I am prepared to compromise!

THURSDAY, 07 JUNE 2012 
By Ayesha Zuhair
It has been described as disturbing, conufusing, and even provocative. Rajavarothiam Sampanthan’s speech at the 14th annual convention of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) has generated tremendous public interest, and raised many questions about the veteran Tamil politician’s commitment to evolving a political solution to the ethnic issue within the  framework of an undivided Sri Lanka.In an in-depth interview with the at his residence in Colombo,  Mr. Sampanthan rubbishes claims of having a hidden agenda to create a separate state for Tamils in the North and East.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Your speech at the 14th annual ITAK convention has raised many concerns, and has become a matter of intense public debate. In your speech you state: “We must prove to the international community that we will never be able to realise our rights within a united Sri Lanka.” Isn’t this proof that your real objective is to create a separate state for Tamils?
Not necessarily. We have tried to find an acceptable solution within a united Sri Lanka for quite some time. Let us leave aside the LTTE era. Even before the LTTE era, during the days of my leader Mr. Chelvanayagam, Mr. Amirthalingam, and subsequently after the end of the war in 2009, and in the course of our bilateral talks with the Sri Lankan government, we submitted proposals in writing which contemplated an acceptable political solution within the framework of a united, undivided Sri Lanka.

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