Friday 27 August 2021

 Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

26 August   2021

 

 

American Forces & IPKF

The more I learn about American troops pulling out of Afghanistan, the deeper I dwell on Indian Peace Keeping Force’s role in Sri Lanka. This has been highlighted by some sections of the Tamil Diaspora.

As per Economy Next report - ‘Sri Lanka recognizes Taliban authority in Kabul, accepts ‘amnesty’ – one is entitled to conclude that they are also of similar views as Tamil MP Sritharan who referred to the Taliban as ‘Freedom Fighters’. Given that Mr Premadasa of the UNP was the then leader who partnered the LTTE to eliminate the IPFK. The IPKF’s actions were no different to that of the Sri Lankan Army accused of war-crimes. The reasoning from Wikipedia is as follows:

[From October 1987, the IPKF commenced war on the LTTE in order to disarm them. During this conflict, the IPKF raped thousands of Tamil women. One IPKF official excused these rapes by stating the following: "I agree that rape is a heinous crime. But my dear, all wars have them. There are psychological reasons for them such as battle fatigue."]

This was because like the American forces in Afghanistan, IPKF was a foreign force in Jaffna. It was LTTE that failed to pass on that intelligence despite their training in India. When there is no common belief each side takes its benefit as it thinks fit.

But it was the same India that would come to the rescue of Sri Lankan Tamils if the conflicts are not managed internally. If Tamil militants had recognised Indian government as their senior in politics – the war would have been over in 1987. But those who desire separation so they can rule – would not easily give up that freedom to rule as they liked. The result is jungle – due to jungle  

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