Opinion:

Nobel Prize for Peace 2010

by D. P. Atukorale

My candid opinion is that the year 2010 Nobel Prize for Peace should be awarded by the International Committee which selects the Nobel Prize winners, to His Excellency, President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the leading part he played in destroying the world's most ruthless terrorist organisation namely, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

These terrorists led by Velupillai Prabakaran during the last thirty years (a) ruthlessly killed countless thousands of innocent Sri Lankans of all communities apart from members of the armed forces (b) virtually imprisoned hundreds of thousands of civilians of his own community in the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka during the last three decades, (c) destabilized the entire Sri Lankan economy and (d) caused billions of rupees worth of damage to the property of this country, impoverishing it to the lowly depths.

In addition to killing several leaders of the Sinhala community, Prabakaran, to further his unbridled ambition of becoming the sole leader of the Tamils, assassinated moderate Tamil leaders such as Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, A. Amirthalingam, T. Maheswaran and Lakshman Kadirgamar.

My considered opinion is that His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa's name should be the first to be considered by the Nobel Prize Committee for the Nobel Prize for Peace for next year.