WHO ARE THE INTELLECTUALS AND EX-MILITANT SYMPATHIZERS WANTING TO ASSIST THE GOVERNMENT - Sangaree

2010-06-25

It is real mockery for the Government to seek or accept the offer of assistance of Tamil intellectuals and ex-militant sympathizers for post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. Who is this K.P alias Pathmanathan?. What are his credentials? Who are these so called intellectuals who came from abroad on a delegation to meet top officials of the Government and offered to assist in the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the country. The news that this team of so called intellectuals headed by the notorious terrorist Mr. KP of international fame had met the Defense Secretary and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, come to me not merely as a surprise but also as a great shock to almost all Sri Lankans

Mr. KP is the person who claimed to be the head of the LTTE succeeding Mr. V.Prabaharan on his demise, never surrendered to the authorities on his own. If he was not arrested tactfully today he would have been a threat to everybody who faced threat from Mr. Prabaharan in the past. In-fact even now there is no guarantee that he won’t be a potential threat to the country and its people. Who are these unidentified intellectuals who have come on a delegation to meet top Government Officials and offer assistance to the Government for rehabilitation and reconstruction. An intellectual is a person who has the power of reasoning and acquiring knowledge. But what did these intellectuals do? Did they have any power to reason out things.

It is ridiculous for K.P or any one in his team to tell us that there should not be room for petty differences and that all must work towards stabilizing the hard earned peace. We Sri Lankans wish to know the identities of these so called intellectuals and also want to know from them as to what credibility they have to give an undertaking that several tiger activists, living abroad, have now begun to understand the ground realities. It is a pity that they did not understand the ground realities all these days. Let no one take us for a ride once again. I have every right to protest to the Government not to have anything to do with anyone of them. The whole world will laugh at us if we entertain them and it will amount to betrayal of our people, not one or two but the entire country. Every one of our people in this country had been a victim in one way or the other. We lost over two hundred thousand lives, that include several thousand innocent civilians, thousands of service personnel, and the LTTE combatants, most of whom were conscripted. More than one hundred and fifty thousand had been widowed and several thousand had been orphaned or had become destitute persons. In the East alone there are 42,000 widows. How many had lost their eyesight and limbs. There are many without both their legs, without both hands, some move about on one leg and many crawl about. All these innocent ones are destined to suffer for the rest of their lives. How many thousand students had been deprived of their education. Surely these intellectuals should know to what extent the parents would have suffered when their school going children were conscripted and brought back home dead. One should have become a victim under one of these categories or must have lost a dear one to feel the pain. How many families have lost all the members of the family, parts in some others. How many billions and billions worth of property both public and private had been destroyed. Hardly one person has his house in tact in Kilinochchi and Mullaithevu, Vavuniya and Manner and to some extent Jaffna also suffered a lot. The East still have people who live in tents even after two years of their displacement. The Government should send them to the interior villages of Mullaithevu and Kilinochchi to see for themselves, how devastated Vanni is and the destruction caused. The people of Mullaithevu, Kilinochchi and parts of Vavuniya and Mannar have nothing left in their homes including roofs, windows and doors of their houses.

I honestly feel that I am betrayed and the others who had suffered for quarter of a century will feel more. The Government should have asked the respective Governments from where they came for their extradition. So far not a single country has lifted its ban on the LTTE. India and U.S has renewed their ban on the LTTE. The act of entertaining these people who are equally responsible for all the losses the country and the people have suffered will amount to tacit lifting of the ban on the LTTE. The supporters of the LTTE now ask if these hard core elements are being entertained by the Forces, why should the Government keep ten thousand of our children, most of whom are innocent, in rehabilitation camps and in jails.

These are the type of people who, from behind the scene, directing operations and caused the loss of thousands of innocent lives and destruction of several billions worth of public and private property and hundreds of thousand houses of innocent people. As a first priority the Government should use this money to give full compensation for the houses destroyed totally or damaged. As the second priority compensation should be given for the other losses, loss of lives in particular. The Government must now without further delay start assessing the loss everyone had suffered due to the foolish act of these people. Those who died in Bomb-blasts, suicide attacks and land-mines spread all over the country, should be fully compensated. All the Muslims who were sent out of the North by the LTTE left behind everything and were allowed to take only Rs. 500 each. All these families had been living in poverty all these days. Assistance of all Governments should be sought to cease all funds, these people have all over the world. There are views of the people who quite innocently and blindly supported the LTTE, little knowing that these people were not genuinely fighting for a cause but only for personal gains. I am one who for several years did not sleep peacefully, did not have the freedom to walk on the streets or to express my views which had been blacked out, although it is the same with many like me.

This is an emotional outburst of one who had been victimized, in several ways including the right to live in Kilinochchi. I am reflecting the views of hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of Sri Lanka, the people of the North and the East in particular. If anyone feel that I am wrong, I apologize to them. Those who agree with me can give me their support to take my mission forward.

Thanking You.
Yours Sincerely,

V. Anandasangaree,
President
Tamil United Liberation Front