Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

# It is illegal to implement the 13th Amendment in a de-merged East. We will not touch it!
# The 13th Amendment proposal came from President and not the APRC!
# He had been prevented by nationalist parties to be progressive.
# The people are scared to death, they don`t want to criticize the TMVP or do anything to displease them, because the penalty could be death.

Successive governments have failed to accept democratic verdicts of the Tamil people in the NE for several decades. Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan talks to HARD TALK about the reservations of the Party towards the government`s move to discuss the 13th Amendment as a possible resolution to the conflict.

Q:TMVP claims it had reached an understanding with the ruling UPFA to contest the upcoming polls. How conducive is the East for an election at this juncture?

-A: The TMVP primarily is an armed group. This is a well known fact. They`ve been flaunting their weapons in all the districts of the East and responsible for several extra judicial killings. No one can deny this. The people in the East know about the violence unleashed by the TMVP. They have the full support of the government. Neither the government forces nor the police make any effort to enforce the law against the TMVP. The TMVP has a free hand to behave as they wish with a free arm, flagrantly and with impunity continuously. Several independent journalists and international organizations such as the UN have commented on this. They are opening up new offices. It is a dreadful phenomenon. The people are scared to death, they don`t want to criticize them or do anything to displease them, because the penalty could be death. The people know that the law enforcement machinery will never come to their rescue. It is shameful that a govt. would go in to partnership with a military party like the TMVP to contest an election. Everyone is aware of the way the TMVP leader left this country and his present fate.

Q:But isn`t your move away from the race a denial of the very people you say you represent to have their voices heard?

A: Well, we went to courts and filed action on grounds that the violent nature of the environment in the East would not permit a democratic election to be held. But considering the security of both our contestants and supporters in a scenario where the law enforcement machinery will not take any action against this group we`ve decided not to face the elections. It`s our position that the State wouldn`t provide security for our supporters. I don`t think the people are in a position to do as they want. We`ll be exposing the people to grave risk by going to an election where there is no independent law enforcement. Several of our successful contestants at the earlier local government elections have been killed afterwards. What happened at the local govt. elections in Ampara and Trincomalee sometime ago. In the Tamil areas TNA swept the polls while in the Muslim areas the SLMC did so. Where was the PA or the TMVP? The govt. wants to show, in support of some positions that they have support in the East. The conflict arises because successive governments have failed to accept democratic verdicts of the Tamil people in the NE for several decades. They have voted for certain policies autonomy, substantial self rule in areas of historic habitation on a federal solution.

Q:But the govt. maintains that normalcy is maintained in the area and the East is ready for elections?

A: The govt. can say whatever they want. The govt. thinks this will become a precursor to a Provincial Council election they want to hold for the North East. That`s their game. They want to show that the people have forgotten their verdicts all these years, and come to treat the TMVP as their saviours. They`re fooling themselves. This is a farce by a government that is unable to come to terms with the issue of the conflict.

Q:The government announced that it will establish the proposed Interim Council for the Northern Province as soon as possible, with members being appointed in proportion to the ethnic composition of the province.

A: Why wasn`t it done all these years? Prabhakaran came with an interim proposal, he wanted it to be discussed. He said if there are areas in it which were unacceptable we will try to resolve them. Why wasn`t it done? Why now and why seperately?

Q:Are you saying that the proposals in the ISGA meet the needs of the Tamil people better?

A: I`m not saying it suits them better, but I certainly think that if there was a discussion on either the ISGA in a manner that was acceptable to both the government and the Tamil people or the P-TOMS was implemented, we wouldn`t have come to the present predicament. I know for certain that the LTTE was interested in the resettlement of the Tamil people and reconstruction, but unfortunately those opportunities were stifled as a result of the myopic attitudes of governments and politicians. Governments have to be honest and candid and come up with a proposal which constitutes a challenge to the LTTE. And if they are not ready to accept them then it becomes our duty to take it up on behalf of the people. We will not fail in that.

Q:Are you then saying that any proposal must essentially contain the basics of the ISGA?

A: I`m not saying that, but that if the ISGA had worked there wouldn`t have been a return to war.

But you have no trust in the government`s move to seek the 13th Amendment as a solution to the conflict?

This is a joke. What has happened after it was passed? President Premadasa held discussions, President Kumaratunga came up with some proposals and President Rajapaksa came up with maximum devolution. Why has he woken from his deep slumber and sought refuge in the 13th Amendment? We didn`t contest the elections held under the 13th Amendment, even with regard to the merged North Eastern province. That arrangement was not workable and we conveyed that to the Indian government. It doesn`t provide reliable autonomy to the region.

Q:But in all fairness couldn`t the argument be made that it was not given the chance to work?

A: It was not workable at all. What is the history of the President embracing the 13th Amendment? The All Party Conference which was to seek this solution did not involve the TNA on grounds that he first wanted to evolve a Sinhala consensus. But what happened to the experts committee appointed to recommend a possible solution to the APRC? It was thrown to the dustbin. Why wasn`t the MoU between the UNP and the PA to seek consensus on a solution not allowed to work? The APRC was sitting despite all these shortcomings and it is widely known that nationalist parties were having discussions that were restricting, limiting and curbing the discussions of the ARRC. Anyway the 13th Amendment is not a proposal that came from the APRC but from the President. All information confirms that. The President was under pressure from the international community to come up with a set of devolution proposals, which he was unable to do because he hadn`t acted on the basis of the majority report. He had been prevented by nationalist parties to be progressive. The 13th Amendment was a way out. It is not just that its not workable but the manner, at this juncture, in which it is being brought out is a very questionable matter. It is devoid of any credibility.

Q:But given its history and the greater likelihood of it being welcomed by India especially and more likely the rest of the international community, doesn`t it make more sense for it to be pursued as one that was `acceptable to all communities`?

A: Certainly not, and India knows about it. Not a lot of people in this country know about the history of the 13th Amendment and that it didn`t really come from India. When Natwar Singh came to Sri Lanka in 1986 there was a set of proposals discussed as an initial step towards devolution and the authentic TULF was called upon to study this, and it didn`t come out of this but it was something that the Jayewardene govt. evolved. It didn`t have the support of India but it was what was on the table at the time the Indo Lanka Agreement was signed. It was never accepted by the Tamil people of this country. President Rajapaksa was never involved in the evolution of the 13th Amendment. This is one big agenda lacking in honesty and candour.

Q:The Indian government is aware of your opposition to the Amendment but this time around are you assured of any support from the Indian govt. to your stand?

A: The Indian government knows the truth and we think there will be support coming. We don`t think it`s a credible exercise of devolution of power. That is why after several successive governments in power in Sri Lanka there had been a continuous effort to come up with a credible set of acceptable proposals, because that was found to be inadequate and in our view unworkable.

Q:So you are not even open to the possibility of the 13th Amendment as a minimum point of discussion, this time around?

A: Certainly not. For starters the 13th Amendment has to be implemented in a merged North East. Does it not contemplate that and did it not come about? Has there not been one for 18 years accepted by several successive Presidents, including the one where the Present President was the Premier? How can it be accepted in the East unless it works as one region? It is illegal to implement the 13th Amendment in a de-merged East. This is quite apart from the fact that it is unacceptable and not workable, and we will not touch it.

Q:The President last week told the Indian news channel NDTV that India could play a major role in resolving the conflict here. What in your opinion is that role today?

A: We`d be happy to have India play a role. We`d like them to play a role in evolving a solution that is acceptable to the Tamil and Muslim people without doing any harm to the Sinhala People. We have much af...