 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Mahinda Rajapaksa COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday maintained that a “wrong impression” had been created in Tamil Nadu about the alleged neglect by his government of those internally displaced (IDPs) in the war-torn north and the ongoing military operations to “defeat terrorism.” Talking to Sri Lanka media heads and editors at his office, Mr. Rajapaksa said, “Our primary responsibility as a government is to look after all our citizens. I carry out this responsibility to the fullest, especially with regard to the people who are temporarily displaced in the north, due to the ongoing military operations to defeat terrorism. There is a wrong impression created in Tamil Nadu that this has not been done. This is furthest from the correct position. All these are our citizens and we take every measure to look after and provide for them.” A statement by the Presidential Secretariat on the meeting quoted Mr. Rajapaksa as complaining that the figures of the IDPs from the current Wanni operations were inflated. “He was aware that some misconceptions were created by reports in the Tamil newspapers which were under pressure not to report the facts as they were.” Mr. Rajapaksa told the meeting that recently when the WFP turned back a convoy of essential supplies to IDPs because of a culvert damage, within two days the government agencies ensured that the supplies were delivered. At present, there were food supplies for two months in the affected areas where the IDPs were not more than 150,000. “We continue to supply food even to the LTTE because our responsibility is to the civilians, the farmers and the rural producers of the region who are trapped by the LTTE,” the statement said. In response to a question, Mr. Rajapaksa said the friendly relations between Sri Lanka and India remained very strong and New Delhi had always helped us when necessary and supported the island nation in international fora. “He was aware of the political pressures in India at the moment, especially considering the reality of coalition politics and the diverse interests that surface in such situations,” the statement said. In response to another question, Mr. Rajapaksa said that in the telephone conversation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, there was no reference to stopping military operations against LTTE terrorism and he had made it very clear that the operations were against the LTTE. He told the meeting that these were launched when the LTTE tried to extend its hold on the territory at Mavil Aru, Sampur and Muttur. “They did not understand the language of negotiation. Therefore, the operations will have to be continued on behalf of the people. He had made this clear to India and the international community.” The statement quoted him as saying that he did not believe in duplicitous language but was very frank in what he said and the international community was not opposed to the defeat of terrorism and those who sought to break up Sri Lanka. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, MP (Karuna Amman), spoke of his 22-year relationship with the LTTE and recalled his own training in India with other militant groups after 1983. He had met Indian leaders together with LTTE supremo Prabakaran, where they explained that they were not supportive of separation but supported devolution of power to regions. He had discussed this with the IPKF too. It was Prabakaran who broke the understanding with India, resuming the war and, not stopping at that, proceeded to kill Rajiv Gandhi in India. “He said that one could understand the people of Tamil Nadu were supportive of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, but this should not become support for the LTTE. If they did so they would soon face different problems in Tamil Nadu from the LTTE. He asserted that Prabakaran was not for any political solution,” the statement said. Mr. Muralitharan said the Wanni military operations could not be stopped immediately. With his own experience in fighting it was his understanding that India could not bring an immediate stop to the fighting in Kargil. If the Tamil Nadu government and the political parties there wished to support Sri Lankan Tamils, they could do so by sending aid to them through the Sri Lankan government. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, explaining the recent developments in Tamil Nadu, said the “recent activities there did not reflect the policies of New Delhi” and referred “to [an] incident at Rameswaram involving persons from the film industry, although the demonstrators had shouted pro-LTTE slogans, including making a hero of Prabhakaran, the police had intervened to prevent the LTTE flag being raised.” “This showed that although there was pro-LTTE politics in Tamil Nadu, the official position was different. The IDPs in Sri Lanka were used as a tool to put pressure on New Delhi. The message of New Delhi has been that it stands for the rights of the Tamil people and against the LTTE,” the statement said. It said Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in response to a question, said operations in Wanni were going ahead satisfactorily and in keeping with the overall strategy of the military. Political solutionSeparately, in a statement, Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and Minister Arumugan Thondaman said the people of Tamil Nadu had expressed sentiments about citizens in the north and asserted the President of Sri Lanka always stood for a political solution. “The CWC respects the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu and feels confidant that we should pursue means of achieving a political solution to the national question as an urgent measure,” a statement issued by the CWC said.
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