Tamil political leaders say the new constitution brought by the Rajapaksa government will strengthen Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism.
Leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) made the remarks at a special meeting with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Peacebuilding and Peace Operations in the Middle East and Asia Pacific on Tuesday [23].
On the same day, the UN envoy also met with Foreign Minister Prof. GL Peiris. “If one country is one law to the detriment of the devolution process, a Presidential Task Force is being set up to strengthen Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism and draft a new constitution,” said TNA leader R. Rajapaksa. Sampanthan stressed that the United Nations should intervene to stop such activities by the Rajapaksa government.
When President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa met the UN Secretary General during his last visit to the United States, he stated that he would work closely with the United Nations. The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that the Assistant Secretary-General arrived in Sri Lanka at the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka following a bilateral meeting with His Excellency the President and the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG) in September this year to coincide with the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have told the UN envoy that the government is carrying out a subtle plan to change the population by resettling Sinhalese who are being brought in from outlying areas in Tamil-majority areas. Exploitation of Tamil lands by force is a serious problem pointing out that the Tamil people had high hopes when the UNHRC resolution was brought, they said, “In the end, the Tamil people feel deceived.” In addition to TNA leader Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah, leader of the Tamil Arasu Kachchi, TELO leader Selvam Adeikkalanathan and TLO leader Dharmalingam Siddharthan have joined the discussion.
During a meeting with the UN envoy, the government said it had made progress on reconciliation.
Commenting on the recent progress made in the domestic process on reconciliation and human rights, including the proposed amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the Foreign Minister reiterated the Government’s commitment to make tangible progress.
