The latest addition to the Presidential Commission’s panel of advisors says that India should respect Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in solving the Tamil question and not add fuel to the fire.
Avdash Kaushal, who heads an Indian NGO, also appealed to Tamils on the island to consider themselves as Sri Lankans now and abide by Sri Lanka’s laws and constitution.
“How will we in India feel if Sri Lanka calls and talks to Indian separatists?” he asked, referring to the recent meeting between the TNA and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“You can talk to the Sri Lankan government and give them advice, but you cannot ask them to behave. India and Sri Lanka must respect each other’s sovereignty,” he said in an interview with the New Indian Express.
“We should not add fuel to the fire, but help Sri Lanka solve the problem. We should not pose as the Big Brother and apply pressure on it, but attempt to convince it of our stand. India should express appreciation of the progress made thus far in the implementation of the 13 Amendment on devolution of power to the provinces, and then urge the Lankans to move forward,” Kaushal said.
Kaushal said Tamils in Sri Lanka should “forget they came from India” and should consider themselves Sri Lankan, the New Indian Express said.
“They cannot ask for police powers for the Northern Province,” Kaushal said.
President Rajapaksa has stressed that the international experts on the Presidential Commission on Disappearances and Missing Persons will not have any investigative power.
The Tamil National Alliance, the Tamil National People's Front, and the prominent civil society campaigner, the Bishop of Mannar have criticised the domestic inquiry as unable to provide justice to the Tamils.
The government's decision to appoint international advisors to the commission has encountered widespread condemnation amongst Sri Lankan parties, with the main opposition UNP calling it a "betrayal" of Sri Lankan soldiers.
See related articles:
Rajapaksa 'livid' at TNA-Modi meeting (24 August 2014)
Government to add another international name to domestic commission (11 August 2014)
Cross-party concern over 'betrayal' of Sri Lankan soldiers in Presidential Inquiry (28 July 2014)
TNA remains sceptical over government commission (27 July 2014)
CPA criticises expansion of presidential commission mandate (25 July 2014)
UNP expresses ‘serious concern’ over government u-turn on presidential commission (22 July 2014)
TNA says it has no faith in Presidential commission (19 July 2014)
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