{"id":26623,"date":"2013-11-16T19:26:02","date_gmt":"2013-11-16T23:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=26623"},"modified":"2013-11-16T19:26:02","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T23:26:02","slug":"cv-wigneswaran-tells-david-cameron-that-primary-problem-in-north-is-military-governor-countermanding-orders-given-by-chief-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=26623","title":{"rendered":"CV Wigneswaran Tells David Cameron that Primary Problem in North is Military Governor Countermanding Orders Given by Chief Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dharisha Bastians<\/strong> in Jaffna<\/em><\/p>\n

British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday became the first foreign leader to visit Sri Lanka\u2019s North, using his three hour tour to focus on press freedom, land and political rights of the Tamil people four years after the end of the war.<\/p>\n

\"Prime

Prime Minister David Cameron is the first world leader to visit the north of Sri Lanka since 1948~Crown copyright<\/p><\/div>\n

Prime Minister Cameron stole the spotlight after the Commonwealth summit opened by visiting a camp holding the internally displaced in Chunnakam and stepping in at the besieged Jaffna based Uthayan newspaper, in addition to holding discussions with the new provincial political leadership in the formerly embattled region.
\n
\nThe largely non-descript motorcade did not disrupt life in Jaffna town or result in the closure of many roads to civilian traffic.
\nCameron, who flew to Jaffna soon after the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo last morning, met with Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran at the iconic Jaffna Library, rebuilt on the ashes of the building that was set fire to when ethnic tensions were rising in 1981.<\/p>\n

The Chief Minister briefed the British Prime Minister on the issues faced by the TNA as it runs its provincial administration in the North. Chief Minister Wigneswaran told Cameron that the Northern Provincial Council was not permitted to exercise even the meagre powers such as land and police powers devolved to the provincial councils under the constitution.<\/p>\n

Wigneswaran told the visiting PM that the NPC\u2019s primary problem was the province\u2019s military Governor who was \u201ccountermanding\u201d all orders given by the Chief Minister and the continued military presence in the North. TNA Leader R. Sampanthan who also attended the meeting at the Jaffna Library articulated that Tamils of Sri Lanka needed \u2018meaningful\u2019 devolution even if it was not labelled \u2018federalism\u2019, TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran who was also present told Daily FT.<\/p>\n

The British Prime Minister had shared the UK\u2019s own experiences in sharing power, saying that extensive power had been devolved to Scotland and Wales. \u201cIt is possible to share power without labelling it,\u201d Cameron told the TNA leadership. He assured the Tamil political leaders that Britain and the international community would do whatever it could to nudge the Sri Lankan Government in that direction. \u201cPolitical leaders in the north of Sri Lanka tell me they are glad I\u2019ve come to help highlight what is happening here,\u201d Cameron tweeted following his meeting with Wigneswaran.<\/p>\n

Demonstrations and counter demonstrations greeted the British Prime Minister\u2019s motorcade in the Northern capital, as scores of families of the disappeared lined the street to the Jaffna Library where his first meeting was to be held. Families of the disappeared, blocked from Cameron\u2019s view by a police truck placed in the centre of the road, breached the human wall created by the police and mobbed the VIP convoy just as the British Prime Minister\u2019s vehicle was whisked away by security.<\/p>\n

Emotional protestors mobbed buses filled with British media personnel who were travelling with Prime Minister Cameron. Several protestors thrust pictures of their loved ones and complaints of missing people into the hands of British journalists, including Channel 4\u2019s Jonathan Snow.<\/p>\n

A counter demonstration organised by the Jaffna Buddhist Association was permitted to be held in full view of the Library entrance where the Prime Minister\u2019s motorcade entered the premises. Holding neatly printed signs, the pro Government demonstrators urged an international inquiry into abuses during the colonial period and asked Britain not to interfere in the country\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>\n

The British Prime Minister also visited the Uthayan newspaper that has been attacked multiple times and seen several journalists killed or brutally assaulted in the heart of Jaffna town. At the newspaper he was shown pictures of the victims on the walls of the editorial offices and bullet holes from one of the attacks on the building by the newspaper\u2019s proprietor TNA MP E. Saravanabhavan and Editor M V. Kanamylnathan.<\/p>\n

The British Prime Minister, clad in a simple short sleeved black shirt and slacks, navigated the narrow alleys of the Sabhapathipillai IDP camp in Chunnakam, a few kilometres from Jaffna town. With his media posse in tow, Cameron spoke with families that had been displaced for 24 years and walked into their temporary shelters to see their living conditions first hand. The British Prime Minister said he had found the stories he was hearing from people at the camp were \u201coften harrowing\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 111 families at the Chunnakam camp have been displaced from the Valikamam North area, over which more than 2000 cases have been filed alleging illegal land acquisition by the Government. \u201cHe asked them why they were at the camp and why they could not go back to home and they all answered that the military was occupying their villages,\u201d Sumanthiran who accompanied Cameron to the IDP camp explained. \u201cSo their lands have been occupied by the army and four years after the end of the war, they won\u2019t give the lands back? And they can\u2019t go to court because straight justice won\u2019t be delivered,\u201d the British Prime Minister summarised after hearing the stories of the displaced. \u201cThis is where we will need to put the pressure,\u201d he added, speaking with Sumanthiran at the camp.<\/p>\n

Winding up his tour of Jaffna at the IDP camp, Cameron\u2019s delegation left for Palaly to fly back to Colombo just after 5 p.m.
\nThe TNA described the visit as \u2018fruitful\u2019 and important at a time when the Rajapaksa Government was basking in the glow of the Commonwealth Summit, believing it to be an international endorsement.<\/p>\n

COURTESY: DailyFT<\/em><\/p>\n

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

By Dharisha Bastians in Jaffna British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday became the first foreign leader to visit Sri Lanka\u2019s North, using his three hour tour to focus on press freedom, land and political rights of the Tamil people four years after the end of the war. Prime Minister Cameron stole the spotlight after the …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘CV Wigneswaran Tells David Cameron that Primary Problem in North is Military Governor Countermanding Orders Given by Chief Minister’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26623"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26626,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26623\/revisions\/26626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}