In his first speech as MP Wigneswaran demands recognition of self -determination of Tamils

In his first speech as a Member of Parliament (MP), former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V Wigneswaran today demanded the recognition of self- determination of the Tamil people in the North and East.

He said that the people living in the North and East have a right to self-determination as per Article one of Chapter one of the International Covenant on Civil and  Political Rights in addition to their hereditary and traditional right to be recognized as a Nation.

Wigneswaran also noted that every act will have its opposite reaction.

He repeated the words in Sinhalese saying “kala kala deh pala pala de” drawing a few reactions from the House.

Wigneswaran expressed these views after congratulating newly appointed Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

His full speech is as follows:

Vanakkam Maanpumihu Sabanayakar avarkale !

I start my felicitations  Honourable Speaker hailing you in my mother tongue , the oldest living language of this world and the language of the first  indigenous inhabitants of this country and proceed in the link language. I thank Your Honour for accepting such a high position in our Parliamentary tradition. I am sure Your Honour would bring with your High Office your experience with Men and Matters gained throughout your long political career.

We have a very powerful Government now. A similar Government was constituted under the late J.R.Jayewardene in 1977. It was during that regime that we had the 1983 Pogrom. Certainly this Government too could follow the path of the Elephant of that time and end up   as today reduced to a single Member in the future.  But I am sure they would not. They would prefer to learn from our mistakes of the past and usher in a period of peace and prosperity where all communities would feel equal to each other and walk with dignity and pride as children of Mother Lanka. That  freedom and equality could dawn only if we shed the false historical perspectives of the past and recognise the intrinsic rights of the  People living in the North and East of Sri Lanka who are entitled to the right of self determination as per Article one of Chapter one of the International Covenant on Civil and  Political Rights in addition to their hereditary and traditional right to be recognized as a Nation.

Sir! I hope we would not be called upon in this August Assembly of Parliamentarians in the future during your Honour’s term of office  for your  protective assistance since we would respect each other’s rights and our duties towards each other. But we are sure you would  guide us all without fear or favour if any such impasse comes to pass.

But there is no need Sir! in a country which professes Buddhism  to expect a hegemonic dominance from anyone since we have not forgotten what the Sinhala villager is only too well familiar with – that every act has its opposite reaction- Kala kala dey pala whey! Isthuthi Garu Sabanayakathumani!.