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| Sunday, 19 June 2005 |
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Politics |
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News Business Features
Editorial
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Opponents would see merit in P-TOMS - Athauda
by Ananda Kannangara Labour Relations and Foreign Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratna yesterday showed his displeasure over the poor behaviour of certain patriots over the establishment of the P-TOMS and said that these patriots must realise that this agreement would strengthen the different communities further and not divide the country. In an interview with the Sunday Observer, Minister Seneviratna said that the Government's objective of signing the proposed P-TOMS with the LTTE was to rebuild the devastated areas and uplift the livelihood of thousands of people there. "Although these so called patriots talk highly about the oppressed people, we are dismayed over their poor attitudes reflected towards these tsunami victims who are presently leading miserable lives without proper dwellings," he said. Referring to several incidents that occurred in the past, the Minister said that several patriots living in that era too voiced protests against the Bandaranaike - Chelvanayagam pact and it was ultimately torn. "However if it was implemented at that time, the problems we face today would not have arisen," he said. He said the so called patriots once again rejected the 1965 Dudley - Chelvanayagam pact. The Minister also spoke about the arrival of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), brought by former President J. R. Jayewardene amidst agitation campaigns made by our own patriots. He said people in the country still remember how our patriots campaigned against the setting up of Provincial Councils in the recent past and later accepted them. "Therefore we are fully confident that the same patriots who are now against the P-TOMS agreement will one day realise the value of it," the Minister added.
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