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| Sunday, 14 March 2004 |
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Unfair to accuse JVP to be anti-Tamil - EPDP Dr. K. Wigneswaran is the political adviser to Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Douglas Devananda. A former National List MP Dr. Vigneswaran holds a Ph.D in Engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada. He heads the EPDP list of candidates in Trincomalee District. In this interview with Sunday Observer he holds forth on the party's election manifeto, and lists reasons for the country not going back to war one of which he says is LTTE's fear of India. Excerpts of interview by P. Krishnaswamy Q: Can you explain the significant features of your Election Manifesto? A: In our Election Manifesto we would be talking about two different aspects relating to a political solution to the ethnic problem. One is a political solution acceptable to the people concerned and the other is infrastructure, rehabilitation and development. For a political solution, the North and East should be merged permanently and the aspirations and concerns of the Sinhalese and Muslims living in the region also should be taken into consideration. The Galoya Valley area and the areas South of that in Ampara district should form a special area for internal autonomy under the unified Northeastern province so that the aspirations and concerns of the Sinhalese and Muslims would be adequately addressed. While power devolution to the Northeastern province should be on an asymmetrical basis, the Centre should, as much as possible, maintain ethnic proportion in all State sectors of employment. There should be a second chamber, like the Rajaya Sabha in India, to ensure unity and territorial integrity of the country. Q: How do you anticipate to resettle and rehabilitate the considerably large number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of the North and East? A: We are hoping to get at least 10 members elected to Parliament in the forthcoming elections. Our programme is to closely work with the government towards the rehabilitation of the IDPs, assuming that the next Parliament will be for five years. We have formulated programmes to resettle the IDPs as much as possible in their original places of residence, to rehabilitate all damaged infrastructure and to provide employment or self-employment opportunities. Q: The names of some forefront members of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF- Varadar Wing) are also in your list of candidates contesting the April 2 polls. Have you entered into an alliance with them? A: We have come to a general understanding with them and some of them are contesting on our symbol 'Veena'. Q: Have you entered into any election agreement with the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA)? A: We have not entered into any agreements but we declared our support to them the moment the Alliance was formed. Q: A general apprehension prevails among the Tamil-speaking people of the North and East that the UPFA constituent JVP's rigid stand on a negotiated settlement to the ethnic problem might lead to the resumption of war. What is the stand of your party on this? A: The general perception that the JVP is anti-Tamil is absolutely incorrect. One could say that at one point of time (until 1989) they were anti-India but realities around the world compelled them to change that stance. We must remember that while the JVP was fully supportive of the recent Parliamentary Act that bestowed citizenship rights on a very large number of Indian origin Tamils, it was the then All Ceylon Tamil Congress' leader G.G. Ponnambalam (Sr.) who supported the Act to disenfranchise them in the forties. It is very unfair to accuse the JVP of being anti-Tamil. They have openly announced their willingness for a negotiated settlement to the ethnic problem, acceptable to all sections of the Sri Lankan society. What more do the Tamil people expect? As far as our party is concerned, we consider that stance as the right approach towards a lasting solution to the ethnic problem. As regards resumption of war, I do not think that any party in this country wants to go back to war. Our assessment is that three facets are preventing the LTTE from getting back to war. Firstly the Tamil people's dislike to it because of their long sufferings, secondly pressure from the international community and lastly the LTTE's fear of India. Q: What have you got to say about the LTTE's claim that they are the sole representatives of the Tamil people and confirmation of that claim by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)? A: The LTTE is now confronting an election to prove its claim. Their claim is based on the declaration of the TNA which is a conglomerate of four parties with their own separate political agenda. Q: In the event of the UPFA forming the next government, are you as a political party that has been with the PA and now supporting the UPFA confident of playing a prominent role towards putting the peace process back on track and towards reaching a lasting solution to the ethnic problem? A: We do not consider the so-called peace process of the last government as a peace process at all. Even if one were to say there was this peace process it came to an end in March 2003. Our party does not see any difficulties for a UPFA government to continue with the Ceasefire Agreement and commence a serious political discussion. If a substantial number of our candidates get elected to Parliament in the forthcoming elections, we would be able to ensure that the people exercise pressure on the LTTE to step down from its rigid stance. |
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