CV says protest not against Sinhalese or Buddhists

25 September 2016 04:57 pm

Launching the much-hyped political campaign Eluga Thamil (Tamil Spring) by his Tamil People’s Council (TPC) on Saturday, Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran said that the campaign was neither against Sinhalese nor Buddhism nor the government nor the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), but it was a campaign to press for solutions to the problems faced by the Tamil people.

Speaking to a large gathering at the Jaffna Mutraveli ground following a procession that marched from the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil and the Jaffna University Mr. Wigneswaran explained the objectives of the Eluga Thamil campaign.

"The campaign has three objectives, one is achieving a political solution for the problems faced by the people living in the North and the East, secondly stressing the need to merge the Northern and the Eastern Provinces and the third to bring about a stop to the Sinhalese colonisation and building of Buddhist temples in the North and the East,” he said.

All shops in Jaffna had been closed and the public transport had been stopped in support of the campaign on Saturday.

Wigneswaran stated that he demanded the construction of Buddhist temples be stopped not because he was opposed to Buddhism, but it makes a great impact on the culture of the Tamil people living in the region.

"It is only through a federal system of governance that peace and prosperity in the country could be reached. That is the reason for our demand for a federal system with Police, land and finance powers being devolved to us. This has to be accepted by the international community. Without doing these, it is no point talking about good governance or Constitution making," the former Supreme Court judge said.

He questioned as to what the reason was for the delay in releasing the political prisoners, while posing another question as to what steps the government had taken so far in respect of war crimes.

"Why do you settle Sinhalese in this area? What is the solution for the land problem faced by the northern people?" he queried.

Mr. Wigneswaran observed that the only way for the Tamils and the Sinhalese could live together peacefully was establishing a proper system of governance in the north and the east, respecting the rights of the people living in those two provinces.

PLOTE leader D. Siddharthan, Tamil People’s National Front Leader Gagendrakumar Ponnambalam and EPRLF leader Suresh Premachandran also participated at the event.

However, none of the leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) or the ITAK were present. (Romesh Madushanka)