Author: TELO Admin

Colombo: During a meeting with Eastern Province’s former chief minister Sivanesaturai Chandrakanthan and former lawmaker Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, India’s Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K Jacob on Tuesday discussed bilateral cooperation and implementation of the 13th Amendment.

“Deputy HC Vinod K Jacob held separate meetings with delegations led by Hon”ble MP S Chandrakanthan (Pillayan) & Mr V Muralitharan (Karuna Amman). Development coop in the East & full implementation of 13th amendment & Provincial Councils were discussed in these meetings,” the Indian High Commission in Colombo tweeted on Tuesday.

The 13th Amendment provides for devolution of power to the Tamil community. India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13th Amendment which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.

However, the Sinhala nationalist parties and the erstwhile Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam vehemently opposed it.

While nationalists have decried it as excess sharing of power, the Tamil Tigers criticised it as sharing of only few powers.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has shown inclination to abolish the provisions in a soon-to-be revised Constitution.

The ruling Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) allies have mounted a public campaign for abolition of the provincial councils system. The SLPP’s Sinhala majority hardliners have been advocating a total abolition of the island’s provincial council system established in 1987.

In his visit to Colombo last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met a delegation of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) lawmakers with whom he discussed, among other things, the role played by provincial councils in national reconciliation. The TNA is the main Tamil party in the island nation. Jaishankar also met a delegation of the Tamil Progressive Alliance.

During a joint media interaction with his counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena in Colombo, Jaishankar underlined India’s backing for Lanka’s reconciliation process and an “inclusive political outlook” that encourages ethnic harmony.

“As we promote peace and well-being in the region, India has been strongly committed to the unity, stability and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Our support for the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka is longstanding, as indeed for an inclusive political outlook that encourages ethnic harmony,” he said.

“It is in Sri Lanka’s own interest that the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united Sri Lanka are fulfilled. That applies equally to the commitments made by the Sri Lankan government on meaningful devolution, including the 13th Amendment to the Constitution,” Jaishankar had said.

The National anthem will be sung only in Sinhalese and not two languages at the main Independence Day celebrations this week.

Defence Secretary General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said the anthem will be sung when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa hoists the National flag at the main event on Thursday, 4th February.

The former government sang the National anthem in Sinhalese and Tamil.

However the current administration sang the anthem only in Sinhalese at the 72nd Independence Day celebrations last year.

Meanwhile, steps are being taken to amend the Lion in the National flag.

Responding to a question posed at a virtual media conference, General Gunaratne said that concerns had been raised over some shortcomings in the image of the Lion in the Sri Lanka flag.

“Proposals were made by some people in society over some shortcomings in the Lion image,” he said.

General Gunaratne said that the Home Affairs Ministry has taken the proposals into consideration.

“However, there is a large process to follow. It will need to be put forward to Parliament for approval,” General Gunaratne added.

General Gunaratne said that the relevant officials are discussing the matter with the Government.

He said that very little could be done with the flag ahead of the 73rd Independence Day celebrations.

As a result, the existing Sri Lanka flag with the Lion image will be used at the celebration.

However, he said the process to make the required changes is underway.

Sri Lanka and China recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost bilateral apparel trade that was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The China National Textile and Apparel Council signed the agreement with Sri Lanka’s Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) to strengthen the working relationship between the two associations.

Other key objectives of the agreement are to promote value chain cooperation in the two countries, increase mutual visits, promote exchanges and improve mutual trust among industry personnel.

The effort was initiated by the embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing, JAAF chairman A Sukumaran and China National Textile and Apparel Council vice president XuYingxin, according to a Sri Lankan newspaper report.

Sri Lanka also invited investors from China to explore investment opportunities in the upcoming textile park in Eravur.

Apparel and textile trade between China and Sri Lanka has expanded over the last three years and in 2019, the total textile and apparel trade between the two countries reached $1.24 billion.

It has been almost 12 years since the civil war in Sri Lanka came to an end after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Since 2009, there has been a concerted effort to hold perpetrators accountable for the mass killings against Tamil citizens, there has also been a governmental committee set up to assess the conflict known as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee. However, something sinister has continued to endure in Sri Lanka beyond 2009, and that is the slow but steady erosion of Tamil culture and legacy that is indigenous to the Island.

The Tamil community in Sri Lanka was subject to some of the most brutal and inhumane torture and killings during the civil war. In fact, the crimes committed against the Tamil community were so heinous that they have been labeled as genocide and ethnic cleansing, with former President Barack Obama recently describing it as an ‘ethnic slaughter’. The numbers involved of Tamil victims have been staggering, with death estimates as high as 146,000 and a further 280,000 put behind barbed wire concentration camps – scenes which the world would not have contemplated repeating since the Second World War. It is no wonder that the term genocide has been commonly used to describe the horror faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka. With such trauma and memories of torture, the Tamil community in Sri Lanka has continued to show resilience in having their voice heard, and to commemorate the death and torture of so many at the hands of the Sri Lankan government. Part of this has included developing upon the community’s culture, history, and collective memory to strengthen cultural ties and erect memorials to ensure the suffering is not forgotten when it is still so recent; the government however does not seem to share the same pain, and through the subtle passage of time has been eroding and erasing Tamil presence from the Island.

Most recently this was exhibited on 9 January 2021 when the Mullivaikal Memorial at Jaffna University was demolished at the behest of the Sri Lankan government. What such acts demonstrate is a nation-wide effort to minimize the legacy of Tamils – indigenous to the Island, from its ancient roots to recent representations.

Tamil roots in the Island known as Sri Lanka stretches into antiquity, at least since the 2nd century BCE. During the Sangam Period, almost 4,400 years ago, Tamil literature was present in Sri Lanka, then known as Eelam. Of note, was the esteemed poet Eelattu Poothanthevanar who lived on the Island, along with a number of scientific writings produced in Eelam during the medieval period in the Jaffna Kingdom. With a presence of Tamil culture so intrinsically attached to the Island, it is of no small significance that the High Commission of Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom registered a formal complaint against The Guardian newspaper on 16 May 2020 for publishing an online travel quiz which asked the question: Eelam is an indigenous name for which popular holiday island? The High Commissioner demanded a retraction from The Guardian as it was apparently inaccurate to describe the Island as Eelam; this being counter to historical facts.

Both recent actions – the detraction demand on the use of the term Eelam and the demolition of the Mullivaikal Memorial – demonstrate the underhand effort of erasing the collective Tamil legacy in Sri Lanka. This continued erasure presents a legal problem to the Sri Lankan government, one which has since 2009 tried to whitewash its genocidal past to display a vibrant, cohesive holiday destination to the international community. Sri Lanka is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People 2007.

Article 8 of the Declaration states:

Article 8

Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.
States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for:
(a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;

By the High Commissioner’s insistence in the denial of the word Eelam to describe the Island, the Sri Lankan government has further cemented its intention to erase Tamil culture and history which is indigenous to the island. In doing so, the Government can be seen as violating Article 8(1) and (2)(a) where the Tamil cultural identity is being destroyed. This is nothing short of cultural genocide.

Further, the Sri Lankan government is a signatory and State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1980. Article 15(2) sets out that State Parties in recognizing the right of everyone:

The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and culture.

It is difficult for a State Party to conserve culture when it is taking underhand actions to erase the Tamil culture from national memory. Holding State Parties to account for violating covenants and declarations is difficult, and any advocacy action is a Goliath battle that takes years to achieve, yet the pace at which the Sri Lankan government is conducting its erasure exercise is fast outpacing any such accountability.

In 2019 there was a change in Sri Lanka’s government – if only in name – which proceeded to back away and withdraw from its international legal commitments. In 2015 the government had co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1, which made a commitment to promote reconciliation, accountability, and human rights. It further renewed its commitment in 2017 and 2019 to establish a judicial mechanism and a special counsel to investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

However, in 2019 the new government decided to withdraw from this Resolution, with no trace of any effort to set up such a mechanism. Reconciliation could have included the promotion and recognition of Tamil culture and history, it could have gone some way in assuring Tamil citizens they belonged to the Island that has been their home for over 4,000 years. With the new government’s withdrawal from such a commitment, it is no surprise that the Sri Lankan government is unwavering by its other international commitments. With no international accountability, the allegations of genocide, torture, and human rights violations will continue to rub salt in the wounds of the hundreds of thousands of Tamil victims.

With an almost silent international community, the Sri Lankan government has a free hand to continue its efforts to erode Tamil culture from the Island’s memory. Sri Lanka already has a dark past blighted by anti-Tamil pogroms, with the conflict formally concluded in 2009, its attention has now turned to suppress cultural recognition of Tamils that is nothing short of cultural genocide.

Samir Pasha is a lawyer specializing in Human Rights and Criminal Law. He qualified as a barrister and was a Middle Temple Scholar recipient, a Human Rights Law Association bursary winner for his work in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian Territory, and holds a masters from the University of Oxford specializing in the Modern South Asia.

Naga Kandiah is a Human Rights and Public Law solicitor. He has also worked with war crime witnesses and victims of torture. Mr. Kandiah also regularly represents vulnerable clients with severe mental or physical health issues, having successfully acted for clients in complex asylum, deportation, and entry clearance appeals.

This article was prepared for publication by Vishwajeet Deshmukh, a JURIST staff editor. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.org.

Opinions expressed in JURIST Commentary are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST’s editors, staff, donors or the University of Pittsburgh.

The MDMK general secretary has written to the President of the European Parliament, among other global organisations, in regard to this

MDMK general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko has written to the President of the European Parliament, among other global organisations, calling upon the members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and other affiliated UN agencies and member States to accept the right to self-determination of the Eelam Tamils and organise a referendum in Sri Lanka under the supervision of the United Nations.

Mr. Vaiko also requested the UNHRC members to recognise the genocide resolution passed unanimously in the Northern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka on February 10, 2015 and direct appropriate measures at the International Criminal Court outlining that the affected Tamil people in Sri Lanka have no faith in any domestic commission or inquiry.

The Rajya Sabha MP also said India should work together with Council Members to have a new Resolution under Agenda 4 to appoint a special rapporteur to monitor and investigate ongoing human rights violations and repression of the Tamil people.

Mr. Vaiko said the special rapporteur should monitor and investigate human rights violations in the island nation, undertake a country visit to Sri Lanka and to the region and engage with relevant stakeholders, submit reports to the General Assembly and Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the North and East of Sri Lanka; and engage publicly on issues of concern, including through press releases.

Mr. Vaiko also demanded that all political detainees be released or brought to justice without any further delay.