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Diaspora Seek Engagement

By Easwaran Rutnam

The Tamil Diaspora have called on the new Government and President Maithripala Sirisena to engage with the Diaspora in good faith and in a meaningful and constructive way.

Reacting to the defeat of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the election, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) said that the Tamils and Tamil speaking Muslims had rejected the way the minority communities were treated under former Government by coming out and voting unprecedentedly in high numbers.

“Final results show, although President Sirisena had support in the South, the overwhelming support he gained from people in North, East and Up-country reversed any majority that Mahinda Rajapaksa won in other parts of the country and made him the victor,” GTF spokesman Suren Surendiran said.

He said the GTF hopes President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and their coalition government will reciprocate the support rendered by these communities.

“We hope that they will be honourable and reverse the many historic injustices served upon our people by engaging the elected representatives of Tamils and Tamil speaking Muslims as a matter of urgency. We also hope that the new administration will engage the Diaspora in good faith and in a meaningful and constructive way,” he said.

The GTF said it will continue to work with the international community to ensure that this new beginning also entails obtaining long overdue justice for past violations of international law and international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) said that it should be noted that the Tamil people have always used the elections to use their votes tactically on issues that mattered to them.

“Their active participation in this ballot should be seen as a vote for elimination of a leader they despised rather than as an expression of their preference for or a faith in the new leader. The true desire of the Tamil is for an opportunity to express their right to self-determination and their nationhood. So, if the 6th Amendment to the Constitution is rescinded and the right space created for a vote, that will be when the Tamil people will truly demonstrate their preferences,” TGTE leader V. Rudrakumaran said.

He also insisted that the ouster of Rajapaksa in itself does not mean anything for Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka.