“Our support is to a party who would give self-governance to the North and East” - ITAK political thug's dream !

The self-governance of the North and East, stoppage of the Sinhala settlements in those areas and several other matters were discussed at the llankai Tamil Arasu KachchiI (ITAK) general assembly, said its leader Mawei Senadhirajah.

This decision was taken at the 16th ITAK general assembly held at the Jaffna Weerasingham Hall last Sunday (30) under the leadership of Mawei Senadhirajah.

According to party representatives, 11 proposals were discussed at this meeting including the resolving of issues pertaining to missing persons, removal of security forces from civilian lands, ensure the land rights of the Northern and Eastern people, halting of Buddhist temple constructions in Hindu areas and several others. The list of proposals is scheduled to be handed over to the government by ITAK.

Mawei Senadhirajah was reappointed as the Chairman of the Party on Saturday (29) and the general assembly was held on Sunday (30).

R. Sampanthan acts as an advisor to the party. The ITAK is the main political party within the Tamil National Alliance.

It was decided at the party general assembly to present the proposals to the government and give them three months to fulfil these demands. They said that ITAK would support any group at the next election which is willing to grant them their demands.

Party Chairman Senadhirajah said that the government should give a definitive answer to what happened to those who went missing at the end of the war and the political prisoners should be released.

Party representatives also said that the attempts made by the President to abolish the 19th Amendment should be stopped immediately and a proposal in this regard should be discussed with other political parties. It was also decided at the ITAK general assembly that the government’s attempts to create Sinhala settlements in the North and East under the Mahaweli L zone projects.

They also want to pressure the government to implement all the recommendations of the UNHRC and the ITAK has decided to work with the UN and other international bodies in this regard.

The party representatives also said that if the government fails to grant their demands within three months, they would unite with the other Tamil groups within the TNA and launch a series of protests against the government.

However, a group of family members of the missing persons had gathered opposite the Weerasingham Hall to stage a protest against the ITAK.

Relatives of missing persons

The relatives of the missing persons protested against the TNA members for failing to resolve the issues pertaining to the missing persons.

One of the protesting women stated that R. Sampanthan and his group of MPs had been elected to parliament through their votes, but instead of resolving their issues, the TNA has been conniving with the government and enjoying great benefits and luxuries.

The ITAK had provided lunch to those who had participated in the general assembly and when the party representatives had offered food to the protesters, they had refused to accept claiming that they did not want Sampanthan’s food.