President condemns LTTE attack

Rohan Mathes

Matara: President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged the nation to unite and rally round together under one banner, regardless of party politics and other differences to defeat and eradicate terrorism.

Addressing a colourful and historic ceremony to symbolically confer ownership of the ‘Dakshina’ land to 10,000 beneficiaries at the Uyanwatte Stadium in Matara, President Rajapaksa vouched never to revert from the ongoing onslaught against terrorism.

Categorically ruling out the suicide attack in Anuradhapura as cowardly and disgraceful, he profoundly regretted the loss of life of great men who possessed diverse political ideologies.

He pointed out that extending our optimum co-operation to the Armed Forces who had the skill, courage and the experience to confront and crush the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world, was the duty and obligation of all.

“The terrorists have again engaged in a dastardly attack in Anuradhapura and taken away the life of many valued individuals of this land. It is this barbaric terrorism that we should whole-heartedly renounce and defeat. Lets rally round together and achieve this goal,” President Rajapaksa emphatically stated.

He reminisced with gratitude how the Southern polity expressed their fullest co-operation and solitude to the political campaigns such as the ‘Pada Yathra’ of the past, especially in an era where the UNP was assumed to be invincible. They rallied round to win the Southern Provincial Council and paved the way for a series of resounding victories at the last Presidential elections in Galle, Matara and Hambantota.

As envisaged in the ‘Mahinda Chintanaya’ President Rajapaksa said, they were handing over ownership to 10,000, out of 100,000 landless families of Matara today, followed by a similar handing over of land to the landless families of Galle at a later date.

“We are now rectifying the erroneous policies adopted by the imperialists of the past who deprived the people of this country their due land and made them landless. Since 1970, under the Sirimavo Bandaranaike regime, several reforms were made and measures taken to distribute land among the landless. I too, raised my hand and voted in favour of the ‘Land Reforms’ Act, as the youngest member in Parliament. With the advent of time, this too however changed,” he said.

He pointed out that his Government’s development plans will transcend the handing over of land to the landless. It would be an overall and multi-faceted renaissance to the village. Paddy, tea, rubber, cinnamon among others will fetch a good and enhanced price. Abandoned irrigation schemes would once again be rejuvenated. The road and rail network inclusive of expressways would be constructed. Terrorism would be eradicated.

All this had been done for the betterment of the nation and its future generations. The landslide victories achieved in the recent local government elections have indicated beyond any reasonable doubt that the people have endorsed the Government’s development plans of uplifting the village.

Ministers Maithripala Sirisena, Mervyn Silva, Southern Province Chief Minister Shan Wijayalal De Silva and Matara Mayor Upul Nishantha also addressed the ceremony.