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Tuesday, Feb 03, 2009
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National

“Ensure safe passage for civilians in Sri Lanka”

MADURAI: India and the United Nations must make all efforts to see that the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam come to an understanding to ensure safe passage for the civilian population from the war zone, Prakash Karat, general secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), said on Monday.

Addressing journalists here, Mr. Karat said the plight of over two lakh Tamil-speaking people trapped in the war zone, as estimated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was a cause for concern to Indians.

The CPI(M) made a distinction between the LTTE and the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, Mr. Karat said. The party had a consistent stand on the just right of the Tamils of the north and the east for autonomy through devolution of powers.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had promised External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee that Sri Lanka would move towards implementing the 13th Amendment of the Constitution for devolution of powers. But, according to reports, Sri Lanka was “paying more attention to a military solution than a political solution,” he said.

Party State secretary N. Varadarajan said the political parties of Tamil Nadu should speak with one voice to force the Union government to intervene in the Sri Lankan issue. Parties taking different stands, including on the bandh proposed for February 4, would not help.

Pro-people policies

On the Lok Sabha election, Mr. Karat said the people should get a chance to elect a non-Congress secular government. He appealed to political parties to come together on a common platform for pro-people economic policies, an independent foreign policy and a secular government.

Noting that the Indian economy was facing the impact of the global economic crisis by way of loss of lakhs of jobs in various sectors, he said the Centre had not done much to tackle it through increased public investment.

Election Commission

Mr. Karat wanted more reforms in the appointment and functioning of the Election Commission.

He said that Election Commissioners, on retirement, should not take up any government appointment or contest elections.

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