The Indian Model of federalism can be considered a satisfactory solution to bring about lasting peace in the Northern Province, Tamil United Liberation Front president V. Anandasangaree has said.
“A unitary constitution will never be accepted though the government is very firm on that stand. The people of the North and the East do not wish to be under any subjugation, which they have already undergone for more than 25 years. De-militarisation should start forthwith. With so much publicity given to the atrocities of the army personnel and the LTTE cadre, people are terrified over the presence of the army in every nook and corner of the North and the East,” he said.
Mr. Anandasangaree and Tamil leaders D. Sitharthan and T. Sritharan met the Indian troika headed by National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and also submitted a memorandum detailing immediate steps needed to usher in peace in the Northern Province.
The leaders alleged that hundreds of youths were under detention without trial for many years for trivial offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. They should be either released immediately or brought to trial, they said. Also, thousands of innocent youths who had surrendered at the request of the government and were promised they would be released in a very short time had been branded as LTTE cadres and were being detained in rehabilitation camps. The Tamil leaders wanted the real LTTE cadre to be brought to trial and demanded the unconditional release of the thousands of innocent ones.
“Every IDP should be allowed to get into the land which he/she claims as his or hers. Only in the event of a dispute between two or more claimants, civil officials should intervene to settle the dispute. This should apply even to lands that are now held by the army as coming under the High Security Zone and also those lands the LTTE compulsorily took over with or without any payments,” said Mr. Anandasangaree.
Urging the government of Sri Lanka not to penalise those who sold properties to the LTTE under threat, he said it should release all buildings in the Kilinochchi bazaar and other areas in the North. The properties have been fenced-off by the Army as property held by the LTTE.
He wanted the government to evolve a scheme to pay compensation to the Internally Displaced Persons who lost their kith and kin and properties due to the war. “The President is on record for having assured compensation for the loss sustained due to terrorism,” he said.
