Govt committed to ensure human rights of Tamils

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

Two years have passed since the Sri Lankan soldiers defeated the world’s most ruthless terrorists, the LTTE at the Nanthikadal lagoon in the far end of the Mullaithivu. The ghost believed that the LTTE was invincible and wanted to divide Sri Lanka is still haunting locally and internationally tarnishing the image of the country, which is the first to annihilate terrorism completely.

“We can look back with pride and much satisfaction at the last two years since we achieved freedom from terrorism”, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the proudest of all leaders in the world who reduced the world’s ruthless terrorists to zero.

He still remains proudest when the country celebrated its second anniversary of freedom from terrorism as he was given the leadership to restore human rights of over 300,000 people lived under the deadly shadows of the LTTE.

“ We do not hesitate to ensure the democratic and human rights of the citizens living in the North and the East. We will not heed the demands of the separatists or terrorists. When people in this country do not accept their demands, they look for ways to make us bow down by using foreign influence. I must emphasize that no one can do anything in this country without the consent of our people. It is only we who can solve our own problems, and no one else”, the President in his address to the nation at the second anniversary of the Ranaviru Day celebrations at the Galle Face, Colombo said.

He said that the government did not form the Security Forces to invade countries but to free thousands of civilians who were held as hostages by the LTTE and later to rebuild the country which was destroyed by the LTTE terrorists.

“ After uniting the country with the defeat of the most ruthless terrorism in the world, today we were able to hoist our national flag with dignity and honour. As we removed the ‘border village’ from the Sri Lankan map, we are now taking measures to delete ‘displaced and destitute’ from our vocabulary. Many thousand acres of land sowed with landmines have now been cultivated. Thousands of displaced civilians were resettled with all the facilities, from shelter, bedding to mosquito coils. Likewise, reconstruction of the North and the East is a major development task in our history. With rays of freedom rising in the North and the East, the rays of development are also dawning on people in those areas”, he said.

“ We were able to protect our country over the centuries from invaders because we did not hate any race, religion or person. It is based on the great Buddhist traditions that do not preach hatred towards any race or person, and also on the core values of other religions, that we fought against the most ruthless, most cruel terrorist organization in the world. We are the only country that fought the terrorists fighting us while feeding them and providing them with medicines. Therefore, when we see how some countries carry out operations against enemies today, we are proud of the humanitarian nature of our operation against the enemy. We were with you in the battlefield. It is same today. We will not betray you before the world”, the President said.

“I will recall what I said in the past that our troops went to the battlefront carrying a gun in one hand, the Human Rights Charter in the other, food for the innocent displaced on their shoulders, and love of their children in their hearts. They did not target any communities or religions, and did not march ahead with hatred towards anyone”, President Rajapaksa said adding that it is happy to see children who inherited the suicidal cyanide capsule, now learning in schools.

He reiterated that the government could look after its own issues and will not bow down to any foreign force, which would try to revive the sprit of separatism.

President Rajapaksa also participated at a ceremony to pay tribute to the soldiers, who sacrificed their lives to restore peace, held at the War Heroes’ Memorial near the Parliament Complex, Friday afternoon.

In his message to the Ranaviru Day he called upon all Sri Lankans to assist the families of whose sons, brothers, husbands and fathers sacrificed their lives to bring unity and peace to the country by defeating the LTTE.

“ The cherished dream of peace that we as a nation yearned for decades has now come true. The honour for this should solely be with our armed forces. Let us bow our heads in homage to those thousands who sacrificed life and limb for the freedom we enjoy today.

It is our greatest responsibility to protect our hard won freedom. Ensuring that we leave no room for terrorism or separatism to raise its ugly head again in this country is the greatest tribute we can pay to our heroes of war. This will help make them feel secure with the assurance that society at large has not forgotten them”, he said.