SLA presence is ethnic cleansing in another form - MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 January 2003, 14:52 GMT]
“Deploying a Sinhala army in large areas after evicting Tamils from their towns and villages is another form of ethnic cleansing. An army occupying the homes and lands of our people cannot call itself their guardian. Only a foreign army will drive out people and occupy their towns and villages. I therefore consider the army occupying our lands as a foreign army," said Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni, sources said.

Mr. Adaikalanathan said the above while speaking Friday during the debate in Sri Lanka’s Parliament on the peace talks between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers, held in Oslo in December last year.

“The funds granted by donor countries in support of the peace process should be fully utilised in the northeast and not in the other parts of the country as demanded by some politicians. Their demand is totally unacceptable because the underdevelopment of the south is due to government negligence whereas in the northeast town and villages were destroyed by the state. Therefore I appeal to donor nations to their channel funds in support of the peace process only to the northeast”, he said.

Speaking to the Tamilnet following the debate, the MP explained: “If the south is not developed it is not due to any discriminatory practice based on religion, region, caste etc., But the destruction in the northeast was caused by deliberate and discriminatory practice coupled with the relentless prosecution of war by the state. For the Sri Lankan state security means the eviction of Tamils from their villages and towns. If security means anything else to the Sri Lankan state it won’t perceive the presence of the Tamil public as a threat to its security installations in the northeast”.

“Foreign governments who support the peace process should be aware of this dimension.

This must be understood in the context of the ethnic composition of the Sri Lankan security forces. They are 99 percent Sinhala and majority Buddhist. In theory if the army is Tamil, they will be among the people and there won’t be high security zones”, Mr. Adaikalanathan said.