Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said here on Thursday the time had come for Sri Lanka to move beyond re-settlement of displaced Tamil civilians to resolution of the ethnic conflict.
Interacting with Colombo-based Indian journalists at the end of her four-day visit, Ms. Rao said she stressed the need to move beyond resettlement to a political solution in her interactions with all parties concerned.
“While the focus on development and rehabilitation is very welcome, a long term perspective that also includes the issues relating to the political settlement that would meet some of the needs of the minorities should also be kept in mind,” she said.
Ms. Rao announced that External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will visit Sri Lanka in the second half of October. Besides bilateral talks, Mr. Krishna is expected to travel to the Northern and Eastern Provinces for a firsthand assessment of utilisation of Indian aid and the process of resettlement.
Asked whether the issue of political solution was raised during her meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday, Ms. Rao said the President was focused on the matter and plans to act on it.
“He [Rajapaksa] has constantly said that he is focused on that [political solution] need. And that he plans to move on it. He has his sight set on that. And this point about the need to be more than just focused on the economic issues and the development issues and to look beyond. Everybody in the government got a sense of how we look at it. From that point of view I think they know how India is approaching or looking at this issue,” she said.
Ms. Rao, who is the first Foreign Secretary to travel to the Northern Province, expressed confidence the resettlement of the IDPs will be completed before the onset of monsoon while the issue of housing, roof repairs and livelihood restoration will continue to get priority.
Keywords: Sri Lankan Tamils
Comments:
It will be ideal for Sri Lanka and its citizens to sustain true democratic rights and freedom to one and all irrespective of race, religion or language they speak. The only challenge will be very clear, that there will be a multi-racial, multi-lingual society while the majority Sinhala-speaking people have to accept Tamils and Muslims also as fellow citizens with equal rights. Correspondingly the ethnic groups should get along with the majority Sinhala speaking communities and facilitate national integration. The ethnic community may be a majority in certain provinces and this should not be misused to disintegrate the nation and its common interests.
Rajapaksa regime must abandon militarization in the North and should not attempt to disintegrate the ethnic presence and its majority in regions where Tamil population was traditionally in predominance, by carving out fresh colonies with the Sinhala speaking citizens. Besides the Tamil minority’s politicians should instigate people to think of a nation in a broader prospective with Tamil as one of language along with the main language Sinhalese spoken by the majority. People have to evince interest for a Nation where Tamil language and culture is recognized and not to get incarcerated themselves with an undue longing interest for a linguistic enclave of Tamil entity. Probably we can realize that the so-called political settlement and ethnic reconciliation will not be just complementary to each other but will even become equivalence.
no improvements will be happened....... Tamilians still suffering
Tamils form a nation in Sri Lanka. They are not minority.
Nothing will happen to the Tamils. GOSL knows how to cheat India using China. It is an opportunity for Politicians and diplomats to visit frequently the island
Eelam Tamils have been asking this for 62 years from Sinhala governments. 1948-1983 through peacefull demonstrations, 1983-2009 through arms struggle, Nothing happined. Now Tamils were made to lost their bargaining power, LTTE by International/regional powers including India. If anyone think Tamils will get respectfull solution they are simply day dreaming. grow up guys!!!!
Nothing will happen, as long as Rajapakse family rules. The majority singalese are either too scared to speak against the dictators or in agreement with the ruling family in oppressing the Tamils.
Even the leaders in the International Community are only interested in their own welfare. There is no justice or fairplay in the world.
Only God will put an end to this oppression.
What is wrong in the Tamils' demand to restore their sovereign land taken over by armed force first by the Portuguese and then by the British who handed it over to the new colonial masters; by virtue of its constitutional precepts, who say it is a Sinhala Buddhist country where Tamils are branded as ‘invaders’ and ‘interlopers’.
The Tamils were promised by the post-independent Sinhalese leader DS Senanayake, that 'no harm need they fear at our hands in a free Lanka'. The only Constitutional safeguard that protected the Tamils and other minorities from discrimination by Section 29(2) was dropped in the 1972 Constitution. The recent on going action of another Sinhala dominated government seems to remind the majority Tamils that their traditional one time sovereign lands does not belong to them, that they are historically inferior ‘intruders’ and have no claim for their nationalism and as long as they exist as Tamils they cannot be equals. Hence, the Tamils’ demand to live with honour and integrity free from periodic mauling from the majority community is a legitimate call that the international community should respond favourably. Wasn’t the lost state of Israel restored to the Jews by the international community? Or is it that might is right?