බීබීසියෙ ඊනියා අපක්‍ෂපාතීත්වය

  සිංහල ලිත් ඉලක්කම්

බීබීසියෙ ඊනියා අපක්‍ෂපාතීත්වය

මෙරට වැසියන්ට, විශේෂයෙන් ම සිංහලයන්ට වියුක්ත කතන්දර ගොතන්න බැහැ. සංයුක්ත කතන්දර ගෙතීමට නම් ඔවුන් උපන් ගෙයි හපනුන්. ලිඳ ලඟ කතා සියල්ල ම සංයුක්ත කතන්දර. මුහුණු පොතේ පඬියන් කියන්නෙත් සංයුක්ත කතන්දර. තොරතුරු රැස්කිරීමට දක්‍ෂ අය අප අතර හිටියත් වියුක්ත කතන්දර හදන්න පුළුවන් අය නැහැ. බටහිරයන් ද කිසි දිනෙක අප වියුක්ත කතන්දර ගෙතීමට උනන්දු කෙළේ නැහැ. ඔවුන් කෙළේ තම වියුක්ත කතන්දර අප ලවා පුනරුච්චාරණය කර ගැනීමට හැකි පඬියන් පඬි පෝතකයන් පඬි නැට්ටන් ටික දෙනකු බිහි කිරීම පමණයි. 

ජාතික ගීය දෙමළෙන් - ඊළම කියන්නෙ සිංහල දේශය

  සිංහල ලිත් ඉලක්කම්

ජාතික ගීය දෙමළෙන් - ඊළම කියන්නෙ සිංහල දේශය

රන්ජන් ගැන කතා කරන එක වැදගත්. ඒත් මට ප්‍රශ්න රාශියක් තියෙනවා. විනිසුරුවන්ට කතා කෙළේ ඔහු පමණ ද? පොලීසියට කතා කෙළේ ඔහු පමණ ද? නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට ඔහු හරි වෙනත් අය හරි කතා කරන්නේ නැද්ද? ඔහු වෙනත් අය වෙනුවෙනුත් කතා කෙළේ ද? ඔහුගෙ අනෙක් හඬපට කාට විරුද්ධව ද? ඒ අය තමන්ගේ ගැලවීම සඳහා රන්ජන්ගේ සියලු හඬපට ඉවත දමාවි ද? විනිසුරුවන් නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ආදිය දූෂිත ද? දූෂිත නම් එය 2015න් පසු සිිදු වූවක් ද?    කතෝලිකයන් අතරත් කුල ක්‍රමයක් තියෙනවා ද? කතෝලික වීමේ කොලිටිය කුමක් ද? ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය අනාගමික ද? ලෝකයේ ඇති සංස්කෘතික ගැටුම ඉරානයේ පිළිබිඹූ වන්නේ ද?

සුමන්තිරන්ගෙ බලාපොරොත්තුව

සුමන්තිරන්ගෙ බලාපොරොත්තුව

ලංකාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගත් කල තවත් ජෙනීවා වාරයක් අවසන්. මා හිතන්නේ ලංකාවෙන් එහි ගිය නිල, නිල නොවන කණ්ඩායම් දැන් ජෙනීවා නගරයෙන් පිට වී ගොස් කියා. ඔවුන් ලංකාවෙන් පමණක් නොව වෙනත් රටවලිනුත් එහි ගොස් සිටියා. ශිවාජිලිංගම් හා සුමන්තිරන් ආපහු ආව ද කියා දන්නේ නැහැ. ඔවුන් නැත්නම් ජෙනීවා කුමකට ද කියලත් හිතනවා.

දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය බටහිර හා ඉන්දියාව 10

දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය බටහිර හා ඉන්දියාව 10

1948 දි අපට ඩොමීනියන් නිදහස ලැබෙන්න මාස කිහිපයකට ඉස්සෙල්ලා ඉන්දියාවටත් ඩොමීනියන් නිදහස ලැබුණා. ඒත් ඒ එතෙක් පැවති ඉංගිරිසි ඉන්දියාව දෙකඩ කරලා පකිස්ථානය කියල තවත් රටක් ඇති කරලා. ඒ ඉන්දියාවත් පකිස්ථානයත් වැඩිකල් යන්න ඉස්සෙල්ල ජනරජ බවට පත්වුණෙ ඉංගිරිසි රජු අයින් කරලා. ඔවුන් ජනරජ දින තමයි උත්සශ්‍රීයෙන් සමරන්නෙ. අපට ජනරජයක් වෙන්න අවුරුදු විසිහතරක් බලා ඉන්න වුණා. ජනරජයක් වෙලත් අපි ජනරජ දිනය අමතක කරලා. අඩු තරමෙන් එදාට නිවාඩුවක්වත් නැහැ. අපි තාමත් සමරන්නෙ ඩොමීනියන් නිදහස ලැබුණු දිනය.

දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය බටහිර හා ඉන්දියාව 2

දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය බටහිර හා ඉන්දියාව 2

දහනවවැනි සියවසේ අග වන විටත් මෙරට අඩු තරමෙන් දෙමළ ජනවාර්ගිකත්වයක් ගොඩ නැගී තිබුණේ නැහැ. එයට ප්‍රධාන ම සාක්‍ෂිය එකල සිද්ධි ලෙබ්බේ වැනි මුස්ලිම් නායකයන් මුස්ලිම් ජනයා සඳහා ද ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාවේ නිල නොලත් මන්ත්‍රී ධුරයක් ඉල්ලා සිටි විට පොන්නම්බලම් කුමාරස්වාමි පවුලේ පොන්නම්බලම් රාමනාදන් තමන් මුස්ලිමුන් වෙනුවෙන් ද පෙනී සිටින බව කීමයි. ඔහුට හා අනෙක් වෙල්ලාල නායකයන්ට අනුව පොන්නම්බලම් රාමනාදන් දෙමළ කතාකරන ජනයාගේ නියෝජිතයා වුණා! මුස්ලිමුන්ට වෙන ම නියෝජනත්වයක් ලැබුණේ පසුවයි.

What is India up to? - II

In the interview given to the “Daily Mirror” of 22^nd July 2013, Vignesvaran, the Chief Ministerial candidate of the TNA, at the Northern Province Provincial Council elections further states “If not for the support of the international community, particularly India, Sri Lanka could not have got rid of the LTTE so swiftly. So India, on its part although it was not done in the 80s, it was done in 2009 and therefore, I don’t believe it is a ground to set aside 13A, which takes root from the international agreement between India and Sri Lanka. You cannot play the fool with such agreements and without the permission of India; it is not possible for Sri Lanka to act unilaterally.” This is queer logic to say the least and by this answer Vignesvaran attempts to claim that the Indo Sri Lanka Accord is still valid. It would be interesting to find out what the Accord said in this regard. It is given in clause 2.9.

“2.9 The emergency will be lifted in the Eastern and Nothern Provinces by Aug. 15, 1987. A cessation of hostilities will come into effect all over the island within 48 hours of signing of this agreement. All arms presently held by militant groups will be surrendered in accordance with an agreed procedure to authorities to be designated by the Government of Sri Lanka.

Consequent to the cessation of hostilities and the surrender of arms by militant groups, the army and other security personnel will be confined to barracks in camps as on 25 May 1987. The process of surrendering arms and the confining of security personnel moving back to barracks shall be completed within 72 hours of the cessation of hostilities coming into effect.”  

Though the security personnel were moved backed to the barracks, as well known, the process of surrendering arms were not completed within 72 hours of the cessation of hostilities that should have come into effect  within 48 hours of the signing of the agreement. As subsequent events showed the hostilities were not ceased within 48 hours of signing the accord and the Accord became defunct within 48 hours. That meant that there was no Indo Lanka Accord after the 31^st of July 1987. It was India that did not fulfill the requirements expected from her and thus unilaterally abrogated the Accord. Even if it is assumed that hostilities were ceased within 48 hours of signing the Accord the LTTE did not surrender the arms within 72 hours of the cessation of hostilities coming into effect. It implies that by 4^th of August 1987 latest the Indo Lanka accord became null and void as a result of India unilaterally abrogating it.

Now Vignesvaran defending India that forced the TNA to nominate him as the Chief Ministerial candidate as Sampanthan himself has admitted to Thinakural and Virakesari of 22^nd of July, claims that though India did not do what it was required to do in the eighties it did so in 2009. It is good of Vignesvaran to admit that India did not comply with the Indo Lanka Accord in the eighties. However India was not given indefinite time to accomplish its tasks and in terms of the Accord India should have been in possession of the arms of the LTTE by 3^rd of August 1987 the latest. The accord did not envisage of defeating the LTTE in 2009 with India supporting the Sri Lankan armed forces in the humanitarian operations. In any event there was no Indo Lanka Accord to be honoured or violated after the 3^rd of August 2009, and even if Vignesvaran’s claim that if not for the support given by India, Sri Lanka would not have defeated the LTTE so swiftly is correct, it does not imply that India honoured the Indo Lanka Accord in 2009, as there was no agreement valid by then. In any event the Indo Lanka Accord does not mention anything on defeating the LTTE by 2009.

Now what about the claim that if not for the support of India and so called international community the LTTE would not have been defeated so swiftly? It is said that India has the fourth largest army in the world, but we all know that it could not make the LTTE surrender its arms let alone defeating it militarily. What is the support that the so called international community meaning the western countries including Japan, and India gave the Sri Lankan armed forces to defeat the LTTE? The western countries were interested in seeing the Sri Lankan forces being defeated by the LTTE  but there was no way that they could directly interfering with the “war”. They supplied everything from arms to funds not only through the NGOs but directly through their embassies and even Catholic clergy. At the last moment they wanted to take the LTTE leadership including Prabhakaran, and Nambiar  the special envoy of the UN Secretary General who is only a puppet of the USA, was in Sri Lanka with the intention of bringing a ship to take the LTTE leadership to the west. However it failed and it is this fiasco that led the Channel Four and other western agencies to come out with propaganda against the President, the Defense Secretary and the Armed Forces, falsely accusing them of violation of human rights etc.

India did not want the LTTE to establish an Eelam (Eylom of Suntharalingam) as it could not handle Prabhakaran the way it wanted. Prabhakaran was prepared to obey the west but not India as he did not want his Eelam to be dictated by the big brother. He did not approve of the Indo Lanka Accord and did not surrender arms to the IPKF. Finally he made sure that Rajiv Gandhi was killed and he wanted an Eelam established directly without going through so called devolution of power, federation (confederation), Eelam, with the assistance of India. He probably knew that an Eelam established with the help of India would become a state of India together with the other parts of Sri Lanka realizing the dream of Nehru and his dynasty. In the third stage of Tamil racism in Sri Lanka, India did not want a non Vellala Prabhakaran to lead the armed struggle to establish an Eelam.

We have now entered the fourth stage of Tamil racism in Sri Lanka. At the end of the third stage in the Nandikadal Lagoon the Government of Sri Lanka gave a political solution to the so called Tamil problem as “warfare” is nothing but an extension of politics by other means. All the agreements signed during the second and third stages of Tamil racism became null and void with the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009. However the government was not able to convert the political victory into law due to the non availability of a two third majority at that time and also due to the hegemonic western knowledge that is imparted to us through schools and the universities. It is time to abolish the thirteenth amendment, on which there is no agreement between India and Sri Lanka though it may be a result of the now defunct Indo Lanka Accord. Sri Lanka does not have to consult India or any other country to amend its constitution.

In the meantime India has not given up Nehru’s dream of making Sri Lanka another state of india, and is working towards that goal slowly and gradually. India would attempt to have leaders of the so called Tamil speaking community in Sri Lanka according to its whims and fancies and in this regard they would not tolerate any leader with the slightest connections with the LTTE or Prabhakaran. India is working on the formula devolution of power, Federal state or confederation, Eelam, wars between Eelam and the rest of Sri Lanka, and finally a new state of India in the Indian Ocean. It could also lead to wiping out of Buddhism in South Asia finally. The “choice” of Vignesvaran as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the Northern Province provincial council is the first step in this direction. Having become the chief minister Vignesvaran will agitate for police and land powers with the help of India with the intention of establishing a federal state. It is the “little now more later” policy of Chelvanayakam that India advocates and it is in the interest of a Unitary Sri Lanka that the government amends the relevant provisions of the thirteenth amendment if not abolish it without delay.            

Nalin De Silva

31-07-2013

Indo Lanka Accord and the Provincial Councils – II

The Indo Lanka Accord that was signed in July 1987 is now defunct, and we would argue further that it was not valid even soon after the signing of the accord due to inconsistencies, inclusion of undefined terms. It is also an infringement of sovereignty of the people of the country and J R Jayawardhane could not betray the sovereignty even as the President of the country. The President only exercises the executive powers of the sovereignty of the people, which is inalienable.  Before we continue along those lines we have to concentrate on the need of another Indo Lanka Accord (rather Lanka India Accord) to protect Budusasuna (there is no translation in English) in India. It has to be noted that the need for a second Indo Lanka Agreement arises only if some of the premises on which the first Indo Lanka Agreement are valid.

There was no reason whatever for India to get involved in internal matters of Sri Lanka, and Rajiv Gandhi forced J R Jayawardhane to sign the first accord using terror tactics through “Parippu” Diplomacy. Dixith played the role of the Viceroy and almost all the Sinhala people were against it, and the act of the sailor at the parade, whether correct or not symbolized the sentiments of the Sinhala people. Even today, twenty six years after the event, the sailor is respected by the Sinhala people in general, except for the so called rational minded people among them. India intervened with the pretext of  safeguarding the rights of the Tamils in Sri Lanka who are mainly descendants of Tamils who were brought to Sri Lanka after 1750 first by the Dutch and then by the English. It was only a pretext and India used the sentiments of some Tamil Nadu politicians to interfere with the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. If the thirteenth amendment is implemented in full with the provincial councils enjoying all the provisions as laid down in the thirteenth amendment and the provincial councils act, not only that the country will be divided but the envisaged Eelam would become a satellite of India. With the present set of TNA leaders in power in an Eelam, all the decisions regarding Eelam would be taken in Delhi. Even today they run to Delhi at the drop of a hat, and it is clear that an Eelam with Prabhakaran would have resisted Delhi, not that the Sinhalas would in general would have welcomed it.

Indian strategy appears to be the establishment of an Eelam without Prabhakaran after the latter was successful in killing Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu. We do not believe that India is under pressure of Tamil Nadu to intervene in Sri Lanka on behalf of the descendants of Tamils brought from that part of India to Sri Lanka. If that is the case what is the reason for India to overlook the descendants of Tamils of more recent origin to the present central province of Sri Lanka. From the very beginning the Vellalas who were brought to Jaffna were interested in the welfare of those in the peninsula. They even neglected the people in the present Kilinochchi as Ananda Sangaree would testify. The Tamils living in that part of the Northern Province saw some kind of development only after Kilinochchi became a separate district.  The Vellala Tamil leaders in the Jaffna peninsula took an interest in the Tamils in the other parts of the country only after they realized with Chelvanayakam that the Tamils in the peninsula alone could not establish an Eelam even with the assistance of the west and India. Indian leaders have been interested in not only an Eelam subservient to them, but making whole of Sri Lanka another state of India. Sikkim the country of Berth of Ven. S. Mahinda Thero is now a state of India, with the latter influencing Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives. India saw to it that Pakistan was divided and wanted a Bangladesh that was ruled from Delhi. If possible India would rule not only all the countries in the SAARC region but Tibet as well.

India overlooked the Tamils of recent origin and while the Vellala leaders concentrated on the Northern and Eastern Provinces with the blessings of England to establish an Eelam in those two provinces stating that they are the “traditional habitats” of the Tamils. The Tamils in Sri Lanka are of more recent origin than the Muslims who were settled in the Eastern Province by the Sinhala kings. India is only using Tamil Nadu, and not the other way about, to establish an Eelam in the Northern and Eastern Provinces claiming that they have to look after the interests of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. However, this is a false claim as they only pay lip service to the Tamils of more recent origin.

We are interested in another Indo Lanka agreement or accord or whatever it is as it is becoming clear that India is increasingly failing to protect the Buddhists and Budusasuna in India. The Sri Lankan forces being the only armed forces to have eradicated terrorism in a country could help India to protect the places of Buddhist worship in Sri Lanka. It may be that Prince Siddhartha was born in Nepal or Kalinga (Orissa) and attained Buddhathava in Bodh Gaya in India. However it is Sri Lanka and the Sinhalas that have protected Budusasuna and if India can interfere with internal matters in Sri Lanka claiming that they are interested in the welfare of the Tamils, Sri Lanka should be able to get involved in at least protecting the places of Buddhist worship in the interest of Budusasuna. It is not my intention to complicate matters still further by claiming that Prince Siddhartha was born in Sri Lanka as some Sinhala Buddhists do, and all that I am interested is in the welfare of the Buddhists and the protection of Budusasuna in India.

The timing of the bomb blast in Bodh  Gaya is intriguing. We are in the midst of amending the thirteenth amendment and holding the first elections to the Northern Province provincial council. We welcome both these which are done very democratically (in the western style, of course), unlike the signing of the Indo Lanka Accord and passing of the thirteenth amendment and the provincial council bill. Who is interested in sabotaging both these? Who would like to create troubles in Sri Lanka at this juncture? Indian Brahmins, western intellectuals will come out with various stories or theories, but who would believe that the bombs were blasted by Muslim terrorists or Maoist terrorists or any other group?  There are problems between Muslims and Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand and also in Bangladesh but it is very unlikely that a Muslim terrorist group is responsible for the bomb attack. It is a story created by the west and India to set up the Buddhists in those countries against the Muslims and at this juncture, Sri Lanka is the most vulnerable country.  

Fortunately the Buddhists in Sri Lanka kept their cool, and the attempt to create problems in this country has failed. The Indian high officials will continue to exert pressure on Sri Lanka, but the Sinhala people in general and also some others as well are now of the opinion that the thirteenth amendment has to be amended if not abolished. The elections to the Northern Province provincial council also would be held democratically and we should be able to defeat the strategies of the Kautilyas. The Kautilyas may take a few Muslims and/or Maoists into custody over the bomb blast in Bodh Gaya but we should expect more of these activities in the next few months and should take all measures not to be trapped by the provocateurs. Our prime motive is to amend the thirteenth amendment, if not abolish it, which in any event has been defeated politically. We should not give into any pressure from the west or India, and work for a referendum to obtain the opinion of the people whom the sovereignty is in. (To be continued)   

Nalin De Silva

10-07-2013

Why the northern province elections are different

As we have argued previously the Indo Lanka Accord is defunct due to the failure of India to fulfill any of the undertakings on her part as stated in the Accord. Thus there is no case for the thirteenth amendment or the provincial councils whether in the northern province or anywhere else in the country. Further the thirteenth amendment is not the law of the country as it was “passed” by the parliament going against the decision of the Supreme Court that wanted the President to hold a referendum to approve the Clauses 154 G (2) (b) and 154 G (3) (b). The Parliament “passed” the relevant bill as a whole and not clause by clause and hence the thirteenth amendment has to be declared null and void as a whole and not “Article” by “Article”. 

The question is being raised by some politicians as to why object to the elections for the provincial council in the northern province when the other provinces are “enjoying” the opportunities provided by the provincial councils. There is a reason for that though many people have forgotten the history of the establishment of the provincial councils through the now defunct Indo Lanka Accord. The so called Tamil problem goes back to the second decade of the nineteenth century when the Legislative Assembly was formed. The English did not give the Sinhala people or their culture the due place and only one member was appointed to represent the Sinhala people who had a history of more than two thousand years and who essentially created and developed the unique culture of the country. The number of Tamil representatives in the legislative assembly was equal to the number of Sinhala representatives which was a glaring discrimination against the Sinhala people. Further the Sinhala people were discriminated against in the professions and the English were very generous when it came to giving privileges to the English speaking Vellalas who had been brought to Sri Lanka by the Dutch as agricultural labourers.   With the limited franchise introduced in 1912 and universal franchise initiated in 1931 the English speaking Tamil Vellala leaders began to lose their privileges in the legislature, professions and the society in general  and the colonial rulers and the Tamil leaders interpreted it as discrimination against the Tamils in general. The “problem” of a few Vellalas was generalized to a problem of the entire Tamil community and the concept of a Tamil homeland was introduced. Tamil leaders decided to use the ordinary Tamils to achieve their ambitions.

Vadukkoddai Resolution of 1976 was the culmination of a process begun by the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) or the so called Federal Party that had the objective of establishing a separate Tamil State.  We reproduce below relevant sections of the resolution as many people have forgotten   the resolution by now. 

“The first National Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front meeting at Pannakam (Vadukkoddai Constituency) on the 14th day of May, 1976, hereby declares that the Tamils of Ceylon by virtue of their great language, their religions, their separate culture and heritage, their history of independent existence as a separate state over a distinct territory for several centuries till they were conquered by the armed might of the European invaders and above all by their will to exist as a separate entity ruling themselves in their own territory, are a nation distinct and apart from Sinhalese and this Convention announces to the world that the Republican Constitution of 1972 has made the Tamils a slave nation ruled by the new colonial masters, the Sinhalese ,who are using the power they have wrongly usurped to deprive the Tamil Nation of its territory, language citizenship, economic life, opportunities of employment and education, thereby destroying all the attributes of nationhood of the Tamil people.

And, while taking note of the reservations in relation to its commitment to the setting up of a separated state of TAMIL EELAM expressed by the Ceylon Workers Congress as a Trade Union of the Plantation Workers, the majority of whom live and work outside the Northern and Eastern areas,

This convention resolves that restoration and reconstitution of the Free, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of TAMIL EELAM, based on the right of self determination inherent to every nation, has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil Nation in this Country.

This Convention further declares -

that the State of TAMIL EELAM shall consist of the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces and shall also ensure full and equal rights of citizenship of the State of TAMIL EELAM to all Tamil speaking people living in any part of Ceylon and to Tamils of EELAM origin living in any part of the world who may opt for citizenship of TAMIL EELAM.

that the constitution of TAMIL EELAM shall be based on the principle of democratic decentralization so as to ensure the non-domination of any religious or territorial community of TAMIL EELAM by any other section.

that in the state of Tamil Eelam caste shall be abolished and the observance of the pernicious practice of untouchability or inequality of any type based on birth shall be totally eradicated and its observance in any form punished by law.

that TAMIL EELAM shall be a secular state giving equal protection and assistance to all religions to which the people of the state may belong.

that Tamil shall be the language of the State, but the rights of Sinhalese speaking minorities in Tamil Eelam to education and transaction of business in their language shall be protected on a reciprocal basis with the Tamil speaking minorities in the Sinhala State.

that Tamil Eelam shall be a Socialist State wherein the exploitation of man by man shall be forbidden, the dignity of labor shall be recognized, the means of production and distribution shall be subject to public ownership and control while permitting private enterprise in these branches within limit prescribed by law, economic development shall be on the basis of socialist planning and there shall be a ceiling on the total wealth that any individual of family may acquire.

This Convention directs the Action Committee of the TAMIL UNITED LIBERATION FRONT to formulate a plan of action and launch without undue delay the struggle for winning the sovereignty and freedom of the Tamil Nation;

And this Convention calls upon the Tamil Nation in general and the Tamil youth in particular to come forward to throw themselves fully into the sacred fight for freedom and to flinch not till the goal of a sovereign state of TAMIL EELAM is reached.”

Unlike in the other provinces there will be many candidates at the elections for the provincial council of the northern province who support the Vadukkoddai Resolution with many constituent  parties of the TNA and their members being either represented or being present individually at the “convention”. The Vadukkoddai Resolution advocates and approves the establishment of an Eelam and it is against the sixth amendment to the constitution which states among others the following:

157A. (1) No person shall, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.

(2) No political party or other association or organization shall have as one of its aims or objects the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.

It was not only the LTTE that fought for an Eelam, and those who abide by the Vadukkoddai Resolution will be campaigning in the northern province provincial council election. Would the TNA as a whole or as constituent parties adopt a resolution before the provincial council elections to the effect that Vadukkoddai Resolution is null and void. Politically all these resolutions, Accords, Pacts have been sunk in the Nandikadal Lagoon  with the defeat of the LTTE as the latter was the heir to all of them and was the culmination of the evolution of a problem that has a history going back to the Dutch who brought the Vellalas to Sri Lanka. Nandikadal was the political solution to a “problem” that has not been translated into law by abolishing the thirteenth amendment and the provincial councils. Law is always behind politics, technology and other systems of knowledge in general and it takes some time for Law to catch up in a western style democracy that actually does not represent the view of the people at any given time. The old left and Janavega and other sorts of socialists and liberals who have been elected to the Parliament do not represent the public view which will be asserted if a referendum is held. However, before a Parliament that represents the view of the public is elected and a cabinet is appointed accordingly  or a referendum is held, the government should at least amend the so called thirteenth amendment to have a clause similar to the Article 63 of the constitution that makes it compulsory for the MPs to take an oath to the effect or affirm that they would uphold and defend the Constitution of the Republic, as far as Provincial Council Members are also concerned before holding the elections to the northern province provincial council elections. Otherwise if a majority of members are elected to the northern province provincial council that does not uphold and defend the constitution but abide by the Vadukkoddai Resolution it would spell disaster for the country.  

Nalin De Silva

26-06-2013