22.9.2008
Photo - Sudath silva

“I have been elected as the President of the entire country; of all its people, irrespective of language or religion. I consider myself responsible for all children of our country, whether they are in the South or in the North; Trincomalee, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, Badulla, Colombo or anywhere else. I see them all as my own children. It is because of this that we need to proceed with liberating the Tamil people of the North and their children from the clutches of the LTTE.”

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said so when he addressed the audience of worshipers and well wishers at the New York Buddhist Vihara last evening (Sept 21).

He said that with the liberation of the East, the Government had been successful in bringing a person who had been recruited to the LTTE as a child soldier, and served for 15 years in that terrorist outfit, to accept the democratic system. Similarly, the government was keen to give the Tamil people of the North too, the opportunity to enjoy the freedoms of democracy, elect their own representatives to local bodies, provincial councils and parliament, and thereby manage their own affairs.

Such liberation which would end terrorism, prevent the separation of the country and make it a single unitary state was the mandate he received when elected President. That was the expectation of the people, and he was ready to fulfill these aspirations.

President Rajapaksa said that Sri Lankans who lived abroad, separated from their country, did not often get the correct picture of events at home. There were distortions by the media and other interested forces. The fact was that the Security Forces were now only a few km away from Kilinochchi, and very soon they would capture that too.

There was a wrong impression created that Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu were administered by the LTTE. In fact it was the government that provided the food, medicines, doctors, teachers and all other essentials for the people there, including pensions to the retired. This was because the government was of the view that these two districts were part of the country, and had to be administered by the Government. The government carried out this humanitarian exercise with full knowledge that the LTTE was extorting a considerable part of the essential goods provided to the Tamil people, for the use of its own cadres. The medicines sent to civilians in these areas were taken by the LTTE to treat its own wounded who returned to fight the troops. Yet the government continued its humanitarian work in the best interests of the Tamil people.

It as well known today that the LTTE was using the people of Kilinochchi & Mullaitivu as human shields. For this very reason the Government had given clear instructions that in carrying out military operations there should be no harm or injury to civilians. This was the policy successfully followed by the Government in the battle to liberate Vakarai in the East.

The governed was fully conscious of its humanitarian obligations, and would act in a manner as to best uphold and carry out these responsibilities. “We are not a government that is committed to military action. We do not believe in battle. Yet, when the forces of terrorism refuse to negotiate, and remain committed to violence and terror, the government is compelled to meet this challenge in the appropriate manner to eradicate terrorism, without deliberate harm to the civilian population; who too wish to be liberated from the forces of terror, the President said.

He thanked the Sri Lankans of New York and also in other parts of the world for the keen interest they were showing in the battle to defeat LTTE terror, and said the government was committed to rebuild the country with their help, so that in future they would be proud to see the country of their parents and state with pride that this is our motherland.

priu