Freedom of speech

cannot be the privilege of Southern politicians only, but

Northern as well: Mano

2016-10-12
Q There have been many
interpretations to the recent protest led by Northern Chief
Minister C. V. Wigneswaran. As a Tamil political leader,
what is your opinion about the protest march Eluga
Thamil?
The slogans raised and demands put forward by Eluga Thamil
are not new. They are the slogans and demands of all the Tamil
leaders and parties of the North and East. Just refer the last
parliamentary election manifesto of the Tamil National Alliance
(TNA). The entire Eluga Thamil list is there. Although the
terminologies may differ at some point, the spirit is identical.
My general opinion is that the era of standing separately as
Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims is officially over now. Yes, there are
some remnants of the past era. But let us today stand up as Sri
Lankans and defeat such odds. I responded to Eluga Thamil
instantly. But my reply was not arrogant or political. It was a
friendly, genuine and logical response.
Mr. C.V. Wigneswaran is a good friend of mine. I convinced him to
take up the Chief Minister candidature for the NPC elections years
before. Technically, I pushed him from his peaceful spiritual life in
Colombo to the turbulent political life in Jaffna. I have no regrets.
You see, LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran once called the then
President Mahinda Rajapaksa a pragmatic leader. Today MR has
branded CV as non-communal. I qualify MRs opinion. CV is not a
typical politician. Let us open up a dialogue with him. That is the
sense of national coexistence.
Q Do you approve such a protest march at this point of
time?

I dont want to make a direct opinion as it is already an issue

within the TNA. As I understand, TNA leader R. Sampanthan, ITAK
leader Mavai Senathirasa and party spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran
are of the opinion that this protest should not have occurred at
this juncture. Many ITAK front liners who spoke to me during my
recent visit to Jaffna are of the same opinion.
Timing is very important in politics. You make wrong decisions at
right times and right decisions at wrong times. Tamil history of the
North and East is of missed opportunities, which are in fact
mistiming. In 1987, the Tamil leadership failed to take the fullypledged 13A from JR and Rajiv Gandhi. Later in 2000, the TNA
failed to provide the necessary votes to CBK to pass the package
proposals. In 2005, the
LTTE-manoeuvered vote boycott prevented Ranil
Wickremesinghes victory at the presidential elections and lost a
13A plus solution.
Today, genuine Tamil leaders must be regretting, some from the
heavens and some within. I am not giving any clean chits to JR,
Rajiv, CBK or RW. They too dont need certificates from me. There
are accusations on their genuineness. The Tamils should
understand that all the above leaders would stand by the
interests of the government and State they represent. Therefore,
we have to compromise at a meeting point. You cant expect the
sun and moon, that too in one single stroke.
I am a member of the Constitutional Steering Committee (CSC). I
cant divulge anything. But I can indicate the mood there. Today,
what is on offer may be less than what was offered during 1987,
2000 and 2005. Give the CSC a break. Let it finish the job. If you
are not happy, then you can commence the democratic struggle.
Nobody will stop you. It is the Tamil people of the North and East
who will make the final decision.

Q Some of the demands made during the Chief Ministerled protest were nothing new. Even you have made similar
demands like a political solution to the ethnic problem,
release of Tamil prisoners, releasing of lands that had
been taken over by the security forces during the war to
their original owners and so forth. How did this protest
get a racial twist?
You are spot on. Leave aside the TNA and Wigneswaran. I have
demanded many such. A political solution to the national question
is a must. It has to be addressed with the power-sharing package.
That is why leaders from SWRD to Dudley, JR, Premadasa, CBK,
RW and Mahinda conducted discussions with Tamil leaders. These
leaders are not fools to conduct discussions and make wars if
there is no such national question.
The hardliners in the South, North and beyond the seas are
political cousins. They wait for opportunities to score points.
Whenever Northern hardliners open their mouth, their Southern
cousins score points. And it is vice versa.
Q The protest also reflected the frustration of the Tamil
people who specially suffered with war for a long time.
Why has the government failed to win the trust of these
people?
Now the war is over. But the root causes that triggered it still
remain. You have to address them with a power-share solution
within the one Sri Lanka radius.
Nobody is demanding that the Army withdraws totally. If anybody
is calling for such, they must be off their heads. During warfare,
you need to protect the military formations from the LTTE guns.
So you needed the high-security zones. Now the war is over. So
the LTTE and their guns having been defeated why do you need
high-security zones (HSZs)? The fertile private land you acquired
should be returned to the original owners. The Army cannot
engage in agriculture, farming, fishing, hospitality and tourism

industries and run motels and small kiosks along the roadways.

Q According to the Chief Minister, what he said in Tamil

has been misinterpreted and miscommunicated among the
other communities. There is a segment among the Sinhala
community that uses these types of protests and what is
allegedly stated there to spread extremism. What is your
view?
There is a miscommunication again. Some tend to think that the
CM has withdrawn his earlier remarks. An MP told me that the CM
has withdrawn and he is almost apologetic for what he spoke
during Eluga Thamil. That was a couple of days ago at a political
debate programme on a private TV. I had to intervene and correct
him.
To my knowledge, the NPC CM has not withdrawn anything. The
CM in his recent speeches had said his original comments were
twisted by certain politicians who should have been in jail for
misdeeds of theirs. He also qualified that his demands were
traditional ideas of the North and East.

Now, this is a free country again. But nobody can demand a

separate country or division within Sri Lanka. Nobody can propose
an armed struggle to achieve political goals. This is the radius
within which you are free to talk and express opinions.
There are some in the South that demand that this country should
be a Sinhala Buddhist Republic. My friend MP Udaya Gammanpila
told me at a public TV debate that this country had only one
nation and that was the Sinhalese, and all others were minority
linguistic and religious groups. The Hitaishi JathikaViyaparaya
(Patriotic National Movement) Secretary told me, that too at a
private TV debate, that all, other than Sinhala Buddhists, shall
accept the supremacy of the Sinhala race. BBS General Secretary
Ven. Gnanasara Thera threatened to chase all the Tamils to India.
I have given appropriate responses to them as per my patriotic
stands. But the point I draw here is that freedom of speech cannot
be the privilege of Southern politicians only. It is extended to the
North as well.
Q There was an allegation that neither you nor your
officials were consulted on the formulation of the national
policy on reconciliation. This is despite you being the
Minster of National Co-existence, Dialogue and Official
Languages. What has exactly happened?
There is more than one ministry and too many agencies engaged
in the reconciliation subject. The Ministry of National Integration
and Reconciliation is headed by the President. It is one of the
many institutions coming under him. The office, by the name of
ONUR, headed by former president Mrs. Kumaratunga is coming
under the presidents ministry. And my ministry, National Coexistence, Dialogue and Official Languages, is here. And SCRM is
headed by Mr. Mano Tittawala, Consultation Task Force on
Reconciliation Mechanisms is headed by Mrs. Muttetuwegama and
Ministry of External Affairs. All that I wanted is that all

stakeholders be invited for a discussion so that there can be

division of labour. This is an issue for the Colombo diplomatic
community and the UN too.
ONUR has formulated the national policy on reconciliation without
any discussion with my ministry. This Cabinet paper was
submitted to the Cabinet by the president. He was under the
impression that it had been discussed with me. But at the
Cabinet, when I objected and explained to him, he postponed it
and assured me that he would call for a general discussion
forthwith. This is what happened.
I respect Mrs. CBK as one of the few most progressive leaders in
this country. Her husband had been a political and cinema friend
of my late father. I have no personal issue with her. But I dont
understand why she fails to coordinate with me. I have visited her
office many times. Forgetting all formalities, I have sought
discussions with her. But they are not occurring. But it is unfair to
put all the blame on Mrs. CBK. It is the fault of the system today
that lacks coordination.
If the Tamil minister is not accommodated in the national
reconciliation policy making, it would send wrong signals to the
Tamil community and international community. I want my vision
and thoughts based on the genuine heartburns of the Tamil
community of the North and East and South, also of the Muslim
community. I am living with the Sinhala community and
understand the Sinhala psyche. I am personally trilingual. I am
qualified to be the minister for national reconciliation and
coexistence. Therefore, I wanted to be accommodated in the
national reconciliation policy making process. I will not accept
half-baked branded policies to be stamped on me and generally
on us as a national reconciliation and coexistence policy.
Q What are the general National Co-existence Dialogue
activities of your ministry?

The Geneva response of Sri Lanka is based on four principles.

They are Truth commission, Reparations, Judicial process and NonRecurrence. My ministry tends to play the lead role in the nonrecurrence subject matter as national co-existence is the gateway
to non-recurrence. I have indicated this to the president and
prime minister, and also to the Sri Lankan friends in the
international community.
My ministry has already formulated and at some streams started
conducting national coexistence dialogue sessions propagating
the Sri Lankan, our Identity; Diversity, Our Strength, Let us
review the history and correct mistakes, Let us not take up arms
to achieve political goals, One country, power to all concepts. We
engage with grassroots streams such as university and teacher
communities, religious sects, artistes, media, private sector
corporates, youth and women organisations, LG legislators, State
officials at district, divisional and provincial levels, soldier families,
ex-militant families, war widows and Sri Lankan Diaspora.
I am establishing district offices as per the LLRC
recommendations and working through 1,000 Coexistence
Societies established around the country by my ministry. I have
the NGO secretariat under me and am reorganising the civil
society organisations by establishing CSO councils at national,
district and divisional levels.
Q Over the years, the language barrier has been a major
issue with regard to reconciliation and unity in Sri Lanka.
There are still instances where the two official languages
Sinhala and Tamil are not given equal status. There were
complaints that certain sign boards in public transport like
in train stations are dominated by one language. As the
Official Languages Minster, why do you think this has
become such a difficult task?
Please give me some time. I have just taken over one year ago

and am addressing an issue of 60 years. I am committed to this

job. And I am trilingual. Trilingual Sri Lanka is my aim. The sign
boards and all forms at government offices are needed to be in all
three languages. There need to be written and oral responses to
the citizens in their own language.
We are discussing the power devolution subject to frame new
laws in the steering committee. But we already have a generallyacceptable language law. I trust that if we can show real-time
progress on the language issue, we can simplify the national
question. Thus, I envisioned the official language policy
implementation as the prelude to the political solution. Therefore,
this is directly linked to national coexistence and reconciliation.
I am making all possible efforts to make my own government to
understand this. It is because my two important Cabinet papers
on providing translators to necessary State offices and bilingual
and trilingual abilities of State officials are held at committee
stages for months with objections raised by people who do not
comprehend the very spirit of the language policy of the State. I
am confident that if my Cabinet papers are accepted, those will
revolutionize the language policy implementations.
The official language policy stipulated in the Constitution needs
no major amendments. What is pending is the implementation.
Tamil language, mother tongue of about five million Sri Lankan
citizens, seeks parity status at implementation with Sinhala as
official and national language.
The entities related to the language policy coming under my
ministry are the Department of Official Languages headed by the
Commissioner of Official Languages (DoL), Official Languages
Commission (OLC) and the National Institute of Language
Education and Learning (NILET). I require funds to carry on with
my workload.
The OLC goes behind the policy violators, conducts language

audits at all State offices, provides official translations of name

boards, documents, establishes language help desks at all and
necessary State offices around the country. The NILET conducts
language classes, trains professional translators and interpreters,
while the DoL conducts exams to State officials, prepares
language study curricula and language Apps, establishes
language labs around the country and develops the official
language policy. I require reasonable fund allocations for these
activities. I seek the support of the Finance Ministry and the donor
community.
Posted by Thavam