{"id":22923,"date":"2013-07-18T16:00:43","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T20:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=22923"},"modified":"2013-07-18T16:00:43","modified_gmt":"2013-07-18T20:00:43","slug":"we-wont-risk-formation-of-parallel-army-by-provincial-govt-through-devolving-of-police-powers-basil-rajapaksa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=22923","title":{"rendered":"“We Wont Risk Formation of Parallel Army by Provincial Govt Through Devolving of Police Powers”-Basil Rajapaksa"},"content":{"rendered":"

By
\nMeera Srinivasan
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite India\u2019s efforts to persuade Sri Lanka to fully implement the 13th Amendment in the island\u2019s northern province, the Rajapaksa government appears firm about not handing over some powers, including those related to police and law enforcement, to the Tamil minority.<\/p>\n

Revealing the extent to which absence of trust remains an obstacle to ethnic reconciliation in Sri Lanka, Basil Rajapaksa \u2014 brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Minister for Economic Development \u2014 who visited New Delhi last week, told The Hindu that Sri Lanka would never risk a provincial government forming its own \u201carmy\u201d through devolved police powers.<\/p>\n

Referring to the Tamil National Army \u2014 a militant outfit raised by the beleaguered 1988 EPRLF government in the North-Eastern Province in a futile attempt to protect itself against the LTTE that had rejected the Amendment and boycotted the election \u2014 he said there was no ruling out that a future Northern provincial government would not do the same: \u201cIf [the NPC] form another army, can we afford another war now?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He dismissed arguments that armed struggle by the Tamils was now a thing of the past, and that the 13th Amendment in any case gave the President overriding powers over the province.<\/p>\n

As Sri Lanka moves to hold elections for the first time in the Tamil-majority Northern province, there is a raging debate in the country over the pros and cons of the 13th Amendment, including the proposed changes by the Rajapaksa government to strip it of clauses that it perceives to be inimical to national and territorial integrity; and the reported insistence by India on its full implementation.<\/p>\n

Both Mr. Rajapakasa\u2019s trip to New Delhi, and quickly after, India\u2019s National Security Adviser (NSA) Shiv Shankar Menon\u2019s visit to Colombo, seem to have focussed on this issue; for weeks, the Sri Lankan media has been debating it threadbare.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s other provinces, which have functioning governments, do not have their own police forces despite the constitutional provision for this. But the Tamil National Alliance believes the North should have control over law enforcement in the province.<\/p>\n

The TNA is widely expected to win the Northern election, to be held in September, two months before the country is due to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet. The alliance has nominated a respected Colombo-based former judge of the Supreme Court, C. V. Wigneswaran, as its chief ministerial candidate.<\/p>\n

Mr. Rajapaksa, however, questioned TNA\u2019s choice, describing Mr.Wigneswaran as a candidate of \u201cexternal forces\u201d who did not represent the people of the North.<\/p>\n

Well ahead of the elections, the minister, an important political figure in the Sri Lankan government, who is regarded as the most restrained and diplomatic member of the Rajapaksa clan, was already certain that a TNA government in the North would be on collision course with the Centre.<\/p>\n

The Rajapaksa government, he said, had given the Tamil people, \u201ceverything\u201d \u2014 roads, railways, water, electricity, schools and hospitals. With nothing left to promise, the minister said, a TNA provincial government would whip up other \u201cemotional issues\u201d that neither it nor the government would be able to deliver.<\/p>\n

Giving a new twist to the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 which gave birth to the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka\u2019s Constitution, Mr. Rajapaksa said devolving police powers would actually amount to going against Accord.<\/p>\n

He pointed to section 2.10 of the Accord which calls for the government to use the \u201csame organisations and mechanisms\u201d for law enforcement and security in the Northern and Eastern provinces as in the rest of the country, saying this meant that there could not be more than one police force for the whole country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very clear in the Accord. It says police powers have to be with one police, there is no separate mechanism. So you can\u2019t have a separate police force in the provinces,\u201d Mr. Rajapaksa said.<\/p>\n

The government recently set up a parliamentary select committee to revisit the 13th amendment. Mr. Rajapaksa defended the move, saying no constitutional provision was permanent, and all over the world, it was the practice to make changes in the statute.<\/p>\n

He declined to say if the changes would come before or after the election, calling it an ongoing process. Sometimes, he said, such processes took years.<\/p>\n

The committee has been boycotted by the TNA and the main opposition United National Party (UNP). Moreover, dissenters on the issue within the ruling coalition, such as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, are not included in the Committee.<\/p>\n

Mr. Rajapaksa sought to explain questions about the credibility of the incomplete panel by saying it would solicit wider opinion by inviting public testimonies.<\/p>\n

Asked if India-Sri Lanka relations had been affected as a result, Mr. Rajapaksa said both countries \u201cunderstand each other\u2019s point of view. It is Sri Lanka\u2019s problem, and Sri Lanka must find a solution from Sri Lanka itself\u201d.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s vote against Colombo two years in a row at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, he said, had \u201cvery badly hurt our relationship\u201d but Sri Lanka had \u201cmanaged it very well\u201d, understanding that it was due to \u201cinternal pressure\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nor had Sri Lanka reacted adversely when Sri Lankan pilgrims and Buddhist priests were attacked in Tamil Nadu.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo as two sovereign countries and countries who have been friends for a long time we have to understand each other. Our people have been very understanding of India. India must understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n

India\u2019s Sri Lanka-playing-the China card theory was hardly reasonable, he said, pointing to a recently formed Indian CEO\u2019s forum in Colombo, and the absence of a similar platform for Chinese businessmen in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Rather, said the Minister, it was India that was \u201cplaying for America\u201d. As evidence, he pulled out a 2011 visit to Chennai by then U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as linked to the Tamil question in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

A peaceful environment in Sri Lanka was good for India and the people of India, not just for the governments but also for the business community, including those from Tamil Nadu, Mr. Rajapaksa said.
\nCOURTESY:THE HINDU<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Despite India\u2019s efforts to persuade Sri Lanka to fully implement the 13th Amendment in the island\u2019s northern province, the Rajapaksa government appears firm about not handing over some powers, including those related to police and law enforcement, to the Tamil minority. Revealing the extent to which absence of trust remains an obstacle …<\/p>\n

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