The ‘cantonment system’ introduced by the Sri Lankan Army in the Tamil-speaking Northeast of the island has prompted fears amongst the Tamil population about Sinhala settlements, the leader of the Eelam Peoples’ Revolutionary Liberation Front said on Tuesday, The Hindu reported.
Varadarajah Perumal, who was Chief Minister of the short-lived Northeast Provincial Council in the eighties, during which he declared an independent Tamil Eelam, said that a reduction of the army presence in the Tamil region would help the economyPerumal said it was India’s responsibility to to ensure that the Rajapaksa government devolved powers to the provincial governments under the 13th Amendment.
“When the Indo-Lanka accord was signed, we were made to accept it with a guarantee by the Indian government that the 13th Amendment will be implemented in totality. The Chief Ministers elected by the people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces have no powers now,” he said.