Military exercise until Mullaitivu is freed - Minister Champika Ranawaka
by Shanika SRIYANANDA
Mahinda Rajapaksa Government would not stop the military exercise until the whole of Mullaitivu is liberated. Internal or the external forces cannot compel the Government to stop the war against the LTTE, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.
In an interview with the Sunday Observer he said that still some hidden conspiracies were propping up to save the LTTE, but the Government is committed to bring a meaningful freedom and a durable solution to the country’s national problem. “We have almost won the battle and defeated the LTTE. The Government does not have any conspiracy with India to stop the battle”, he confirmed.
Following are the excerpts of the interview:
Q: The war in the North will end very soon but people in the South are speculating about the development process of the East. Is there a well planned development strategy for the North?
A: No one can criticise the development activities taking place in the East. Developing the East is one of the priorities of the Government.
The Government has a comprehensive politico-military strategy which consists of three Ds - Demilitarization, Democratization and Development. These three Ds have been successfully implemented in the East now. Like in the East, the military is to defeat the LTTE in Vanni. That is the Demilitarization. Once the North is totally liberated the Government will implement the democratization. After resettling the displaced civilians elections will be held to select their representatives. The development of the North needs a properly planned strategy.
Q: Does the JHU believe that the Tamil people have grievances which were not met yet?
A: I do not think that the Tamils have problems just because they are Tamils. But they too have the same problems like lack of job opportunities to match their education, issues related to agriculture and poverty, which all other communities have. These are common problems to all the communities - Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim. These problems will be addressed under the democratization process. Instead of bureaucracy and elitism, the Government will implement meritocracy to give all communities equal opportunities without being biased towards any particular ethnic or religious group.
Q: Will the Government take steps to resettle the Sinhala and Muslim population who were there earlier in the Northern areas?
A: Yes. It is their right. I do not think that this should be done immediately as the Government’s first priority is to restore peace. When the trust is gradually developed between these communities, this will happen naturally. In 1981 there were 81,000 Sinhalese and 44,000 Muslims in Jaffna. Don’t you think that these people have a right to live in their original habitats.
Q: One of the main demands of the Tamils is about their language rights, which is said to have fuelled the whole conflict. What is your view?
A: It is not a problem only for the Tamils and as I said earlier it is common for others including Sinhalese. The children born in the North and East get the birth certificates in Tamil. This problem can be overcome when the communities learn each others’ languages. Over 90 percent of the Tamils and Muslims can speak Sinhala language.
Q: If you say that the Tamils do not have their own grievances to meet, then what is the use of having the APRC?
A: The JHU has decided to take part in the APRC for two reasons. One is we wanted to identify the so-called problems and to explain our stand to solve those problems. If someone can prove that the Tamils have problems and they have a right to have a separate state, as Buddhists we will agree with them. But we want to say one thing we are not ready to give into these demands at gun point.
It is only possible through discussions. If there is constructive evidence to say that the Tamils need a separate state the JHU is ready to agree with them.
The second reason why we have joined the APRC is that we wanted to emphasize the rights of the Sinhalese who lived for ages in the North and East. They have also faced many injustices due to the LTTE. They were killed or threatened and chased away. They were displaced for years.
Q: Are you confident that these conflicts could be solved through the APRC?
A: There is a Parliamentary Committee to change the country’s election system since 1994. Up to date the Committee has failed to reach to a common agreement to solve the matter. Therefore, the issues that are discussed in the APRC will take time to reach a common agreement. We cannot do things according to the aspirations of some individuals.
The APRC is a good forum because all the other agreements starting from the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam, Dudley-Chelvanayakam, Indo-Lanka Agreement by the J.R. Jayewardene, Provincial Council system, Chandrika Bandaranaike’s package and upto Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Ceasefire Agreement, all these are `palace conspiracies’. No other political party was given opportunity to make their contribution to these agreements. That means these agreements were not drawn according to the consensus of the ordinary people of this country. A group of two to three Colombo based people drafted these agreements. Then in 1992 the foreign diplomats, who wanted to make this country a confederal country, joined these groups. Then the `elite’ or ‘palace conspiracy’ became a `diplomatic conspiracy’.
The APRC is a forum for all the political parties to contribute towards the future of this country. This is the first time that all the political parties got an opportunity to contribute their views to solve the national problem. So the outcome of the APRC is strong and will remain longer than the decisions of the elites.
I think that the war against the LTTE has brought many `victories’ to the country. The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government has been able to defeat elite and diplomatic conspiracies while re-establishing the democracy in the war torn areas.
Q: The Government is talking about 13th Amendment to solve the national problem and how is it possible under the three Ds?
A: Yes, it comes under democratization process. But, the JHU is against giving Police and land powers to the Provincial Councils. India which devolved police powers, has taken the decision to keep it with the Central Government after the Mumbai terrorist attack. The JHU oppose implementing everything in the 13th Amendment. What is needed is a careful identification of the things that are appropriate for the country.
Q: Do you propose the `Gamsabha system’, which was proved very efficient system to devolve power?
A: Yes, it is a very efficient system and we have tested it with the `Gama Naguma’ program. What we suggest is that we should give more powers to the Pradeshiya Sabhas which help to develop the infrastructure facilities for the villagers and solve their problems at village level.
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