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India-Sri Lanka peace accord marks 20 years with war
Monday, 30 July 2007 - 8:56 PM SL Time
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When India and Sri Lanka signed a peace pact two decades ago it was hailed as a landmark that could end Asia`s longest running civil war. But since then, the bloodshed has only got worse.
The 1987 accord envisaged the disarming of Tamil Tiger separatists by India, which had armed and provided them safe haven, and Sri Lanka granting greater autonomy to its ethnic minority.
Neither was done, said analysts, who now question the accord`s relevance.
`I think the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement is now passe,` said retired Sri Lankan diplomat Nanda Godage who was involved in negotiations at the time.
The pact, signed on July 29 and supported by the United States, European powers and the United Nations was resisted by hardliners on both sides of the ethnic divide in Sri Lanka. It led to riots that claimed at least 50 lives.
Then Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi signed the accord with Sri Lankan president Junius Jayewardene in curfew-bound Colombo. Four years later, Gandhi was assassinated by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber.
Both the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils have objected to the accord for different reasons. The Sinhalese saw the accord leading to Indian military intervention while the Tamils saw their campaign for independence undermined, experts have said.
And as the accord`s 20th anniversary passed by quietly on Sunday, Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were still locked in intense combat across the island.
New Delhi, which was directly involved in the conflict in the mid 1980s, washed its hands of Sri Lanka after a disastrous 32-month deployment of its troops to disarm Tamil rebels.
India withdrew its troops following a Sri Lankan government request in March 1990. By then, it had lost over 1,200 of its soldiers and many more wounded while trying to invoke the provisions of the pact.
New Delhi has since resisted calls to get involved again, instead putting an economic and cultural focus on its ties with the island.
But according to Godage, `in the absence of revoking or abrogating it, the agreement stands valid` on paper -- and some continue to see it as a potential starting point for future peace efforts.
`The accord still provides a good starting point for a political solution to end Sri Lanka`s conflict,` said Sunanda Deshapriya, director at the Centre for Policy Alternatives think-tank.
`The question is the political will,` he added, explaining that neither the LTTE nor the Sri Lankan government appeared to be interested in a negotiated settlement for the time being.
The accord saw the amendment of Sri Lanka`s constitution to grant greater autonomy to minority Tamils, but it was never implemented fully due to lack of political will by Sinhala majority governments. Fighting has also prevented elections to semi-autonomous provincial councils.
Moderate Tamil politician Dharmalingam Sithadthan said the pact was still the best hope for minority Tamils to secure greater autonomy despite the various peace initiatives since then.
`The 13th amendment (to the constitution in line with the peace pact) is something that we can build on,` Sithadthan said. `That is the only piece of legislation on devolution and we can improve on that.`
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Thambi
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 30 Jul 2007 14:02:54 GMT Report for Abuse
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| Accords will not work wtih srilanka , separation is the best will remain for last , accord or agreement wont work with GoSL . |
Ruchira
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 30 Jul 2007 14:06:38 GMT Report for Abuse
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| Even the accord is no more, India has captured Sri Lankan market |
Sweetlady
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 30 Jul 2007 14:14:39 GMT Report for Abuse
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IPKF should have allowed to finish their targets. It was all President Premadasa's big blunder!
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Thambi
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30 Jul 2007 14:14:42 GMT Report for Abuse
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so you killed Rajiw Ghandhi
do you mean the AK-47 bud treatment ? dman it was live on the TV while GoSL force attacking prime minister of Inida . |
ajan
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 30 Jul 2007 14:16:16 GMT Report for Abuse
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Its not new for srilanka to sign a agreement and not implemented.
This Indo Lanka is just one of them. |
Thambi
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30 Jul 2007 14:22:35 GMT Report for Abuse
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Well
according to this accord, East and north has been merged
we have de merged it and wiped out all the vanni SK ltte
you will feel it when Anurathapure comes under tamil rules . |
Revy
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30 Jul 2007 14:23:32 GMT Report for Abuse
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so you killed Rajiw Ghandhi
He would have died much earlier, but as usual incompetent SL military couldn't even land a strike on a man standing right in front of them, pathetic no? |
Sweetlady
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30 Jul 2007 14:27:06 GMT Report for Abuse
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you will feel it when Anurathapure comes under tamil rules .
Malli you are watching a beautiful dream!!
Don't wake-up, keep dreaming!!!
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Thambi
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30 Jul 2007 14:30:12 GMT Report for Abuse
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Sweetlady
Malli you are watching a beautiful dream!!
Don't wake-up, keep dreaming!
man landing in the moon was a dream too , it was written by Sir Arthur C. Clarke , without dream , you cant move forward on progress . |
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