COLOMBO, Feb 11 (PTI): President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday he was committed to devolution of power within a unitary state as a solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic issue and underlined the need for Tamil diaspora’s engagement for the development of the conflict-battered northern region.
Addressing state officials in Jaffna, President Wickremesinghe also expressed hope that India will contribute to the development of the eastern port of Trincomalee.
“We have to launch major development programmes for the north alongside economic growth programmes. The war destroyed the northern economy,” he said, adding that 14 years after the war has ended, the development that has taken place is not adequate.
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The civil war was fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009.
On May 18, 2009, the campaign led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to establish a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation came to an end with the killing of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran by the Sri Lankan Army in Mullaithviu’s Vellamulivaikkal.
The Tamils allege that thousands were massacred during the final stages of the war, a charge the Sri Lankan Army denies.
According to a UN report, at least 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in just the final months of the civil war,
Wickremesinghe said he was looking forward to the Tamil diaspora’s engagement in the development of the northern region.
He said he was willing to devolve maximum power to the northern region under the unitary state concept.
President Wickremesinghe has underlined the need to fully implement the India-sponsored 13th amendment to the Constitution to grant political autonomy to the minority Tamils in the country.
India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13A which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.
Sinhalese, mostly Buddhist, make up nearly 75 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population, while Tamils are 15 per cent.
Wickremesinghe’s remarks came amid intensified protests staged this week by the powerful Buddhist monks against the full implementation of the 13th amendment to the Constitution.
They described the move as the first step towards leading to a Tamil state in the north and eastern regions and the separation of the country.
Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, President Wickremesinghe said there will be no division of the country, contrary to fears expressed by sections of the Buddhist clergy.
The majority hardline Buddhist clergy has been thwarting attempts for reconciliation with the Tamil minority since 1948 when the country gained its independence from Britain.
