Military exercise until Mullaitivu is freed - Minister Champika
Ranawaka
by Shanika SRIYANANDA
Mahinda Rajapaksa Government would not stop the military exercise
until the whole of Mullaitivu is liberated. Internal or the external
forces cannot compel the Government to stop the war against the LTTE,
Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka
said.
In an interview with the Sunday Observer he said that still some
hidden conspiracies were propping up to save the LTTE, but the
Government is committed to bring a meaningful freedom and a durable
solution to the country’s national problem. “We have almost won the
battle and defeated the LTTE. The Government does not have any
conspiracy with India to stop the battle”, he confirmed.
Following are the excerpts of the interview:
Q: The war in the North will end very soon but people in the South
are speculating about the development process of the East. Is there a
well planned development strategy for the North?
A: No one can criticise the development activities taking place in
the East. Developing the East is one of the priorities of the
Government.
The Government has a comprehensive politico-military strategy which
consists of three Ds - Demilitarization, Democratization and
Development. These three Ds have been successfully implemented in the
East now. Like in the East, the military is to defeat the LTTE in Vanni.
That is the Demilitarization. Once the North is totally liberated the
Government will implement the democratization. After resettling the
displaced civilians elections will be held to select their
representatives. The development of the North needs a properly planned
strategy.
Q: Does the JHU believe that the Tamil people have grievances which
were not met yet?
A: I do not think that the Tamils have problems just because they are
Tamils. But they too have the same problems like lack of job
opportunities to match their education, issues related to agriculture
and poverty, which all other communities have. These are common problems
to all the communities - Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim. These problems will
be addressed under the democratization process. Instead of bureaucracy
and elitism, the Government will implement meritocracy to give all
communities equal opportunities without being biased towards any
particular ethnic or religious group.
Q: Will the Government take steps to resettle the Sinhala and Muslim
population who were there earlier in the Northern areas?
A: Yes. It is their right. I do not think that this should be done
immediately as the Government’s first priority is to restore peace. When
the trust is gradually developed between these communities, this will
happen naturally. In 1981 there were 81,000 Sinhalese and 44,000 Muslims
in Jaffna. Don’t you think that these people have a right to live in
their original habitats.
Q: One of the main demands of the Tamils is about their language
rights, which is said to have fuelled the whole conflict. What is your
view?
A: It is not a problem only for the Tamils and as I said earlier it
is common for others including Sinhalese. The children born in the North
and East get the birth certificates in Tamil. This problem can be
overcome when the communities learn each others’ languages. Over 90
percent of the Tamils and Muslims can speak Sinhala language.
Q: If you say that the Tamils do not have their own grievances to
meet, then what is the use of having the APRC?
A: The JHU has decided to take part in the APRC for two reasons. One
is we wanted to identify the so-called problems and to explain our stand
to solve those problems. If someone can prove that the Tamils have
problems and they have a right to have a separate state, as Buddhists we
will agree with them. But we want to say one thing we are not ready to
give into these demands at gun point.
It is only possible through discussions. If there is constructive
evidence to say that the Tamils need a separate state the JHU is ready
to agree with them.
The second reason why we have joined the APRC is that we wanted to
emphasize the rights of the Sinhalese who lived for ages in the North
and East. They have also faced many injustices due to the LTTE. They
were killed or threatened and chased away. They were displaced for
years.
Q: Are you confident that these conflicts could be solved through the
APRC?
A: There is a Parliamentary Committee to change the country’s
election system since 1994. Up to date the Committee has failed to reach
to a common agreement to solve the matter. Therefore, the issues that
are discussed in the APRC will take time to reach a common agreement. We
cannot do things according to the aspirations of some individuals.
The APRC is a good forum because all the other agreements starting
from the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam, Dudley-Chelvanayakam, Indo-Lanka
Agreement by the J.R. Jayewardene, Provincial Council system, Chandrika
Bandaranaike’s package and upto Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Ceasefire
Agreement, all these are `palace conspiracies’. No other political party
was given opportunity to make their contribution to these agreements.
That means these agreements were not drawn according to the consensus of
the ordinary people of this country. A group of two to three Colombo
based people drafted these agreements. Then in 1992 the foreign
diplomats, who wanted to make this country a confederal country, joined
these groups. Then the `elite’ or ‘palace conspiracy’ became a
`diplomatic conspiracy’.
The APRC is a forum for all the political parties to contribute
towards the future of this country. This is the first time that all the
political parties got an opportunity to contribute their views to solve
the national problem. So the outcome of the APRC is strong and will
remain longer than the decisions of the elites.
I think that the war against the LTTE has brought many `victories’ to
the country. The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government has been able to defeat
elite and diplomatic conspiracies while re-establishing the democracy in
the war torn areas.
Q: The Government is talking about 13th Amendment to solve the
national problem and how is it possible under the three Ds?
A: Yes, it comes under democratization process. But, the JHU is
against giving Police and land powers to the Provincial Councils. India
which devolved police powers, has taken the decision to keep it with the
Central Government after the Mumbai terrorist attack. The JHU oppose
implementing everything in the 13th Amendment. What is needed is a
careful identification of the things that are appropriate for the
country.
Q: Do you propose the `Gamsabha system’, which was proved very
efficient system to devolve power?
A: Yes, it is a very efficient system and we have tested it with the
`Gama Naguma’ program. What we suggest is that we should give more
powers to the Pradeshiya Sabhas which help to develop the infrastructure
facilities for the villagers and solve their problems at village level. |