An anguished Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has condemned in strong words the Union Government’s action of inviting two Defence personnel from Sri lanka for a training programme at the elite Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the Nilgiris in the State.
In a hard-hitting letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, excerpts of which were released to the media on Sunday, Jayalalithaa described the move of the Union Government for inviting Wing Commander MS Bandara Dassanayake and Major CS Harishchandra Hettiarachchige to the DSSC as an act of “astounding insensitivity which greatly offends the sensitivities and sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu”.
She urged the Prime Minister to give suitable instructions to immediately discharge the two Sri lankan officers from the training course and to send them back to Sri lanka forthwith. She also wanted the Government, to issue a clear policy directive, that not to provide training or engage in any form of cooperation with the Sri lankan armed forces until satisfactory and credible action is taken by the Government of Sri lanka, to completely stop the human rights violations against the Tamil population in Sri lanka and to stop illegal attacks on fishermen belonging to Tamil Nadu.
“Despite the overwhelming groundswell of public opinion in Tamil Nadu against the continuing atrocities upon the civilian Tamil population in Sri lanka by the Sri lankan Government, the Government of India has in an act of astounding insensitivity, again invited two Defence personnel to join a training programme at the DSSC, The Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. I understand these officers have already reached Wellington and are undergoing a pre-training orientation programme, which began on May 27, 2013,” Jayalalithaa said in the letter.
She also reminded the Prime Minister of her previous three letters, all sent in 2012, conveying deep sense of outrage felt by the people of Tamil Nadu towards training of Sri lankan military personnel in Tamil Nadu in the recent past.
“You are well aware that there is a widespread feeling of revulsion and shock amongst the people of Tamil Nadu against the genocidal pogrom and continuing human rights violations affecting the innocent Tamils in Sri lanka. Further the entire fishermen community in Tamil Nadu is agitated and exercised over the repeated brutal attacks and arrests of innocent Tamil fishermen on the high seas by the Sri lankan Navy,” said Jayalalithaa.
She pointed out that though her Government had repeatedly conveyed protests to the Government of India in writing and also by resolutions in the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly condemning the hostile actions of Sri lanka, the Centre has always shown utter disregard for the emotions and feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu.
“In spite of all these vehement protests, with utter disregard for the emotions and feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu, the Government of India has again clandestinely permitted two more Sri lankan military officers to undergo training in the DSSC, at The Nilgiris,” said the Chief Minister.
She also told the Prime Minister that she was surprised by the statement made by Union Defence Minister AK Antony at Thanjavur on May 27 that “responding to the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu we have taken a decision not to provide training to Sri lankan military personnel in Tamil Nadu”. “The statement was made on the day the Sri lankans commenced their training at DSSC. I am amazed that the Union Defence Minister was unaware that his policy announcement was being flouted by his own Ministry. This is a very sorry commentary on the Government of India’s ambivalence and ad-hocism on a serious and emotive issue that affects the people of Tamil Nadu,” charged Jayalalithaa.
The Defense Services Staff College is one of the institutions of its kind in the whole world where training is imparted to aspiring staff officers of all the three services as also selected officers of the paramilitary, civil services and officers from friendly foreign countries. “It is at the DSSC, the think tank of the services that the middle piece officers of the Indian Armed Forces upgrade their knowledge from the mechanics of soldiering to the level of conception of ideas in the sphere of military, socio-political, economic and scientific fields and integrate them into the larger aspects of national life,” says a DSSC note.