Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

CHENNAI: The “threats and harassment” that members of the press continue to experience in Sri Lanka remain a “significant concern” to the United States, according to Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs. “That continues to be an important part of our dialogue,” he said, adding that the human rights situation and media freedom are an important part of the reconciliation process.

Speaking at a media roundtable here, Mr. Blake said he was “very impressed with the progress made in terms of resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the camps in Manik Farms and elsewhere.” With 1,15,000 IDPs in Manik Farms no longer under detention and the rest resettled, the U.S. would welcome the completion of the resettlement process by the end of January, as per the date set by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Touching on the need for political reconciliation and devolution of power, Mr. Blake said, “I know that President Rajapaksa has said that following the national elections next year, he intends to take additional steps on political reconciliation. But he has not yet enumerated what those steps will be.”

Mr. Blake said it was important to have measures to devolve power to the provinces so that elections could be held in the Northern Province and IDPs who lived under the rule of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could “finally have the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights to vote and choose their own leaders.”

Responding to questions on intelligence sharing with India, Mr. Blake said, “Home Minister Chidambaram made a very successful visit to the United States in September, during which he had very productive meetings with a full range of counterparts in the U.S. — the Director of the FBI, the head of the CIA and the Attorney-General.” Mr. Chidambaram also discussed mega-city policing with the authorities in New York.

Mr. Blake highlighted other areas such as healthcare and education, where cooperation has crystallised since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit. He said U.S. universities welcomed opportunities to invest in and partner with Indian counterparts as more foreign investment is allowed in the Indian education sector.

Labels: IDPs, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manik Farms, Manmohan Singh, mega-city policing, P. Chidambaram, Robert Blake, Sri Lanka, U.S.

From The Hindu

CHENNAI: The call by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to accord permanent resident status for over one lakh Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the State has triggered more demands from political parties.

Welcoming the resolution adopted by the DMK at a conference last week, D. Ravikumar, general secretary, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, who had made a study of the conditions of the refugees three years ago, said the measures taken by authorities here would give India a moral right to seek better treatment of internally-displaced Tamils in Sri Lankan camps.

Urging the administration to increase financial assistance for the refugees, Mr. Ravikumar said the State should exert pressure on the Centre to bring out a comprehensive legislation on refugees.

Responding positively to the DMK resolution, S. Ramadoss, Pattali Makkal Katchi founder, asked what follow-up action DMK president and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi would take to make the resolution a reality.

“Admission of guilt”

D. Pandian, State secretary of the Communist Party of India, termed the resolution an “admission of guilt” that the refugees would not be able to go back to their homeland.

He held the State and Central governments responsible.

Supporting the idea of giving citizenship to the refugees, Mr. Pandian, however, said that even in such an eventuality, the Centre should ensure that the Sri Lankan Tamils’ right to return to their home country was protected. There should be no compulsion on the refugees.

L. Ganesan, Bharatiya Janata Party’s State president, said that spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravisankar had already made a suggestion on similar lines.

With the Sri Lankan government’s war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam over, the Centre should treat the refugees in Tamil Nadu better.

The authorities should relax conditions on them, particularly in matters concerning the search for livelihood opportunities. The Centre should also work for their early return to Sri Lanka.

“Goodwill gesture”

S.C. Chandrahasan, founder of the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR), an NGO that works with Sri Lankan refugees in the State, termed the resolution “goodwill gesture.”

OfERR would start a consultative process entailing discussions in the camps, at the district and regional levels, after which a decision might be made as to how they could respond to the DMK resolution.

Labels: DMK, OfERR, refugees, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu

From The Hindu (partial contribution)

CHENNAI: While ruling out senior positions for cine stars who gain lateral entry into the party, All-India Congress Committee secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that anyone who wanted to join the party and the Youth Congress were welcome as long as they were not “terrorists or fundamentalists.”

Actor Vijay had met Mr. Gandhi in New Delhi some time ago amid reports that the Congress was planning to rejuvenate the organisation using film stars.

On the “open system” for entry into the Congress, Mr. Gandhi said: “When we started this process, Mr. Vijay expressed an interest in understanding the process… and we explained our process to him.”

Speaking to presspersons, Mr. Gandhi said, “Anybody who wants to come into our system is more than welcome to come. As long as the person is not a criminal, and I don’t think Mr. Rajinikant is a criminal, he is more than welcome to come.” The Congress did not create any roadblocks; however, the party was not reaching out to any particular person, he said.

Sri Lankan Tamils issue

Denying the allegation that the Centre had not done anything to mitigate the sufferings of Tamils in Sri Lanka, Mr. Gandhi said: “India is applying massive pressure on Sri Lanka to protect the rights of Tamils affected by the ethnic strife. It had sent two senior functionaries, including the then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, to Colombo to talk to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Centre would do everything to protect the rights of Tamils,” he said. Moreover, his family, right from his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi, had deep sentiments for Tamils, not only in Sri Lanka but across the world, he said.

He said his three-day visit to the State was to monitor elections to various posts in the Youth Congress. Whether the party would go it alone in the next Assembly elections and issues regarding sharing of power with the DMK would have to be decided only by the high command .

Mr. Gandhi said he was overwhelmed by the response from the youth for elections to various posts in the Youth Congress. He made it clear that it would be a shallow idea to follow the Uttar Pradesh model, where the party successfully contested independently in the last general elections, as issues differed from one State to another. In the case of Uttar Pradesh, the party considered various options and finally decided to go it alone. That could not be a standard formula for all States, he added.

Stating that factionalism in the Congress in Tamil Nadu was not a major issue, he said it existed in all parties and in all States.

Labels: AICC, DMK, factionalism, Mahinda Rajapakse, Pranab Mukherjee, Rahul Gandhi, Rajinikant, Sri Lanka, Uttar Pradesh, Vijay, Youth Congress