Subject: National Security Advisor Menon

March 21, 2011

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
President, Indian National Congress Party
Chair, United Progressive Alliance

Dear Mrs. Gandhi,

We at Tamils for Obama read of your statement in your Commonwealth lecture in London. You said “We are with the Tamils and I am very concerned about Sri Lanka.” As diaspora Tamils we were touched and encouraged by your expression of concern for the Tamils and their troubles in Sri Lanka.

It appears to us, however, that there is at least one prominent Indian who does not share your concern. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon took every opportunity to deflect pressure away from the Sri Lankan government and to set up a smoke screen behind which the government of Sri Lanka could continue their brutal oppression of Tamil civilians while finishing up the defeat of the Tamil Tigers.

As documented in American diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks, Mr. Menon repeatedly proposed measures that would moderate Sri Lanka’s bloody actions against the Tamils. Each time, the Sri Lankan government pretended to consider the measures before rejecting them; in the meantime they were able to continue their depredations, while protected by the camouflage that Mr. Menon’s proposals gave them. In effect, Mr. Menon was providing Sri Lankan leaders with diplomatic buffering that shielded them from international pressure that might have eased the pain being inflicted by Sri Lanka on the Tamils.

We ask, since you are concerned about the Tamils, that you use your influence to move Mr. Menon to some other position, one in which his apparent hostility to the Tamils won’t do us so much harm, or just remove him from the government.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Tamils for Obama