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| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
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Acclaim for President's apology by P. Muthiah and Chamitha Kuruppu Political and civil society leaders yesterday welcomed the national apology tendered by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to Tamil people for the July '83 riots unleashed against them. Former Parliamentarian and leader of PLOTE D. Sidharthan said this was something new in the political culture of Sri Lanka. No leader in the past ever apologised for any wrong doings. All parties should consider this as a beginning of reconciliation and take preventive measures of such pogroms in the future, he added. Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda of the University of Colombo said that the apology was long overdue. It was a good thing that President Kumaratunga apologised to victims of July '83 riots. This apology should be linked with a new process of reconciliation. If President Kumaratunga resumed peace talks with the LTTE, this apology would go a long way. If it resulted in lasting peace it would be significant, added Prof. Uyangoda. Mrs. Yogeswarie Balasubramaniam, Attorney-at-Law and social worker said the apology from the Head of State had come at a time when kith and kin of those victims of Black July commemorate their memory. President Kumaratunga's apology meant much more than the compensation. It could be considered as a signal for reconciliation among communities and could have far-reaching positive impacts on the future of Sri Lanka. Rev. Fr. Sydney Knight of the Colombo Diocese of the Church of Ceylon said that he was glad that the President of the country, Chief Executive of the government and president of a political party came out with an apology for what had happened 21 years ago. He said his point was the apology was the beginning of what was possible. As a priest involved in the peace movement, he said, the country was in need of love and forgiveness. Our countrymen should forgive each other, and the apology of President Kumaratunga should be the beginning for such a process. President's Counsel Nigel Hatch fully endorsed what President Kumaratunga said at the function held to pay compensation to July 1983 riot victims. He felt that all communities must recognise that the Tamil community suffered tremendously as a result of the riots. "There are parallel situations in other countries where in order to assist the process of reconciliation apologises are offered for injustices caused to minorities. It is in the same spirit of reconciliation the President has made this apology. We must also recognise that there was a Presidential Commission of Inquiries which recently released its report on the violence of July 1983. The President has, no doubt, responded to some of the findings in that Commision report," added Nigel Hatch. TNA parliamentarian and Vice President of Tamil United Liberation Front Joseph Pararajasingham said that although it was a late apology after 21 years, the Tamil community had accepted the fact the President recognised that wrong has been done to Tamil community. Pararajasingham added that at least the President should now take concrete steps within the process on the basis of the ISGA proposal to solve the problem. |
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