‘India should pressure Sri Lanka for a political solution’


It can be the first step in solving the ethnic crisis: Siritunga Jayasuriya

This article appeared in the Hindu on 22 October, 2008. Siritunga Jayasurya, General Secretary – United Socialist Party (CWI – Sri Lanka) spoke in a seminar organized by New Socialist Alternative (CWI – India) in Bangalore on the nationality question in Sri Lanka

The Indian Government should take the responsibility of bringing pressure on Colombo to accord provincial autonomy to north and east Sri Lanka under the Indo-Sri Lankan deal of 1983, said Siritunga Jayasuriya, general secretary of the United Socialist Party — Sri Lanka.

Speaking at a talk organised by the New Socialist Alternative, he said that this could be the first step towards finding a political solution to the ethnic crisis in the island nation.

He described the ongoing military operation as not a “war not against LTTE cadre, but against the Tamil people.” The Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, he said, had not come up with any proposal on ending the crisis but was only pushing ahead with a militarist agenda. Since the Parliamentary election in 2004, the pro-Sinhala hardliners had gained entry into the mainstream political system, who were not interested in making any proposals for a solution through negotiations, he added.

The Sri Lankan Government had said that it would eliminate an estimated 5,000 LTTE cadre to control North Sri Lanka. But it had so far killed as many as 11,200 by its own admission, which is an indication that civilians were getting killed. In northern parts of Sri Lanka Tamils are “civilian LTTE members” either voluntarily or for the lack of choice. As many as 26,000 children in Kilinochchi district had not gone to schools for the last six months, he said. As many as 2 lakh people were homeless, he added.

Even if the Government achieves a geographical control of the Tamil-dominated areas, this would in no way solve the larger nationalist question and lead to greater violence, warned Mr. Jayasuriya.

Tracing the history of the problem, he said that the demand of the Tamils to give state recognition to the language and their Gandhian struggle for it had been crushed in the 1950s and 60s. It was only in the late 70s that it had taken a militarist turn, he added.

Referring the Indo-American nuclear deal, Mr. Jayasuriya said that it was not only of political implications for India, but will have a disastrous ecological impact on the island.

The Sethu Samudram project, he added, would affect the fishing community of the coasts of both the countries and should be opposed on those grounds.