The Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson, this is a very important debate for our party. When the House is disturbed, I cannot speak. I am neither a proxy nor a stooge. I was elected by winning my District. I have a right to speak. It is now 2.04 p.m. My time starts now. From now, please give me my allotted time.

¶ 02 Madam, today, at the Committee Stage Discussion, the allocation of funds for a couple of very important Ministries is being discussed.

¶ 03 First of all, I would like to touch upon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, of which both the Hon. Minister and the Deputy Minister are present in the Chamber. Hon. Minister, improvement of the tourism sector in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces is not going to happen with any allocations you make through the Tourism Development Authority or by building a small park in the North or a small garden in the East. That is not how you could develop tourism in the North and the East. The only way to develop the tourism sector in the North and the East, which could also contribute to this country’s economy, is through developing connectivity to the North and the East. Now, a year had passed under this NPP Government and one such avenue of improving connectivity to those provinces, the KKS Harbour, has been delayed. Now, we are beginning to hear the good news that the KKS Harbour will finally be commissioned for development this year. So, we are happy and we thank you for that.

¶ 04 At the same time, we would like to urge you to look into developing the Palaly International Airport. We recently concluded a tour in the Palaly International Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority told us that the surface of the runway built in 1948 needs to be re-laid for an A-320 aircraft to land. That is not a major development that you need to do, Hon. Minister. So, if you are really interested in developing the tourism sector in the North, please look into improving connectivity. I know that ports and aviation is not under your Ministry, but still, as Minister of Tourism, I would like to encourage you to look into that as well.

¶ 05 At the same time, there are some allocations made in this Budget to develop the Hingurakgoda Domestic Airport. Along with that, the Batticaloa International Airport is also there and it could also function. If you all are unable to intervene, please give us, the Tamil parties and the Tamil Members of Parliament, that responsibility. We will help you improve connectivity to the North and the East. So is the Talaimannar-Rameswaran ferry. To build the pier, there are investors who are ready to spend money. So, without talking about the various projects you are planning to undertake to develop the tourism sector there, please look into the connectivity aspect.

¶ 06 Then, moving on to the Foreign Employment Bureau, I would like to thank my Friend, the Hon. Arun Hemachandra. There is a new scheme that has been launched to give migrant workers airline tickets on a concessionary basis. That is a move that we welcome. At the same time, Hon. Deputy Minister, I would like to urge you to look into the Foreign Employment Bureau’s activities. Some men and women who fly to the Middle-Eastern countries without proper visas or on tourist visas are arrested there and their lives get destroyed. Many of them are languishing in prisons there. So, I would like you to look into that as well.

¶ 07 There is one more thing. I know that you boast about the number of tourist arrivals into this country, but whether we really get the estimated revenue from them is a big question because most of the tourists that we see today are not ones who spend over US Dollars 150 per day, as your Ministry has put out. So, please look into that. Both the Hon. Minister and the Hon. Deputy Minister have a huge responsibility because the Foreign Employment Bureau and the Ministry of Tourism are two main streams for foreign exchange earnings into this country. So, you have a big responsibility in your hands and I would like to wish you all the best!

¶ 08 Then, moving onto foreign affairs, it is very unfortunate that the Minister-in-charge has gone to Geneva and suggested to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that a domestic mechanism will be used to address the accountability issues in this country. Hon. Minister, you are very well aware that the victim community has rejected any domestic mechanism. I do not know whom you are planning to engage with on implementing your domestic mechanism or whether you are even aware what your domestic mechanism is.

¶ 09 The previous governments spoke about a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We rejected that as well because there was no international participation, no accountability or a judicial mechanism. So, I do not know whether you even know what your own domestic mechanism is, but you keep on saying that the NPP Government's stance is a domestic mechanism. The reason you give for that is, there would be a divide among the communities, if there would be international involvement. In that regard, I would say that both this Ministry and the Ministry of Justice and National Integration are connected. We have also rejected the Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations under the Ministry of Justice and National Integration. I heard the Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva saying something that I said with regard to the Office for Reparation. Out of the five members the President had endorsed for the Office for Reparations, three have a military background. I do not have a personal issue with the persons who have been nominated to that. On principle, how can you have an Office for Reparations looking into paying war victims' reparation or compensation when three of its members were involved with the military? That is unacceptable!

¶ 10 Along with that, Madam, there is another important matter I would like to raise.

¶ 11 Yesterday afternoon in Trincomalee, I personally witnessed an unfortunate incident. Near the Trincomalee beach, a new viharaya was being illegally constructed. I warn Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara who spoke before me today: please do not endorse illegal activities for the sake of politics. He too referred to the Constitution’s foremost place given to Buddhism and spoke in support. Whether it is Buddhism or any other religion, unlawful activities must not be permitted. Even if it is me; even if it is a Buddhist monk; whoever it is!

¶ 12 Even during the Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya periods, such illegal activities took place. We expected that under this Government they would not occur. But even today, some racist monks are doing things. As I know, my friend, the Trincomalee District MP Hon. Arun Hemachandra, acted with care on this matter.

¶ 13 The Coast Guard personnel who were present there made a complaint to the police. In line with that, the Police investigated and we believed they would stop it as illegal. However, around 8 p.m., under police protection, after the statue had been placed, I telephoned Hon. Minister Ananda Wijepala and told him, “This is a racist act; in future it will create conflict between religions and ethnicities; you must pay attention.”

¶ 14 Around 10-11 p.m., the illegally installed statue inside the viharaya was removed. I had welcomed the actions of the National People’s Power Government. But this morning the Hon. Minister, fearful of the racists’ opinions, said, “We removed the statue only to protect it as there was no protection; taking it out does not mean placing the statue was a mistake.” The videos show clearly that it was removed, not protected. I strongly condemn the Minister’s statement.

¶ 15 Even during the 30-year war, in the North and East, no symbol related to Buddhism was destroyed even by the LTTE. Tamil people are not those who go at night to break statues. For any reason – even if we oppose illegal placing of other religions’ symbols – we are not such a degraded race to engage in violence and break statues. Certain people have demolished Saivite kovils; some have demolished Christian churches. We did not do such things. The military itself demolished some churches in the North in areas under their control – in KKS, Palaly and others. We are not those who act in that way. This whole act is purely illegal.

¶ 16 Comrade Arun Hemachandra, please resign and come to our party! Because this party is not suitable for you. I too was once an organizer in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Their racist actions were like this. The party you are in now is entirely acting in such a way. I know you were elected with a large number of Tamil votes in Trincomalee; I understand your dilemma. Many of our comrades who represent the North and East – Ilankumaran, Thilaganathan, Rajeevan, Kalaichelvi akka – would agree with us. According to your conscience, do you accept that what NPP did is right? Wrong is wrong.

¶ 17 Madam, it was a very unfortunate incident and the Hon. Minister did the right thing. A group of illegal encroachers came there all of a sudden and there has been an illegal construction made. If there is some legal basis to this temple, why do they have to come on a Sunday? They could have come on a Monday or on a Tuesday and constructed the Temple.

¶ 18 I told the Leader of the Opposition and Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara not to support illegal acts for politics. If it is a legally constructed temple, and all documents are in order, then go and meet the Divisional Secretary and proceed. Coming on a Sunday morning, laying a foundation stone, constructing the temple by night and by 9.30 p.m. placing a statue – does that not reveal something is amiss? I believe this was done as preparation for the November 21 rally. Hon. Namal Rajapaksa is not in the House now. If you want to bring people for the November 21 rally, do not start such things. Do not spread racism in this country by doing unlawful things. I am concerned that Hon. Ananda Wijepala, though he did the right thing, later slightly retreated due to the chauvinist vote base. I regret that.

¶ 19 I am concerned that the Hon. Minister succumbed to the pressures of the chauvinists in this country. Had S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike not torn apart the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact, we would not have faced a 30-year war. But, remember what happened to him as well. He was shot by a monk. So, to this Government also, I say, do not succumb to pressures from those chauvinist and nationalist people. There are also minorities in this country. People defeated those chauvinists and gave you the mandate to do the right thing.

¶ 20 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, tomorrow we too could bring thousands to Trincomalee and stage a big protest that would disturb the peace of this country. But our party is a responsible party. Acting responsibly, if we start another protest in this country, the Rajapaksa clan will start another. If both sides clash, the country will go into a worse state. We continually say that we point out the shortcomings in the National People’s Power to bring them on the right path. My friend Hon. Dilith Jayaweera is here. I am sure he also would fuel this tension over that viharaya. He is listed to speak after me. This is a good opportunity for them and the Hon. Dilith Jayaweera would use that to fuel tension, to say that the NPP Government is destroying the Buddhist culture; he will do that. Wait and see! His speech is right after mine.