West misled by LTTE sympathizers - Defence Secretary
Samangie WETTIMUNY
Nations hounding Sri Lanka internationally should engage
constructively with the government, Defence and Urban Development
Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said.
He said, “Sri Lanka’s journey since the dawn of peace has seen the
country transform from a nation in the throes of many post conflict
challenges to a country that is amongst the most peaceful, stable and
secure in the world”. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was
delivering the Keynote address at the seminar on ‘Political and
Diplomatic Challenges Faced by Nations During and after Conflict
Confined to Borders’, jointly organized by the Lakshman Kadirgamar
Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) and
the High Commission for Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Sri Lanka at the
LKIIRSS yesterday.
The Defence Secretary said, the government’s unwavering commitment
and resolve to overcome all the challenges it faced in the post conflict
situation has laid the foundation for a prosperous future for all our
citizens, irrespective of their diversity and differences.”
“Unfortunately, the international pressure brought to bear on Sri Lanka
especially by the Western nations misled by LTTE sympathisers can cause
international investors and even tourists to stay away from the country.
This will have a very adverse impact on the country’s economic
situation, which will be most felt by the people in the former conflict
areas.
“Instead of narrowing the scope of their engagement with Sri Lanka
because of the many misrepresentations and lobbying effected by special
interest groups in their own countries, the nations that are pressuring
Sri Lanka internationally should engage constructively with the
government. It is only then that they will see for themselves the good
work being carried out here despite significant constraints,” Rajapaksa
said.
The Defence Secretary said that though the natural tendency of most
governments would have been to severely punish the cadres for engaging
in brutal terrorist activities, President Rajapaksa held a different
view of the LTTE cadres who had surrendered or had been captured by the
military.
“President Rajapaksa believed that the LTTE cadres had been misled
and that they deserved a chance to lead normal lives in a peaceful
nation. As a result, it was decided that the vast majority of cadres
would be rehabilitated and reintegrated with society as soon as possible
and that only the cadres most involved in terrorist activities would be
prosecuted”, he said.
Talking of the resettlement of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs),
the biggest challenge any government would face after a conflict, the
Defence Secretary said that resettlement of all IDPs was completed in
less than three and a half years. It is particularly noteworthy that
with the exception of a very few, all the IDPs were resettled in their
places of origin.
“Resettlement was even carried out in areas such as Vellamullavaikkal
where the final battles took place. Certain political parties and
various activists claimed that this would never occur because they
alleged there were mass graves in those areas. However, resettlement did
take place, and the resettled people themselves can attest that the
alleged mass graves never existed.” Restoring political plurality in the
war affected areas has been a major challenge because it is not easy to
find and motivate suitable people to come out and join the political
process, he noted .”
However, strengthening multi party democracy in these areas is a
critical factor to combat the doctrine that has been fed to the people
by the LTTE for many decades, The Defence Secretary said. Although it is
only the beginning, the work that has been achieved by the
mainstream political parties as well as newly established groups in
these areas is commendable. It is doing a lot to dispel the LTTE’s false
doctrine and restore proper democracy in these areas”, he said.
Acting High Commissioner for Pakistan in Sri Lanka Amna Baloch,
External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunatilleke Amunugama, Executive
Dirctor of LKIIRSS Asanga Abeyagoonesekera and many others also spoke. |