India is a major beneficiary of Sri Lanka's victory over terrorism - Swamy

India was a major beneficiary of Sri Lanka's decisive military victory that ended the three-decades long terrorism unleashed by the Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Janatha Party president Dr. Subramanian Swamy said in Colombo on Friday.
Speaking at the final day session of 'Defence Seminar 2012' in Colombo on "The Essentials of Post Conflict Resolution and India's Concerns", the former cabinet minister of India commended the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's decision to correctly disregard calls for a ceasefire and negotiated settlement and to achieve a decisive end by military means. While the military victory ended the terrorism three years ago, it also polarized the Sinhala and the Tamil communities and today the fundamental long term problem for Sri Lanka is the essential reconciliation of the communities affected by the conflict, Dr. Swamy said. The Janatha Party leader, an outspoken critic against the pro-Eelam Tamil parties in Tamil Nadu, assured that a majority of people in Tamil Nadu rejects the LTTE despite the support of some "selfish leaders in Tamil Nadu, many of whom were being financed by the LTTE." He said an overwhelming majority of the Indian people disapproved of the Indian Government decision to support the US sponsored Resolution in the UN Commission on Human Rights on the alleged extrajudicial killings carried out in the final stages of the insurgency of the LTTE. However, Indian people also wish to see an end to the "feeling of marginalization" the Tamils in Sri Lanka experience by a reconciliation process that would empower the Tamil community to participate in nation building, Dr. Swamy noted. Dr. Swamy stressed that the devolution of power to empower the Tamils must come from home and not from abroad. "This empowerment would require devolution within the basic structure of the unitary Constitution of Sri Lanka, for which the exact proposals must come from the within the Parliament of Sri Lanka, and can never be successfully imposed from abroad," he said. Suggesting that the solution is a simple device of devolution, federalism like in the US or quasi-federalism in India, the Indian leader pointed out that any proposal for devolution runs into the fear psychosis of both Tamils and Sinhalese and hence that must be constantly addressed and minimized. A proposal for evolution "must emerge indigenously in Sri Lanka after full democratic consultations with the stakeholders, none of whom shall have a veto, and adopted by the Sri Lanka Parliament by way of a resolution or if necessary by constitutional amendment," Janatha Party president said. He also suggested that any changes to the much talked about 13th Amendment to the Constitution as a solution to power devolution must be debated and passed by Parliament. The Constitution should have enough provisions and safeguards so that the autonomy is not misused, he noted. Dr. Swamy an outspoken critic against the pro-Eelam Tamil parties in Tamil Nadu who was attending the second annual Defence Seminar 2012 met President Rajapaksa and External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday.