neighbour must not dictate terms - EDITORIAL

5 October 2015 06:50 pm - 0 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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he Tamil Nadu leaders seem to be furious after the adoption of the US initiated resolution at the UNHRC sessions a week ago which called on the Sri Lankan Government to create a domestic judicial mechanism including Judges from the Commonwealth and other countries to address the accountability issues in respect of the war.

They are pressing for an international judicial process for the purpose and one of them, Dr. Ramdoss, the leader of the pro-LTTE Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has gone to the extent of calling for a referendum among the Sri Lankan Tamils as well as the Tamils in other countries for the creation of the Tamil Eelam. The anti-Sri Lanka firebrand also called on the UN to hold an international inquiry into the war crimes and human rights violations allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jeyaram also demanded a referendum for the creation of the Tamil Eelam in 2013 through a resolution in the Tamil Nadu State Assembly. However, the fact remains that no Sri Lankan Tamil leader has demanded a separate State for the Tamils in Sri Lanka after the end of the war in May 2009. The main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an amalgam of the main Tamil political parties representing the North and the East has since stands for a united Sri Lanka despite their occasional usage of rhetorical terms and phrases used by the LTTE.

Tamil Nadu leader have to be reminded of the fact that they had abandoned their own separate State call just with a simple piece of legislation against separatism brought in by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963. On the other hand three generations of Sri Lankan Tamils have suffered dearly in the struggle for a separate State and the Tamil Nadu leaders or any other foreign politicians do not have the moral right to push them again into a horrendous armed conflict just to capitalize with latter’s losses in their respective countries.

What the Tamil Nadu leaders who are championing an international investigation nowadays have forgotten is that it was after an international investigation carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) with the blessing of the Tamils all over the world that the UN Human Rights head Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein recommended a Special Hybrid Court to proceed with the investigations into the specific incidents of human rights violations. Also they seem to be in the dark on the findings by the Human Rights High Commissioner’s report on the alleged war crimes and other atrocities committed by the LTTE against the Tamils. They must also be reminded that they supported the first US-sponsored resolution in 2012 which recommended a domestic mechanism to address the accountability issues.

Tamil Nadu leaders and the Tamil diaspora have to leave the right to decide what the Sri Lankan Tamils want and what not to the Sri Lankan Tamil leaders who are capable to do it better than others. This point is very clearly articulated in the speech delivered by none other than the TNA leader R. Sampanthan at the 14th annual ITAK convention held in Batticaloa in 2012. He said “The Diaspora must respect the political thinking of those living here. They must respect the courage with which they make decisions, and their ability to determine their own political destiny. The Diaspora must trust in these capabilities of the Tamil people living here.

The Diaspora’s political initiatives, and public statements on behalf of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka must not negatively affect the situation here; they must not prove to be obstacles to our efforts here. It is the efforts that are made by the people in Sri Lanka, which are made in accordance with the situation in Sri Lanka, and with sensitivity to this situation that will finally bring about concrete results for the Tamil Nation.” Also in an interview with The Hindu newspaper in 2013 Chief Minister of Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran said “The next door neighbour must not come and say ‘you must divorce, you must divorce’. That is not your business.”

They have hit the nail on the head and the message should have gone to Tamil Nadu as well.

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neighbour must not dictate terms - EDITORIAL

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