The spirit is muted this Diwali.
The markets are tanking, the political climate is muddled, there is more ambient violence around the country.
Still, one cannot ignore the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Granted, the LTTE bungled in bumping off Rajiv Gandhi. But that doesn't mean the Tamil people in that country should be punished for the crime of the LTTE. With the Congress-led government in New Delhi happy to turn a blind-eye and with a politically besieged Karunanidhi-led DMK trying to hold on to power, I think the Tamil people have been thrown to the mercy of Rajapakse's Sinhala wolves.
I have not sympathy for extremists, of either the Tamil or Sinhala variety. But even while understanding the Sinhalese's feeling about keeping their country under a single rule, I cannot agree to their letting the Sinhala extremists take on hapless Tamils and hunt them down in the name of political unity.
If India and its current crop of politicians can't engage the Sinhala government in Colombo constructively on this issue, the day may not be far when Tamils in this country will feel antagonistic about New Delhi's political control over them.
And till things take a better turn, who will answer for the innocent Tamil blood that will be spilled?
