|
|
|
|
Tsunamis won't stop
jihadis
By B Raman
Some
security aspects of the widespread tragedy caused
by the December 26 tsunamis have not received the
attention they deserve.
The first aspect
relates to the fact that areas inhabited by ethnic
minorities have been very badly affected in the
Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern provinces of
Sri Lanka and in the Car Nicobar area of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India.
The
fact that about half, if not more than half, of
the fatalities in Sri Lanka are of the Sri Lankan
Tamils in these two provinces has not been
highlighted either by the Sri Lankan authorities
or by the media. Even international media have
been focusing their coverage of the tragedy on
the areas inhabited by the Sinhalese majority, and
there has been very limited coverage of the impact
on the Tamil minority.
According to
statistics circulated by the websites of
pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
organizations in the West, 16,656 Tamils have been
killed - 14,212 of them in the eastern province
and the remaining in the Northern province. More
than 18,000 are missing; 18,481, including 13,731
of them in the Eastern province and the remaining
in the Northern province.
There is so far
no reason to disbelieve these statistics. The LTTE
seems to have done a better job of estimating the
human loss and material damage in the areas under
its control than the government has in the areas
under its control, and also in organizing relief
and rehabilitation. It has been organizing this
with its legendary thoroughness and the motivation
of its cadres.
The LTTE alleges that the
government has not been paying the same attention
to the relief and rehabilitation of the minority
Tamils as it has been doing for the majority
Sinhalese and that the Tamil minority areas are
not getting their fair share of the international
assistance flowing in.
Even if
one allows for a certain level of disinformation by
the LTTE for exploiting the present situation to
win back the loyalty of the Tamils of the
Eastern province - who had been showing increasing
signs of alienation because of the allegedly discriminatory
policies of the Northern-dominated LTTE political
leadership - the emergence of perceptions even in
some sections of the Tamil population that they
are being treated as second-class citizens in the
matters of relief and rehabilitation would further
alienate the Tamils from the Sinhalese and add to
the difficulties of finding a negotiated solution
to the Tamil problem.
The Andaman and
Nicobar island territory of India, which has been
the most affected in India, is inhabited by a
large number of settlers from mainland India in
the Andaman District. The Car Nicobar group of
islands, which is less developed and more
isolated, despite its strategic importance as a
window on Southeast Asia and a watchtower on the
Malacca Strait, is largely inhabited by indigenous
tribals.
Going by media reports, there
seems to be a perception that the relief and
rehabilitation measures for the local tribals are
not as satisfactory as those for the people from
the mainland. While this is due to extraordinary
difficulties arising from the isolation of some of
the islands and the almost total disruption of
shipping transport services for the first few days
after the tsunami struck the islands on December
26, there seems to be an unfortunate perception of
governmental inadequacy in rushing to the relief
of the native tribals.
Taking advantage of
this, Western non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) seem to be exercising pressure on the
government of India to let them go into Car
Nicobar to attend to the relief and rehabilitation
needs of the tribals. Keeping in view the
strategic importance of the area, the government
of India has rightly rejected their demands. Its
refusal to let them go in would carry conviction
with the international community only if it steps
up its own efforts on a crash basis. If Western
NGOs continue to give sermons to India on its
obligation to let them go into Car Nicobar, New
Delhi should not hesitate to tell them to first go
to the US naval base in Diego Garcia in the Indian
Ocean to estimate the humanitarian needs of the
people there.
The havoc wrought by the
tsunami has led to an admirable outpouring of
international assistance and sympathy for which
the countries of the region have reasons to be
grateful. The United Nations should have taken
over the leadership of this massive international
aid effort. Instead, the United States has taken
over the leadership and has reportedly roped in
India too as its partner. US naval ships and
military personnel have started moving into the
affected countries to organize the relief effort.
It has been reported that about 1,300 US marines
are likely to be deployed in Sri Lanka alone.
India has done well to reject US and
Western European offers of assistance. It has
enough financial, material and human resources of
its own to be able to take care of the relief and
rehabilitation needs of its population, whether on
the mainland or in the island territory.
The large-scale deployment of highly
visible US troops in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and
Thailand could make them attractive targets for
al-Qaeda, the Jemmah Islamiyah and other jihadi
terrorist organizations and add to the internal
security problems of the affected countries.
It would be wishful thinking to believe
that because of the enormous tragedy, the jihadi
terrorists will refrain from acts of terrorism in
the tsunami-ravaged countries due to a fear that
this could antagonize the local population. The
tragedy in Thailand has not prevented jihadi
terrorists from continuing their acts of terrorism
in the Muslim-majority provinces of southern
Thailand. They have never cared for public opinion
and fears of public revulsion have never been an
inhibiting factor for them.
B
Raman is additional secretary (retired),
cabinet government of India, New Delhi, and
currently director of the Institute for Topical
Studies, Chennai, and distinguished fellow and
convener, Observer Research Foundation (ORF),
Chennai chapter. E-mail: corde@vsnl.com.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information
on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2004 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
Asian Sex Gazette South Asian Sex News
|
|
|
