The chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran said Tamils did not celebration Sri Lanka's Independence Day as they continued to live under Sinhala hegemony and domination.
"We feel the celebration of Independence from the Britishers has lost its signficance due to our coming under the domination and hegemony of the sinhalese," Mr Wigneswaran said to the press when asked about his stance on the celebrations.
"Until we obtain real devolution of power under a Federal Constitution we cannot retrieve our lost rights in full. Hence how could you expect us as Tamils to celebrate the Fourth of February?"
"All of us Tamils feel cheated and let down," he added.
Describing how power transferred from colonial rulers to the majority Sinhala community on February 4th, 1948, Mr Wigneswaran described how laws were enacted by the Sinhala majority to discriminate and marginalise the Tamils.
"It became obvious that Tamils had lost their freedom to the Sinhalese in this process. Still the Armed Forces are occupying the North and East as if we are under siege. The Centre controls all activities political, social and economic in the North and East. It is patent that the State is interested in decreasing the number of Tamils in the North and East and increasing the presence of the majority community there."