America
Tamils in Canada urge Modi to pressure Sri Lanka
Welcoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Colombo, a
leading Tamil group in Canada - home to the largest Tamil diaspora
outside Sri Lanka - has urged him to put pressure on new President
Maithiripala Sirisena to resolve the dragging ethnic issue.
"By
undertaking (the first bilateral) visit after 28 years by an Indian
leader to Sri Lanka, Modi has shown his personal commitment to resolving
the issues faced by the people in Sri Lanka, particularly the Tamils in
the north and east," the Canadian Tamil Congress said in a statement.
"Given
the recent change of leadership in Sri Lanka, Modi’s timely visit could
serve as a meaningful step towards bringing lasting peace in Sri Lanka,
especially since his visit will include a trip to the Northern
Province, something no previous Indian prime minister has done," it
said.
The group said Sri Lanka has consistently ignored calls by
human rights organisations to allow the return of Tamil refugees,
restore their lands, release detainees and end demilitarization of the
north and east.
"But we are hopeful this important and timely
visit by Modi will help expedite the early resolution of the needs of
Tamil people in Sri Lanka and hopefully contribute towards rebuilding
war-torn areas," it said.
Welcoming Sirisena's steps towards
reconciliation by visiting the northeast and replacing military
officials with civilian governors, the statement said: "But the real
work surrounding accountability and justice for mass crimes committed
during the war have not yet been addressed."
The Canadian Tamil
Congress said the present situation provided a unique opportunity to
bring about a lasting political solution to the Sri Lankan crisis.
"We
request Prime Minister Modi to urge the Sri Lankan government to
embrace this opportunity and engage the elected Tamil representatives
from TNA (Tamil National Alliance).
"We also hope that Modi and
Sirisena can use this opportunity to come to a viable solution for the
fishermen’s issue in a manner that can be reasonable to all parties
involved in the conflict."
Sri Lanka routinely arrests fishermen
from India for intruding into Sri Lankan water. Indian authorities too
arrest Sri Lankan fishermen. This has often led to conflict -- and
occasionally resulted in deaths.
There are over 300,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada - their largest concentration outside Sri Lanka.