Tamils should demand that LTTE opens sluice - Sangaree

COLOMBO: TULF leader V. Anandasangaree yesterday urged the Tamil community in Sri Lanka to in a single voice demand from the LTTE that it immediately opens the Mavilaru sluice gates to enable the poor peasants to salvage their crops and restore drinking water 15,000 families. "Acts of this nature bring disgrace to a community that had a good reputation all over the world," he said.

He advised Tamils who still believed that the LTTE would deliver the goods, that the time had arrived to look for alternatives since the outfit had lost all credibility by their atrocious activities.

"Tamils have lost more than what they have achieved to the LTTE's atrocious activities", he said in a statement. The former Parliamentarian said the LTTE had no business to meddle with the irrigation system in any part of the country.

"Denying to 30,000 acres of paddy crops much needed water at this most crucial period when their crops are maturing and allowing the crops to perish amounts to inhumanly depriving 15,000 families of their livelihood and drinking water," he said.

He said: "By their cruel act the LTTE had not gained anything other than earning the displeasure of the international community and bringing disgrace to the Tamil community."

Anandasangaree traced the ruthless activities of the LTTE to the brutal massacre of 13 Sinhala soldiers in Thirunelvely, Jaffna which sparked the "Black July" where well to do Tamils became paupers overnight.

"The Government of that time and some hoodlums were blamed for this but the credit goes to the average Sinhalese who were responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of Tamils at grave risk to their lives", Anandasangaree said.

The statement further said: "Once again the LTTE leaders have displayed their immaturity, inexperience and ignorance in managing their affairs in spite of having Dr. Anton Balasingam and legal experts like Siva Pasupathy, former Attorney General of Sri Lanka and a leading lawyer V. Rudrakumar, as their advisers.

Of these Anton Balasingam feels more secured in London than in Vanni and the other two fled the country long ago due to fear of the LTTE. Perhaps due to their advice the LTTE takes one step forward and several steps backwards.

The LTTE's claim that they closed the sluice of the Mavilaru anicut as a protest against the European Union's ban on them is ridiculous.

This action is as good as throwing a challenge to the entire International Community which will prove disastrous for them. The International Community had been tolerating their nefarious activities and ruthless conduct for 23 years or more.

First of all the LTTE has no business to meddle with the irrigation system in any part of the country.

The irony is that they are issuing statements from within the Government controlled area, claiming the said anicut as one in their area to which the Government Forces have no access, according to the provisions in the Ceasefire Agreement, the Government signed with the LTTE.

Denying to 30,000 acres of paddy crops, much needed water at this most crucial period when their crops are maturing and allowing the crops to perish, amounts to inhumanly depriving 15,000 families of their livelihood and their drinking water.

Wells in agricultural areas get re-charged only when water freely flows down the distributory channels.

Due to the most irresponsible act of a few, many lives had been lost on both sides, some in their effort to have access to the sluice and some others in preventing it.

The youths who sacrifices their lives are children of poor parents and not of the leaders who are responsible for this.

CFA or otherwise the Government can't simply look on when poor peasants are strangled by a group of armed men irresponsibly claiming to be freedom fighters, trying to hold the whole country to ransom and also challenging the entire International Community.

Having got the taste of it the LTTE is gleefully expecting another communal riots by engaging in various provocative activities to incite the forces to retaliate.

Everyday a few lives are lost by the LTTE planting claymore mines or throwing hand grenades, targeting the army, navy or police.

In every such incident a few innocent Tamil civilians also either get killed or seriously injured. No one will have the courage to demonstrate against such killings either in Sri Lanka or in foreign countries.

But when the service personnel get involved in any incident, the front organisations of the LTTE are asked to demonstrate and they promptly agree out of fear.

It is regrettable that a few very cruel incidents had taken place in the North and the East in which the service personnel are accused of involvements.

But in the south the Sinhalese have become more tolerant and accommodative that hardly one unpleasant incident had taken place there where hundreds of thousands of Tamils had taken up residence in the midst of the Sinhalese and Muslims from Colombo to Panadura in the south and from Colombo to Puttalam in the west.

In spite of the fact that hardly one day passes without a few service personnel and a few innocent Tamil civilians getting killed or injured in the North and the East hardly one incident takes place in retaliation in the South.

I would very strongly urge the Sinhalese among whom the Tamils live to give them all protection because they themselves are victims of LTTE atrocities and had got out of their homes in the North and the East leaving behind most of their possessions.

The Muslims driven out of Jaffna by the LTTE more than 15 years back are still living in refugee camps in the Puttalam and the Anuradhapura districts.

I strongly urge the service personnel stationed in the North and the East not to play into the hands of the LTTE and to give serious thought to what advice the Army Commander Major General Sarath Fonseka gave them when he resumed duties after recovery from the attack on him by a suicide bomber.

In the appeal to his soldiers he said: "The only way we could do that is to behave in a manner that we are not biased and perform our duties to ensure the safety and security of all our people, be it Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays and others.

"All are Sri Lankans. That is exactly what we want to be."