Geneva basing on LLRC unfortunate, 13A never a starting point: Guruparan
“The Geneva resolutions premising their programme of action or their indicated programme of action on the basis of the LLRC is very unfortunate in that they fail to understand that the LLRC is merely a time buying process,” said Jaffna University law academic and civil society activist Guruparan Kumaravadivel in an exclusive interview to TamilNet this week. Answering a question on the 13th Amendment, he said, “it is not a starting point; it is not a reference point; it is not a basis.” The views coming from a prominent activist based in the island gains much significance against the backdrop of orchestrations in the diaspora defending the US-tabled, India-fine-tuned Geneva resolution, and renewed efforts of New Delhi in invoking the zombie of the 13th Amendment. 
Guruparan Kumaravadivel
LLRC was conceived not to resolve the problems faced by Tamils, but to delay international action and to preserve the status quo of the State in international arena, Guruparan said.
“Now the reason why 13th Amendment might be talked about as a starting point is because of the failure of the international community — failure on the part of India and the US in particular — in their ability of extracting from this government, from the Southern polity in general, anything furthermore,” the civil society activist observed.
If there are people who are looking at the 13th Amendment as a starting point, it is because of the pressure of India and the USA on Tamils both inside and outside of the island to be satisfied with the 13th Amendment. Particularly India may have indicated to the Tamil political leadership in the country that the 13th Amendment is the highest benchmark in terms of what a political solution should look like, he said.
Commenting on the so-called ‘internal self-determination’, the law academic said, “My understanding of the Right to Self-Determination is that it cannot be split into its internal and external forms. There is only one Right to Self-Determination.”
“If a particular nation or a people are recognised as having the Right of Self-Determination, it is their choice as to how they exercise it,” he said, adding that “let the Tamil people decide whether that right can be exercised internally.” On expectations about ‘regime change’ bringing in solutions, Guruparan said that in that case solutions should have taken place long back when there were so many regime changes in the past. What is needed is a change in the stance of the Sinhala nation as a whole in accepting Tamils as a nation in the island, he said.
Full text of the interview:
