‘What is TNA’s true agenda’:

TNA thwarts efforts towards reconciliation - Mahinda Samarasinghe

by Manjula Fernando

The TNA’s decision to prevent Northern Chief Minister C.W. Wigneswaran from joining President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Indian Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony thwarts efforts towards reconciliation, Plantation Industries Minister and President’s Special Envoy on Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said.

He told the Sunday Observer yesterday that this shows, there are extremist forces within the TNA who are not interested in working with the Government and moving towards reconciliation.”

All SAARC leaders including President Rajapaksa have been invited by the BJP to take part in the swearing-in ceremony of the new Prime Minister-elect. Tamil Nadu had opposed the invitation extended to President Rajapaksa. The Indian media forecast that with a majority in Parliament the BJP is not dependant on Tamil parties to run the government, hence there will be a ‘more independent policy on Sri Lanka’ by the Centre.

Minister Samarasinghe said the President should be congratulated for thinking so broadly when he decided to invite the Northern Province Chief Minister to accompany him to New Delhi tomorrow.

“What is the TNA’s true agenda. Is it propaganda or some political agenda being played out? The TNA must realise that this is not the way we should move towards reconciliation,” the Minister said. “The move to reject the invitation shoots down their own claim that they are not being accommodated by the Government.”

The Government has taken a positive step by symbolically inviting them to be part of the Sri Lankan delegation to India, a country where the issue of Northern Tamils has been in the forefront, but they have outrightly declined that offer.

“The world should understand the ground reality, we are extending our hand but that the TNA is not willing to take it.”

Minister Samarasinghe said with this attitude, the path to reconciliation would be very far. “We have been asking the TNA to be a part of the PSC and they have been giving all sorts of excuses to stay away,” and added, “later they go to the international community and say that the Government is not willing to work with them.”

The Minister said the Government is of the view that the extremist forces within the TNA, linked to the pro LTTE diaspora, may have influenced this decision since they are hell-bent on destroying any concrete steps being taken towards reconciliation.