SEPERATE EELAM NOT AN IMMEDIATE OPTION - VICKRAMABAHU

August 14, 2012 

‘Sinhalisation’ of Tamil areas is a ruse used by the Sri Lankan government to take over land, seashore and other resources of Tamils and hand them over to multinational companies, Vickramabahu Karunaratne, president of the Nava Sama Samaj Party, told reporters in India.

Mr. Vickramabahu, as he prefers to be referred to, was here to attend the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) conference. He told reporters that ‘Sinhalisation’ process was a “farce” and Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa was using it to gamble with poor Sinhalese masses for retaining their support. He said there was no denying the fact there were incidents of Sinhalese being settled in Tamil areas. However, it was only a populist pretext for grabbing the resources of the Tamil people and selling these to alien powers, especially MNCs, without consulting the Tamil people.

“The President has made use of Sinhalese chauvinism to strengthen the military and amended the Constitution. But, his economic policies have failed. The development of harbours and airports has little relevance to the ordinary citizen and they have benefited only the corrupt bourgeois.”

Mr. Vickramabahu said India also helped Sri Lanka in the war and the resolutions asking the United Nations to probe and punish those who were responsible for the war crimes would not serve the purpose beyond a point, since the U.N. was run by global powers and Mr. Rajapaska had their support. “You must keep in mind that his brothers are citizens of the U.S.”

Asked if he was in favour of a separate Eelam, Mr. Vickramabahu said that he would not advise it as an immediate option since efforts to foster unity had not been exhausted. “Seeing separate Eelam as the only solution is not the right idea. The idea of self-determination is there and we can go for a referendum on these issues,” the Hindu reports.