Sinhalisation in post-conflict Tamil regions of Sri Lanka was a myth and neither the Tamils nor the Sinhalese gained out of the war, said Sri Lankan Left leader Dr Vikramabahu Karunaratne here on Monday.
A day after the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation conference, Dr Karunaratne, President of Nava Sama Samaja Party, said, “Yes I agree that the lands of Tamils are grabbed. But the Lankan government does not give those lands to the Sinhalese. Those lands are sold to multi-national companies. Without any consultation with Tamils, the government is doing that. Neither the Tamils nor the Sinhalese gained out of this war. The allegation of Sinhalisation is a myth.”
Later, speaking to Express, he said, “I will say that Tamils have the right to a separate state but I don’t ask them to separate. No Marxist will do that. I believe in going with unity with viable autonomy. I also appeal to the world leaders to put stress on Lanka to implement the recommendations of LLRC.”
At a press conference on Monday, Dr Karunaratne said, “I came here to participate in the TESO meet, which provided me an opportunity to reach the people here. I am not here to break the coalition of DMK and Congress.’’
Comments(2)
It is true the lands are sold to multi-national companies without any consultation with Tamils, the government is doing that. It is equally true large swaths of Tamil lands are used to build military bases, cantonments, quarters, Tourist resorts, runways, High Security Zones, Viharas, Stupas etc. For example the army is constructing thousands of quarters for the use of the army at Thiru Murugandy on a 4,000 acre land. This is while the owners of the land are languishing in tarpaulin huts in Manik farm at Vavuniya without basic necessities of life.
Posted by Thanga at 08/14/2012 23:18 Reply to this Report abuse
Good example of land grab is welli oya ( I even forgotten the Tamil name for Weli Oya), I remember reading as D.S.Senanayaka as started this project, Dudly continued it, Srima accelerated it, Mahinda killed Tamils to complete the project. Yes the argument of "Tamils are living in south and thus Sinhalese can live any where ever they want " is a valid one, until the government systmatically aid the colanisation by aiding Sinhalese. No government aided Tamil to live in the South, the opposite is true (Chasing Tamils out of South by so called "RIOTS"). So it is not Myth, It is real. Dr. Vikramabaku is "softning" his stands, He clearly knows LLRC is an eye wash. Do you know since 1958 to May 2009 NOT a SINGLE sinhalese was convicted of any crime ( In referance to "Riots"). When jaffna library was burned .J.R's government set up a sansonic comission , Dr.Wikramabaku knows what happened that report. Dr.Wikramabaku is "softning" his stands , I suppose he had no option other than play it safe
Posted by Waran Vaithilingam at 08/15/2012 02:33 Reply to this Report abuse