By IANS,
New Delhi : India Friday said it wanted a revival of the political process in Sri Lanka that will after the two-decade long civil war meet the aspirations of all stakeholders, including Tamil civilians, and reiterated that it will “remain engaged” through the entire course.
New Delhi has also been assured by Colombo that all Tamil civilians displaced by the civil war would be re-settled by end of January 2010.
Cutting across party lines in both houses of parliament, MPs expressed concern over the situation in the island nation’s north and urged the Indian government to do more.
While the government made a suo-moto statement in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna made reply to a calling attention motion on plight of Tamils in Lok Sabha.
“The government is keen to see the revival of political process in Sri Lanka which will meet the legitimate interests and aspirations of all communities, including Tamils and Muslims, within the framework of a united Sri Lanka,” Krishna said in the statement in the upper house.
“Revival of such political process and an inclusive dialogue would help bring the minority communities into the political mainstream,” he added.
Krishna also said India has continued to emphasise to the Sri Lankan government “to put forward a meaningful devolution package that could go beyond 13th amendment. We will remain engaged with them through this process of transition and reform”.
Out of the 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps, more than half have been re-settled, while about 145,000 still remain in the camps. The travel restrictions on those living in the camps have also been relaxed, Krishna said.
“We have been assured that by end-January 2010, all IDPs would be re-settled. We continue to work with the Sri Lankan government to ensure the resettlement of all,” he said.
India has set aside Rs.500 crore for the rehabilitation of the IDPs and welfare of people in northern Sri Lanka.
Not satisfied with the statement, member after member, mainly from the opposition, sounded high criticism of the manner in which the government had handled the situation in the wake of the Tamil Tigers’ defeat in May.
M. Venkiah Naidu of the Bharatiya Janata Party led the charge, saying: “One can win the war but lose the peace. Don’t think the issue is over. There is need to expedite a solution or the issue will re-surface and have disastrous consequences.”
Pointing out that the Sri Lankan government had not moved “an inch forward” on the devolution of powers to Sri Lankan Tamils, he said a parliamentary delegation should be sent to Sri Lanka to study the situation on the ground.
K. Malaisamy of the AIADMK had serious objections to the Tamil Nadu government’s intention to resettle some of the displaced Sri Lankan civilians in the state. This, he said, would be playing into the hands of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who intended to “clear” the island nation of Tamils.
He also said the Indian high commission (in Colombo) was “not giving a correct picture of the ground. For instance, in one area where the Tamil population was once 3/4ths, it is now down to 1/4th,” he contended, adding, “There is a lot more you (the government) can do. You can arm-twist Sri Lanka into doing more for the Tamils.”
D. Raja (Communist Party of India) urged the reworking of the Kachchathivu agreement and greater access for Indian fishermen around Sri Lanka.
Similar sentiments were expressed in the Lok Sabha, where parliamentarians alleged that India was not doing enough for Tamil refugees. “Well, all our efforts are directed exactly to support and defend our Tamil brothers and sisters,” Krishna said, followed by thumping of desks from the treasury benches.
He said that Sri Lankan government was alive to the concerns of India.
“Whatever Sri Lankan government does, I am sure they will keep in mind the sensitivities of the Indian government and Indian people,” he said.