NPC adopts resolution backing federal solution

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) controlled northern provincial council today adopted a resolution seeking a federal solution to the long-pending issue of political independence for the counry's minority Tamil community. 

The resolution adopted by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) aims to have the federal solution included in the current constitution-making process. 

The government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has already launched a process to formulate a new Constitution for the country replacing the 1978 statute.  The Tamil demand for a federal solution dates back to the days when Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, came to be granted independence by the British in 1948. 

Later, the campaign was extended to a separate state demand when the LTTE fought a decades-old war with the government to carve out a separate Tamil homeland.  With the defeat of the LTTE in 2009, the Tamil leadership has adopted a softer approach to give up on the separatist demand.(PTI)