Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

'Same government with a different face' in Sri Lanka says M.I.A

The Tamil issue must be resolved to see peace in Sri Lanka said, the Oscar and Grammy award nominated rapper, M.I.A, speaking to Channel 4 on the newly elected Sri Lankan president.

Noting that issues important to the Tamils had not been considered in the new Sri Lankan president's 100 day plan to reform the country, M.I.A said,

"When you take Rajapaksa out, you have to take his methods out. You have to demilitarise the North-East, stop intimidating Tamils, and give back their land. Already there should be elements in this 100 day plan which address the Tamil issue....You definitely have to solve the ethnic conflict before addressing economic reform."

Speaking on the UN inquiry into Sri Lankan atrocities, she added,

 "Of course we want to see Rajapaksa go to the Hague. We want people that committed war crimes to go to trial. At the same time we need  them [Tamils] to be able to get their lives back in order. They need to be able to go back home and released out of camps and prisons...At the moment prejudice and racism towards them [Tamils] still exist, and that needs to be addressed at the same time."

MIA added that the newly elected government had the "same face" as the old government as many of the officials had been involved with the government for the last 30 years.

See our editorial: New crossroad? (12 Jan 2015)

See our feature: Who is Maithripala Sirisena?

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.