The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, today is 23 July. Since 1983, Tamils commemorate “Black July”. Tamils in Colombo and elsewhere were hunted using electoral lists, with police and military facilitating Government-backed thugs to burn families alive. Some ordinary Sinhalese saved lives. We commemorate that today.

¶ 02 This Government claims it is not racist like 1983. Yet its youth wing is sending trainloads and busloads to Jaffna today to recast this day as one of “comradery,” instead of acknowledging and commemorating the atrocity. If you are not racist, especially as the JVP was accused by J.R. Jayewardene of having carried out the riots, set the record straight: officially mark today as a black day for all to commemorate, not obfuscate history. I condemn the attempt to change the nature of commemorations while there is still no official apology.

¶ 03 On the Companies Act Amendments—intended to prevent money laundering and black money—we welcome the provisions. But many speakers emphasized terrorism financing. In 1983, civilians were massacred without justice. When the State acts against a people’s interests and a cabal controls it, youth may take up arms. I will not call that terrorism; those are grievances to be addressed. If you concede past governments were racist, there are aggrieved Tamils. If they again feel forced to take up arms for security, branding it terrorism without addressing root causes will not solve anything.

¶ 04 Last week, people from Valikamam North, Myliddy, protested at the Presidential Secretariat. In 2013, 6,317 acres were gazetted for High Security Zones; about 3,000 were later released, but 3,000 remain. The Secretary to Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation is reportedly considering permanently gazetting the remaining 3,000 acres as HSZs, contrary to your promises. Around 75 per cent of those lands are used not for military purposes but for farming by the forces, undercutting local farmers. Six temples and churches within those lands have disappeared since 2009, though no heavy fighting occurred there; that is a UNESCO crime.

¶ 05 If such matters are ignored, amending the Companies Act to prevent “terrorism” is meaningless. People will resist unacceptable State conduct. As a JVPer who knows why arms were once taken up, address core issues; legislation alone has never prevented conflict.

¶ 06 Thank you.