Probe LTTE atrocities against Muslims too – SLMC

by Manjula Fernando

While welcoming the Government’s ongoing efforts to record the events of a 30-year-war against terrorism, Sri Lanka Muslim Council (SLMC) sources said the atrocities committed against the Muslims by the LTTE too need to be investigated in a systematic way.SLMC General Secretary Hasen Ali said that the Muslims were the only community that was evicted by the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran from the entire North. In an act of ethnic cleansing, they were given a 48-hour notice to evacuate their homes in October 1990. As a result over 70,000 Muslims were expelled forcibly.

“The government is putting on record happenings connected to the war against terrorism with regard to other communities and we urge that the sufferings of the Muslims too, their loss of life, livelihood and loss of property to be accounted for.”

Although Muslims were not a part of the war against terrorism, unverified records indicate that around 20,000 Muslims perished as a direct consequence of the violence that prevailed in the country for 30 years until the Security Forces ended it.

“No one knows the exact numbers as there was no proper census. Groups give different figures. The Government must step in and do the needful,” he said