Sri Lanka Can Become an Economic Power Within Five Years if Tamil Self-Determination Recognised: MP Sritharan
15-Apr-2026.
Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Jaffna District MP S. Sritharan has stated that Sri Lanka could become an economic powerhouse within five years if the Anura-led government recognises the North and East as the traditional homeland of Tamils and acknowledges their right to self-determination as a distinct nation.
He further accused the government of deliberately delaying efforts to find a political solution to the ethnic issue by citing current global tensions, describing it as a tactic similar to previous governments aimed at postponing action.
Speaking on current political conditions, Sritharan said Sri Lanka’s economic collapse was a gradual decline that began after the introduction of the open economic policy in 1977. He noted that economic setbacks repeatedly occurred whenever Sinhala nationalist forces attempted to suppress Tamil political rights, including through armed means.
He alleged that successive Sri Lankan governments prioritised the destruction of Tamil communities, land grabbing, and Sinhala settlements instead of granting Tamil rights and working together to develop the country.
Sritharan stated that even though governments changed, the racist political agenda of leaders remained unchanged, and that no government was an exception. He pointed out that the current Anura-led government had previously strongly opposed the 13th Amendment and the Indo–Sri Lanka Accord, and had also played a role in separating the merged Northern and Eastern Provinces through the courts.
He recalled that key agreements reached in the past between the government and the LTTE, including interim arrangements and the post-tsunami joint mechanism, were undermined, and noted that the current President had resigned from his ministerial post at the time in protest against such agreements.
He argued that the present economic crisis is not only a planned outcome, but also a result of decades of short-sighted economic policies driven by debt-based development without sustainable repayment strategies. He said the government is now using the economic crisis and global instability as excuses to avoid moving forward with political reforms.
Sritharan claimed the government is repeating the same rhetoric used by past administrations, stating that economic development is the priority, while delaying a political solution. He added that Tamil communities have previously demonstrated resilience and self-sufficiency despite major economic blockades imposed in the North and East from 1990 to 2009.
He said the current government lacks a long-term vision and genuine willingness to embrace Tamils as equal partners in the country. However, he insisted that if the government recognises the Tamil homeland in the North and East and accepts their right to self-determination, Sri Lanka could be transformed into a major economic power within five years.
He concluded by stating that Tamils have made immense sacrifices and their determination will ultimately secure a permanent political solution, adding that ITAK will continue both diplomatic and internal efforts toward that goal.
