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The Tamil-speaking population in Sri Lanka comprises Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Origin Tamils and Tamil Speaking Muslims. Together they are 26 per cent of the island’s population.

But in the 9,00,000-strong public service, Tamil-speakers are just 8.3 per cent. The rest are Sinhala-speakers.

Out of the 36,031 employees in the Police Department, 477 are Tamil-speakers.

Wellawatte, a suburb of Colombo, is an overwhelmingly Tamil area, with 21,417 of its residents out of a total population of 29,302, being Tamil speaking. But in the Wellawatte police station, out of the 156 personnel, only 6 are Tamil speaking.

The Sri Lankan armed forces are also almost completely Sinhala or Sinhala speaking.

There is such a shortage of Tamil-speaking senior and competent officers that in the predominantly Tamil-speaking North Eastern districts, officers are asked to stay on after retirement.

There are Government Agents and Assistant Government Agents (counterparts of the Indian District Collectors) who keep serving well past their official retirement age.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) kept silent over the latest remarks made by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with regards to a Tamil Homeland on the island.

Meanwhile, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has said that the President’s extremist rhetoric may jeopardize the forthcoming Peace Talks in Geneva.

‘We can’t accept any solution without a traditional homeland,’ said lawmaker M.K Shivajilingam, a member of the TNA.

‘Without accepting a traditional homeland the talks will collapse and war will resume,’ he added.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday Rajapaksa said that he will rein in the government sponsored paramilitaries who are a major hindrance to the furthering of the Peace Process.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) is to boycott a special meeting convened by the Muslim Parliamentarians Forum to decide on the Muslim nominee to take part at the forthcoming talks between the Government and the LTTE on February 22-23 at Geneva.

SLMC Secretary General M.T. Hasan Ali said that the decision was made as a ‘mark of protest against President Mahinda Rajapakse’.

SLMC’s non participation is a major blow as no other Muslim party has a significant representation in Parliament.