Sivajilingam, Ananthi on five-day protest:

Tamil parties to lobby UNHRC members

by P. Krishnaswamy

Pic:N. Navarathinarasa, Mallakam Gr.Cor.

Even as State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene has ruled out possibilities of an internal mechanism to probe the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan conflict, delegations of virtually all Tamil political parties, including all four constituents of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), have set out to Geneva to campaign among the 47 UNHRC member nations for an international mechanism of inquiry. As a latest development, the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the main party of the four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which aptly kept away from the other three constituents, has now decided to send its delegation comprising party lawyers, according to reports.

The other three constituents - EPRLF, TELO and PLOTE - during the course of last week held meetings and jointly decided to send their delegations to Geneva.

While the delegations of the EPRLF and the TELO are to be headed by party leaders Suresh Premachandran and Selvam Adaickalanathan respectively, the PLOTE would be represented by members of some Tamil Diaspora groups, according to the reports. State Minister Wijewardene after swearing-in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena stated that national security would not be compromised under any circumstances.

Meanwhile, two hard-line members of the Northern Provincial Council, M. K. Sivajilingam and Ananthi Saseethran set out on a five day protest march from Kilinochchi to Nallur seeking local and international support for an international mechanism of probe and opposing the US decision to support a domestic inquiry.

Agitations, protest marches and signature campaigns seeking international support for an international mechanism of inquiry have intensified in the Northern Province with several organisations and institutions involving themselves in such protests, according to reports from the North.