Trouble in the neighbourhood

The social media network Twitter erupted on Monday after several people tweeted that a cartoon in a Sri Lankan weekend newspaper depicting Indian Premier Manmohan Singh and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram in a crude way was demeaning to women and an insult to India.

As is apt to happen on Twitter, the issue created a furore with several Indians prompting a torrent of questions directed at Presidential Spokesman Bandula Jayasekera who also maintains a Twitter account, questioning whether the government was condoning the political cartoon. Jayasekera directed the queries to the publishers of the newspaper but the debate was in full swing over the next 24 hours with several people tagging the Twitter account of the Indian Prime Minister, “PMOIndia” in their tweets decrying the cartoon. The furore resulted in the Indian High Commission in Colombo officially writing to the Newspaper expressing concern about the cartoon’s content.

Anti-Indian sentiment following the attack on Sri Lankan pilgrims in Tamil Nadu last week has reached fever pitch, with several members of the government expressing disappointment about the lukewarm response to the incident from the Indian centre. Some government analysts claim that New Delhi can silence the south when it so wishes, as witnessed during its last Parliamentary election in 2009, implying that in this case, New Delhi is allowing its irritation with Colombo on its lack of movement on reconciliation to colour its perspective on the seriousness of the anti-Lankan sentiment in Tamil Nadu.

Following the attack on the pilgrims by pro-LTTE groups, the government of Sri Lanka issued a travel advisory to Sri Lankan citizens visiting Tamil Nadu. While some observers believe an advisory was premature and not thought through, especially given the relationship between the two neighbours, it may in fact have been a bold move on the part of the Sri Lankan state which has an obligation, after all, to protect and safeguard its citizens. To mitigate any diplomatic fallout from the advisory, both Sri Lankan envoys in India, High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam and Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai R.K.M.A. Rajakaruna have been quick to declare that the advisory would be removed as soon as possible and was in no way an indictment on Indo-Lanka relations. As High Commissioner Kariyawasam noted in an interview with NDTV following the pilgrim attack, both Sri Lanka and India are mature democracies that can weather these storms. In fact the entire issue is being dealt with maturely by the Sri Lankan government, at least overtly, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa deciding to go ahead with his proposed visit to Sanchi, a site sacred to Buddhists in Madhya Pradesh despite the attacks, a masterful diplomatic stroke aimed at signalling that Sri Lanka’s relations encapsulate India as a whole and are not directed by anti-Lankan sentiment in one southern state.

Sri Lanka will be keen to keep things civil with New Delhi, especially ahead of the forthcoming UNHRC session in Geneva in October, where India will head the troika of states reviewing Sri Lanka’s report, together with Spain and Benin. It is no secret that India is growing increasingly frustrated with the government’s lack of progress on reconciliation and greater devolution to the Tamils of the north, especially after the Congress-led Indian government backed the Rajapaksa administration whole-heartedly during its final offensive against the LTTE in 2009, ignoring the appeals of South India and Tamils all over the world.

At the time it seemed like Sri Lanka’s ties with the Indian centre were unshakable, with Colombo going so far as to declare a temporary lull in hostilities in April and early May 2009 until, while Tamil Nadu went to the polls to elect India’s next parliament on 13 May, to prevent the Congress’ chances being adversely impacted by the ongoing battles across the Palk Straits. But three years on, New Delhi is running out of patience with Colombo’s reticence and broken promises, leading to its decision to vote against Sri Lanka in support of the US led UNHRC resolution in March and even its lethargy in terms of reining in the south.

As far as New Delhi is concerned, it is time for Sri Lanka to start paying back, by making genuine efforts at reconciliation and reaching a power sharing arrangement with the Tamils. Back-peddling on these issues as Sri Lanka has done over the last six months since India registered its strongest protest yet by voting for the resolution, may not bode well for Colombo at the UPR.