We are a liberation movement which was compelled to resort to the force
of arms because all force of reason had failed to convince the successive
Sri Lankan Governments in the past. Further, under conditions of national
oppression and the intensification of state terrorism and genocide against
our people, the demand for a separate state of Eelam became the only logical
expression of the oppressed Tamil people. Our armed struggle is the
manifestation of that logical expression. However, if the Sri Lankan
Government gives any indication of a return to sanity and reason, then, our
people would only be too willing to consider any proposals for a peaceful
solution; this is because they are a peace-loving people.
The proposals of the Sri Lankan Government place before us at this table
by its delegation unfortunately gives absolutely no indication of a return
to sanity and reason. Firstly, the leader of the Sri Lankan delegation has
very clearly stated that the proposals placed before us are based on the
position taken by the Sri Lankan Government in the final stages of the All
Party Conference. We wish to state categorically that we do not recognise
the All Party Conference for the following reasons.
Firstly, as the TULF had already stated immediately after the collapse of
the APC, the APC proposals do not come anywhere close to the regional
autonomy that would be acceptable to the Tamil people. Secondly, we the
liberation movement charge the Sri Lankan neo-fascist state of having used
the APC as a smoke-screen to pursue a military solution to the Tamil
national question.
Further, the proposals placed before us at this table do not in any
way give an indication that the Sri Lankan Government has understood the
genesis of the 'eelam' national question. The reasons are as follows:
(1) The proposal does not recognise the notion of a homeland of the
Tamil peoples. Instead, it takes the District as a basic unit for any
devolution of power, which is totally unacceptable.
(2) The proposal does not recognise the right of self-determination of
either the Tamil people or the Sinhala people by seeking to avoid a
referendum or a plebiscite on the proposals. The Government seeks to ignore
the will of the people by insisting on a simple amendment to the
Constitution which would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament. In
this process the Sri Lankan Government seeks to impose its constitutional
dictatorship on the peoples of Sri Lanka.
We do not wish to go any further but merely wish to emphasise the point
that the burden of presenting a rational and a just solution to the problem
lies entirely with the Sri Lankan State, since we hold it responsible for
the present state of affairs.
In the name of peace, we wish to make an earnest request to the Sri
Lankan Government delegation to come back with the proposals worthy of our
consideration.
