Coup against ousted PM Ranil Wickremesinghe lands Sri Lanka in Sirisena, Rajapakse-driven constitutional soup

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he world is shocked about what is happening in Sri Lanka after President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed his predecessor Mahinda Rajapakse as the new Prime Minister after sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe last Friday ending in a constitutional crisis. The New York Times described the aftermath of the situation in these words: "The country's political system has fallen apart in a matter of days, threatening to upend its emergence from decades of civil war."

It is surprising why New Delhi is simply saying it is "closely watching" the developments while the United States, European Union and others have observed that constitution must be followed. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu, which is just 28 miles as the crow flies from Sri Lanka, has commented on the developments. Indulging in domestic politics, the DMK chief M K Stalin promptly blamed the Modi government for not taking care of the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamils. With no tall leader in the state like Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi, Stalin has taken the lead in criticising the Centre. Though the ruling AIADMK has not said anything so far, there is always competition among the Dravidian parties on India's Sri Lanka policy. Insiders say that the BJP is bargaining with the DMK for a possible post-poll alliance in return for early Assembly elections (due in 2020), which Stalin wants. Stalin is raising his price using the Sri Lankan issue.

Tamil Nadu should understand that Sri Lanka is changing, as the issue is no longer Sinhalese versus Tamils. The Tamils in the northern part of Lanka are still recovering from the havoc. There is no leader to take up the Tamil cause as things have changed so much now. The LTTE is finished and there are no other big leaders despite rumours about the LTTE regrouping. Within the Sri Lankan Tamil political parties, there is no unity on approach towards reconciliation. The TNA is considered moderate, whereas the Northern Province Chief Minister CV Vigneswaran (who has formed sometime ago a new outfit), has drifted away from TNA. Interestingly, Rajapakse has gone ahead to make an alliance with Tamils projecting Muslims as their common enemy. Even when he met Prime Minister Modi last month in New Delhi, he found demonising Muslims as the common ground.