Douglas Devananda Calls for Political Solutions and Full Implementation of the 13th Amendment
Douglas Devananda, Secretary General of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), stated that neither Tamil people nor Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka took up struggles after receiving permission from rulers. Instead, armed conflicts emerged due to the political and social pressures imposed on people during different historical periods.
He made these remarks while responding to a recent statement by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the National War Heroes Day event held in Colombo, where the President said that he would not allow another war to occur in Sri Lanka either now or in the future.
Commenting on the matter, Douglas Devananda said that he himself was among the early participants in the armed struggle in Sri Lanka and therefore spoke from experience. He noted that the movement associated with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had also engaged in armed conflict in the past, just as Tamil militant movements had taken up arms in pursuit of the aspirations of the Tamil people.
He emphasized that these struggles were not carried out because governments granted permission, but because circumstances at the time forced people into such actions.
Speaking further about the aspirations of Tamil people, Devananda stated that Tamils do not wish to abandon their Sri Lankan identity in order to remain Tamil, nor do they wish to give up their Tamil identity in order to be Sri Lankan. According to him, the aspiration of Tamil people is to live both as Tamils and as Sri Lankans with equal dignity.
He also expressed the view that violence and armed conflict have now come to an end, and based on his political experience, he believes Tamil people would not consider returning to armed struggle again.
At the same time, he welcomed the President’s statement about preventing future wars, calling it a positive development. However, he stressed that the government must also work toward resolving the long-standing political grievances and aspirations of Tamil people.
In particular, Devananda called for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, which was introduced under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord.
He further stated that the current government, which holds a two-thirds majority in Parliament, should introduce the necessary legal reforms and quickly conduct Provincial Council elections as a first step toward addressing the aspirations of the Tamil people.
“That is my expectation,” he concluded.
