Chennai (Tamil Nadu): At home, he is reviled and faces resentment but has received support from abroad. At a time when there is mounting pressure on Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the old warhorse of the island nation, Ranil Wickremesinghe, becoming Prime Minister is seen as a move to help the clan against whom there is public anger. It has neither doused the continuing protests nor given a sense of confidence to the ethnic Tamils that they could hope for genuine power-sharing in the country.
“This is nothing but old wine in a new bottle. In the twilight of his political career, Ranil has become the Man Friday for the Rajapaksa clan. What can be expected from this cosmetic exercise,” says Sarveswaran.
“Being a lone MP of his party, United National Party (UNP), he is dependent upon the lawmakers of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) of the Rajapaksas. His cabinet will be drawn from them. Further, this only helps the hegemonic Sinhala establishment to retain their grip on power,” he explains, adding that Ranil could be making a desperate attempt to resurrect his sagging political fortunes with this.
In his view, the root cause of the Sri Lankan economic crisis stems from militarisation and the absence of a vibrant manufacturing sector which is never addressed by the Sinhala political class of all shades, including the Left. The Northern and Eastern provinces, where the Tamils are concentrated, continue to be deprived of any development and they remain under the Army's watch. The war in 2009 in which the LTTE was decimated has ruined the economy.
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“Not only weapons were purchased from abroad, but even the uniform for soldiers and food packets for the frontline were also imported. Even after the war, the Army gobbles up a large chunk of the national budget and Sri Lanka was beefing up its security forces. The question is who is the enemy of the country and whether a tiny nation requires such a vast Army?” asks the former provincial minister adding that the explicit purpose is to keep the Tamils under subjugation. The lion's share of Sri Lanka's foreign debt since independence, nearly 60 per cent, was during the reign of the Rajapaksas, it was pointed out.
Recalling the history of Sri Lanka siding with Pakistan during the Indo-Pak war and the political establishment being cosy with Beijing, Sarveswaran says Sinhala politicians who remain silent on the Chinese dragging them into a debt trap, make a hue and cry about Indian investments. As such, the Tamils are a pro-India constituency that New Delhi should realise and be proactive in securing their political rights.
On India's role, Sarveswaran said New Delhi should take steps to ensure that the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 is implemented. “So far, India has remained indifferent, allowing Colombo to unilaterally dilute and make it redundant. It is a bilateral treaty and India has a responsibility that it can't abandon. And, being a donor at this critical juncture, India should utilise the opportunity. The North and East should be merged again and made a single province with full autonomy,” he argues. The interests of India would be well served by the Tamils as their interests are aligned with that of New Delhi. Hence, India should no more look at the ethnic issue through the prism of the LTTE.
“Autonomy for the North and East, with adequate powers, will greatly facilitate the flow of investment from the Tamil diaspora leading to economic growth. If trade and industry flourished in the Tamil region, it will help in the growth of Sri Lanka as a whole. The diaspora is willing to invest but what prevents that is the absence of a conducive climate and powers for the Tamil provinces,” he explains, also calling upon other donors such as the US and Japan to put conditions to resolve the ethnic issue in a time-bound manner.
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