New life for child soldiers

Chaminda Perera from Mahiyangana

*IDPs aged over 60 out of relief centres

*Now 40,000 IDP children attend school

All under-aged children who carried arms in the North will not be prosecuted by the Government, instead they will be integrated into society after proper rehabilitation, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Mahiyangana on Saturday.

Speaking at a ceremony organised by the people in the Uva Province to fete President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa , the Former Army and Navy Commanders, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Roshan Gunathilake and Civil Defence Force Chief Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera on the completion of two months since liberation of the country from the scourge of terrorism held at the historical Mahiyangana Chetiya premises.

The President said the Government is planning to resettling over 80 percent displaced citizens in their original dwellings within 180 days and he is confident that this target would be achieved within the set time frame. “The Government released all displaced people who are above 60 years.

We should be very careful in the future as several senior LTTE leaders can make use of this opportunity”, he said.

The President called on everyone to lend their utmost support to rebuild the nation and safeguard our own identity.

“Out of 300,000 displaced people in welfare camps, 40,000 are children and they are now schooling. When the children in the South were studying in schools , the children in the North were in the battlefield carrying T56 weapons”, he said.

President Rajapaksa said the LTTE denied the rights of all these children.

He said the condition in the welfare camps in Vavuniya than other camps was a whole lot better where Internally Displaced People are living in other countries.

The Government is bound to provide all facilities to them in the welfare camps, he said.

“We don’t want to keep these innocent civilians in camps for long. They would be resettled soon after the mines and booby traps were cleared from

the areas which were held by the LTTE, the President added.

The President added that the Government made a pledge to the people that all under developed villages in the country are given all facilities after the Security Forces achieved success in their mission. “We will provide all facilities to these villages and they would no longer be considered as Under Developed villages”, he said.

“The Politicians as well as Government servants should strive to develop these villages and uplift the lives of people living in the villages. The people in the Wellassa first stood up against the imperialists in 1818 after the country was invaded by them”.

He said the people in Wellassa pioneered the liberation struggle by launching the 1818 rebellion against colonial forces. Our ancestors and forefathers fought to secure the nations’s dignity though they failed in their attempt. The feeling of national dignity was interred in their bones, he said.

President Rajapaksa said the people in the Wellassa have extended their fullest cooperation to the Government in its fight against LTTE terrorism.

Over 2,700 Security Forces personnel of all ranks in the Uva Province made the supreme sacrifice for the protection of territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Nation.

Scoffing at various criticisms that the Government is still celebrating the Security Forces victory over terrorism, the President said the people in the county who underwent untold hardships due to terrorist atrocities are jubilant that they could live in peace and he saw no reason why they should not celebrate this victory.

“I see no reason why people in the country should not celebrate this victory. The people who lived in unlnerable villages left their houses in the night in fear of LTTE attacks. There were several vulnerable villages in the Uva Province too. The people were greatly relieved with the eradication of terrorism, he said.

Terrorists attacked the Dalada Maligawa. Hundreds of innocent civilians were killed in the Dehiwela train bomb. Many more children were killed in the Kebethigollewa claymore blast.

But not even on a single occasion did our people act against any community. They exercised complete restraint in the face of the most ruthless and inhuman terrorist attacks on them. They had a clear understanding who the enemies were, he said.The President stressed that the people endured all woes including the soaring Cost of Living with the hope that the scourge of terrorism would be eliminated by the Government.

They led a frugal life in the face of the global food crisis to prevent this battle from being stopped. He said the parents sacrificed their offsprings for the country.

“We should participate in ceremonies organised by these people who made immense sacrifices for the nation, he said.

The President stressed that the Government should honour their maturity and tolerance.

This sacrifice for the nation was made by the children who descended from our patriots such as Keppetipola Nilame and Kivulegedara Mohottala.

“What our great patriots such as Keppetipola expected were etched in the minds of the valiant soldiers who made the supreme sacrifices for the country during the humanitarian operation.

“The President said a separate chapter titled Pubudamu Wellassa was included in the Government’s policy framework-the Mahinda Chinthanaya- to make the dreams of the people in Wellassa a reality.

“What the people in Wellassa were denied in the past will be restored under the Mahinda Chinthanaya, he said.