Dr Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara.
Reference the following news report.
Last week, two vocal representatives of Tamil political opinion, Abraham Sumanthiran and C.V. Wigneswaran made statements rejecting implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution under the unitary system of government and demanded a federal system.
Sumanthiran claimed that all the Tamil parties agree on a meaningful power-sharing arrangement on a federal basis and added that his party would not have talks with the Government until that issue is resolved.
Wigneswaran, using stronger words, said Sri Lanka’s position is internationally weakening and the Tamils could get federal powers with the support of foreign powers.
These two positions are contradictory to the Indian position, which calls for full implementation” Wignesvaran going even further said that that he will n anything less than Federalism as if Singaporean Cathiolic Chelvanaayagam, the father of Federalism and ITAK (ilankei Thamil Arasu Kachchi”in this country is reborn out of communal ashes.
The same Tamil communal agitation were there even in India from early 1930s.
In 1963, the Government of India led by Jawaharlal Nehru, declared secessionism as an illegal act. As a consequence, Annadurai abandoned the “claim” for Dravida Nadu – now geographically limited to modern Tamil Nadu – completely in 1963 even though it supposed to be the traditional Homeland of 70 million Tamils.
In fact, at that time Dravida Munnethra Kasagam wanted the whole Southern part of India including the northern part of Sri Lanka to form what they called Dravida Munnethra Kasagam which subsequently transformed in ta EELAM (meaning the Land of the Sinhalese) was defeated in May 2009.
Had the Rajapaksa government abolished the 13th A and also the JR/Rajiv Accord, that had ceased to be legally valid document as the Government of India had already unilaterally violated its’ conditions by then Rajapaksa by that time had the 2/3 majority in Parliament and also had the support of the people.
But Rajapaksa and Co had no brain to do that for which folly he had to pay dearly in 2015 at the Presidential elections and missed a golden opportunity of being perhaps a lifetime President.
Even now it is not too late for the Rajapaksa clan make history by proscribing all communal cessation movements in this country by passing an Act in Parliament declaring Tamil secession as an illegal act like what India did in 1963 Under Nehru’s Government. If they have the will, they have the power to do it as the Parliamentary majority is with them and the head of the Head of the State is also at their mercy. In the event a proposal is brought before Parliament to ban communal Tamil secession getting the 2/3 will not be a problem as all Sinhala MPP and even some Tamil and Muslim MPP who love this country will vote for it.
This in my view is the only way to restore political stability that had been lacking ever since 1948 and take the country to economic prosperity as one nation
If you can’t do that, why don’t you immediately implement the 6th Amendment to the Constitution certified on 8th August 1983 that had been dead almost for 20 years. Why do you enact laws if you don’t have the courage to implement them.
All politicians must at least now realize that enough is enough. Open your eyes and look at where we were in 1948 and where are we now after 75 years of this political gamble and communal war fare?