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27.5.2008
By Walter Jayawardhana
President
of Sri Lanka's oldest Tamil political party, Tamil United
Liberation Front (TULF) Leader V.Ananda Sangaree while condemning
the Kilinochchi claymore mine attack and the Dehiwala train
bomb attack that killed sixteen and nine civilians respectively
queried how could the army or paid agents of the army strike
so close to the LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi, as claimed
by some Tamil newspapers.
Blaming
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also for the
Kilinochchi Claymore Mine explosion Sangaree said, "How
is it possible for the armed forces to reach areas so close
to their Head Quarters. Even if one assumes that it is the
work of the paid agents of the armed forces, the LTTE must
seriously consider winding up the fighting and come to terms
with the Government, since their days are numbered. Secondly
even if one accepts that army can reach these areas through
their paid agents, it cannot be true all the time."
He
said, "My strong suspicion is that the Tamil Media
is pressurised by the LTTE to put the blame on the forces
soon after some incident takes place, merely to gain sympathy
from the International Community after themselves doing
it either intentionally or by mistaken identity. I call
upon H. E. the President to appoint a presidential Commission
to find out who is responsible for such attacks taking place
in the LTTE held areas and how within a few hours the Local
papers claim that all such attacks are by the deep penetrating
unit of the forces."
Following
is his full statement: "A claymore mine attack at Murugandy
in Kilinochchi on Friday afternoon took the lives of 16
innocent men, women and children and also left 3 seriously
injured. A bomb blast in a crowded train on Monday left
9 killed, 73 injured and out of the four women killed one
was a pregnant mother. I strongly condemn both incidents
and grieve with the kith and kin on their losses. This is
not a cricket match for anyone to announce the score and
celebrate it with a party. How many widows, widowers, orphans
and destitute persons, these two horrible incidents had
created? One who left home, happily in the morning returns
home in a beautiful coffin, some in pieces and some others
beyond identification.
Thousands
of innocent non-combatants had died and also thousands in
the war front. Now we have in our country several thousands
of widows, widowers, orphans and destitute persons, not
to count those who had lost their eyesight, limbs etc. The
pain of the loss of a life is felt only by the victim's
dear ones and not by those who promote the war and who gain
by the war. Is there no end to this? - is the question every
one of us should ask.
"As
I had been repeatedly pointing out, the Human Rights Violations
continue unabated both in the Government controlled areas
and in the LTTE controlled areas, the only difference being
that there is transparency in the former and complete blackout
in the latter where people open their mouths only when asked
to do so.
"I
am misunderstood by some for accusing the LTTE and holding
them responsible for the claymore mine attacks taking place
in their areas. My reasons for doing so are two fold. One
is My strong suspicion is that the Tamil Media is pressurised
by the LTTE to put the blame on the forces soon after some
incident takes place, merely to gain sympathy from the International
Community after themselves doing it either intentionally
or by mistaken identity. I call upon H. E. the President
to appoint a presidential Commission to find out who is
responsible for such attacks taking place in the LTTE held
areas and how within a few hours the Local papers claim
that all such attacks are by the deep penetrating unit of
the forces. His Excellency can refer a few selected cases
for a Presidential Commission to inquire into. As one who
had represented the Kilinochchi Electorate for over 14 years,
I have an interest in knowing whether what the papers say
are voluntary or under compulsion.
"At
least at this stage, if the Government comes out with a
reasonable proposal acceptable to the International Community,
not out of fear for the LTTE, but only to give confidence
to the International Community to take a bold step forward
to help to find a solution. Every one who has sympathy for
the poor innocent man on the street who falls a victim to
the LTTE's claymore mine, bomb or even their bullets must
without any hesitation support my proposal. The TULF condemns
all types of violence on the innocent civilians."
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