COLOMBO: India today assured Sri Lankan Tamils that it will stand by them and do its best to ensure that they are able to live a life of respect and dignity.
This assurance was given by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to a delegation of the ruling Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that recently came to power in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province of Jaffna.
The delegation, led by TNA leader and veteran Tamil politician R Sambanthan, included two party MPs M A Sumanthiran and Suresh Premachandran.
Sambanthan told reporters after the meeting with Singh that the delegation discussed the entire gamut of issues related to the Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Indian role in improving their plight.
“India has played a role with regards to the situation in Sri Lanka from 1983 (after the infamous Wellikade jail massacre) and in the past few years India has been very active with regard to ensuring that the Tamil people in the country live with dignity and in fulfilling the legitimate aspirations of the people of North and Eastern provinces where the Tamil people are in a majority,” Sambanthan said.
“Much needs to be done in achieving it. We are extremely unhappy about the ground situation, particularly with regard to land powers and the oppressive presence of the armed forces, particularly in the Northern Province, and the increasing view in the female population, who are embarrassed and feeling a sense of insecurity because of the violations by the armed forces,” he said.
The delegation also told the Indian Foreign Secretary of the feeling of insecurity about the missing persons, the concerns about the independence of judiciary and media freedom and sought an acceptable political solution to their problems.
Asked what was Singh’s response, Sambanthan said she gave the delegation a patient hearing and assured them that India would stand by the Tamils of Sri Lanka and do its best to take every step that is necessary so that they lived a life of respect and dignity. . Asked about the Sri Lankan government’s claim regarding implementation of the measures suggested by the Lessons Learnt and Rehabilitation Commission (LLRC) set up after the end of the war against LTTE, Sambanthan said several recommendations of the Commission were referred to the Human Rights Commission in 2010 and 2013.
“Four years have rolled by since the end of the hostilities. I am extremely disappointed that in not a single issue of concern, the (Central) government has demonstrated any commitment in advancing any meaningful progress, be it resolution of land issues, questions of accountability and the question of missing persons or fundamental matters of independence of judiciary which is getting more and more politicized,” he said.
To a question about the decision of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Sambanthan said it was entirely for the Government of India to decide on the presence (of the Prime Minister).
“People who had raised objections (to his presence) had many reasons for their objection. There is no question about it. Whether the Prime Minister should have come or not, it is entirely for him to take (the decision),” he said.
Indian officials said the meeting was essentially for the Foreign Secretary to understand the political process that was playing right now with regard to the Tamils and also discuss the problem of the fishermen of the two sides.
They said Singh congratulated the TNA on its victory in the provincial elections and invited Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran and other leaders to visit India at an appropriate time.
Singh’s meeting with the TNA delegation was also to find out from the Tamil leaders as to which areas India could be of assistance to the Northern province. -PTI
