‘India thwarted resolution to ethnic conflict’: Report
July 16, 2011 01:15 pm
CHENNAI: A four-year secret has been revealed: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was interested in a peaceful resolution of the ethnic conflict in his country and met a group of civil society members from Tamil Nadu in Colombo in 2007, reports Express News Service.
Accusing the Indian government of thwarting the move, former bureaucrat and social activist, M G Devasahayam, who was the convener of the core group of civil society formed at the behest of Colombo to work out a peaceful solution, has written about it on a website, The Weekend Leader.
Devasahayam writes, “Rajapaksa realised the importance of involving civil society in Tamil Nadu to resolve the intractable ethnic problem in his country and act as a bridge between the two countries... A small core group of retired civil servants, senior journalists and military veterans was formed with myself as convener.”
“The group held its preliminary meeting in Chennai on May 10, 2007, with a senior advisor to President Rajapaksa, participating. It was unanimously agreed that a mutually acceptable political package was the only lasting solution to the ethnic crisis.”
The group met President Rajapaksa and his high-level team in Colombo on July 17, 2007. Throughout the long discussions, Rajapaksa was very much involved and positive. He fully endorsed the group’s opinion expressed by me that the solution to the crisis should emerge from within Sri Lanka and be refined through international opinion, particularly from India.
After these parlays Rajapaksa made a public statement hinting at a merged, autonomous North-East, a solution just short of Tamil Eelam,” says Devasahayam. “Following this, the core group had a series of meetings with Rajapaksa’s team of ministers and officials and agreed upon many steps to resolve the conflict.
A crucial conference was held with President Rajapaksa in Colombo on March 25, 2008, followed by meetings with Sri Lankan Minister for Constitutional Affairs and National Integration, Chairman of Official Language Commission, and others. An action agenda was set.” “The Indian High Commission in Colombo got wind of the group’s activities and the Deputy High Commissioner, A Manickam, sought an appointment with me and it was fixed at 5 pm at the hotel I was staying at.
Manickam never kept his appointment but the High Commission later reprimanded the Sri Lankan presidential team for holding peace talks with ‘unauthorised’ persons’,” he recalls. “To fortify these initiatives I wrote to TKA Nair, my former colleague and presently principal secretary to Prime Minister on April 1, 2008. The letter outlined the progress made by the group and the action agenda that had been set... It requested the government to support the initiative taken by the group to end the long-festering political and humanitarian crisis in the island. There was no response.” (Express Buzz)
Accusing the Indian government of thwarting the move, former bureaucrat and social activist, M G Devasahayam, who was the convener of the core group of civil society formed at the behest of Colombo to work out a peaceful solution, has written about it on a website, The Weekend Leader.
Devasahayam writes, “Rajapaksa realised the importance of involving civil society in Tamil Nadu to resolve the intractable ethnic problem in his country and act as a bridge between the two countries... A small core group of retired civil servants, senior journalists and military veterans was formed with myself as convener.”
“The group held its preliminary meeting in Chennai on May 10, 2007, with a senior advisor to President Rajapaksa, participating. It was unanimously agreed that a mutually acceptable political package was the only lasting solution to the ethnic crisis.”
The group met President Rajapaksa and his high-level team in Colombo on July 17, 2007. Throughout the long discussions, Rajapaksa was very much involved and positive. He fully endorsed the group’s opinion expressed by me that the solution to the crisis should emerge from within Sri Lanka and be refined through international opinion, particularly from India.
After these parlays Rajapaksa made a public statement hinting at a merged, autonomous North-East, a solution just short of Tamil Eelam,” says Devasahayam. “Following this, the core group had a series of meetings with Rajapaksa’s team of ministers and officials and agreed upon many steps to resolve the conflict.
A crucial conference was held with President Rajapaksa in Colombo on March 25, 2008, followed by meetings with Sri Lankan Minister for Constitutional Affairs and National Integration, Chairman of Official Language Commission, and others. An action agenda was set.” “The Indian High Commission in Colombo got wind of the group’s activities and the Deputy High Commissioner, A Manickam, sought an appointment with me and it was fixed at 5 pm at the hotel I was staying at.
Manickam never kept his appointment but the High Commission later reprimanded the Sri Lankan presidential team for holding peace talks with ‘unauthorised’ persons’,” he recalls. “To fortify these initiatives I wrote to TKA Nair, my former colleague and presently principal secretary to Prime Minister on April 1, 2008. The letter outlined the progress made by the group and the action agenda that had been set... It requested the government to support the initiative taken by the group to end the long-festering political and humanitarian crisis in the island. There was no response.” (Express Buzz)
