Defeat of terrorism brings peace and freedom
The defeat of terrorism means giving life to an honourable peace and
freedom. We are dedicated to give our children the opportunity to travel
freely from Devundara to any part of the country and for all our people,
whether Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim Burgher, Malay or of any community to
live together and in unity, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing
the nation yesterday evening on the capture of Elephant Pass and the
opening of the A9 Route.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the nation yesterday.
Picture by Chandana Perera |
“Let us be ready to take forward the country that our heroic troops
are bestowing to us through their victories.... It is my belief that you
will take the lead in achieving this admirable goal,” added the
President.
Noting that the people whole heartedly greet the victory of the
heroic troops, he, however said, there are efforts to belittle these
victories, to turn the attention of the people to other directions.
There is a conspiracy with certain international forces to achieve this
sinister objective, he said.
“We have a duty to expose to the country the persons behind these
conspiratorial operations. One must not mistake these conspiracies as
being against me or my government. This is a conspiracy against the
entire country by those who have been driven to fear due to the
successes of our security forces,” added the President.
The address:
“Even before the dawn of 2009 I have told you that this would be a
year of great victory for our heroic forces. 2009 dawned with our troops
taking full control of the Paranthan area.
By January 2 our troops were able to liberate Kilinochchi too from
the clutches of terror. I address you today at a time when our heroic
forces have achieved another great and historic victory. By this evening
our troops have completely freed the Elephant Pass area from the LTTE.
Similarly, bringing Point Pedro and Devundara (Dondra Head) together
the A-9 route has been completely freed from the clutches of the LTTE.
Elephant Pass was lost to our troops nine years ago. On that day our
motherland lost 359 of its heroic troops. 349 went missing and nearly
2500 troops were injured. From that day we have on several occasions
tried to reach Elephant Pass through Muhamalai.
In the past three years, a considerable number of our troops
sacrificed their lives in such efforts. Today, the troops of the 53rd
the 55th divisions of the Army have spread their power across Muhamalai
to Elephant Pass.
It is our duty on this occasion to pay homage to all of our troops
who have paid the supreme sacrifice towards this victory. I need not
explain to you that the A-9 route is symbolic of the unity that exists
between the North and the South of our country.
Four years prior to this, our people who travelled on the A 9 route
had to do so under the yoke of an illegal terrorists order.
The LTTE obtained several million rupees from the fraudulent taxes
they imposed on the people who used the A9 route. Our people had the
misfortune at that time live in the face of such humiliation. This part
of our history will never be forgotten by us.
Our heroic troops are not only engaged in freeing the territory held
by the Tigers. They are engaged in the great humanitarian battle to
bring peace, freedom and democracy to the Tamil people of the North.
Today they have launched the battle to hand over as your heritage a
Sri Lanka that is free of terrorism. I am aware that today our people
wholeheartedly greet the victory of our heroic troops.
However, together with that joy, there are efforts to belittle these
victories, to turn the attention of the people to other directions.
There is a conspiracy with certain international forces to achieve this
sinister objective.
You would have already realized that the aim of these conspirators is
to level unfounded charges against the Army Commander who works with the
greatest dedication to achieve these victories, and by this to destroy
the morale of our troops, destabilize the country, tarnish the image of
the country internationally, and make room for various international
forces to interfere to grab our gains away from us.
We are aware that such conspiracies arise when a country moves ahead
without giving in to external pressures. It is for no reason other than
to embarrass our country internationally that my friend and Member of
Parliament Joseph Pararajasingam was assassinated while in church at
Christmas service.
What purpose other than tarnishing of the country’s image
internationally could there be in carrying out a bomb attack on the
office of the Udayan newspaper published in Jaffna on World Press
Freedom Day?
At a time when Thoppigala was being freed from the hold of terrorists
an effort was made to distract from the importance of this victory by
the abduction of a journalist from an English language newspaper and
assaulting him.
After many years our troops freed Vedithaltivu dealing major defeat
to the terrorists. The day after that a camp for the Internally
Displaced Persons at Vavuniya was set ablaze. Who is it that stands to
gain from all this? Is not the aim of those who plan these incidents the
belittling of the victories of our heroic troops? We have a duty to
expose to the country the persons behind these conspiratorial
operations.
One must not mistake these conspiracies as being against me or my
government. This is a conspiracy against the entire country by those who
have been driven to fear due to the successes of our security forces. We
are now engaged in giving new life to the unitary status of our country.
We are enlivening democracy in our land.
The defeat of terrorism means giving life to an honourable peace and
freedom. We are dedicated to give our children the opportunity to travel
freely from Devundara to any part of the country and for all our people,
whether Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim Burgher, Malay or of any community to
live together and in unity.
Let us all join hands to achieve that victory. Let us be ready to
take forward the country that our heroic troops are bestowing to us
through their victories. This is the responsibility that our motherland
asks both from you and me. It is my belief that you will take the lead
in achieving this admirable goal.
I wish you every success in future.”
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