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by S. Kohombanwickrama

The recently released manifesto of the four party Tamil Alliance has gross distortions on the factual accuracy of the statements listed. The manifesto has integrated issues precipitated due to the armed conflict as grievances of the Tamil people. It is essential to distinguish between actual grievances of the Tamil people, and certain anomalies to normal civil life arising consequent to the ongoing war.

Misleading Fact 1

Quote from the TA manifesto - "Arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests of Tamil youth, prolonged detention under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Regulations without trial, physical and mental torture, the humiliation and insults inflicted on the Tamil nationality allegedly on grounds of security, have been a continuing feature."

There is no doubt that violations of human rights are taking place in the country. It must not be forgotten that the country is countering the most lethal form of terrorism. This has created a situation in which the country has been converted into a militarised environment.

The enemy uses suicide bombers that live as civilians among the population. It is natural in such situations that certain apprehensions increase with regard to a suspect ethnic group and ethnic profiling takes place.

In the US after the September 11 attack, all persons with Arabic names were singled out for extra scrutiny.

The basic fact is that a suspect ethnic group would have a greater probability of connivance with the enemy than other ethnic groups. This cannot be listed as a grievance, as this is only a temporary anomaly to normal civil life.

Therefore, it is misleading to insinuate that the same situation would prevail if there was no war.

This is not a genuine grievance of the Tamil people, rather a temporary consequence of the war environment. It must also be noted that the war environment is having similar effects on all communities. The level of impunity with which the PSD and MSD behave on the roads are detrimental to all communities, and this is a consequence of the militarised environment today.

It must also be noted that human rights violations in Sri Lanka are not ethnically oriented. According to records of the Human Rights Commission, they receive more complaints of torture from the Southern Province than from the North-Eastern Province.

Misleading Fact 2

Quote from the TA Manifesto - "While the natural increase of Sinhala population-country wide-between 1948-(the year of independence) and 1981 (the year of the last available census) was 238 percent, the Sinhala population in the eastern province increased during the same period by 883 per cent."

It is unethical for the Tamil Alliance to scrutinise the population figures of Southern districts and make comparisons, when the LTTE prevented the conduct of the 2001 Census in the Northern and Eastern districts. It must be noted that if a census was conducted in the North and East, the number of parliamentary seats apportioned for these regions would have been much lower. According to estimates by Bradman Weerakoon, over 817,000 Sri Lankan Tamils have migrated as refugees to Europe, North America and other overseas destinations. This is bound to have a corresponding effect on the natural increase of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka.

It is surprising that the Tamil Alliance forgot to mention the demographic changes in the Northern province.

The census of 1981 records a Sinhala civilian population of 6,659 in the Jaffan District, 3,992 in the Mullaitivu District, and 8,683 in the Mannar District. The 1981 census also records a Muslim civilian population of 12,958 in the Jaffna District, 3,651 in the Mullaitivu District, and 27,717 in the Mannar District.

After the ethnic cleansing of the Northern province by the LTTE in 1991, not a single Sinhala or Muslim civilian is permitted to live in these districts, they have been converted into pure Tamil areas.

While all the Sinhalese and Muslims were evicted from the Northern Province, it is interesting to note the sizeable influx of Tamils into Colombo. The 2001 Census records the Sri Lankan Tamil population in the Colombo Municipal Council limits at 29.7%, almost one third the population of the capital city.

Misleading Fact 3

Quote from the TA Manifesto - "There is gross discrimination against Tamil youth in the field of public sector employment. The same practice is spreading to private sector employment. Not even three per cent of the total employment is provided to the Tamil nationality in the public sector."

This is a blatant lie, according to the records of the Department of Census and Statistics the Tamil population in the Public Sector is eight percent.

In the first half of 2001, the Ministry of Public Administration made a special provision to recruit 117 Tamil speaking officers specifically from the uncleared areas (LTTE controlled areas) to serve in the Public Service.

It is also interesting to note that a staggering 30% of the middle-level career diplomats at the officer grade in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service are Muslims and Tamils.

Misleading Fact 4

Quote from the TA Manifesto - "The district wise admission to university education now in force is weighted in favour of the Sinhala nationality, and does not accord merit its rightful place in the higher education system."

This is completely ludicrous, the district based admission criteria to the University system is not in anyway ethnically motivated. It provides an opportunity for rural children with limited facilities a chance to enter the University system. The marks for admission are calculated based on the educational infrastructure and teaching facilities of the districts. In fact, it is backward districts such as Killinochchi and Mullaitivu of the Northern Province that have low admission marks.

In developed countries this policy of "affirmative action" is well-endorsed by governments. Furthermore, there are three Universities namely, the Jaffna University (with a branch campus in Vavuniya), Eastern University in Batticaloa (with a branch campus in Trincomalee) and the South-Eastern University in Oluvil, providing higher educational facilities in the North-East Province.

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