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Building bridges with Tamils

PRESIDENT Mahinda Rajapaksa made a pertinent point the other day when he enjoined certain elements from the majority community against treating every Tamil as an LTTE terrorist.

Opening the Weerawila Airport Project in his native Hambantota last Sunday, the President stressed on an attitudinal change of a petty minded among few who continue to maintain such prejudices against ordinary Tamils.

The President no doubt is keen to remove the deep seated suspicion and heal the wounds that has existed between the two communities for decades realising the need for all sections to work as one family if the country is to progress and release its true potential.

For it is only a nation that stands united which can wither all challenges and aspire to reach its goals. This the President is fully alive to, hence his appeal to sections of the majority community.

No doubt feelings certainly are bound to run high in a charged atmosphere where soldiers suffer heavy casualties on the battle front.

It is pertinent to note here that it was the death of 13 soldiers in that fateful landmine in Thinnaveli on July 21, 1983 that triggered the worst communal riots in the country. Sinhalese by and large had been wiser since then and had not reacted even under the gravest provocations of the LTTE.

The majority community for all intents and purposes had put behind that black episode which earned the country pariah status with the international community, thanks in no small measure to the then Government in power, who it is well known, inspired the riots.

President Rajapaksa who has gone on record fiercely condemning that spasm of mindlessness that took hold of some elements of the majority community is naturally determined that the country puts behind that dark chapter and mend fences with the minorities.

He is keen that no room is allowed for any bad blood between the two communities in the new social environment created under his dispensation.

Being an ardent campaigner of human rights from his salad days as a politician the President no doubt is sincere in his commitment to forge amity between the two communities.

The President also pointing to a bevy of children belonging to all communities who flocked to garland him at the ceremony said he harboured a dream to see this unity reflected in the larger fabric of communal relations in the country.

The President's avowed dream also harkens us back to days when leading schools had students of different communities sitting in the same row next to each displaying a brotherhood and camaraderie which sadly has disappeared and replaced by acrimonious feelings over the decades.

It is this brotherhood and conviviality that the President is yearning for when he appealed to the majority community to banish all prejudices and not see a tiger behind every bush.

The President also noted in his speech that there was a vast gap between terrorists and innocent Tamil people and for the country at large to draw a clear distinction in this regard. He also warned instigators of communal tension that he would have no mercy on such elements.

It is the duty of the majority community to heed the appeal of the Head of State and strive to build bridges with their Tamil brethren which would be a huge fillip to the efforts of the President to clinch a negotiated settlement to the national problem.

Norway gave money

It was April 2004. LTTE's renegade leader Karuna retreated after clashes with Prabhakaran. It happened two days after Karuna gave his final face-to-face interview to this writer who was then at "The Island" newspaper. The interview was published in The Island on 9th April. However, in 2002 the writer predicted that both Karuna and Prabhakaran would split and the article was published in "The Island" in May 2002 and subsequently in India's "Frontline" magazine. Many violent incidents have taken place since then and we questioned if Karuna was also adopting Prabhakaran's tactics and who would survive. It seems that they both have survived rightly or wrongly while the country is yearning for peace. One time deputy of Prabhakaran and LTTE's most dreaded 'colonel' Karuna, now the most wanted man of the LTTE speaks to the Daily News face-to-face for the first time in his Eastern stronghold.

Full Story

To the LTTE: Karuna

WE are not a paramilitary group. We are the breakaway faction of the LTTE and we are also a registered political party now. Prabhakaran and the LTTE lost its support even from the Diaspora after I split. Many Tamils are working against Prabhakaran openly now and rising against him, even the people in Jaffna.

Full Story

The choice for Tamils: failed Prabhakaran or peace-winning Anandasangaree?

SUMMING up the Washington meeting of the Co-Chairs - US, Norway, Japan and EU - US Under Secretary for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns dealt a body blow at the press conference that has sent the Tigers reeling. This is not what they expected. The Tiger lobby went into top gear on A-9 road to convince the international community,

Full Story

 

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