Devolution only way out for Sri Lankan crisis: Swamy

New Delhi, Jan 17 (UNI) Former Union Minister Subramanian Swamy said devolution of power was the only way out of the current problems confronting Sri Lanka.

In his latest book 'Sri Lanka Crisis - India's Options', Dr Swamy has argued that devolution of power in a new federal type of Constitution is the only solution to the political problems faced by the island nation.

A solution is viable only if the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is dealt with as 'a part of the problem and not a solution'.

He said it was the ''national security imperative and moral responsibility of Tamils to free the neighbouring country from LTTE terror''.

Dr Swamy, who is coming out with his second book on the crisis confronting the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils in Lanka, said there was absolutely no ethnic difference between Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils.

The expert committee appointed by Sri Lankan President Rajapakse had submitted a majority report advocating adequate devolution and retaining North-East as a single province. ''In my considered view, the only solution is devolution,'' Dr Swamy said.

In the book, he says both Sinhalese and Tamil languages have 40 per cent common vacabulary. The antagonism between the two communities was traced to the Sihnala perception of Tamil's role during the colonial era and the progress made by this group 'as clerks and officers during the British regime'.

After Indepedence, the majority Sinhala population's attempt to close the gap by a policy of 'autocratic reverse discrimination' against 25 per cent was the at the core of the present conflict, he added.

The LTTE targetted Indian and Sri Lankan politicians including Late Rajiv Gandhi and LTTE chief V Prabhakaran was a proclaimed offender, he said. It was also providing arms and training to Naxals, ULFA and PWG and is involved in money laundering of Indian politicians.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner C R Jayasinghe in his remarks said that LTTE was carrying out a determined political campaign seeking separate a state. He, however, agreed there was a need to address the grievances of Tamils in the island.

Mr S C Chandrahasan of the Organisation of Eelam Refugees said 'India steered clear of the Lankan problems until 1983 despite the problems and had displayed tolerance'.

Former Union Minister Raj Kishore Singh did not agree with Dr Swamy's perception that LTTE was not part of a solution but a problem. If you can talk to groups like ULFA and Naxals for finding a solution, you can also talk to LTTE, he said.

Indian extremist groups did not indulge in killings of political leadership like the LTTE had done in India and Lanka, he added.

UNI