Tamil leaders thank India for supporting Sri Lanka, seek OCI status for Indian-origin people

Colombo, April 19 (IANS) Ceylon Workers Congress President Senthil Thondaman said on Sunday that it was an honour to meet Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan and expressed gratitude to Indian government for their continuous support to Sri Lanka during the Cyclone Ditwah.

Speaking to IANS after meeting the Vice President, Thondaman said that he requested him to grant Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status to Indian-origin Tamils in Sri Lanka.

“It was an honour to welcome the Indian Vice President, His Excellency C.P. Radhakrishnan Ji. It has been very nice. We had a very good, cordial discussion with him on behalf of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress. And we first of all thank the Indian government for their continuous assistance during the Ditwah Cyclone in Sri Lanka, where they contributed $450 million, which was the largest contribution to Sri Lanka. And also the Indian High Commission team, His Excellency Santosh Jha, for implementing it (the aid programme) in the shortest and quickest time. And also, I appreciated him for his continuous support even during the Covid (pandemic) and other times.”

“India has always been a neighbour. Under the Neighbourhood First policy, they’ve always been remarkably supportive of Sri Lanka. So, I thanked him, and I also requested him on the OCI… we have more than one million Indian origin Tamils living here, where it’s been more than 200 years we have resettled here, but we don’t have the OCI status… So I’m expecting a positive announcement from the Indian government,” he added.

Tamil Progressive Alliance Party leader Mano Ganeshan termed his discussion with Vice President Radhakrishnan “conducive.” He demanded simplifying the status for the status of Overseas Citizen of India for Indian-origin people in Sri Lanka. He also mentioned that indigenous Tamils are living in the northeastern province of Sri Lanka.

Speaking to IANS, Ganeshan said, “We met Excellency Radhakrishnan, Vice President of India, and we had a very glad, very conducive discussion with him. And it is, I believe, a follow-up of our discussion we had with His Excellency Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, who was visiting Sri Lanka in recent times, and also with the External Affairs Minister, (S.) Jaishankar. So, we have been raising many issues. The important issue had been simplifying the status, provision of the status of Overseas Citizen of India to Sri Lankan Indian origins, and people of Indian origin. So, he has brought some good news… also, we have been seeking support for the education, health, and housing sectors in Sri Lanka. I told the Vice President, and elsewhere also, because we, the people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka, speak Tamil. There are people of Indian origin living elsewhere also in the globe, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, everywhere. But our situation is very peculiar, because, though we have been living here for the last 200 years, as other people of Indian origin elsewhere in the globe, there have been indigenous Tamils living in the northeastern province of Sri Lanka. They have been living here for thousands of years. So, they are fighting for self-determination.”

“So, Tamil nationalism has a crisis, conflict with the Sinhala nationalism in this country. So, we are caught in between, since we also speak Tamil. Therefore, our citizenship is not full yet. So, India should consider us, our situation, very calmly, very deeply, very stoutly. It is very, very important. So, now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, as I believe so, as a leader of the TPA, the prime party of Indian origin community in Sri Lanka, I believe so, I trust that Prime Minister Modi is really capable of understanding our issues. He has understood, and he has been sending External Affairs Minister Jaishankar here, and the Vice President is here today. So, they are coming with good news, a good plan. So, we are confident now. Therefore, there are about 1.5 million Indian origin community population in Sri Lanka. The whole 1.5 million should be able to obtain OCI status. Obviously, they are willing. It is optional, no? They are willing. We are Sri Lankans first, but we consider Sri Lanka as our motherland, and we consider India as our fatherland, confidently,” he added.

Vice President Radhakrishnan is on a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka. This visit underscores the growing momentum in diplomatic engagement between the neighbours.

Earlier in the day, the Vice President held a meeting with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya

–IANS

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