The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, you can take my comments on the Defence and Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ministries in two ways. You can take them constructively: we list real issues faced by a section of this country. If you do not address them, you create a further issue regarding the legitimacy of this country for that section. As the representative of Tamils, we raise issues expecting the Government to note and rectify them, because they go to the core of the State’s legitimacy for Tamils. It is emotional, naturally. You can either bracket the emotions and respond constructively, or deny everything, blame the Tamils, and portray them as wanting Sri Lanka to fail. I will say what must be said.

¶ 02 As far as Tamils are concerned, the Ministry of Defence is the most hated Ministry—not just under this Government but under previous governments. Why? Because that single Ministry is the cause of Tamil suffering not only during the war but even 16 years after. What will you do about it?

¶ 03 The State Minister of Defence referred to my earlier comments about military involvement in spreading drugs in the North and East. I stand by it. If he attends the Jaffna District Coordinating Committee, where military officials are present, he will hear it himself—from Governors downwards—that police and the military work hand in hand. When people pursue drug peddlers, they run into military camps and hide. When people go to complain, the police refuse to accept complaints. We then complained to the Human Rights Commission about police refusing complaints. That is the reality. Deny it if you wish, but then you mark yourselves as part of the past. If you want credibility, stop denying and address it; you will have our full cooperation because our people are affected. If you keep denying as you did this morning, you only heighten public suspicion of Defence, Public Security and the Police.

¶ 04 Another logical issue: the State Minister and a JVP Member, a retired military officer, said the Army, Navy and Air Force do great service in the North and East. I had referred to the ratio of military presence: in Jaffna it is 1:14; in the Vanni 1:2. With such immense presence, you justify it by saying they render great service.

¶ 05 Let us talk drugs. The Navy is everywhere along the North and East coasts; at least every one to two kilometres there is a checkpoint or camp. Most are on private land. Even during the war there was no such massive presence as the LTTE controlled much. Only after the war have the Navy, Army and Air Force had such presence—and only after the war has the drug menace risen to unimaginable heights. During the war, with LTTE presence even in Government-held areas, traffickers were afraid; though Governments tried to propagate drugs as counter-insurgency, they could not find peddlers. Sixteen years after the war, how is the drug issue so vast? If you deny military involvement, you add to our suspicions. Those 1:14 and 1:2 are official figures; we also know of the vast intelligence presence. Denying any military role in the drug curse is an absolute lie; it will never be accepted.

¶ 06 On accountability: if you want Tamils to accept that Sri Lanka is not only for Sinhala Buddhists, you must accept that very serious crimes occurred during the war. As far as I am concerned, it was genocide; that is my allegation. With such a massive military presence, those crimes occurred. The world speaks about them. Do you want every member of the three forces to be suspected? Do you not want to clear your names if you were not involved? It is in your interest and the country’s to do so. How will you? I know not all are culpable, because all the evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity...