TNA must deal with our Govt, not with India: Minister Pathirana

• The TNA must deal with the Sri Lankan government if they have any unresolved grievances and not with India or any other outside party

By Sandun A Jayasekera

The government spokesman, Plantation Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana expressed his displeasure and indignation over the request made by the Tamil National  Alliance (TNA) to Indian premier Narendra Modi to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to find a solution to the alleged grievances of Tamils in the North East.    

He told the media that the TNA must deal with the Sri Lankan government if they have any unresolved grievances and not with India or any other outside party as Sri Lanka has done much over the years attending to the concerns of minorities.  
“Sri Lanka is committed to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution fully as the first and foremost remedy to the grievances of Tamils as envisaged in the Indo – Sri Lanka agreement signed in 1987,” he added.  
Minister Pathirana noted that the government would hold Provincial Council polls soon after the proposed electoral amendments were introduced to the Provincial Council Elections Act of 1988.   “Elections to PCs cannot be held without these amendments are passed in Parliament. If the TNA has any concerns or issues, they must talk to the Sri Lanka government,” he emphasized.  

Tamil Parliamentarians representing seven political parties sent a letter to Prime Minister Modi early last week via the Indian High Commission in Colombo seeking India’s good offices to find a lasting political solution to what they called ‘the unresolved grievances faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka’ including the full implementation of the 13th A.   
However, the TNA failed to obtain the signature of all Tamil and of Muslim political parties in the North-East for the controversial letter.