Thirty-six years since the signing of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, the 13th Amendment to Sri Lankan Constitution is back in focus with the visit of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to India. This will be Wickremesinghe's first visit to India as Sri Lanka's President.
India will once again push for the implementation of the 13th Amendment, which entails a political settlement to long-pending demands of the Tamils through devolution of powers to the island's provinces, during Wickremesinghe's visit, ABP Live has learnt.
Before departing for India, Wickremesinghe met the Tamil parties and assured them that the 13th Amendment would be fully implemented, without police powers, in the provincial councils.
So, what is the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution? Why is it significant for the Tamil population? And, why has India been pushing Sri Lanka for its implementation? We decode the issue for you in this article.
What is the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution?
In a bid to resolve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka between Tamils and the Sinhalese, the 13th amendment was passed in 1987 as part of the Indo-Lanka Accord, which was signed by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President JR Jayawardene.
At that time, the Tamil insurgency was gathering momentum, which later turned into a bloody conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE demanded a separate Tamil state and ran a military campaign before its collapse in 2009 following the killing of Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Since Sri Lanka gained independence from the British in 1948, the Tamils have demanded political autonomy in the northern and eastern regions. It must be noted that all powers in Sri Lanka are concentrated in the centre.
The 13th amendment provides for a provincial council system and devolution of powers over land, the police, education, health, agriculture, housing and finances to the nine provinces of the country, including Sinhala majority areas.
However, its provisions were never fully implemented by successive Sri Lankan governments.
The amendment also provided for making Tamil an official language, and English as a link language.
Initially, the north and eastern provinces were merged and a North-Eastern Provincial Council was created. However, they were de-merged in 2007 following a Supreme Court verdict.
Why Is It Contentious And Has Not Been Implemented So Far?
The 13th amendment has been strictly opposed by the majority Sinhalese and Sinhala nationalist parties. The Sinhalese have argued that it would undermine the unitary nature of the Sri Lankan state.
Moreover, Sinhala parties saw the accord as an imprint of Indian intervention and the country wielding its influence in Sri Lankan matters. Moreover, Sri Lankan governments under different leaders have refused to part with land and police powers in the nine provinces.
Most Sinhalese parties like Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), National Freedom Front (NFF), and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) have continued to call for scrapping the amendment.
On the other hand, Tamils have said that not enough power had been devolved to the provincial councils to make them meaningful.
How Has India Pursued The Issue With Sri Lanka?
Ever since the signing of the accord, India has stressed the importance of the implementation of the 13th amendment besides giving attention to the requirements of the Indian-origin Tamil community;
India has underscored that to create an united Sri Lanka, devolution of powers to the Tamil regions was necessary for long-term reconciliation of the issue between the ethnic communities.
Earlier this year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in a press statement after talks with Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, said India considered the full implementation of the 13th amendment in Sri Lanka "critical" for achieving reconciliation with the minority Tamil community.
In 2021 too, during his visit to Colombo, Jaishankar had stated, "It is in Sri Lanka's own interest that the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united Sri Lanka are fulfilled. That applies equally to the government on meaningful devolution, including the 13th amendment to the Constitution."
In 2022 as well as 2021, India had urged Sri Lanka to implement the 13th amendment at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session at Geneva.