The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, when we take positions on laws or policies brought by the Government, we try not to be confrontational. We criticize constructively—that is our role. The Hon. Prime Minister, as Minister of Education, knows we stood firmly against vindictive campaigns targeting her over a debated policy document she authored. While we may disagree, there is a way to disagree. We have not tried to derail Government efforts; we have hoped our criticisms would be taken seriously and addressed, if not immediately, then later.

¶ 02 I urge the Hon. Prime Minister to swiftly reverse the previous Government’s decision barring law practitioners from being university lecturers—a ridiculous decision she herself opposed and signed a statement against. A respected young academic, Dr. Kumaravadivel Guruparan, was severely affected.

¶ 03 The marking schemes for appointing Vice-Chancellors are, in my view, absurd. There must be openness and fairness. Similarly, appointments of external members to University Councils are shrouded in secrecy. These must change to transform the culture, as the Government claims to do.

¶ 04 I now raise an issue that no Tamil MP from the North and East—Government or Opposition—could support, if free to speak: the Kivul Oya Project that the Cabinet has approved. Initiated under the Rajapaksas—whom Tamils regard as holding the most vehement racist ideologies—it planned settlements of nearly 6,000 Sinhala families; around 4,000 were already settled. In 1984, military operations systematically displaced Tamils from Mullaitivu East and Vavuniya North. Before they could return, Sinhala colonization took place. Post-war, when Tamils tried to return, they found lands declared as forests or occupied by outsiders. The Kivul Oya Project is a key grievance in the North. Members of all Tamil parties have opposed it. The official plans show settlements exclusively for Sinhalese. The Central Environmental Authority’s feasibility analysis points out that such settlements violate the Constitution. The Rajapaksas allocated Rs. 7 billion; your Government has increased it by Rs. 2 billion. How can we accept this? Is this not racism?

¶ 05 We protested at Thaiyiddy Tissa Viharaya, built on private land, while land allocated for the Viharaya elsewhere remained unused. When we protested this illegal confiscation, the President went to Jaffna and called us racist. When we try to be constructive and support you when unfairly targeted, and then raise core issues that exacerbate the conflict, the President calls us racist, and your Government advances the Kivul Oya scheme. You are no different from previous governments.

¶ 06 If this Government is different, there must be a systemic change in how it treats the people of the North and East. You cannot repeat past actions and claim you are not racist. The Prime Minister must intervene in Kivul Oya; if it proceeds, the last hope Tamils had in your Government will be dashed. Thank you.