July 14, 2013
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has appealed to the Centre to take a bold stand in support of the Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka.
Jaya asks govt to take 'bold stand' against Lanka
July 14, 2013
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has appealed to the Centre to take a bold stand in support of the Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka.
Jaya asks govt to take 'bold stand' against Lanka
Jayalalithaa has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take all possible steps to dissuade the Sri Lankan government from repealing or diluting the 13th Amendment to its constitution. The amendment, a result of the India-Sri Lankan accord, promises some autonomy to the Tamil-dominated northern and eastern provinces.
"The Centre should ensure that the process of democratic decentralization, which is integral to the survival of the Tamils in Lanka, is in no way jeopardized," Jayalalithaa said in a letter to the Prime Minister, a copy of which was released to the media on Sunday.
Her letter comes in the wake of the Sri Lankan government's decision to constitute a parliamentary select committee to review the thirteenth amendment to the constitution. The Sinhalese right wing groups have been resorting to agitations and protests to pressurise the Lankan government to repeal the amendment prior to the elections to the northern provincial council slated for September.
"It appears that our worst fears regarding the intentions and motives of the present Sri Lankan regime are coming true," the chief minister said.
In March last, the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly passed a resolution calling for a referendum on a separate eelam for Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamils displaced from Lanka and live in other countries. The aspirations of the Lankan Tamils could be realized only through a Tamil eelam, Jayalalithaa said.
She said there were signs that the Lankan government was not serious about rehabilitating and restoring the lives of the Tamil minority.
The chief minister said that Tamils in Tamil Nadu and Tamil diaspora spread across the world were "outraged and incensed over the impunity with which the Sri Lankan government was ignoring international sentiments and binding resolutions relating to reconciliation and rehabilitation and the ongoing gross human rights abuses against Lankan Tamils."
"For Tamil Nadu, this turn of events, will also mean a threat to its coastal security, the internal security environment of the state and the prospect of a renewed influx of refugees into the state," she said.
Courtesy: PTI
