Smt. Sushma Swaraj Led Parliamentary Delegation to Sri Lanka


Sri Lankan Ethnic Problem Needs A Political Solution

- V Shanmuganathan

The 12 member Indian delegation headed by the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Smt. Sushma Swaraj along with MPs from Congress, BJP, CPM, SP, BJD and JDU (U) visited Sri Lanka between April 16 - 21, 2012.



The purpose of the visit was to see the progress made since the end of the armed struggle in May 2009. They wanted to interact with, wide range of people, members of civil society and political parties. The aim was to get a first hand information with regard to reconciliation and rehabilitation of Tamils displaced by the war. It is a sincere attempt to find a way forward to achieve a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.



SRI LANKAN Tamil issue is very emotive. Five members of the delegation were from Tamil Nadu. Two major political parties from Tamil Nadu, both AIADMK and DMK pulled out of the visit sighting some objections.



Jayalalitha, slammed the “anti-Tamil” approach of Sri Lankan government for the rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Tamils, the Sri Lankan fishermen and Colombo’s recent objections to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant on grounds of radiation threats. DMK, a constituent of the UPA, decided to withdraw from the delegation in the last minute.



In spite of the boycott of the two major Dravidian Parties, the delegation have done a fairly good job, bringing back the focus on the post war issues to end the sufferings of Tamils and their resettlement with employment and decent life with dignity and honour.



Political Process

Sri Lankan Tamil’s humiliations are spoken in many political platforms. The Tamils in Sri Lanka have faced many discriminations and suffered lot more for a very long period of time, causing severe ethnic conflict.



In fact, this delegation has done a more credible job than the previous one, belonging to DMK, Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi which visited Sri Lanka during October 2009. Smt. Sushma Swaraj, highly talented and experienced leader of the opposition in Parliament from the BJP, led the delegation and had a clear agenda focusing on current issues that are emerging India-Sri Lanka relations.



The BJP is very much concerned about the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils and wanted India to take a strong stand on some of the basic issues. Every member who participated in the delegation wanted Sri Lankan government to bring a broad based solution with an inclusive approach.



The delegation called on President Mahindra Rajapakse. They had extensive discussions with several ministers, key leaders of major political parties and representatives of civil society. The delegation travelled to different parts of Sri Lanka, especially to North and East, where the Tamils are recovering from the trauma of nearly three decades of armed conflict.



They visited several sites of Indian- aided projects, including railway projects in the North and the South, the housing project, Kankesanthurai Harbour and some of the schools, hospitals and vocational training centers being revived with Indian assistance.



Reconstruction And Rehabilitation

The committee met several top Sri Lankan leaders including Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sambandan and others. The main objective of visiting several sites was to understand feelings of Tamils and give solace to the war victims. The committee made an overall observation about the implementation of programmes being carried out with over Rs.25,000 crores of Indian assistance.



India’s humanitarian assistance, housing, education, public health, revival of agriculture and other livelihood activities, gave immense satisfaction to the suffering Tamil people. Smt. Sushma Swaraj handed over the upgraded coastal railway line to Sri Lanka. It was completed ahead of schedule by the Indian Public sector company, IRCON, at a cost of 167.4 million dollars.

While speaking at the function, Smt. Sushma Swaraj said, “I am honored to hand over the completed section of the railway track between Galle and Kautara.”



These projects serve to underline Indian’s commitment, in peace, stability and harmony in Sri Lanka to address the needs of the war affected people and the restoration of normalcy to their lives.



Political Empowerment

The delegation clearly spelled out its views on the political reconciliation process. It suggested Sri Lanka should seize the opportunity and follow an enlightened approach to reach a genuine political solution based on a meaningful devolution of powers, which takes into account the legitimate needs of the Tamil people for equality, dignity, justice and self respect.



The end of the armed conflict has provided a historic opportunity for moving towards national reconciliation and political settlement. The Lessons Learnt and reconciliation commission (LLRC) has underlined this and has made a number of Constructive recommendations for addressing issues related to healing the wounds of the conflict and fostering a process of lasting peace and political settlement in Sri Lanka.



It is important that these are pursued with a sense of urgency. This is the message that the delegation of Indian Parliamentarians have conveyed Srilanka during their course of the visit.



Mr.NSV Chithan, Mr. M. Krishnaswamy, Mr. E.M. Sudarsana Nachippan and Mr. Manik Tagore all from Congress party termed the visit as fruitful. They said that there is a sense of fear amongst the Tamils in some areas in Sri Lanka. The Community is under constant watch by the Sri Lankan army and they had asked the island nation’s government there to call back the army. According to Mr. Natchppan, the MPs delegation visited various places in Sri Lanka including the Menik farm where the Tamil are lodged. He said that the number of people lodged in the Menik Camp is around 6000 down from 2,50,00. They said that the Sri Lankan government has assured them that the remaining inmates would be resettled soon.



The team members expressed a sincere hope that the government of Sri Lanka will seize the window of opportunity and follow an enlightened approach to reach a genuine political reconciliation, based on a meaningful devolution of powers, which takes into account the legitimate needs of the Tamil people for equality, dignity, justice and self-respect. They have been assured in the past that this will be done within the framework of “Thirteenth Amendment-Plus”. Indian delegation urged the government of Srilanka and other stake holders, including the Tamil National Alliance, to resume dialogue and move towards an early political settlement.





Demilitarization

Indian Parliamentary delegation has listed the items still outstanding in Srilanka’s post war recovery.

1) The need for expeditious implementation of the measures proposed by the LLRC with regard to information on missing persons and detainees.

2) Investigation of cases of disappearance and objections.

3) Reduction of high security zones.

4) Return of the private lands by the military and demilitarization, including phasing out of the involvement of the security forces in civilian activities and restoration of the civilian administration in the northern province.

5) Withdrawal of security forces from community life and confine their role to security matters.



After completing the intense tour of Sri Lanka, the team came back to Delhi. I met Smt. Sushma Swaraj and asked about the overall impact of the trip. She said, “The delegation visited Srilanka with a definite mission and purpose to bring peace. From morning 6 am to night 11 pm we were moving from one end of Sri Lanka to the other. We visited Colombo, Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Kankesanthurai, Batticola and many more areas. We met top most people of government, various Tamil leaders and ordinary people of Sri Lanka. I am happy to note that our relations are moving ahead in a comprehensive manner. We insisted for demilitarization and political settlement. I have a sincere hope that Tamils will be rehabilitated in a dignified manner with political empowerment.”



Hopefully, peace and political contentment will prevail in Sri Lanka.





V Shanmuganathan

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