President Sirisena in Sampur with TNA leader R. Sampanthan
?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??By Siva Sivapragasam
Tamils in Sri Lanka are being given an assurance that the Government would work wholeheartedly to provide equal facilities and opportunities for them.
Three main players in Sri Lankan politics today – Former President Chandrika Kumaratunge, President Sirisena and TNA Leader Sampanthan, at the Sampoor event
This assurance was given by none other than the head of the state, namely President Sirisena, at an event in Sampur to mark the resettlement of people in Sampur who had been displaced by the war. Sampur is a tiny village in the district of Trincomalee in North-East Sri Lanka.
President Sirisena also remarked that more than any others the Tamils know the trauma of war.
Ponkala and Vijaylatha, women in their thirties, are a happy lot today. In 2006, they had to leave their village Sampur (about 275 km from Colombo) at the height of an armed conflict between a militant group and the government. About a month ago, they returned to their native place.
On Saturday, the two women were present at an event to mark the commencement of resettlement in the village. President Maithripala Sirisena and his predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranaike, kicked off the process by handing over land deeds to 25 internally displaced Tamils who had owned land in the village.
A local official says that so far, 205 families have come back out of the 825 families forced to flee. The remaining could come only after the Navy vacates the sites it???s occupying. The authorities have sought a few months to shift to a new place.
Sirisena assured Tamils of the Northern and Eastern Provinces that his government would work wholeheartedly to provide them facilities and opportunities on ??par with what was being made available to people in other parts of the country.
A Ministry will be created to pursue closely the matters of reconciliation and brotherhood, he said. The President, who earlier went to camps of internally displaced people, said he felt sad to see the conditions in which the people had been living.
???More than others, the Tamils know the trauma of war,??? he said, exhorting the people to ensure that the country faced no more wars.
D.M. Swaminathan, United National Party leader and who held the portfolio of Resettlement and Rehabilitation till now, said 75,000 houses were built to cater to the post-war requirements of the provinces of the East and the North.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan who was also present said the Tamils wanted to lead their lives as equal citizens in a ???united, undivided Sri Lanka.???
Eastern Province Chief Minister Z.A. Nazeer Ahamed urged the Central government to turn Sampoor into a model village and an ???oasis of peace.???
Eastern Province Governor Austin Fernando, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader, Rauf Hakeem and TNA leaders, Mavai S. Senathirajah, M.A. Sumanthiran and Selvam Adaikalanathan were among those present.
A political activist in Colombo familiar with Sri Lankan politics told ???Monsoon Journal??? that President Sirisena is a simple man of the people who can be trusted and understood, ??and such statements and assurances by the Head of State would go a long way in creating a sense of trust and confidence among the Tamil community. They look forward for better times under the new Government of good governance after undergoing severe hardships over the recent years after thirty years of war.
(Input: The Hindu)
