Saturday, 30th August 2014
By J. Yogaraj
Dr. Subramaniam Swamy says the lifestyle of Sri Lanka's Tamil people has improved. "People feel more secure. There is a big parabolic change in the process. They can live a normal life. Most of them believe that life is much better than what it was during the war period," he said in an interview with Ceylon Today.
Excerpts of the interview:
Q:
After the end of hostilities in 2009, the mindset of the Tamil Diaspora and local Tamils has changed a lot, particularly the attitudes of the Tamil people have changed a lot. What have you got to say?
A: Yes, slowly the realization has come. One is the lifestyle has improved. People feel more secure. There is a big parabolic change in the process. They can live a normal life. Most of them believe that life is much better than it was during the war period. Tamil people in this country breathe the real freedom now after three decades. The lifestyle has come back to normal. Not only Tamil people, the whole country feels much better. Now, the women feel much better that they can expect the safe return of their husbands from work and children from school. Those days Tamil children were forcibly enlisted to the child brigades of the LTTE. Now, that is not there. Tamil people have a better future in Sri Lanka.
Secondly, internationally there is no support for the Eelam concept. There is a small group of the LTTE still practicing the separatist concept, which will also vanish in time to come. But, Tamils would like to live in a society where they feel that they have equal rights and equal status.
Q:
You mean a political Solution.
A: Yes.
Q:
What type of solution does your new government propose?
A: I must tell you one thing, our BJP Government has a clear foreign policy that it will not interfere in internal matters of the other countries, but BJP may give some suggestions. In that context, I would say devolution should be given in such a way that it promotes national patriotism and not the regional interest. Accordingly, the police powers should not be given to the regions. India does not share police in many States. Not only that, the other powers, which may persuade the Tamils to seek separation should also be with central government. Once the suspicion is gone from the minds of Sinhalese, you may consider sharing those powers. But a certain amount of devolution will not be a threat to national patriotism. But, that quantity has to be decided by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Q:
After the end of war in 2009, the Sri Lankan Government mostly engaged in development politics. The government firmly believes that development politics will solve many problems of the Tamils. On the other side the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which has majority support from the Tamils, talks about rights. What have you to say?
A: I do not know what type of rights the TNA is talking about. LTTE did not believe in rights. They believed in weapons. During the Presidential Elections in 2010, the TNA wanted Tamil people to vote for Sarath Fonseka, the former Army Commander. Sarath Fonseka was the Army Commander during the latter part of the war. He fought with vengeance. TNA described him as a saint and asked Tamils to vote for him and they did. This is ridiculous. The TNA is talking about war crimes, in 2010, just after one year of end of hostilities, they wanted to vote for Sarath Fonseka and make him President. This I cannot understand. I cannot assess the minds of the Tamils. Now the TNA has gone to Court and given an affidavit, that they will not propose an Ealam – State. TNA is not a mature Party. It is high time; we look for a patriotic Party where Sinhalese and Tamils can work together.
Q:
Don't you think that Indo-Sri Lanka fishermen's problem has to be solved permanently? How can the new Indian Government help us to solve this?
A: We have already solved 95% of the problem. Your President made a pledge when I came last time. He stated that any fisherman who come into Sri Lankan waters will be arrested, but later will be released on bail. But the mechanized boats or vessels, which they come in will not be returned. That itself shows that as of this date none of the Indian Tamil fishermen are kept in Sri Lankan jails. The mechanized boats have done intensive fishing in Indian waters for export purpose. Now, there is no fish in Indian waters. But large amounts fish are available in Sri Lanka.
So, the Indian Government will come to an agreement with Sri Lanka for three years, that the Sri Lankan Government would allow the Indian fishermen with permits to do fishing in Sri Lankan waters. For that the Indian Government will compensate Sri Lanka through monetary terms or technical grants. During this time, India will do its best to grow more fish in Indian waters. Once that is complete the agreement will come to end. I hope this discussion will clear the suspicions of the people.
