New Delhi: The largest group of lawmakers from Sri Lanka’s north and east, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), has asked the Indian prime minister to “prevail” upon Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe to meet Colombo’s commitments for devolution of powers.
Later this week, the Sri Lankan leader is scheduled to travel to India for his first foreign trip one year after taking over as president from Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
In an open letter released on Monday, the veteran head of the TNA, R. Sampanthan, said that despite repeated assurances, the Sri Lankan government has “not only failed to fulfil its commitments”, but also tried to “abort” the implementation of the 13th amendment by “legislative manipulations”.
“This has led to a crisis of confidence in regard to the willingness on the part of the Sri Lankan state in honouring its obligations under the Indo-Lanka Accord in the resolution of the National Question,” wrote the leader of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), Sampanthan. ITAK is the largest constituent party of the TNA.
This letter from @R_Sampanthan to @PMOIndia was handed over to HE the HC of India in Sri Lanka. pic.twitter.com/GGZAfLBMoF
— TNAMedia (@TNAmediaoffice) July 17, 2023
The 90-year-old Sri Lankan leader stated that the TNA firmly believe that the “Tamil People‘s safety, security, identity and existence as a Nation is inseparable from the national security of India especially in its southern neighbourhood”.
He reiterated that the twin purposes of the India-Lanka accord – “safety and security of the Tamil People and the security of India” – were still unattainable even after 36 years of it being signed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayawardena.
“In this background, we respectfully urge Your Excellency to prevail upon the President of Sri Lanka when he visits New Delhi around the 21st of July 2023, to fulfil the commitments made to India with regard to sharing powers of governance with the Tamil People of the North-East in Sri Lanka without any further delay,” wrote Sampanthan. The letter was handed over to the Indian High Commission.
The Hindu reported that a group of religious leaders, educationists and professionals from Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority north and east have also sent a letter to the Indian prime minister, urging him to “persuade” President Wickremesinghe to immediately call for provincial council elections. This letter was sent to the Indian consulate in Jaffna to be forwarded to New Delhi.
Meanwhile, Indian news agency PTI reported on Monday from Colombo that President Wickremesinghe will meet with the TNA in the parliament on Tuesday.
Ever since he became president, Wickremesinghe has asserted that the devolution issue will be solved at the earliest. In December last year, he held four rounds of talks with TNA leaders, but Tamil leaders remained sceptical.
Wickremesinghe again reiterated his resolve to address the ‘national question’ earlier this year. He again met with the TNA in May this year, but there was still no agreement.
When Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had visited Colombo in January, he had reiterated to the Sri Lankan leadership that full implementation of the 13th constitutional amendment was “critical” achieving reconciliation with the Tamil minority in the island nation.