Arundhati Roy wrong, says SL High Commission
The Sri Lankan High Commission in India on Tuesday accused writer and
activist Arundhati Roy of making false and damaging assertions on the
situation in the country.
Roy had described the latest developments in the country as
constituting an "openly racist war" and held the Government guilty of
genocide.
A statement issued by First Secretary Sugeeshwara Gunaratna said that
Roy's comments made in an article in the Times of India on Monday are
likely to encourage the LTTE into believing that its propaganda is
successful and that it should therefore remain even more obdurate in
holding onto the civilians.
"Today, around 54 percent of Sri Lanka's Tamil community live in
areas other than the North and East and in locations where the majority
population is Sinhalese. This intermingling of the communities
symbolises the pluralism inherent in Sri Lankan society," said the
statement.
"The LTTE by contrast has sought through the use of terror to carve
out a mono ethnic state. They have consistently rejected the path of
negotiation and the several attempts to evolve a political solution
equitable to all communities on the island, including through the
provisions for devolution," it added.
The LTTE continues to hold on close to 50,000 civilians in the
north-eastern part of the country and the statement highlighted Foreign
Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement in Parliament in February that "LTTE
would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all
civilians and laying down arms".
Courtesy: The Times of India
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