India’s diplomacy is all over the place. First it was the faux-pas with the Italian marines, then the hue and cry over the Maldivian tug of war and now the vote against Sru Lanka. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) was a dreaded organization. The LTTE is on record for unabashedly violating human rights like no other armed insurgent group has ever done. In its bloody 26-year-long history, it had let loose a reign of terror not only in Sri Lanka but in India too. Over one-lakh civilians, 22,000 soldiers and 30,000 LTTE rebels were killed in the civil war in the island nation. The LTTE, for the first time, pioneered the use of suicide belts. The LTTE targeted Rajiv Gandhi, one of the tallest leaders of India, who was blown to bits in a rally at Sriperumbudur by a female suicide bomber. Two years later, it was the turn of President Premadasa in Colombo. An unsuccessful attempt was made to assassinate yet another Sri Lanka President, Chandrika Kumaratunga. She survived, losing one eye. Selectively, hardliner Sinhala Sri Lankan Ministers were also targeted. Even Tamil opposition politicians were not spared. The LTTE supremo, Prabhakaran, would not tolerate any rivals even though they were from his own fraternity.
In this context the US sponsored resolution at UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, criticizing human rights record of Sri Lanka and calling upon Colombo to conduct an independent and credible investigation into alleged war crimes, mocks at the atrocities committed by LTTE. It is in sharp contrast to the mayhem let loose by the dreaded organization, led by cold-blooded murderer Prabhakaran. However, what must bring some relief to Sri Lanka, was the fact that the resolution avoided references like call for international probe into alleged human rights violation or “genocide” in the context of civilian killings during the prolonged conflict. The resolution was adopted with 25 votes in favour, 13 against and eight abstentions in the 47-member body. Pakistan came further close to Colombo by voting against the resolution, saying it would fail to engage Sri Lanka constructively and negatively impact the ongoing reconciliation process.
