At a time the Sri Lankan government is involved in the resettlement and rehabilitation of Tamils affected by the decades-old but now concluded civil war, Arjuna Ranatunga, former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team and Member of Parliament, advocated the idea of using sports to “remove the barriers” and “allay the fear in the minds of Tamil youth living with wrong ideas and concerns.”
“We never had a communal issue in the country,” he told The Hindu in an interview. “We always faced the issue of terrorism. If we had a communal issue, we should have allowed Muttiah Muralitharan to be destroyed in Australia! The entire country backed him, apart from the team.”
Mr. Ranatunga was a Deputy Minister in the People's Alliance government led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party before falling out with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and joining the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) launched by the former Army General Sarath Fonseka.
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In his view, “through sports, you can do a lot of things in the North.” He said the government had not done anything to involve young Tamils in the North and East in sport. “When I went to Jaffna, I called on some of the organisers of sports. A eleven-year-old boy wanted to know whether he could play for the country. I told him he could certainly do it and the best example was Muralitharan. But he said that it happened in my time and not now. If a eleven-year-old boy has developed such an attitude, you address it.”
Arguing that the LTTE was created because of the mistakes of politicians in the past who wanted to come to power, Mr. Ranatunga said the government had a “golden opportunity to analyse the problems in the North and East and give a proper answer to avoid another war in the future.” He added: “We need to open our eyes and reach out to the innocent Tamil people. Discuss the issues with the main people in the areas and not just with politicians ... If you do it properly, it will be very successful.”
In his view, the tasks of resettlement and finding a political solution should go hand in hand. Asked about former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's view that MPs belonging to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) should be involved in rehabilitation, he commented: “Not just TNA MPs. The government should inform all the opposition parties and get their ideas.”
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What kind of role did he expect India to play in the present situation? It should support resettlement and development, he responded. “Not to interfere but to support. Not only India, but the entire world. They are supporting us. But sometimes there is interference as well. Sri Lanka is an independent country and we need to run it the way we want. Of course we have to address issues such as human rights. Some of the countries have expressed their concern. If we do the right things you will have no problem at all.”