Rajapakse's Victory and India's Interests

Sri Lanka, a small island country in the Indian Ocean held its presidential elections recently. President Mahinda Rajapakse once again succeeded in emerging victorious. He effectively replied to his opponents by scoring a triumph with a big majority. His rival, former Army General Sarath Fonseka, had to face defeat.

Suppression of Tamils
Fonseka is a person who, by winning the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the recent past, emerged as a war hero in the eyes of his countrymen. The bulk of Sri Lankan population is constituted by Sinhalese-speaking people whereas Tamils are in minority. Because of the predominance of the LTTE in the LTTE-occupied regions over the past 30 years, Sri Lanka was a weak country to a great extent. For the interests of the neighboring nation India was linked to the LTTE and it hesitated to extend support to the LTTE, whereas even the troops sent by India against the LTTE faced a crushing defeat and had to retreat soon.
War-hit Tamils, even in Tamil majority areas, favored Rajapakse to Fonseka. The main reason for this was that Tamils recognize Fonseka as a dictator general and they found their interests secure in the hands of Rajapakse who, initially crushed the LTTE, but later spoke about the welfare of Tamils and he launched relief plans for them under the world pressure. Not only that, Fonseka favors suppression of Tamils, as against Rajapakse, being a politician cannot do so to avoid the charges of human rights violation in the wake of the war.
In truth, Fonseka had been under the illusion of his victory under any circumstances. Earlier, toward the final phase of the war against the LTTE, Fonseka had turned so much arbitrary that he ignored event the existence of the Sri Lankan Government. At one stage, he was preparing to stage a coup to come into power. But Rajapakse came to learn of Fonseka's intentions, and he replaced Fonseka by appointing someone else as the military chief.

Policies and Advice of India
Fonseka was projected as a gallant person, and a victim of the official persecution. So far so that even to former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, it seemed that she could capture power indirectly by extending support to Fonseka. But that was not to be, because Sri Lankans favor the LTTE's end, but not suppression of Tamils. The Sinhalese majority population still is in favor of settling Tamils in the country, but is not willing to concede Tamils' demand for a separate country.
President Rajapakse had perceived the wish of the Sri Lankan public. That is why he focused on rehabilitation of Tamils after the war was over. He did not favor that Tamils should quit in any circumstances. Considered as pro-India, Rajapakse gained from the policies and advice of India. Even as Tamils feel extremely irked and hapless over the Indian approach, yet they feel that they can bank upon India not only at present, but in the future as well, for there still exists in South India a vast majority of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Benefit of Rajapakse's Victory
Another benefit of Rajapakse's victory is that Sri Lanka will continue to pursue its traditional policies. Had General Fonseka won and reversed Sri Lankan policies, in such an eventuality Sri Lanka could have witnessed a civil war once again or even could faced an attack from India. Recognized as pro-China, Fonseka had been aspiring to see Sri Lanka as a colony of China.
He wished to see Sri Lanka emerge as a strong military power with China's military support. If this were so, Sri Lanka, a victim of separatist violence, would have proved an irritant in the eyes of neighboring countries, including India, and its future could be questioned.