Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with parliamentarians from the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) at the Presidential Secretariat this week, reportedly to discuss "the longstanding challenges faced by the people in the Northern and Eastern regions".
The meeting, comes at a time of growing tensions on the island, exacerbated by a series of recent arrests under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Over the past two weeks, a spate of arrests has taken place, primarily in connection with the Maaveerar Naal (Heroes' Day) commemorations. These events are significant for Tamils, marking the sacrifice of Tamil fighters during the independence struggle. In some of the cases, individuals have been arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), a controversial law that has long been a point of contention. Sinhalese individuals have been amongst those detained. Despite Dissanayake’s promises to repeal the PTA, the law remains in place, with no clear timeline for its repeal. This has contributed to the growing sense of disenfranchisement among Tamils, who feel increasingly alienated from the state.
The ITAK MPs who attended the meeting—including Sivagnanam Shritharan, Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam, Shanmugam Kugathasan, Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, Gnanamuthu Srineshan, Kaveenthiran Kodeeswaran, Elayathamby Srinath, and Thurairasa Raviharan—raised these concerns with the Sri Lankan president. It is the first such publicised meeting between the Tamil parliamentarians and the head of the Sri Lankan state.
