SL govt breaking promise on amnesty to Tamil prisoners

DMK today charged the Maithiripala Sirisena-led Sri Lankan government with "breaking its promise" on granting general amnesty to Tamil prisoners there and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention.
In a letter to Modi, DMK president M Karunanidhi said that Sirisena had secured a decisive win due to Tamils voting for him in large numbers following his many promises to them, including granting amnesty to prisoners from the community.
"The Sri Lankan government is breaking its promise on the matter of the release of Tamil political prisoners," he told Modi in a letter.
Sirisena had made such an assurance, citing amnesty granted to Sinhalese political prisoners arrested during the 1971 JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) insurgency, Karunanidhi said.

The Lankan President had last month asked Tamil prisoners who were on fast on this matter to give up their protest, saying they would be released by November 7, with TNA leader R Sampanthan and Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran also involved in the negotiations, he said.
"President Maithripala Sirisena went back on the promise given by him and released only 31 prisoners on conditional bail on November 9. The prisoners have refused to accept the conditional bail. They have gone back to the prison. More than 200 prisoners are now on a fast-unto-death struggle inside the prisons," Karunanidhi said.

He quoted Wigneswaran as saying that Sirisena was unable to keep his promise even though he had the power to grant amnesty, citing opposition from the Sinhalese.

This had prompted peaceful protests from Tamils, Karunanidhi said, adding, "Sinhalese are pushing the Tamils to a struggle-mode, largely non-violent."
Back in India, Tamil Nadu had been lobbying for rights of Lankan Tamils through hartals, processions, fasts, demonstrations and other passive methods, "but the Government of India has not acted and it (has) remained a silent spectator, when Sinhalese successively abandoned their promises made to the Tamils and failed them."
"Sinhalese leaders from D S Senanayaka to Maithripala Srisena have been making use of Tamils' support to promote Sinhalese' selfish interests. I kindly request you to take stock of the gradually worsening political situation in the Tamil areas in Sri Lanka and react with necessary concern and speed," he urged Modi while asking him to prevail over the Lankan President to implement promises made to Tamils.

Releasing of Tamil prisoners should be the first step in this regard, he said.
"Let me sound a note of warning that history will neither forgive nor forget any further inaction on the part of the Government of India in respect of the issues of the Tamils in Sri Lanka," he told Modi.