The United Nations, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the
Sri Lankan government have combined to sideline Sri Lanka’s Northern Province
Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran in the itinerary drawn up for the visit of UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka from August 31 to September 2.
The Secretary General will not be meeting Vigneswaran separately, but
only as part of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation headed by its
chief, R.Sampanthan. Vigneswaran told the Jaffna media that Sampanthan called
him on the phone to say that if he wished to meet Ban Ki-moon, he could join
the TNA delegation when it meets Ban in Jaffna on September 2.
Vigneswaran said that he is yet to take a decision on this, thereby hinting
that he might boycott the meeting. Ban Ki-moon would, however, be
meeting the Governor of the Northern Province, Reginald Coooray, and visiting a
resettlement center for war refugees. According to reliable
sources, Ban is keen to treat all factions of the TNA and all the
communities in Sri Lanka equally .This is why he will be breaking tradition and
going on a visit to South Sri Lanka, where the Sinhalese are in a majority, in
addition to going to the war affected Tamil North. He will also be even
handed between the Vigneswaran faction and the Sampanthan faction of the TNA.
It is learnt that this is why the UN did not fix a meeting with Vigneswaran
separately and give him a special status. The UN would like Vigneswaran to be
part of the TNA delegation. The TNA delegation will be headed by
Sampanthan whose policy of cooperating with the government of Sri Lanka is
appreciated by the UN, the Western world and India. The UN, like the present
Sri Lankan regime, is interested in economic development backed by ethnic
reconciliation. But, unlike Sampanthan, Vigneswaran is interested only in a
political settlement and accountability but not at all in economic development.
This irks the international community which wants the Tamils and all Sri
Lankans to move forward,