Opinion is divided over whether India was right in remaining silent as the Sri Lanka deployed fighters and artillery against its own people.
Lt General Satish Nambiar says it was a “major military achievement” for the Lankan military, but he doesn’t necessarily agree with the tactics deployed, which was a “political decision.” Nambiar points out that Indian armed forces would “never use jets and artillery on our own citizens.”
A recently retired officer says he feels New Delhi was complicit in many ways in the human tragedy that accompanied the operations. “Whatever may be your hatred for the LTTE and Prabhakaran, India should not have ignored the human tragedy. We should have intervened several months ago,” he argues.
There is a clamour in the international community for investigation into war crimes, a factor the Lankan government will have to deal with as the extent of the human tragedy emerges. “Some heads will have to roll,” says an intelligence officer.
