Thai Pongal celebrations in Jaffna:

Wigneswaran slams Govt

Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.VWigneswaran speaking at the Thai Pongal event in Jaffna which was graced by visiting MP Hugo Swire and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe slammed the government for undermining the affairs of the Northern Provincial Council(NPC) while emphasising that discriminatory laws were still in place.

The CM detailed five pointers which included the occupation of land and homes by Army personnel in the North. "An estimated 150,000 of an Occupational Army were still stationed six years after the end of the war.

"They have taken over our lands, our livelihoods, our businesses, our resources and are a threat to the well-being of our war widows, he said asking. Are we, therefore, in a state of mind to celebrate Thai Pongal?" he asked.

He said the government was continuing with the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, citing that an inclusive society cannot be built on a counter- terrorism mindset and state security perspective.

He added according to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goal, the government needs to develop effective, accountable and transparent institution at all levels. However, he said the recent findings of secret torture chambers prove that accountability and transparency were lacking. "I am sorry to say that politically the NPC is being undermined by the Central Government at all levels. Projects are decided by the Centre and foisted on us from top to bottom," he said.

When referring to enforcing non-discriminatory laws, he referred to a recent example where a communication had been sent from the senior DIG in the Northern Province in Sinhala.

This was when ninety percent of the people speak Tamil.

It is also reported that President Maithripala Sirisena who was tipped to attend the National Thai Pongal celebrations in Jaffna had sent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe due to stiff opposition and protests from Tamil political parties in the North.

During this time several political parties had collectively staged a black flag protest in the North