( An open Letter to the President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa)
by V. Anandasangaree
(July 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Within the next few days another feather is going to adorn your cap. You are going to be installed as the Chairperson of perhaps the largest regional organisation in the world the SARRC comprised of eight nations with a total population of over 1.7 billion people. I congratulate you, Your Excellency on your achievement in advance.
The country is indeed proud of the honour showered on you. This is a fitting honour to a man who has served his country for well over 38 years, having entered the Sri Lankan Parliament at the age of 24 and earned the name as the youngest Member in that batch. Your Excellency I like to remind you that there are only three Members today in Parliament who can claim seniority over you. Your present position, your latest achievement and your seniority demand that you rise above all constraints and offer proper Leadership and guidance not necessarily to the participants-but to our country as a whole which is hoping that you will bring back peace.
I hope that the opportunity we got to host the SARRC summit is God-sent and a blessing to our people who live in constant fear and tension for no fault of theirs. One can’t safely walk on the streets in Sri Lanka, leave a side the bus and the train. One of the main objectives of the SARRC summit is to find solutions for various problems the Member States face. Fortunately for us we do not have any dispute with any one of the other seven states. We are still more fortunate that you as President is maintaining very good relations with all the Member states. Every Member state will gladly agree to help you to solve the problems the people are facing in this country. Among many others, the welfare of the people, improvement of the quality of life, economic growth, opportunity to live in dignity etc. are matters within the purview of the SARRC summit. These are the main fields that are very seriously affected in our country by the ethnic problem and the on going war.
Terrorism is a topic for discussion at the SARRC conference- because all Member states are much concerned of terrorism prevalent in their respective countries. Terrorism and the ethnic problem are so interwoven in our country that when discussions take place on terrorism, discussing the Sri Lankan ethnic issue become inevitable.
There is no doubt Your Excellency that if the country is taken as a whole, all ethnic groups had undergone untold hardships. The progress of the Sinhalese and the Muslims was affected to a large extent in the South. In the North and the East both Tamils and the Muslims were so badly affected that it could be classified as total ruin. The repeated backlashes, the one of July, 1983 in particular aften referred to as black July, brought ruin to the Tamil business community and others all over the country due to large scale looting arson and killing, that was successfully organised by thugs and hoodlums. This resulted in a mass exodus of Tamils to Tamilnaad in India. The Muslims of the North who were driven out from their houses by the L.T.T.E had to leave behind all their possessions, immovables and movables including vehicles and gold ornaments. Most of them are still languishing in refugee camps in the South for over 15 years. There are several displaced Tamil families in several refugee camps for long periods. Due to the on going war,there had been large scale displacements off and on and mass exodus of Tamils from place to place, resulting in their loosing all their possessions. Many Tamils are now living like nomads carrying all their earthly possessions in bundles and seeking shelter under shady trees with no salvation during rainy days.
As the war goes on and the L.T.T.E withdrawing without allowing displaced people to enter the areas under the control of the Government, all are driven towards Kilinochchi. This will certainly cause more and more hardships to the people and may even lead to starvation.
Your Excellency as President of Sri Lanka you have a duty to treat all the people equally and duty-bound to redress the grievances of the suffering masses. I am more concerned than anybody else other than you, because it was I who represented Kilinochchi in Parliament in 1970 and the Jaffna District in 2000. Even a fair portion of the Mullaitheevu Electorate was represented by me when it was a part of the Kilinochchi Electorate. The people can’t endure this agony any longer. A solution must be found without any further delay.
A golden opportunity is made available to you now in the form of the SARRC Summit. Please make use of it without missing it. Because a similar opportunity will not come for many years. No one can blame if you solicit the support of the Heads of the seven neighbouring countries with which you have a good rapport. The Indian Team is comprised of officials who very well know our problem. The Heads of SARRC countries will certainly welcome India playing the main role being one that is involved in the process for a long time. Your Excellency must take this opportunity to tell the Nation that you are assigning the task of finding a lasting solution reasonable enough for all to accept, in the hands of our friendly neighbours of the SARRC in whom you have absolute faith.
I do believe that there won’t be any objection to my proposal and should be acceptable to all tho se who love this country. I am confident that my proposal if acceptable to you will be acceptable to the minorities as well. The opinion of the Religious Heads and Heads Political parties may be obtained.
I have today in another letter to the L.T.T.E Leader Mr.V.Prabaharan, requested him to call for a permanent ceasefire, lay down arms with a promise not to use them till a solution is found, to withdraw the demand for separation agreeing for a solution within a united Sri Lanka and to declare his consent to accept arbitration by the Heads of the SARRC countries and also to accept any solution recommended by them.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
by V. Anandasangaree
(July 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Within the next few days another feather is going to adorn your cap. You are going to be installed as the Chairperson of perhaps the largest regional organisation in the world the SARRC comprised of eight nations with a total population of over 1.7 billion people. I congratulate you, Your Excellency on your achievement in advance.
The country is indeed proud of the honour showered on you. This is a fitting honour to a man who has served his country for well over 38 years, having entered the Sri Lankan Parliament at the age of 24 and earned the name as the youngest Member in that batch. Your Excellency I like to remind you that there are only three Members today in Parliament who can claim seniority over you. Your present position, your latest achievement and your seniority demand that you rise above all constraints and offer proper Leadership and guidance not necessarily to the participants-but to our country as a whole which is hoping that you will bring back peace.
I hope that the opportunity we got to host the SARRC summit is God-sent and a blessing to our people who live in constant fear and tension for no fault of theirs. One can’t safely walk on the streets in Sri Lanka, leave a side the bus and the train. One of the main objectives of the SARRC summit is to find solutions for various problems the Member States face. Fortunately for us we do not have any dispute with any one of the other seven states. We are still more fortunate that you as President is maintaining very good relations with all the Member states. Every Member state will gladly agree to help you to solve the problems the people are facing in this country. Among many others, the welfare of the people, improvement of the quality of life, economic growth, opportunity to live in dignity etc. are matters within the purview of the SARRC summit. These are the main fields that are very seriously affected in our country by the ethnic problem and the on going war.
Terrorism is a topic for discussion at the SARRC conference- because all Member states are much concerned of terrorism prevalent in their respective countries. Terrorism and the ethnic problem are so interwoven in our country that when discussions take place on terrorism, discussing the Sri Lankan ethnic issue become inevitable.
There is no doubt Your Excellency that if the country is taken as a whole, all ethnic groups had undergone untold hardships. The progress of the Sinhalese and the Muslims was affected to a large extent in the South. In the North and the East both Tamils and the Muslims were so badly affected that it could be classified as total ruin. The repeated backlashes, the one of July, 1983 in particular aften referred to as black July, brought ruin to the Tamil business community and others all over the country due to large scale looting arson and killing, that was successfully organised by thugs and hoodlums. This resulted in a mass exodus of Tamils to Tamilnaad in India. The Muslims of the North who were driven out from their houses by the L.T.T.E had to leave behind all their possessions, immovables and movables including vehicles and gold ornaments. Most of them are still languishing in refugee camps in the South for over 15 years. There are several displaced Tamil families in several refugee camps for long periods. Due to the on going war,there had been large scale displacements off and on and mass exodus of Tamils from place to place, resulting in their loosing all their possessions. Many Tamils are now living like nomads carrying all their earthly possessions in bundles and seeking shelter under shady trees with no salvation during rainy days.
As the war goes on and the L.T.T.E withdrawing without allowing displaced people to enter the areas under the control of the Government, all are driven towards Kilinochchi. This will certainly cause more and more hardships to the people and may even lead to starvation.
Your Excellency as President of Sri Lanka you have a duty to treat all the people equally and duty-bound to redress the grievances of the suffering masses. I am more concerned than anybody else other than you, because it was I who represented Kilinochchi in Parliament in 1970 and the Jaffna District in 2000. Even a fair portion of the Mullaitheevu Electorate was represented by me when it was a part of the Kilinochchi Electorate. The people can’t endure this agony any longer. A solution must be found without any further delay.
A golden opportunity is made available to you now in the form of the SARRC Summit. Please make use of it without missing it. Because a similar opportunity will not come for many years. No one can blame if you solicit the support of the Heads of the seven neighbouring countries with which you have a good rapport. The Indian Team is comprised of officials who very well know our problem. The Heads of SARRC countries will certainly welcome India playing the main role being one that is involved in the process for a long time. Your Excellency must take this opportunity to tell the Nation that you are assigning the task of finding a lasting solution reasonable enough for all to accept, in the hands of our friendly neighbours of the SARRC in whom you have absolute faith.
I do believe that there won’t be any objection to my proposal and should be acceptable to all tho se who love this country. I am confident that my proposal if acceptable to you will be acceptable to the minorities as well. The opinion of the Religious Heads and Heads Political parties may be obtained.
I have today in another letter to the L.T.T.E Leader Mr.V.Prabaharan, requested him to call for a permanent ceasefire, lay down arms with a promise not to use them till a solution is found, to withdraw the demand for separation agreeing for a solution within a united Sri Lanka and to declare his consent to accept arbitration by the Heads of the SARRC countries and also to accept any solution recommended by them.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
 by V. Anandasangaree (July 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Within t...){kind=link}
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