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| Sunday, 16 June 2002 |
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People longing for peace - Mrs. Amirthalingam by Ananth Palakidnar "The people of the North and the East cannot face another all-out war". This was said by Mrs. Mangayarkarasi Amirthalingam, widow of the slain Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader A. Amirthalingam, who was here in Colombo to attend the funeral of Mr. M. Sivasithamparam last week. Mrs. Amirthalingam who is currently domiciled in London was very involved in Tamil politics when her husband was in Parliament, leading the women's wing of the TULF. "I am extremely happy to see that some positive developments are taking place with regard to the peace process, and I pray that there should not be any war in the future," Mrs. Amirthalingam said. Commenting further on the peace process she told the Sunday Observer that she had the opportunity of meeting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo when he came to pay his last respects to Mr. Sivasithamparam. "I am very impressed with the efforts taken by the Prime Minister to bring an end to the ethnic conflict and I believe that all political parties must support him to find a lasting solution to the present crisis," she said. Mrs. Amirthalingam also said that she visited Jaffna this time after twelve years since she accompanied the bodies of her husband and another TULF stalwart V. Yogeswaran who was also gunned down along with A. Amirthalingam in 1989 in Colombo. Referring to her visit to Jaffna for the funeral of Mr. M. Sivasithamparam, Mrs. Amirthalingam said that Jaffna has now completely changed with the scars of war in every nook and corner. "The people are longing for peace and they cannot afford another war. They have gone through untold hardships and what they expect now is peace and nothing else," she said. Denying speculation on entering politics again, Mrs. Amirthalingam said that she did not want to engage in politics in the present atmosphere. "Not anything immediately, but I may consider it later on," she said. Attempts were even made to appoint Mrs.Amirthalingam to the vacancy in Parliament following the demise of Mr. Sivasithamparam, but Mrs. Mangayarkarasi Amirthalingam was reluctant to accept the offer. Paying her tributes to the late Mr. Sivasithamparam, she said that his death was an irreparable loss to the entire country at a time when steps have been taken to settle the ethnic issue. "The contribution of the late Sivasithamparam would have been a pillar of strength to the whole peace process," she said. |
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