COLOMBO, July 17, Reuter: The Sri Lankan and Indian governments are discussing new peace proposals in a renewed attempt to end the Island’s bloody ethnic conflict, officials and newspapers said today.
They said President Junius Jayewardene and Indian High Commissioner Jyotindra Nath Dixt held talks last night on ideas to resolve the dispute, which has killed more than 6,000 people in the past four years.
Officials said about 10 senior ministers were also present at the meeting, indicating that a number of important issues were under consideration. Both sides declined to comment on the discussions.
The independent Sun newspaper said they discussed a formula to establish a single provincial council made up of the northern and eastern provinces where most Tamils live.
The Island newspaper said the meeting was held to canvass the support of the ministers for the new proposals, which would entail a merger of the two provinces.
Tamil guerrillas have been fighting troops to set up a separate state for Tamils in the north and east.
Tamils, who form 13 per cent of the Island’s 16 million people, say that the Sinhalese dominated government discriminates against them in language, education, employment and land settlement.
The government has refused to concede an independent state but has proposed to give autonomy to the north and east by setting up separate elected provincial councils.
The Tamil rebels have rejected the provincial councils proposals. They are demanding a merger of the north and east, which they claim as the traditional homeland of the Tamils.
Political sources said that the government had so far resisted Tamils’ demands for a merger of the two provinces. If the government agreed to the merger now, it would be a major concession, they added.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1987
