Children in North will soon lead happy life, free from LTTE terror - Minister

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

BIYAGAMA: President Mahinda Rajapaksa and our Armed Forces should be commended for rescuing children in the East from the LTTE.

The Government will also rescue the children in the North from the clutches of the LTTE as it did in the East, Child Development and Women’s Welfare Minister Sumedha G. Jayasena said.

Addressing the Universal Children’s Day celebration at Biyagama recently, Minister Jayasena said the Government has put a full stop to the LTTE’s recruitment of child soldiers and same will be carried out shortly in the North.

Today the LTTE is limited only to two districts in the North and children in those two districts suffer at the hands of the terrorists. But children in the South and North have the right to be happy and lead a torture free life.

Minister Jayasena pointed out that under Jathika Saviya a lot of development programmes are underway to develop the country. But physical development alone will not do any good to the country without spiritual, cultural and moral development.

Pointing out certain incidents that take place society, she said child exploitation incidents are being reported everyday in the newspapers and it shows how cruel society is.

“Husbands come home drunk and beat their wives and when the children see this their personalities change. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Mathata Thitha programme will solve these problems,” she added.

Although there are many institutions such as the National Child Protection Authority, the Children’s and Women’s Bureau society should support such institutions to catch child abusers. Laws should be strengthened to give tougher punishments to child abusers, the Minister added.