Prime Minister Dr. D.M. Jayaratne says
that the title “Indian Tamil” should be removed from the estate Tamil
workers and they should be given the opportunity to live as Sri Lankans.
Those workers who migrated to Sri Lanka to serve in the estates of the
colonial era live in the country for number of decades and as they have
spent many generations in our country, it is not fair to use the term
Indian Tamil for them.
The Prime Minister cwas speaking at a
Special Service conducted in Sri Muttumari Amman Pattini Kovil, Little
Valley in Deltota. The Prime Minister also stated that the government
hopes to create an environment in which the estate workers could live
on equal grounds. Under this, we intend to name them as Sri Lankans
instead of These estate workers who live in our country for number of
decades should be considered as Sri Lankan citizens. From the past,
Sinhala and Tamil people have had close relationships. There is no
considerable difference between the lifestyle of Sinhala people and the
culture of the Tamil people.
" During my term as the Minister of
Plantation Industries, I launched a new programme for estate workers to
have a good standard of life. I helped to give them a new proper name,
building a good house, generating extra income through the self
employment programmes etc. In most of the cases, these programmes were
successful! However, I expect to continue to work in creating a better
social status for the estate workers in the upcountry areas. Many
politicians who said to be the representatives of the estate workers do
not make any voice for them. " the premire said. "However, as
politicians, we have raised our voice on number of occasions in favour
of them regarding the construction of houses, roads and schools etc for
them.
We strive to teach Tamil for Sinhala
children and Sinhala for Tamil children to create a close relationship
between two nations. We hope to recruit educated youth in estate areas
as Sinhala medium teachers. When around 1.5 million Tamil people live in
North and East areas, only around 1.5 million Tamil people live in the
South. Under this scenario, it is not fair to ask for a separate state
for the Tamils living in the North & East only. The majority of
Tamils live with Sinhala and Muslims people harmoniously. Around
78,000,000 of Tamil people live in India but they do not ask for a
separate state.
Under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksha, we never do any injustice on any of the nations. He has created the environment to live for all the nations peacefully and harmoniously. We will not be able to rise as a country as long as we divided on the basis races, languages and religions etc.
Under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksha, we never do any injustice on any of the nations. He has created the environment to live for all the nations peacefully and harmoniously. We will not be able to rise as a country as long as we divided on the basis races, languages and religions etc.
Therefore, we should disregard all our
differences and create the environment to live peacefully. He also said
that he was able to financially assist kovils in the Northern area
under the provisions of the Ministry of Buddhasasana & Religious
Affairs. Ninety percent of the kovils in the estates and all the kovils
in the Gampola electorate have been assisted. He further added that he
had formulated a programme to help all the religious places including
temples in the whole island. The Chairmen of the Little Valley Muttu
Amman Pattini Kovil Ravi Kanna and K. Ramasami, the chief Priest of the
kovil J. Jeganathan and many Hindu devotees participated in this event.
Department of Government Information.
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