RANJITH SOYSA

Indian PM Narendra Mody has advised Sri Lankan PM following many other Prime Ministers of India such as Indira Gandhi and her son Raji Gandhi. He said that India expects Sri Lanka to implement the 13th to ensure a life of dignity and respect for Tamil population” It is frivolous to believe that devolving powers in relation to land and the police to the North and the East are going to enhance the dignity and the respect of Tamils in Sri Lanka as, in fact, the majority of Tamils live in areas other than the North and the East. The Indian big brother should require guidance to understand that the demand for the devolution of powers based on provincial land is to reignite the claim of some Sri Lankan Tamils and their political parties to reignite their mythical claim that, the North and the East are the traditional homelands of Tamils. The claim resulted in the Tamil Tigers waging war destroying the valuable resources of Sri Lanka including thousands of the lives of the soldiers and civilians. Mr Mody should listen to the other side of the story and the aspirations of the majority of Sri Lankans who too desire to live in dignity and respect as citizens of a unitary Sri Lanka.

Mr Mody’s desire directly clashes with the expectations of the majority in Sri Lanka who are keen to live peacefully seeking solutions to their economic woes along with India and other international allies. We thank India for coming forward and joining this effort. But, we do reject attempts to intervene in Sri Lanka’s internal socio-political issues.

RANJITH SOYSA