Sri Lanka’s Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest group representing Tamils of the north and east in Parliament, has sought “direct engagement” with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for a “continued focus” on the Tamil question and to strengthen India’s Sri Lanka policy.

In a statement dated February 18, the TNA and Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora group Global Tamil Forum (GTF) noted that “Tamils in Sri Lanka are, once again, at a critical point,” citing the “dismal” economic prospects of the war-affected community and mere “marginal” progress on war-time accountability. 

They pointed to “many existential challenges” faced by Tamils, by way of threats to their land, rampant militarisation and state-sponsored initiatives aimed at “altering regional demography.”

“It is feared a new Constitution under preparation could further weaken the status of the Tamil people, especially by abolishing or weakening the Provincial Councils – the only constitutional power devolution arrangement Tamil people achieved with direct Indian involvement,” the TNA and GTF said, looking for “guidance and support from India and Tamil Nadu,” as the State has “always been critical in setting Indian policies towards Sri Lanka.”

The statement, calling for a greater involvement from Tamil Nadu, assumes significance as it comes a month after a group of prominent Tamil legislators, including from the TNA, wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking India’s help in ensuring Colombo addresses the island’s long-pending Tamil question with a lasting political solution.

The MPs underscored their commitment to a political solution based on a federal structure that recognises the Tamils’ right to self-determination, while underscoring the need to go beyond the 13th Amendment, that flowed out of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 and led to the creation of Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka.

Source: The Hindu

--Agencies