{"id":71697,"date":"2017-11-16T22:30:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T04:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=71697"},"modified":"2017-11-16T15:15:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T22:15:47","slug":"do-not-give-land-and-police-powers-to-the-northern-provincial-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/11\/16\/do-not-give-land-and-police-powers-to-the-northern-provincial-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Do not give Land and Police powers to the Northern Provincial Council"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Chanaka Bandarage<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The current Northern Provincial Council (NPC) is a racist government. The NPC discriminates against the Sinhalese in the North.<\/p>\n<p>At the moment the NPC does not have the Land and Police powers (under the <em>13<sup>th<\/sup> \u00a0Amendment<\/em>, the Land and Police powers were granted to the provincial governments; but JR Jayawardane, realising the danger, effected measures to stop the final grant). At the moment the central government holds these two powers.<\/p>\n<p>Even without having these two powers, the NPC discriminates against the Sinhalese hugely in the\u00a0 North. It is not difficult to imagine what would happen when those powers are formally granted to the NPC\u00a0 \u2013 that would be the creation of the Tamil Eelam.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>LAND<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>NPC opposes Sinhalese people from living in the North. It even blocks the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> and 3<sup>rd<\/sup> generation Tamil speaking Sinhalese from returning to the North. Sri Lankan parliamentarians maintain a mum on this blatant discrimination.<\/li>\n<li>NPC Chief Minister openly campaigns against the settlement of Sinhalese in the His actions amount to contravening local and international laws including human rights laws. The Chief Minister has single handedly stopped the establishment of Sinhalese settlements in the North . He has done this with impunity; since establishment of the NPC in 2013. A fear psychosis has been created among the Sinhalese that they should not contemplate settling down in the North. The sad irony is that the NPC, since its establishment, has received the implied consent to do so from the central governments.<\/li>\n<li>There is hardly any land available in plenty for the growing populations of Sri Lanka to live except in the North and the East. The NPC and the central government instrumentalities (like the Tamil speaking Grama Sevakas) have imposed \u2018red tape\u2019 upon the Sinhalese from settling in the North. As it was impossible to comply with the stringent (unlawful) rules, the Sinhalese who wanted to settle in the North returned to the South (note, the North and the South have been traditional homelands of the Sinhalese).<\/li>\n<li>NPC has a huge budget and spends lavishly on the upliftment of the Tamil citizens in the North (funds largely provided to them\u00a0 by the central government), it has basically done nothing to uplift the lives of the very few Sinhalese living in the North. Lots of the Northern Sinhalese still live in half built houses or tin sheds. \u00a0The roads in the areas where they live have been neglected.\u00a0 The NPC has shown no desire to attend to repairing these roads.<\/li>\n<li>The Madu Road Sinhalese who were the first settlers of that area have been overlooked when allocating recently built shops. The Sinhalese in Silawathura have not been provided with proper drinking water (until the NGO that the writer is involved with went ahead to build wells and provide them with clean water). Kokilai Sinhalese (including the Buddhist monk) are constantly facing legal action in relation to land matters; the sinister objective is to evict them from those areas. Tamil speaking Navatkuli Sinhalese have been asked to return to the South alleging that they are illegal squatters. No attempts have been made by any government to rebuild the \u2018Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya\u2019 in Jaffna, flattened by Prabhakaran\u2019s bombing in the early 1980s (it had over 2000 students and was considered to have one of the best school laboratories in the North). This prime land, adjoining the Jaffna Hospital, has been encroached by squatters, to a certain extent.<\/li>\n<li>The former TNA MP Suresh Premachandran (presently the Leader of EPRLF) threatened Navatkuli Sinhalese that they must return to the South (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fKfrUS\u2013twIs\"><em><strong>youtube.com\/watch<\/strong>?<strong>v<\/strong>=<strong>fKfrUS<\/strong>\u2013<strong>twIs<\/strong><\/em><\/a><strong><em>)<\/em><\/strong>. This is a good forewarning as to what we can expect from a future TNA or other Tamil government when they have full Land (and Police) powers in the North.<\/li>\n<li>After the war, the Madu Road Sinhalese were given 20 perches of land by the then central government to resettle, new Tamils who were brought into the area, probably under the instigation of the NPC, to live next to them were given 40 perches of land. The Sinhalese understand that they were discriminated against on the ground of race. In Madu Road, a prime block of land belonging to the central government was acquired by a Tamil businessman to establish a new business.<\/li>\n<li>NPC opposes and sometimes prevents the few Sinhalese Buddhists in the North from practising Buddhism. Even to build a \u2018chaithya\u2019 within their temple premises, the Sinhalese in the North had to seek orders from the Court of law. We are aware of incidents where Buddha statutes placed in public places in the North had been damaged by subversive elements.<\/li>\n<li>Sinhalese living in the North have been denied the right to practice their livelihoods \u2013 due to this some Sinhalese left the North and returned to the South. We are aware of incidents where self-employed Sinhalese have been harassed by the NPC officials imposing unfair conditions and restrictions on their businesses (Tamils doing the same businesses have not been imposed with such unfair restrictions and conditions). A Sinhala shop owner in the North was frequently harassed by errant officials alleging he had encroached into the pavement, \u00a0other adjoining non-Sinhalese shop owners, did not even receive a warning for committing the same offence.<\/li>\n<li>TNA runs the NPC. TNA was the LTTE proxy in the Sri Lankan parliament.<\/li>\n<li>TNA politicians have worked to chase out Sinhalese from lands and give those land to Tamils (eg. after the war, about 100 Sinhalese were chased out from the land (up to 1000 acres) in Dehiwatte in Trincomalee district (Eastern Province) and those lands were given to new Tamil settlers. A high level public servant of the Trincomalee District Registry related that the \u2018order\u2019 to evict the Sinhalese from the lands had come from a prominent TNA parliamentarian (who is \u2018venerated\u2019 in the South).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u0dc3\u0d82\u0dc4\u0dd2\u0db3\u0dd2\u0dba\u0dcf\u0dc0 (Reconciliation) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NPC has shown least regard to \u0dc3\u0d82\u0dc4\u0dd2\u0db3\u0dd2\u0dba\u0dcf\u0dc0 (reconciliation), though the Central Governments preach this non-stop to the people in the South. In the North, government work is conducted in Tamil exclusively. The Sinhalese in the North who are unable to speak Tamil find it extremely difficult to obtain services from government offices. The Jaffna Railway station had not regularly announced the arrival of the train from Colombo in Sinhala language. Huge bill board advertisements in the North (eg on A9) are being confined to Tamil and English languages only (some advertisements are displayed by banks and leading businesses housed in the South).\u00a0 To a traveler to the North, it is obvious that Sinhalese signage is largely lacking. This is not the situation in the South. A Northern Sinhalese Buddhist monk related to the writer that when buses are crowded, he had to travel standing on them as no one would offer him a seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Future<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Once they have the Land power, the NPC not only would be able to legally block the Southern Sinhalese from settling in the North, but also from visiting the North. The NPC may be able to impose a law that without its permission no person can enter the Northern lands, say, beyond Vavuniya. This means the Sinhalese can be asked not to enter the North.<\/li>\n<li>The very few Sinhalese who are already in the North could be repatriated to the South.<\/li>\n<li>Once the Land power is given, it will be easy for enemies of Sri Lanka in Thamilnadu, like Vaiiko, Nedumarann and Seman et al to set up anti-Sri Lankan establishments\/institutions in the North.<\/li>\n<li>Tamilnadu people may have easy access to enter the province. Their fishermen may freely poach on our waters.<\/li>\n<li>As the land will be theirs, without Sri Lanka\u2019s consent, the NPC would be able to negotiate with India and build a bridge to connect the two lands.<\/li>\n<li>With the Land power legally granted to them, the NPC can impose more pressure on the Army to vacate its camps (note even the Leader of the Opposition in the recent past trespassed into\u00a0 the Kilinochchi Army camp and demanded that the Army should vacate that land). The NPC can agitate people to conduct hartals etc demanding the military to entirely vacate from the North. Such actions can endanger the lives of the military and the Sinhalese police (if any) stationed in the North. With Land powers fully in their control, \u00a0basically the NPC will be able to do anything in relation to land \u2013 sell, transfer, lease, mortgage, donate, acquire in any way it likes \u2013 without even paying just compensation to the land owners (note, there will \u00a0be some land still vested with the central government).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>POLICE<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically the majority of the Policemen and Police women in the North have been Sinhalese. This is the situation even now. Once the Police powers are given, the new Northern Police Force may be comprised exclusively of Tamil speaking officers. If the NPC wants, it may be able to impose a condition that all police officers must speak Tamil fluently.\u00a0 This would eliminate most Sinhalese police personnel from serving in the North.<\/li>\n<li>The NPC police will be like a para military force, it will bear arms. As the central government will have no control over recruitment to the NP police force, ex-Tigers may be able join. After the two powers are given, if the Sri Lankan military continues to remain in the North, it is possible that confrontation may occur between the two \u2018armed\u2019 forces.<\/li>\n<li>A Police officer from the South may not be able to enter the North without the permission from the Northern Chief Minister. If a federal Police Officer is allowed permission to enter the North, he\/she could be asked to remove his\/her federal uniform and wear civilian clothes.<\/li>\n<li>As the Northern Provincial Police Commission will come under the control of the NP Chief Ministry, it will be the Chief Minister who will appoint the head of its police force, not the President.<\/li>\n<li>It will be very difficult for the central government Police force (federal) to investigate offences committed by criminals; it will be largely the duty of the provincial government police forces (imagine, having nine separate Police forces, wearing nine different uniforms + a federal police force in this tiny Sri Lanka! \u2013 we are less than 1\/3 of the population of Tamilnadu).<\/li>\n<li>The central government Police force (federal) will become a minute Police force who will be confined to duties in federal institutions like the Airports (2), Ports (about 4 or 5), Defence installations, Federal Parliament, Foreign Ministry, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, Post Offices, SLBC\/Rupavahini and the Customs etc. As the provinces are likely to get the powers currently in the concurrent list (still unsure); majority of the country\u2019s public establishments\/ buildings will be manned by the provincial police forces.<\/li>\n<li>A person who would commit a crime in the South, like planting a bomb (eg, a future Pottu Amman), can flee to the North and stay hiding there. It will be up to the Northern Police whether or not to arrest him. The Federal Police will have to seek an \u2018extradition order\u2019 from the NP Chief Minister to receive and prosecute the person in the South. Whether or not to issue such an order will be the prerogative of the NP Chief Minister.<\/li>\n<li>In 1991 Vartharaja Perumal (co-founder of EPRLF) used his paramilitary force like an \u2018Army\u2019 and unilaterally declared the \u2018Tamil Eelam\u2019 in Northern Sri Lanka. This led the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa to dissolve the provincial council and impose a direct rule on it. Such a scenario can recur; next time the situation would be more serious, given that NPC will have a police force in its command and under the proposed changes the Governor\u2019s powers are likely to be severely curtailed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>TNA\u00a0 has not given up on the separate state, it is foolish to think otherwise<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When overseas, TNA politicians speak in a different language and tone \u2013 they espouse separation. There are instances where the TNA has openly stated that they do not believe in a unitary Sri Lanka. In Geneva in the past, they have lobbied for the Tamil right for self- determination (ie, separate state).<\/li>\n<li>When overseas, TNA politicians make fabricated claims that Tamils are being discriminated in Sri Lanka, including the accusation that Tamil women are currently being raped by the military (this writer has confronted them in foreign western forums, the TNA leaders have then retracted).<\/li>\n<li>Tamil separatists follow their leader, Chelvanayakam\u2019 s teaching &#8211; \u2018little now, more later\u2019 (please refer to my earlier article \u2018<em>Tamil demand for unfair and unreasonable power &#8211; due to Sinhala stupidity, complacency, ignorance and infighting<\/em>).\u2019<\/li>\n<li>NPC has openly indicated that they are not afraid to breach the country\u2019s Constitution. That is why they have shown a desire to seek foreign aid and direct foreign participation (by passing the central government) to build the NP. According to the Constitution the NPC does not have the Foreign Affairs powers, it is vested with the central government.<\/li>\n<li>TNA, though leads the opposition in the current parliament shows little regard to issues relating to the whole of Sri Lanka. They are predominantly focused on Tamil rights. This should not be the behaviour of a responsible opposition.<\/li>\n<li>It is likely that the parliament will give 2\/3 majority to further amend the Constitution (among other things to grant the Land and Police powers to all the nine provinces). Afterwards like JR Jayawardane did in 1987, sanction may be obtained from the Supreme Court\u00a0 to the proposals (subject to the Supreme Court\u2019s approval). If the matter is referred to the People at a Referendum, it is likely that the proposals would fail. Whatever the outcome of the Referendum,\u00a0 TNA will use the results to show that in the North and the East they received a majority vote which shows that those people support the proposals. Based on the Referendum results, the NP Chief Minister may call for an UDI (unilateral declaration of independence). Given that the West (US and the European Union) and India are now in good terms with Sri Lanka, it is interesting to note whether or not they would accept the call or stick its loyalty with Sri Lanka. Whatever the situation, it is quite probable that a Tamil Eelam would be dawned one day as a new nation within Sri Lanka (Kosovo was accepted in that manner). The only way to defeat this is to have Sinhalese and Muslim people settled in the North (this is also the solution to the country\u2019s land scarcity in order for people to live comfortably), and try to preserve as many as possible Army camps there.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Our weak fight thus far against the proposed amendments to the Constitution\u00a0 (six subcommittee reports and the interim report)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our fight has largely been confined to the below mentioned misguided areas (in bullet points). When the masses realise that these fears that we try to portray\u00a0 are actually not there, they may consent to the new proposals (at the moment there is lukewarm interest in the South about the Constitutional debate):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That the prominence currently being given in the Constitution to Buddhism may be removed. It is quite evident that the proponents of the proposals are not stupid to remove this prominence already given in Chapter II, Article 9 of the Constitution. Even the Cardinal of the Catholic Church has stated that that should not be done.<\/li>\n<li>We fight tooth and nail whether it will be \u2018orumiththa nadu\u2019 or \u2018Otriyatchi\u2019. In this debate does it really matter? \u00a0Surely, this should not be the key issue of the debate.<\/li>\n<li>We continue to argue that the proponents of the proposals are trying to convert the country into a federal state (even the proponents have sometimes stated that federalism would be the outcome!). It was the <em>Banda-Chelva pact<\/em> in 1957 that first tried to create a federal state in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 In the mid 1990s the country attempted to do this again. But, in 1987 we in fact became a federal state (created by the 13th Amendment in 1987). Therefore, rather than making the shallow argument that the country will become a federal state as a result of the current proposals ; we must\u00a0 demonstrate that they may lead to a much more sinister end \u2013 secession. \u00a0We have failed to understand that many ordinary Sri Lankans now believe that it is alright to grant federal status to the provinces, believing that the country will still remain a single nation.\u00a0 There is justification to this belief. They know that countries that have federal governments such as Canada, Australia, India, France, Mexico, Brazil, Germany have remained a one nation. What we must also stress is that unlike those countries, in Sri Lanka, we deal with Tamil politicians most of who have the hidden agenda to create a separate state &#8211; Tamil Eelam.<\/li>\n<li>What we must do is to highlight the real damage these proposals might do to the country. Giving the Land and the Police powers to the NPC, the federal (central) government giving up its concurrent list powers are the most dangerous and scary proposals. They are changes that can lead us to lose our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Unfortunately, in our fight thus far, we have given less deference to them.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, the populace must be educated about the grave danger\u00a0 that we will face if these powers are given to the NPC. To overcome the problem, we must all work together. Like our other problems, if we continue to \u00a0look at them as a UNP\/SLFP\/JA issue, \u00a0we would never win. What we ought to understand is that this is a National problem; we must disregard our party affinities and all of us must work as united Sri Lankans to defeat the threat we now face to our sovereignty and territorial integrity.<\/li>\n<li>This time, once we lose sovereignty and territorial integrity, it will be permanent. It will be impossible to regain them. Again, that is why\u00a0 we must fight with full force and vigour to defeat the adverse proposals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chanaka Bandarage The current Northern Provincial Council (NPC) is a racist government. The NPC discriminates against the Sinhalese in the North. At the moment the NPC does not have the Land and Police powers (under the 13th \u00a0Amendment, the Land and Police powers were granted to the provincial governments; but JR Jayawardane, realising the danger, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71697","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=71697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}