22 September 2021 03:48 am Views - 2749
The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) continues to be accused of being weak and falling short of expectations. The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) led by former Minister Mano Ganesan is part of the SJB.
In an ‘On Fire’ interview on Daily Mirror online, Ganesan admitted that there are some shortcomings in Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. He also doesn’t rule out the possibility of working with others at the next election, if the SJB fails to deliver.
The former Minister also noted that India’s policy on Sri Lanka has failed hence India must
rethink its strategy.
Excerpts of the interview:
Well, the Tamils in this country number about 3.5 million. About 50 percent live in the North and Eastern provinces. The rest live outside the North and Eastern provinces. My party represents the Tamils living mostly outside the North and Eastern provinces. The TNA and other parties represent the Tamils living in the North and East. The political terrain is different. We engage and employ different strategies so that we, without antagonising the Sinhala community or others who are not Tamils. But at the same time we insist upon Tamil rights and try to live as Sri Lankans.
So the Tamil issue, which we say is a National issue, should come to a natural end only by winning the hearts and minds of the Sinhala community. On the other hand, the Sinhalese political leaders must also do their best to win over the minds and hearts of the Tamil community. This is slowly and steadily happening. I believe in tomorrow.
Q: But when you were in the government with Maithripala Sirisena President you were looking at pushing for a solution to address the key issues faced by the Tamils. Yet that solution never came about. Prior to that as well, there were various discussions going on to reach a solution yet that never happened. Do you think that, realistically, the Tamil people would see a solution anytime soon?
Yeah, we will need to work towards it. I am an optimist, so I would always look towards tomorrow. If not tomorrow then the day after tomorrow or next week, next month, next year or the next decade. So we will have to work hard. I have a Sri Lankan dream; a dream where the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Christians or Catholics, Hindus and Buddhists live together as Sri Lankans. My idea is that we must uphold, develop and strengthen the Sri Lankan identity. That is very important. Then let us call ourselves Tamils, or Sinhalese or Buddhist or Hindus. That can come second. The new generation in Sri Lanka is looking at us in that manner. So, I am confident.
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Q: What are the core issues facing the Tamils outside the North? What are the concerns that they have?
The use of the Tamil language is one of the core issues. We keep speaking about the 13th Amendment, but we conveniently forgot about the 16th Amendment. The 16th Amendment talks about the language rights. The 13th and 14th Amendments recognised Tamil as an official language, a national language and English as the link language. Sri Lanka is a tri-lingual country. But the 16th Amendment also recognises Tamil as a language of education, language at courts, language in administration. Every Sri Lankan is entitled to obtain oral or written responses from any government institution, be it in the Central or Provincial or Local in his or her choice of language. It should be Tamil or Sinhala. But this is not happening practically. But there is a law. So these laws need to be implemented. Also, out of the about 400 plus Pradeshiya Sabhas or Divisional Secretariat areas, only about 30 to 40 are recognised as bilingual divisions. The National issue commenced in the 1950’s when Singhala was recognised as the only official language. So let us bring equality among the languages and that that would be a prelude to a political solution.
Q: What is the opposition doing to push for a solution? Be it the Samagi Jana Balawegaya or even your party, the TPA. What are you doing to ensure a solution to all these issues faced by the Tamilssooner than later?
I spoke to you about the dreams of the TPA. When I was a Minister in the last government, language was one of the subjects which came under my purview. National integration came under me. I did my best. That is our policy. Insisting on the 16th Amendment is one of our key policies. The TNA may talk about the 13th Amendment. But we will talk about the 16th Amendment. Now these are already laws in this country. When we talk about a political solution, we are talking about new laws. But let us implement these (existing laws). Once we implement the language parity laws in this country I think about 70 percent of the so-called National issue will be over. That will bring understanding between both communities.
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Q: Isn’t there room for the TPA to work with the TNA to collectively discuss and try to push for solutions for the Tamils in the entire country?
Yes. Because now the LTTE is no more. So the dream for a separate State is no more. And the idea of an armed struggle is no more. Now, the TNA, being the biggest party in the North and Eastern provinces, have officially announced that they are willing to live together in one country. So the separate journey is no more. Therefore the whole country matters to them. The whole country matters to the TPA as well. So we can work together. I have already proposed this. I have been calling for a Tamil parliamentarian caucus. Then Tamil MPs of the North and East and South can come together as a caucus. In the second stage we can bring in Muslim MPs as well. I also proposed that we bring in Sinhala progressive MPs who have great understanding of the Tamil issue as observers in the caucus. So this committee should meet the government ministers, opposition, and their party leaders and go to Kandy and meet the Chief Prelates and all opinion makers and try to impress upon the Sinhalese community the real issues faced by the Tamils. Unfortunately, although TNA MPs understood this privately, as a party it did not respond.
I don’t know. That you must ask Sumanthiran. I have no personal differences with anybody. My idea is that when an incident takes place we must restrict that to that particular incident and see that it ends there. That’s my policy. Even members in the SLPP are my close friends, including the controversial Lohan Ratwatte. But when there is a mistake I speak straight; that’s all.
Q: You mentioned that the young parliamentarians or young politicians understand the real issues faced by the Tamils. Is there room for you to work with politicians like Namal Rajapaksa and other young MPs in the government to look at the issues faced by the Tamils?
Yes, I think there is an opening. For example recently I went to the Anuradhapura prison. Those who accompanied me were young SJB MPs. I didn’t go with TNA or Tamil MPs. I went with Sinhalese MPs. When we met the prisoners they told us that Minister Namal Rajapaksa had come and looked into their concerns.
I would like to tell Minister Namal Rajapaksa to do something about these people. Enough is enough. Release them. There are prisoners in jail who have been there for over 20-25 years. They can be pardoned. I would like to urge Minister Namal Rajapaksa to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil community. I am not telling them to wait until we assume power; until we form a government under Sajith Premadasa. I am not a cheap politician. If there is an opening here let them do it. Let them address it. I will raise both my hands and support them. It doesn’t mean I am going to join the government.
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Q: You mentioned about Sajith Premadasa. There is much criticism against Premadasa as Leader of the Opposition. Some say he is weak. What is your take on Premadasa?
Sajith is the youngest leader in this country today apart from Namal Rajapaksa. Namal Rajapaksa is not yet a leader of a party. Sajith is a leader of a party and the leader of the opposition. So he has more credentials. And he belongs to the new generation. Some of these criticisms against him are exaggerated, or cooked up. He listens to us, He talks to us. There are shortcomings.
But he was made the leader of a party a couple of years ago. He has not been leading a party for decades.
Q: But some in the SJB say that he (Sajith) behaves like a dictator. Your comments?
Well he has not been dictating to me. I don’t tolerate dictators. When I do things I just keep him infirmed. When I went to the Anuradhapura prison I kept him (Sajith) informed. I don’t seek his permission. Nor is he expecting me to get his permission. That is how the new generation of politicians perform. Maybe some fail to understand him. That may leave room for misconceptions. But there are shortcomings. I cant mention everything in public. But he is slowly, steadily building himself to lead the country.
Q: Is he a better leader than your former leader Ranil Wickremesinghe?
Ranil Wickremesinghe is different. Sajith is different. We can’t compare them. They have their negatives and positives. He (Sajith) is a younger generation leader. But SJB needs to put their necks together. Sajith Premadasa, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Sarath Fonseka, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Kabir Hashim, Harsha de Silva, Eran Wickremeratne, Tiss Attanayake, Harin Fernando. All these people should come together. They all need to work as a team, And we, Hakeem, Rishad, Digambaram and Radhakrishnan will work with them.
But that does not mean our future is linked to the SJB only. If the SJB fails we will seek elsewhere. That’s natural. There will be justification for that. JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is my closest friend in Parliament. We always discuss. We always exchange view. He has a new vision.
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Q: So are you saying that you will form an alliance with the JVP if the SJB fails to deliver?
Yes. JVP already has its alliance. We have exchanged views. Who knowns what will happen. We have two or three more years before the next Presidential election. Let’s see. Maybe we will get together and build a grand alliance. Lets not forget Ranil Wickremesinghe. I speak to him also.
I am in talking terms with everybody. Even people in the Government speak to me. I just spoke to Dinesh Gunawardena.
Q: Let’s talk about India’s role on Sri Lanka. Do you think that India has failed to really push for a permanent solution on the Tamil issue?
Yes and no. India’s Sri Lanka policy has failed. I have informed this to the Indian diplomats here. I remember I told this to External Affairs Minister Jaishankar when he was here some years before as the Secretary of the Ministry. So India needs to redo that; reconstruct that. There needs to be a win-win situation between India, Sri Lanka and the Tamil community. Tamils should win, Sri Lanka should win as a whole and India should win. There is a possibility of that happening.
India’s economy is booming. Lets put aside Covid for a while. The Indian middle class market is the biggest market. The buying power is great. We should work with India. We should manufacture goods in Sri Lanka and export them to India. At least we can obtain a portion of the Indian middle-class market; maybe in the Southern States. It will create lots of employment here. Already the Colombo Port is administered by Indian transshipments. The fact is not well-known. The Colombo Port is successful because of Indian transshipments.
Q: Has the Government hurt Indian sentiments by siding or aligning more towards China?
Yes, that’s very unfortunate. Certain personal relationships with China by some politicians is the root cause for this unfortunate situation. China, India and Sri Lanka can live together. I would urge the Government of Sri Lanka to make an effort to bring peace between China and India. At the end of the day we are all Asians. Since India and China are engaged in an unofficial war, I wouldn’t want to see that war on our soil. Why should we have that war here? The Colombo Port City is being administered by China. Some islands in the North close to India are being offered to China for various projects. Sri Lanka is a sovereign State. We can make our own decisions. But that does not mean we should antagonise our largest neighbour, India.
I made reference to Namal Rajapaksa. I don’t know what is in his mind, but he has expressed, at various occasions, his concerns for the Tamil community, Tamil political prisoners and the need to live together with Tamils, as Sri Lankans. That’s fine. Those are small openings. We don’t see large openings in the government.
If Minister Namal Rajapaksa does anything to win over the minds and hearts of the Tamil community we will support it as the TPA. That doesn’t mean we will join the Government. They have enough Tamils there.