World

Sri Lanka asked to share power with Tamils

by lalith | August 17, 2009 at 09:50 pm

172 views | 17 Recommendations | 4 comments

Sri Lanka could see renewed violence if the government does not share power with the minority Tamils, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake says.
Speaking to the BBC, Blake warned the Tamil Tiger rebels, who were defeated by the Sri Lankan military in May, could see an opportunity to regroup if there is no power sharing. The U.S. official said the Sri Lankan government must resettle the hundreds of thousands of displaced Tamil civilians as soon as possible.

The civilians are housed in government camps with inadequate facilities, creating a humanitarian problem.

Blake said the issue would have a bearing on U.S. aid for reconstruction and resettlement.

"There is a possibility that they will alienate the Tamil community further, and again exacerbate the divisions and perhaps even give new opportunities for the (Tiger rebels) to organize," he said. "So, it is very, very important for Sri Lanka to engage in their own dialogue with the Tamils not only inside Sri Lanka but also outside Sri Lanka, and again to hasten the process of reconciliation."

The passage of the 13th amendment which brings out the power sharing with the Tamils is already being worked on by the President of Sri Lanka. However, the 13th amendment is not without opposition. The majority of Sri Lankans do not like this. Some of the questions which have been brought out by those who oppose are:

Tamils are approximately 18% of the total population. How much land do they want? The Terrorists wanted 54% of the land for this 18%. This is not mathematics.

Government institutions have a good percentage of Tamil employees. There are heads of institutions who are Tamils. The Northern Provincial Council has a very high majority of Tamil members, if not all.

The Tamil population in the North and East are happy with the present position and the rest of the Sri Lankan population has no problem with them. It is the terrorist that everybody is worried about.

As per Robert Blake's statement, Sri Lankans feel that it will be a long long time before the Tamil Tigers to reorganize.

The Sri Lanka people feel that US's days of putting a carrot in front to achieve their terms are gone, and perhaps they should concentrate more on Afghanistan and Pakistan where the US atrocities there are displacing more innocent people than anywhere else in the world.

USA tends to talk about resettlement of refugees, displaces etc all over the world. It is however interesting to note that resettlement of displaced after Hurricane Katina in 2005, this powerful country is yet to complete the task. Leaving alone preaching to other countries.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Nugawela

at 01:21 on August 18th, 2009

Some people are so hard up. They even try to sell third rate clothing items on NP.

How pushed? How sad?

Thiru Alocious (not verified)

at 01:30 on August 18th, 2009

Good work, Mr. Blake. You are an honest worker doing what your employer, the US state wants. This lethargic peace in SL is no good. Set a spark somewhere.

It is better to study the Power Sharing model by USA first, among its White, Black, Asian, Hspanic/Latino communities. Could they have a Black President, a White President, an Asian Parliament etc. Unlike USA, Sri Lanka is massive island with a staggering population of 2.2 million.

Just after a bloody war of 30 years plus two insurgencies, what we badly need now is devolution of power amongst the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher, Malay, Veddhas, short people, tall people, dark, fair etc.,

Also, we badly need to wipe out terms like citizen rights, taxpayer rights and replace them with terms like Sinhala-rights, Malay-rights etc.,

Thank you once again, Mr. Blake.