Sri Lanka should devolve power to Tamils to bring lasting peace: Congress MP

The Congress, in India, on Monday demanded that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa should immediately fulfill his promise of devolution of power to minority Tamils and end “discrimination” being meted out to Tamil population for establishing lasting peace in the island.

During the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, Congress MP, Jayanthi Natarajan, said it was absolutely vital for the Sri Lankan government to ensure immediate relief to Tamils displaced due to the war so that they can return to their homes.

She also stressed the need for de-mining of the war zone for safety of people and said more measures have to be taken for proper distribution of adequate relief and early rehabilitation for the war-affected.

“We demand that President Mahinda Rajapaksa ensures proper devolution of authority to Tamils as was promised by him,” she said adding “discrimination” against minority Sri Lankan Tamils should end for the sake of lasting peace. Nothing short of this will satisfy us,” she added.

Ms. Natarajan said “20,000 innocent Tamil civilians were killed” in the war against LTTE and now the entire world community is watching whether the Sri Lankan President fulfils his promise to treat “Sri Lankan Tamils as equal citizens.”