By Easwaran Rutnam Last week, India celebrated its Independence Day and celebrations in Colombo saw emphasis placed on the massive development assistance provided by India to Sri Lanka, particularly in the North and East. India’s development assistance to Sri Lanka runs into the billions, out of which a bigger portion has been allocated to the North and East. The Indian Government has funded several projects in the North and East, including the construction of houses for war-affected families and a railway line linking the North to the South. “We have completed over 70 development partnership projects across all provinces of Sri Lanka. All of these are chosen and developed while keeping the priorities of the people of Sri Lanka in mind. The Indian Housing Project is the largest of these grant projects. We have committed over 63,000 houses, out of which 47,000 houses have already been constructed and handed over. This year, the Indian Housing Project has expanded to the Galle, Matara, Kegalle, and Ratnapura Districts. We are also setting up one model village in all districts of Sri Lanka. We are happy that we are able to contribute to the lives of the people living in these villages,” Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu said last week. However, Tamil politicians, especially those representing the Tamils in the North, feel India must go beyond just offering economic assistance. Political solution needed Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Leader Mano Ganesan, who is also a minister in the current Government, told The Sunday Morning that development alone is not sufficient. He noted that India must play a role in the political aspect as well, using the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. India brokered the 13th Amendment (13A) to the Constitution in 1987 through the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, but the 13th Amendment was never fully implemented as a result of pressure from some Sinhalese politicians and groups. “India has the moral duty and political right towards the Tamils of the North and East since 13A is the child of the Indo-Lanka Accord. The politicians of the North and East must also be mindful that despite all criticism against India, 13A is an Indian product and is the one and only devolution law in the Constitution of Sri Lanka. India should take both the Government and Tamils into confidence and move forward to fully implement 13A, no matter who runs the future government of Sri Lanka in 2020. Then India can extend a massive Indian credit line for development in the North and East,” said Ganesan. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main Tamil party in the country agrees. TNA Spokesman MP M.A. Sumanthiran said that it was because of pressure from the then Indian Government led by former PM Manmohan Singh that several rounds of discussions took place when Mahinda Rajapaksa was President, to formulate a political solution for the Tamils. However, pressure from India seems to have eased as of recent times, and India’s focus is more on developing the North and East. TNA Parliamentarian S. Sritharan said while development is good, India must put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to deliver on its promises for a political solution. “India came forward in 1987 saying they were representing the Tamils and signed the Indo-Lanka Accord. Yet, that was not implemented properly. A lot happened in 2009, yet India did not come forward to ensure the Tamils were protected. So while the Sri Lankan Government screams development, India is also doing the same; they have constructed houses, schools, etc., but the core issues faced by the Tamils have been ignored,” he told The Sunday Morning. Sritharan said that if India does not get involved, then the Tamil issue will never be resolved. He called on the Indian Government to show more interest in the political issue in Sri Lanka instead of just focusing on developing the North and East. “India really must intervene in the serious issues that the Tamils are facing,” he said. The Indian High Commission said India-Sri Lanka relations are moulded, guided, and strengthened by collective ambitions and aspirations. “Whether it is a flood, drought, or fuel crisis, India has been the first to respond to Sri Lanka’s requests. India is the largest source market for the Sri Lankan tourism industry. Indian tourists come without preconditions and embrace Sri Lankan culture. More and more Indian couples are choosing Sri Lanka for their destination weddings. An increasing number of Sri Lankan students are opting for eminent institutions in India for higher studies. While Indian companies continue to make investments in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan companies are achieving new successes in the Indian market as well. These are all symbols of the growing confidence and closeness in our relationship,” the High Commission said. Calls on India for action Former Northern Provincial Council Minister Ananthi Saseetharan said questions have been raised over India’s development work even in India itself, so in that backdrop, there are some concerns over the emphasis India places on development in Sri Lanka. She also noted that without the right to live, there is no point in having development. So India must go beyond just investing in the development of the North and East. “What’s more, India has a responsibility towards the Tamils in Sri Lanka because of the Indo-Lanka Accord. India cannot just sit back and wait when the agreement it signed is not fully implemented. Land and police powers have not been fully devolved to the provinces under the 13th Amendment, so India needs to push for that,” she said. The agreement between India and Sri Lanka in 1987 should have been one signed between the Tamils and Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. “Instead, it was an agreement between the Sinhalese and India, so India must ensure that the agreement is fully implemented and that the rights of the Tamils are protected,” she said. Saseetharan also accused India of staying silent during the final stages of the war which not only resulted in the defeat of the LTTE but also resulted in hundreds of civilians being killed. Her husband Elilan, who was the LTTE Political Head in Trincomalee, has been missing since the final stages of the war in 2009. Saseetharan claims her husband surrendered to the military during the final battle, but the military has no records of his surrender. “India claims it had no direct involvement in helping the Sri Lankan Government defeat the LTTE, but we know they helped the Government. The former Government has openly said that India was among the countries that helped them defeat the LTTE,” she claimed. Saseetharan said that India was well aware that there was an ethnic issue in Sri Lanka at the time, but helped the military defeat the LTTE and promised to push for a political solution for the Tamils. However, she stated that India did not seem to be doing anything now on that front and so the Tamils feel betrayed. “We will not think twice to accuse India of playing a role in the civilian deaths during the final stages of the war. This is now part of history and that will not change,” she stressed.