‘Sri Lankan Tamils not confident of reconciliation’

“Lack of urgency towards demilitarisation, normalisation in the North and East, insufficient effort to include all communities into the reconciliation processes and mixed messages emanating from the top political leadership on accountability and good governance are all contributing towards re-emergence of cynicism and pessimism among the Tamil people, a trend that ought to be addressed without delay,” the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) said in a statement. 

The London-based group commended the comments made by UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Rita Izsak-Ndiaye that to achieve peaceful co-existence “a comprehensive, well-planned and well-coordinated truth, reconciliation, healing and accountability process must take place”. 

“Izsak-Ndiaye’s recommendation that the most pressing and emotive issues for minority communities – disappeared persons, return of occupied land, release of security-related detainees as well as demilitarisation – must be addressed urgently and her call that the views and aspirations of the minority communities must be taken into proper consideration in the Constitutional reform process, resonate fully with the Tamil community,” the group said. The Special Rapporteur’s warning regarding stalled progress and the urgent need for concrete action to sustain the momentum for change reflect the prevalent view among several key observers on Sri Lanka, it said.

It said that on its part, it will do all it can to pro-actively contribute to accelerate the progressive transition presently underway. Sirisena, who came to power last year after ending former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule, had promised to reach out to the Tamils to pursue reconciliation more vigorously than Rajapaksa.