Eezham Tamils differ with SL State on shifting 2018 May Day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 April 2018, 20:33 GMT]
The May Day is universally observed on May 01. It cannot be changed according to the whims and fancies of non-secular Establishments and States, opined Eezham Tamil trade unionists and political activists in the North-East. They were responding to the move by the Colombo government to mark the day on May 7th instead of on May 01st following the advice coming from the Mahahanayake Theras of the Sinhala Buddhist Theravada Establishment in the South.

The Mahanayaka theras have urged the mass movements and the political parties in the South not to hold May Day rallies on 01st May due to Vesak celebrations falling on 29th and 30th April this year.

However, Eezham Tamils will mark May Day on May 01st the grassroots organisations in the North-East said.

The Tamil National Alliance is also falling in line with the grassroots in the North-East, informed sources in Jaffna said.

The latest move is another example that the unitary State of genocidal Sri Lanka is a non-secular State and that it would always be under the control of the Buddhist Establishment in all crucial matters, the Tamil activists in Jaffna said.

Article 9 (chapter II) of the current Sri Lankan constitution promulgated in 1978 says "The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana.."

Eezham Tamils say that this Article constitutes a particular obstacle in negotiating any degree of regional autonomy with the genocidal State of Sri Lanka because it is an 'entrenched' section of the constitution.

Article 9 can be amended or repealed only with the support of two-thirds of all the members of the SL Parliament and only if such amendment or repeal is thereafter approved by the people in an island-wide referendum.

The Article 9 is also deployed to Sinhalicise the occupied country of Eezham Tamils through militarisation and Buddhicisation.

The UNP was vowing to put up 1,500 viharas in the North-East during the last civic elections.

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