Navy in Kachchativu Subtle ‘Sinhalization’ move – Sritharan

2016-05-26

Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian Sivagnanam Sritharan alleged the security forces stationed in the North were the cause of the dominance of a violent culture which had a demoralizing impact on the lives of Tamil youth. He said the presence of the forces in itself triggered conditions for lawlessness in the North.

His statements came in the context of references to a recent spate of killings, burglaries, sword attacks and molestations in the North.

He stressed that southern politicians should abstain from hard-line statements that badly affect the Tamil youth who have been yearning for a change.

The military forces intentionally lead the youth into facets of a culture of violence so that they have not time to devote to Tamil nationalism and Tamil ethnicity, he added.

Commenting on the Navy's attempt to construct a new church in Kachchathivu he alleged the procedures made by the Navy to construct a new church on the island of Kachchativu is an attempt at 'Sinhalization' of the fishing island.

He said that Kachchativu served as a bridge for bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and India. But if a church is to be built here, the people of the two countries should get together and decide on it. That is the appropriate way to strengthen solidarity.

Condemning the Navy for trying to construct a church there, he said that constructing the temple in Kachchativu, which is considered vital to India's security will result in India's security being compromised.

Establishing the Buddha shrines and using the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa bricks in the North are attempts to alter the country into an exclusive Sinhala Buddhist state. The attempts to construct the church in Kachchativu too are aimed at wider Sinhalization, he added.

(MT)