Lankan lawmaker seeks Indian help for Tamil rehabilitation

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Sep.6 (ANI): A lawmaker of Sri Lanka's Tamil National Council, Seenithambi Yogeswaran, has complained about the lack of rehabilitation of Tamils in his country, despite adequate monetary assistance given by the Indian government.

Yogeswaran said the Indian government had provided funds for the construction of 50, 000 houses for those who were affected during the civil war, which had come to an end in May 2009. However, a large number of people are still suffering, as merely 1, 000 houses have been constructed till now.

He was addressing a 'Ganesha Utsav' gathering here on Monday.

Sri Lankan Tamils have endured suffering for decades now. Yogeswaram urged the Indian government to find a political solution based on equal rights and regional autonomy.

According to media reports, it is estimated that more than 1500 Hindu temples were destroyed during the last phase of the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Though there is widespread destruction, the Sinhalese forces have prevented reconstruction of the dilapidated temples.

"During the last phase of civil war in Sri Lanka, over 1500 temples were destroyed. The government is also not keen to renovate the destroyed temples. We urge the government of India to intervene and help in the reconstruction of the destroyed temples in Sri Lanka," said Yogeswaram.

Though the Indian government had taken a few steps to resettle Tamils in Sri Lanka, Yogeswaram added that the situation in the conflict zone was yet to improve.

"Even though the Indian government had provided funds for the construction of 50,000 houses for the rehabilitation of Tamils in Sri Lanka, only 1000 houses have been constructed. We are very disappointed," said Yogeswaram.

The Sri Lankan government had crushed the LTTE in May 2009 after the latter waged a war against the government, which lasted for almost twenty-five years. They demanded the creation of a separate state for the Tamil minority, which represented about 15 percent of the island nation's 21 million people.

Tamil Nadu lies 40 km across the Palk Strait from Sri Lanka and is a home to roughly 65 million Tamils. (ANI)