Where were the Indian Coast Guard and Navy when Terrorists Came to Mumbai? (November 26, 2008)
TAMIL TRIBUNE, May 2009 (ID. 2009-05-03)
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ABBREVIATIONS
LTTE - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
I was having lunch with three north Indian friends recently. Talk turned to the terrorist attack in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 (11/26/2008). Terrorists fired randomly at people at the railway station, a few luxury hotels and other locations, killing over 170 innocent people. It was one of the "worst days" in the recent history of Mumbai (Bombay).
It is now known that the terrorists came to Mumbai by sea. One of the north Indian friends wondered what the Indian Coast Guard and Navy were doing when terrorists came to Mumbai. I answered tongue in cheek, "They were all in the south at Tamil Nadu coast hunting for LTTE terrorists."
There is fair amount of truth in what I said. Much Indian security and intelligence resources are spent on helping the Sri Lankan military against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that is fighting for the rights of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka. There is a large contingency of Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships patrolling Tamil Nadu coast to prevent LTTE cadres coming to Tamilnadu (escaping Sri Lankan army assault) or LTTE operatives going to Sri Lanka with supplies. A number of radars were installed near Tamil Nadu coast to monitor LTTE boat movements. A spy plane loaded with sophisticated equipment flies over LTTE areas in Sri Lanka and passes information to the Sri Lankan government. Had some of those navy and coast guard ships, radars and spy plane were covering Mumbai, may be they would have spotted the terrorists who came to Mumbai and thus saved 170 innocent Indian lives.
LTTE had never been a threat to Indian security. It did fight the Indian army when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi sent it to Sri Lanka to fight them. They did not come to India and attack Indian soldiers or civilians. It is likely that they were responsible for the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. This was not a threat to Indian security or intended to terrorize common people as the Mumbai attacks did. This was a targeted assassination. Is it a crime? Yes. But not a threat to Indian security nor did id terrorize common people as the Mumai attacks did.
We have to wonder why Indian government has this obsession against the LTTE and spending valuable resources helping the Sri Lankan military instead of putting those resources to guard against India's real enemies.
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2. Indian Rulers and the Sri Lankan Ethnic Conflict (by Thanjai Nalankilli), TAMIL TRIBUNE, February 2004 (12 KB) (te) A comprehensive article on India's anti-Tamil policies and actions in the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict. First the article summarizes India's anti-Tamil policies and activities from 1983-2003. Then the article systematically demolishes the reasons given for India's Sri Lankan policy. Finally the author discusses the real reason for India's anti-Tamil policies in Sri Lanka.
FIS090427 2009-a1d
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