{"id":76698,"date":"2022-03-26T00:36:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T04:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=76698"},"modified":"2022-03-26T18:55:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T22:55:40","slug":"govt-promises-to-set-up-a-special-north-east-development-fund-to-promote-investment-in-war-affected-areas-issues-of-concern-to-tamls-such-as-release-of-prisonersland-acquisiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=76698","title":{"rendered":"Govt Promises to Set up a Special \u201cNorth -East Development Fund\u201d to Promote Investment in War- affected areas ; issues of Concern to Tamls such as Release of Prisoners,Land acquisition in N-E and enforced disappearances will be looked into positively assures President Rajapaksa at meeting with ITAK and PLOTE:"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sri Lankan government will set up a \u2018North-East Development Fund\u2019 to increase investments in the war-affected areas, while probing cases of enforced disappearances and land grabs that remain chief concerns of the Tamil people 13 years after the war ended.<\/p>\n

The announcement came on Friday, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest grouping of parliamentarians representing districts in the north and east. It was Mr. Rajapaksa\u2019s first meeting with the country\u2019s Tamil political leadership since his election to office in November 2019. The meeting took place for over two hours at the Presidential Secretariat, with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his older brother and Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, also present.<\/p>\n

The TNA has been demanding that the government deliver the long-pending political solution to Sri Lanka\u2019s national question, through a new constitutional settlement. The demand was the thrust of TNA leader and veteran Tamil politician R. Sampanthan\u2019s letter to President Rajapaksa ahead of the meeting, twice postponed before it was held on Friday. But the government sought to postpone the discussion on the political solution, as an experts\u2019 committee report on constitutional proposals is expected to be made public within two months\u2019 time, according to TNA spokesman and Jaffna legislator M.A. Sumanthiran. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The President meanwhile agreed to focus on four key areas, including possibly releasing long-term detainees under the country\u2019s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) — which the government recently amended but critics want repealed \u2013 and suspects held without being charged; ending the incessant land grabs in the north and east by different state agencies to allegedly change the demographics of the region; inquiring into cases of enforced disappearances and establishing a special development fund for the north and east, he said.<\/p>\n

Families of disappeared persons, mainly women, have been protesting for years now, demanding the truth about their loved ones who went missing, or surrendered to the military during the civil war years or soon after. Mr. Gotabaya, who was Secretary to the Ministry of Defence during those years, has denied there were enforced disappearances then. <\/p>\n

\u2018Truth-finding\u2019 mechanism<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Friday\u2019s discussion, the President told the TNA that his government was working on \u201ca number of issues\u201d, including the release of suspects held in long-term detention, and those who have not been charged or prosecuted, the launch of \u201ca truth-finding\u201d mechanism, the amendment of the PTA and resolving \u201cissues related to missing persons\u201d, a statement from his office said.
\nPresident Gotabaya has in the past emphasised development over devolution, as the most important need for the war-affected areas. The initiative to set up a development fund exclusively for the war-affected areas comes nearly three years after his election, amid widespread joblessness, indebtedness, and poverty in the region that the pandemic and Sri Lanka\u2019s current economic crisis have only aggravated. Earlier this week 16 people from northern Sri Lanka fled the country\u2019s current economic crisis, and sought refuge in Tamil Nadu.<\/p>\n


\nTamil question<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in a recent All Party Conference convened by the President on the economic crisis, TNA Leader Mr. Sampanthan spoke of the need to urgently address the Tamil question. The long civil war pulled the country and its economy down by decades, and the reasons for the war remain unresolved, with the Tamil people still denied their right to equality and dignity, he had observed. \u201cWe are willing to work with the government to solve this economic crisis, but we must remember that without a decisive political solution, we will not be able to revive our country\u2019s economy,\u201d he had said.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the TNA\u2019s opinion of Friday\u2019s meeting with the President, spokesman Mr. Sumanthiran told The Hindu: \u201cThe success of today\u2019s meeting will depend on the government\u2019s prompt action on the issues they have agreed to address.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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

By Meera Srinivasan The Sri Lankan government will set up a \u2018North-East Development Fund\u2019 to increase investments in the war-affected areas, while probing cases of enforced disappearances and land grabs that remain chief concerns of the Tamil people 13 years after the war ended. The announcement came on Friday, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met a …<\/p>\n

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