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Monday, 19 May 2014 00:13 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
“Our communities want to join together. The fear and mistrust lasting 30 years must be dispelled. We are aware that every year the number of persons visiting the north from the south increases. This is a new country that is being built,” the President said.
"Our communities want to join together. The fear and mistrust lasting 30 years must be dispelled. It is easier to take decisions when peace and understanding between the communities increase. To celebrate this great victory is the duty of a grateful nation that gives utmost consideration to human values"
“It is easier to take decisions when peace and understanding between the communities increase. Solutions without peace are temporary,” he said in his address to the nation. “Let us be determined to live in our motherland without betraying the freedom won.”
“To celebrate this great victory is the duty of a grateful nation that gives utmost consideration to human values,” President Rajapaksa told large crowds gathered to witness the Victory Day ceremony
In a clear broadside at Canadian High Commissioner Shelley Whiting, who declined the Government’s invitation to attend the parade on Sunday and urged Sri Lanka to ‘retire’ its Victory Day parade, and other envoys from several Western nations who skipped the ceremony, President Rajapaksa charged “some governments were blind and opposed to celebrating this victory”.
“I categorically state that I will face every challenge against our country in the future as I did in the past and as I am doing at present, honouring the people’s confidence,” the President added.
More than 7,000 security forces personnel participated in the ‘Victory Day’ celebrations, which included a parade of infantry and armoured military units, naval vessels and a display of military airpower by the Sri Lanka Air Force.
The event was attended by Government ministers and top military personnel, but the absence of Western top diplomatic envoys, including the US, Britain and Germany, was marked. Opposition parties also avoided the Matara ceremony. The main opposition United National Party did not attend the parade while the JVP made a policy decision to skip the ceremony saying reconciliation was more important than war parades five years after the end of the war.
“We have nothing to hide. We opened our doors to the world. But some people with vested interests try to use this openness for other purposes,” the President said.
President Rajapaksa also urged all political parties to participate in the Parliamentary Select Committee process, which he said was the best forum for dialogue on the national issue.
After the military shot three LTTE suspects alleged as having attempted to revive the LTTE in north, the President claimed the Tigers had joined the diaspora to attempt to revive the conflict in Sri Lanka. “That is the worst crime against the Tamil community in the country,” he said,
Referencing the abduction of 300 Nigerian schoolgirls by the terrorist group Boko Haram, President Rajapaksa said that for 30 years, terrorists had abducted many children in Sri Lanka. “Over 600 abducted children were rescued by the armed forces during the final stages of the battle. We have handed them over to their parents so that they could go back to school,” he said.
President Rajapaksa said the Government had solved the historical problems faced by the country. “The biggest problem was terrorism. It had been going on for 30 years. In a period of four years, a short time, we resolved that problem. Now, we are focusing on development,” he said.
Speaking in Tamil briefly, the President asked the Tamil people not to be misled by the false propaganda. He said trying to uplift terrorism again was the biggest injustice to the Tamil people.
He said the Tamil diaspora with the support of foreign funds was attempting to divide the country again and assured that the Government would not leave any room for such a move ever again.
Military steps up security in north; blocks TNA meetingsAs the Victory Day parade unfolded hundreds of miles away in Matara, the military stepped up security measures in Jaffna and other parts of the Northern Province yesterday, after authorities imposed a ban on public memorials and events. Access was cut off to the editorial offices of the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper and the Tamil National Alliance party headquarters at Martin Road on Jaffna town last afternoon, where a dusk candlelight ceremony had been organised, the TNA said. Armoured cars and soldiers were used to restrict access, according to reports from Jaffna. TNA MP and proprietor of the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper E. Saravanabhavan told the Daily FT that access roads to the newspaper’s editorial offices had been blocked by large troop contingents. “Our editorial staff are inside, they are doing the newspaper. But the road outside is empty, they are not allowing anyone to come through,” he added. Security Forces Commander for Jaffna Major General Udaya Perera said security measures had been enhanced in the area, to prevent memorial services and disruptive events. “We have information that a situation was going to be created at the Uthayan offices to implicate the military. So we have troops are there and we are checking people travelling down that road,” Maj. Gen. Perera said. He denied access was being blocked to the newspaper offices or the TNA party office. Another TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran also told the Daily FT that a party meeting organised in Pottuvil had been broken up by the military. Access roads to Keerimalai, the site of an ancient Hindu temple where devotees invoke blessings for the dead, had also been cut off after UNP MP T. Maheswaran’s brother T. Thuwarakeswaran attempted to take families there for religious observances. |
