Devolution of power not among Tamil Peoples' Council's six demands

Jaffna, September 14 (newsin.asia): A massive rally organized by the Tamil Peoples’ Council (TPC) led by former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran will be held on Monday, September 16, at the Jaffna esplanade, calling for immediate action on the Tamil’s six main demands, EIN Newswire reports.

The rally is part of the TPC’s campaign related to the Sri Lankan Presidential election due in November-December 2019.

TPC’s Six Demands are:

1) Stop Sinhalese colonization of Tamil homeland.
2) Bring Sri Lankan war criminals to face international justice.
3) Release all Tamil political prisoners.
4) Take immediate steps to conduct impartial, international investigation about the enforced disappeared.
5) Stop militarization of Tamil areas.
6) Take steps to resettle all those displaced due to the war in their original places.
This rally is titled “Eluga Thamil” (Arise Tamil). People joining the rally are to assemble in two points just outside the City and march to the esplanade for the massive rally, where several leaders will speak.

Surprisingly, “devolution of power”, the absence of which had led to a 30-year war, is not among the six demands. All demands relate to war crimes allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

But devolution of power or federalism had been a constant demand of the Tamils since the independence of Sri Lanka in 1948. It is now championed by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the principal Tamil political formation. The TPC is a rival of the TNA.

The Tamil People’s Council, a coalition several Tamil political parties, civil society organizations, trade unions, University Students, Families of the Disappeared, Religious leaders, academics, war victim groups and others.

The former Northern Province Council Chief Minister Justice C.V. Wigneswaran is one of the three Joint Presidents of the Tamil People’s Council. Other joint presidents are Dr. P. Lakshman and Mr. Vasantharajah.

To support this rally in Jaffna, several rallies will be held on the same day in several cities around the world and before the UN Headquarters in New York and outside the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

(The featured image at the top shows C.V. Wigneswaran at a Tamil Peoples’ Council rally)