This was sequel to a meeting that took place between President Rajapakse and Minister Tissa Witharana, the Chairman of the ARPC. It is clear that the ARPC proceedings were suddenly halted due to pressures exerted by the Buddhist Sinhala extremist forces.

There is speculation that there are chances for the APRC to put forward a solution despite the opposition by the extremist forces. The knowledgeable circles indicate that the proposals will delete the use of the term that Sri Lanka is a unitary state. The proposals will identify Sri Lanka as an independent sovereign republic. Devolution will be on the district level. The north-east merger issue will be discussed at the peace talks.

These are the proposals to be put forward by the Colombo government. They are the proposals of the south. They are not the proposals of Sri Lanka. They cannot be conclusive proposals for the resolution of the ethnic issue.

The striking feature of this entire exercise is that the Tamils have not participated in the deliberations of the APRC. The views of 22 of the 24 Tamil Parliamentarians elected by the Tamil people have not been taken into consideration. Neither their party nor the LTTE, the sole representatives of the Tamil people, had taken part in the deliberations of the APRC.

These proposals of the south put forward through the APRC can only be the basis for the negotiations with the Tamil people. But it doesn’t appear that the proposals can be a proper basis for talks with the Tamils.

Tamils have been struggling for decades through both non violent struggles and violent straggles demanding right to self rule in their traditional homeland in the north-east. It was to find a negotiated peace that they agreed for internal Self Governance in a federal state. It will be prudent of the government to put forward a proposal that can meet the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people.

An English translation of the Editorial in the Sudar Oli, a Tamil daily, based in Colombo

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