V.Anandasangaree  Secretary General – TULF Tamil United Liberation Front

 The greed for power and high positions among a limited few Tamils have brought ruin to the country in general and to the Tamil people in particular. The sufferings and embarrassments the Tamil people are now subjected to, were not that much in the past, as it is today. The disunity of our leaders has now reached its climax and any further delay in bringing our people together under one banner and agreeing on a common policy, survival as a free nation for the Tamils will become impossible. We have too many leaders, apart from innumerable Tamil political parties and their leaders, each one is pulling in different direction, making things worse. What we need today is unity, common leadership and agreement on major and sensitive issues.

The most important of all for the Tamil people is to accept the Tamil issue as a sacred one and work accordingly, without expecting any personal gains.  Politics may have been acknowledged as a dirty game but it does not mean that we could play it in a dirty way, as many people do today.  Some say something today and something contradictory the next day and keep on doing the same thing over and over again. We face several problems but each one takes its root at the poverty prevailing in the country.  If poverty is over come, several other problems will find solutions automatically. On a number of occasions I had suggested to make available food items freely or under a subsidized scheme for those with poor income and finding difficult to have proper meal every day.  Unfortunately no Parliamentarian upto now, seem to have promoted this scheme but continue to harp on issues less important or more controversial and find easy way of retaining their seats in Parliament.

Release of lands belonging to civilians and revealing or failing to find out the whereabouts of persons, either missing or handed over by the relatives to the forces,  on a promise of releasing them without any delay have not been fulfill. The value people attach to their land can be very well understood   in the words of Sir Walter Scott in his poem The lay of the last minstrel” wherein he says Breathes there the man with soul so dead. Who never to himself hath said   This is my own, my native land!

The land referred to in this poem not only relates to the country but also to the land in which one was born.  This is how the government also should look at lands belonging to the people. The other sensitive issue is with regard to missing persons. In my opinion one should loose something to realize the value of it. Only a widow will know the value of the husband and   so with the widower to know the value of the wife. It is the same with children- parent   relationship and many such others.  I wish to warn the government very politely, to understand the feelings of those who are deprived of their lands and relatives. The only way open to the government is to go all out and sincerely   explore the possibilities of what had happened to these people and satisfy the victims in the best way possible, without dodging the issue further and with regard to their lands please release them immediately because there is absolutely no need for the government to withhold any others land. I go a step further and demand that the government could retain government lands where army camps   existed before the armed struggle started and close down all the other camps started later. The buildings   in these government lands could be utilized for accommodating   University   Campuses Technical Colleges Government offices and such others for which these buildings could be made use of.

His Excellency,   for the best way to tackle the land problem, should appoint a committee of persons holding responsible positions to go round the country, inspect such buildings and make suitable recommendations for their use as suggested by me. With regard to missing persons His Excellency   could appoint a commission to find out what and what happened and to whom in the war zone, at the close end of the war. A lot of things would come to light,   good or bad, about the missing persons and such other matters.

It may not be irrelevant   if I say a few words about my political carrier.  I served the full term in Parliaments of 1970 and 1977, a total period of 13 years. In accordance with a decision of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) 18 of its Members of Parliament   vacated office when the government extended the term of office of Parliament by a referendum, for a fresh full term of six years. The TULF quit office on the grounds that the people gave a mandate for the MPs for only six years. This conduct of the TULF members was applauded by the International community and welcomed as a great contribution for democracy.  The Parliament of 1977 continued to function till 1989 by a referendum for a period of 13 years which is never done anywhere except in an emergency like the world war etc. I have to come out with this information since some of the TNA Members do not know the history of the country and make statements as and when wanted and thereby mislead the people. Under the present circumstances, since the Government seems to be very slow in taking action on the above two matters, the only option the TNA members have is nothing, other than issuing an ultimatum to the Government, demanding the immediate release of the lands belong to the people and also crown lands occupied by the army.

It may be very relevant if I quote from a statement issued by me on 02^nd of July 2010 under the caption OPENING AN ARMY CAMP AT MULLAITIVU AND CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES FOR THE ARMY ARE ILL-TIMED” I am frankly of the opinion that the opening of an Army Camp at Mullaitivu as a fore-runner and the decision of the Government to build permanent houses for the Army are ill-timed, counterproductive and will very soon prove disastrous. I am not that foolish as to stir up a hornet’s nest by protesting against these moves. Whatever I do and say are always with patriotic feelings. My sincere advice is that the Government should forthwith stop opening any more new camps in Vanni, close down the one already opened and also abandon the idea of constructing permanent houses in the North and the East for the use of the Army. The Government should understand and appreciate my thinking and give credibility to my suggestions”.

V.Anandasangaree
Secretary General – TULF