“Rulers Have Continued to Deceive the Tamil People” – MP Shanakiyan

11-Sep-2025

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Successive governments in power have consistently denied justice to the Tamil people, said Batticaloa District MP R. Shanakiyan of the Tamil Arasu Katchi. 

He noted that the present government’s Foreign Minister has initiated the denial of justice to Tamils at Geneva, and further accused the government of attempting to deprive the Hill Country Tamil people of their rights, while representatives from the Hill Country within the ruling party should be ashamed.

He made these remarks while speaking during the parliamentary debate on September 9 on the multi-sector agreement between Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.

Further addressing Parliament, he stated:

At the 60th session in Geneva, the response by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister amounted to deceiving the Tamil people. The Minister’s declaration that international countries cannot interfere in Sri Lanka is a total rejection of Tamil demands and their quest for justice.

Successive governments in Sri Lanka have rejected Tamil demands and denied justice to the Tamil people. In the same way, the denial of justice to Tamils has now been initiated by the Foreign Minister of the National People’s Power government in Geneva.

While Presidents, including Mahinda, Maithripala, and Ranil, inaugurated development projects such as sports grounds for the Tamil people, what the Tamils have asked for is an international investigation into genocide and their rightful political entitlements. Just as the rights of Tamils in the North and East were denied, now there is an attempt to strip the Hill Country Tamils of their rights—one such attempt being the abolition of the Hill Country Provincial Council. We strongly insist that the government should not proceed with this move.

Parliamentarian Mano Ganesan has already written to the President regarding this issue. Shanakiyan stressed that the Hill Country representatives within the government should feel ashamed.