India must change its Colombo policy, pleads Sri Lankan MP
Chennai, Jan 21, 2013 (IANS):
A prominent Sri Lankan MP wants India to change its Sri Lanka policy, warning that its hands off attitude was encouraging Colombo from meeting the legitimate political aspirations of the island's Tamil minority.
Suresh Premachandran also said in a telephonic interview that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not sincere in having a dialogue with the elected leaders of the Tamil community.
"One could understand a certain Sri Lanka policy India followed when the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) was there," the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member told IANS here.
"Now that the LTTE is no more, India must change its (Sri Lanka) policy," he said. "Otherwise the Sri Lankan government's attitude will not change."
India solidly -- both tacitly and openly -- backed Colombo when the latter waged war on the LTTE, leading to its destruction in May 2009.
Since then, however, the Rajapaksa government has gone back on some of the promises it made to Indian leaders on pursuing a path of reconciliation with the Tamil community.
And Tamil leaders say that India is not putting enough pressure on Sri Lanka to implement what it told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh including on providing genuine autonomy to Tamil areas.
According to Premachandran, Sri Lanka was emboldened vis-a-vis the democratic world because of the support it gets from China.
"They (the regime) don't care about the US and Europe, and they say they can manage India too," said the MP, whose TNA is the main Tamil voice in parliament and which was earlier seen as the LTTE's political arm. "They feel that with China with them, they can manage the UN too."
He accused the Rajapaksa government of militarizing Sri Lanka's Tamil dominated north and allowing the security forces to have a stranglehold over the vast region where the Tigers once held sway.
"The government says they are building infrastructure there but that only amounts to building roads and providing electricity to military camps. The Tamil villages don't get any benefits.
"Those who were with the LTTE are being re-arrested after release. There are military checkpoints everywhere. The government virtually wants to drive away the Tamil youths. The entire Tamil population is suspect
"When we say all this, people say the TNA is exaggerating. We are not."
According to Premachandran, Sri Lanka's northern province was now like a Palestine - "an occupied territory".
Although the war against the Tamil Tigers ended in 2009, Sri Lanka still battles allegations of human rights abuses, some of it relating to the period when the government defeated the LTTE in a war that left thousands dead and maimed. Colombo routinely denies the charges.
He said the numerous military camps in the northern province were being built with Chinese help. "China also provides heavy military and economic support (to Sri Lanka)."
Premachandran said a TNA delegation would travel Jan 27 to South Africa, which is trying to bring together the Tamil leaders and the government to the negotiating table -- a role once played by India.
But he made it clear that South Africa was unlikely to succeed in its stated mission.
"Personally, I fail to see how South Africa can achieve what it has set out to achieve," he said. "We feel they (Colombo) are doing all this just to make the international community believe they are serious about resolving political issues.
"The harsh reality is the Sri Lankan government is not sincere about talking to the Tamil representatives. They don't want to talk to us.
"They keep telling us to talk to the Parliamentary Select Committee (to resolve political issues). But this committee is dominated by Sinhalese parties, and they will never agree to anything we suggest. Frankly, the government is not serious about a dialogue."
DMK president M. Karunanidhi has urged Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to take steps to ensure
that the Sri Lankan government gave up, what he called, its programme of erasing
Tamil language, culture and religion. He sought their help in putting an end to
alleged drive by Sri Lankan authorities to rename Tamil villages with Sinhala
names.
Suresh Premachandran also said in a telephonic interview that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not sincere in having a dialogue with the elected leaders of the Tamil community.
"One could understand a certain Sri Lanka policy India followed when the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) was there," the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member told IANS here.
"Now that the LTTE is no more, India must change its (Sri Lanka) policy," he said. "Otherwise the Sri Lankan government's attitude will not change."
India solidly -- both tacitly and openly -- backed Colombo when the latter waged war on the LTTE, leading to its destruction in May 2009.
Since then, however, the Rajapaksa government has gone back on some of the promises it made to Indian leaders on pursuing a path of reconciliation with the Tamil community.
And Tamil leaders say that India is not putting enough pressure on Sri Lanka to implement what it told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh including on providing genuine autonomy to Tamil areas.
According to Premachandran, Sri Lanka was emboldened vis-a-vis the democratic world because of the support it gets from China.
"They (the regime) don't care about the US and Europe, and they say they can manage India too," said the MP, whose TNA is the main Tamil voice in parliament and which was earlier seen as the LTTE's political arm. "They feel that with China with them, they can manage the UN too."
He accused the Rajapaksa government of militarizing Sri Lanka's Tamil dominated north and allowing the security forces to have a stranglehold over the vast region where the Tigers once held sway.
"The government says they are building infrastructure there but that only amounts to building roads and providing electricity to military camps. The Tamil villages don't get any benefits.
"Those who were with the LTTE are being re-arrested after release. There are military checkpoints everywhere. The government virtually wants to drive away the Tamil youths. The entire Tamil population is suspect
"When we say all this, people say the TNA is exaggerating. We are not."
According to Premachandran, Sri Lanka's northern province was now like a Palestine - "an occupied territory".
Although the war against the Tamil Tigers ended in 2009, Sri Lanka still battles allegations of human rights abuses, some of it relating to the period when the government defeated the LTTE in a war that left thousands dead and maimed. Colombo routinely denies the charges.
He said the numerous military camps in the northern province were being built with Chinese help. "China also provides heavy military and economic support (to Sri Lanka)."
Premachandran said a TNA delegation would travel Jan 27 to South Africa, which is trying to bring together the Tamil leaders and the government to the negotiating table -- a role once played by India.
But he made it clear that South Africa was unlikely to succeed in its stated mission.
"Personally, I fail to see how South Africa can achieve what it has set out to achieve," he said. "We feel they (Colombo) are doing all this just to make the international community believe they are serious about resolving political issues.
"The harsh reality is the Sri Lankan government is not sincere about talking to the Tamil representatives. They don't want to talk to us.
"They keep telling us to talk to the Parliamentary Select Committee (to resolve political issues). But this committee is dominated by Sinhalese parties, and they will never agree to anything we suggest. Frankly, the government is not serious about a dialogue."
Sri Lanka erasing Tamil language, culture: Karunanidhi
DMK
president M. Karunanidhi. File photo
January 20, 2013
DMK president M. Karunanidhi has urged Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to take steps to ensure
that the Sri Lankan government gave up, what he called, its programme of erasing
Tamil language, culture and religion. He sought their help in putting an end to
alleged drive by Sri Lankan authorities to rename Tamil villages with Sinhala
names.
In identical letters to Dr. Singh and Ms. Gandhi, Mr. Karunanidhi
said many more such tactics were being employed by the Sri Lankan government.
“Tamils in Sri Lanka are living in an oppressive environment,” he alleged.
Bringing to their notice “disturbing developments” in Sri Lanka
vis-à-vis the Tamils, he said: “The Sri Lankan government is now carrying out an
intensive and systematic programme of erasing the Tamil language, culture and
religion and diluting the concentration of Tamils in areas where they have
historically been predominant. This manifests itself in the renaming of Tamil
villages, redrawing of village, district and town boundaries, demolishing Hindu
temples, non-allocation of funds to resettle and rehabilitate internally
displaced Tamil families.”
He said: “The Sri Lankan government is also not allocating funds to
schools, hospitals and other infrastructure where the Tamils live predominantly.
It is also promoting Sinhala settlements on Tamil land and Sinhalese take over
of the economic life of Tamil areas, which impoverishes the Tamils, and the
deployment of army camps to intimidate them.” India had a moral obligation to
stop this as it involved the eradication of a great culture and ancient religion
in our backyard, he said.
Giving details, Mr. Karunanidhi said 89 villages had been renamed
with Sinhala terms and 367 Hindu temples had been demolished. There were 148
mini and 13 main army camps in Mullaitivu district alone.
In Amparai district, the Tamil heritage village ‘Potthuvil’ was
renamed as ‘Pothuvila’, and ‘Thirukovil’ was renamed as ‘Srikovila’ and
‘Tharavaikulam’ as ‘Tharakkulam’ while ‘Vagarai’ became ‘Vagara’ in Batticalao
district and Nilaveli was renamed as Nilvaella, and Alankulam as Gemburuweva in
Trincomalee district.
In Jaffna district, Vaddukottaii was renamed as Battakote and
Paruththiththurai as Pethuruthoduva, and Nainatheevu as Nagatheeba. With name
change, Kilinochchi became Granika, Mullaitivu Mooladoova and Vavuniya,
Vannimava, he said.
HAILS RAHUL GANDHI
Mr. Karunanidhi on Sunday congratulated Rahul Gandhi on being
appointed as vice-president of Congress and expressed the hope that he
would take the party to a ‘new height.’
In his congratulatory message through fax, Mr. Karuananidhi also
stated that Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s abiding interest in the youth of our country and
his earnest commitment to the advancement of rural areas and farmers were all
well-known.
