Sangaree warns Tamil Nadu
would become second Jaffna
By Walter Jayawardhana
Sri Lanka’s biggest Tamil democratic party leader V. Ananda Sangaree
told London based Indian reporters if India does not act fast and quell
pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam activities in India’s Sourthern
state of Tamil Nadu it would become a second Jaffna soon.
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader , Sangaree warned with
leaders like Vaiko of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, P.
Nedumaran of the Tamil National Movement and Thiru Mavalan of the Dalit
Panther Party the South Indian state could become a second Jaffna easily.
Jaffna of Sri Lanka is ravaged by an armed insurgency of separatism
by the LTTE, and the Tamil leader who spoke to the reporters at Chor
Bizarre Restaurant in the Mayfair area of Central London was of the
opinion similar conditions might arise there if the situation goes unchecked.
While not accusing Chief Minister Karunanidhi directly, he said the
conduct of Karunanidhi has given the impression that he is “pro-LTTE”.
Sangaree said he had refused to welcome the Indian Peace Keeping (IPKF)
soldiers who had to fight the LTTE in Sri Lanka. IPKF soldiers had been
subjected to the most atrocious torture methods by the LTTE, Sangaree
said.
Vaiko, Nedumaran and Thiru Mavalan are politicians who are openly supporting
the LTTE , despite the group’s proscription in India. He said they
support Prabhakaran “for various considerations.”
“It is myth to think Prabhakaran wants a solution since if he establishes
a separate state no country in the world would support it. If such a
state comes in to existence Prabhakaran knows India would come and get
his head, for the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. So, he would prefer to
go like this until his death,” he further said , clarifying that
no solution is possible with the LTTE leadership.
The support presently extended by Tamil Nadu and its Leaders to solve
the ethnic problem is counter productive and will not in any way lead
to finding a reasonable solution, he said. “Hence I make a strong
plea that all concerned parties in Tamil Nadu should forget their differences
and work united towards finding a reasonable solution within a United
Sri Lanka. All political parties and individuals in Tamil Nadu should
not only forget about a separate state of Tamil Eelam but also stop
giving encouragement to separation.
The International Community is totally opposed to separation and India
in particular had repeatedly said that it is committed to the Unity,
Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Sri Lanka. Continuing to fight
for separation will mean wastage of time, loss of life and destruction
of property. Every Indian should be convinced of this fact” he
emphasized.”
He said Federalism has become a taboo word for many Sri Lankans with
the belief that it would lead to separatism while due to lack of support
in the parliament no constitutional amendment is possible at this time.
So, as a first step the only possible thing that could be done to devolve
power presently is to implement the 13th amendment, which has been already
done in the past, Sangaree said.
“As a Tamil Senior citizen in politics for over fifty years and
also as an Ex-Parliamentarian, I am very well aware of the ethnic problem
and also know what the solution should be. I represented the Kilinochchi
Electorate in Parliament for fourteen years and was responsible for
creating the Kilinochchi District where the LTTE have their Head-Quarters,
about 200 yards away from my house. The concerns of 60 Million people
of Tamil Nadu for the people of the same ethnic group just 20 miles
across the Palk-Strait in Sri Lanka, is understandable. That is why
I request Tamil Nadu to act with care and caution in its dealings with
the Sri Lankan Ethnic Problem and not to get swayed by emotional and
inflammatory speeches that could incite the people. If Tamil Nadu is
honestly interested in seeing a reasonable solution, it should first
of all understand the ground situation” he added.
Ananda Sangaree further pointed out that If Tamil Naadu is really interested
in finding peace for the Tamils across the Palk-strait, pressure should
be brought on the LTTE to accept a Federal Solution, taking into serious
consideration the immense hardships caused by them to the Tamils in
several ways for well over 23 years. Among many others, the LTTE deprived
them of their democratic and fundamental rights and considerably eroded
into their Human Rights also. If a public announcement is made by the
LTTE accepting a Federal Solution, even the little opposition in Sri
Lanka for a Federal Solution will turn in their favour and the country
as a whole will be in a mood to accept it.
A question often asked by many is as to why the TNA’s 22 Members
of Parliament who claim to be the representatives of the Tamil people,
without seeking Indian intervention to find a federal solution, had
only complained of human rights violation and opening of the A.9 road,
Sangaree said. It is very unfortunate that they who owe their election
as Members of Parliament to the LTTE are only acting as Proxies of the
LTTE and not as representatives of the Tamil People. “The LTTE’s
thuggery and intimidation and their fraudulent acts only made them win,
yet they go about claiming to have been duly elected as representatives
of the Tamils. All other candidates including my group were not allowed
by the LTTE cadre to get engaged in any election work. We were, even
prevented from casting our votes. The recommendations of some election
Monitoring Teams for nullification and re-poll in the Northern and Eastern
Provinces, clearly show that election was won by the TNA fraudulently
with the support of the LTTE, Sangaree said.
He said the majority of the Sri Lankan Tamil population ( i.e. not
counting the Tamils of the recent Indian origin) have escaped the atrocities
of the LTTE and are living amongst the Sinhalese. He said race riots
in Sri Lanka started when 13 bodies of slain soldiers by the LTTE were
brought to Colombo for burial. The whole country burned then. But very
often, he said LTTE killers get into Sinhalese farming villages and
kill unarmed civilians. But now the credit should go to the Sinhalese
for being calm and not provoked by these acts.
Sangaree said the Sinhala only act and standardization of university
entries created the rift among the communities but both those problems
have been fully remedied by the government. But he said Prabhakaran
still misuses those past problems to continue his atrocities. He said
Sinhalese and Tamils are culturally close and Sinhala Buddhists respect
and worship Hindu gods while Hindus respect Buddha.
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