Faiszer wants lands, police powers stripped off 13 A

Chamikara Weerasinghe

A merger of Northern and Eastern provincial councils to form a single unit of administration under the 13th Amendment, which came into being sequel to Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, stands to pose a threat to the unitary status of the country, Investment Promotion Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha said.

He was speaking at a press conference at the Investment Promotion Ministry in Colombo. Citing the Indo-Lanka Accord, the deputy minister said, the Accord calls to recognize the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the country as areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking people.

“This insinuates a notion of separation that the rest of the country along with its seven provinces stands separately from the Northern and Eastern provinces because of the distinction of these two provinces as a Tamil homeland,” Musthapha said. “This is against the Sri Lanka’s national sentiment and it is a direct threat to the country’s unitary nature and the national sovereignty,” he pointed out.

He said, it was after the advent of the Indo-Lanka Accord, that Northern Province Chief Minister, Vardaraja Perumal of EPRLF, declared a Tamil Eelam in the merged North Eastern Province in 1990.

He said, “even as a minority community in Sri Lanka, the Muslims stand for Sri Lankanness. We believe all communities should march on a political path based on that identity and no other.”

“Therefore we urge the government to make amendments to the 13th Amendment to the constitution before holding an election in the Northern Province,” he said. Musthapha said persons who formed a Civil Voluntary Force in the Northern Province under Chief Minister Vardaraja Perumal, which eventually became the Tamil National Army in the Northern Province, which was made to fight against the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the LTTE, have shown interest to become the new Chief Minister of the new Northern Province.

“These individuals recruited child soldiers. The Tamil National Army later joined the LTTE. One cannot ignore the history of these individuals and what they have done. For example Suresh Premachandran was a central committee member of the EPRLF, who formed the Tamil National Army,” he explained. “Even in the current context, his political party, Tamil National Alliance, has announced that they accept the provincial council system as an interim solution to the national question and that it will not be the final solution to the problem,” he said.

“Are these the kind of individuals that the government is going to hand over police powers and land powers under the 13th Amendment to administer the Northern Province?” he asked. “We urge the government to have a closer look at the conditions and amend the provisions of police powers and land powers in the 13th Amendment before holding the proposed Northern Provincial Election in September.