December 11, 2011,
Although I took up this and related issues many a time before, the current impasse in talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has compelled me to address those issues once again as, in my view, the resolution of the national question would be key to Sri Lanka’s future. Two different views have been presented by the relevant parties in explaining the current impasse. According to the TNA, the GoSL delegates have come up with a condition that the TNA should name its delegates to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) if it wants to continue deliberations with the government. If this is true, it is not only a new conditionality for talks to be continued, but it is tantamount to an imposition of new restrictions over the independence of TNA’s right to take decisions on matters that are relevant to it as well as to Tamil people. In such a situation, the impasse is created by the GoSL. The State media has, on the other hand, given the impression that impasse is created by the TNA by making three demands that are unacceptable to the government. They are (1) the re-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces; (2) powers over state land to the merged provincial government; and (3) the setting up of provincial police force. These three demands are not new and the position of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on those demands is ambiguous. If the TNA presents these demands as conditions for further talks, then the TNA is to be blamed for the current impasse. However, it is quite legitimate for the TNA to ask these subjects to be included on the agenda to be discussed in its talks with the government. So, the GoSL-TNA talks and the PSC have to be separated although both the fora focus on the same or related issues. Furthermore talks between the GoSL-TNA would contribute to PSC proceedings in many ways if it is really aimed at finding a solution to the national question.
