Re your article ‘Tussle in North between Governor and Chief Minister’
In your 10 page essay you have given copious criticisms of the elected Tamil Justice Wigneswaran, but none for the ex military Singhalese governor. Don’t you think Chandrasri and Rajapakse also need your wisdom? You seem to presume that Chandrsri and Rajapakse are infallible and can do no wrong, while only Justice Wigneswaea and TNA have to correct themselves.
The truth is that it is the story of the Singhalese wolf and Tamil lamb. What you are doing is trying to find justification for the wolf to devour the Tamil lamb. Rajapakse tried to deny the people of the North , their rights to autonomy, but was forced by India to hold the elections. Having held the elections, he is now doing all in his powers to scuttle it, and you are giving him a smoke screen to cover up his evil designs. This is like strangling a newborn baby.
Below are reasons why Governor Chandrasri should have gone long ago and now should do so without further delay. He should never have been appointed governor of the Northern Province in the first place, as he has Tamil blood on his hands.
On September 21, 2013 the Northern Tamils voted and said ‘NO’ loud and clear, to the administration of Governor Chandrasri and Rajapakse government. They said enough is enough. Major General Chandrsri had been the military commander of Jaffna and had been instrumental in many Tamil deaths. Later, he was commandant of the concentration camps where 300,000 Tamil civilians who surrendered were incarcerated behind barbed wire and Singhalese armed guards in inhuman conditions without toilets and running water. Many Tamils were dragged out of the camps, tortured, raped and killed. After that Chandrasri was foisted on the Tamil people as Governor of the Northern Province, during which time many Tamils were abducted in white vans and killed mercilessly by army and paramilitary thugs. Chandrasri is an accused war criminal against whom there is a prima facie case, which has to be investigated. Why should not the TNA as the people’s representative ask for his removal? He is a military man with a criminal record.
Chandrasri, as governor has openly and flagrantly supported government candidates, which is highly improper. Any respectable man would have resigned as soon as the election verdict was known, but this accused criminal clings on like a leech and makes matters difficult for the Chief Minister. His departure is long overdue. Your argument is that Rajapakse would have removed Chandrasri, but because CM Wigneswaran asked for his removal, almighty Rajapakse got angry and did not remove him. Again you say that because CM NPC asked the army to be removed, almighty Rajapakse got angry and did not remove the army. If Wigneswaran had not made the requests, Rajapakse would have said, well, no one asked for their removal and so be it.
You blame the diaspora as if the TNA and Wigneswaran are not capable of making their own decision. Blaming all on the diaspora is a pet subject and litany of the Singhalese extremists, which you are parroting. The TNA has reiterated that they will work within a united Sri Lanka .. According to the constitution, a governor can be removed by the provincial council. The NPC has passed a resolution to that effect; so should you not advise Chandrasri to go and Rajapakse to remove him? Why not ? Does not the will of the people prevail ?
You know the standing of Justice Wigneswaran and Chandrasri. The former is a man of impeccable record. The latter is an accused war criminal given immunity by the corrupt Rajapakse government. Why do you ask Wigneswaran to keep going for dialogue with Chandrasri for everything? Why don’t you ask Chandrasri to have dialogue with Justice Wigneswaran? Should the elected Chief Minister go to the governor every time a decision has to be made? Should not the governor let the Chief Minister run the province for the benefit of the people?
What is wrong with the NPC establishing departments of housing and transport ? Why is Chandrsri up in arms against it? Is he correct in summoning NPC staff and warning them not to carry out orders of the Chief Minister? Chandrsri should have had a dialogue with the Chief Minister if he had any doubts. Is it not wrong for the governor to give counter instructions and undermine the discipline of the staff? That is bad administration.
You mention that the NPC Chief Secretary R. Viyayalakshmi, who is only taking orders from Governor Chandrsri and refusing to co operate with the Chief Minister, is granddaughter of Vaithilingam Durasamy. Does that give her a halo of sanctity and infallibility? Is she not an opportunist pandering to Singhalese chauvinism?
You are saying because the TNA decided to support Sarath Fonseka as President, which was because they had to chose the lesser evil, now the TNA cannot ask for the removal of an accused war criminal. [edit]
You say that President wanted to do this and that. The whole world knows what a dishonest man he is, changing his word and going back on his promises. You are painting the president as a nice well meaning man whereas he is cheating the Tamil people. Why cannot Rajapakse appoint a Tamil or a Singhalese civilian as a governor with the concurrence of the Chief Minister ?
You are saying that the army and the ex military governor have to be eased out slowly. Did Rajapakse promise to do that ? He has publicly said that he will not remove the army from the north. So you are conveying wrong and misleading information to the reading public. You say that other provincial councils have averted friction. Do you not know that the whole problem is that Singhalese do not want to give powers to a Tamil province? Chandrasri is a military man, and Rajapakse should never have appointed him as governor of the Northern Province . At least after the election he should have been removed.
The sabotaging , anti Tamil actions of Chandrasri and Rajapakse are triumphalism. Acceeding to the people’s request cannot be described as ‘caving in.’ That is democracy. What is his problem in acting on the wishes of Tamil people in their own traditional home? Are the Singhalese justified in showing their arrogance to the Tamil minority?
If Chandrasri wants to show that he has the whip hand and he will run the show, then what is the use of having elections? Where is democracy, where is devolution, and where is reconciliation? Why should the Chief Minister to go cringing after Chandrasri when he is causing so many problems? An elected Chief Minister deserves more respect. Don’t you think that Tamils need to be treated with some respect and dignity? Justice Wigneswaran was justified in refusing to sit and co-chair meetings with a man like Douglas Devananda, who has criminal records . Douglas Devanada wants to sanitise himself by sitting with Justice Wigneswaran.
You say you are troubled by Justice Wigneswaran’s speech. What you are implying is that as almighty Rajapakse can dissolve the NPC, the CM should be docile and make no demands on behalf of the voiceless and defeated Tamil people. You want to put the blame for any anti Tamil action by Rajapakse against the NPC on the Chief Minister. Then what is the use of a provincial council and a Chief Minister if they cannot express the sentiments of the people? This is not a clash of the Titans. It is clash of Goliath and David. The world is watching and we have to wait and see.
Of course, TNA and Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran speaks to the diaspora audience not for the people who voted for them. There were numerous activities in the run up asking the Chief Minister to apologize to people of Tamil Nadu and Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha for some comments he made. Since then Chief Minister CVW is inconsistent at best in his remarks and increasingly hawkish. I wonder where are the likes of these letters Mak S. Makenthiran open letters asking Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to apologize for demolition of Mulivaykkaal compound in Thanjavur?
Is Thirukumaran a Sinhalese. What Vigneshvaran is doing is to protect the Eelam Tamils from the ruling Sinhalse. All the information we receive is about how much effort is made by the Sinhalese rulers to run the Tamil areas as open prison. In addition to the violence Tamils are also experiencing extreme discrimination. We need the international community to minimise this. Though international community will not help us live as free people, it is my belief that they will force the Sinhalese to exercise restraint in their desire to harm the Tamils. There is a role for diaspora in this matter. The resources of diaspora must be channeled into collecting and disseminating the problems faced by Tamils in our homelands and other parts of Sri Lanka.
Jeyalalitha’s Mullivaykal issue which happened in India’s Tamil Nadu is obviously not an immediate life and death issue for Eelam Tamils. This issue should be taken up by the people of Tamil Nadu. Jeyalalitha has also done some good deeds for Eelam Tamils.
Any tamil person will understand this. Hence my suspicion about the identity of Thirkumaran.
Some of DBS Jeyaraj’s criticisms on LTTE’s inadequacy of handling international community during the peace talks were valid. However, it is obvious that DBS likes to take a pot shot on the ‘victim’ (tamils) rather than the sinhala dominated government. Why does DBS continue to demonize diaspora even after the removal of LTTE? Vigneswaran is only saying ‘as much as sinhalese people want to live with dignity and their own identity, tamil people and all other people in the island want to live with same dignity and their own identities’. Chandrasiri cannot continue as the governor as he is an ex-military and promotes forced colonization and seizure of tamil lands, destabilizing the north.
I think DBS ‘misses’ LTTE as his true colours are exposed now. Thirukumaran and some others continue to be the apologists of the Rajapakse government and his ‘scribes’ like DBS.