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Troubled Tamils in Lanka
The roles India can play
by G. Parthasarathy
WHEN Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa paid her first visit to New Delhi after assuming office, she forcefully articulated her concerns on Sri Lanka. Two issues concerning Sri Lankan Tamils stir passions in Tamil Nadu. The first is the conviction that after the elimination of the LTTE in 2009, Sri Lankan Tamils have been displaced from their homes and denied basic human rights. The second concern is the attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy on grounds of their encroaching into Sri Lankan territorial waters, beyond the 285-acre uninhabited Kachativu Island. Records of the British India Government since 1876 have showed Kachativu as part of Ceylon. The Raja of Ramnad, in the then Madras Presidency, however, laid claim to the island in the 1920s. Kachativu was recognised by India as Sri Lankan territory in agreements signed in 1974 and 1976. The demarcation of the maritime boundary, under which India acknowledged Sri Lankan sovereignty over Kachativu, was based on the internationally recognized principle of the median line and in consonance with Article 15 of the Law of the Seas. After the LTTE took control of northern Sri Lanka, fishing in each other’s territorial waters became contentious. The Sri Lankan navy resorted to what can only be termed as excessive and indiscriminate use of force. But in 2008, India and Sri Lanka agreed that excluding what Sri Lanka considers as “sensitive areas,” there would be “practical arrangements” to deal with bona fide Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen crossing the International Boundary Line. Sri Lanka would be well advised to see that the spirit of this agreement is respected by its navy. And those raising public passions in Tamil Nadu should remember that the objections to fishing in Sri Lankan waters by Indian fishermen come primarily from Sri Lankan Tamils. The exchange of letters accompanying the 1976 agreement makes it clear that fishermen of either party shall not engage in fishing in the other’s “historic waters, the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zones”. Inevitably, but sadly, triumphalism rather than reconciliation has characterised the reaction of sections of public opinion in Sri Lanka since the bloody ethnic conflict ended in 2009. There is broad agreement and substantive evidence, which has been endorsed by a UN panel, set up by the Secretary-General, on gross human rights violations by both the Sri Lankan government and the armed forces on the one hand and the LTTE on the other, particularly as the ethnic conflict drew to a close. Both sides were found to have resorted to summary executions and disappearances. The LTTE had adopted a policy of using civilians as human shields extensively during IPKF operations in 1987. There should, therefore, be no reason to doubt, as the UN panel acknowledges, that Prabhakaran, a confirmed psychopath who brutally killed virtually all politically influential Tamil leaders, cynically did likewise when the Sri Lankan army closed in on him in 2009. The ethnic conflict left over 300,000 Tamils, described as “internally displaced persons” (IDPs), in refugee camps. India has committed Rs 1000 crore ($ 220 million) for rehabilitating the IDPs, including provision of materials like cement and GI sheets, for rebuilding homes. Large-scale medical assistance has also been extended. A programme to reconstruct 50000 houses was undertaken in 2010 and Tamil farmers were assisted with the supply of seeds, tractors and agricultural implements. A similar approach has marked India’s commitment to broaden ties across the island-nation. India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner, with the Indian private and public sectors widely having a significant presence there. India has extended lines of credit of around $ 960 million for improvement for the Tsunami-damaged Colombo-Matara rail link and for rolling stock and wagons for the northern railway line. In a longer-term perspective, India would be well advised to assist the Tamil population in Sri Lanka by setting up educational and vocational training institutes in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Moreover, India has expressed its readiness to invest in the development of the power sector in Sri Lanka and there are moves for closer integration of the two economies through a Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement. The 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution, in pursuant to the 1987 Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene Accord, provided for the devolution of powers to provinces, including to the Tamil-dominated northern and multi-ethnic eastern provinces. President Rajapakse had averred that he would be prepared to go even beyond this framework to meet Tamil aspirations. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris, while visiting India, agreed that “a devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment, would contribute towards creating conditions for such reconciliation”. President Rajapakse seems to be having second thoughts on his past assurances. Doubts are now being expressed about abiding by the provisions of the 13th Amendment on crucial issues like law and order and lands. After landslide electoral triumphs for ending the ethnic conflict, President Rajapakse may end up losing the prospect of lasting harmony and amity if political expediency prevails over statesmanship. Following the reports of human rights violations by Sri Lanka’s armed forces, 17 countries, including France, Germany, Mexico and the UK, moved a resolution in the Human Rights Commission in May 2009 which sought to investigate reported human rights violations by the Sri Lankan armed forces. India, together with countries like Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and others had this move rejected. These countries instead backed a resolution which was passed by 29 votes for and 12 against, which condemned the LTTE and called on the Sri Lanka government to proceed with efforts for national reconciliation and resettlement of IDPs. Given the contents of the recent report of the panel constituted by the UN Secretary-General, which alludes to large-scale violation of human rights by the Sri Lankan government, the 2009 resolution will inevitably be revisited and reviewed internationally. India has spared no effort to assist and cooperate with Sri Lanka, to eliminate the LTTE and to deal with international pressures mounted on its neighbour in international forums. Sri Lanka, in turn, will hopefully realise the importance of abiding by the solemn assurances it has given to India of going beyond the 13th Amendment to meet the legitimate aspirations of its Tamil population. While the Tamil demands for the merger of the northern and eastern provinces are untenable, objections to the provisions of the 13th Amendment about the transfer of limited powers on law and order and on lands were not countenanced by both former President Kumaratunga and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. One hopes President Rajapakse will do
likewise.
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Need sound sleep
by Ravia Gupta
SOUND sleep sounds great, but remember when you had it last time? Well, at least I don’t remember having enjoyed it in the past many years. May be the last time I did, I was in my mother’s lap, extremely protected and cushioned, no baggage of the day’s aftermath, without any plans for the next day, without any guilt, without any nightmares. Wondering if there is a way to get it back. How ever hard I try to get some ‘sound sleep’, each time, I fail miserably, and now I have quite given up on the idea. Even to get ordinary sleep, without any pills or liquor shots, is a blessing these days. Recently, after a long day’s work when I was trying hard to get some sleep, for once without solving my life’s puzzle with my “eyes closed”, I got a call from one of my friends, who recently got married and was struggling with her roles of being a 21st century career-oriented girl and oh-so 20th century home-maker. At that odd hour, well past midnight, she wanted to know what husbands wanted from their wives these days. Why always girls had to adjust and change like they had no identity? Worse, what was easier, making a marriage work or breaking it up for a lone journey? Being a good friend, I obviously nodded to all that she said and suggested to her to give some more time to her one-year-old marriage. But after she hung up without being much convinced, I started to think how everything had changed in India except for the plight of women. Earlier, our moms made compromises with career and home and now even after ages we are also expected to do the same! We have only added to our woes. Despite adding more roles, we still have to don some more. Finding no solution, just when I turned to see the sun rise I remembered to catch up with some sleep, I decided to close my eyes and the moment I did that my mind again started groping in the dark. I thought what I can do when networking, travel and late nights are needed to prove your worth at work and these things are just not acceptable at home. Now, when we have left our home for career and in some cases let go of career for home, what more addition can be done to our roles? I guess instead of multiplying our roles it’s high time we did some division now. After all, I guess, this will help us to get some “sound sleep”. The only concern is if our male counterparts will support this
division.
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Cultural wastelands
Either the government of Haryana believes the state does not have any talent for visual and performing arts, or, it is not interested in promoting it. Why else would it not think it necessary to have state chapters of Sangeet Natak and Lalit Kala Akademi? Besides, it has not even designated
an independent director for the department of culture, which has been clubbed with the department of public relations.
Vandana Shukla
 LIKE sedimentary rocks, the history of Haryana is formed by several layers of mythological, historical and cultural materials, precipitated over hundreds of years. But, the state government does not need cultural bodies to take care of its cultural landscape spread across its twenty one districts. This makes Haryana a state of contradictions. While the Disneyland of Indian culture showcased at Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon, shrieks in coarse and gaudy distortions of the culture of this land, on the outer periphery of the same town, khaps claim a different route to culture in the name of protecting tradition. In the middle of it all is a government, which is clueless about how to spell culture in a state where it is used as a synonym for agriculture.The genesis of the state’s cultural identity- crisis lies in the historical and geographical similarities, shared with the cultural roots and off -shoots of the state from which it was bifurcated in 1966- Punjab. Like Punjab, the state had been close to the seat of power in Delhi, for centuries invaders had marched through its lands, destroying all that it nurtured. All the three major battles of Panipat (1526, 1556, 1761) were fought here, apart from the mythological dharm yuddh of Kurukshetra.
Panels from the site museum of Bhima Devi Temple in Pinjore, result of a chance discovery which led to unearthing of a large number of beautiful sculptures and architectural remnants of Gurjar Pratihara School of Art of 8th to 12th century AD. The Style and treatment of these Sculptures is very close to those of the Khajuraho temples
in Madhya Pradesh. Photos by the writer |
The Babel effect Almost the same could be said of Punjab. Yet, there are differences. Right after the state’s inception, the emphasis was laid on providing better infrastructure ( with peripheral towns of Delhi turning to industry). As a result, the bureaucracy provided one of the best infrastructures, especially a network of 44 bird-named tourist complexes dotting the five national highways, in a state which had almost nothing to boast of in terms of tourist attraction. Not that the best hands to nurture and promote culture belong to bureaucracy, it is perhaps the only state which does not have a separate department of culture, to identify and promote talent in the field of arts. Hence, there is no director for the department of culture in Haryana, which, in fact, is clubbed with the department of public relations. Understandably, the state has no cultural policy. Since there is no dearth of money in the state, impeccable infrastructure is created for the cultural bodies. Buildings and auditoriums with marbled floors and furnishings gape in awe of their own emptiness, as the occupants to suit their grandeur remain awaited. The state boasts of four language academies, perhaps the only state to offer such respect to so many languages! Apart from Hindi, Sanskrit and Punjabi, it also has an Urdu Academy. A multi-storeyed impressive building is in place at Panchkula to house them with honour, but, do not ask the relevance of the work carried on in these academies? Haryana Sahitya Academy, which is also responsible for taking care of Haryanvi literature initiated a novel project, of starting pathak manch( reader’s club) in all the 21 districts of Haryana. The project did well for promotion of creative writing and reading in small towns, but, for reasons best known to the government, it was scrapped. Not that availability of funds was a problem, the budget was raised from Rs 70 lac to Rs 2 crore. The academies do not have a plan to promote and propagate the languages by way of bringing in fresh talent. And, people of the state have a legitimate reason to demand, why is there no separate academy for Haryanvi in Haryana? Even though poets like Suresh Sharma and Ashok Chankradhar have popularised Haryanvi. Lost in separation Whereas Punjab could get a college of art, in lieu of the Mayo School of Art, it was forced to leave behind due to the partition of India in 1947, Haryana could not get any, when it bifurcated from Punjab. No wonder, it does not have any achievements in the field of fine arts. Art flourishes with institutions and patrons, the state has created none. Even though, most famed artists of the country like Subodh Gupta, Krishen Khanan, Raghu Rai etc live in Gurgaon, the state can claim no share in their greatness.Neither serious buyers nor promoters of art take the state under their radar. Then, the state never thought of creating a state chapter of the national academies for art and culture; Sangeet Natak Akademi, and Lalit Kala Akademi. For years a few voices in the state, who would like to see the state come out of its cultural inertia, have been demanding establishment of the Akademies, but, to no avail. Last year, Pt Jasraj, the renowned vocalist of the Hindustani classical music, who hails from Pili Mandori village of district Fatehabad, requested the state chief minister to let Sangeet Natak Akademi be opened in Haryana to promote classical music, no concrete development has taken place on this front so far. A few universities and colleges have introduced courses in fine arts, but none has been able to produce artists of repute. For namesake, the state claims to have its own Haryana Kala Academy, whose scope remains confined to folk music and dance. 2000-year- old grazing fields A state so rich with layered histories of different periods, from the time of Mahabharata to the last battle of Panipat, does not have a state museum of its own to showcase evidences of historical richness of the land. The state is littered with Buddhist sites of great historical relevance at Palwal, Srughna at Sugh, Kurukshetra, Agroha and Asthal Bohar. The Asandh stupa, said to be more than 2000-year-old is nation’s biggest Buddhist Stupa at 25-metres of height and at least 75 metres in diameter. It is a grazing field for cattle, bricks used in the stupa are removed by villagers for domestic use. These precious sites are wastelands of our heritage, turned barren with neglect and callousness. The story of the Sufi sites is no different.The sole Shri Krishna Museum that the government created in 1987 at Kurukshetra lacks imagination in both creating an ambience, and for the manner of showcasing artefacts in a structured and planned manner. The state has immense untapped potential in the field of arts and literature which can be explored only by creative interventions, feels Desh Nirmohi, former director, Haryana Sahitya Academy. While Kamal Tiwari, chairperson, Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, who had been associated with the Dept of Culture Haryana, says, “A well-defined cultural policy alone can monitor and promote cultural growth in a proper manner. In the absence of it, whims and fancies of the bureaucracy will continue to shape or distort it.” Small endeavours for a vast reach These are tales of sincere endeavours taken up by resolute individuals. Late Swami Omanand Saraswati who established Jhajjar Museum, or the Archaeological Museum of Gurukul in 1959, collected artefacts for the largest museum in the state by personally travelling through the length and breadth of the country. His collection of antique coins, rare manuscripts, sculptures, idols and the famous 427 copper leaves, on which Satyartha Prakash - the great work of Swami Dayananda Saraswati had been written, were bought for a selfless cause, to be preserved for the land where Arya Samaj movement had made a great impact. Karnal based HIFA ( Haryana Institute of Fine Arts), in its concerted effort achieved what the cash-rich government failed in doing; recognising and promoting unsung talent from the field of art, culture and heritage conservation. The organisation started working in 1994, by organising school level music classes and painting workshops. In the absence of support from the government and the corporate sector, it involved people for support- in raising funds as well as promoting cultural events in a well planned, organised and phased manner. Today, apart from preventing many dying traditions and arts of the state- like the been players, the sarangi players, terra cotta artisans, to facilitating art exhibitions of contemporary art from the state, and organising music festivals and kavya sammelans, the organisation is working towards preserving and protecting saang and ragini, in its true form, free of vulgarisation that has seeped in due to absence of patronage. They have also instituted 21 awards, in almost all fields of art and culture and have been honouring artists without fail, every year. Sangeetlok of Ambala organises its annual festival of classical music on a regular basis despite grave financial constraints. Adi Manch, another city based NGO has been relentless in organising and promoting theatre festivals in the state. Dr Piyush Kumar of HIFA says, “If sports persons could be recognised and promoted with cash and kind, why not artists?”
Country side music Strangely, many villages in Haryana are named after the ragas from Hindustani and Karnatik music. In Dadri tehsil, several villages have names related to well known ragas like Nandyam, Sarangpur, Bilawala, Brindabana, Todi, Asaveri, Jaishri, Malakoshna, Hindola, Bhairavi, Gopi Kalyana etc. Similarly, in Jind district there are Jai Jai Vanti and Malavi villages.
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