More likely, this is Indian civil servant language for telling the Government of India to try harder. And on that everyone could agree!
Col Harihan’s analysis: http://www.colhariharan.org/2010/04/sri-lanka-armed-forces-dynamics-of.html
Viraj Mendis and other comments about Indian complicity in the Sri Lankan war crimes: http://karthikrm.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/report-of-the-april-15th-convention-on-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka/