Sampanthan warns of ‘hidden agenda’ of Sri Lanka government

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 March 2010, 06:00 GMT]
“Sri Lanka government does not want any area in the island where minority community lives in majority. Hence the government led by President Mahinda Rajapakse is implementing its ‘hidden agenda’ to colonize such areas with Sinhalese to reduce the majority of minority community,” Mr. R. Sampanthan, leader of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and the chief candidate for the Trincomalee electoral district, said addressing representatives of Tamil civil groups in Trincomalee.

He added that the government thinks if it allows the minority to live in majority in some areas it would lead the minority to claim its traditional homeland, right to self determination, and self rule to such areas.

He said since the independence of the country successive governments had implemented state sponsored Sinhala colonization in the Tamil dominated eastern province. Sinhalese farmers were brought down from the south and settled on state lands.

Now the government of Mahinda Rajapakse is giving permission to Sinhala dominated companies in the south to start factories and other commercial enterprises in the eastern province thus allowing them to bring down Sinhalese from the south to work in their factories, Sampanthan said.

Under the guise of agricultural development and economic development, Sinhalicisation is taking place in the east.

He said when the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam pact was signed in 1957 the percentage of the Sinhalese in the east was 13 percent. It was eighteen percent when the Dudley Senanayake-Chelvanayakam pact was signed in 1965.

Now it has gone up to twenty five percent, Sampanthan pointed.

The government’s plan is to make east a Sinhalese majority province and thereafter to “invade’ North by setting up Sinhala colonies.