The Rajapaksa regime has time and again sought to recast demands for an international war crimes probe as an attack on its sovereignty and used it to further mobilise domestic support for Sinhala nationalism. To mitigate the impact of global condemnation, it retaliates with its own allegation that the international arena is seeking to interfere in its internal affairs. Its assurance that it is keen to resolve reconciliation and ethnic conflict issues is not borne out by corresponding action; there has been no formal report on accountability and the process, if it exists, is quite opaque. Little wonder that the Northern Provincial Council has sought a resolution rejecting Sri Lanka’s own inquiry mechanism (“Sri Lanka’s Northern Council seeks international war crimes probe”, Jan. 28). In all this, the plight of the minorities continues to be in grave condition.
Mahfooz Farzana,Gaya
Now that Sri Lanka’s NPC has sought an international war crimes probe, the likes of Jayalalithaa, Vaiko and Karunanidhi should let the Sri Lankan Tamils — led by their elected Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran, well regarded as a moderate voice — to fight for their own justice. Indian Tamil leaders can afford to withdraw their own energies from the Tamils issue and redirect them towards addressing national issues.
C.V. Venugopalan,Palakkad
