Pressure builds up on Eastern Province Chief Minister.

Dr Vigneswaran’s salary stopped and security withdrawn.

(October 11, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) In order to keep the Chief Minister of Eastern Province Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan known as Pillayan under its wrap, the government is systematically engineering pressures on him to do everything as directed by the government. According to sources in Batticaloa, in addition to publication of government generated news against the Chief Minister in the media, the government is further engaged in imposing penalising sanctions on him and his party Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP).

In the latest development, the government has decided to stop the payment of salary to the Chief Ministers Secretary Dr K Vigneswaran. It is said, the government Minister and the EPDP leader Douglas Devananda is heavily behind this move. Dr Vigneswaran was the former adviser to the EPDP and left the group following disputes with its leader. It is now learnt the government has stopped the salary of Dr Vigneswaran from September 2008 without giving any notice about the decision. It is also claimed the Eastern Provincial Council Governor (who is the government official) has also withdrawn the state security provided to Dr Vigneswaran.

According to sources in Batticaloa, the government is determined to remove Dr Vigneswaran as Secretary to the Chief Minister. ‘Instead of sacking him, the government is engaged in manipulative covert measures’ said the source. When TVMP sources were contacted to verify the story, they would not comment about the government move. The sources in Batticaloa said, TMVP activists will not comment anything controversial as their cell phones are tapped by the state intelligence service twenty four hours.

Dr Vigneswaran is a respectable and talented official and considered to be an asset to the Chief Minister Chandrakanthan. He was heavily involved in the North-Eastern provincial council in the late 1980’s when Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was present in Sri Lanka.

At the time when there is dearth of educated and experienced Tamils to serve in responsible positions to uplift the conditions for the Tamils, pressure on Dr Vigneswaran to leave the job will be seen as never ending saga of the government not to empower the Tamils in Sri Lanka. It is claimed the government only wants those Tamils who could play submissive role directed by the regime to play a subservient politics in Sri Lanka. - Sri Lanka Guardian