Manmohan Singh gives half-baked reply to Jayalalithaa on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 July 2013, 19:31 GMT]
Responding to a letter sent by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that India has “long advocated the creation of an environment in Sri Lanka in which all communities, particularly the Sri Lankan Tamils, are masters of their own destiny within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.” The half-baked reply does not address any of the issues raised by Ms. Jayalalithaa’s July 14 letter. Instead, it only shows the adamant attitude of the Indian centre in forcing the genocide-affected Eezham Tamil nation to “reconcile” with a fundamentally oppressive Sri Lankan state. The text of Dr. Singh’s letter was released to the public as part of a press statement by the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday.

The reply of Dr. Manmohan Singh was dated 16 July.

The relevant text is reproduced below:

“Thank you for your letter of 14 July regarding developments in Sri Lanka on possible changes to the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution.

“There is absolutely no change in Government of India’s stand on the question of reconciliation and devolution of political powers in Sri Lanka. We have long advocated the creation of an environment in Sri Lanka in which all communities, particularly the Sri Lankan Tamils, are masters of their own destiny within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. We will continue to work towards this end.”