Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member M.K. Shivajilingam says the Tamil people do not believe that the 13 Amendment to the constitution could lead to an equitable political solution that meets the aspirations of the Tamil people.
In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shivajilingam says India should push Sri Lanka to work towards a solution which can, at the minimum, offer a true federal autonomy to the Tamils in a single merged North-East special region.
“The Tamil people do not believe that the 13 Amendment could lead to an equitable political solution that meets the aspirations of the Tamil people, and I request your leadership towards a solution which can, at the minimum, offer a true federal autonomy to the Tamils in a single merged North-East special region,” he said in the letter.
Shivajilingam says successive Governments have repeatedly refused to offer the Tamils their political rights and all the negotiations and agreements between the Tamil and Sinhala leaderships were never implemented due to the intransigence of the Sinhala leadership.
The NPC member told Modi in the letter that even the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 has not been properly implemented by Sri Lanka and recalled that the government of Sri Lanka had de-merged the Northern and Eastern Provinces which were merged as per the Indo-Lanka Accord.
“Sri Lanka even refuses to implement the 13 Amendment in full, despite its obligation to India and promises to the International Community,” he added.
Shivajilingam says Tamils living in Sri Lanka are very hopeful of Modi’s leadership and sincerely believe he will be able to ensure a political solution in Sri Lanka which offers Tamils their legitimate political rights along with equality, dignity and justice.
“Having gone through more than 65 years of injustice by successive governments of Sri Lanka, Tamil people are fully aware that no political solution will reach us without the direct and active involvement of India,” he added.
Shivajilingam also urged Modi to help solve the issues faced by the fishermen from both India and Sri Lanka and also create closer economic integration between Tamil Nadu and the Tamil speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces. (Colombo Gazette)