Some events in history remain in the realms of the unknown and hence a matter of much speculation.
At an event organised by Rupa Publications and Madras Book Club here on Thursday, veteran politician K. Natwar Singh, author of One Life is Not Enough , talked of how Prime Ministers took some tough decisions. He was in conversation with N. Ram, Chairman, Kasturi and Sons Ltd.
Asked if the mess in Sri Lanka could have been avoided, Mr. Singh said: “Too many things had gone wrong from the very beginning,” he said. While New Delhi had a policy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran pursued a policy that Northern Sri Lanka was an extension of Tamil Nadu.He recalled that the then Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardhane, fearing coup, sought India’s help, during a discussion with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. “We got sucked into the mess. Prabhakaran was intercepting most of our messages and was always one step ahead.
“Rajiv was such a nice person. By 1991, Rajiv was a different person… he became aware of the mistake he had made.”
