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| Sunday, 3 October 2004 |
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Tamil parties welcome President's statement By a special correspondent Tamil Political parties, except the Tamil National Alliance, while welcoming President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's statement that she would no longer ignore the killings of the LTTE, said that immediate action should be taken by her to stop these inhuman acts. According to a statement of the Presidential Secretariat, there were 146 killings since February 2002 to September 30 this year. These killings that were attributed to the LTTE had taken place since the MoU and Ceasefire Agreement came into effect. The total number of atrocities reported was 1,746, including 146 murders, 285 abductions, 190 robberies, 301 demands for ransom, 161 harassments to parents of abducted children, 164 violence against other political groups and 181 MoU violations. Under these circumstances, the Presidential Secretariat said, action would be taken in accordance with the law of the country. PLOTE Leader, D. Siddharthan, welcoming the President's statement said the LTTE had argued that most of the killings had taken place in Army controlled areas. This fact had to be taken into consideration.PLOTE hoped that the President would take immediate action to stop the killings, he said. EPDP Advisor, Dr. Wigneswaran, said that 30 of his party members had been killed or abducted. Other mainstream Tamil parties had lost about 50 of their cadres. The Tamil National Alliance gained a majority of seats in the Northeast at the general elections. They wanted to prove that the LTTE was the sole representative of Tamils. Now, they would like to establish their sole representation by physically eliminating their political opponents. ``We back the President's efforts to establish a violent-free country. She should act with determination," he said. EPRLF (V) faction leader, T. Sritharan, said that anyone who stood for democracy could not condole these atrocities and they should be stopped forthwith, and the president should take immediate action on this matter, he said. Dr. Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council said that political killings were totally unacceptable. The LTTE should stop its killings. Although they denied responsibility, all the circumstantial evidence and witnesses prove otherwise. Norwegian facilitators and international monitors has no power and mechanism to investigate. |
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