President pledges democracy in Killinochchi like in East

No more “border villages” in local lexicon:

Rohan MATHES

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday underlined his determination to extend the democracy now being enjoyed by the Eastern polity to the people of Killinochchi and Mullaithivu too in the near future.

The President also said the East no longer has to be identified with the North and referred to as the ‘North-East’. “No longer the Eastern masses have to be under the Wanni terrorists. We will never ever permit the Wanni terrorists to dominate the people in the East,” President Rajapaksa said.

He asserted that his Government has fully liberated the East from the clutches of terrorism, paving the way for a fair and free election and the once popular reference of Maaim Gammanna (Border Villages) has been wiped out of the vocabulary now.

President Rajapaksa made this assertion when he addressed a ceremony to mark the presentation of documents pertaining to financial assistance to the Maha Sangha of the Eastern Province, for the uplift and development of the Viharas, at a simple ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.

The President pointed out that the so-called ‘Border Villages’ which had been demarcated following the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), could not exist in a free and independent country which is one Sri Lanka, and therefore the Maha Sangha could now be rightly referred to as the Maha Sangha of one independent Sri Lanka. Around 60 per cent of the voters had cast their franchise at the Local Government elections in Batticaloa recently.

The freedom enjoyed by the civil society here to exercise their franchise was amply demonstrated and that fact was of much importance more than of the results and the victor. We bestowed to them freedom and their democratic rights, replacing the gun culture which prevailed there.

The nurturing and the protection of that freedom is of paramount importance, he noted.

He claimed that despite the great victories achieved by overcoming daunting challenges, certain groups were consistently undermining their effort and striving to grab this freedom in diverse ways. Some are even sabotaging the elections.

They profess that a fair and free election could not be held in that region and mislead the global community.

However, he said that by now it has been proved to the world beyond any doubt, this region has been liberated, and a successful election held sans any significant incidents of violence as is the norm in the Southern elections. They expect to hold the Provincial Council elections too shortly.

He said so-called Human Rights Organisations were never concerned about the plight, sufferings and the rights of the Maha Sangha, but there were many who were profoundly concerned about the human rights of the Tigers.

The President assured that he would create and establish a society which is capable of up-keeping and maintaining the Viharas of the East and the North as well, and urged the Maha Sangha for their blessings.

He said that Rs. 20 million has been allocated from the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Public Trustee’s Fund for the development of Temples, and added that his Government was fully committed not only to develop Temples, but also to protect the freedom of all faiths.