Speaking on the statement
of External Affairs Minister in the House on March 14, Thiru Siva said:
The statements
made by our External Affairs Minister in this House appear to be a xerox copy
of what the Sri Lankan Government says. I
am very sorry to say this. Whatever we
have seen on the television and the media and whatever the Sri Lankan
Government says is being repeated here.
Before stating
here something that is very, very important, I would like to point out that the
statement itself says, “Any assertions on our part may have implications on our
historically friendly relations with a neighbouring country”. Our ‘historically friendly relations’ have
taken the lives of 40,000 innocent Tamils there. You must think what this relationship has
actually fetched us. It has actually
taken the lives of our people; it has
butchered them. Fishermen from Tamil
Nadu are not able to catch fish in the Indian waters. The Sri Lankan Navy has been repeatedly
attacking and killing them, but you talk about ‘historically friendly relations
with a neighbouring country’! Such terms won’t apply, especially, to Sri Lanka
because of what has happened to the
Tamils there. I would like to say that
whatever happens in Sri Lanka
would surely have an impact in India. That should not be forgotten.
The southern part
of this country is a very, very sensitive area.
It is very safe for India. But if the colonisation that is being
attempted by the Sri Lankan Government, by the Sinhalese, in Tamil areas goes
on, the whole Tamil race, which is pro-India, will be wiped out. Kindly keep it in your mind that some other
people who are totally anti-India would come up there. This is the basic point that we would like to
make. We are not prepared to accept your
‘historically friendly relations’. So
many lives of our Tamil people have been lost over all these years. We have been making pleas again and again. Just
because we have confidence in the Government and in this country, we come here
and plead with you.
Our leader had
written a letter and the Prime Minister has responded with a letter saying the
same thing again, “I assure you that our objective continues to remain the
achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by
equality, dignity and justice and self-respect”. This is all rosy but this is not so in letter
and spirit. You are not able to influence a Government that you call a
‘historically friendly country’ to do
something that they ought to.
Let me ask this
of the Minister: In his statement, he
says that tractors, seeds and
agricultural implements gifted by the Government of India have greatly
benefited the people in the area. May I
know who those people are that have been benefited? Is it the Sinhalese or the Tamils who have
been benefited? Sure, it might have
benefited the people but what is the monitoring mechanism to see to it that
whatever the Government of India is giving reaches the Tamil people there.
There is another
submission, or rather, an indirect acceptance, when during his visit the External
Affairs Minister said, “In addition to houses, I also gifted bicycles to IDPs
and handed over hospitals and schools rehabilitated...” What does that mean? It means that schools
and hospitals had been attacked during the conflict there. This merciless action has never happened in
any civil war or any conflict. So, hospitals
and schools were targeted and demolished in Sri Lanka, where innocent people
who were undergoing treatment and children who were studying in schools were
brutally killed. And my country is not
prepared to take all this into consideration.
There are two
parts to this issue. One is, post war, the many steps which you are taking to restore
normalcy. You say that you are attempting to build 50,000 houses. Firstly, 1000 houses will be constructed
under a pilot project. But after a lapse
of three years and after having spent Rs.500 crore, you say that only around 300
houses have been constructed! What does
that mean? The construction work is not
going on at the pace at which it should.
So, the IDPs are still living in camps as refugees, the worst life that
one could think of anywhere, not even in Somalia. People in Sri Lanka are
passing through such experience. They had said that it was the way forward. But after three years the LLRC has submitted
its report to the Sri Lankan Parliament.
And, it has given
some recommendations, on the human
rights violations, enforced displacements and killings of innocent people. On
all these things you say that you would monitor and that you would ask them to
have an investigation. How can you prevail upon a sovereign country when you
say that you cannot, at all, interfere in its affairs? You cannot make them have an investigation. Only
an international pressure could prevail upon the Sri Lankan Government to act. That
is what we have been insisting.
You said that the
Thirteenth Amendment would be implemented. No, the provisions have been
underscored by the Sri Lankan Government. The Sinhalese have colonized the
Tamil areas. All the provisions in it are being slowly diluted. Shaking hands
with you, the Sri Lankan Government is actually betraying the Indian Government.
The international
community has taken note of a neighbouring country which has made excesses. The
report of the LLRC was laid in Parliament on December 16, 2011. The resolution
was moved in the UNHRC on January 25, after a month. The Statement which the External Affairs Minister
has made gives a brief on the steps which have been taken on the LLRC
recommendations by the Sri Lankan Government. What they are maintaining has
been told by you here. What they have
briefed in the UNHRC is being said here. We are not prepared to accept it.
The point is very
simple. Kindly understand the sentiments of our people. I do not want to use
terms like ‘turning the blind eye’, ‘falling on deaf ears’ and all. The
Government of India is impervious to the sentiments of the Tamil Nadu people. Yesterday,
the House witnessed an unprecedented scene because the issue is like that. So, please
do not say that the Draft Resolution is to be finalised and that we need to
wait. I would like to say that nothing short of an assurance that the
Government of India would unequivocally support the Resolution moved against Sri Lanka in
the UNHRC will pacify us. We will not accept anything other than that. We do
not want to resort to any other means. I would like to submit to the Minister
that this is not the voice of one political party, this is not the voice of any
one individual; but, this is the mood of the people in Tamil Nadu. The impact
it will have on India
is very bad. The Sri Lankan Government, if at all could be prevailed upon, it
could be only by an international pressure. That has been moved by other
countries. Kindly support that. Our leader has time and again written letters
to the Prime Minister. We also raised our voice. This is our concern; this is
our vow; this is our sorrow and this is what brings tears. Kindly understand
this fact. If you do not understand tears, if you do not understand the misery
of people, there can be no excuse. I urge upon you to take the decision of India’s
unequivocal support to the Resolution moved in the UNHRC without any hesitation.
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