One hopes that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s appeal to Tamils to “forget the past” (‘International’, Dec.19) is more an election stunt than anything else. The alleged large-scale human rights violations against Tamils in the past, and especially during the 2009 war, cannot be easily forgotten or forgiven. Instead, Tamils can and should emerge as “kingmakers” in the coming presidential election and become part of the new government so as not to be victimised again.
J. Eden Alexander,Thanjavur