JVP presents 13-point plan for reconciliation

By Shamindra Ferdinando | The Island
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The JVP on Saturday (10) said that those held for their alleged involvement with the LTTE should have been tried before Tamil speaking judges.

Launching a special political campaign in the Northern Province, the JVP lambasted the UPFA government for keeping LTTE suspects in the dark as to what was going on in courts.

At a media briefing in Vavuniya on Saturday, the JVP presented a 13-point plan to deal with problems faced by people, particularly those living in the two provinces and those struggling to make ends meet irrespective of their ethnicity. It also envisaged restoration of democratic freedoms.

Addressing the media in Vavuniya, JVP Colombo District parliamentarian Sunil Handunetti accused the government of double-standards in dealing with former members of the LTTE. Referring to former LTTE commanders, Karuna and Pilleyan, Handunetti said that, while some terrorist leaders had been rewarded by the UPFA, those languishing behind bars for years for their alleged involvement in terrorism were denied the right to a fair trial.

The JVP action plan comprises restoration of political freedoms, release of political prisoners, resettlement of the internally displaced persons, removal of military bases from Northern and Eastern Provinces to facilitate restoration of civil rule, release of the names of those political prisoners, safeguarding cultural identity of people living in different provinces, ending state take-over of land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, settling disputes over land owned by IDPs, employment for all, restoration of health and education sectors, protection of media and right activists, compensation package for those who lost their loved ones due to war and compensation for the loss of private property.

Former JVP National List MP Ramalingham Chandrasekeran said that in spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, the government was yet to restore normalcy in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Human rights, democracy and the media freedom had been under severe threat, while a semi-military rule imposed on the Northern and Eastern Provinces was causing immense hardship to those who suffered due to a three-decade long war, Handunetti alleged. The JVP would step-up its campaign both in and outside Parliament to pressure the government to change its style of governance, he said, urging the people to rally around the party to topple the Rajapaksa regime. The parliamentarian warned the government of street protests to highlight their grievances unless tangible action was taken immediately to redress them.

The JVP asked the government not to play politics with the national issue and to take remedial measures to ensure that there wouldn’t be a fresh armed conflict. The JVP alleged that the government had failed to steps to address the grievances of those affected by the conflict.

The JVP alleged that those living in Northern and Eastern Provinces had been denied the opportunity to work on development projects in the region. In an obvious attack on UPFA Gampaha District leader Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the government was accused of favouring Gampaha at the expense of war-torn districts.

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