Govt. committed to political solution - TMVP leader

Uditha Kumarasinghe, Irangika Range and Sandasen Marasinghe

TMVP Leader MP Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan told Parliament yesterday that it is the responsibility of the Government to solve the ethnic problem in a dignified manner and bring a lasting solution to the ethnic problem.

He said “President Mahinda Rajapaksa has clearly stated that the war has been waged to eradicate terrorism. But the Government is firmly committed to bring a political solution to the problems faced by the Tamil community”.

Muralitharan was speaking at the debate on Re-settlement and Disaster Relief Services Ministry and the Disaster Management and Human Rights Ministry. He said during his 22 years in the LTTE, he did not find any meaningful solution to the problem. We would have been able to find a solution to this issue at the last round of peace talks held in Oslo.

Even LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham also tried his level best to reach a consensus. But LTTE Leader Prabhakaran rejected the federal solution and wanted to drag the talks. I also requested him to accept the federal solution. But he refused it and wanted to get ready for a future fight. Therefore, I quit the LTTE.

Muralitharan said when he left the LTTE, it had lost nearly 16,000 cadres. This death toll has gone up to 24,000 when Prabhakaran delivered his Mahaviru speech this year.

At present over 80,000 people have been released from the cultches of the LTTE. Only 20 per cent of innocent Tamil civilians have been trapped by the LTTE. The LTTE uses innocent civilians as a human shield. Therefore, the LTTE has no right whatsoever to pose as the sole representatives of the Tamil community. The war is being waged for the survival of Prabhakaran.

He said about 22 years ago, we were living in our villages without any violence.

This ethnic problem was aggravated due the moves made by the then Government in power. The massacre of 13 soldiers in Jaffna further aggravated this problem even India had to intervene in this problem as well.

Finally, freedom fighters took to arms and turned into terrorists. “We had a lot of opportunities to solve this through negotiations. The IPKF came to Sri Lanka in 1987 with the pure intention of restoring peace in Sri Lanka. It was Prabhakaran who opposed the IPKF. Prabhakaran is responsible for the killing of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi,” he said.

If the LTTE has a problem with the Forces they should fight the Forces without targeting religious places like the Dalada Maligawa. I have represented the LTTE at six rounds of talks. We had a golden opportunity to settle this issue.

This opportunity was sadly missed due to actions of Prabhakaran, he said. “I first met Defence Secretary Gothabhaya Rajapaksa and entered into mainstream politics. He pledged the fullest support of the Government towards my political career”.

The Government has liberated the entire Eastern Province now. At present the Government has implemented a lot of development projects in the east.

Therefore, everything that has taken place in the East is happening in a democratic manner. The Government has resettled nearly 42,000 displaced families in the East.

The people in the East are marching towards the development. The Government is firmly committed to restore peace, he said. “Prabhakaran is now seeking the support of India to resolve this issue. But it was the LTTE which assassinated then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Therefore, Indian Leaders are well aware of these atrocities committed by Prabhakaran,” he added.