Full Text Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord The Indo-Lanka Agreement of 1987

Full Text Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord The Indo-Lanka Agreement of 1987 Resulted in Murder of Rajiv Gandhi

The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene.

After the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, Rajiv Gandhi was assaulted by Leading Rate Vijitha Rohana at the Guard of Honour held for Gandhi in what seemed an attempted assassination.

Four years later, in 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber.

Below is the full text of Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord The Indo-Lanka Agreement of 1987

Indo-Lanka Accord


Colombo, 29 July 1987
 
The  president  of  the  Democratic  Socialist  Republic  of  Sri  Lanka,  his  excellency  Mr.  J.R.
Jayawardene,  and  the  Prime  Minister  of  The  Republic  of  India,  His  Excellency  Mr.  Rajiv
Gandhi, having met at Colombo on July 29, 1987.

Attaching  utmost  importance  to  nurturing,  intensifying  and  strengthening  the  traditional
friendship of Sri Lanka and India, and acknowledging the imperative need of resolving the ethnic
problem of Sri Lanka, and the consequent violence, and for the safety, wellbeing, and prosperity
of people belonging to all communities of Sri Lanka.

Have this day entered into the following agreement to fulfill this objective

1. In this context,

1.1 Desiring to preserve the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka:

1.2  Acknowledging  that  Sri  Lanka  is  a  'multi-ethnic  and  a  multi-lingual  plural  society''
consisting, inter alia, of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims (Moors) and Burghers:

1.3 Recognizing that each ethnic group has a distinct cultural and linguistic identity which has to
be carefully nurtured:

1.4  Also  recognizing  that  the  Northern  and  the  Eastern  Provinces  have  been  areas  of  historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking peoples, who have at all times hitherto lived together in this territory with other ethnic groups:

1.5 Conscious of the necessity of strengthening the forces contributing to the unity, sovereignty
and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, and preserving its character as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual
and multi- religious plural society , in which all citizens can live in equality, safety, and harmony,
and prosper and fulfill their aspirations:

2. Resolve that:

2.1  Since  the  Government  of  Sri  Lanka  proposes  to  permit  adjoining  provinces  to  join  to  form one  administrative  unit  and  also  by  a  Referendum  to  separate  as  may  be  permitted  to  the Northern and Eastern Provinces as outlined below:

2.2  During  the  period,  which  shall  be  considered  an  interim  period  (i.e.  from  the  date  of  the
elections  to  the  Provincial  Council, as  specified  in  Para  2.8  to  the  date  of  the  referendum  as
specified  in  Para  2.3),  the  Northern  and  Eastern  Provinces  as  now  constituted,  will  form  one
administrative unit, having one elected provincial council.  Such a unit will have one Governor,
one Chief Minister and one Board of Ministers.

2.3  There  will  be  a  Referendum  on  or  before  31st  December  1988  to  enable  the  people  of  the Eastern Province to decide whether:

a)  The  Eastern  Province  should  remain  linked  with  the  Northern  Province  as  one
administrative unit, and continue to be governed together with the Northern Province as
specified in Para 2.2 or:

b)  The  eastern  province  should  constitute  a  separate  administrative  unit  having  its  own
distinct  provincial  council  with  a  separate  Governor,  Chief  Minister  and  Board  of
Ministers.

The president may, at his discretion, decide to postpone such a referendum.

2.4 All persons who have been displaced due to  ethnic violence or other  reasons, will have the
right to vote in such a referendum.  Necessary conditions to enable them to return to areas from
where they were displaced will be created.

2.5 The Referendum, when held, will be monitored by a committee headed by the Chief Justice,
a member appointed by the President, nominated by the Government of Sri Lanka, and a member
appointed by the president, nominated by the representatives of the Tamil speaking people of the
Eastern Province.

2.6 A simple majority will be sufficient to determine the result of the Referendum.

2.7 Meetings and other forms of propaganda, permissible within the laws of the country, will be
allowed before the Referendum.

2.8  Elections  to  Provincial  Councils  will  be  held  within  the  next  three  months,  in  any  event
before  31  December  1987.   Indian  observers  will  be  invited  for  elections  to  the  Provincial
Council of the north and east.

2.9  The  emergency  will  be  lifted  in  the  Eastern  and  Northern  Provinces  by  Aug.  15,  1987.   A cessation of hostilities will come into effect all over the island within 48 hours of signing of this
agreement.  All arms presently held by militant groups will be surrendered in accordance with an
agreed procedure to authorities to be designated by the Government of Sri Lanka.

Consequent to the cessation of hostilities and the surrender of arms by militant groups, the army
and  other  security  personnel  will  be  confined  to  barracks  in  camps  as  on  25  May  1987.   The
process  of  surrendering  arms  and  the  confining  of  security  personnel  moving  back  to  barracks shall be completed within 72 hours of the cessation of hostilities coming into effect.

2.10  The  Government  of  Sri  Lanka  will  utilize  for  the  purpose  of  law  enforcement  and
maintenance  of  security  in  the  Northern  and  Eastern  Provinces  the  same  organizations  and
mechanisms of Government as are used in the rest of the country.

2.11 The President of Sri Lanka will grant a general amnesty to political and other prisoners now
held  in  custody  under  The  Prevention  of  Terrorism  Act  and  other  emergency  laws,  and  to
combatants, as well as to those persons accused, charged and/or convicted under these laws.  The
Government of Sri Lanka will make special efforts to rehabilitate militant youth with a view to
bringing them back into the mainstream of national life.  India will co-operate in the process.

2.12 The Government of Sri Lanka will accept and abide by the above provisions and expect all
others to do likewise.

2.13  If  the  framework  for  the  resolutions  is  accepted,  the  Government  of  Sri  Lanka  will
implement the relevant proposals forthwith.

2.14 The Government of  India  will underwrite  and guarantee the resolutions, and co-operate in
the implementation of these proposals.

2.15 These proposals are conditional to an acceptance of the proposals negotiated from 4.5.1986
to  19.12.1986.   Residual  matters  not  finalized  during  the  above  negotiations  shall  be  resolved
between  India  and  Sri  Lanka  within  a  period  of  six  weeks  of  signing  this  agreement.   These
proposals  are  also  conditional  to  the  Government  of  India  co-operating  directly  with  the
Government of Sri Lanka in their implementation.

2.16  These  proposals  are  also  conditional  to  the  Government  of  India  taking  the  following
actions if any militant groups operating in Sri Lanka do not accept this framework of proposals
for a settlement, namely,

a)  India  will  take  all  necessary  steps  to  ensure  that  Indian  territory  is  not  used  for
activities prejudicial to the unity, integrity, and security of Sri Lanka

b)  The  Indian  navy/coast  guard  will  cooperate  with  the  Sri  Lankan  navy  in  preventing
Tamil militant activities from affecting Sri Lanka.

c)  In  the  event  that  the  Government  of  Sri  Lanka  requests  the  Government  of  India  to
afford military assistance to implement these proposals the Government of India will co-operate by  giving to the Government of Sri  Lanka such military  assistance as and when
requested.

d) The Government of India will expedite repatriation from Sri Lanka of Indian citizens
to India who are resident here, concurrently with the repatriation of Sri Lankan refugees
from Tamil Nadu.

e)  The  Governments  of  Sri  Lanka  and  India  will  co-operate  in  ensuring  the  physical
security and safety of all communities inhabiting the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

2.17 The government of Sri Lanka shall ensure free, full, and fair participation of voters from all
communities  in  the  Northern  and  Eastern  Provinces  in  electoral  processes  envisaged  in  this
agreement.   The  Government  of  India  will  extend  full  co-operation  to  the  Government  of  Sri
Lanka in this regard.

2.18 The official language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.  Tamil and English will also be official
languages.

3.This agreement and the annexure thereto shall come into force upon signature.

In witness whereof we have set our hands and seals hereunto.

Done in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on this the twenty-ninth day of July of the year one thousand nine
hundred and eighty-seven, in duplicate, both texts being equally authentic.

Junius Richard Jayawardene
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 

Rajiv Gandhi
Prime Minister of the Republic of India

Source - http://peacemaker.un.org

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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Tags – India Sri lanka Accord 1987