Sampanthan appointed Opposition Leader. Photo courtesy Tamil Diplomat Sept. 3, 2015
by Daily News**, Colombo, October 24, 2015
The truth, justice, reparation and non-recurrence are the crucial words in the process in achieving true reconciliation, Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan said in Parliament yesterday.
Participating in the adjournment debate, he welcomed the initiative of the All Party Meeting chaired by the President. “All political party leaders and representatives, who met at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday accepted that there must be a speedy solution to address the national question,” he said.
We are happy that the vast majority of the House has now realised the shortcomings of the past,” the Opposition Leader said.
“We have a long way to go before we achieve real progress on reconciliation and lasting peace. The way to start would be by truly and honestly fully implementing the UNHRC Resolution,” he observed. Sampanthan also noted the recently concluded UNHRC session proved that Sri Lanka has been able to win back the trust of the international community.
While urging the government to strictly observe and follow the Resolution, he noted truth seeking as to what had actually happened during the last phase of war is necessary.
Referring to a political solution, he said it should not become a ‘political football kicked around’. “We need to seriously and calmly address on what needs to be done. We need to take all people with us on this journey. The victims must not be looked upon,” he added. Sampanthan replying to a comment by Chief Opposition Whip Anura Dissanayake, stated the TNA always wanted to solve the issues of Tamils within the country, but, they were not given due attention.
“Dissanayake made an appeal to the TNA, that we should not rush to India and international community to find solutions to the issues faced by our community. I agree. At the same time let me also remind that the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact was not signed in Delhi. The Dudley Senanayake-Chelvanayagam Pact was not signed in Washington. There were signed in Sri Lanka,” he said. Whenever the Tamils agitated over their problems and held a Sathyagraha as a peaceful means of protesting, they were subjected to violence.
That was the reason for the birth of the LTTE. This entire issue was a result of the failure to address the Tamil question in a reasonable way. We did rush to India, Europe or the USA,” he stressed.
(SM, IR and DM)
** owned by the Government of Sri Lanka
MP Sumathiran speech in Parliament October 22, 2015