What are the legitimate grievances of the Tamil People ?

By Charles Perera

They want a political system devolving power to North-East Provincial Council and not a separate Eelam. Therefore, it is not necessary to have peace negotiations with the LTTE terrorists.

There are at the moment discussions for the historical union of the two main parties of Sri Lanka SLFP and UNP, apparently , to settle all the problems of the country. There is yet another meeting of all political parties to discuss devolution of power to find a solution for the ethnic problem. In the mean time the LTTE is carrying on with their Eelam war, without bothering to being a party one or the other of the on going discussions.

We know what the LTTE terrorists want. They want , about one third of the country the North and East for their homeland concept. They are not prepared to lay down their arms and discuss any thing less than an Interim Government for themselves. That, legitimate or not, is their grievance.

What are then the legitimate grievances of the rest of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka?

Mr.Douglas Devananda of the EPDF says, that the problem of the LTTE terrorist and the grievances of the Tamil people are poles apart. A political solution should be found to redress the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people. His solution lies in amending the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution to strengthen the provincial council system, to give North-East Provincial Council a political leadership, as a prerequisite for devolution of political and administrative power to the periphery.

Then Mr. V.Anandasgaree of the TULF says that a Federal Constitution is the only solution to the problem of the Tamil and Tamil speaking people, and adds that ….. The LTTE thrives on false propaganda. The LTTE has lost its credibility. The Tamils in the LTTE controlled areas of the North and the East are very much fed up with the so-called freedom fighters and want to be liberated from them. They are fed up with the claymore mine attacks and the hand-grenade attacks that cause death not only to the armed forces but to the innocent civilians as well, without being condemned by the TNA Parliamentarians who were fraudulently elected and have no right to be in Parliament. This is the democracy we have in our country today. Hence from what Mr.Anandasagaree says the solution for the legitimate grievance of the Tamil people is a Federal constitution.

Thonadaman of the Ceylon Workers Congress has not elaborated the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people, but had said ….. The north-east issue in Sri Lanka should be resolved as soon as possible by the Government keeping in mind the grievances and aspirations of the Tamil people. He said that addressing the 53rd annual conference of the Planters Association of Tamil Nadu at Coonoor . He does not say what the grievances and aspirations are. But he is also for a Constitutional change.

Mr. P.Chandrasekarn is the leader of the Upcountry Peoples Front, he had a political policy problem , once a member of the UNP, he become pro LTTE, and tried to join in a United Front with the terrorist proxi Party TNA before organising his own party UNF.

His claims of grievances of the Tamil people he represents is vague,but a …….laborer Appadorai Ramanathan from Pedro Estate, Nuwara Eliya, had said, ….We dont like the way Chandrasekaran instigates our sons to revolt. Our living standards are much better now than what they were a few years ago. We enjoy harmonious relations with the Sinhalese. Chandrasekarans agenda is to upset this stability. Ramanathan has a teenage son.”

So what are really the legitimate grievances of the Tamil People. According to these different representatives of the Tamil people, their grievances stem from not having an acceptable political system that devolves power to the North and East.

This should be an eye opener to the International Community, Co- Chairs and the EU. The accepted representatives of the Tamil people, say that they have nothing to do with the LTTE terrorists and their claim for a separate Eelam.

What Tamil people wants, is a Federal or another System of government that devolves power to North-East Provincial Council. This matter could be easily settled in negotiations with the Tamil Political Parties. There is therefore no necessity to have peace negotiations with the LTTE terrorists or their proxi Party TNA. The LTTE terrorists have to be defeated militarily.