Productive dialogue with Tamil diaspora soon

by Shanika SRIYANANDA

Sri Lanka will soon commence a dialogue with the Tamil diaspora, which was misled by the defeated LTTE and still propagates separatism and negative views harmful to the government's reconciliation efforts.

Mass Media and Communication Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the Sunday Observer that one of his priorities was to have a productive dialogue with the Tamil diaspora.

"I am looking for contacts, who can have an effective dialogue with the government and to convey the ground realities internationally", he said.

Minister Rambukwella said that the Defence Ministry together with the External Affairs Ministry was now working on a project to crack down on LTTE activities including fund-raising abroad.

"I am planning to talk to the Tamil diaspora regarding this matter to see whether there is a possibility of enlightening them about the ground situation in the country," he said. He said that a continuous dialogue with the Tamil diaspora, in the post conflict period, would bring a better outcome. Minister Rambukwella said that the media also had to play a responsible role to change the mentality of people who suffered during the conflict for almost half of their lives.

He said although the international community criticised the government's efforts to annihilate the LTTE militarily, the government did not heed such accusations as the military had done its operations ethically and humanely rescuing over 270,000 civilians who were held hostage by the LTTE.

Minister Rambukwella said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would appoint a high-powered Commission to report on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation with regard to the difficulties and troubled times that Sri Lanka had to undergo due to the terrorist inspired, manoeuvred and created conflict situation in recent years.

While the government is getting ready to celebrate the first anniversary of the defeat of the 30-year LTTE terrorism, the government has also renewed its efforts on cracking down on the LTTE remnants in the West that still propagate LTTE ideologies.

The pro-LTTE segments in the West including Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia which declared a poll for a transnational government, are also planning to hold demonstrations and meetings on May 18 against Sri Lanka.

Minister of External Affairs, Pro. G. L. Peiris told reporters that the government had instructed the Sri Lankan embassies and missions abroad to take action to tackle the situation and further educate the relevant authorities on their soil.

"The LTTE threat against Sri Lanka has only shifted from the field of battle to the field of diplomacy", he said adding that although the LTTE is militarily defeated the risk still prevails.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne called upon the West to support the government to crack down on LTTE activities on their soil, when he met foreign media personnel on Friday.

He told Parliament during the debate to extend the state of Emergency by another month that nearly 1.5 million Tamils living in the West were planning to form a movement to promote separatism and have a separate State for Tamils in Sri Lanka, but the West was not doing much to crack down on pro-LTTE activities to help Sri Lanka.