India hopeful of permanent end to Lankan ethnic strife: Chidambaram

Union home minister P Chidambaram today expressed hope that the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka will be resolved permanently with "positive signals" coming from the Rajapaksa government on resettlement of displaced Tamils with equal rights.

He said the Centre had asked the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa during his recent visit to India to send back the remaining 57,000 Tamils, who were now in camps, to their homes. Rajapaksa has assured that they would be sent back in another three to six months, he said at a function here.

Chidambaram said successive Indian governments since 1984, when the ethnic conflict broke out, have taken the position that the issue should be resolved without affecting the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka and the Tamils there should be given equal rights in a federal set up, like states in India.

"The Sri Lankan government can make provision in the Constitution and provide equal rights for Tamils area also.
This is the same line, we hope, on which the Sri Lankan issue
will be permanently resolved now," Chidambaram said.

He said India has granted Rs 1,000 crore for construction of 13,000 houses for the Lankan Tamils returning to Jaffna.      50,000 houses in total are being constructed for the displaced Tamils, he added.

India has also given $800 million on simple interest for rehabilitation of the Tamils and infrastrcuture development, including laying of roads.

Chidambaram said the loan to Sri Lanka would be used to lay a new railway line between Colombo and Matara, strengthening airbase at Palali and infrastructure at Kankesanthurai Port.

All basic amenities would be provided in the Tamil areas, he said.

The Centre has also decided to provide skill training for the Tamil women for which a centre would be set up by the Sri Lankan government.

He said there are 3.5 lakh Tamils lodged in camps in Sri Lanka and 2.20 lakh of them had returned to their homes after the war. Recently another 27,500 Tamils have returned. The remaining people go back to their places shortly.

The home minister said Sri Lankan Tamils had migrated to
several countries and had been loyal to the country where they
worked sincerely for development.

When Sri Lankan Tamils faced problems, India supported them and raised its voice in support of them. But with some groups taking to arms, both the countries suffered and India lost Rajiv Gandhi, he said referring to the assassination of the former prime minister by an LTTE suicide bomber in 1991.

Chidambaram, who participated at the Convocation function
of Kundrakudi Adigalar Women's College of Education near here,
said he was confident that the bad chapter would come to an
end and Tamils would live with dignity and equal rights in
Sri Lanka.