Meetings, Consultations and Agreements Made between Mr. S.M. Krishna the External Affairs Minister, Govt. of India and his Sri Lankan counterpart Gamini Lakshman Peiris

“I have just concluded very useful and productive discussions with Hon’ble Minister Peiris on the various items on the agenda of the seventh session of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission. Let me, at the very outset, express my sincere gratitude to Minister Peiris and his government for the warmth and gracious hospitality that has been extended to me and to my colleagues and the excellent arrangements made for my visit.

“The Joint Commission discussions covered all areas of bilateral relevance, including trade, services and investment, development cooperation, science and technology, culture and education. The sheer breadth of our engagement today, as is reflected in the Joint Commission discussions, is testimony to the fact that our relations have greatly diversified with the passage of time. The visits of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2008 and His Excellency President Rajapaksa in June and October this year have undoubtedly given our relations a fillip. Our relations are poised to develop further in an all round manner.

If Sarath Fonseka can be treated this way then what could be the plight of ordinary Tamil or Sinhala persons?

This was the statement made by M.A.Sumanthiran Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka during motion on increase of salaries for Judges. This statement aptly captures the flight of the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

1. The Post War Sri Lanka

A meeting with a group of professionals about the present state of the Tamils of Sri Lanka was an eye opening about the present situation of Sri Lanka and in a special way the state of affairs of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. “The Tamils of Sri Lanka subjected to discrimination, subjugation and exploitation. They can eat only if they get a meal. They can live only they are allowed to live. They have no life, rights, dignity of their own. They have to be tolerance and suffer all the discrimination and subjugation they are subjected to without any complain. At present, just being alive, living as objects and not subjects is the only option the Tamils. There is no other issue at present than living a life they know is worse than that of the animals. Some would even say that it would have been better to have died in the war than living this life. But there is no option before them.”

Desperate relatives pay hundreds of thousands of rupees to highly-connected racketeers to get their loved ones released from IDP camps

Insight Team: Anthony David, Chris Kamalendran, Asif Fuard and Damith Wickremasekera, Pic by Sanka Vidanagama

She lives in one of the many crowded guesthouses that have mushroomed in Vavuniya. Twenty-six-year old Kamala, in blue jeans and striped T-shirt, is tall and big made. She digs into her handbag, pulls out a pink lipstick and moistens her lips before shaking my hand.

She points to a table in the corner of the air conditioned but empty restaurant. “Have you eaten? Can I get you something to eat or drink,” she asks as we settle down to our chairs. “A coke,” I reply and the conversation begins. “Tell me the name of the person, zone and tent number,” she says. I was ready with the answers.

Together with the contact I met earlier at a location in Vavuniya town, I had arranged to meet Kamala to seek the release of an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) at Menik farm.