JVP presents 13-point plan for reconciliation
The JVP on Saturday (Dec. 10) said that those held for their alleged involvement with the LTTE should have been tried before Tamil speaking judges.
Launching a special political campaign in the Northern Province, the JVP lambasted the UPFA government for keeping LTTEsuspects in the dark as to what was going on in courts.
At a media briefing in Vavuniya on Saturday, the JVP presented a 13-point plan to deal with problems faced by people, particularly those living in the two provinces and those struggling to make ends meet irrespective of their ethnicity. It also envisaged restoration of democratic freedoms.
Addressing the media in Vavuniya, JVP Colombo District parliamentarian Sunil Handunetti accused the government of double-standards in dealing with former members of the LTTE. Referring to former LTTE commanders, Karuna and Pilleyan, Handunetti said that, while some terrorist leaders had been rewarded by the UPFA, those languishing behind bars for years for their alleged involvement in terrorism were denied the right to a fair trial.
The JVP action plan comprises restoration of political freedoms, release of political prisoners, resettlement of the internally displaced persons, removal of military bases from Northern and Eastern Provinces to facilitate restoration of civil rule, release of the names of those political prisoners, safeguarding cultural identity of people living in different provinces, ending state take-over of land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, settling disputes over land owned by IDPs, employment for all, restoration of health and education sectors, protection of media and right activists, compensation package for those who lost their loved ones due to war and compensation for the loss of private property.
Former JVP National List MP Ramalingham Chandrasekeran said that in spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, the government was yet to restore normalcy in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Human rights, democracy and the media freedom had been under severe threat, while a semi-military rule imposed on the Northern and Eastern Provinces was causing immense hardship to those who suffered due to a three-decade long war, Handunetti alleged. The JVP would step-up its campaign both in and outside Parliament to pressure the government to change its style of governance, he said, urging the people to rally around the party to topple the Rajapaksa regime. The parliamentarian warned the government of street protests to highlight their grievances unless tangible action was taken immediately to redress them.
The JVP asked the government not to play politics with the national issue and to take remedial measures to ensure that there wouldn’t be a fresh armed conflict. The JVP alleged that the government had failed to steps to address the grievances of those affected by the conflict.
The JVP alleged that those living in Northern and Eastern Provinces had been denied the opportunity to work on development projects in the region. In an obvious attack on UPFA Gampaha District leader Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the government was accused of favouring Gampaha at the expense of war-torn districts.
Courtesy: The Island
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O Mr.Handunnetti,
You think the people of North & East will swallow your hook line & sink like damned fools? No . They have very clear memory of your five pronged class where “Boycott Indians (meaning Tamils) was one of your strong stirring commands to your followers.Leave North & East to settle dopwn peacefully.
AUJ
Dont look the outside with the colured glasses. remove your glasses then do the reconcilation first among the political party that exist currently. having analized you will be realized who have sacrificed for the peoples. even NEWSwhere ever peopled were sufferd and still and still suffering. so honestly speaking inititive must be in place, thats should be honestly. any one can be reluer. JVP never controlled the country they ever discussed the people problem to open the eyes of rulers. so please do not express your revenge being monopoly politician. i wish you may see the truth soon and soon Very soon
Then, there must be a redressal process vice-versa to compensate lost lives of Tri-forces national heroes, precious lives of civilians and bereaved families dispersed in NEWS and in border villages and mass destruction of property in Southern region caused by bloody and barbarian psychopath Pirubaharan and devil’s terrorist outfit. Crystal clear and simple as it is that it must be coffered dominantly by hell-raising vampires like Rajaratnam and other LTTE sympathisers’ illegal wealth as well as in the same manner that sole tamil diaspora had been voluntarily financed LTTE ruthless cannibals to get armed and split foetuses of pregnant innocent mothers engaged in farming in border villages. Utmostly but non-surprisingly, JVP will not engage or mediate in this kind of fair and sacred movement to take remedial measures up, justifiably collecting identity lists of harmed-lost and disappeared during 32 years of terrorism cursed Sri Lankan Southern region.
JVP is today a bankrupt party, which has split-up into ‘militant’ section under a Tamil, living in Australia with his family and visits SL only occasionally under false passports and identities, and into the rump old-codger’s section.
In December 2009, JVP aligned itself with SF, after massaging his ego into contesting Presidential Election, which he roundly lost. JVP-SF alliance then lost the General Election also by a huge margin. JVP became a rump, bankrupt party. It has split-up, to those who think it must return to its former militancy and those who think otherwise.
JVP is now trying to woo the ‘militant’ elements in TNA and Tamil nationalists, espousing their cause falsely and shedding crocodile tears for them, embracing Tamil separatism. Have they forgotten that JVP caused the North and East to be de-classified again as separate provinces, through the Supreme Court? JVP is also trying to breed militancy among the Jaffna University students who may be volatile, by setting-up JVP Tamil University Students Unions, to brain wash them with JVP militant Marxist ideology.
JVP knows they are today relegated to be pariahs by the voters of the South. They have lost the General and Local elections utterly. So they have espoused the cause of separatism of the Tamils in the North with the hope of winning local and general elections on the back of the TNA. Would the TNA fall for this line or make use of JVP to do their dirty work for them, by providing safe houses in the South for their ex-LTTE suicide squads to carry out suicide bombings of celebrities, VIP politicians, ministers and security personnel, to destabilise the country? Would the TNA and JVP join forces to create riots through-out the country on the scale of Arab Uprisings, with imperial West and NATO’s active engagement to topple the GOSL to be replaced by JVP-TNA-UNP coalition? So, let the GOSL beware, the writing is on the wall. Isn’t it better to nip JVP conspiracies in the bud?
The JVP espoused a Sinhala nationalist stance in 2006-2009 failing to recognise the upsurge in Tamil Nationalism.
Prior to seeking support in the north and east, the JVP should publicly apologise to the Tamil nation for their past behaviour.
Dear Nicholas,
Thank you for your observations on the JVP. They are a bankrupt sinhala political party. So are the other sinhala political parties including SLFP, UNP, MEP, LSSP, CP etc.
A fundamental error in judgement of the sinhala political parties is equating Tamil nationalism to separation.
I believe they are separate issues.
Tamil nationalism means ensuring tamils all over the island including north and east, live with dignity. It’s almost 3 years after the end of the “war”; the north and east remain under military rule with no reported threat to security. I ask why?
Why hasn’t civilian administration been restored in the north and east? Why are the streets of Jaffna being patrolled by gun-toting army men? Do the sinhala rulers fear the return of militancy?
SLFP is not a bankrupt party at all, as you classified. In fact it is thriving and growing by the day, as more people of all communities, including Tamils, join the party. In fact even the reformed LTTE leader, Karuna, has joined SLFP and holds an important position within the party, apart from his Ministerial post.
It is interesting to note that you made a distinction between ‘Tamil nationalism’ and ‘separatism’. You have stated, “Tamil nationalism means ensuring Tamils all over the island…live with dignity”.
Could you tell honestly, did the Tamils in Kilinochchi and the Vanni under VP’s and LTTE control live in so-called ‘dignity’?
I think they lived in fear and trepidation all the time. They were herded like cattle, to provide the LTTE a regular supply of children, to be conscripted to his ‘army’. They did not enjoy independence. They were under VP and LTTE jackboots. They paid him exhorbitant ‘tax’ and were used by him to provide all manner of free services. They were truly his slaves. Nobody dared to question his authority or defy his orders/laws. They were not free to move in and out of the Vanni. If they had that freedom, they would not have returned. Some did manage to escape his clutches and live as refugees and even migrate to the West. Tamils in the Vanni were the most happy lot when their slavery was finally ended, with the massive Humanitarian Operation by the heroic Sri Lankan Security Forces. VP was so vile and evil, he used his own people as a ‘human sheild’ for his protection against the army on-slaught. He treated them as expendable, afterall they were his slaves, and did not matter if they died so long as he managed to save himself along with his family and LTTE leadership, to fight another day. He was selfish. The 300,000+ Tamil hostages managed to escape enmasse across the Nanri Kadal lagoon, braving the LTTE suicide bombers and hail of LTTE gunfire. Several sucumbed to it along with the heroic SL Forces who lost their lives and limbs in trying to save our Tamil SL citizens. It was all witnessed by the world through the images of the SL spyplanes/drones. War crimes were committed by VP and the LTTE, in keeping the SL Tamil civilians hostage and killing them as they escaped to SL army side.
TNA and all Tamil extremists who shout for Tamil nationalism should actually seek it in Tamil Nadu, where the Tamils number about 70 million. It is ridiculous to seek Tamil Nationalism in SL, where they number only less than 4 million, most of them in the South, where they live free and in dignity, with free education, health services, job prospects and in relative prosperity compared to the Tamils held in captivity in the Vanni under VP and LTTE iron fist.
Isn’t it a shame DC you are not being honest to God, by claiming Tamils are not living in dignity in SL? Are they living in dignity in Tamil Nadu, where millions live in slums eking out a hard existence? I know this for a fact, because I lived in Tamil Nadu and used to provide free meals daily from a Soup Kitchen the Fransiscan Monks ran. I used to dish out the free meals. We also ran a free Health Clinic in Madras for the poor Tamils. DC, you are only peddling false propaganda and disinformation you have been brain washed with. Isn’t it time you get out of your rut and come to your senses by being honest before God? Isn’t it time you trod the path of spirituality by living according to your conscience and seek union with God, rather than go astray in Tamil nationalistic politics and separatism?
Nationalism ans Separatism are two sides of the same coin. You cannot make a distinction. The distinction you try to make is a false distinction. Let the Tamils build their Tamil Nation in Tamil Nadu by seeking autonomy/independence/separatism from Central Govt of India. There is no Tamil Nation in SL. There is only a Tamil community. Similarly there are only Sinhalese and Muslim communities in SL. Together we make the ONE SRI LANKAN NATION.
Army posts are maintained throughout SL for security reasons, to curtail organised crime as well as to prevent a resurgence of terrorism/militancy by the JVP and not by LTTE alone. It is right and proper to maintain such security for the safety of the whole nation so that they can go about their daily lives without fear or hindrance. In India and in other countries too, where there are militant/terrorist threats, tight security is maintained by all the security services in joint operations. Honest citizens do not complain. Only the nationalists, separatists, terrorists and criminals complain.
Dear DC,
Blog 7 is my response to your blog 6.
DC,
“Do the sinhala rulers fear the return of militancy?”
Yes, that is the clear answer and until you guys utter the word “Tamil” instead if “Sri lankan” I think it is fair that the government is in fear of Tamil racists reviving their militant head again.
So, don’t just cry about military presence in North and East. Try to call yourselves as Sri lankans and not as Tamils. Start talking about how to improve Sri lankan’s lives, not just “Tamil’s: lives. Get rid of your racism and then the day will come to smile together.
If not, Sinhalese people and political parties also may refuse to talk “Sri lankan” and will start talking about how to uplift “Sinhalese” lives and if that happens, just Tamils under 5% of population will have to no chance!
So, please don’t do that even if racism is your only way of survival.