Actual situation in North

Lankan artistes to reach out to Indian counterparts

Rasika Somarathna

Colombo- The fraternity of Sri Lanka artistes have decided to stage a peaceful demonstration and also send an open letter to the Indian Government and protesting South Indian artistes explaining the real situation behind the military operations in Northern Sri Lanka.

Veteran film artiste Ravindra Randeniya flanked by a large number of fellow artistes at a media briefing yesterday said that, military operations in the North were aimed at restoring democracy and peace.

According to the artistes a peaceful demonstration named “Adishtana Pooja” is to be staged at the Independence Square on Thursday afternoon.

Elaborating on the close ties between Sri Lanka and South Indian artistes over a long period of time Ravindra Randeniya said the demonstration was not to protest over the recent actions by Tamil Nadu artistes,

but to convey the true feelings of their Sri Lankan counter parts.

He further said that both the demonstration and the open letter were not politically motivated. “This is to show our belief in democracy and peace” the veteran actor noted.

Another Veteran artiste Buddhadasa Vithanachchi observed that the recent actions by Tamil Nadu artists regarding the conflict in Sri Lanka, were provoked by politically motivated pro-LTTE elements in the State.

While claiming that this was a last resort by the LTTE who were facing imminent defeat on all fronts, Vithanachchi said that the esteemed Tamil Nadu Artistes had been mis led by interested factions.

He further claimed that these artistes had not risen when the LTTE had assassinated Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi and scores of other Tamil leaders in Sri Lanka.

The large gathering of artistes made an open invitation to all artistes in Sri Lanka to join them without any affiliations in the name of peace and democracy in staging a peaceful demonstration with the intention of sending the message across.