LTTE chief was bitter that Rajiv had no secret plan for Tamil Eelam: Dixit

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Vellupillai Pirabhakaran was embittered that Rajiv Gandhi's Indo-Sri Lankan accord had no clandestine plans for a Tamil Eelam.

J N Dixit, who was the Indian high commissioner to Colombo at the crucial time, discloses this in his new book Assignment Colombo.

As ''he waited for the first opportunity to revert to violence'', Pirbhakaran was helped by the continuing support he received from Tamil Nadu leaders both politically and materially.

In fact, Rajiv Gandhi's expectation that once M G Ramachandran supported the agreement (which he did) he would have Tamil Nadu's full co-operation in implementing his policies in Sri Lanka was proved wrong.

Confident of TN's backing, Pirbhakaran refused to take on direct responsibility for running the Tamil provincial government in Sri Lanka, delaying the interim government's formation. He also knew that the Indian Peace Keeping Force would act with inhibitions and would be subject to restraint because of India's deep sympathy for the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Dixit says the criticism that the accord did not fulfil its objectives and that the IPKF's withdrawal without completing its task was a foreign policy failure is valid.

The first cause of the failure is that Indian interests did not succeed in executing ''our policies and in managing our involvement in a coordinated manner''. More importantly, the moment the agreement faced hurdles, the Indian public opinion did not show sufficient political awareness about the implications for Sri Lanka and India were the agreement to fail. It became ''critical of Rajiv Gandhi which resulted in the erosion of our collective political will to sustain our policy objectives''.

The V P Singh government, which succeeded Rajiv Gandhi, transmuted this lack of political will into operational decisions which reversed Indian policies towards Sri Lanka, resulting in the failure of the agreement.

This might have gained India the Sinhalese's appreciation and spurious ''good conduct'' certificates from other countries, but it did not serve Sri Lanka or India's long-term interests.

The agreement failed because Rajiv Gandhi decided to sign the agreement on the basis of predictions and advice conveyed to him by his advisers which in retrospect were inaccurate and over-optimistic. He can be blamed for the decision to sign the agreement but not for the Indian establishment's collective judgment.

Meanwhile, the LTTE expressed ''deep dismay and displeasure'' over the the United States's decision terming it a ''terrorist organisation''.

In a statement released in Colombo, the LTTE's political committee said it was ''regrettable'' that America, which had secured its own independence after a violent struggle and had championed the cause of freedom, had chosen to discredit the Tamils's ''legitimate struggle''.

''We consider the indictment by the US state department unfair, unfounded and irresponsible,'' it said.

The US action has far-reaching consequences as it would encourage the Sri Lankan government to pursue its policy of war and military repression against the Tamils and thereby escalate the ongoing armed conflict, it added. The action would not in any way affect the popular support and sympathy the LTTE enjoys among the world's Tamils, it asserted.

UNI

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