25-01-2008

India to back Lanka devolution package

By RAMESH RAMACHANDRAN

New Delhi, Jan. 24: India has for now decided to throw its weight behind the All-Party Representative Conference’s (APRC’s) interim recommendations for devolution of powers in Sri Lanka.

In a calibrated response, India on Thursday said that the APRC recommendations are a welcome first step, provided they pave the way for a final settlement of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

"To the extent that the APRC proposals contribute to such a settlement, they are a welcome first step," ministry of external affairs spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a statement here. New Delhi iterated that a settlement of the issues in Sri Lanka is to be done by the Sri Lankan people themselves in a manner acceptable to all communities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.

"The Government of India will continue to work with Sri Lanka and its people to bring about such a settlement of the issues in Sri Lanka," the statement said, noting that Colombo has been good enough to share with New Delhi the interim steps recommended by the APRC for implementation of devolution provisions and official language provisions of the Sri Lankan Constitution.

The four-page report of the APRC is titled "Action to be taken by the President to fully implement relevant provisions of the present Constitution as a prelude to the APRC proposals." It was handed over to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on Wednesday.

Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) president, V. Anandasangaree has welcomed the report. Speaking on his behalf and that of D. Sithadthan of Peoples Liberation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and T. Sritharan of Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (Pathmanabha), Mr Anandasangaree said that they "whole-heartedly support" the implementation of the 13th Amendment in full, as a first step before a final solution is recommended by the APRC.

Mr Anandasangaree sought the "blessings" and "cooperation" of the 60 million Tamils living across the Palk Straits, in Tamil Nadu, for implementing the APRC’s recommendations and urged them not to be "misled by a handful of pro-LTTE leaders on both sides."

"We assure the Tamils living across, that there is no attempt by anybody to annihilate the Tamils and contrary to that, more than half of the Tamil population is living in the South happily among the Sinhalese and Muslims reposing confidence in them, far away from their traditional places of habitation," he said.

The TULF leader, who recently visited New Delhi with Mr Sithadthan and Mr Sritharan for talks with Indian officials, clarified that they have not changed their views on the merger of the North and the East or a solution based on the federal concept.

"We assure everybody that while spurning violence, we will by non-violent means and in a friendly way continue to persuade the citizens of our country to agree that no permanent solution can be found under a unitary system. We will continue to dispel the fears of those who think that the country will be divided. We will take all steps to erase-off from the minds of our people the idea of separation and to strongly support the concept of a united Sri Lanka," Mr Anandasangaree added. The APRC has recommended the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution, holding of provincial council elections in the East and establishment of an interim provincial council in the North. The 13th Amendment stipulates that province will be the unit of devolution.

Sri Lankan President has said that he would prefer India to play a role in the resolution of the ethnic conflict in his country.

Source-The Asian Age