Was Sri Lanka Indias Afghanistan? How India Created a Big Problem It Could Not Control
There is a mistake in Indias history that people do not talk about enough. This mistake cost India soldiers, a Prime Minister and its reputation as a strong country in the region. Let us talk about it.
The Beginning
In the 1980s India helped the Tamil Tigers by giving them guns, training and money through its spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing.
This was not a thing. Between 1983 and 1987 Research and Analysis Wing set up 32 training camps in India for 495 Tamil Tiger fighters, including 90 women. The first group was trained in a place called Chakrata in Uttarakhand. Another group, which had a man named Pottu Amman was trained in Himachal Pradesh.
India was not just helping one group. In the 1980s India was helping the Tamil Tigers and other Tamil groups, who were fighting against each other. Research and Analysis Wing was like a training school for Tamil fighters.
Why Did India Do This?
The simple answer is that India wanted to keep Sri Lanka weak and show that India was the country in South Asia. The Tamil people in Sri Lanka were really suffering. Since Sri Lanka became independent in 1948 the Tamil people felt like they were not treated fairly. India used this suffering to get what it wanted.
When Things Went Wrong
By 1987 the situation was out of Indias control. The Indian government sent soldiers to Sri Lanka to disarm the Tamil Tigers the same group India had helped a few years before.
In 1987 Indias spy agency told the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi that the Tamil fighters would give up their guns to the soldiers in 72 hours.
That did not happen. Instead the Tamil Tigers started fighting the soldiers. In 1991 the Indian soldiers came back to India with injuries the Tamil Tigers were stronger and India was sad because Rajiv Gandhi was killed by the Tamil Tigers.
The Killing of Rajiv Gandhi
India had helped the Tamil Tigers for a time. When Rajiv Gandhi sent soldiers to Sri Lanka in 1987 the Tamil Tigers got angry. Started fighting India.
Some people think the Tamil Tigers killed Rajiv Gandhi because they were afraid he would send soldiers to Sri Lanka again if he won the election.
A former Prime Minister of India was killed by a group that India had helped and given guns to.
Comparison to the US and Bin Laden
The US helped a group called the Mujahideen fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. A man named Osama Bin Laden was part of this group. Later this group turned against the US. Did a big attack on September 11.
What happened with India and the Tamil Tigers is very similar:
* Help a militant group
* Lose control of the group
* Send soldiers to fight the group
* Have casualties and lose a leader
* Withdraw the soldiers in a way
Why Do We Not Talk About This?
The story of Indias soldiers in Sri Lanka is not often told in Indias history. The role of Research and Analysis Wing in helping the Tamil Tigers is not often discussed. Rajiv Gandhis death is remembered as an event but the reasons behind it are not often examined.
This is not about blaming someone. It is, about understanding that using groups to get what you want in foreign policy often creates big problems. The question is, are we willing to look at our history and learn from our mistakes.