Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

Rape, land grabs and militarisation destroying Tamil life in North-East - Chief Minister

The Tamil people in the North-East face genocide the Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister warned that Tamils face genocide, at a youth conference in Jaffna on Wednesday, the Uthayan reports.

Speaking at the Weerasingham hall in Jaffna, despite military attempts to stop youth from attending the conference, CV Wigneswaran said, that rape, sexual assaults, land grabs, and military interference in the economy were destroying the everyday lives of Tamil people in the North-East.  

Condemning the state destruction of Tamil identity, he added that religious and cultural sites for Tamils in the North-East were being destroyed and replaced by religious sites. The new religous sites were only relevant to the military that was stationed in the area, added the chief minister.

Commenting on allegations that he had prevented the Northern Provincial Council from passing a resolution calling for an end to the genocide of Tamils, the Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister, said,

"I was accused of preventing NPC members from passing a motion regarding genocide, but the reason for that is not that I deny that it is happening."

"I feel that the brutal war that our people faced in North East provinces has buried our people's identity, environment, family units, cultural and religious norms," he added.

Wigneswaran warned that under the guise of development the government was carrying out a plan to militarily  control the North-East by integrating military in to economic, public, cultural and religious lives of the Tamil people.

"5 years after the end of the war, the government and military have not allowed the Tamil people to continue their lives normally, " he added.

Related articles:

Army stops youths from attending conference in Jaffna (10 Dec 2014)

Chief Minister slams militarisation of North-East (10 Nov 2014)

‘Government spying is threat to life’ – Chief Minister Wigneswaran (06 Sep 2014)

Tamils have no faith in SL justice says Wigneswaran (29 Jun 2014)

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.