POLITICAL PACKAGE FIRST......!!!

Ltte EXPECTS package before arms surrender- suresh



TNA MP, Suresh Premachandra requests for a just solution for the Tamil people in the midst of a feeling that they, the Tamil people, “Don’t belong here. And, as long as the mindset is of ‘accommodating’ the Tamil people in this country, that there won’t be a permanent solution. Are Sinhala people ready to accept us as their equals? That’s the root cause of the problem. There is no proposal to accept the Tamil and Muslim people as equals. When the SLFP, JVP and JHU are on this same wavelength, how can we expect a just solution? What, in this scenario is the way out for the Tamil people?” he asks.

Suresh Premachandra claims that:

No government can simply destroy the LTTE or wipe it out completely.
It is the government that wants war; not us.
It is absurd to say that the government is concerned with Tamil rights.
A shift in the position of India with regard to the war even if there isn’t a policy change.
If India wants to safeguard the Tamils in the Wanni, they must tell the government to stop the war.
Q: Are you concerned with the stand the Indian centre took with regard to the Tamil Nadu agitation?

First of all there is still much agitation on the subject of Sri Lankan Tamils in India by various groups like students, lawyers and workers who have their own strikes to protest against the war and demanding that it be stopped. Of course in the midst of this the political parties are also protesting and asking Delhi to intervene in this situation. We would see this as a positive step towards stopping this war. We hope the Indian government will take necessary steps towards this end. They have asked the Sri Lankan High Commissioner about the situation and even MP Basil Rajapaksa went to India to explain matters. This shows a shift in the position of India with regard to the war even if there isn’t a policy change as such. The agitation will continue if the Mahinda Chintana understanding with the JHU and JVP continues. The agitation in Tamil Nadu will continue and Communist Party students will go to New Delhi to protest against the war. So if there is more intensification of the war, India will have to rethink its position.

Q: Why do you think India refused to move beyond a statement asking for Tamil people’s security to be ensured?

To the question: Why do you think India refused to move beyond a statement asking for Tamil people’s security to be ensured, Premachandra says, “Maybe because the Indian Government sees the Sri Lankan Government going to Pakistan and China. I think that is why they are not even using power in a limited sense. If these huge aerial bombings continue, the international community will pressurize the government. Sri Lanka must solve the problem themselves.”


Maybe because the Indian government sees the Sri Lankan government going to Pakistan and China. I think that is why they are not even using power in a limited sense. If these huge aerial bombings continue, the international community will pressurize the government. Sri Lanka must solve the problem themselves, otherwise India will have no choice but to intervene. Now they are using diplomatic channels to get the message across, that there is no solution outside that of a political one. Our government doesn’t seem to understand this language. I think if they continue not to listen, India will go beyond to economic means of pressurizing. India will be forced to use all options then.

Q: In what form do you hope to see India intervening exactly?

First and foremost the war must stop and India can do that. Whenever the army takes over an area, that area is emptied and the people can’t hope to go back to their homes. They are forced to live under trees and then face aerial bombings and artillery attacks. If India wants to safeguard the Tamils in the Wanni they must tell the government to stop the war.

Q: The criticism has been that Tamil Nadu gets agitated when the LTTE has its back to the wall.

No government can simply destroy the LTTE or wipe it out completely. The LTTE is a product of Sri Lankan governments. Anyone can capture land whether it’s Kilinochchi or Mullativu, if they have fire power. But this doesn’t mean they have destroyed the LTTE. The LTTE has the backing of the people. This is why the LTTE survived 30 years. If they want to weaken them and bring them to the negotiating table there must be a political proposal on the table. How many people are destroyed because of the war? The war is not just against the LTTE, it is against the Tamil people. It’s not humanitarian nor is it for our rights. And Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha can know what’s happening here through the internet. People are getting killed. That is why they are agitating in Tamil Nadu. The LTTE may have started with pistols but now they have sophisticated weapons. If the Government thinks they can finish [the LTTE] in a month they are living in a fool’s paradise. The Government may call them terrorists, but the LTTE are indeed freedom fighters.

Q: But aren’t they banned as a terrorist group in many countries of the world?

I agree that they are banned, but how do you explain their survival if they are not freedom fighters all this time and the people didn’t believe in them? And the world opinion may change with the new presidency in the US.

Q: But didn’t Ambassador Blake say immediately after the elections that there was no change in the policy with regard to the LTTE?

Who knows? He may not know the new changes that will come or what the new president thinks. Even Hilary Clinton believes there should be a political solution to the problem. And as long as Tamil people think they are freedom fighters there will be support towards the LTTE.

Q: The allegation against the TNA is that you aggravated the struggle by screening video films of the situation of the war and that you were not showing the correct picture in Tamil Nadu.

The Government is carrying out anti-Tamil propaganda all over the world saying this is only against terrorism and not a war against the Tamil people. Then how come 300,000 Tamils are refugees. Thousands of people are dying and hundreds and thousands are living under trees. We’re for a political solution and we say that all over the world. We’re not for war. It’s the government that wants war; not us. We have [cultivated] propaganda against war and we will continue to do that if the government continues with this war. That is our duty towards the people. The Government can’t stop that.

Q: The Government maintains that civilian concerns in the Wanni are brought out to hamper the war effort?

It’s absurd to say that the government is concerned with Tamil rights. Do you know how hard it is to send food items and medicines to the Wanni? What can the civilians do? Ask any NGO what is happening to the civilians and they will tell exactly what is happening and how fair this government is. I admit there is some assistance, but that is not enough. They need tents, milk food etc. The government’s narrow political ambition is merely to raise the Lion Flag in Kilinochchi. And they are prepared to make any sacrifice to achieve that. They’ll take any amount of casualties to this end. I don’t think even the Sinhalese people know just how many soldiers have been killed in the process.

Q: But even Minister Douglas Devananda who represents Tamil people in the North claims there is no genocide in Sri Lanka.

He is part and parcel of this government, and he can’t open his mouth against it. He’s working with any government to wipe out the LTTE. Out of twenty-three districts in the North and East he is the only Tamil MP holding this view in parliament. There is definitely a huge attempt to destroy the cultural and economic standing of the Tamil people. Tamil people have no freedom under this government. Bodies of Tami people are dumped all over the place. Isn’t this genocide? When hundreds of schools are destroyed by aerial bombings, isn’t it a cultural destruction of the Tamil people? It’s clear that the Sinhala mindset believes that Sri Lanka belongs only to the Sinhala people. Everyone from the top to bottom believes this.

Q: The President maintains that unless Prabhakaran lays down arms and joins the democratic process there is no room for negotiations.

That clearly shows that he wants to continue the war. The fact is that without a political package, the LTTE won’t lay down arms. I don’t think the government wants a solution; if they did, they will have a political process in place. Until there is a political package, the Tamil people won’t want the LTTE to lay down arms either. The Government says the political solution is possible only after the war and that too in a unitary state. But the fact is that even if they capture land, the LTTE will be able to survive another 30 years as long as there is no political solution in place.

Q: Karuna’s entrance to parliament shows a break in the military struggle and a leaning towards democracy. What is wrong in taking to the democratic process?

The Government wants to use Karuna for its own military agenda. They send him to the UK on forged documents, bring him back and make him an MP. This is their so called democratic process. The Government said that the East was liberated but those who are ruling there is doing it with weapons. If this is the way the government wants to bring in democracy, we are against it. For Karuna it is a game of survival more than anything else. What else can you expect from someone who accepts the government’s military agenda?

Q: You express suspicion towards the APRC process and a political process.

We are not suspicious but we know this government won’t give anything. The TNA feels that that the government can’t give a solution within a unitary state. We see from how the working of the 13th Amendment can go wrong. You can’t have devolution within a unitary nature of the country. They must choose. And that needs a radical change. The word unitary must be removed from the Constitution. How can we have faith in this government when we see the plight of the 13th Amendment? India says a solution should be based on a 13 plus solution, but the government believes in a 13 minus one!

Q: There are concerns that there is little room for minority rights in the country with this government. But the Tamil people living in Colombo nor the Muslims have a reason to leave. Why?

This is the mindset of the Sinhala polity from the time of DS and JR. Chandrika Bandaranaike said in South Africa that the problem of the Africans was different from that of the Tamil people because they were all people of South African soil. What does it say for our rights? The feeling is that we don’t belong here. As long as the mindset is of ‘accommodating’ the Tamil people here, there won’t be a permanent solution. Are Sinhala people ready to accept us as their equals? That’s the root cause of the problem. There is no proposal to accept the Tamil and Muslim people as equals. When the SLFP, JVP and JHU are all on this same wavelength, how can we expect a just solution? What is the way out for the Tamil people in this scenario?
courtesy:dailymirror.lk