Include Eelam in manifestoes: Tamil leader
: February 15, 2014
The self-styled Prime Minister of the transnational government of Tamil Eelam, Visvanathan Rudrakumaran, on Friday appealed to all parties in India to include the issue of Tamil Eelam in their manifestoes and urged the Centre to prevail upon the international community to pave the way for a referendum in Sri Lanka.
Addressing journalists through videoconferencing from the United States, he said the people were aware of the genocide committed against Tamils during the last phase of the war in Sri Lanka, and the sentiments had snowballed into a vote bank. “If a referendum can happen in South Sudan, East Timor and Kosovo, why not in Sri Lanka.” India was morally, diplomatically and strategically positioned to take the lead in reaching out to the Tamils.
The government should either sponsor or co-sponsor a resolution in the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council session for an international independent commission, Mr. Rudrakumaran said.
India may vote against Sri Lanka again
February 15, 2014
India is most likely to vote against Sri Lanka when its human rights record comes up for evaluation before the United Nations Human Rights Council in March, according to a senior official who did not want to be named.
Sri Lanka had an opportunity to highlight elections to the Tamil-majority Northern Province as one concrete attempt at political reconciliation. But Colombo seems to have “squandered it by locking horns” with the newly elected provincial government.
The provincial elections apart, Sri Lanka does not appear to have done enough to make countries like India that voted against it last year to change their minds.
