{"id":118417,"date":"2021-09-21T16:50:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T23:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=118417"},"modified":"2021-09-21T16:50:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T23:50:25","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-19-b4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/09\/21\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-19-b4\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 19 B4"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

 (Continued\nfrom B3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TNA has always had links with the UK\ngovernment. In 2016, TNA met Baroness Anelay when she visited Sri Lanka, to\nseek her intervention to get rid of the army, have an international probe on\nwar crimes and other such issues. Baroness Anelay was UK\u2019s Minister for the\nCommonwealth and UN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n2017, Sampanthan metUK Minister of\nState for Asia and Pacific, Mark Field at Westminster House, Colombo.  Sampanthan repeated his call for the\nre-merger of the Eastern and Northern Provinces. Highlighting the role played\nby Great Britain in the past, Sampanthan urged further constructive engagement\nof the International community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018\nCommonwealth Secretary-General Rt. Hon Patricia Scotland visited Sri Lanka.\nShe met Opposition Leader at Parliament. \nShe praised Sampanthan for his moderation and for being an ambassador for\npeace.  Sampanthan said, inter alia, that\nthe International community including the Commonwealth has an important role to\nplay in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019\nSampanthan and TNA Spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran   met Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon when he\nvisited Sri Lanka.  Lord Ahamad was   UK Minister of State for the Commonwealth,\nUN and South Asia and Prime Minister\u2019s Special Representative on Preventing\nSexual Violence in Conflict. TNA told Lord Ahamed “As Tamil People, who\nhave our culture, own heritage and a long history, we have endeavored to\nresolve the national question through a reasonable and acceptable power sharing\narrangement. We want a solution within a united undivided and indivisible Sri\nLanka. We all want this country to prosper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Malcolm\nBruce, Member of Parliament, visited Sri Lanka in February 2020.  Sampanthan and Sumanthiran met him. TNA\nissued a statement which said that Sampanthan briefed MP Bruce on the history\nof Tamil people\u2019s struggles ever since independence. Sampanthan highlighted the\nfact that the Tamil People did not demand separation until the\nstate led land grabbing and illegal settlements took place after\nindependence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Bruce\ntold TNA that their demands were fair. \nHe had assured the TNA that the UK would work with the Sri Lankan\ngovernment to reach what he called a reasonable solution\nto the longstanding issue. The position you have taken is extremely\nconstructive and your demands are fair. Your rational, reasonable and peaceful\napproach in these matters is commendable, we will work with the Sri Lankan\nGovernment to arrive at a reasonable solution to this longstanding issue,\u201d concluded\nLord Bruce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2021\nSumanthiran had met the British High Commissioner in Colombo, to discuss the\nTNA proposals made to UNHRC. He had told the High Commissioner that Britain and\nother western countries should intervene and push Sri Lanka government to\nfulfill obligations on transnational justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A delegation from\nthe European Parliament visited Jaffna in 2017. The delegation had come to meet\ngovernment and civil society representatives to discuss progress on national\nreconciliation and the implementation of international conventions applicable\nto GSP+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in 2018, a\ndelegation from the European Parliament Committee on International Trade,\nincluding the Standing Rapporteur for South Asia, met Sampanthan in his office\nin Parliament. Briefing the delegation on power-sharing arrangements Sampanthan\nsaid, “We are wanting a solution within a united undivided and indivisible\nSri Lanka on the basis of the dignity, self-respect and sovereignty of\ndifferent people who have historically inhabited certain regions for\ncenturies”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil people in\nthis country are hurt and offended that they are always being treated as\nsecond-class citizens; we have been insulted and humiliated. Whenever we made\npolitical demands violence was unleashed against us, Tamil people left this\ncountry in large numbers because they couldn\u2019t live anymore in this here. We\ncannot go on like this, Sampanthan told the delegation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sampanthan urged\nthe delegation to impress upon the Sri Lanka government to deliver on promises,\nand to remind the government that the support of the international community\ntowards the government is conditional and the obligations on the part of the\ngovernment must be fulfilled .The international community has a responsibility\nto protect the Tamil people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TNA wanted\nthe EU to secure power-sharing arrangements in the proposed new Constitution.\n“We want to have substantial power-sharing arrangements in the new\nConstitution, an arrangement that will enable people to exercise powers in\nmatters that are related to them, and ensures that these powers are not taken\nback by the center or will not allow center to interfere. We are being absolutely reasonable in these\nmatters. If the government does not deliver we may be compelled to take a\nhardline.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delegation\nthanked Sampanthan for his wise statesmanship and pragmatic leadership and\nassured that they will take his inputs very seriously and will take it up both\nwith their respective governments and also with European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019,  Geoffrey Van Orden, Member of the European Parliament and\nof the Friends of Sri Lanka group in the European Parliament  came to Sri Lanka and met, among others, TNA\u2019s Sampanthan.  Sampanthan\nhad told Van Orden that the country was in distress. There was no Prime\nMinister or Government. We had to support to reinstate the Government to\nprevent further damage being done to the economy and for normalcy in the\nfunctioning of institutions in this Country, said Sampanthan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Member of the\nEuropean Parliament and of the Friends of Sri Lanka group in the European\nParliament Hon Geoffrey Van Orden met with TNA in Colombo <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \nNorwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg met\nR. Sampanthan in Colombo, when she visited Sri Lanka in 2016. in 2018 Jens\nFr\u00f8lich Holte, Norwegian State Secretary for Development Cooperation, visited\nSri Lanka   and had met with a Tamil\nNational Alliance delegation led by R. Sampanthan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TNA told him that people in many areas in\nNorth and East are staging protests over land, persons in custody and on the\nissue of missing persons. “These are matters that are of concern to our\npeople and we want the international community to play an important role in\nfinding solutions to these issues”. He appreciated the support and partnership\nextended by the Norwegian government in the past in rebuilding Sri Lankan,\nspecially the support for the National question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special Ambassador Yasushi Akashi met\nOpposition leader Sampanthan at his residence in Colombo in 2019. Sampanthan\ntold him that though the armed conflict has come to an end, the solution to the\nTamil people\u2019s grievances which were the causes for the armed conflict is yet\nto be fulfilled. Further, he said, the international community played a key\nrole in bringing the war to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government of Sri Lanka gave several\ncommitments to the international community concerning a lasting solution to the\nethnic conflict. But none of those commitments have seen a positive end. The\ninternational community cannot be a mere spectator anymore continued Sampanthan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The international community must remind the\nGovernment of Sri Lanka of their commitments to the international community and\nensure that the government delivers on those commitments. If Sri Lanka fails to\nkeep its commitment, it will not only be harmful to the Tamil people but the\nwhole country, concluded Sampanthan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netherlands\nAmbassador called on Sampanthan at his residence in Colombo in March 2020. Sri\nLanka\u2019s withdrawal from the UNHRC resolution will not do any good to the\ncountry Sampanthan told the ambassador. There is no Sinhala or Tamil issue when\nit comes to human rights. It concerns whether anyone violated international\nhumanitarian and human rights law, and if they have done so, those responsible\nmust be brought to justice, said Sampanthan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nAmbassador assured that Netherlands will be evaluating the policies and the\ndirections of the government of Sri Lanka concerning these matters and will\ntake appropriate steps to address them. The Ambassador assured support towards\nthe development of the North and the East. (Continued in B4)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS  (Continued from B3) TNA has always had links with the UK government. In 2016, TNA met Baroness Anelay when she visited Sri Lanka, to seek her intervention to get rid of the army, have an international probe on war crimes and other such issues. Baroness Anelay was UK\u2019s Minister for the Commonwealth and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}