After Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa backed India’s decision bringing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by calling it an “internal” matter of India, the same was resonated by his minister Arumugam Thondaman.
Minister of Community Empowerment and Estate Infrastructure Development, Thondaman, who represents the Tamil community in the Rajapaksa cabinet, in an exclusive conversation with India Today TV said that the citizenship legislation is for minorities from “friendly” and “neighborhood” nations but Sri Lankan Tamil refugees needn’t have been included in it since “they are family”.
Calling it an “internal” matter, Arumugam Thondaman said, “It is your internal matter. I am convinced that the relationship we have with India is different from others. It is like the stepmother or your own kid. We are your own kid. They are friendly but we are family.”
Justifying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘s decision and backing it, he said, “India has to protect itself. We cannot comment on India’s policy formulation which is done for the best of India’s interests.”
Minister Thondaman assured speedy resettlement, he also blamed the past administration for going slow on the process to “tarnish” the image of the country internationally.
“Regarding resettlement, India and other countries have donated houses. The question we should ask is why the delay? There was something else going on underneath. I think the delay was to tarnish the image of the Sri Lankan government internationally to say that they are not doing anything for the minorities. I have taken over and we will implement it as soon as possible,” he said.
To questions on the looming fear among the Tamil and Muslim population of Sri Lanka with the return of the Rajapaksa government, minister Thondaman assured that nobody has anything to fear in his country.
“You don’t have to fear anything. If you are a Sri Lankan, you don’t have to fear anything. I am a Sri Lankan and a minority and I have no fear,” said the confident minister.
He rubbished the reports of the national anthem not being allowed to be sung in Tamil on the National Day and said, “There was no such decision. These are rumors. How it has been for all these years it will continue to be so. Whatever has been happening from day one will continue.”
He also blamed critics for fanning controversy due to the lack of any credible criticism against the Rajapaksa government. He said, “Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country and we are co-living. There are many who sing in Tamil and nobody is asking them to stop it. Ask those who are creating controversy because the Opposition has no other issue that they can criticize the current government on.”
He also said, “Under Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, things are falling in line.”
To a question on the dastardly attack on Easter Sunday in April last year, blaming the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration of inaction, the minister said, “The unfortunate incident of Easter attack was negligence. The then government neglected the intelligence given by India. Security was in place but the information was neglected, so we paid for it. Now, things will change.”
Source: India Today
-Agencies
