Sri Lanka President vows to eradicate LTTE ideology

June 08, 2016 12:31 pm | Updated September 16, 2016 11:36 am IST - Colombo

A file photo of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

A file photo of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena has vowed to “eradicate the LTTE ideology” which is still present locally and globally to ensure long lasting peace in Sri Lanka.

“I want to eradicate the LTTE ideology (of a separate state) completely both locally and internationally,” Mr. Sirisena told on Tuesday night addressing a gathering in the suburbs of Colombo’s Dehiwela.

He said, since being elected, he had been able to cultivate friendships with all world leaders. He would rely on their assistance to achieve reconciliation.

I will ensure a country where all communities live together in peaceful co-existence, harmony. This will be a society where everyone is treated equally, he said.

We ended the war and silenced the guns, but for long lasting peace we have not been able to eradicate the LTTE ideology.

Mr. Sirisena took power in January 2015 and assured to take serious steps to win over the Tamil community, who had preferred him over Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Tamils, while noting the progress, stay unhappy with the slowness of the process. Mr. Sirisena said what is paramount to the country was the peace between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil and Muslim minorities.

Government forces killed the Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on May 18, 2009, after a brutal military crackdown, and declared an end to the 37-year conflict which claimed at least 1,00,000 lives.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.