The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance — the lone credible representative of Tamil people in the Northern Province — has refused to revisit its constitution, which seeks the establishment of a separate state, at its 14th national convention in the Eastern headquarter town of Batticaloa.
The Sixth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, enacted in August 1983, prohibits political parties from having as one of their aims the establishment of a separate state. A petition was filed recently in the Supreme Court that sought the disqualification of the parties for retaining the demand for a separate state in their party documents.
“No. There was no move to amend the ITAK constitution,” TNA leader and MP M.A. Sumanthiran told The Hindu over phone. The ITAK has among its goals “establishing of a unitary Tamil State and a unitary Muslim State and achieving political, economical and cultural freedom of the Tamil speaking community”.
In short, TNA leader R. Sampanthan's gesture in Jaffna on May 1 — that of waving the Sri Lankan national flag for the first time, alongside United National Party chief Ranil Wickramasinghe — did not translate into his party endorsing his sentiment. But it reaffirmed its faith in Mr. Sampanthan by electing him as its president, even as indecision is steadily leading Tamil politics in Sri Lanka to the brink of irrelevance. Maavai Senathirajah was elected party general secretary.
In resolutions passed at the Batticaloa meet, the ITAK demanded devolution of powers to the North and the East, taking it as a single unit. Asked if the ITAK had demanded re-merger of the Tamil majority Northern and Eastern Provinces, Mr. Sumanthiran said this was not the case. “North and East were considered a single unit,” he said, amplifying the diplomatic semantics, which the TNA loves dearly, at work.
The ITAK highlighted some of the crucial issues that dominate the discourse in both the North and the East: it demanded that Sri Lanka demilitarise both the provinces; that lands grabbed from Tamils be given back to them; and a general amnesty for Tamils imprisoned for many years without charges. The ITAK, and other constituents of the TNA, are the only political parties that have constantly probed issues relating to rehabilitation and resettlement of Tamils after the war and have often been on collision course with the government and local authorities. “If these demands are not granted, we will set a time and date and launch a non-violent campaign, much like what Mahatma Gandhi did,” said Mr. Sumanthiran.
Change of venue
The ITAK was forced to change its meeting venue at the last moment after the earlier venue was suddenly and inexplicably engulfed by fire. One source in Batticaloa claimed the place was fire-bombed. The meeting was being held in an area that is at the heart of a turf war between two former Tamil Tigers — the Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan (better known as Pillaiyan, who was once a child soldier) and Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (better known as Col. Karuna Amman, who was former Eastern Commander of the Tamil Tigers).
Pillaiyan's party, the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal, was not in favour of ITAK holding the convention in Batticaloa. Posters had appeared in parts of Batticaloa against the convention.
The meeting did go ahead, and all elections were held as per the constitution of ITAK. Among the prominent names, E. Saravanabhavan, MP, who runs the Uthayan newspaper, was elected secretary (rehabilitation and resettlement) and Sivagnanam Sreetharan, MP, was elected secretary (propaganda). As expected, M.A. Sumanthiran MP, was elected secretary (legal and foreign affairs).
ITAK's clarification
The ITAK constitution does not call for two seperate soverign countries for Tamils and Muslims, TNA leader M.A.Sumanthiran said, after reading The Hindu's article in this website. The original is in Tamil (see PDF) and means autonomy or self-rule and not the creation of separate countries that the Sixth Amendment prohibits.
@Palitha,
If you truly believe that Sri-Lanka belongs to all communities and one country, one
nation, and that there should be no ethnic-based politics, then the constitution of
Sri-Lanka cannot refer and have any preference for any community, including the
Sinhalese. The Sri-Lankan constitution sans the 13th Amendment refers to the
Sinhalese and gives preference to Buddhism. The Buddhist Sanga has great
influence over Sri-Lanka politics - it is no secret that to lead the country, you have
to be a Buddhist. That is not one country, one nation. It is because of this, that the
13th amendment was brought about to refer to the tamils and tamil political
parties exist. If you want one country, one nation, remove all references and
preferences to the Sinhalese and Buddhism in the constitution of Sri-Lanka - if you
talk the talk, then walk the walk. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
TNA, only time will solve your problem, when Vijaya invaded Thambapanni, he mange to
group many fractions (wrongly described by historians as yaks and nagas), to form a new
race "Sinhala". There were many more invations from south India since then, many Tamil
kings have ruled Sri Lanka , successfully and effectively with immense satisfaction to its population.
Since the British Invations and ironfist rule, it mange to divide the races, and rule with a catastrophic disaster until today. None of the Sinhala political parties still have the word Sinhala in it. We desperately need new and urgent "change of mindset" of future generation of Tamils, who will accept all corners of Srilanka belongs to all communities and will not think North and East as separate region. One country one nation, and far too small for fractionation. This will take tome and Time Is A Great Healer.
Sampanthan refusing to alter the demand for a separate state simply
means that he has handed the Government a good reason for not devolving
any powers at all. A very foolish move.
Both M A Sumanthiram and R Sampanthan will not be able to resolve any grievance as long as they have the die hard attitude of claiming to divide Sri Lanka into two separate states. They cannot engage in any constructive dialogue with the government, if they do not agree to uphold the sixth amendment which was passed in 1983, that is to uphold the constitutional amendment that Sri Lanka will always be one sovereign nation. They must understand that the Tamils and Muslims have set up homes and businesses in any part of Sri Lanka, without any objection from the majority Sinhalese. In Colombo out of its population 56% are Tamils living peacefully with the Sinhalese. In all the major cities in Sri Lanka
there is a significant Tamil population coming close to the Sinhalese
The Tamil leaders want an exclusive mono-ethnic Tamil state in the north? It is sheer greed and selfishness. The problem was created by the British and instigated by Chelvanayakam to resort to an armed terrorist war.
I hope Sushma Swaraj is reading this. India should stop playing hide-and-seek and impose sanctions on Lanka till a credible and just resolution is adopted in the island.
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