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Ashok Mitra

Indian patriotism is now judged by the extent of one's expressed abhorrence for the LTTE

A failure to appreciate the other point of view has always been a major source of tragedy in the affairs of men. Can we not confirm the veracity of this statement by referring to the supposedly axiomatic notion of guilt by association propagated in this country concerning the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam?

The emergence of the LTTE phobia as a barometer of Indian patriotism has been an awesome development. Throughout the 1980s, the LTTE could have done no wrong according to the light of most Indian politicians, specially those in Tamil Nadu. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was lionised across the length and breadth of the state.

The Tamil Nadu political parties competed vigorously with one another in offering homage to the LTTE ethos. The Tigers were heavily subsidised by the state government of the day, never mind whether the identity tag it flaunted was that of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Even Indira Gandhi, then prime minister of the country, was wont to express, in near explicit terms, her admiration for the heroic cause the LTTE represented. After all, were not the Tamils of Sri Lanka flesh of our flesh, descendants of emigrants from our land who had settled themselves in the island country across the Strait of Palk and were currently embarked on a battle to ensure an honourable place for themselves under the Sri Lankan sky?

The LTTE's struggle was for establishing a separate identity for the island country's Tamils; the latter were brave, intense patriots; hundreds of them had already laid down their lives for the great cause; the rest of them were still at the task.

There were other Tamil groups around who too were, either actively or passively, participating in the movement for Tamil autonomy. Surpassing their achievements though was the valour and fearlessness displayed by the LTTE cadres -- men, women and children.

Deploying various signals, Indira Gandhi conveyed this nation's sympathy and appreciation for the fight for self-determination the LTTE was engaged in. She offered it much in the manner successive AIADMK and DMK governments in Tamil Nadu did: generous assistance from the Union government's coffers. She arranged for transit and relief camps to bet set up, by the Research and Analysis Wing personnel, in different parts of Tamil Nadu to accommodate Tamil refugees who had swum across to Indian shores from the Jaffna peninsula.

She went to the extent of favouring Prabhakaran with a benediction she had not agreed to offer to any of the state governments: The LTTE was accorded permission to install a transmitting centre in Tamil Nadu from where it beamed hortatory messages and instructions to its cadres and followers in the northern and eastern stretches of Sri Lanka.

Rajiv Gandhi, at least during the initial phase of his tenure, considered the LTTE as one of the inheritances left behind by his mother. Indira Gandhi was Prabhakaran's patron. She was acknowledged as such by the LTTE leader. There was therefore no question, according to the structure of logic Rajiv Gandhi set up for himself, why Prabhakaran should not -- in gratitude for all the favours granted to him -- continue to pay obeisance to him, the son and successor of Indira Gandhi.

The young Indian prime minister, egged on by his equally young corps of friends and advisers, proceeded further. He began to dream dreams of establishing himself as South Asia's political superlord. The then Sri Lanka president, at his wits's end in trying to cope with the LTTE uprising, was most keen to humour Rajiv Gandhi along. The upshot was the swift signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka friendship treaty.

One important aspect of the treaty was the decision to despatch Indian troops to search and disarm the Tamil population settled in the Jaffna region and thereby hasten the pace of pacification of Tamil insurgency. Certain clauses were inserted in the treaty to satisfy Tamil sensitivities, but nobody bothered to check with the Tamil leaders whether they were in fact satisfied.

Prabhakaran was picked up by Indian security personnel on the eve of signing the treaty and produced, as a near captive, before the presence of the Indian prime minister. He was commanded to lend support to the Indo-Sri Lanka accord. Notwithstanding much armtwisting, Prabhakaran remained a sullen, reluctant journeyman. These are harsh, inescapable facts. Indian troops did not exactly cover themselves with glory during their search and destroy operations in Jaffna; the Sri Lanka Tamils seethed with resentment at the behaviour of the government of the country they used to reverentially refer to as their ancient land.

Did they not traditionally draw inspiration from India's glorious history of independence? What particularly hurt them was the realisation that the Indian expedition was by no stretch a benign, non-violent affair; killings and other roughness were freely indulged in by Rajiv Gandhi's troops.

A failure to understand the processes of thought of the other person can cause havoc to interpersonal as well as international relations. Cast yourself in the frame of mind of an average LTTE partisan. Right or wrong, it would be only natural for him to nurse bitterness toward the Indian leadership. In these days, when chemical explosives are a ubiquitously available substance, and the LTTE had specialised in raising a hand of fiercely patriotic suicide bombers, the happening at Sriperumbudur was therefore almost inevitable.

Since that grisly occurrence, the LTTE has been a taboo word as much in the rest of India as in Tamil Nadu. Things have come to such a pass that Indian patriotism is judged by the extent of one's expressed abhorrence for the Sri Lanka Tamil terrorist outfit.

Has not the time arrived for Indians to liberate themselves from this self-imposed bind? An assassination, howsoever dastardly, cannot be turned into a permanent factor for resolving complex, crucial political issues. There can be no question of doubting the quality of our goodwill and fellow feeling towards the people of Sri Lanka, including its Sinhalese speaking majority.

It is also entirely appropriate that due credit be accorded to Sri Lanka's current president Chandrika Kumaratunga for her ceaseless efforts to hammer out an agreement on a truly federal constitutional structure for the island country that will broadly satisfy the LTTE's aspirations. It is a tragedy that a mutually satisfactory solution has not yet been found. That by itself, however, constitutes no argument for condemning wholesale either the Sri Lankan president or the LTTE supreme leader.

Nor can the suspicion, well grounded or otherwise, of the active involvement of LTTE in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination be enough reason to treat it as evil incarnate for eternity and treat its goals and objectives with zero sympathy. It would be extraordinarily foolish if the credentials of any Indian politician or, for that matter, any ordinary Indian citizen are to be judged by the touchstone of the attitude he or she maintains towards the exploits of Prabhakaran and his fearless followers.

Ashok Mitra