Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) intends to raise concerns over the continuing erosion of provincial council powers during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Sri Lanka, according to Acting Leader C. V. K. Sivagnanam.
Speaking at a press conference in Jaffna on 29 March, Sivagnanam stated that ITAK would take the opportunity, should a meeting be granted, to brief the Indian premier on what he described as the “gradual erosion” of the provincial council system and the systematic dismantling of devolved powers granted under the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution.
Modi is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka from 4–6 April, marking his first visit under the new administration of Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake. He will participate in a series of bilateral engagements and is expected to virtually inaugurate an Indo-Sri Lankan solar energy project in Trincomalee, alongside other development initiatives.
Sivagnanam noted that members of ITAK hope to meet with the Indian leader during his trip, where they will raise long-standing Tamil political grievances, particularly the delays in holding provincial council elections and the continued weakening of administrative autonomy in the North-East.
He added that ITAK would urge Modi to communicate these concerns to the Sri Lankan government and press for a “comprehensive national resolution” that acknowledges the political aspirations and enduring struggles of the Tamil people.
The Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 led to the establishment of the provincial council system and the 13th Amendment. However, Tamil political parties and civil society have long argued that the amendment falls short of meaningful devolution and that its limited powers have been further undermined over the decades by successive Sri Lankan governments.