தவறவிடாதீர்கள்..!உடனே பதிவு செய்யுங்கள்

A political solution under a unitary state cannot satisfy the aspirations of the Tamil people.

The new constitution must recognize Tamils as a national community with the right to self-determination.

International judicial mechanisms are necessary for investigating war crimes.

We will stand shoulder to shoulder to secure the rights of the Hill Country people.'

In the backdrop of successive governments claiming that the Tamils' primary issue is economic, we have fielded Ariyanethran as the common candidate to focus on the ethnic issue and draw the attention of Southern Sri Lanka and the world to it. For the past 46 years, Tamils have been voting for a Southern Sri Lankan candidate. However, neither the victors nor the defeated have provided an acceptable solution to the ethnic issue, nor have they stopped the acts of ethnic cleansing. Therefore, the Tamil National Public Framework calls on all Tamils to vote for Ariyanethran in the upcoming presidential election to demonstrate the unity of the Tamil people.

The ninth presidential election of the country is scheduled for the 21st of this month. The Tamil National Public Framework, which has fielded P. Ariyanethran as the common candidate, released its election manifesto yesterday, Tuesday, at 11:00 AM at its office in Jaffna. The key points highlighted in the manifesto are as follows:

The Tamil national community has been fighting for liberation in various ways for more than seven decades. As part of this struggle, we, the Tamil National Public Framework, have put forward P. Ariyanethran, a former Member of Parliament from Batticaloa, as the Tamil common candidate under the conch symbol in this presidential election.

The Tamil National Public Framework is a structure formed by Tamil nationalist parties and the People's Assembly of the Tamil people. Except for a very small faction within the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), everyone else has been openly or covertly supporting the Tamil common candidate.

We, the Eelam Tamils, have a history, a traditional homeland, and a unique culture dating back to ancient times. Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural island. However, the refusal to accept the multi-ethnic nature of Sri Lanka is the root cause of the emergence, intensification, and eventual manifestation of the ethnic issue.

Against the backdrop of attempts by the Sinhalese-Buddhist state structure to destroy the existence and uniqueness of the Tamil nation and to assimilate it with the majority, Tamil people first fought through non-violence and later through armed struggle. The worst result of the state-sponsored terrorism aimed at eradicating these struggles was the peak of ethnic cleansing during the final war. However, to this day, there has been no reparation justice for the ethnic cleansing, and the acts of ethnic cleansing have not ceased.

On the contrary, the sites of Tamil heritage in Trincomalee are being occupied by the Department of Archaeology and rapidly turned into Sinhalese-Buddhist sites. Thousands of acres of land in the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat Division have been occupied, and more than 26 viharas have been constructed. In Batticaloa, the Sinhalese-Buddhist influence and land grabbing continue.

In Ampara District, the Tamil people have been continuously fighting to upgrade the Kalmunai North Tamil Divisional Secretariat Division to a fully-fledged Divisional Secretariat Division. However, no government that has come to power so far has wanted to resolve this issue.

In the Northern Province, in the districts of Mullaitivu and Vavuniya, places of Tamil heritage in small hills such as Kurunthur Hill, Vedukunari Hill, and Neeraviadi are being taken over by government departments, monks, and the military to build Buddhist structures. Court orders are being ignored in these areas. A judge who issued such orders was forced to flee the country. Instead of being ashamed, the government personally humiliated him.

In the Vavuniya District, the traditional Tamil farming settlement of Kokkachankulam has been occupied with military protection and government support and turned into a Sinhalese village named 'Kalabopaswewa,' where all necessary infrastructure has been rapidly provided. Similarly, people brought from Hambantota have been settled with government support, and a village named 'Namalagama' has been created.

In Jaffna, most of the lands where military camps are located are privately owned. Only a minimal amount of these lands have been released. A large amount of land in the Tamil homeland is still being seized by the military. Many private lands that were seized have not yet been released. However, government statistics falsely claim that most of the lands have been released. Over the past 15 years, the Sinhalese-Buddhist influence and land grabbing have been implemented as government policy.

Former combatants who were released after rehabilitation still live under threats even after 15 years. The Prevention of Terrorism Act continues to hang over the heads of the Tamil people. Political prisoners have not been fully released. Repression against human rights and civil society activists continues. The families of the forcibly disappeared have been fighting for justice for a long time, but justice has not yet been provided to them.

Thus, all actions such as fragmenting the territorial continuity of the Tamil homeland, reducing the ethnic ratio, seizing land, destroying Tamil heritage sites, and establishing Sinhalese-Buddhist heritage sites are various forms of a structured genocide.

While the acts of ethnic cleansing continue, the government is attempting to create a false perception that the country's main problem is economic and to make the international community believe it. The country became indebted because of the continuation of the ethnic cleansing war, refusing to find a political solution to the ethnic issue.

Therefore, the primary reason for the current economic crisis facing the country is the loans taken by the government to wage war. However, the economic crisis cannot be resolved without addressing the ethnic issue, a profound truth that no Southern Sri Lankan candidate has openly accepted. None of them has yet proposed an acceptable solution to the ethnic issue for the Tamil people.

In the last 15 years, the military presence, especially in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, has not been reduced. That is, demilitarization has not occurred. Instead, the military has been maintained at a significant cost under the guise of national security to implement the Sinhalese-Buddhist agenda in the Tamil homeland.

In such a military-economic environment, it is essential to build solidarity, confidence, and Tamil national unity among the Tamil people. At the same time, it is necessary to make the Southern Sri Lankan and international communities aware of the need and urgency for a solution to the ethnic issue in a manner that cannot be ignored.

Against the backdrop of successive governments claiming that the Tamils' primary issue is economic, we have fielded Ariyanethran as the common candidate to focus on the ethnic issue and draw the attention of Southern Sri Lanka and the world to it. For the past 46 years, Tamils have been voting for a Southern Sri Lankan candidate. However, neither the victors nor the defeated have provided an acceptable solution to the ethnic issue, nor have they stopped the acts of ethnic cleansing.

In such a context, the Tamil common candidate fielded this time will unite the Tamil people. He will present the solution to the ethnic issue and convey the collective desire of the Tamil people to the world and Southern Sri Lanka. He will demand reparation justice against genocide.

Accordingly, the permanent solution to the ethnic issue must be based on the following principles:

The new constitution created to resolve the ethnic issue must recognize Tamils as a national community with sovereignty and the right to self-determination. It must ensure that Sri Lanka is structured as a multi-national state, affirming the multi-national character of the country.

No political solution under a unitary state can ever satisfy the legitimate political aspirations of the Tamil people. The unit of self-determination must comprise the current Northern and Eastern Provinces as a single, merged unit. We are ready to engage in open-minded discussions regarding the legitimate political rights of the Muslim community within this unit of self-determination.

We recognize the unique national existence of the Hill Country Tamil people. Accordingly, a permanent solution must be provided to them, along with immediate solutions to their ongoing issues. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Hill Country people in their struggle.

The genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed by the Sri Lankan government against the Eelam Tamils must be properly and fully investigated through an accepted international judicial mechanism, and reparation justice must be provided, along with guarantees of non-recurrence. To prevent land grabbing under the guise of development and the exploitation of our resources as part of the ethnic cleansing, efficient and self-sufficient economic structures must be created to preserve the ecological balance of the Tamil homeland.

The maritime sovereignty of Tamil fishermen in Tamil seas must be ensured. Until a permanent solution is found, a special interim protection arrangement under international oversight must be established for the war-affected Tamil people.

Therefore, we urge the Tamil people to vote for Tamil common candidate P. Ariyanethran's conch symbol to demonstrate their public stance. It must also be understood that the votes given to Ariyanethran are votes given by the Tamil people for themselves and to honor those who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the Tamil people, as stated in the Tamil National Public Framework's election manifesto.