Jaffna students oppose Presidential poll boycott

COLOMBO: The Jaffna University Students’ Union has appealed to the Tamil voters in north-east Sri Lanka not to boycott the Presidential election but to vote for either of the two main candidates.


In a statement published in the Tamil daily Virakesari on Thursday, the President of the union, S.Srirangan, also said that it would not be wise to support any Tamil candidate who had no chance of winning.

Srirangan mentioned no names, but he was referring to incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the joint opposition candidate Gen.Sarath Fonseka and the dissident Tamil National Alliance MP, M.K.Sivajilingam, who is contesting as an independent.

The student leader said that in the (post-LTTE) changed world, it was important to take practical decisions and not indulge in bravado and tall talk. Referring to the Tamil Diaspora’s wish that the Tamils boycott the election as they did in 2005 (at the instance of the LTTE), he said that the Diaspora did not know the conditions existing in their Homeland.

Tamils would have to be self reliant he said and not count on outsiders like the world powers (the Western countries) or the regional power (India), Srirangan said.

These powers had only played lip service to the Tamils’ cause.They had ultimately gone by their economic and strategic interests and sided with one or the other of the Sri Lankan mainstream political parties.

The Tamils should stand united and use their united strength to bargain for a better deal, Srirangan said.

True enough, more than war, it is electoral politics which is bringing benefits to the Tamils. The Rajapaksa government on Wednesday lifted the night curfew in Jaffna, which had been in force since 1995.It also lifted all restrictions on fishing on the north-eastern coast. The A9 highway linking the south and the north has been opened.

The 280,000 Tamils, who were languishing in refugee camps since April-May, have been allowed to go out and come back at will. Only about a 100,000 remain in the camps now. Most have been moved to transit camps in their native districts.

The pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is divided between those who want to support Fonseka and those who want to boycott. The pro-LTTE elements want to boycott as they did in 2005 at the LTTE’s instance.