mr president the policy pursued towards the tamil people by the government of president rajapaksa has resulted in a nightmare for both the sinhala and tamil peoples in sri lanka with massive repression by the sri lankan state against individuals and groups who have stood up against its chauvinist policies
after the defeat of the tamil tigers the nightmare continues for the tamil people especially in the north of sri lanka with three hundred zero people including thirty-one zero children forcefully detained in camps where disease and malnutrition are rife
now a new horror threatens with reports that the rajapaksa government plans to settle sinhala people in the east and north of sri lanka in other words to colonise the areas where tamil-speaking people are in the majority
that would be a recipe for communal strife in the future
the rajapaksa government is in fact a dictatorship with a very thin democratic veneer
i welcome the opportunity through this resolution to condemn it
i do have a reservation about paragraph four because the main terrorism in fact has come from the rajapaksa government against the people
while as a socialist i believe that guerrillaism under the conditions in sri lanka will not bring a solution the tamil people do have a right to defend themselves against military repression
the best way to defend the tamil people is through a united struggle of tamil and sinhala workers and poor against the current government and its new liberal policies and through the socialist transformation of sri lankan society under which the marvellous resources of that country could be used for the benefit of the entire population
i am proud to be associated with the united socialist party in sri lanka which is a sister party of the socialist party in ireland and which has heroically stood up against the chauvinism of the government for the rights of the tamil and sinhala people and the rights of the tamil people to self-determination
