| Periyasamy
Chandrasekaran denies all
By Santhush Fernando
Minister Periyasamy Chandrasekaran is denying that he supported
an LTTE candidate at the Oslo Municipal elections and that he called
for all the Tamils to unite under LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
In an interview the Minister claimed that media reports were untrue,
exagerated or contradictory.
Excerpts:
There were media reports saying you had supported Yogarajah
Balasingham alias Baskaran who won a Municipal seat in Oslo after
running on a pro-LTTE ticket. What exactly did you say?
A: While in Oslo, I attended a cultural function
organised by the Tamil Sangam. Baskaran too attended this function.
I neither knew him, nor canvassed for him.
But I asked the members to support any contestant from the Tamil
speaking community as I was told that a Tamil was contesting for
the local government elections. I never asked them to support Baskaran.
After the function the organisers agreed that it was not right to
have called him to the stage as the function was non political.
Some of the reports carried in the Sinhala and English media are
wrong.
So
you say that you did not know Baskaran before that?
A: I met him only on the stage. I had never spoken to him.
You
reportedly made a statement, at the same function that the Tamil
speaking community of the world could be united only under LTTE
leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Is that correct?
A: I have at no place said that the Tamil Nation should
unite under Mr. Prabhakaran. But I did make a statement that our
language is deteriorating according to a survey done, by a reputed
institution, on languages. What I said was that we should preserve
our language. I never said that we should achieve that under the
leadership of Mr. Prabhakaran.
But
did your media co-ordinating officer H.H. Wickremasinghe tell a
Tamil newspaper that you spoke of all Tamils coming under Mr. Prabhakaran?
A: I'll have to inquire from him.
You
said that the Tamil language was deteriorating and your comments
were based on a survey. What is this survey?
A: This was done by a united nations organisation. Referring
to this, a reputed expert on the Tamil language in Tamil Nadu had
published an article. I based my statement on that.
Other
media reports said you had called for the merger of the Badulla
and Nuwara Eliya districts and for them to come under the north-east
Provincial Council. Why did you make such a statement?
A: I never said that. What I said was that if the north
and east were given any powers, which could be federal, provincial
or otherwise, we too, as a substantial group in the Central, Uva
and Sabaragamuwa provinces, should be given some sort of a solution.
It could be provincial, federal or any other method, which affirms
the survival of our community.
Some
people feel you are a supporter of Mr. Prabhakaran and the LTTE?
A: As you said, some say that I support Mr. Prabhakaran
and on the other hand they contradict it when saying that he refused
to meet me. But one thing I must say. That is that, since I founded
the Up-country Peoples' Front in 1989, I have insisted that the
problem of the minorities should be solved. Only then can we uplift
the economy of the whole of Sri Lanka. We cannot succeed in competing
with other countries if we have an internal problem. It is not that
I support Mr. Prabhakaran.
Way back in 1989 I contested from PLOTE. Before that, when I was
in the CWC people alleged that I was supporting EROS. Now they say
that I support the LTTE. Even while I was in the CWC, I was speaking
out for the minorities.
I Still do that. It is not that I support the LTTE. When did Prabhakaran
come to the picture? He took up arms after 1983. It was India who
gave them arms, money, training and all the support for the struggle.
But this problem of the minorities was there long before 1983.
If Mr. Prabhakaran and the LTTE should disappear from the picture
tomorrow, will the problem disappear too?
Were
you refused a meeting with Mr. Prabhakaran, while you were on a
tour in the north and east?
A: Mr. Prabhakaran has never refused a meeting with me.
If there is any reason for me to meet him, I could always meet him.
And he has never refused a meeting with me before.
Why
did you invite Mr. Prabhakaran to take the leadership of the Plantation
Community, and take up their plight as well and why do you think
he rejected it, saying that leadership should come from within the
community itself?
A: That is totally false. I never made such an invitation
nor did Prabhakaran give such a reply. But I said that we should
unite for the plight of the Tamil Community as we too undergo a
similar situation. He readily accepted and agreed with me.
How
do you, as a leader of the plantation community, see the change
of the LTTE's demand from a separate state to a federal state?
A: Both parties have to compromise. Earlier they asked
for a separate state, then they asked for self-governance, now they
have come forward with the demand for a federal state.
Even the Government
is not hasty in its decisions. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
is not backing out and taking the country to war even in the midst
of the immense opposition from the JVP and other opposing factions.
Both parties do have to make compromises.
Do
you feel that if the North and East do receive federal powers, that
Muslims and Indian Tamils too, should get federal powers?
A: We do not demand nor expect a federal system for us.
In 1977, only one Indian Tamil, Saumyamurthi Thondaman, was elected
to Parliament. Later 10 were elected.
But at present how many are elected? Only 3 from the whole of Nuwara
Eliya district. All the others were from the National List and not
through the peoples' vote.
As you see only 3 are elected to Parliament at present, when there
were 10 elected at one time. In future, if 2 or 3 more parties contest
from Nuwara Eliya, and we too contest separately in such an election,
no one will be elected.
What will then be our future? We must think about our political
future.
g Do
you think that it is a drawback for the peace process, if Mr. Prabhakaran
is convicted, by both India and Sri Lanka?
A: No. When Mr. Karunanidhi and other Indian political
leaders asked this question from me I replied that our President
is holding hands with the same JVP which allegedly assassinated
her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga.
She is holding
hands now to overthrow the present Government. So their political
position has changed with time. I told them that it is not the time
for research on who committed what. So I asked them to evaluate
the present condition and take a stand on this issue. |
