TNA parliamentarians on their regular pilgrimage to India to solve Sri Lanka’s problems
Posted on June 14th, 2013
Asada M Erpini
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Media report on 13 June, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran has confirmed the visit to IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. And, what does the team from TNA intend to do in India: meet the Prime Minister, the ruling Party Leader, the External Affairs Minister and the Finance Minister. One may be forgiven if one mistakenly concludes for a moment that HE Mahinda Rajapakse and Prof GL Peiris who hold these ministerial portfolios in the Sri Lanka government are based in New Delhi, and that the unfortunate Tamil MPs have to trudge all the way to the Indian Capital to discuss important national issues.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The picture is entirely different. As far as the TNA is concerned, Sri Lanka obviously is a state within the union of states that make up India, or more precisely, a colony of the Great Indian Empire. There was a time when the then Ceylon was a part of the mighty British Empire and the Governor, a Briton, who was based in Colombo, or the viceroy in the region, had to go to London at the behest of His Majesty the King or Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain to report on what the primitive natives were up to. Most Sri Lankans, including a fair proportion of the Tamils in Sri Lanka who love Sri Lanka, know that Sri Lanka is an independent sovereign nation today and that it need not do the bidding of India or any other country. But for the TNA matters are different: for this group, it is India that should tell how Sri Lanka – a country over which it has no moral or legal jurisdiction – should manage its affairs.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The 13th Amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka has been the bugbear for the entire country since it was forced upon the island nation in 1987 by Rajiv Gandhi of India, who, rather sadly, paid with his dear life for the misguided policies adopted by him and his mother prior to him vis a vis Sri Lanka.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The hilarious aspect of the report is Premachandra saying, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-not only (should Sri Lanka) implement the 13th Amendment but go beyondƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. The poor man is living in cuckoo land. Sri Lanka is under no obligation to implement any of the provisions of the 13th Amendment, purely because the Sri Lankan citizenry never asked for it, and it did not have any say in the matter of the so-called pact which the Sri Lankan President at the time was forced to agree upon under duress.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Furthermore, there are many voices that are being raised at present by well meaning and civic minded individuals that the entire 13th Amendment should be discarded lock, stock and barrel. In this context, it is worth quoting that another group of individuals, whose forefathers settled in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka in 1626 thanks to the generosity and the magnanimity of King Senarath of Kandy following their expulsion from the islandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Western coastal belt when they were being persecuted by the Portuguese led by Captain de Saa now seem to think that they have the right to have their own enclave, with their customs and beliefs. They have gone on to say that they are opposed to any change to the 13th Amendment. This group, its MPs and their Ministers should be told that the issue at stake is not amending the 13th Amendment: Sri Lankans want the whole 13th Amendment dumped in the bins.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is of paramount importance that the so-called minorities (President of Sri Lanka had said soon after the country was rid of LTTE instigated terrorist curse) that there are no minorities and majorities, but all are Sri Lankans. All the members of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”minorityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ groups should be told in stark terms that they should be Sri Lankans first and foremost, and that their cultural, religious and other such beliefs and practices should remain within their family circles. Furthermore, these groups should stop demanding a bigger and bigger share of the pie: there are nearly 75% Sinhala people, and the living conditions of a good proportion of them are as bad as, or even worse than, those faced by the perennial cry babies.
June 14th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
HERE is ANOTHER ADDLE-PATED FOOL OF A MINISTER in the GOSL Cabinet currying favor from Western Neocolonialists parroting their demands!
He should RESIGN NOW without delay …. he does not belong in a PATRIOTIC Government committed to defending the Nation. Perhaps the Tiger Nominated Agents (TNA) can offer him a Portfolio in their Northern Provincial Council Eelam after the PC elections!
Let us REMEMBER this man when the Eelamists take over the Northern PC and Unilaterally Proclaim a Separate State … calling for Foreign Intervention … and WAR begins ANEW in Sri Lanka!
Begone FOOL!
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Sri Lanka Minister ready to resign to safeguard provincial councils
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 14, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Rajitha Senaratne said that he was ready to sacrifice his cabinet portfolio to stop further reducing the powers devolved to the provinces through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Addressing a press briefing held in Colombo today, the Minister said that he would not change his position on the 13th Amendment.
He further said that the government would be defeated before the international forces unless it fails to stop the moves to further curtail the powers of the provincial councils.
The Minister also rejected the proposals for a referendum on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The Cabinet of ministers yesterday decided to ask the government to appoint a parliamentary select committee to study the issues regarding the amendment of the 13th Amendment since there was opposition from some cabinet ministers to diluting powers vested to PCs in the 13th Amendment.
Constituent parties of the ruling alliance had expressed divergent views on the changes to the 13th Amendment but all were in agreement that the 13the Amendment which was formulated by India and trusted on Sri Lanka should be changed to fit to current situation after the end of the war.
June 14th, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Jayawewa!
Hopefully, Prabhakaran is raging in his grave at the news that “his airfield” at Iranamadu is now serving a United Unitary Sovereign Sri Lanka!
Sweet Revenge, Patriots!
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Reconstructed A9 highway and former rebel runway in Northern Sri Lanka to be opened tomorrow
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 14, Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will officially open the improved main A-9 highway and the reconstructed former rebel airstrip at Iranamadu in Kilinochchi tomorrow (June 15), government sources said.
The 320- km A-9 road that connects Jaffna peninsula in the North to the central city of Kandy was reconstructed by the local contractors in two stages under the supervision of the Ministry of Ports and Highways. The state funded the reconstruction at a cost of Rs. 19.125 billion.
The road was fully opened in mid-2009 after the end of the war. However, the once busy highway was in a dilapidated condition. Reconstruction commenced in 2011 under the guidance of the President.
The President will also declare open the runway at Iranamadu in Kilinochchi tomorrow.
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) carried out the complete reconstruction of the former rebel runway. It has been widened to 25 meters and extended to 1,500 meters in length.
The new runway has been built to accommodate the landing of the biggest SLAF plane, a C-130.
The runway, once used by the Tamil Tiger rebels that held power in the area before the end of the war to launch air attacks on the South, had been destroyed by the terrorists when the military captured the area, according to military sources.
The government expects the runway to be developed as a domestic airport to boost the tourism and passenger transportation.
June 14th, 2013 at 3:44 pm
If the president thinks opening up roads and runways will win Tamil votes he is wrong.
Most Tamils only vote for the MOST RACIST political party.
If UPFA wants to win the north election it should act exactly like TNA!!
June 14th, 2013 at 4:23 pm
BAD PEOPLE LIKE BAD PEOPLE. MAHINDA LIKES RAJITHA. NO PATRIOT WILL KEEP COMPANY WITH TRAITORS LIKE RAJITHA
“me vasalaya elava damavu””
June 14th, 2013 at 5:08 pm
RAJITHAH SENARATNAM IS INSTIGATING THE SINHALESE TO A REBELLION. THIS WHOLE EPISODE WILL TAKE A VERY DANGEROUS TURN, IF THE 13TH IS NOT KICKED OUT BY THE PRESIDENT.
vasalayata duvanna thanak nathiwey.
June 14th, 2013 at 11:33 pm
If the president thinks opening up roads and runways will win Tamil votes he is wrong.- He (SLFP) does not need Tamil vote will vote for EPDP that is enough for him !!!
in central PA rule in provincial EPDP rule (Maththiyil kudda acchchi Manilathil Suyachchi !)
eventualy TNA will rule both (thats we both Tamils know anyway)!!!
June 15th, 2013 at 12:02 am
their cultural, religious and other such beliefs and practices should remain within their family circles. !
Asada M Erpini , thanks This statement is enough who you are !!!
Why this Kolaveri !!!
June 15th, 2013 at 12:14 am
Don’t forget he is Jayalath Jayawardenam’s Brother in law.
June 15th, 2013 at 5:21 am
OH !! So Senaratnam is trying to perpetuate his Brother-in-Law Jayalath traitor’s idealogy ???
Remember, this is the man who wanted the Saudis to come and FISH in Sri Lankan Waters eh ?
June 15th, 2013 at 6:12 am
“he is Jayalath Jayawardenam’s Brother in law”
This explains it.
SL must have a VIGILANTE force of SNIPERS that eliminates all threats to SL WITHOUT govt. involvement.
There is only a VERY FEW terrorists left. One good sniper can take ALL OF THEM down within a day.
The new army commander DR is USELESS. He has NO military frontline experience! No major LTTE killing credentials!
Once again the SL army is going BACK to the CEREMONIAL ARMY it was before 1983. VERY dangerous.
I hope I can SPEAK OUT these BITTER FACTS most people don’t like to hear.
June 15th, 2013 at 6:38 am
LORENZO !! You have been a tamil shining star on Lanka Web. Speak out. Keep it up. Those who do not like to hear are DEAF.
June 15th, 2013 at 7:28 am
Well said Sirs!!……….It is time to come out from their closests & tell Sri Lankans WHY THEY ARE AGAINST, this divisive 13 th ammendment being abolished.
Is he or some of the goons who parade as Ministers, are closet Tamils & TNA lovers. These so called ministers must be exposed for who & what they are. Then the general public will know come next election time who to vote for & who to kick out from Sinhala & Lanka Family.
As USA said they can buy any political leader, just name the prize. Sri Lanka is NOT for sale to India, or their paid servants actng as friends of Mother lanka. It is best they leave the cabinet now (like yesterday), so that faithful Sri Lankans who love our Motherland, can take their places.
GOOD RIDDENS…that so called minister, if he can call himself that, after this outburst..President should demote him to a junior minister or something. Thank you……God Bless Our Motherland…..~ J
June 15th, 2013 at 8:31 am
Thanks Susantha.
Our loyalty is to SL not to political parties or personalities. When they do the right thing by SL we love them. When they don’t we hate them.
The BIGGEST achievement of the new army commander is “rehabilitation” of LTTE terrorists!! It is NOT a military achievement AT ALL. It is a POLITICAL achievement (if at all it is an achievement).
What a blo*dy joke!
In other countries a COMMITTEE of HIGH PROFILE defence experts decide who should be the army commander – the MOST important position in national security.
We will AGAIN have an army ONLY capable of saluting politicians and “rehabilitating” terrorists.
June 15th, 2013 at 8:37 am
We are NOT against anyone personally. Just stating FACTS that MUST be addressed.
A good thing is also happening.
MoD has contracted out one of our WEAPONS SUPPLIERS during the war – POLY TECHNOLOGIES – to build a hospital in SL. It is a Chinese company that ALSO sold weapons to terrorists until MoD got them to stop.
Good move to keep them engaged POSITIVELY in SL.
June 15th, 2013 at 11:22 am
Indeed, as Neville Laduahetty says, “Thus the interests of the People are at variance with the interests of the Councillors. ”
But, we must ALSO ask “Which People”? ALL of the citizens of the whole of Sri Lanka, or ONLY the residents of ONE OR MORE Provinces?
Therein lies the DANGER. If for example, “the People” of a particular Province, for whatever reason, want to secede from union with Sri Lanka, then will they have, or can they acquire, the Legal Power to do it using the powers devolved under the 13th Amendment? Even if there is no difference in opinion between “the People” of that province and “the Provincial Councillors” of that province, it could very well happen that the People of the Other Provinces, and/or their Provincial Councillors, may disagree with the steps contemplated by the Province in question.
That is why Sri Lanka should NEVER RECOGNIZE of ANY SUB-NATIONAL GROUP of Sri Lankans, defined on ANY BASIS such as regional, ethnic, religious, or whatever, as having Sovereignty, or the Power to decide on whether to remain a part of Sri Lanka, or to act independently of the Sri Lankan Nation State.
ONLY the ENTIRE PEOPLE of Sri Lanka, expressing their views through NATIONWIDE ELECTIONS and REFERENDA, should be recognized as being SOVEREIGN, and be RECOGNIZED as having the Legal Power to decide on such matters.
That is why Land and Police Powers are so critica to maintaining the Sovereignty of ALL PEOPLE of Sri Lankal. Without Land Powers the Nation State has no control over its territory, and without Police Powers it will have no authority or the means to enforce the Land Powers, which more generally can be taken to include immigration/emigration as well.
Recall that during the period from March 15, 1815 to February 4, 1948, MILLIONS of Indian laborers were imported into Sri Lanka by the British, ignoring the protests of the native people of Sri Lanka, PERMANENTLY AFFECTING their RIGHTS and DISPOSSESSING them. That is the PRICE Sri Lankans paid for having lost our Sovereignty and Control over our country for 150 years. We should LEARN well that LESSON of the CONSEQUENCES of losing Land and Police Powers to foreign powers or internal groups, who have agendas inimical to the continued existence and sovereignty of our nation.
FORTUNATELY, there is an Internationally Recognized LEGAL PRINCIPLE and a CLEAR LEGAL PRECEDENT for a National Government to claim the Sovereignty of ALL PEOPLE of a country over ALL of its territory, and enforce its authority even over sub-groups of states and people residing in those territories: The United States of America in the US Civil War:
The Southern (Confederate) States of the USA argued that since they had joined the American Union voluntarily, and since they had reserved States Rights to themselves under the US Constitution at that time, they had every right to SECEDE from the Union if they so decided, WITHOUT REGARD to wishes of THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION AS A WHOLE.
Not so, argued President Abraham Lincoln and the Union (Federal) States. They maintained that ONLY the ALL of PEOPLE of the Nation were Sovereign, not the States, not the People of a SUB-GROUP of those States.
The argument was that ALL OF THE PEOPLE of THE United States had ACQUIRED A RIGHT TO ENJOY THE BOUNTY of the ENTIRE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES ACCUMULATED during the Previous 100 Years of Union as ONE NATION STATE. ALL of the People of the US had invested their efforts, their treasure, and their hopes in building that Union of States, argued the Unionists, and no SUB-GROUP of States had the right ANYMORE to DENY them those ACCUMULATED EARNED RIGHTS, which are now INALIENABLE.
Well, Sri Lanka has certainly existed as a well-recognized Sovereign Nation-State for several thousand years, with brief interruptions due to invasions, and ALL OF ITS PEOPLE, from then until now, have invested their efforts, their treasure, and their hopes in an Undivided Sovereign Sri Lanka. That is a RIGHT EARNED and PASSED ONTO to subsequent generations of Sri Lankan Citizens over several millenia, which TRUMPS the RIGHT EARNED by ALL of the citizens of the United States, over a mere 100 years of existence as one nation from the American Revolution to the American Civil War, to CONTINUED EXISTENCE as a ONE undivided Nation.
This EXAMPLE of ONLY ALL OFF THE PEOPLE of a Nation State being Sovereign, and that this Sovereignty is EARNED RIGHT BY ALL OF THE PEOPLE to ALL OF THE TERRITORY OF A NATION, is IMPORTANT to Sri Lanka for TWO reasons:
1. It FORMS a BASIS for asserting that the WILL OF ALL CITIZENS OF Sri Lanka has PRIORITY/PRECEDENCE over the WILL OF ANY SEPARATIST SUB-GROUP of People in Sri Lanka. Therefore, any National Question, such as REPEALING the 13th Amendment and the DISSOLUTION of the Provincial Councils, must be decided in a NATIONWIDE REFERENDUM that queries the wishes of ALL PEOPLE of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the WILL of ALL of Sri Lanka, thus expressed, is PARAMOUNT, and has precedence over the WILL of its Representatives elected to ANY and ALL branches (the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary) of Government.
2. This Legal Principle is well established in the United States, forming as it did the very legal basis on which the Civil War against the Separatist Confederates, was fought and won, and the writ of the Union Government was consolidated over the ENTIRE United States, and subsequently extended to new territories that joined, or were annexed, into the United States. Yet, the United States is one of the foremost critics of Sri Lanka that demands Devolution of Power to ACTIVE separatists, who threaten its very existence as a Sovereign Nation, and refuse to abide by its unitary status. That is CLEARLY CONTRARY to the Principles the United States used in the past, and uses today, to assure its own existence as a United Sovereign Nation.
Therefore, this Principle can be USED to FEND off ALL of the Foreign Critics of Sri Lanka who demand that autonomous power be devolved to former and continuing separatists by pointing out the HYPOCRISY, DOUBLE STANDARDS, ILLEGALITY under their own laws, of their positions on this issue. We can INVOKE the same principle they used to defend and protect thier own countries, to defend and protect Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty over ALL of its territory, and ALL of its people.
What is GOOD for the American GOOSE, we must INSIST, is GOOD for the Sri Lankan GANDER as well!
June 15th, 2013 at 11:51 am
Gotabhaya’s Comment is RIGHT ON THE MONEY: India’s INTERFERENCE continues to FOMENT internal communal conflicts in Sri Lanka, generate external threats from Tamil Nadu, and Western Neocolonialist powers plying their own agendas, and exacerbate the threat from the Sri Lankan Eelamist Tamil Diaspora.
I ONLY WISH Gota was able to convince his brother, the President, to SCRAP the 13th Amendment, for the 13A will trigger another civil conflict in Sri Lanka in the not-too-distant future.
It is THe HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY for India, which INITIATED & ORCHESTRATED the Tamil separatist murder and mayhem in Sri Lanka, to CLAIM it is doing ANYTHING to help Sri Lanka when it FORCES the 13A down Sri Lanka’s unwilling throat. OUR CLOSEST COUSINS are now OUR WORST ENEMIES, as they PERSIST in undermining and destabilizing Sri Lanka!
My warning to Indians: “You live in a Glass House, it is Dangerous to Throw Stones at Neighbors!”
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Gotabaya worried over Jaya’s stand on Lanka
By P K Balachandran
NewIndianExpress.com
June 15, 2013
“Given the recent activities of LTTE-linked organisations outside Sri Lanka, particularly in Tamil Nadu, this is very much a current threat”, said Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s firm stand on Sri Lanka has upset the island nation’s government with Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa saying her point of view poses a threat to his country’s security and sovereignty.
Speaking at the Kotelawala Defence University here, Gotabaya said: “India, in particular, is very sensitive to what is going on in Sri Lanka because of the large Tamil population in its influential southern State of Tamil Nadu. Especially during election cycle, Sri Lanka figures large in its power politics. In the recent past, we have seen even the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu attempting to pressurise the Central government into opposing Lanka internationally. This is a serious threat to Sri Lanka’s security and perhaps even to its sovereignty.”
The Defence Secretary said there were some Tamils in Lanka who identified themselves more with Tamils in Tamil Nadu than with fellow Lankans and that it was being encouraged by “some parties overseas” who wished to promote the idea of a “greater Tamil nation”.
On the possibility of arms smuggling across the seas, he said: “Given the recent activities of LTTE-linked organisations outside Sri Lanka, particularly in Tamil Nadu, this is very much a current threat.”
Stressing the need to prevent Tamil Nadu fishermen from entering Lankan waters, he said: “The fishing boats that enter Lankan waters illegally have also been known to engage in criminal activities including drug smuggling.”
India-China conflict
Gotabaya saw the India-China conflict as a threat to Lanka. “With the rise of China as a world economic leader, there is widespread belief that India feels insecure and is seeking to align itself with other powers that seem similarly threatened by China’s ascendency. The likelihood of the US showing more interest in the region and aligning more with India is a factor that might affect Lanka. Its establishment of a base in the Maldives is also changing the complexion of the region,” he said.
June 18th, 2013 at 12:57 pm
What the Tamil National Alliance is doing constitutes as an act of sedition. No nation be they Democratic or not will allow a political party to seek the assistance of a foreign power (India) in the formation of their constitution. No nation was involved in the formation of the US constitution. They would not have dared. That also goes for any amendments India makes to her Constitution and yet the TNA are doing exactly that. They should be dissolved as a legitimate party by the courts for the act of sedition and let the Tamils elect a new party that puts the integrity of Sri Lanka above all else.
June 18th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
A Petition to STRIP LAND & POLICE POWERS from the PCS is GOOD, but a Petition to STRIP the 13th Amendment from Sri Lanka’s Constitution is ESSENTIAL & MUCH BETTER!
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Petition with million signatures to strip land and police powers to PCs handed over to Sri Lankan President
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 18, Colombo: A petition with signatures of million people against holding the Northern Provincial Council election without amending the land and police powers was handed over to the Sri Lankan President today.
The National Freedom Front led by Minister Wimal Weerawansa earlier this month launched an island wide campaign to collect million signatures against vesting land and police powers to the provincial councils under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The campaign began in Anuradhapura on June 6th and traversed the country collecting signatures.
Minister Wimal Weerawansa, Deputy Minister Weerakumara Dissanayake, Politburo Member Piyasiri Wijenayake and other members of the NFF were present at the occasion.
(Photos by Sudath Silva)
June 18th, 2013 at 5:35 pm
India appoints a New Ambassador for Sri Lanka. He seems to be well qualified for the job; let us hope he will be sympathetic to Sri Lanka’s National Security concerns.
His appointment to Sri Lanka instead of to a cushy high-profile Western Country after his assignment to Venezuela reflects the high-priority India assigns to relations with Sri Lanka, particularly at this time when the PC elections are looming in Sri Lanka.
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New High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka arrives in Colombo
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 18, Colombo: India’s new High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha arrived in Colombo on Tuesday, the High Commission of India in Colombo announced today.
Sinha is a seasoned diplomat and during his career of 32 years, has handled several important assignments at the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and in Indian diplomatic missions in the Middle East, Europe, South America and the Permanent Mission of India at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Before coming to Sri Lanka, he was Additional Secretary in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
He was Ambassador of India to Venezuela from January 2007 to August 2009 and Consul General of India in Dubai from August 2003 to December 2006. Earlier, he served as Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi (UAE) from March 2002 to July 2003.
Before 2003, Sinha worked in different capacities at Indian Missions in Saudi Arabia, Italy; and in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. In the mid-1990s, he served at Indian Mission in Pakistan and at the Permanent Delegation of India to United Nations, New York.
Y.K. Sinha was born on October 4, 1958. After post-graduation in History from Delhi University, he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1981. He was member of the Secretariat of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, held in New Delhi in 1982 and CHOGM Summit held in 1983. He studied Arabic language at the American University, Cairo from 1983 to 1985.
He is married to Girija, and they have two sons: Ambuj and Vinayak.
June 18th, 2013 at 5:49 pm
Lanka can’t toe India line on 13th Amendment: Gotabaya
By P K Balachandran, COLOMBO
NewIndianExpress.com
27th May 2013 08:08 AM
The influential Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has said Sri Lanka should jettison the system of devolution contained in the India-inspired 13th Amendment of the country’s constitution, irrespective of India’s reaction.
“Just because India or some other country will get angry, we cannot stop doing what is good for our country,” Gotabaya told the Tamil daily Sudar Oli on Sunday.
He was asked if his statements against the devolution of power to the provinces would not irk India, which was responsible for the promulgation of the existing devolution system through the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 and the 13th constitutional amendment which followed it. Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid had recently expressed displeasure over Lanka’s attempts to prune the 13th amendment to deny the provinces powers over land and police.
Gotabaya expressed the fear that if the Tamil majority Northern Province went into the hands of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) following the September 2013 elections to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), that province would demand power over land and police and jeopardize national integrity and security.
He recalled that the 13th amendment did not have the people’s support when it was enacted in 1987. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna had “set fire to the whole country,” and the LTTE leader Prabhakaran had rejected it, he pointed out.
“Why should we implement it merely because it meets India’s needs?” Gotabaya asked.
According to him some forces were trying to weaken Lanka’s Central Executive by divesting it of powers of land and the police; demanding independent commissions to make official appointments; and promoting an independent judiciary. Gotabaya, who is President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s sibling, suggested that Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims, should all “forget” about the 13th amendment and think about a “reasonable” solution to the ethnic question.
However, according to “The Sunday Times” President Rajapaksa had told the cabinet that the NPC elections should be held as scheduled in September, and under the existing constitutional arrangement. Perhaps, Rajapaksa does not want to ruffle feathers in India and the West ahead of the Commonwealth summit scheduled to be held in Colombo in November.
June 19th, 2013 at 2:51 am
Gotabhaya is echoing OUR PLEAS! He is in effect saying that ETHNIC INTEGRATION of the North and East is central to achieving National Integration, and Permanent Communal Harmony! BRAVO, Mr. Defence Secretary!
RISE UP ….. O Patriots of Mother Lanka …. RISE UP, in your TENS of MILLIONS, and REPEAL the 13th Amendment and DISSOLVE the Provincial Council System NOW. Raise your VOICE NOW to make PERMANENT the PEACE & HARMONY in our Resplendent Motherland!
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Gotabhaya abhors exclusivity for any race anywhere
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
June 18, 2013, 10:00 pm
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the Northern Province should be opened up for all communities to live in without further delay. That would be of pivotal importance to promote bonding among the people in the post-war era.
The Defence Secretary emphasised that the Sinhalese shouldn’t be deprived of their right to buy land in any part of the country, including the Northern Province comprising the administrative districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya.
The outspoken official said that the Sinhalese and the Muslim public servants too, should be allowed to serve in the Northern Province as well as in the predominantly Tamil areas of the Eastern Province.
Asked whether he would take up the issue with the government, the Defence Secretary said that he had explained the situation to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Those who had been propagating post-war national reconciliation should promote bonding among people, he said, alleging that as long as the Northern Province remained ‘closed’ to other communities it would continue to be a breeding ground for separatist sentiments.
Responding to a query, the Defence Secretary said that many Tamil speaking people from the Northern and Eastern provinces had moved to Colombo and its suburbs as well as other areas over the years. In spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May, four years ago, they hadn’t been asked to return to their original places of living, he said. Likewise, others should be able to live in any part of the country, he added.
The Defence Secretary said that recently he had had an opportunity to meet a Tamil engineer attached to the RDA and his deputy, also a Tamil speaking official responsible for an ongoing project at a Colombo suburb coming under his purview. If they could work here without any hindrance why couldn’t the people of other ethnicities be given appointments in the Northern region, the Defence Secretary queried.
He recollected the circumstances under which the LTTE had driven the Sinhalese and the Muslims out of the Northern Province. A Norwegian found guilty of slaughtering about 80 men, women and children in 2011 was on record as having said that he was inspired by LTTE project to drive out the Muslims, he noted.
The official emphasised the importance of taking tangible measures to address contentious issues. Although, the LTTE could no longer pose a military challenge, the post-war national reconciliation process was at risk due to the Northern Province having special status, he said. The Defence Secretary insisted that Northern Province shouldn’t be exclusively Tamil and similarly there should not be any exclusively Sinhala or Muslim areas in the country.