Tamil Politicians from Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern Provinces have written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over seeking his intervention in the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution. On Tuesday, the delegation of politicians met with the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Gopal Baglay and handed over the letter to seek India’s help in safeguarding Tamil interests in the country.
In a seven-page letter, the leaders have asked for India’s help in ensuring unfulfilled promises made by the Colombo government while implementing the 13th amendment and to seek a long-term political solution in this regard. The amendment highlights rights given to the Tamil community and increases their influence in the politics of the region. Led by senior Tamil leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan, the letter was signed by influential constituent party leaders including Mavai Senathiraja, Dharmalingam Sithadthan, and Selvam Adaikalanathan, former Northern Province Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran and former MP Suresh Premachandran.
The MPs have appealed to PM Modi to urge the Sri Lankan govt to keep its promises to fully implement the provisions of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which ensures a measure of power devolution. The letter also requests India to put pressure to ensure implementation of “the clear commitments made by all sections of government from 1987 onwards and enable the Tamil speaking peoples to live with dignity, self-respect, peace and security in the areas of their historic habitation, exercising their right to self-determination within the framework of a united, undivided country.”
The letter to the Indian PM also highlighted some of the shortcomings in the 13th amendment, and said that the efforts by the Sri Lankan govt should go beyond it. Saying that some in the Tamil community say there are limitations in the amendment, the letter says, “every effort made thereafter moved in the direction of surpassing the 13th Amendment towards a federal structure.”
What is the 13th Ammendment to the Consitution of Sri Lanka?
In 1987, The Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed between then Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and J. R. Jayewardene with a view to tame the insurgency led by LTTE. The resolution between the two countries led to the drafting of the 13th Amendment to the Srilankan Constitution paving more power to the hands of Tamilians in the region. Since then, through the accord, India has repeatedly affirmed its position to secure and preserve the rights of the Tamil linguistic minority in Sri Lanka. The amendment also confirms Tamil as an official language of the Island nation alongside Sinhalese, with English as a ‘link language’.
It was also the result of the 13th amendment that the Northern and Eastern regions got independent provincial councils. However, the Hardliners among Sinhala politicians have called for the complete abolition of the Provincial Council system. Moreover, several questions have been raised earlier over the practicality of the amendment throughout the country. “There have been a lot of promises made on the Tamil national question from time to time. Ours is a request to implement them”, MA Sumanthiran, TNA leader said.
The Letter also highlighted interventions made by the Indian leadership at various moments in this issue, including PM Modi’s speech in the Sri Lankan Parliament in 2015 pressing on the issue of ‘co-operative federalism’. The letter now requests PM Modi to “Ensure Tamil speaking people live with dignity, self-respect, peace and security in the areas of their natural habitation, exercising the right to self-determination within the framework of a united undivided country”
In an interesting development, the move comes barely a week after India extended a USD 900 million loan to Colombo to build up its depleted foreign reserves while the country grapples with a shortage of essential commodities currently.
It is also not the first time that Lankan leaders have asked India to intervene on the Tamil issue. In 2016, The former Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran expressed confidence that India would intervene to set up a federal government in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.
